#respect is not in his dictionary lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vashtijoy · 4 months

Note

Hi! Pre-emptive sorry for the long ask- I don't know if you've answered this before but I was scrolling through your blog and in one of your posts you note that the brief bit we see of Akira's hometown has high rise buildings, which implies it's a city. I could've sworn there was in game dialogue calling him a country boy though or referencing him being from a rural area? Is there something in the Japanese text to suggest these are meant to be taken as jokes (I.E. protag is from a city, but it's not as big as Tokyo so he's playfully considered 'rural') or is this a case of the game devs simply not considering what buildings they had in the background of that scene?

Hello! First of all, I think it's insanely unlikely that the game devs just forgot Joker was meant to be from a shack on top of a mountain and accidentally put him in a city. Maybe they didn't have time to design a farm and shoved him in a random cityscape instead? Well, maybe. I would at least have pasted in a couple more trees.

So what do we know about this?

Sojiro calls Joker 田舎もん inakamon, short for 田舎者 inakamono—someone from the countryside; someone provincial. This is what's translated as "country boy", or "country bumpkin". Chihaya uses it about herself, and Chihaya I think is certainly meant to be very rural. The Adorable Woman and Rural Young Man in Shibuya Station use inaka a lot:

His name did not originally use inakamono or similar, by the way—he's the 上京してきた青年 joukyou shite kita seinen, "the young man who's moved to Tokyo". Note the moving-up kanji there, 上, lol—this is not a sideways move, it's a definite move up.

so what is the inaka?

In short, the inaka can be the remote countryside—but it can also just be your hometown, of any description. It can be legit anywhere that isn't Tokyo. Here's Tofugu:

My mouth was hanging open and I know I was being rude, but it was really hard to pull myself together. The woman I was speaking with was from one of the top Japanese Universities. She has had international relationships, traveled the world, and done work that most foreign anime fans would kill to see. Someone with her experiences, to me, should be open-minded about other cultures and lifestyles. Just the same, I can't help but to be bothered by what she said: "I feel like anything outside Tokyo's 23 wards is inaka." [...] Often, people usually just use what they read in the dictionary, but I learned fast that "countryside" in American English is much different than in Japanese English. For me, countryside means farms. Countryside is driving to see your closest neighbor, riding tractors for work and pleasure, and being able to immediately tell who's from your town just by looking at them. When I say this to Japanese people and ask them to explain inaka, the joke is always the same: "Inaka is anything outside of Tokyo." Osaka and Kyoto, for many, aren't inaka, but Sapporo, which is one of the few parts of the country where this legendary thing called "insulated housing" exists, is inaka. [...] So you might be wondering how "bad" it really is out here. Truthfully, I'm living in a city, at least by American standards. Great bus and train systems, tons of malls and movie theaters, some of the major stores people visit Tokyo to see, game centers, golfing… and a few rice paddies. Not many, but there are some. Imagine a fashionable mall, famous manga store, well-respected school with a strong baseball team, and major supermarket, all within walking distance, with maybe one field of rice. Honestly, the place is so city that I don't think I would willingly eat any rice that grew in that field. I swear, it's in front of a bus stop.

So, tl;dr: if you aren't in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, you're probably in the inaka—at least to someone's mind. You can be somewhere that looks to us in every way like a city, and be in the inaka. And if you pick up sticks and move to Tokyo? Then you have a good chance of being jibed about being a "country boy".

so what is joker's inaka like?

[Joker] 田舎に帰りたい inaka ni kaeritai I miss the country... [lit. I want to go back to the inaka.] Ryuji ハハ、都会の洗礼ってか? haha, tokai no senrei tte ka? Hah. Not used to the big city yet, huh? [lit. Haha, so this is your first time in the city?]

We don't get a huge amount of detail in-game about Joker's home. Besides Sojiro's "country boy", Ryuji has a couple of comments. Here's another:

Ryuji あれ? お前ン家ってわりと田舎? are? omae n uchi tte wari to inaka? Wait a sec, your hometown isn't near the countryside, is it? [lit. isn't your place relatively countrified?] Ryuji いや、大自然でランニング練習とか気持ち良さそうだなーって。 iya, daishizen de ranningu renshuu to ka kimochi yasasou da naa tte I was just thinkin' it'd be great to run an' train somewhere out where it's all big, naturey open space. [lit. no, I thought it seemed like it'd feel great to train in the great outdoors and stuff.]

(I think something may be off here with that translation of daishizen, which seems to connote "the great outdoors", "a vast wilderness", etc, as well as just meaning "nature" (the sort you get out into) more generally". The word has been split up as if Ryuji was just saying "big nature" for some reason, like if you thought "the great outdoors" meant "the outdoors is great :D".)

But we can see from Ryuji's statement that Joker's home is wari to inaka, "relatively countrified", "kind of countrified"—it's more the country than Tokyo is, but it's probably not the ass end of nowhere, either. It's somewhere Ryuji pictures getting out into nature—but even if that's accurate and not just in Ryuji's city-boy head, that again doesn't connote "ass end of nowhere"; a lot of very built-up places are startlingly close to farmland or to nature, as with the putative rice field at the bus stop that we read about earlier.

the artbook picture

There is, of course, a picture of Joker's home in the artbook:

That doesn't scream "rural" to me—though it's also not the built-up area we see him in with Shido. It backs onto a cliff, it's very green. It's clearly a row of houses on a street, maybe in a fancy suburb on the edge of the city?

It's a nice house, at any rate. Joker moving into Sojiro's attic, with his clothes in a box, will have been a harsh step down.

Another detail from this image before we move on:

Look at this board. We can make out what it says. We can even, just possibly, make out a town name there...

日立自治会掲示板 hitachi jichikai keijiban Hitachi Neighbourhood Association noticeboard

自治会 jichikai—neighbourhood associations. As you'd expect, they tend to be organised at the very local level—so Hitachi is likely to be a small district within a larger city, rather than (say) the city of Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture.

his city has a name guys i can't believe it lmao

the coup de grace

But there's one question I think really puts the nail in the coffin here: WTF was Shido doing in the middle of nowhere?

It's totally plausible that Joker came from a remote farm in the country, or a tiny village in far northern Honshu. But what is there in that to attract Shido? Like... Shido seems kind of an indoor guy, y'know?

He goes where his business is. He goes where the money is. It's difficult for me to picture him going to random rural areas with nobody to schmooze, with what I'm sure he'd consider to be poor facilities and shitty hotels.

Even if he did stoop to visit somewhere like that, by the time he was on his off hours getting pissed (in both senses) and attacking women, wouldn't he have gone back to civilisation?—back to the city?

conclusion??

This place Joker is wandering after dark doesn't look like The Country. It looks quite built up. I'd say it's the centre of a regional city or large town—with those nice houses we just looked at set off in suburbs along its edge. Look at this place:

It really does look like a less cramped version of Yongen-jaya, down to the trees. I don't think they spent too long on this area, but I also don't think it's inaccurate.

By the way, that "Hometown Neighbourhood" was originally 実家近くの住宅地 jikka chikaku no juutakuchi—"residential area near home". So this is not where Joker lived with his parents; it's an area close by. Like he says, he's on his way home late.

Where was he? We never find out. He has what looks like a school bag, well before his nasty crime days. Maybe he was visiting a friend we never hear about again. Maybe he was at cram school. But he's gone to this built-up part of town to do something there.

My guess would be that he lived in some prefectural capital or other. That's why Shido is there. I'd also guess that it's one of the Kanto prefectures, since the further you go from Tokyo, the less likely it becomes that Joker would have been sent to Tokyo for his probation, whether Sojiro was a friend of a friend or not.

As ever, all of this is for information only, and if you want to do something else superior in every way, you definitely should. At the end of the day Joker's a silent protagonist player insert, who can be from absolutely anywhere and as gay as you like. Let a thousand Jokers bloom.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/01/17)—first posted.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #look at that y'all a totally goro-free post #i have ascended

190 notes · View notes

lawbin-archive · 3 months

Text

The chemistry between Law & Robin

Yes, I'm talking about Lawbin's chemistry today.

Before you reading it, I have nothing against other ships. Law and Robin have chemistry with others as well. And I'm not comparing lawbin with any of them.

If you comment something like "[other ship] better" "I hate them" "even [a character] has more chemistry than them" "this ship is boring" etc., these kind of unreasonable, without proofs and rude comments. it's just proving that you are an immature and narrow-minded person that can't read or accept other opinion. Please respect each other and our personal space. I do welcome any other opinion with polite and civilized attitude.

If you are wondering why I need to set up a warning every time, it's because there are tons of annoying people in the internet.

I know I talked about their chemistry on twitter already, but I want to rant more about it lol so let's dive in.

Before everything, let's define chemistry. The definition of chemistry is "a quality that exists when two people understand and are attracted to each other" - from Cambridge dictionary So first of all, do Law and Robin understand each other?

In my opinion, yes and the first evidence is Robin can tell Law told the navy about green bit just by his face. and Law can also understand the danger of CP0. You might say they were just being investigative, observable and knowledgable. But that's the qualities you need to understand each other. In any relationship, you need to be communicative, have the same knowledge and observing each other emotions to understand each other.

