#eatingfireflies

[mdimilethzine]

Next we have @eatingfireflies! Dimitri tries to retrieve the love poems he wrote about Byleth before they get displayed to the public in a museum! 💌✍️

[zecretsanta]

FIC: Unpardonable

To: @chessanator

From: @eatingfireflies

Happy holidays! This ended up not being festive at all, but I hope you find some enjoyment in it :’D

AO3

Real life wasn't story-shaped, so even if it made more sense for someone else to be in this position--one of the Klims, perhaps, or even Akane--in this case, it was Junpei. He had no personal stake in this business, aside from his connections to the people who did, but he wasn't the type to give up a lead when time was in short supply and acting now meant having no regrets later.

'Carlos should have shot you,' said Junpei, keeping his gun trained on Delta's face, 'when he had the chance.'

'Good day, Mr Tenmyouji,' said Delta.

Years of interrogating criminals and sketchy witnesses had made Junpei more sensitive to a twitch of a muscle or the slightest change in a person's voice: Delta's voice and the line of his jaw screamed contempt.

'You blew up my headquarters,' Delta went on.

'And you killed me in your little death game,' said Junpei. 'Multiple times. I'd call us even.'

Delta snorted. 'And yet here you are.'

‘Certainly no thanks to your efforts,’ said Junpei.

‘And to what do I owe the pleasure?’ Delta wheeled his chair to the left so could face Junpei directly. He spread out his hands, palms up, a gesture of peace even if Junpei didn’t trust the old man enough to believe it. ‘I thought you were done playing the hero.’

‘There’s nothing heroic about this.’ Junpei tilted his gun to the side slightly, calling attention to how he was holding an old man in a wheelchair at gunpoint. ‘And don’t expect a repeat performance. I’m not Carlos.’

‘Do you wish you were?’

Junpei considered lying, but shrugged and said, ‘I don’t know.'

Delta moved again and Junpei’s fingers tightened on the trigger.

‘No need for that,’ said Delta, buttoning his chair towards the French windows that took up most of the wall across the room. ‘That was a gamble I made and won. This is--’

The old man stopped, the light from the window obscured his expression from Junpei, so Junpei could see the sharp profile of Delta’s face and the glint of his glasses, but not much else.

‘What is it?’

‘The end, I suppose.’ Delta sighed. ‘Do you have time to listen to a story, Mr Tenmyouji?’

‘You told us enough stories back at the bunker,’ said Junpei. His arm was getting tired, but fuck if he was going to let his gun leave Delta’s head. ‘Don’t you think?’

‘Then why did you seek me out,’ said Delta, ‘if not to hear a story?’

Had they been outside, Junpei would have spat on the floor; a bad habit picked up from some rough men at the horse races. Fortunately for Delta, this was something Junpei was trying to drop because Akane disapproved of horse races and spitting.

Junpei snorted. 'I came here for the truth.'

'And so you shall hear it,' said Delta. 'But in my own pace and my own time.'

Junpei took a step forward. He wanted this over with while he could still feel his arm. 'I don't think you're in a position to call the shots here, buddy.'

'Tenmyouji Junpei,' said Delta. 'You can kill me anytime you want, but you will never receive the answers you seek. Is this your decision?'

Fuck you, Junpei thought. He let his hand drop to his side.

'Fine,' he said. 'But I want you to know this conversation will end only in one way.'

'Of course.' Delta smiled. 'I suppose a reward is in order for having found me. It's been a while, hasn't it?'

When Junpei didn't rise to the bait, Delta went on, 'And how goes the search for the religious fanatic?'

'That asshole doesn't exist,' said Junpei. 'Do they?'

'And yet you still promised not to get married until you found them.'

'How did--' Junpei stopped and bit at the inside of his cheek. He'd spoken out of reflex, but he needed to remember how dangerous the man in front of him was. Delta might be unarmed, but he could still fuck around with Junpei's mind. 'Get on with your story, then.'

Delta laughed, the sound made Junpei think of dry leaves in autumn. 'Very well. Will you take a seat, Mr Tenmyouji?'

'No thanks.'

'I'd feel guilty being so comfortably situated.' Delta patted the arm of his wheelchair. 'While you stand there, listening to an old man speak.'

'I'm good,' said Junpei.

Delta nodded and looked out the windows again. Junpei had the impression of a wildness of green, the woods creeping into the property's garden, but he kept his eyes on Delta and refused to be distracted.

'How familiar are you with the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne?' said Delta.

'Never heard of him,' said Junpei. This was a lie, but he didn't think Delta would appreciate how the knowledge had come from manga Junpei had read as a kid.

