#which could just be a wording choice but in context seems hateful

[anghraine]

It's 11 PM, but one of my favorite little Darcy/Elizabeth moments happens while she still hates him and thinks he's a depraved monster, and I find it really entertaining.

It's during the Kent section, when Darcy calls at the parsonage and finds Elizabeth alone. During a longer, awkward conversation in which they both deeply misunderstand each other, they have this tiny interchange:

[Darcy:] “This seems a very comfortable house. Lady Catherine, I believe, did a great deal to it when Mr Collins first came to Hunsford.” “I believe she did—and I am sure she could not have bestowed her kindness on a more grateful object.” “Mr Collins appears very fortunate in his choice of a wife.” “Yes, indeed; his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of the very few sensible women who would have accepted him, or have made him happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding—though I am not certain that I consider her marrying Mr Collins as the wisest thing she ever did."

So: they are in Mr Collins's house. Darcy tries to re-start the conversation with a polite nothing about the house. Elizabeth agrees about Lady Catherine's micro-managing, but can't resist the chance to make a sly jab at Mr Collins (who is not present) to Darcy (a genuine villain, as far as she believes).

Darcy's reply looks a bit like an attempt to redirect the conversation into safer waters (they can agree that Charlotte is cool!). But although his remark is only somewhat related to what Elizabeth said, I think it's a natural follow-up in his mind because he is also insulting Mr Collins, if more subtly.

He could have praised Mr Collins's judgment in choosing Charlotte or just said something nice about Charlotte; he doesn't. Instead, he suggests that Mr Collins's choice of Charlotte was a matter of good fortune—or chance, as Charlotte herself would say!—on Collins's part. Darcy and Elizabeth both know Collins is a fool and that his choice of a woman like Charlotte says nothing about his judgment, only about his good fortune. (Elizabeth has even better reason than Darcy to know how much Collins ending up with Charlotte was lucky for him, but Darcy can see it anyway.)

Darcy's phrasing gives him some plausible deniability, but I think he's generally quite careful with his wording and the implicit insult to Mr Collins is not accidental.

Elizabeth, I think, takes this exactly as intended. She's not at all confused about where this tangent came from or offended by it or anything. She readily seizes on the new line of conversation as encouragement to keep insulting Mr Collins and his appeal to women with functioning brainpower.

Elizabeth is pretty scrupulously polite in general, so I kind of love that she just starts venting about her absolute contempt for Mr Collins and the Collins/Charlotte marriage to Darcy in the middle of a tense and weird conversation in Mr Collins's house. And I love that Darcy, who is otherwise more or less dog-paddling his way through this conversation, is like "yeah, your friend seems really cool, that dumbass is lucky he accidentally chose someone with a brain."

Elizabeth: "Right? And, let me add-"

(Is it a bit of an asshole move on both their parts in the context of that scene? Yeah, I think a little. I also love it! Please trash-talk obnoxious hosts in their own parlours for the rest of your lives.)

[rocketbirdie]

Arrrghh. People are finishing up Rebirth and looking up the different localizations, and the inevitable wave of hate for the English version is starting to gain traction again just like with Remake. I guess I just get super defensive about it because I have worked on large translation projects before, and it's not as straightforward as players seem to think.

It's not like the good ol' days of "This Guy Are Sick." They don't write the JPN script first, and then just send it out for translation anymore. Nowadays the different language scripts are all written simultaneously, with the teams working back and forth together, to check over each ofher's work and make sure that no one sentence is under- or overshooting a goal. Like it or not— everything is checked over and approved.

There's a lot more being translated than just words. There's so much to take into account— tone of voice, the cultural context, the lip sync and corresponding length of each line (which isn't allowed to run over by more than 0.2 seconds which is CRAZY). It's a messy process and it's a lot of goddamn work.

And then there's the audience, too. Different languages' audiences are often going to have wildly different interpretations of a character. A really good example from FFVII would be Yuffie. In the JPN version of the OG, Yuffie is written to be a confident girl who's dead serious about her ninja training. The ENG translation didn't do that justice... she instead comes off as a silly annoying kid pretending to be a ninja. Remake's DLC was testing the waters to see if they could write Yuffie in a way that's still faithful to both of the strikingly different regional perceptions of her character. And they nailed it.

The same thing happened with Cloud, and continues to influence the way he's written in the Re-trilogy. It's much more subtle than with Yuffie, but it's still noticeable, and I think it's why a lot of people get up in arms about his dialogue.

Cloud has always been written as having a stark disconnect between his tone of voice and his choice of words. It's just that the two major languages get it swapped! JPN Cloud has a harsh, mean tone, but his choice of words is polite and easygoing. On the other hand, ENG Cloud says a LOT of nasty shit out loud, but his true feelings are betrayed by his soft voice and gentle body language.

The difference goes unnoticed by the average player who isn't so invested to give a damn. But if you're actively searching for "bad translations" to get mad at, then you'll find them where one version's Cloud comes off a bit too strong. It's only natural that English Cloud is the one that pisses people off more often— after all, he's literally saying stupid shit to to piss other characters off constantly. His character is so convincing that players want to reach into their screens and wring his neck, and I think that's glorious.

But that's why it upsets me to see people turn that frustration at the localization teams. They didn't "ruin" a character's dialogue— they were just barely able to make something work, all things considered. Character, line length, culture, story context, facial animations, voice acting, for MULTIPLE languages, like... holy shit. It's a miracle that most of it is really really good, and that the bad is only a little bit bad.

Idk where this rant is going. Just... c'mon people. Have some respect for such an insanely complicated art form.

[the-writing-mobster]

Because I constantly get hate for WDYW Chapter 49,

(I get it, it's polarizing) allow me to like,,, explain why I went with the plot point? I don't really owe anyone an explanation, and literally fuck any of my haters, they're ants, but I think my readers/people who actually like my writing would like to know the lore behind my choices.

So, context, in chapter 49, Frisk is drugged into obedience by Muffet and Muffet, being the money hungry cunt that she is, sells Frisk's body on the black market. It's a really uncomfortable concept, and when it happened it caused a lot of readers to drop the fic or rant at me in the comments, talk shit about my fic in private forums behind my back, or even imply a bunch of horrible things about me as a person lmao.

So why did I decide to go with this plot?

Well, for one, it all stems from two books: The Hunger Games, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and the Empress by S.J Kincaid.

In both of these books, there is a pivotal character who is drugged, manipulated and used for political gain by a dastardly authority figure. In The Empress, this plot point was ESPECIALLY devastating, because it completely changed and corrupted the character into a horrific shell of their old self to where they were actively antagonistic and irredeemable!

This plot device has intrigued and fascinated me ever since. Drugging a protagonist to make them wholly dependent on their abuser/villain, manipulating them, having them at rock bottom is, in my opinion, one of the worst things that can happen to a character... And seeing how the character can overcome it is the greatest triumph!

Ever since reading these books, this plot device has buzzed in the back of my mind and there is a part of me that always tries to recreate it, but I can never come close to perfecting it.

Either I always miss on the addiction part of the manipulation, or I can never commit truly to character corruption. Either way, the closest I've ever gotten to scratching this itch has been in WDYW part 3, but even then, I barely came close to getting it right.

My second reason for choosing the route; In WDYW, Frisk's whole arc is about having control over her own agency/autonomy/fate. What happens to her in Part 3 is the culmination of everything she's ran away from, fought against, and her greatest nightmare come to life. It was the lowest point I could bring her character, and make her face her past demons in a horrifically evil way. But my plan had obviously been that despite all of the torture she survives, that she not only survives but fucking WINS!

That was the whole point, but when I wrote it I was like,,, 17/18 😅, so there was definitely things I wasn't as graceful about.

With that said, would I change anything? Yes. If I could change anything I wrote about part 3, I would do a couple things:

1. Take out that obedience spell Muffet puts on Frisk. The reason I made that was because it was like a catch all spell to keep Frisk in Muffets clutches? But it was pretty OP and seemed like a hand wavey excuse to brush aside plot holes. I should've just simplified the spell to where she was simply tethered to Muffet's soul so Sans couldn't kill Muffet, or teleport Frisk away.

2. Frisk's "obedience" to Muffet should've been entirely addiction based, which would make the plot point of Frisk using determination to burn out her addiction in Part 4, and then eventually Determination becomes the addiction instead, (because overcoming addiction is really fucking hard actually and a constant struggle) a lot stronger.