Well, that's just the surface of understanding. Other than that, Law and Robin also have the same understanding on how hard is to learn the history (including void century and will of D). It's important to both of them because that's what Robin and Law dream of. Personally, I would say it's really difficult to find a person who has the same dream as you, understand how hard it is to archive and can archive with you. Especially, with all the Ohara's scholars eliminated and Robin searching poneglyph by herself for so long, she almost gave up and finally there is someone who has the same dream as her and can accompany her. I would say this is a very strong foundation of understanding and connections.

You might say, but she's already searching poneglyph with straw hats. But none of them really cares the history. Of course, it's important that the straw hats are supporting her and having her back. But only Law can fully understand her dream and know how hard it is. That's the special bonding they have.

Now that we know they have the same understanding on ponelgyph, isn't the underground Wano scenes more meaningful? Robin was searching poneglyph all by herself and now Law can accompany with her. All what Law did before defeating Doflamingo is to get revenge for Corazon, and now he finally found something he wants to do and he is interested with. And he's not achieving the goal by himself*.

*Note: Yes the straw hats helped him to defeat Doflamingo, but no one - I don't think even Robin knows the real reason. He has been taking all the responsibility and stress by himself. You can tell when he said he want to die with Luffy. That's how much burden he had. He didn't even want to involve the Heart pirates to begin with. To me, he's truly free and looking for what he's really interested after defeating Doflamingo.

side notes: Robin discovered ruins of Shandora by herself on the left panel, Robin and Law discovered ruins of underground Wano on the right panel. They both discovered in a square shaped tunnel, coincidence? On top of that, they have similar background and experience*. Why is this important? Because it makes them so easy to understand each other. They don't need to put themselves in each other's shoes to know how the person's feel. They have been through what each other been through. They already felt what each other felt. They can build connection instantly just by sharing their background. *I will make another post to talk about their similarities - it's kinda crazy to me how similar they are lol, but if you're interested what similarities they have, please read this.

Well Oda hasn't shown they know about each other experience yet, but Law already knew Robin can read poneglyph, with Law's personality and always updated with news, isn't hard for him to figure it out that she's the sole survivor of Ohara which is the same for him. Another thing is Law trusts Robin enough to tell her his real name. You might think is not a big deal, but Law is a distrusting person and it's a family secret, I don't think he would tell a potential future enemy his full name with so little of trust. [he was kinda threatened when he told Baby 5 & Buffalo, he only told Sengoku and Doflamingo he is a D*] Robin is the only member of straw hats that know his full name. *You might asked but Sengoku might be an enemy too, first he's retired, second he's the father figure for Corazon, that alone can let Law trust him enough to tell him the D and third he thinks he might know something about it. And for Doflamingo, I think he just wants to provoke him.

So they did build trust and bonding before he told her real name. It might be she saved him, it might be the alliance, it might also be they talked about their experience. Just one of my assumptions. Robin also told him she's also interested in the same thing. And here you go - they build an understanding and connection with their goals and dream.

Besides, they both have a similar dark humor. It's important to understand each other joke, right?

So they know each other have similar goals, similar background and similar personality. Isn't it really easy for them to understand each other and build bonding?

So, are they attracted with each other?

I would say maybe. Let's define what's attracted means. "If someone is attracted to someone else, he or she likes the other person or is interested in that person." - Cambridge dictionary Let's look at Law → Robin first, because I think that's a more obvious one. We talked about Law told Robin his real name which is something that drawn them closer. So that's one of the evidence. Another scene is when Law finds Robin in flower capital. Yes I'm brining it up again, because their conversation is so interesting.

Law said "You weren't with the others...so obviously I was suspicious." I found Law very cute here, because when did he get suspicious before? LOL From my memories, you can correct me if I'm wrong, Law never get suspicious to any straw hats for the entire alliance, and now he's getting "suspicious"? On top of that, straw hats were separated, Nami was having fun with Otama, Jimbei was having dinner by himself. There are tons of people in flower capital, he only notice Robin is missing and he's only "suspicious" about Robin.* He also searched the whole flower capital and the palace just to find her. I think that's a proof that he cares about her and her whereabouts. *You might say he followed her because of the poneglyph, I already explain it before so I'm not gonna repeat myself again. Please just refer to this post.

Also, when Robin crawled up on the tunnel. Law using his ability to switch places between him and something else. In the anime, it was Robin's sweat, but in the manga it's Robin's hair accessories. (the pop effect on Robin's head) Of course, it's really polite of him to not crawl behind Robin haha But how long did he look at Robin until she reached to the window and searching for something that he can switched place with.(I don't think he can shambles randomly at this point lol) That's also one of the reasons I think he's attracted to her - always paid attention to her and create proximity with her.

Let's talk about Robin → Law, I think Robin also shown she's interested to Law. As I mentioned above, she already told him she's also interested the meaning of D. I think talking about what you're interested is also a sign of you're interested to the person and willing to engage with them with the same hobby. Besides, Robin teased Law twice. The first one is in Dressrosa when she said "You have a sly look on your face." And the second time is the scene above when she said "I'm surprised you sniffed us out."* *Note that the original japanese text didn't indicate the subject in this sentence, but from their conversation, it's implied that Law only suspicious about Robin. I don't think he had interacted with Sukiyaki before lol

If I remember correctly, Robin rarely teasing other people except when she's interested. The only time I remember she teased someone is when she asked Luffy to let her join the crew which when she's interested in Luffy (non-romantically).* *again, I might be wrong, maybe there are other times. Other than that, I found it really cute when she said "No fair...". Robin rarely shown her childish (in a cute way), jealousy side of her. [I think when she said "No fair" means Law used his ability, kind of like jealous of his ability or he's cheating because she crawled all the way up] And it's interesting that she shown this playful side of her in front of him twice in this scene.

On top of that, Robin risked her body to save Law during Dressrosa. She was worrying about Law too. I think if it's someone you don't care, you won't worry or save them. If I really need to pull out another example, she didn't bother to help Bartolomeo when he was falling. But on the other side, she did care about Rebecca and saved her as well. (to provide different views) Also, Robin did worry about Law when she's under green bit and she was worrying about he's losing his arm.

I think it's pretty rare for Robin to worry about other guys outside of straw hats. And that might be a proof that she cared about Law and might attracted to him.

One piece rarely shown mutual romantic relationship, so it's surprised me that it's kinda hinting they are interested to each other especially the scenes in Wano. Although it's not obvious and not everyone sees it in that way, I think their relationship is cute regardless.

I actually found this post is really hard to write especially when you need to explain something that's a feeling and not something logical.

At the end, I think having chemistry or are they attracted to each other are really subjective to every one. Even though I pulled out definition, I think everyone has its own definition on chemistry. In my opinion, I think chemistry can appear in friendship, family or romantically. So if you only see their chemistry as platonic friends or comrade, I think that's totally reasonable. I'm not writing this to let everyone agrees with me. I just want to provide my perspective of their interactions. And personally, I like connections in emotionally & mentally more than physical intimacy, hence, why I like them.

It's really long post again, thank you for reading it. Again, I appreciate any opinion if you comment politely! :)

#one piece #lawbin #trafalgar law #nico robin #law #robin

62 notes · View notes

lightwise · 6 days

Text

TBB S3 E12 Reaction

Alright, this was the last episode that was truly represented in the trailer. I can’t wait to see Hunter kick some Juggernaut butt (why does that sound so bad lol)

- Hemlock wipe that damn smirk off your face

- Again with the shoulder shoves dude

- No why is CX-2 just walking away? We need to follow him and find out who he is!! *low-key screaming in frustration* lol

- I love how Hemlock is so arrogantly confident and uncaring that he comes across as almost respectful in how he takes the time to explain things to other people

- Come on Emerie, you’ve come so far! Don’t keep playing into Hemlock’s hand! You know Omega isn’t safe here and neither are you

- Lol he’s too busy to even wait for the test results. Bitch

- I do wish they had given us Crosshair telling Hunter and Wrecker about Omega. BUT I was very much correct that Hunter would not waste time being angry

- Every time Crosshair says something more about Tantiss it just keeps getting worse and worse 🥺🥺 don’t make that man go back there! Dee’s vocal inflections and the way he talks about Nala Se and Tipoca City is so regretful

- The trust and vulnerability he’s willing to show though with his hand shaking and admitting he doesn’t want to go back he’s so traumatized 😭💔

- No WAY they are bringing back Admiral Rampart! Kudos to those who called that one

- PHEEEE and AZZZZ

- Cross goes from pointing his rifle in Phee’s face to straight up telling her they’re taking her ship 🤣

- Okay, it finally happened. I finally teared up. Phee and Crosshair immediately sass each other, then she drops the fact that she and Tech were close and talked a lot and he TOLD HER ABOUT CROSSHAIR (and in a good light) and we got a BROWN EYES 👁️ 👄 👁️. I was in a puddle on the floor 🥹🥹🥹

- The way she treats all of them like family and helps them and puts her life on the line for them. It is just so satisfying to see her relationship with the Batch continue to develop like this. Truly family to all of them.