'He's a famous novelist.'

'Have you read anything by Sakaguchi Ango?' said Junpei.

Delta said nothing for a moment, and then nodded. 'Point taken. Perhaps I should begin by telling you about one of Hawthorne's short stories.'

This was quite a departure from scientific principles and thought experiments. Junpei shrugged at Delta.

'In 1849, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the story, "The Unpardonable Sin,”’ said Delta. 'We now know it as "Ethan Brand--A Chapter from an Abortive Romance."'

'Fascinating,' said Junpei, hiding a yawn behind his free hand.

'It tells the story of a man who went in search of the unpardonable sin.'

Junpei considered this. 'Sin' was a concept tied to religions Junpei had no experience with. Breaking the rules of those religions led to sin, but would any one sin be more unforgivable than others? And why did it matter?

'Did he find it?'

'Oh yes,' said Delta. 'He searched far and wide and observed humans obsessively. But in becoming an observer, he ceased to be part of mankind. After all, one needs to stand away from something in order to view it more objectively.'

Junpei waited for Delta to continue until it became obvious the old man wanted him to react. He sighed. 'And?'

'He likewise manipulated people to commit such unspeakable crimes as needed for his study.'

'Motherfucker,' said Junpei, his hand tightening around the grip of his gun.

'I see we are finally on the same page,' said Delta. He wasn't quite smiling, but there was a vaguely satisfied smugness in his voice and the way a corner of his lips twitched as he talked. 'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering it was you who found my headquarters.'

'The religious fanatic doesn't exist,' said Junpei, 'you just wanted to see how Akane would react.'

'The world was hers for the taking,' said Delta. 'Yet she longed for the simplest things.' He shook his head. 'But no. I didn't mean to observe her exclusively. After all, your actions proved to be quite fascinating as well.

'Faced with a threat to their survival, humans could act in extreme ways: the most heroic and the most cowardly. I have seen this in my death game. And now.' Delta gestured at Junpei as if presenting him to a crowd. 'Postponing your own happiness in order to pursue a nebulous threat to humanity--one that might not even exist--wouldn't you consider that a heroic act?'

'I consider it being duped by an asshole,' said Junpei, through gritted teeth.

'Humans are infinitely interesting creatures, Mr Tenmyouji.'

'That's funny,' said Junpei. 'Because I don't find you interesting at all.'

'That is what constitutes the ultimate, unforgivable sin,' said Delta. 'At least in Hawthorne's reckoning. I decided to take it one step further.'

'Great,' said Junpei. 'There's more?'

'For Sean and--to a greater extent--my brother, I cheated death,' said Delta. His voice sounded firmer and Junpei could see a shadow of what Brother must have been to his followers. 'All in order to observe what they would make of their extended lives. Like Ethan Brand, I have lost my hold of the magnetic chain of humanity. And like him, I have no regrets.'

Junpei had stepped close enough to Delta that the tip of his gun barrel pressed against the Delta's temple. Junpei couldn't see Delta's eyes, but nothing in the old man's body language betrayed a hint of fear. Or regret.

'This is my unpardonable sin,' said Delta. 'How would you judge me, Mr Tenmyouji?'

'I think that's a job for your parents,' said Junpei, slamming the side of his gun against Delta's jaw.

[greaseonmymouth]

your reblog on gabriel's topcoat made me remember gabriel was shouting about pornography while holding the brick that is mrs beeton's book of household management and tbh i'm cackling all over again

one could argue he didn't even look at the book so doesn't know it's a household management book, but consider: Gabriel did see the words household management on the cover and

a) if we believe he knows anything about human books, thought it was a kama sutra under another name, which might be giving him too much credit

b) he confused household management with body management (after all, to angels bodies are just houses they live in) and was certain this qualified as pornography - both things being equally gross

[chessanator]

For the fanfic ask meme! K, L, M, V!

Thanks for the ask!

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

It’s working out at about three official drafts at the moment: first draft, edited after my parents have read it, edited after my beta-reader has read it (Thanks, @blackflirtlarping​!).

There are a couple of chapters which I like to re-read from time to time and I’ve occasionally noticed errors and fixed them then-and-there. But I don’t think I catch enough at once doing it like that for it to count as an extra revision.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

I’ve got two sequels planned for TUoHS, the first of which is ridiculously spoilerly just from the concept of it alone, and the other of which is about what Nagito Komaeda is up to in this alternate timeline.