3. I would probably be much more careful with my word choice in chapter 49. Some of it comes off as sexualization. Not my intention, but it was because I was writing in the creepy photographer's pov and he was objectifying her. In my head I was like, "surely people can read between the lines right???" (They can't. Only a select few fanfic readers have media literacy apparently)

So, TLDR, No chapter 49 was not some author's barely disguised fetish (that's honestly a really gross way to think about my writing and about me as a person) it was my genuine worst nightmare as a woman, and one of my favorite plot devices from two of my favorite books 😭 Please lay off me about chapter 49, and Part 3.

Last but not least... Some art is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.

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[wisteria-lodge]

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them, Tina uses "Mercy Lewis" as a grammatical intensifier/swear word a la "merlin" (1)

Mercy Lewis was one of the main witch-accusers during the Salem witch trials. Which makes her a really, really weird choice for Tina to evoke.

and I'm literally trying to figure out the thought process here.

OPTION ONE

"Mercy Lewis" is supposed to evoke the concept of a betrayer, like "Benedict Arnold" or "Brutus." (Like maybe she was a squib or something?) Idk, even typing that out feels in such bad taste. Merlin wasn't real. Nicholas Flamel was real, but all JKR says about him was "he made the Philosopher's Stone," which - considering that the real guy was indeed working on that... okay? Mercy Lewis was a real girl in real American history who really got people killed.

AND it doesn't even make sense linguistically. I'd sort of understand if Tina called someone "a Mercy Lewis" or "you're such a Mercy Lewis" after they betrayed her. But that's not the context?

OPTION TWO

Mercy Lewis is indeed a muggle, and so that would make this... anti-muggle hate speech? Like, I could KINDA see a world where "Mercy Lewis" was just a kind of stereotypical, mean way to refer to "Any Muggle." When Tina's being dismissive about Jacob she could have said something like "Forget Mercy Lewis over there, follow me." (but that's not the context in which it's used?)

Like we do know that Tina specifically hates Mary-Lou Barebone, who is a muggle that really hates witches and calls her group "Second Salem." Is this line meant to be drawing a parallel between Mercy Lewis and Mary-Lou Barebone. Or are we just looking for ANY way for Tina to KIND of bring up Salem, because it's sort of relevant to her villain?

OPTION THREE

This is some kind of a mistake. JKR wanted to use the name of one of the Salem Witches as an American equivalent for "Merlin" (still in bad taste but... I get it? ) And so she pulled up a list of names, and accidentally got the name of one of the people who were accusing people of being witches, instead of one of the actual 'witches.' She just kind of liked the ring of the name "Mercy Lewis" and went with it.

I can't help but think that this is just a small example of JKR being just... kinda careless, and kinda lazy, and kinda tasteless about non-European history. Like I am positive I just put more thought into this little moment than JKR ever, ever has.

~

(1) It is weird that "Merlin" is used as swear word at all, because in the HP series Merlin seems to be culturally important, but not a religious figure (which is generally how swear words work, the *thing* you're swearing by needs to be sacred, and 'profaning' it just communicates your level of Seriousness).

Of course, the Wizarding World seems to be completely atheist, which is is fine, and if I SQUINT, I can make "merlin" work in an "enlightenment science boner" way, like 'oh the muggles are hyper-religious and backwards, once we split from them we're going in entirely the opposite direction.' The French Revolution was aggressively atheist, and so was the Communist revolution, and you do have cultural important names like "Lenin" "Engles" "Marx" treated in a linguistically semi-religious way, okay. it's a thing.

but in The Cursed Child they start using "Dumbledore" as a swear word and that's so creepy and I hate it.

[aphroditelovesu]

Yandere Daemon/Rhaenyra Targaryen Headcanons (Poly!Romantic)

"You are ours and we are yours. Always." - Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen.

🐉— lady l: this turned out to be bigger than I thought, but I liked it and I hope you guys like it too! While I normally try to keep the reader gender neutral, here I've made it female because it has NSFW content and because I'm a woman it's easier for me to describe and also because I think it fits the context better, but if you ignore the part of nsfw, you can imagine the reader as a man too. Ah, I used Rhaenyra's gif in the young phase because it makes more sense at the beginning of the headcanon, but in the end, I imagine Emma. Anyway, feel free to change it if you want. Sorry for any mistakes, feel free to correct me and feedback is always welcome! ❤️❤️

tw: yandere themes, obsessive and possessive behavior, described violence, Targaryen family incest, dub-con, implicit non-con, nsfw, smut, loss of virginity (i suck at nsfw), overprotection, implied torture, mention of murder, jealousy, unhealthy romantic relationships and polyamorous relationship.

🐉 pairing: Yandere!Daemon/Rhaenyra Targaryen x Female!Reader

🐉 word count: +2,3k.

Rhaenyra and Daemon had always been a match, both had always been the perfect match in their own eyes. There were few who agreed with that statement, however, and you were one of them. You were born into one of the mighty houses of Westeros, this house, which swore loyalty to Rhaenyra when she ascended the throne, and that oath has endured all these years. Your life was completely normal, created to become some rich man's wife and bear him children, that's how you were raised and that's what you believed in, that is until the day Rhaenyra Targaryen laid eyes on you and claimed you, she made you her lady-in-waiting. You were confused by this choice, but you didn't question the princess. Unconscious to you, your future Queen decided she wanted to have you and she would have you.

From that day forward, you and Rhaenyra were always together, she attached to you like a koala, it didn't bother you however, the princess's company was pleasant. Since the two of you were always stuck together, that's how you met Daemon. At first he thought it was funny the way his niece clung to you, in an almost possessive way, but he could understand her feeling for you when he spent time with you. He didn't know what it was, but you had... something, something about you that managed to charm these two Targaryens and neither of them seems willing to let you go.

Rhaenyra, at first, noticing the way her uncle was looking at you, was nothing short of dissatisfied. You were hers. Hers to claim and care for, not Daemon's. You were her lady, her best friend and she wouldn't let them take you away from her, not like Alicent, her old friend, married her father. Because of her fear of you abandoning her, Rhaenyra explicitly forbade you to be alone with Daemon, not wanting him to seduce you in any way and she knew he could be quite convincing. You weren't very happy with that order, you enjoyed Daemon's company and you knew he would never hurt you, so you didn't understand her paranoia, but you didn't dare disobey her.

Daemon wasn't too happy with that order, but it's not like he cares, he does what he wants and when he wants and no one will stop him from having you, not even his beloved niece. Although he doesn't spend as much time in King's Landing, due to his differences with Viserys and the fact that he is constantly exiled, he still finds time to spend with you. Daemon really grew on you a lot, your voice soothed you and your gentle gaze always made him smile lovingly. He knows he cannot be separated from you, he just knows. Many already hate him, so he won't mind making more enemies, even if they are his own family, to keep you.

You've always loyally stood by Rhaenyra's side over the years and you have seen all kinds of situations, but you didn't expect what would happen when Daemon returned victorious from Stepstones. You weren't present at the time, as you were along with Rhaenyra in her search for suitors, but by the time Daemon finally saw you again, clinging to Nyra, he smirked and you fretted, wondering what sort of thing he was planning. Later that night, you finally figured it out. You were in the room with Rhaenyra, helping her get ready for bed, when she noticed a letter left on her desk and some clothes. When she read it and showed it to you, you cringed. Even though it wasn't signed, it was obvious to anyone that it belonged to Daemon and he asked the two of you to meet him outside the Red Keep. You thought the princess was going to refuse, but she told you to change and you were going to meet him.

Seeing the two of you, Daemon smiled and took you to different places in the city. You were disgusted at first, seeing what kind of thing you were witnessing, but Rhaenyra seemed fascinated, but soon became upset when she saw that show, you held her hand tightly, assuring her that the people would accept her as their Queen, whether they like it or not. She smiled at your affirmation, knowing she needed nothing more than your trust and love for her, Daemon shook his head and led you to parts unknown. Your breath was lost when he saw where you were, in a house of pleasures. You tried to convince them to leave, that you shouldn't be in a place like this, but Rhaenyra wouldn't listen, seeming too fascinated by the sights around her. You decided to close your eyes, trying to ignore the loud moans around you. Your eyes snapped open after feeling a kiss placed on your lips by none other than Rhaenyra. You were confused and embarrassed, this was wrong, two women shouldn't get involved. But she smiled and kissed you once more, under your uncle's piercing gaze. She told you how much she'd wanted you for ages and that it was finally time to claim you and that she and Daemon had agreed to share you. You were confused, until you remembered that you heard them talking in High Valyrian, realizing what they had finally talked about. You tried to argue, but ended up forgetting after being kissed fiercely by Rhaenyra and feeling Daemon's hands grab you by the hair, sucking on your neck and, for the first time in your life, you forgot who you were and what you were doing. You have decided to surrender for pleasure.