- More Andor vibes with this labor camp

- Of course Rampart is still a dramatic bitchy asshole. Prison hasn’t changed him AT ALL (except for the beard. Sorry guys but I’m just not seeing it 😆)

- Aw Wrecker giving Mel a little pat. He’s so sweet

- “Oh relax. I expect you to know a stealth approach when you see one” 🤩🤩 TECH you need to come back and marry this woman RIGHT FREAKING NOW

- Gosh they were so made for each other 😭

- That entire maneuver was insane and incredible

- Hunter’s helmet float 😄 at least one of them was having fun

- As others have pointed out I also really appreciate that they animated Phee with so much aging and tiredness and lines and wrinkles showing on her face. She’s a real woman who’s seen and done a lot of things and she’s incredibly gorgeous and badass and caring and intelligent and she doesn’t need perfect skin or a youthful glow to be completely amazing

- When are we getting the “day in the life of a storm trooper” workplace comedy? I need it Star Wars!

- It’s so good to see the boys working together like this

- The textures and lighting in this episode are just so real looking

- Wow Wrecker really just sucker punched that guy

- And he actually remembers plan 55 😁 so proud of him

- The music when they saunter in 😂 and we got a “how touching” too?!

- Rampart’s face is in the dictionary next to the word offended

- “Hunter, they’re sealing off the bridge!” Hunter: drives faster

- And he was giving Phee a hard time for her flying?? Boy is approaching Evel Knievel levels!!

- I need to see Hunter in a dirt bike rally now 😧

- Pretty sure Hunter is firmly in his Joel Miller Era. He does not care what he has to do or who he has to kill at this point

- “Not exactly a stealth exit boys” such a great line

- “We’re all in this together” sure Rampart sure let’s see how chipper you are about that next episode

- Emerie and Omega’s glances at each other 🥺

- “This is your new home” yeahhh I don’t think so

#the bad batch #tbb #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #star wars

22 notes · View notes

m1d-45 · 2 months

Note

Do you ever think about what characters would say 'kys' thinking it meant 'keep yourself safe' because I do and it always goes to Qiqi for some reason :')

🪷 anon

I AM NOW

qiqi would have to have picked it up from some kids when she’s walking through the harbor, and she’ll probably “qiqi heard other kids saying goodbye at the harbor, so… k..y-s… :)” “qiqi- do you remember what that means?” “….if i had to guess…. keep.. yourself safe? that seems like something friends would say…”

there’s not really that many snarky types…. perhaps yae rejecting a book submission with ��nope, LOL !” and when confronted simply smiles, “you’re a bit behind, aren’t you? it’s a simple acronym for ‘lots of love.’ i was wishing you well on your journey elsewhere, but i can rescind my respect if you don’t care for it.”

genshin characters are too tragic or too blunt for any to fit the type… barbara might be tricked and earnestly wish a sister well, but she’d very quickly correct her mistake when confronted. same for maybe mika or collei?

(neuvillette might buy it at first [the other person was too afraid to admit what ‘kys’ actually meant in front of the chief justice so they lied instead] but he’s the type to look up words in a minimum of three dictionaries before using it in his day to day conversation.)

dori and xingqiu would just be very verbose with their insults (to the point of confusing the other person, which makes them smile), alhaitham and diluc would just cut the conversation short—there’s not enough whimsy in teyvat for this. even like lyney, or kaeya, or even beidou who have the (even if artificial) personality for the (kys in specific) joke wouldn’t be able to actually make it. there’s a very narrow overlap between ‘jester’s disposition’ and ‘emotional stability’ that 99.99% of genshin characters fall outside of.

….that being said, zhongli. intentionally, fully knowing, playing it up as “ah, modern slang… the history buff once again foiled by the youngsters… 😞” but he Knows.

#m1d : [chats]#🪷 anon #all of this is aside from the fact that these are modern slang terms #we ball baby

25 notes · View notes

kyistell · 4 months

Note

What kinda headcanons do you have for California

I didn't think the list was going to be as long as it is but once I started thinking more and more I couldn't stop lol

California-

Wet cat

He/They and no he won’t stop reminding you

Was very obsessed with shiny things, especially gold, when he was younger, now he’s only a “normal” amount of obsessed

Very pretty, like the definition, like if you look up the definition of pretty in the dictionary he comes up

Has an obscene amount of stim/fidget toys, squishies, the poke ones, even fidget spinners, they have them all

Worked at the Berkeley laboratory in the 90s, specifically Berkeley’s element hunting team

Used to be obsessed with Creepypastas, however is now obsessed with cryptids (“They aren’t the same thing shut up *state name here*” has been said a lot)

Will slip into a southern accent without warning, has given multiple southern states heart attacks because of this on more than 10 occasions

Loves to write, especially fanfiction, however there is no way they would EVER willingly show anyone these, they did once when he was drunk but New York never mentioned it and Cali did not remember

Loves Stardew Valley and Minecraft, will play them both for hours without realizing

Has absolutely horrible time management, as well as their general perception of time is also atrocious

Loves podcasts, tends to listen to them more than YouTube videos

The times that Jersey dragged him to Action Park ended with hospital stays and praying that the doctors wouldn’t notice that he should definitely be dead

Been watching Smosh since it first started

Disney adult and proud

He started streaming on Twitch during the pandemic, occasionally being joined by Jersey, Nevada, or York, Florida joined stream once and has since been banned

Don’t listen to what York says, he definitely knows how to cook (re: he has no idea what they are doing in the kitchen without help)

Knows a handful of languages but only fully knows English and Spanish, though he can read and understand Russian, they just can’t speak it

Was forced to wear a dress once by Nevada and that’s how they realized he wasn’t fully male

He doesn’t actually mind feminine pronouns, just prefers He/They

Has a ridiculously long skincare routine, at least 2 hours at night and an hour in the morning

Used to be attached at the hip with Washington and Oregon, they are all still close in a similar but not as much way like the NE are

They and New Mexico go out with Arizona once every few weeks to different areas of their respective states, occasionally Texas will join

Cali and Texas aren’t related, they were both raised at one point by Mexico at the same time sure but they aren’t related

Loves to learn about different cultures, especially Asian cultures

Didn’t hate crowds until the pandemic, now can’t stand them

His room is extremely cluttered and disorganized, can’t even be considered organized chaos, their working on it (York had a stern talk with them about it)

They actually do understand Football, he just doesn’t like the sport all too much

Feel like this is obvious but he is a HUGE nerd, like a bigger nerd than New York not that Cali knows that of course

#welcome to the table #wttt #wttt california #wttsh california #wttt headcanons #now this is the longest one #haha oops #i dont even read stuff for cali wtf #wttt new jersey #wttt new york #kyi requests

25 notes · View notes

liberty-or-death · 1 year

Text

Wei Wuxian's Name - The Meaning of Wuxian

C Fans think this is likely the poem behind his name. And after analysing this poem, I think this is also the inspiration behind his character. OMG MXTX YOU’RE A GENIUS 😍.

Before I start, please inform me if you want to use this meta. This analysis is solely mine in every shape and form. There is only 1 Chinese interpretation online and it’s done with Baidu’s MTL. And if I do allow you to use it, PLEASE link it back to me because there’s a very high chance that I will refine this. This is the only translation/meta that I’m particular about so please respect my wishes. 🙏

The term “Wuxian” comes from the Ming Dynasty poem “Living Alone 闲居” by the poet Xiu Ben 徐贲. Sadly, there isn’t much information about the context so I’ve tried to interpret this to the best that I can. There are so many aspects in mdzs/cql that are reflected in his poem.

谢事返丘壑，退耕理田园。

To retire to the hills, to return to farming and prepare the land.

谢事 - To retire and get rid of mundane things, or to die

丘壑 - Hills and ravines. A secluded place in the mountains. A metaphor for somewhere far away.

退耕 - To resign from government service and to return to farming OR to convert land that was used for farming back to other use.

兹心获遂初，稍得洒中悁。

His compassionate heart has attained his wish, and slowly loses itself to anxiety in wine.

兹心 - I think this is related to 慈悲心 which refers to the concept of Compassion in Mahayana Buddhisim. 慈 refers to giving others happiness.

遂初 - This means attained his wish. OR to leave a government post and return to seclusion

悁 - This refers to anger, anxiety and melancholy.

(T/N: 获 and 得 both means to gain, so the poet is emphasising what he has gained)

振策升崇巘，扬舲溯长川。

Whipping the horse (or urging) to ascend the lofty mountain, sailing against the river that never ends

振策 - This term also means to urge or to push someone forward

长川 - It either describes a river OR something that’s never ending.

(T/N: some websites use the word 巘 (mountain), but others use 褵 (a marriage veil). I don’t have enough info, so I’ve gone with the mountain translation.)

惊湍信汨汨，清溜自涓涓。

The water gurgles flows steadily and swiftly, the crystal clear water from the small stream trickled slowly naturally.

(T/N: 汨汨 and 涓涓 are both sounds of the water flowing. 汨汨 refers to gurgling, 涓涓 flows slowly)

新兰艳迟日，密竹曳丛烟。

The new orchid blooms in spring, the dense growth of bamboo gather as they sway like the mist.