Once I’ve finished those (so, like, not for at least fifteen years) there’s a couple of other ideas I’ve been percolating. Probably the only one that’s developed enough to mention is the crossover between Pokemon and Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar I had some inklings of. It would basically be a reimagining of the Worldwar story but with Pokemon, so rather than the aliens having advanced technology they’d have IV-bred EV-trained Smogon move-setted pokemon. Where Worldwar had a character who was a representative of the Manhattan Project, here he’d be a Rocket Scientist trying to tell people about Mewtwo. And the role played by the belligerent governments of WWII would be played by the Champions and Elite Fours of each region. Also, there’d be a scene where the aliens declared Brock to be a superior specimen of humanity because he’s attracted to every lady he comes across. (That probably makes more sense in context.)

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Back before the second fic in the Game Theory ‘verse of Nanoha fanfics (by Immatrael) finished, I had this vague idea for how I might start a fic in that verse based just before the time period of the third season of Nanoha. Basically it drew on some connections in the world-building implied by the ending of the first fic, though I have no idea how I’d continue beyond that first scene to turn it into an entire story.

Unfortunately, the ending of the second fic churned up the status quo completely (not that I’d accept anything less from my favourite fanfic) such that I don’t think my idea works anymore, not without knowing quite a lot more about the setting Immatrael and her collaborators have developed.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

My angstiest idea is pretty spoilery (TBH, it’s the big spoiler of TUoHS, to the point where I’ve been calling everything related to it ‘The Spine’) so I’ll stick it under a read-more Stupid Tumblr isn’t letting read-more work, so I’ve ROT13′d it instead.

(@blackflirtlarping​: please, please don’t read.)

Gur sbhegu zheqre bs GHbUF unf Zvxheh Nfnuvan nf gur zheqrere. Gur oehgnyyl natfgl cneg vf gung ng gur cbvag bs gur Pynff Gevny, fur unfa’g npghnyyl pbzzvggrq gur zheqre lrg sebz ure crefcrpgvir. V whfg ubcr gung V’z hc gb jevgvat gur Ohyyrg Gvzr Onggyr sbe gung gevny, juvpu jvyy or nobhg arrqvat gb pbaivapr Zvxheh gb npghnyyl tb onpx naq qb vg fb gurer vfa’g n gvzr cnenqbk: gur svany jbeqf ng gur raq bs vg jvyy or ‘Rfgnoyvfurq Vasbezngvba’. 

C.F. Gur vqrn sbe gur bgure frdhry gung V zragvbarq rneyvre naq qvqa’g qrfpevor vf gung, fvapr Zvxheh qvrf qhevat gur nygreangr gvzryvar bs zl fgbel, zl gvzryvar vf gur bar gung Shwvjnen sebz pnaba genafcbegrq bire sebz.

[satans-tiddies]

Hi! I've been following this blog for a while and I love your posts about BL and Japanese culture. I just wanted to ask: is it all right to say 'okama bar' or are there better, non-rude terms? I'm asking because I wrote about it in passing in a fic (i.e. 'they like going to okama bars') but now I realise it's probably offensive? (I'm not sure if 'gay bar' is quite the right term despite many Westerners using those as comparison.) Thanks so much! Keep being cool! :D

Hello! I’m so sorry for taking so long to answer this probably time-sensitive ask! Yes, some people still say “okama bars”, but a more respectful name for them that is popularly used is “onee bars” or “onee clubs”. The meaning is the same, and it doesn’t use a potentially insulting term!

Thank you for reading and following, and have a good one! Cheers!

[karinonsan]

me: *sees otp in the gift request* SQUEEEEEEEE

@eatingfireflies  I felt I have been given a gift already when I saw your request. So thank you, and here's some Rook/Thom goodness in return.

AKA The Modern Instagram AU (that i hope somebody ask for :s)

Also, my headcanon is Thom initially wanted to do outdoor travelling on his own even if Rook decided he doesnt want to come with him (kinda like what happen at the end of book 1, and their relationship is still not kinda solid yet) but then Rook thought, "well shit who knows what this twerp would get himself into all alone in the wilderness. Better make sure he doesn’t accidentally eat any poison mushroom or slip and die or something".

And then Thom did get into all sort of wrong turns and Rook is continuously facepalming through ought their journey, and Rook thought again, "thank god for me" or who knows what will happen to Thom.

But even with all that happening, Rook did enjoy their travel quite a lot and was already planning to find another place to go to (the two of them again, of course ;)

Happy new year, D!

(also, fingers what fingers? =_=; sorry)

[morphogenetic]

@eatingfireflies at this point im just like. god. this bootstrap paradox isn’t even super handwavey either they Literally Explain It

[fiestasaur]

FIGHT ME