That night, pleasure numbed your minds. You ignored Rhaenyra's hands pulling free of your blouse ties and Daemon's pulling down your pants, you ignored everything and just contented yourself with being naked, clutching your princess's shoulders as you felt her kiss her breasts. While Rhaenyra was busy with your breasts, you moaned softly when you felt Daemon take your fingers to your intimacy, rubbing your entrance with his fingers and, after feeling you get wet with the stimulation, he penetrated a finger and after not receiving any complaints, he added another, making you moan his name. Rhaenyra stopped sucking your breasts and removed her own clothes, she took your trembling hands and brought them to her pussy. You blushed, but timidly penetrated two fingers inside her, and kissed her, muffling the moan of pleasure that she let out. The three of you stayed like that for a while, with you fingering her and Daemon fucking you with his fingers, but the situation changed when you felt Daemon's hard cock and he removed his fingers inside you, denying you an orgasm. You grumbled displeased, but Daemon turned you around and kissed you, asking if you wanted him. And by gods you wanted him, you were so turned on you knew you couldn't and didn't want to deny it, so you nodded and Daemon picked you up, carrying you to one of the brothel's separate rooms, with Rhaenyra right behind you. You were laid gently on the bed by him, with him right on top of you, kissing you and sucking on your neck. Rhaenyra, who didn't want to be left out, lay down beside you and claimed your mouth. Daemon positioned himself between your spread legs and slowly pushed himself inside you. You moaned loudly as you were penetrated, not used to that sensation, it was painful and you whimpered as you felt him penetrate you with a little more force, the pain spreading to your private parts. Rhaenyra dried some tears that were coming down from your eyes and decided to distract you, sitting on your face, so that you could lick her and that's what you did. Your tongue licked Rhaenyra's folds eagerly, which pleased the princess, who moaned your name louder and louder. The pain in between your legs eased considerably, and you could feel the pleasure prevail, Daemon was fucking you hard, rubbing your clit hard, pulling you closer and closer to orgasm, your moans were drowned out by Rhaenyra's who was getting closer to finish. closer to cum in your mouth. After Daemon entered you one last time, moaning your name loudly as he came inside you, Rhaenyra finally came in your mouth, her juices all over your face. Daemon rubbed your clit, finally making you come. The three of you remained there, clinging to each other and forgetting whatever consequences this night might bring. Unfortunately, you and Rhaenyra would have to return to the castle and reluctantly you did, accompanied by Daemon, but sadly for you, someone saw you, recognized the princess's silver hair and told someone who shouldn't know.

The next morning chaos ensued. Viserys heard about what you did and he wasn't happy. Daemon has been exiled again, and you have been sent back to your family in a last ditch attempt to preserve Rhaenyra's dignity. She was forced to marry Laenor, and even after she begged her father, you were not allowed to appear. Daemon and Rhaenyra were upset and furious, not only were they forced to stay away from you, you weren't even allowed to attend your best friend's wedding. It was a sad day for her, but knowing you weren't there for her only made it worse. Over the next few years, the three of you kept in touch through crows, crows' hidden commands from your parents, and Daemon married Laena and Rhaenyra had children with Laenor. You were hurt by these events but you knew you had no say in it and you just contented yourself with keeping company with your parents who wanted to find you a husband but that would be difficult, everyone has heard the rumors of what you did in King's Landing and it ruined your reputation.

But everything changed after the birth of Rhaenyra's third child and the three of you met again, after Rhaenyra moved to Dragonstone with her children and husband, she summoned you and finally had you back in her arms. The two of you hold each other for several minutes, years of separation could not be repaired, but she was determined never to let go of you ever again. Rhaenyra insisted that the two of you share a room and you didn't object as you missed her and knew how possessive she was of you. Over the next few days, the two of you were even more inseparable than they used to be when you were young, but this time, Rhaenyra didn't try to hide her affection for you, she knew her children would never judge her and Laenor wouldn't mind, so has became very common sight to see her kissing you in public. Daemon and you would be reunited after Laena's death, during the funeral, and although he knew it wasn't cordial to do so, he held you tightly, ignoring all the eyes that were on you. The three of you were finally back together and, after a little getaway, were able to rekindle the flame of lust that had been lurking for so long. You knew what they were doing was wrong, especially during a funeral, but all the guilt was gone when you felt Rhaenyra's tongue in your pussy and Daemon's cock in your mouth.

Rhaenyra and Daemon convinced you to marry them, although you weren't of Valyrian descent and it was a bit strange a polyamorous marriage for you, you didn't deny it, how could you? You loved them and you knew they felt the same and it's not like you were going to marry someone else, they would never allowed it and it wasn't your wish to become some lord's trophy wife. The three of you sealed your union, shared blood and with loving and possessive words, being kissed by both of you, you knew there was no turning back now. You finally became theirs, body, mind and soul and they would never let you go even if you wanted them to.

Their possessiveness only increased after your marriage, both wanting you to get pregnant as soon as possible. Anyone who approached you would be glared at by Daemon and Rhaenyra. They've already been taken from you once and wouldn't let that happen again, so they're quick to get rid of anyone who might become a potential threat to your relationship. Everyone who has said bad things about you will have to deal with the fury of your husband and wife, they will be dealt with on a more... permanent way. Their overprotection with you is also huge, they fear that you will get hurt and they insist on having a trusted guard always by your side. They don't want you to get hurt or murdered.

Once the war started, you would be confined to their shared chambers, they couldn't let anything happen to you. Daemon would be adamant about you not having any sort of voice in this war, and Rhaenyra couldn't agree less. She had already lost a son she loved dearly and he couldn't lose you, you keep her sane and Daemon under control. If anyone wants to deal with them, the best way would be for you, after all, it's you they care about and love so much. Both would die and kill for you. You are their biggest weakness and an enemy could very well use that to their advantage. But if they try, they won't get very far, getting killed by Daemon and Caraxes. You would be grabbed by them, you are theirs and anyone who tries to take you from them will suffer a fate worse than death.

[transtranslations]

Nobody Expects The Japanese Jooster: Some Fun Translation Notes

Hey, guys. Are y'all aware that in the Japanese translation of "Bertie Changes His Mind", the line where Jeeves says "I'm fond of Mr. Wooster" is translated as 「私はウースター様が好きでございます」 (or, "watakushi wa Wooster-sama ga suki de gozaimasu")? Because I'm sure not normal about this.

Tl;dr: this line now reads like a love confession. (If an amusingly keigo-ridden love confession, because even in his internal dialogue Jeeves is physically incapable of not sounding aggressively polite.) More under the cut.

Now, please note that I am not fluent in Japanese, so take all my words with a grain of salt. But I have, at the very least studied it for several years, am currently living in Japan, and have listened to a great number of Japanese love songs. And this is how I would like to share that if you "ga suki" a person, this can and very often does mean you are in love with them.

Technically, "suki" just means "like". If you like apples, you'd say "ringo ga suki". If say, tennis is your favorite sport, you'd say "tenisu wa watashi no ichiban suki na supootsu" - with "ichiban suki" literally meaning "number one like". "Daisuki", or "big like", is the one that is often used for love - but boy is just plain "suki" used a hell of a lot.

Take this translation of "Ano Yume o Nazotte" (or "Tracing That Dream"), for example. Here, the translator has written it literally as "I like you", but contextually the song makes it pretty probable that it's a confession of romantic love. Or have a look at the Project Diva translation of "Suki Kirai" ("Like-Dislike" or "Love-Hate"), which makes "suki"'s usage in romantic love quite clear. There's even a whole conversation about the subject of love confession and translation in The Great Ace Attorney - this links to a fan-translated Let's Play so the original Japanese dialogue is visible, but the conversation happens similarly in the official localized version, though it manifests a bit differently. Regardless, both versions discuss "suki" as used to confess feelings of love.

What I'm saying is, wow, holy shit, Tamaki Morimura made a rather strong choice when using "suki". Because no matter the intent, that potential implication is absolutely going to be present in a reader's mind. And if you're wondering why I know this in the first place, it's because this line is used (in very slightly altered form, as "Wooster-sama" is exchanged for "the young master") in the manga, Please, Jeeves, which in large part uses Morimura's translation for its text, and... well. Let's just say our good pal Bun Katsuta seems to rather leaned into that with the expression.

Yeah.

And this goes in tandem with other aspects of the manga, like an added line that, to my knowledge, is not present anywhere in the original text (certainly not in the story that chapter adapts, "Jeeves in the Springtime"), in which Jeeves says that Bertie's shortcomings do not prevent him from being "beloved as a person". Not to mention the other choices the manga makes, such as having Jeeves wink at Bertie incessantly, or occasionally having hearts float around Bertie when he talks about Jeeves, or the panel at the end of "Without the Option where I swear to God it looks like Jeeves is trying to reach for Bertie's hand.