迟日 - this could mean late, or spring

烟 - This likely refers to 烟云 (literally translated to mist and cloud), but it also refers to a hermit deep within a faraway mountain.

东馆朝燕坐，西林暮独还。

To meditate in the morning the temple in Chang an, to return from the temple alone at dusk

东馆 - This either refers to the Eastern Temple, or a temple nearby Chang an. The dictionary says it’s 豫中 ‘Yuzhong Temple’ (term was used specifically the Han Dynasty), but I can’t find which temple it is specifically. LOL

西林 - This term does refer to the Xilin temple on Mount Lu. But subsequently it was referred to temples in general. As this a more modern poetry (aka Ming Dynasty), I’ve opted to use ‘temple’ instead.

(T/N: there’s a dawn to dusk imagery in this line, from 朝 (morning) to 暮 (dusk))

朋旧固云旷，山水聊夤缘。

Old friends are resolute and vast as the clouds, and to sit beneath the mountain and rivers to chat about establishing connections.

云 - The imagery of ancient clouds in ancient poetry is uh, not exactly regarded as a good thing. It’s usually related to sadness, or something that’s fickle (ie. a cloud is fickle, it changes shape whenever it wants to, sometimes you see it, and sometimes you don’t.

夤缘 - this means to climb up, establish connections and building relationships)

(T/N: This whole line is interesting and filled with contradictions. 固 refers to something resolute, but 云旷 means vast as the clouds. Of which, clouds symbolise something that’s anything but resolute. And in the second part, 聊 usually refers to a causal chat or even gossip, but 夤缘 refers to using connections to climb higher.)

居喧暂云遣，习静久乃便。

the noise at where I'm at at has stopped for now, dissipating like the wind. And so, the quiet life has persisted for long time.

居 - there are various meanings to this. The most common meaning is to stay/current location so I’ve gone with that

便乃 - this means “hence” or “so”

已幸驻灵药，复能讽瑶编。

It’s already lucky that the magical drug has rooted itself here, and I can memorise the precious books repeatedly

驻 - This is a very interesting word because it’s usually used to mean to garrison or to come to a standstill. It isn’t usually

复 - Repeatedly

讽 - This word usually means to or to mock. But I think it’s used as 讽书 in this case, which is to memorise.

既无羡鱼志，外物非所迁。Even if there isn’t any wishful thinking, the things outside are inhospitable and ever changing

无 - This means no.

羡鱼 - Wishful thinking. This is where Wei Wuxian’s name comes from (MXTX uses 无羡 instead of 羡鱼). This term comes from the idiom “临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网” which literally means, “instead of standing by the water to dream about catching fish, you should go home to make a net to actually catch a fish.” (ie. instead of being envious about another person’s achievements, we should put in the effort) So yes, Wei Wuxian does mean “do not (无) think wishfully and covert over the achievement of others” (羡)

非所 - Inhospitable, where someone cannot live normally

迁 - this means ever changing.

MY ANALYSIS

SO I HAVE SO MUCH FEELS. I believe that MXTX based some parts of Wei Wuxian’s behaviour according to this poem. Allow me to do a line by line analysis.

1st line: “To retire to the hills, to return to farming and prepare the land” - is this why our boy has such a fascination with retiring from his “post” and returning to the simple life? It’s interesting that the terms in this poem repeatedly emphasises on ‘retiring from government.” You could say that wwx’s life, starting from the time that he was a Jiang Clan disciple, and to being a soldier was a form of a post. So the author sets up the stage of what he thinks to “retire” is. And the “hills and the mountains” suggest a secluded far away. IDK about you but it screamed Cloud Recesses to me.

2nd line: “His compassionate heart has attained his wish,” - AGAIN I could scream about this. I feel that Wei Wuxian does embody the concept of “慈悲” in the simple sense of the word. “慈” as in compassionate. He brings joy to people around him and cares for others around him. 悲 as in sadness; he feels the suffering around him and hence he tries to deliver people from it. This is obviously demonstrated when he tries to save the Wen Clan. This line also emphasises that retiring away from all things political is what he wants. And the second part “slowly loses itself to anxiety in wine”, sadly he does this ever so frequently in the novel and almost amplified in CQL.

Line 3 and 4: “Whipping the horse (a metaphor for quickly, almost urgently) to ascend the lofty mountain, sailing against the river that never ends” “The water gurgles flows steadily and swiftly, the crystal clear water from the small stream trickled slowly naturally.” - in Line 3, the first part “ascending the lofty mountain, almost urgently so” reminds me of how he attained his ghost cultivation so quickly over a span of 3 months. And “sailing against the river that never ends” sounds very much like how he was always moving against the criticism of the masses in his first and second life. The lines about the water gurgling and trickling feels that the tide was always against him, be it swiftly or in small trickles.”

Line 5: “The new orchid blooms in spring, the dense growth of bamboo gather as they sway in the mist.” - the imagery of the orchid sounds a shoutout to Jinling. And the dense bamboo dusting in the mist reminds me of the parts where they were in the cold pond. I’m not sure if the CQL directors were equally inspired by this. (I can’t remember if there were bamboos in Cloud Recesses novel wise. 😂😂)

Line 6: “To meditate in the morning the temple in Chang an, to return from the temple alone at dusk” - HMM I don’t have a clear inspiration for this line unfortunately. But it could be a reference to the days spend in Cloud Recesses. The Lan 蓝 was a Buddhism references so it totally fit the bill. (I’ve mentioned it before in Taming Wangxian but if you can’t remember it, well that’s okay, I am to bring it back here eventually)

Line 7: “Old friends are resolute and vast as the clouds, and to sit beneath the mountain and rivers to chat about establishing connections.” - again the comparison of friends with clouds. It does suggest that he has a lot of friends; friends who are as fickle as clouds who aren’t there when the time calls for it. And as for the ones who are “resolute”… well we know who they are. And as for “establishing connections”, this is a common theme in the novel. It actually reminded me of JGY, who was essentially trying to curry favour to promote himself politically.

Line 8-9: “the noise at where I am at has stopped for now, dissipating like the wind. And so, the quiet life has persisted for long time.” “It’s already lucky that the magical drug has rooted itself here, and I can memorise the precious books repeatedly” lmao does the magic drug refer to the incense burner haha 😂😂 the vibe of the last two lines remind me of the end of the novel, whereby the “noise” of society has faded and he’s back to the quiet life. And as for the books that he can read, I’m guessing that’s probably referring to the Lan Family’s library

Line 10: “Even if there isn’t any wishful thinking, the things outside are inhospitable and ever changing” this is WWX and the moral of the story I guess?

(There were about 60 different references and I'm too lazy to link them all lol. They were mostly dictionary links or other poems that used the words in a similar manner. If you want a reference for a particular phrase, please let me know. XD)

In case you missed it, I’ve also analysed Wei Ying previously.

Additional Meta

More MDZS Meta

Meaning of Wei Ying

#mdzs meta #mdzs #wei wuxian #wei ying #cql #cql meta #Xiu Ben #poetry

178 notes · View notes

katyspersonal · 6 months

Text

Also recently I've gotten into a debate with a friend that doesn't agree with my approach for deciphering Soulsborne lore (in which I include all pieces on models you can't see in the game and should rip the model, face data, internal filenames, lyrics translations in BB, cut content that isn't actually cut....). Like, his point was that we only should consider what can be observed in the games with 'naked eye' to say so, and everything developers hid and did not intend for players to see by normal means is just a 'fun fact' that might or might not be used, whereas my point is that everything that developers PUT in the game counts and in 95% of the times there is not only thought put into it, but a legit answer to some lore questions! Zullie (the dataminer/youtuber) put it better in a Tweet I can't find right now, that since everything developers put in the game is made with conscious effort, of course there is implication almost always- heck, if you watch her channel and analyzed her datamines, you can see what it all means!

But also, we came to an agreement that he is... kind of right, actually? That videogames should be first interpreted from what experiences developers intended for the players, because it is very unlikely that they created a story with dataminers that will unveil it in mind. Miyazaki himself admitted that as a kid, he enjoyed reading novels written in English but didn't understand some bits because of the language barrier and had to fill the gaps with his imagination 🤔 So even if he himself knows the 'real' story of his games, he wanted to emulate that feeling, so the players would feel the same fun of having to fill the gaps they can't understand. Basically, I am not engaging with the story in the way he intended for the fans. What I am doing using books analogy is dig into dictionary or ask people around when there are words I don't know, so I can decipher everything. This is just how my brain works (no autist is the same blablabla) and I am not having fun using my own imagination...? I am not playing the game by rules, but rather I have fun learning bits developers chose to hide because I want to get as close to the "real" story rather than make my own. So, legit answers on some lore questions hidden deep in game files are same as English words you are supposed to not understand. And yet I intend to (fucking Caryll moment, lol)

In general, I can't really change how my mind works- and, again, by this logic what Zullie or Lance or others are doing is """wrong""" and it isn't, my friend is just right that this is not intended experience. I also found an interesting irony in how for someone THIS passionate about Soulsborne games (mostly Bloodborne), I do not really respect the creator's plan for me as a fan 🤔 Something to think about.. Does that make Lore Council and other particularly hardcore lorediggers type of mad scholars that fall for their hubris? ...or this is just me? xD

#soulsborne #fandomry rambles #again not to downvote my uploads #like.... by this logic Zullie and Lance and others are wasting time but they do not #some curious people just refuse to play the game by the rules #and I mean game mentally not literally videogame #...though in this context it is both

18 notes · View notes

moonchildreads · 1 year

Text

small town

Chapter 9 - Adult Education

IN THIS CHAPTER: A collection of mugs, a Latin-English dictionary, and Dottie has an epiphany [3.8k]

WARNINGS: none! it's my birthday so you get fluff today lol

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

So you got a little education And a lot of dedication But you want a little night school

Thursday, May 1st - 1986

Dottie wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but when Eddie walked into the library no earlier than fifteen minutes late into their shared Thursday free period, the paper he proudly slammed onto the table in front of her hadn’t been on her “Eddie Munson’s Shit Excuses For Arriving Late” list. As it turns out, he had taken the initiative to seek out his teachers to request a complete list of every assignment he owed and even negotiate with them partial credit for delivering them before their respective final exams.

“So it’s only 50% for these two no matter what, but in Latin it’s 75% if I get more than a C+ in the final,” he was explaining, the two of them sitting at a table near the back where it was less crowded.

“Okay… okay, we can totally work with this. This is great, Eddie,” she smiled up at him and he could have sworn her eyes shone brighter than the sun. “Now we just need to make a schedule, see how many items we need to knock off every day before finals week.”

She ripped out a page from her notebook and drew a calendar, writing down “May” in bright red marker at the top and filling in the squares with her favorite black pen. Eddie noticed she was making space for Hellfire, his band activities (both practice days and their regular gig at The Hideout), and had even logged May 15th, his birthday, as a day off. She was writing down her deadlines too, the page turning into a combined schedule for both of them right in front of his eyes. Her gesture felt oddly domestic, like she was making space for him in every aspect of her life, building a routine that was not only hers or his, but theirs. It made his insides all warm and gooey.

“I think I got most of it down, but we can shift things around if we need to. If we can do double time this first week so we can have a lighter load by the third week, that’d be ideal. I was thinking we could do Wednesdays at Gareth’s with everyone else, and then days of the week at yours and weekends after lunch at mine.”

“You wanna come over to my place?” he looked at her like she had grown two heads overnight.

“...Is that an issue?”

“Yes? No! I mean…,” he scratched behind his ear. “Darling, I live in a trailer park.”

“You’ve mentioned that before, yes.”

“And you’re not… freaked out?”

“Am I supposed to be?”

It was like a narrowed eyes and furrowed brows competition had unofficially begun at their table. Eddie could not understand how she didn’t care about the fact that she’d have to go to his trailer every single day to essentially supervise him while he did his homework. He was terrified of what she’d say if she saw the state of his home, the ever present mess he and his Uncle lived in, the fact that his room consistently smelled like weed and their bathroom had moisture stains on the ceiling. He wasn’t ashamed of who he was, he knew there wasn’t anything wrong with his living arrangements, but there was a part of him that felt too vulnerable to show her the side everyone loved to laugh at since middle school: words filled with venom like “trailer park trash” and jabs at the absence of his parents still fresh in his mind. He was terrified of showing her the Eddie he was when his guard wasn’t up at all times. Terrified she wouldn’t like the complete version of himself, all raw and weak and endlessly flawed.

Dottie, on the other hand, was confused as to why he thought she’d have a problem with him living in a trailer. She knew he’d had the Hellfire boys over at various points; one time Donny asked if he had seen his lighter around, thinking he might have left it behind in Eddie’s kitchen. Eddie brought it to school for him the next day, complaining about how he had had to crawl behind the fridge to retrieve it. His unusual reaction couldn’t about his Uncle, not when he had mentioned several times that Wayne Munson worked graveyard shifts and Eddie had dinner alone almost every day because his Uncle ate “way too fucking early” for him to join the older man, choosing to postpone his last meal of the day until after the sun had gone down. She didn’t know what she’d done to make him believe that she had an issue with anything that he was; it hurt her to think that he was afraid of her in any sense of the word.

“I just don’t want you to get in trouble with your Dad,” he said, grasping at straws. “He’s probably not gonna like it when you tell him you’re coming over every single day.”

“I already told him I’d help you out until graduation and he’s more than okay with it,” she leaned closer to him, dropping her voice to a murmur so other students couldn’t hear her. “He’s not afraid of your little Satanic act, dumbass, he knows you’re a nerd.”

“Yeah, but,” he wrung his hands under the table. “This is Hawkins. People will talk, y’know.”

“Eddie, people have to be really blind to not have noticed that we hang out all the time by now. We have lunch together every day. You drive me home when it rains,” Dottie grabbed one of his hands, holding it between hers on her lap. “I don’t care about stupid rumors, and I promise you my Dad doesn’t either. You’re one of my best friends, he’s not gonna come kick your teeth in because we’re reading Shakespeare in your trailer.”

“That’s too bad,” he said, trying to hide the inner turmoil he was feeling at her words. “I fucking hate Shakespeare.”

“If you talk shit about my fave bard again, I’m gonna be the one to kick your teeth in,” Dottie let go of his hand and immediately wanted to grab it again. “Now pick a subject and get started.” From the corner of his eye, Eddie watched her work on a set of notes titled Safety and Sanitation Procedures and Guidelines. As much as he wanted to stare at her all day (and draw on her notes to remind her constantly that he’d been there), he tore his sight away from her face and focused really hard on getting through as many Latin worksheets as he could for the remainder of his free period, putting to good use the dictionary that she fished out for him while she was waiting for him to show up. Dottie had to keep herself from lovingly sighing every time she caught him writing down a new word he had found interesting in the notebook he used to jot down his ideas for his latest D&D campaigns. It was so quintessentially Eddie that she wondered for a brief moment if she was going to be able to survive being stuck like velcro to him until finals week. Only time will tell, she thought dramatically, letting the six major workplace accidents detailed in her open textbook distract her from the boy sitting next to her.

The rest of the day had gone about as normal as any other Thursday, except for the fact that instead of taking the bus home with Gareth (who kept complaining about the fact that he still had to take Drivers Ed classes for a few more weeks), Dottie was getting into Eddie’s van to go pick up snacks for their first proper study session. To say that she was nervous was quite frankly the understatement of the century, but as soon as she clicked the very frayed seat belt on and he punched an Iron Maiden tape into the deck, she felt herself relax into the seat. Nothing had to change just because they were going to study alone in his trailer instead of doing it in Gareth’s living room surrounded by their friends. They had been alone multiple times by now; whenever he drove her home after dropping Gareth off first, while they waited for Dustin to arrive for Hellfire, that one time they’d gone to the Palace Arcade on a Saturday afternoon before a movie night with the rest of their friends in Jeff’s basement. Everything is gonna be okay, she realized, as she watched him heavily ponder on what kind of chips he wanted to buy at the gas station. He settled on a big bag of nacho cheese Doritos.

Once snacks had been acquired, they made their way towards the Forest Hills trailer park in relative silence, Eddie drumming on the steering wheel as he drove. When he parked, the music cut off as he killed the engine and he looked at his front door in mild panic. Dottie made a move to grab her backpack from the floor, unbuckling the seat belt, but he launched himself across her to stop her from opening the van door.

“Uh, Ed-”

“I forgot to tell my Uncle you were coming,” he said, his eyes wide.

“Can you- shit, just wait here for a second, okay? Let me go in first.”

“God, Eddie,” she laughed. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Look, darling, I don’t think you wanna see dear Uncle Wayne with no shirt on. Or no pants.”

“Good call,” she patted his arm, still caging her to the seat. “I’ll wait here then.”

He nodded, eyes drifting to her hand on top of his jacket sleeve and hurried to pull back and go inside, haphazardly carrying the bag of snacks, his metal lunchbox and backpack, shutting the door behind him with his foot. Dottie giggled, waiting patiently for him to give her the signal to go in. He’s so cute, she thought to herself in the privacy of his van. That was allowed, right? To think that one’s friends were cute, or nice, or pretty…

A few minutes later, Eddie emerged from the trailer, waving at her with a grin on his face. She jumped off her seat, careful to not slam the van door on her way out, and hiked her brown corduroy backpack up her shoulders. Ever the gentleman, Eddie offered a hand to help her climb the steps and bowed when she walked past him, making her roll her eyes at his antics. Soon enough, she was inside his trailer for the first time in her life, curiously looking around while he nervously watched her take in the sights.

“Sorry it’s such a mess, I wasn’t really expecting anyone to come over today,” he scratched the back of his neck.

“I’ve been in Jeff’s basement, this is more than okay,” Dottie reassured him, trying to make him feel less nervous. “I like the mugs!”

“Thanks, those are mine,” Wayne Munson came out of the bathroom, looking very unbothered by the fact that his nephew had yelled at him to get some jeans on before she saw him in his ratty boxers.

“Oh, hi! It’s lovely to finally meet you, Mr. Munson,” she smiled at the older man walking down the hall towards them. “I’m Dorothy.”

“You can call me Wayne, kid, I know who you are” the man laughed, stepping into the living area with a twinkle in his eyes. “Eddie talks about you all the time.”