So, between the official translation and the manga adaptation, I'm not saying we have a Spanish Destiel situation on our hands... but I'm certainly implying it.

(My final note is that this is one of the favorite book series of Empress Emeritus Michiko. Which, with this added context, is very funny to me. I wish she had an open email address so I could ask her if she thinks they're in love.)

[ravenbloodshot]

Yuzuru Hanyu (Figure Skater)- Mini Personality + Divorce Reading

Personality

I heard the word "fraud." I was already getting vibes that he may be a compulsive liar or the type to manipulate the truth. He may also make himself seem a certain away. The thing is, I'm not picking up a reason for why he lies. So it could be that he finds it easier to lie/passive others than he does being direct and potentially coming off as aggressive to ppl.

I don't know if he has some type of coach/mentor (its likely he does), this prominent person has been someone who's advised and guided Yuzuru through the most difficult aspects of his athletic career. Yuzuru may hold a lot of respect for this person as well. He listens to this person and accepts their guidance. He's someone that receives information really well (idk how to explain this but, I'm a boxing fan and I've been particularly watching Claressa Shields boxing matches, I remember her coach and even her fans saying what made her such a great boxer was her ability to take critique well and actually listen, then follow what was said to her. To give more context to my point, during one of her matches, her coach would yell out things to her like, "Keep your head up, Claressa, make sure to step back some." And she would literally follow the coach's exact words even adding a bit of her own jazz to it.) This is the energy Yuzuru gives me, an athlete that listens well to his coaching. May have something to do with the Japanese social/age hierarchy culture, in which people have to show a deeper respect to those older/more experienced.

He may have a fear of losing his wealth, understandably so, since I believe he has retired and now will have to live off of the money he's made over his athletic career. But this fear of his may cause him to not make smart financial choices. Like, instead of investing his money and trying to go through other avenues of gaining and ultimately maintaining his wealth, he may just start being more frugal. (Idk if he supports his family but I'm getting a vibe of him taking away gifts, for an example if he bought his mom a lavish car, he may have taken it back and gotten a cheaper one).

I feel like he has a weird mentality when it comes to fixing issues. It's like he has a traditional mindset of "This way of handling this issue didn't work, so I'm gonna just go back to doing it the way I used to." I don't think he's very smart, if I'm being honest. He's probably better at doing what he's told than to actually think for himself

Divorce

Well, this is simple. Whomever he married was too insecure and controlling. The type to put a tracker on his phone and still demand that he tells her his location.

Like I alluded above, Yuzuru is more passive and honestly not that smart. So he could have put up with a lot of her demands and shenanigans, may have even thought the behavior was cute during the dating stage until it wasn't.

Yuzuru's fans could have had a part to play in why it ended. Harrassing the couple and just made life hard for both of them, especially her. Not saying Yuzuru can control his fans, but I'm getting a vibe that he didn't exactly try to control them either. He kind of just let shit happen. Even when they were shit talking her online or sending hate her way, he never stepped in.

But overall, he married someone who wanted to be more of a dictator than a partner, someone who was not mentally stable.

La La La by Naughty Boy is a song that fits this reading's energy

[painted-bees]

Can you tell us about a time Magritte was surprised (in a good way) at Raf's behavior or vice versa?

aw, this is a cute ask haha

Let's see here... Raf is very frequently surprised by Magritte's behavior; she's not really like anyone one else he's gotten to know before, and the way she responds to obstacles and failure, he finds very inspiring. She's remarkably adaptable and doesn't have very high expectations of anything, ever. But--not in a cynical 'always expecting the worst' kind of way. Rather, she just seems constantly surprised and delighted when things go well, or something nice happens--and is very rarely upset to any significant capacity when things don't go as planned. A very, genuinely "it is what it is!" kind of person who'll make things work with the hand they've been delt. Magritte herself is just one big, ongoing, pleasant surprise in Raf's life haha

I guess there are two comics that already show instances where Magritte has been kinda taken off guard/surprised by Raf's playfulness

x

x

But she's also endlessly surprised by Raf's seemingly effortless gestures of support for her music. I mean, once she moves in, the guest room--her room--slowly finds itself furnished with more and more instruments and music supplies. Things that Raf purchases with no desire to use himself, but he knows Magritte will make excellent use of.

But beyond even this, she has been more than surprised on the rare occasions when Raf has gone out of his way to pull strings for her with regards to her musical career specifically. It's not something she'd ever dare to ask of him, but Raf gets really tired and fed-up on her behalf after seeing her try to seize opportunity after opportunity to get her work recognized, and receiving rejection after rejection. A lot of it is just due to the fact that she doesn't come across as very professional--unless you only listen to her music. Attempting to speak to her in a professional context, she seems incapable of composing herself properly for longer than a few minutes at a time before her own excitement unravels her. She's very giggly, and wiggly, and her vocabulary is unrefined and childish, and sometimes rather crass. She doesn't know how to talk about her own music, or how to explain her process in a way that makes sense to anyone who isn't her. She doesn't have a way to describe why she makes certain choices with her musical compositions... She comes off as very young, inexperienced, and unreliable.

And, though it frustrates him to no end, Raf can't blame anyone for reading her this way. After all, he was rather quick to do so himself when he first met her. It was only thanks to an uncharacteristic nibble of curiosity in the back of his mind that he felt there was more to Magritte and her music than first impressions led on. Sure enough, Magritte is the closest he's ever met to what he'd comfortably describe as a 'genius'. He hates the word, having been called a 'genius' for much of his life growing up and knowing that what he accomplished was only possible due to forfeiting his childhood to hours of endless hard work and practice--and the tyrannical manner in which his parents funded and 'supported' his career. But he doesn't really know what other word exists to describe Magritte's sheer aptitude for music. The way she approaches and applies certain concepts is not something that he feels can be taught, it's a unique perspective she has that he can't even fully understand. Her brain, it seems, is just wired differently. And she could change people's lives with that unique perspective of hers, the same way she has changed his...

If only she had the proper structures of support to back her up.

Raf does not like calling in favors, or being made to feel like he owes anyone anything. And so, when he goes out of his way, unrequested, to get her booked as a performing musician at one of Vancouver's many highly attended music festivals (on the condition that he also play and allow his name to be used as part of the promotional materials), Magritte is elated to tears and beyond words haha

[kidstemplatte]

lavender haze

pairing: terzo x fem! reader

summary: reader decides to show up to one of terzo’s parties for the first time.

warnings: alcohol and weed. party stuff.

more notes at the end ❦ please enjoy

Party. You hated that word, no matter what the context was. Didn’t matter what kind of party it was, how big or small, it was a party. And you didn’t like parties. All you could think of when you heard that word was being an awkward middle school girl, standing in the corner of the hormone-ridden gym, tugging at your clothes and wondering why you were so afraid to dance with the other kids.

Terzo, your boss and longtime crush, threw parties what seemed like every other day. You typically avoided them, though your heart filled with jealousy when you imagined the other siblings of sin fawning for his attention, dancing up on him, dragging him to a nearby closet as they whispered unholy things to one another. But today, as you passed by fellow sisters of sin flocked together in the hallway, yapping about what outfits they were going to wear to Papa’s party, you had a sudden surge of courage.

Fake it ‘til you make it.

There you stood, touching up your mascara in the mirror, then adding a touch of highlighter on your inner corner to compliment the sheer glitter on your eyelids. Were you allowed to think you looked hot? You decided that you were, and that you were going to get exactly what you wanted tonight. It wasn’t just Terzo. It was to let loose, to dance freely, to stop giving a fuck for once in your life. And you would do it looking hot as hell.

You were wearing a lavender slip dress, showing just enough skin to feel sexy, but let you remain comfortable at the same time. You for sure would contrast with the rest of the crowd, wearing deep red or black with dark smokey eyes and lipstick. The sisters typically went for a sexy, sort of goth look at events like these, and you wanted to do something different. Don’t get it wrong, they looked incredible, sometimes you even wished they would make a move on you. But it wasn’t anything new. And it wasn’t you.

Plus, purple was Terzo’s favorite color, or so you assumed, which was definitely not an important factor in your choice.

Reminding yourself to keep your head up, you entered the bustling room, lights down low and flashing various colors, painting everyone in a sort of dewy glow. Smells of liquor, weed, and perfume lingered through the air. Scoping out the room, you laid eyes on one of your favorite sisters. Sister Bianca. She was without a doubt one of your favorite people in the clergy, so fun, so caring, always down for a good time, uplifting the other siblings. You longed to be like her.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?” she excitably said as she caught sight of you, holding her arms open and giving you a hug. “You look amazing!”