“He does?” Dottie asked, feeling self conscious all of the sudden.

“Only good things, I promise,” Eddie said, hoping that he didn’t sound like a fucking lovestricken idiot. “Uh, Dot’s gonna be around a lot this month, so…”

“I’m helping Eddie with his homework so we can all graduate together. Hellfire Class of ‘86,” she explained. “I hope that’s not a bother, we can go to the library if you’d prefer.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m never here anyways. Just glad to see Eddie has good friends.”

“Well, he’s a good friend to us too,” she said, looking at the boy who was now bright red standing next to her.

“We should- we should get started, right? So you can be home for dinner. D-d’you wanna go to my room? Or, uh, there’s a table outside too, I guess.”

“Do you have a desk in your room?”

“Yeah, but you really don’t wanna go in there,” he chuckled breathlessly. What’s happening to me?

“Okay, well, let’s sit outside before it gets colder then. We got snacks, Mr. Mun-” Dottie stopped herself and giggled when he raised his eyebrow. “Wayne. Sorry. We got snacks if you’d like some, Mr. Wayne.”

“That’s alright, kid, I had a late lunch. Thanks,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mirth at the nickname.

Wayne walked over to the couch where he had been sitting before Eddie had disturbed his peace and sat back down with his coffee mug in hand, focusing on the small TV in front of him. Wordlessly, Eddie began grabbing snacks out of the gas station bag and shoving them into Dottie’s hands, hurrying her towards the exit. Having a very amusing conversation solely with their eyes, she could hardly contain her chuckles once he started pushing her with his hands on the small of her back, his Uncle pretending not to notice that his nephew was looking like a lovesick puppy around this clean cut girl to preserve his dignity. He would have never guessed this turn of events having seen the kind of magazines Eddie had hidden underneath his bed throughout his adolescence.

Finally, they sat at a shaded picnic table and got to work. Dottie busied herself with her AP Spanish homework she had been neglecting for a week and was due the next day, and Eddie continued working steadily through the Latin worksheets he had started earlier in the library. She’d had the foresight to check out the dictionary for him and he was endlessly grateful because he would have actually bashed his head on the side of his trailer without it.

“I like your Uncle,” Dottie said, not looking up from her folder. “He seems nice.”

“He is,” Eddie marked an answer in his multiple choice sheet. “He’s kind of the only family I have left so…”

“I’m glad you have him,” she smiled. “And his cool mugs.”

“What’s it with you and my Uncle’s mugs?”

“I like people that collect weird things, I think it’s fun. And also mugs are the superior liquid container.”

“Mugs? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Everything tastes better in a mug.”

“Sure. Fuck glasses,” he teased.

“Fuck glasses,” she concluded, grabbing a highlighter from her pencil case.

They worked in companionable silence, Eddie only disturbing the quiet to read out loud random words he found in the dictionary and thought were funny. He cataloged her reactions to them; some words made a little chuckle escape from her lips, for others she’d just roll her eyes at him. His favorite, by far, was when he got her to snort loudly as he explained that vagina meant “sheath” in Latin. (“You wish,” she’d said, and he had had to hide his growing blush in the pages of his notebook.) The sun was setting later and later these days, so when Wayne popped his head out of the door and asked them if they wanted to join him for dinner, it came as a complete surprise that they had been doing homework for almost three full hours without taking any breaks.

“I’d love to stay, but I should get home before it gets dark or my Dad will worry,” Dottie said, smiling at the older man. “Maybe some other time?”

“Sure, door’s always open for ya,” he smiled back. He had been listening to their conversations on and off all afternoon through an open window and was pleased to know that she could hold her own against her nephew when he became restless.

“I’ll hold you to that then,” she turned to Eddie when his Uncle disappeared inside the trailer again. “Let’s check off what we did today and you’re free until tomorrow after Hellfire, okay?”

“Y’know, I was thinking…”

“Uh-oh,” she said while crossing out items from their shared To-Do List. “That’s not good.”

“Would you let me finish, woman?” he said, faking his anger. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to get pizza before we hit the books tomorrow. My treat. I’m always really hungry after Hellfire and you know I can’t think for shit when I’m hungry.”

“Pizza sounds great,” she zipped up her backpack. “Though I’m not sure we’ll get a lot done with everyone around but we can catch up over the weekend.”

“What d’you mean “everyone”?” Eddie was confused.

“Hellfire. Hellfire is everyone. Or did you mean just us seniors?”

“I meant us. As in only me and you.”

“Oh.”

Dottie looked at him for a beat, trying to gauge how serious he was from his expression. He looked sincere, perhaps even a little bit shy about having to clarify what he had meant. Friends totally went out together for pizza, right? It was completely normal behavior for two buddies to get food before a study session, wasn’t it? He’s not asking you out, girl, calm down, her brain supplied in order to get her thoughts in line before she embarrassed herself. Wasting a few more seconds by gathering her things and getting up from the bench, she schooled her expression into a calm smile and tilted her head nonchalantly.

“Well, the guys are not gonna like us ditching them, but I’m never gonna say no to pizza.”

“Great!” he pushed himself up and guided her to his van to take her home. “I’ll get started on those Biology flashcards tomorrow after getting some cheese in me, I promise.”

James knew something was different the moment Dottie sat down at the table after her shower, hair wet and fluffy pink pajamas on. She looked deep in thought, like she was struggling with internalizing a new concept, not even glancing at her father sitting across from her while she piled mashed potatoes on their plates. The radio was playing in the background, some Bryan Adams song she had never bothered learning the name of filling the room and providing a much needed distraction from the anxious butterflies flying around in her stomach. He waited patiently until she was halfway done with her plate before trying to bring his daughter back to the Land of the Talking.

“You okay there, honey?”

“Huh?” she looked up at him, eyes bleary. “Yeah… yeah, jus’ tired.”

“Too much studying?” James asked, trying to sound casual.

“A bit. Met Eddie’s uncle today.”

“Was he nice?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, pushing a meatball around her plate with her fork. “He invited me over for dinner sometime. He collects mugs. And hats.”

“Hats?”

“Like baseball caps. I like him. He’s quirky.”

“Seems like it. You’re gonna go over there tomorrow too?”

“Yeah. Actually, I…,” she readjusted herself in her seat. “Is it okay if I come home late tomorrow? We have Hellfire after school, and Eddie wants to get pizza before going back to his house so we’re probably gonna wrap up at, like, an ungodly hour.”

“How late are we talking about here?”

“Dunno, but you don’t have to pick me up. Eddie can bring me home when we’re done.”

“You’re still doing weekends here, right?” James got up and started clearing the table, Dottie following him into the kitchen.

“That’s the plan, yes. Weekdays at his, weekends here, Wednesdays at Gareth’s.”

“Okay. Just… make smart choices.”

“Jeez, Dad,” she closed the fridge door with her foot. “We’re just studying, it’s not like we’re… planning a heist or something.”

“Look, honey, I trust you, okay? But I’m the father of a teenage daughter whose entire friend group is teenage boys. And I was a teenage boy once too. I know what’s going on in their gross little minds, and it’s definitely not studying.”

“Ew! Don’t say that about my friends!”

Dottie leaned on the counter watching her dad rinse the dishes, the radio now playing Lionel Ritchie’s Say You, Say Me. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what he meant, but she honestly, hand on her heart, didn’t think he had anything to worry about. It was normal that he was concerned, and they both knew he would never forbid his daughter from seeing her friends even if they were all boys and she was the only girl in their tight-knit group, but there was a small part of Dottie’s brain that felt strange knowing that he didn’t fully trust the intentions of the people that made Hawkins bearable for her. She feared that eventually the rumor mill would become too loud, and her dear dad would fall prey to the same kind of judgy attitudes that seemed to plague the small town when it came to her friends. About Eddie in particular, who had done nothing wrong to deserve such hatred from strangers except carry the Munson name.

“Dad?” she gnawed on her lower lip, nervously.

“Mhm?”

“I know that you’re thinking “boys will be boys” and all that, but… They are all good people. Eddie is good people. You know that, right?”

“I know,” he sighed, turning off the water and looking at her. “But I’m still gonna worry. He’s older than you, bit of a rebel, in a band. Has a bunch of tattoos and smokes. He’s every dad’s worst nightmare.”

“You do remember that two of his best friends are 15 year olds, right? He’s a harmless nerd.”

“Why do you think I still let you go to his house unsupervised?” he joked, going back to the dishes. “Just make good choices and we won’t have to talk about your boyfriend again, m’kay?”

“Oh my god, you’re the worst,” Dottie shook her head as she left the kitchen, leaving him alone while he cackled to himself at his daughter’s discomfort. It occurred to her, once she was comfortable in her own bed about to turn her lights off, a copy of her and Eddie’s shared schedule pinned to her corkboard above her college acceptance letter, that she had never corrected her dad when he called him her boyfriend or even denied having a crush on him. Oh, he’s never gonna let me live that one down, she thought to herself. She clicked her bedside lamp off and turned around so she wouldn’t see her desk, fully intending on denying the accusations to anyone who asked, even to herself if she needed to, when her eyes found her new Hellfire shirt draped on the seat under the window with the rest of the clothes she had laid out to wear the next day. Fuck. I have a crush on Eddie Munson, was her last thought before she drifted off into a peaceful slumber, nacho cheese Doritos, puns with Latin words and the smell of Camel cigarettes mixed with cheap woodsy cologne making their way into her dreams.

taglist (ask box is open if you want me to add you!): @munsonology

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things 4 #wayne munson #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

41 notes · View notes

sterek-unhinged · 8 months

Text

Derek Hale is a Sigma Male

Okay so in 4x12, Derek talks about how werewolves can change hierarchical ranks right before he dies and then evolves into a full wolf. One might call this ~ a coincidence~, I say that it was cleverly foreshadowing Derek’s transformation into the Sigma he was meant to become.

I promise I’m going somewhere with this lol:

Definition courtesy of urban dictionary

“Sigma Male: A more internally-focused sibling to the alpha male. While the alpha male quantifies himself on his high position in the social hierarchy, a sigma male prefers to forego the social hierarchy and need for external validation altogether and pursue internal strength instead. Essentially a "loner" or a stray man, although sigma males may have a close circle of friends and loved ones with whom they share a deep connection. The sigma male is not socially inept but simply socially disinterested. Prefers solitary activities where he doesn't have to play social politics and can simply focus on himself. The sigma male accepts that he does not need power over others as the alpha male desires, but rather needs only power to control himself and preserve his own autonomy from others. Sigma males are often pragmatic but may be seen by others as aloof, paranoid, secretive or selfish.”

Being an alpha never felt quite right. He seemed more focused on teaching his betas to be self-reliant because that’s what works for him. Being a beta is fine but kind of awkward. Even when he’s technically Scott’s beta, he acts more as an advisor who helps out when he sees it necessary. Scott comes to recognize that, while not an Alpha anymore, Derek’s authority is no less legitimate than his. It’s just that, he needs solitary time and the pack has come to respect that Derek is going to do things his own way. And he’s not an omega, even if he’s physically alone. He still has a network of people he can turn to for help.

By the end of season 4, Derek doesn't just transform into a full wolf. He develops a total mastery over his internal state which is expressed by a full wolf transformation. Why? Because he's on his Sigma grindset and ready for revenge bitch.

#is this shitposting or not #I don’t even know #I kinda unironically love the idea of TW expanding the lore to sigmas #they already have alphas/betas/omegas and that whole thing has been debunked irl #in this essay I will-#Derek hale #teen wolf #im unhinged therefore my hcs are unhinged

10 notes · View notes

elluendifad · 5 months

Note

Hello aaah I've been following you for a while and I think you're really cool and I have so many questions!! -- What does your daily practice look like? Did you come up with those texts you recite (like what you quoted in that Earenya post you had a couple weeks ago) yourself (they're very pretty!)? How do you feel about which language you use (since I'm sure using English vs, say, Quenya will feel differently)? How does Buddhism intersect with your practice? -- Feel free to answer all or some -

- or none of these questions, whichever you prefer :) I'm so very very curious because I'm also an elf (not of the Tolkien variety, though I love his works very dearly too) with both a personal and scholarly interest in Buddhism (I love Shingon the most!) so I'd love to hear more about your practice :) I hope me asking so many questions isn't too weird!! Thank you very much and have a beautiful day ♥" part one and two of this ask put together for readability: Hi and thank you for sending these asks!! i love talkin elf stuff and am very glad to do so with all kinds of elves, not just tolkien folks. i parked this in my drafts for a while so i could ponder the answering! the majority of it will be below this cut here. I am also going to re-order the questions and answers. tumblr keeps destroying this in my drafts so i am just going to post it as is and follow upwith additional posts.

Question 1: Did I write the recitations for calling the valar in this post ? Yes! What I say wiggles around a little bit day to day, but the basic parts of these evocations are standard for me. A hello, this is your day or month, you are the power of (sphere of influence) and i will tell you how i am engaging with your sphere today/this month. Enjoy this gift. Question 2: How do i feel about language used (quenya vs english) ? I am a native english speaker, and have been fiddling with quenya for a few years using two resources: the elfdict dictionary and the atanquesta grammar. I do most things in english just for ease's sake, but do enjoy practicing translation and writing. My usual writing form is quenya-mode sarati <3 i leave the tengwar to the younger elves lol. i will especially use quenya for written spells or charms, as it is less immediate than spoken spells and gives me more time to fiddle and make it pretty and double check grammar. there are one or two 'mantras' or small spoken spells i regularly utilize in quenya, but when i say small i do mean that 'aiya earendil elenion ancalima' is one of the longest ones. Question 3: How does buddhism intersect with my practice? Buddhism is a philosophical backbone for my life, and i am influenced by a few traditions moreso than others: There are Tibetan monks who travel through my region, and they are some of the most dear presenters I have ever met. They are magnificent to sit with. I am also influenced by Soto zen via authors of that tradition, and Thien zen primarily through Thich Nhat Hanh. One of the most formative books i read early on in my introduction to buddhism was Thich Nhat Hanh's "Old Path White Clouds", which is a telling of the life of buddha. I also visit a zendo regularly, and my teacher there is a mix of contemplative christian practices and Soto zen. he's very open to my own unique path, and engages me in serious and respectful conversations about my relationship the legendarium and how the deep still places in my heart connect me to the One. It's been since about 2017 that i took on a modified version of the oldest buddhist precepts for laypeople. To reduce harm, to not steal, to not lie, to avoid unhelpful behaviors (my version of avoiding intoxication), and to avoid unhealthy relationships/to change course if they become so. These 'rules' still make up the meat of my axiology and inform my behavior. They work pretty well with elven philosophy ime and there's a lot of overlap. So, the practical aspects are that 'just sitting' zen style, and doing mantras and compassionate meditation tibetan style are parts of my weekly activity. I do a meditation group via zoom with my zendo teacher and companions every anarya (sunday), and when i am well i generally hold well to daily meditation. when i am unwell, it is harder for me to keep to a schedule and i don't treat myself rough about it. i kind of view re-reading Old Path White Clouds as an occasional pilgrimage. Suffering is inherent to life--this is true for all kindreds including eldar. I can act wisely to reduce un-necessary suffering, and i can extend compassion and patience and wisdom to all my fellow sufferers. quiet observation reveals the nature of this extra suffering and how it has occurred, and how it might abate. Question 4: What does my daily practice look like? I might write a longer post about this sometime, but the basics are that i incorporate small repeated rituals daily or weekly, and do bigger spellworks for my constellation of eldar at the full and dark moon. my minimum daily rituals are: -cleaning my body. this is just the basic brushing teeth and washing face. my adherence kind of fluctuates depending on how busy i am. -anointing seven points in the shape of the septaquetra, usually while intoning the weekdays (so starting right wrist=elenya, and following the progression i use

#elvenkind #tolkien #tie eldalieva #ardan paganism #elven spirituality #my mothers name is death

6 notes · View notes

kichimiangra · 8 months

Note

We've seen that Spike can arbitrate between the Piposaru and Specter to address their dissatisfaction issues; would the other protagonists and Morgan help improve the quality of life on Saru Station if they came on board, and would Specter pretend that was his plan and not scooping all the meaningful humans in his life into one big pile to bury himself within?

All of the other protagonists have proven that they are all compassionate people towards the plight of others. In fact if not for the mischief the piposaru get into so frequently the protags would probably be more open to the idea of hearing them out. (AU where instead of trying to change times they just escape the park and any human that comes across them gets a sob story about their sentience and shit.) I think even if they were getting up to mischief Jimmy would be willing to help improve their quality of life because he is a sweet pea. Kei and Yumi are compassionate to others but mouthy enough to call out what the issues are. Natalie can be easily reasoned with with the right logic and isn't favorable to cruelty to animals or unneeded discomfort (At the end of AE3 She can be seen with Specter picking fruit so clearly she at least doesn't hold a grudge with him unless they're bickering like siblings like in Piposaru 2001). Jake might be the only hold out, but is also a kind person, can understand the apes on a more literal level so there's no guess work, and in reality when under SPecter's control he had basically been doing the same organizational work as the whole of the Ukki 5 because unsurprisingly he could be an efficient business manager if he wanted to be... If he could just get over his thing with the apes. (I had imagined a scenario where both Spike, Specter, the ukki 5, and a large number of piposaru get sick and are down for the count and team protag, including Jake, are basically begged by Spike to come up and help them just keep things afloat until whatever flu is sweeping through the station subsides, and Jake has to put aside his issues for a few days because as much as the rest of team protag are willing to help they are an unorganized mess)

Trainer Morgan would of course be willing to help... infact Morgan could get away with more than Spike can even after being in a realtionship with Specter because Specter at least respects his human daddy and doesn't want to disappoint him so would take his advice to heart, while Morgan is trained to work with primates and even without Ukki in his dictionary he'd quickly start discerning things like unhappy work conditions, apes being placed in ill fitting positions, etc.

Spike and Specter collection 2

The only game the Specter coins show up in is AE1 so I can't help but thinks Specter was starting up his own currency to get a head start on capitalism. I can't think of a good in-universe reason to collect them though, cuz all they're good for in the game are unlocking some minigames on the time station, so I've only used them in reference as a mocking thing like "Good job here's a few nickles I had in my pocket".