“Thank you!” you replied, rubbing your neck. You weren’t quite accustomed to this kind of attention.

“Want a hit?” she said, holding out some kind of weed pen.

Fuck it. One hit wouldn’t hurt, and it would be just enough to calm you down.

You continued your conversation with your friend, feeling a little lighter, but not fully focused on your discussion.

Where the hell was he? Your eyes were dashing around the room, looking for your boss. He was probably in some closet, making out or more with a sibling. Everyone clambered for his attention like blood hungry vultures. Who were you to think he suddenly would be up for grabs?

This wasn’t just about Terzo, it was about you, you decided. So you hammered down a few shots, just a couple more hits, and danced the night away. Arms swaying in the air without a care in the world to some predictable yet magnetic song, displaying a new sense of confidence you had buried deep down. As you were enjoying yourself, feeling the bass of the music vibrate through your feet and into your chest, several people approached you and complimented you.

“You look so fucking hot!”

“Go off, Y/N!”

“You’re stunning!”

Initially, you wanted to shy away and deflect their praises, but you reminded yourself that you were hot, and owed it to yourself and others to accept their compliments. But you were still a little hurt. You wanted his attention more than anyone else’s. Bianca, who had gotten lost in the crowd, creeped up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder.

“Go talk to him!” she yelled, fighting against the loudness of the music.

“What?” you said, struggling to make out what she was saying.

“I said, go talk to him!”

“Who?”

“He’s been staring at you for like, forever!”

“What?”

“I said, HE’S BEEN STARING AT YOU FOR-“

“Who?”

“Papa!”

Bianca pointed to the corner of the room, where you caught sight of Terzo, taking a drink out of his glass of whiskey, leaning against the wall, not breaking eye contact with you.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, go get him, girl! Oh shit, I love this song!” Bianca chirped, floating off to another group of friends to dance.

Had he really been staring at you this whole time?

You swallowed, took a deep breath in, and made your way towards him. In this lighting, he looked like some sort of enigmatic angel. His white paint glowed in the darkness of the room, the black circles around his eyes drawing you in like two magnetic tunnels. Terzo looked you up and down, not so successfully stifling a satisfied smirk. The way he eyed you was so enticing, and created a fluttery feeling in your stomach. Your face was flushed in a way not even the dim lighting could conceal, and you anxiously fidgeted with the hem of your dress.

“Hi.” You said, staring at the wall just behind him as a nervous smile spread across your face. All the confidence you had previously gained had melted away in a matter of moments. He had that effect on you, never failing to make you weak at the knees, stuttering like a teenage girl.

“Ciao, bella.” he greeted you. “You look incredible.”

You didn’t quite know how to respond, letting out a weak “thank you” while avoiding eye contact. Terzo placed his gloved hand under your chin and guided your face up to meet his gaze.

He said nothing, eyeing your features. The way your cheekbones glittered in the dull haze of the night. The twinkle in your eyes, like starlight. The lush tint of your lips. The arch of your brows, the perfectly crafted shape of your nose. And at the same time, you eyed his. The things you could make out from behind his face paint. The faint lines under his eyes and on his forehead. His strong jawline. His thick eyebrows. And of course, his mismatched eyes you loved so much.

The volume of the room was astronomical, music blasting, people yelling, glasses clinking. But all you could hear in that moment was your rapid heartbeat. You swore you could hear his. Maybe it was just the alcohol. And maybe it was just the alcohol that made you mindlessly grab his hand as it rested on your chin, Terzo’s breath coming to a brief halt as he dropped the glass in his other hand. And as it shattered in a million glimmering pieces, you carelessly left it behind and dragged him by the hand to the middle of the room. It wasn’t long until his hands were on your waist as you two moved to the rhythm of the music. You didn’t even know if it was the music in the room, or music of your own; your chests so close to each other you felt your hearts beating in unison, creating a strange song you couldn’t quite get a grip on but couldn’t get enough of. You felt the beads of sweat on each other’s foreheads begin to cling to one another as the room heated up. Or was it body heat? Or the feeling of him being so close to you, closer than he had ever been before, your hands exploring each other’s bodies to the soft sound of your breathing? Or maybe it was the warmth elicited in the pit of your stomach whenever Terzo pulled you in, his hot breath in your ear sending shivers down your spine as he whispered,

“Let’s go outside.”

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

i was walking around campus listening to music when lavender haze by taylor swift started playing and i immediately had this image in my mind and i knew i had to write it down. i hadn’t been that inspired and instantly motivated in a while so i knew i had to get on it.

this literally flowed out of me. writing this was like an out of body experience. it came so naturally. i wrote this in one go, which NEVER happens haha, occasionally getting up and switching spots around campus just to get a new environment. sitting at a coffee shop, then some sandwich place, and now outside at a table. pretty sure some people think i’m crazy because i’ve been hunched over my phone for like two hours now haha.

thank you for reading and for all your support! 🥹your comments and messages keep me going! i take requests as well if you’re interested!

more stuff coming soon!

♡, alice

[rainbowsky]

Anonymous asked: hello! i came across something on twt and i was wondering how true it was. i seen your post ab the leds and banners and how antis hate them however there was a supposed video on twitter where [redacted]

This is in reference to a previous post.

Sorry, Anon, some of what you posted is blatant lies (even if they aren't your own lies) and I can't publish that on my blog.

Also, forgive me for being totally fed up with this topic.

Yes, it's absolutely true that ALL LED BANNERS are generally not allowed at events like this. Fans sneak them in. All fans of all colors. MTJJ sneak them in, turtles sneak them in, Yixing fans sneak theirs in, etc. etc.

In fact, even rival fan groups have helped each other smuggle in their light banners at times (such as for Tencent 2020, when turtles and others helped XFX get their banners in - and brought red banners themselves - so they could give GG his red ocean). Fans have also shared solid color panel graphics to each other that they could load onto their phone screens to hold up when their light banners were confiscated.

It is a widely known reality that light banners are generally considered contraband at events, especially large ones.

No doubt there is plenty of footage of security yelling at fans and arguing with them about their banners. Some of which involved security coming after motos and trying to get them to lower their banners (there are clips of that in my post!), and some yelling at turtles. This should not be even remotely surprising.

No doubt there was also a tsunami of complaints from MTJJ about the presence of turtles. They love trying to get turtles into trouble, creating huge disruptions around turtles and then pointing at that disruption and saying, "See, they're so disruptive!"

As I said in my post, security is concerned with visibility and comfort for all audience members and will require obnoxious banners to be lowered/removed, regardless of color.

Solos cherry-pick clips that seem to support their claims, conveniently either editing to remove context or only showing situations where turtle banners were being addressed by security - all to deliberately mislead people into thinking it was specific to turtles. Especially on Twitter, where antis deliberately mistranslate things for unsuspecting international fans.

As I showed in my post, they will present clips that appear to be about one thing when it's actually something else entirely. Don't believe their BS. Don't be a rube, my friend. Use your head.

If you're going to go around Twitter and read posts from antis, that's your choice, but realize you're going to be duped, misled and abused, and don't come crying to me about it. I'm getting tired of people sending me anti messages and asking me to parse them. You should be able to do that yourself by now.

And if you can't or won't curate your online experience, and if you're determined to hang around haters on Twitter and get drawn into hate threads there, don't import their garbage here. I and others on Tumblr are here for a reason. We're not on Twitter for a reason.

Please read this post for more info.

And I have this final word on the topic: All of this is just fanwar BS. It really doesn't matter who did what, which banners were what, who said what, etc. etc. Focus on DD and his performance. Nothing else is important.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Arc 2, Reflections

So, I had some... strong opinions about some of Wildbow's choices in the Interlude 2 Live Reactions.

That's going to happen. I don't always agree with or like or even really 'accept' the choices of creators sometimes. I bitch about them. Happens. They don't necessarily mean much about my broader opinions about the creator as a creator, and they definitely don't mean anything about what I think about them as a person.

I don't know Wildbow, and I'm not likely to. Whatever he's like as a person, I don't know. As a writer, he's obviously talented, dedicated, and somehow able to churn out words at a disturbingly fast pace. He's also made choices I don't agree with (I've never met a creator that doesn't) or like or think were really the best choices he could have made with the characters/story. But so what? It's his work.

Doesn't mean I don't like Worm. 2 Arcs in, and I still do.

Anyway, the point is, the occasional bitching about Wildbow and his choices, or the Sequel to Worm that Really Should Not Be Named don't represent some sort of 'I hate Worm and Wildbow' thing.

Anyway - as for Arc 2 itself, it's good. It does feel a little fluffed up, there's definitely some parts of 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4 that could have been cut, or condensed, but it's not so bad that it substantively or really even noticeably detracts from the arc.

Arc 2 is clearly both establishing for Taylor why she's going to make the choice to join up with these villains despite her stated desire to be a hero, the desire that has motivated her for three months, kept her going, and why we the readers should see this as reasonable, both for her, and from a broader standpoint.

Taylor obviously justifies it to herself with 'I need to find their boss', but equally, she I think, pretty clearly, wants to be... well, wanted (not in a sexual sense, though perhaps that too, but just in the 'they want me around' sense. Minus Rachel, anyway). She hasn't had a place to belong, or people that aren't Danny and... I guess maybe Greg, that really wanted her around in a very long time (as a teenager reckons things). And Armsmaster does a poor job of showcasing the Hero side, and Taylor's got too much baggage to really grasp the case about the Wards he was making, etc.

So yeah. It does make sense. She's got no trust in authority in general, be it Protectorate, PRT or the School. The Undersiders have a boss, but Money is nice, and a place to belong is even more, and she can tell herself she's still aiming to be a hero and turn on them eventually.

And yet - we as the readers see humanized villains, who are all kids too. All (well, maybe not Rachel, yet) decent...ish people. They're not Lung, they're not Empire 88. They're not dealing drugs. They don't really hurt people. (Rachel again excepted)

And we as the reader already have a poor opinion (ish) of Armsmaster, and then we have Vicky.

Vicky, Vicky, Vicky. Glory Girl the Cop. Police Brutality in a Tiara. Collateral Damage Barbie.

She gets better, I believe that, and that this picture of her is just an out of context one, but it really doesn't make a good showing of the character, or of the Heroes side in general. Even Panacea - she's a hero too, and she's calling Victoria out, but she does it the same, all the same, covers it up.

And then there's that Aura, which - we don't know much about it yet, but the fact that a character is just... slinging a mind-altering Aura around like that so casually, to the point where her sister calls herself 'immune' from overexposure, even as what may have been a joke...

Yeah. That seems... fucked. Vicky being this way, so casual about what she did to the guy, effectively torturing him (and Amy kinda gleefully joining in at the end, sorta)...

It doesn't do a great job of showing the heroes of the Wormverse in a good light. Which is, I would imagine, the whole point.

We as the readers are supposed to be okay with our MC being a wannabe hero that decides to join Villains, and one way we're expected to be okay with it is the classic trope - the good guys are actually as bad or worse than some of the baddies.

The Undersiders try not to hurt random people. Vicky fucking - I mean, fuck she nearly kills a guy. Not in self defense. Not in a fight. Not to save anyone.

Just because she got angry and didn't care to stop herself.

Maybe, just maybe, the heroes aren't all they seem cracked up to be. Maybe Taylor being a villain is the more moral choice. That's what the Interlude is trying to imply to us.

Ish.

It's hard to really read Interlude 2 in Isolation, since Amy is my Blorbo so much already, since the Brainrot™ of her has taken over my brain, but I suspect I would like Amy anyway, between her generally bitchy attitude, how much she does care about her sister (not that we know the full details yet) and her 'Fucking hell Vicky, stop doing this shit!' attitude. She makes a good, appealing showing of herself, and she's the sort of character I'd tend to like anyway.

Of course, I'm not reading this blind, and I know Amy is even more the sort of character I'm into, narratively. And here she is at the start of her fucked up journey into fucking up so fucking much. Poor little Amy. If she knew what was coming...

Well, I honestly wouldn't put it past her to just try and kill or birdcage herself now, so she doesn't do that to Vicky. Or she snaps early and goes hogwild, I suppose, but I don't think so.

Anyway, back on topic, before I babble about Amy for hours ( :rofl: ), Arc 2 is a big set up piece, really. Arc 1 is the inciting incident, the big deal that sets the tone for what's to come, introduces the world and some key players, the basic ideas and notions...

And Arc 2 is building out on that. A lot does and does not happen, but what definitely happens is a fluffing out of the world, a showing us more than just what we had seen, laying the groundwork for what's to come.

Certainly Amy and Vicky will be showing up again at the Bank, and yet, we probably don't realize, as blind readers, where they fit in. Or that the bank is coming.

But we have to know, have to suspect, that Taylor is gonna have to do villain stuff at some point.

Arc 2 lays all the groundwork of who these people are, the world they live in, and the consequences of Arc 1, of Taylor fucking taking out Lung.

Fucking LUNG.

Pound for pound, objectively, Arc 1 is better. But Arc 2 has a lot going for it, and of course, AMY!

I have no doubt I'm going to continue to enjoy this work. What I'm most curious about rn is if I'll keep hating Tattle-bitch.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Soooo...chapter 75 of ACOWAR pinged my editor brain's bra strap. I have a passage to share and then we're gonna talk about why word choice matters.

Before I start ragging on the writing, can we just all acknowledge how adorable it is that Cassian is over here like, "hell yeah babe, you get your revenge on that asshole. Your knife technique is beautiful"? This man is literally dying on the ground but he's still enamored and I just love that for Nessian.

That said...WORD CHOICE MATTERS and the use of "twist" in this passage is a) another of MANY examples of SJM going "this word has a specific contextual meaning but I'm going to use it here regardless and neither explain nor meaningfully recontextualize" and b) unnecessarily wordy to avoid the confusion that even SJM seems to have recognized would be a problem from the first thing!!!

The phrase "twist the knife" is both a literal description and a common English idiom, and the literal and figurative meanings of the two often go hand in hand. When someone says "twist" in relation to a bladed weapon, they pretty much always mean that the blade rotates in a more or less circular fashion to take a slit wound to a gaping one. You ask 100 people what it means to twist a knife and 99 of them are going to give you a very specific wrist motion. This is COMMON KNOWLEDGE. This is one of those things that English speakers familiar with English idioms are going to understand in a very specific way.

Which is why that first use of "twist" by SJM is absolutely bananas. Nesta isn't idiomatically twisting the knife, as the next sentence makes abundantly clear. She is hauling it basically laterally to decapitate the man. Imagine a pirate on the big lateral wheel that pulls up the anchor chain, that's closer to the motion Nesta is making than "twist" implies. She's hauling on that thing like handle, she's ROTATING, not twisting.

And SJM clearly knows that her use of twist is wonky, because she uses her next sentence to clarify the direction of rotation. But let me tell you, the comedy double take my brain had to do with those two sentences was NOT funny. Your reader shouldn't have an immediate clear image in their heads about what a character is doing and have it IMMEDIATELY contradicted in the next sentence. That is unnecessarily confusing for readers and its poor writing.

And then SJM doubles the fuck down on using "twist" with "twisted and twisted the blade into the king's neck" and I'm just over here like...yeah ok sure, "twist" isn't factually wrong in this context, BUT THE DISSONANCE WITH THE CONNOTATIONS IS JUST GETTING WORSE. She could have used "yanked," "rotated," "levered," or "hauled" and any one of them would have given me less connotative dissonance than "twisted."

Because here's the thing: Nesta is TAKING HIS GODDAMN HEAD OFF. She is decapitating the King of Hybern. She is separating his head from his shoulders. Unless we are talking about Twilight and Alice literally twisting a bad vamp's head off like a bottle cap, TWISTING IS GENERALLY NOT INVOLVED IN DECAPITATION.

The word choice in this section was objectively confusing and any editor worth their salt would have looked at those sentences and gone "This might confuse readers given the ubiquity of 'twist the knife' as a saying and a literal act. Maybe consider a different word?" But somehow this thing went to print with this key scene full of weird, contradictory, and connotatively inappropriate word choice. Nesta twisted her knife and decapitated the King of Hybern. Tell me that sentence didn't just make you go "huh...?"

Words MATTER. Idioms MATTER. Connotations MATTER. This needed editorial attention that it didn't get, and frankly I hate it.