Specter being Jealous of himself is a plot point lol.

Spike loves them until he doesn't.

The Piposaru end up all agreeing that they like Specter better with Spike around than without, when Specter and Spike get into a fight or argument they pool together to try and manipulate the two into making amends or being amicable with each other to various degrees of shenanigans.

They had a lovely evening in spite of the raw confusion for what the Piposaru are doing.

Circus!Specter lives kinda somewhere in the middle there. Unlike Pipotchi he doesn't have enough brain cells to really "Act" much, he's just kinda like this. That said, much like a dog or a small child he is aware enough that looking sad and pathetic can sometimes get him off the hook so if it was Circus!Specter around his usual enemies and they are seemingly mad at him he might play up that aspect of himself. There is enough overlap between the two that in a boss battle situation where somewhere mid game Specter lost his helmet Circus!Specter would still meet the protags in combat, but it would be a lot of attention seeking, random button pushing, and less PK. He'd still be like "I'm gonna win!" but instead of "Hehe Pathetic humans I shall defeat you and prove ape superiority" It's more like "I AM GOING TO WIN AND GET MORE ATTENTION HUHUHUHU!!!!" and the best things the protqags can really do is ignore him.

He does have his moments of cleverness, as back in the Park he was hard to keep locked up and was a little escape artist (Thus how he got a hold of the helmet so easily) showing he can be devious enough to see a button combo on a key pad and commit it to memory to unlock doors.

Most of the best drama with Specter comes from a Specter vs Relationship scenario, whether it's romantic, familial, companionship, leadership, etc. and how he handles that with his overblown ego and knowing full well that from the perspective of the 'other' in the relationship he is prone to dun doing a bad. Trainer Morgan tries to reason with the idea of why Specter would leave. The first time is one thing, but any time after that and now there's a pattern. He would be one of the first people to humanize and personify Specter because "There must be a reason he's like this...?" And because Morgan is so detached from the majority of Specter's origin he really only has the perspective of "He is leaving everytime he gets a helmet because he's not happy here." but as the almost sole caretaker to Specter of course he would reach the conclusion of "clearly I must be doing something wrong, making him unhappy, or am not meeting some specific need he has?" Meanwhile Specter is stuck in a loop of "Humans hate me for trying to usurp the world and I don't really care if they do, (Apes4Evar!) but I do care what specifically THAT human thinks of me because he's special and he is obviously going to be mad and ashamed of me because he is a human and JEEBUS I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY EQUIPPED TO BE ABLE TO FEEL GUILT OR SHAME HOW DO I FUCKING DO THIS?!..."

All involved with the Peak Point Project/Project Specter are kinda at a "Dissapointed/cutting their losses but happy to get SOMETHING out of it" zone. Specter did not fulfill any of the goals of the projects aside from the parks goal of "A pretty cool Monkey" which is contradicted every time he gets a helmet because he's ALMOST not worth the costs of doing business. The investors that acquired PipoSnake are happy with him as an individual soldier but the lack of consistent successful replication (like with Specter) makes the project a complete bust. (And despite seemingly having his shit together in reality Pipo Snake is one identity crisis away from a full fledged breakdown). Pipotchi doesn't have anxiety and was a shot in the dark success for the project, but he almost suffers from "Too much Humanity, not enough specialized help, not a human in a human society, etc." that leaves you wondering how responsible the project even is. So everyone is satisfied in that they got a consolation prize but the laundry list of each of these three apes issues really rubs the shine off. Like "Here's a free goldfish! Also, i has the Ick"

#ape escape #nannersverse #ape escape specter #kc answers stuff #ape escape spike #piposaru #art

7 notes · View notes

bluegekk0 · 10 months

Note

I dunno why your anons are bullying your AU but they get the 200-ton 300-foot-long snake dragon cannonball right on their face.

Really though I absolutely adore your AU. I’m all for AU’s that use unique takes on characters and yours is a gold mine for a good balance of wholesome and angsty takes. I love lurking your Tumblr and seeing all the adorable art. Your AU really encouraged me to develop my own AU and really break from canon more than I normally do (Miguel O’Hara can cope and seeth lol) so I can allow myself to make this world my own. Doing that has made my AU more fun and has allowed me to take comfort in it. The shenanigans of your little gay gremlin and his wack-in-the-best-way family are more appreciated than I can type out and I adore every single piece of art and lore you share.

Sending hugs from myself and my cat <3

i think it's just one anon, so it's not as big of a deal. i hope they take an opportunity to rethink what they said and be more kind to people in the future. i hold no ill will upon them, and i don't think they deserve hate for it. all i want for them is to learn a lesson. we need more kindness and respect for each other, so i do hope that they take it to heart

but man, thank you! i can only say that so many times before it gets repetitive (maybe i need to open a dictionary to spice it up hahah) but i really really mean it. it's still insane to me how many people enjoy it, and it makes me want to keep creating it. i'm glad the scrunkly beast pk i made up for fun can bring a little joy to people's lives. he absolutely does it for me, so i'm happy that i can share some of it

(side note but yeah lmao miguel would NOT be a fan of my blog. maybe he was the one behind those nitpicky asks...)

and ahhhh that's great! i wish you all the best with your au!! keep doing what you love, that's what this is all about! sending a hug back, and please give your kitty all the cuddles and kisses in the world from me ❤️❤️

#ask stuff

9 notes · View notes

v-67 · 2 months

Text

Completed watching Season 1 of Kimi no todoke

And I gotta tell you

The welling up of emotions that I felt from watching this anime, it was like, when I'm on a rollercoaster and it's going so so so fast and I feel like my heart's gonna burst away, it gave me that kinda feeling.

It made me smile and root for our girl Kuronuma.

And my favourite part within this anime is when something so obvious is pointed out, but the thing is you only get it when it's pointed out, for eg : when Kuronuma understands that by talking to them, her feelings will reach them, so she has to talk to them to make the misunderstandings go away

Her understanding of these things, slowly and steadily, makes me realise how in life, I usually don't communicate my feelings to people

It's easier to say I'm bad at expressing gratitude, because when someone does something for me, I feel an overwhelming sense of a positive emotion, and it's difficult for me to express that feeling by just thanking someone in an awkward stature, so I usually don't say anything. But it's important for me to express it, and learn to express things properly, not just gratitude, but also general communication. I always feel like I'm either intimidating or invisible, and people don't approach me, but I've never taken a part to improve that. So i'mma do that, and I'm also going to be a better person, I'm going to keep driving towards it.

My point was, that sometimes it's good to have a reminder of the most obvious things, so I'm here to remind anyone who's reading this, that reach out to people, and communicate your feelings. If there's a misunderstanding, talk to someone and they'll understand. Don't assume and sit with silence and solace. Express. And keep on expressing.

I also like how when Kurumi likes Shota and does what she does, the way Sawako deals with it, I have so much genuine respect and admiration for her honesty and the way she dealt with it, I know the character's portrayal is of trusting everyone and such, but sometimes I like it. I wish the real world could be such that we could trust people on their words and not question if they meant it or not. But yes, I loved the way Sawako was honest about not being able to support her rather than going along with it. It felt good. I also loved that she never saw her as an enemy, but rather just someone who likes the person she likes too, yes, she envied her a little, but she never really carried any hate. And it was just really sweet.

I also love how Sawako slowly unravels her feelings, sometimes I think things are rushed within the real world and the modern world is all about fast pacing, but the way Sawako ensures her feelings, and if she feels this way about Shota or everyone else, and her small steps towards figuring her own emotions out, and her being honest about her feelings and not brushing them off. I find that extremely beautiful. These feelings that she gave time and patience to understand, and nourish, I feel like it's what we should all be doing.

I also loved the part where Kuronuma looks up the term Rival in the dictionary and it translates to 'Likable Foe'

I also love love loved the part of Chizu and Toru and Ryu, that whole episode where Toru comes by to visit Chizu because Ryu called him, and the way things process down and the bond, it was very sweet and heartwarming.

And Shota as a character is just really really warm, and his nature, is very very kind. Manifesting a person like him for all of us, because sometimes all you need, is a person like him to give you a supportive push towards acceptance and understanding. A little support comes a long way, and I hope we can be that person and have such people in our lives.

I want to see more of Ayane, SHE MAKES ME LAUGH TOO MUCH, and she's so smart. I love it. I want to see how her story unravels in Season 2

I also find Pin very funny lol. That part of Kurume, and the part where he's just normally sick but calls Kuronuma because he thinks she is an exorcist was WAY TOO FUNNY lol

I actually would've written this post after completing the whole anime but my heart can't take it fr, it's too much. I feel so many warm and happy emotions, I feel like it'll explode. So idk if I'll watch season 2 anytime soon. Heart feels too much you know?

I'm supposed to be completing this one long anime, but I've taken a smol break since a few things happened and I've been watching short anime because I don't want to watch that one when I'm feeling down. I'm feeling better now so maybe I'll start watching it again. But I guess I'm just a little not ready for me to complete that anime or reach it's ongoing schedule.

3 notes · View notes