[hadalzonee]

a lot of people really don't like the localized title "delicious in dungeon", and i kind of see why. personally i don't particularly like it, but i don't think it's awful. but with a title like dungeon meshi, the localizers were kind of put between a rock and a hard place. the way i see it, they basically had three options when adapting the manga for a western audience.

option one: don't localize the title. dungeon meshi -> dungeon meshi.

aka the jujutsu kaisen option. this one is an obvious one. just take the title and romanize it. pros: for those who already know about the manga, it's instantly recognizable. "oh sweet, dungeon meshi got picked up and i can buy it in the us now! awesome!". there's no chance of misinterpreting or misrepresenting the author or series because everything was kept the same. cons: for those who don't already know about the series, the title tells them nothing besides the word "dungeon". to use the example i gave, i actually have no idea what jujutsu kaisen is about because i don't know what the title means. thus you can't glean anything unique about the series from browsing the shelves alone. the international audience does not get the same experience browsing the shelves as the original japanese audience. plus, people who aren't super familiar with japanese media may think the series would be inaccessible to them and turn away. choosing this option has a much lower chance of bringing in new readers than the other two options, which is something companies want to avoid.

option two: literally translate the title. dungeon meshi -> dungeon meals.

aka the my hero academia option. also pretty self-explanatory. take the title and replace the japanese words/grammar with english words/grammar. pros: little chance of misinterpreting or misrepresenting the author or series. gives a bit more of the series' uniqueness from the title alone. "dungeon meals? that seems a bit different than other manga featuring dungeons." higher chance of drawing in new readers than the previous option. cons: words can have multiple meanings depending on context. if you choose the wrong word, you could wind up misrepresenting the series. there are also multiple synonyms that could be used even if the word only has one meaning, so which one to pick can be a tough choice. also... dungeon meals is kind of a boring title.

option three: localize the title. dungeon meshi -> delicious in dungeon.

aka the land of the lustrous option, or the option yen press took with dungeon meshi. rather than literally translating the title, give it a bit more flair, or make it a bit more poetic depending on the series. keep the same basic idea, but change it a bit. pros: a title like this is more eye-catching. dungeon meshi wouldn't stick in the head of someone not in the know, dungeon meals is too boring, but delicious in dungeon is catchy. it sticks in your head. it's alliterative. it communicates the unique aspects of the series, while keeping with the idea of the original title. cons: WEEBS HATE WHEN THINGS AREN'T TRANSLATED LITERALLY. my god. every time a localizer takes a small liberty and doesn't translate the exact literal meaning of the text of a manga or anime, dickhead weebs will come out of the woodwork to complain about how it's "unfaithful" and "a bad translation", despite knowing nothing about translation theory and the most bare-bones knowledge of japanese. also, i guess delicious in dungeon does sound a bit silly.

anyway. i should go to bed. but those are my thoughts on dungeon meshi's translated title.

[scummy-writes]

⋅ ── ✩ Glimpses of Teal and Auburn - Doubts

Words: 916

Characters: Arthur/Isaac

Summary: In which Isaac overthinks and worries

Isaac absentmindedly bit the corner of his thumb, scanning over the pages of the book lost in thought. In truth, he wanted the book to offer some distraction, but he found himself rereading the same passages over and over again while he kept thinking of the proposition he was offered.

He couldn’t deny that he was curious. A night spent entertwined with such a loving couple, finally being able to get a taste of that warmth between them… But why were they wanting him out of everyone here? Was it purely out of pity due to his lack of romantic experience? Because they were attracted to him?

Or was it simply the fact that the other residents rejected the couple’s odd request, and Isaac was the last on the list?

The idea sullied his mood in an instant, for it seemed the most likely. Because, in comparison, how could he be the ideal choice? A lack of sexual prowess did more harm than good in this situation, considering the fact they’d have to ease him into this. His body was lithe, laughable when put beside someone like Theo or Napoleon- Or even Vincent. Stuttering was a curse that slipped out when his nerves were shot, and he’d been constantly teased for his overthinking; something that would come out in the bedroom, he was sure of.

It seemed reasonable to doubt that he was their first choice, and no matter how he had become accustomed to his downfalls, it still rather stung when placed in this context. A firm reminder of why he was never successful even trying to secure friendships before his ‘second chance’ at life. Given his lack of success academically this go around, due to refusal to share his research, Isaac even sometimes wondered if le Comte regretted bringing him back.

“What’s got you so glum, ol’ boy?”

Isaac sighed as Arthur plopped down beside him on the couch, the writer resting his arm along the backside of it; his hand resting just by Isaac’s head, “nothing.”

“Mm, so that frown is just part of your natural expression?”

“Haven’t you anything better to do than plague me this early in the day?”

“Come on, Newt,” Arthur’s fingers teased the back of Isaac’s head, toying with his hair, “you know it’s all in good fun! I don’t mean it harshly.”

Isaac kept quiet for a moment, flustering at the scarcely intimate touches. With the way her and Arthur worded their idea, Arthur was interested in Isaac, too. Or, at the least, the idea of being… close… with another man.

The negativity coming back in full force made his stomach churn, and it must have shown on his face, for Arthur’s tone lowered.

“Hey, I mean that. It’s just a friendly tease, I didn’t know it would harm you-”

“It’s not that,” Isaac interjected, Arthur’s guilt causing him to feel worse, “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Mm, is it about the three of us…?”

Ah, he hated the way his cheeks were so quick to blush. Isaac looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You know, Isaac, it’s alright to change your mind.”

“That’s not…” Rubbing his eyes, Isaac sighed, “I just don’t understand.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t understand why you asked. Or rather, why you asked me. I understand being curious over these matters...exploring… but surely I wasn’t your first choice,” the words came out in a rush, Isaac not wanting to give Arthur a chance to cut him off, “every conclusion I reach- it just doesn’t make sense.”

Arthur finally stopped toying with Isaac’s hair, instead propping his head up as he looked at Isaac, “is it that hard to fathom that we’re attracted to you?”

“...Yes.”

At the quiet admission, Arthur’s eyes widened for a moment- and Isaac felt embarrassed; what was he doing? What was possessing him to admit his worries in such a manner?

But Arthur gave him a gentle smile, reaching out to tuck Isaac’s hair behind his ear, “for all the greatness you contain, you still can’t work out the reasons why someone may house affections for you?”

Cheeks burning, Isaac couldn’t get himself to respond. His throat felt tight from the sudden compliment, and… he felt like a fool, for getting so torn up over an opportunity others would leap towards.

But Arthur didn’t poke or prod with jokes, and instead kept talking.

“It’s rather easy to pick ourselves apart to compare with others. When we’re trapped in our own thoughts, it’s easy to convince ourselves of the worst. But, whether you want to believe it or not, you do have charms to you- physical and otherwise. 

I won’t claim to know how it feels to go through what you have, and perhaps it’s asking a lot, but I’d like you to believe us when I say we didn’t ‘settle’ on you, Isaac. If it’s difficult, we’re more than happy to make the fact very clear.”

Isaac wasn’t sure how much he could take. His heart thundered in his chest as he poorly attempted to sort through his emotions, ruminating on the words said- that he was actually wanted. Wanted by two people that constantly occupied his thoughts, in one way or another.

Two people that, whether he wanted to admit it or not, made him feel more than he had in years.

“I…,” his voice was raspy, struggling not to show the torrent of emotions going through him, “I t-think I’d like that.”

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[prisoner-000]

"Cat" - Lyrics + Translation Analysis

As it happens to be Kazui's birthday, let's talk about the lyrics in Cat some more - Mostly using the official translation (since it's accurate for the most part) with a few exceptions. I'm not great at Japanese and only know a few words, so whenever further translation was needed, I hit the books. If I miss any context, feel free to add on!

I believe Cat, at its core, is about Kazui's decision to confess his love to an unseen second person in his MV OR confessing his 'sin' to his wife. This song is not about Hinako/his wife, though she plays an important role in the visuals of the song.

Alright, let's start with some minor things.

Lie, until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade

This pretty much stays the exact same in Japanese, with the exception of a reference to "kyogen", a japanese form of traditional drama. 'Kyogen'-type theater usually serves as intermissions between the longer and more serious 'Noh' plays, in which actors wear masks. Kyogen is more comedic in nature and uses slapstick.

(This line has probably been analyzed to death: It's a pretty clear indicator of Kazui being a self-declared 'master of deception'/having lied his whole life about something, like he mentions in his Voice Drama.)

Since when have I ignored my feelings?/It’s better to be a let down, than to be let down yourself/I just wanted to touch, to caress/I just wanted to be touched

(Nothing interesting to add translation wise. I believe this batch of lyrics is Kazui wrestling with himself over whether he should tell the truth or not: In my opinion, this is about him being unsure whether to confess his love to the unseen second person in the scene we see later in his MV. (or if you're on copium like me, the bartender guy...))

So it’s wrong? Oh shove that!/INNOCENT, isn’t that right?/Maybe, perhaps… or… could it come true… like/It’s for the sake of true love, who wouldn’t lie for that?

The only notable difference in translation is, in classic MILGRAM fashion, the word 'INNOCENT' being 'FORGIVEN' in the Japanese version. So, y'know. We know this.

(This is the only lyric that is a bit of a puzzle to me. Kazui believes he was in the right for lying to his wife/Hinako, because he couldn't have lived in a society where he'd be seen as strange or an outsider. So, he did what everyone else does around him: Once he's an older adult, he gets married. Not sure what the 'true love' part is about, in this case - maybe he believes to reach that desire he craves, he has to put up this charade.)

Love (plus) Destiny = Crap, smash it, shatter it, bye-bye/That sticky-sweet sequence: Dinner + Camouflage + You-Know-What/Loving Affection (minus) Love, it’s tacky, this two-way deceit/Victim and Perpetrator, let’s keep it simple

Hate to disappoint but Kazui is not making an awesome reference to sex with "You-Know-What" - 'nanchatte' is used more like "what a joke" in this context. In the sense that - this is just what everyone does, you already know the rest of the story.

Interesting to note is that the official english lyrics were changed at some point: The third line of this batch used to say this:

Devotion (minus) love, lame, cheating

I think this may have been changed to remove the reference to 'cheating'. In English, cheating can be used as both cheating at games and as cheating in relationships - while in Japanese, these terms are very different. The term used in Japanese still seems to mean 'cheating' in the game way, fitting Kazui's gambling/showman theme.

(I think these lines are pretty clear to read from a story perspective. Kazui isn't actually in love with his wife and presents their relationship as a lie, he's 'cheating' at the game of love. Also, 'camouflage/disguise' is an interesting choice of words - disguising himself as what, trying to fit in with who? The norm, methinks. He wants to appeal to what everyone else is doing.)

Phew, oh wow I’m drunk/Hey, so what if I said I liked-liked you, what would you do?

The english variant of this text uses 'like-like', and I'm not too sure why. The japanese version uses 'daisuki', perhaps a bit of a more cutesy way to say 'love' than 'aishiteru'. Maybe the intention in the japanese text is a more childish tone due to Kazui's intoxication.

(This lyric, in my opinion, is the big moment the first few batches of lyrics have been building to: Kazui confesses his feelings to whoever this mystery person is in a state of intoxication.)

I just wanted to ask, so it’s out in the open/I just got a little greedy

(Nothing too interesting translation wise. "I wanted to ask" obviously refers to "What would you do?" Pretty self-explanatory as well. Kazui believes his confession was selfish. He likely feels bad for his wife.)

All those things I wanna do that I can’t say out loud/I gotta keep it inside and act/The beating of this heart… see… it’s no longer about good and bad… it isn’t/I realize the futility, but I still can’t help but dream

'I gotta keep it inside and act' would perhaps be more accurately translated to 'I gotta drink it up and swallow it'. Reference to substance abuse. Awesome.

(I love repressed people!!! Kazui, since indulging in his desire and confessing his feelings, isn't sure about his place in the world. It's no longer about good or bad, his desire is impossible to make a reality, his only escape is fantasizing. Which leads us back to his constant references to 'dreaming', all the way to his lyrics in UNDERCOVER.)

I can’t stop, I can’t be normal/This feeling, it can’t be gratified/I can’t stop, I can’t be normal/This feeling, it’s yearning to be satisfied

(Oh boy, we're on yearning now, huh. More dilemmas in his head - he's fighting with himself on if his 'unnatural' desire is wrong, but he knows he can't live with himself if he doesn't fulfill it.)

Let's take a breather

(Unsure. Some translations say this is also 'Just a quick smoke/I need a quick smoke'. Maybe smoking is supposed to represent him indulging in his desire at this moment. That, or he wants a break from his inner conflict - Or even confessing to his wife is a 'breather'.)

Love (plus) Destiny = Crap, smash it, shatter it, bye-bye/To be caressed by you, that would be perfection/I wanted to be loved, just like a cat/Maybe act capricious, on my word and at my fancy

Here's an interesting difference between the Japanese and English versions! In the original version, 'caressed' is 'pet'/'stroked'. The translation also removes the 'you' from the third line. So maybe this would be a little more accurate:

To be pet by you, that would be perfection/I wanted you to love me like a cat

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the last line is supposed to be in the original. DeepL translated it as 'I might want to leave it with you on a whim' - other sites translate it as something among the lines of 'making a deposit'. I'm at a loss of how to interpret this line. LOL.

(Perhaps important context to add is that, in Japanese context, 'being loved like a cat' would be receiving love but not giving much in return. People have pointed out the gay slang 'neko' reference to this about a dozen times before, and even though the lyrics do not use the kanji associated with the slang term, I believe it could have some merit.)

Lie, until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade/Lick that sin and oppose punishment, until you can meet the king of the masquerade

(This is a pretty 1:1 translation. What does 'lick that sin' mean? Man what do I know. It's another cat reference, though! I think the last line is referring to his verdict in the first trial, maybe. Perhaps Kazui is building up his lies even more, in some way, and repressing himself more? I'm a little unsure. It is plausible that he's growing more comfortable in his persona.)

Overall, I believe this song is Kazui finally coming to that decision of confessing his love for the unknown person. 'Half' may have been about him contemplating it, which would make 'Cat' a pretty direct continuation of this little story - I wonder if his third trial song might end the story!

I'm personally of the opinion that Kazui's 'desire' is either of the nature that he just can't stay in relationships for too long without getting bored (which cracks in some places, especially in the MV) or that he is some flavor of LGBT which is more taboo in Japan, especially for male role models like him - a cop, big, strong, masculine... Obviously he'd be pressured to enter a heteronormative life.

This was really fun to do! I might do this sort of thing with more future MILGRAM songs, so if you have any requests, let me know! If you have anything to add translation-wise, feel free to correct me. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

[ilikereadingactually]

The Archive Undying

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

WOW, this is a ride, in so many ways. i really dig sff that drops me in without explanations and lets me learn the world through context, and i adore a book that really asks me to do a lot of thinking and piecing together and interpreting subtleties. i'm a go-with-the-flow reader, i don't really go back to look again at anything or look up words as i read, i trust the narrative to make sense eventually. this book satisfies and rewards all of that!! i found it a little denser than is ideal for me, but dense in that lush, humid way where you're a little out of breath all the time. i don't think i fully have a grasp on the world or the nuances of the plot, which makes it feel pleasantly surreal and makes me really excited for the next book.

i do feel fully invested in and in love with the main characters, which makes the whole thing work for me. Sunai is such a mensch!!! Veyadi tries hard and loves with ragged edges! everyone is a personality and a delight even when they're deceiving each other and switching sides and screwing up and hating themselves, and i think it's because Sunai's pov is so tender and generous. he's a big mess, and is willing to accept and forgive the messiness of the people he loves; how could he, wounded as he is, expect anyone else to be flawless? it makes me love him, and makes me love everyone who loves him.

other highlights for me are the complexities of personhood presented here: there are corrupted AI gods and humans damaged by their interfaces, there are intelligences within intelligences and fragments of being and surprising mergers of thought and self. it's like a political conflict happening inside a funhouse, with pleasingly incomplete religious underpinnings that put me in mind of A Psalm for the Wild-Built, except it's nothing like that book at all in tone or temperament. also, mlm main characters, which seems fairly rare still in this kind of epic speculative fiction, plus interesting gender things going on in general! also also, i'm such a sucker for Asian-based sff worlds, and this one has that feel: some East Asian, some Southeast, some South, flavoring the names and the language and the food and the feel without any one-to-one mapping of cultures in this book onto cultures in the real world.

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley through NetGalley, from the elusive Tor, my current fave publisher just pumping out bangers all the time. upon getting access to this i felt the way you do when a cat chooses to sniff your hand.

try this if you: like to float and be carried by beautiful prose in a vast and deep moving landscape you can never see all of at once, enjoy queers making bad choices for good reasons, dig a book where the relationships are varied and interesting and often sexual without any of the usual "romantic" tropes, have feelings about questions of selfhood, or understand revenge but prefer mercy.

maybe not for you if: you get very frustrated by books that move fast without explaining much, and books that are purposefully playing with mysterious perspectives and voices. this book does not show its cards, and i love that but i know it can be a dealbreaker for some.

some lines i really liked: this is a loooong book so i picked out a few.

It is excruciating to behold. Sunai understands that they know each other. He and Imaru first met Ruhi when he and she were still running together, and Imaru brought Ruhi's letter to Ghamor only a couple of months ago. None of that mitigates the bodily shock of seeing them together. Talking. The panicked realization that they could talk to each other about him--that they have likely already done this--compels Sunai to interrupt.

...

He never imagined that Ruhi might already have chosen to do the damnable thing himself. It makes him feel a certain fuck of a way.

...

"It killed the sentinel-fowl," says Veyadi.

By the counter, Imaru stills. "What?"

"I killed the sentinel-fowl," Sunai clarifies.

"That isn't explaining," says Jin. "What do you mean you killed it? Lay it out plain for those of us who aren't fondling each other's neurons."

pub date: June 27, 2023!