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alias_sqbrMasterlist of Code Realize posts
This was great. Weird, but in exactly the way I like.
Content note: mention of suicide.
Saint-Germain's angsty backstory: he was a nameless slave, bitterly spending his whole life building a tower for his king...only for an Apostle of Idea to show up and turn the tower to rubble. The Apostle offers the dying Saint-Germain the choice of the prison of immortality, or the release of death. Saint-Germain doesn't consider this a choice. He also laughs at the idea of having a wish: he has never felt able to wish for anything his entire life. The screen fuzzes with static when he says what it is.
Cardia wakes to the familiar soft warmth and disturbing smell of a kiss. She rants at Saint-Germain at length (but largely off screen) about (a) self preservation and (b) consent.
They have been searching Europe for a cure for a year, and approach Paris. Saint-Germain is going to visit one of the few people he's met as brilliant as Isaac: another Apostle, the alchemist Hermes Trismegistus. (I don't expect any of that wikipedia page to actually apply to this dude but it's still interesting)
Saint-Germain describes Trismegistus as brilliant, selfish, capricious...and dead.
Bless you Saint-Germain, even your established relationship fluff is enjoyably weird.
Entering a secret underground facility, Saint-Germain offers a prayer for Trismegistus, though he was not religious, a heretic who didn't even obey orders half the time.
He gives the impression of complex mixed feelings, and Cardia wonders what their relationship really was. YEAH, CARDIA, I SHIP IT TOO.
The lab has been looted and the remaining notes are in languages like Hebrew and Akkadian. Saint-Germain tells her to check anything she can read for mentions of the philosopher's stone, since Trismegistus was researching it.
(I love how on his path Victor had already found a partial cure by now. Clearly he needs the motivation of smooches)
Saint-Germain notices Cardia feels down about them failing to find anything, and tells her to have a nap as he drives them to Paris. Then we get his POV, charmed by how innocent and defenseless she looks but resisting how much he wants to kiss her.
Saint-Germain: Ah, Trismegistus, even in death he confounds me. But he...probably isn't enthused about helping the man who killed him.
Flashback. Trismegistus (no sprite, boo) is the same slow, soft-voiced Apostle who recruited Saint-Germain, and still calls him "Nameless slave child". (The thought that Saint-Germain may be physically a teenager is very odd. He is one the shorter, higher voiced LIs, and Cardia herself seems to be stuck in her late teens physically, but still. Odd! Regardless, I shall continue to semi-headcanon him as a trans dude)
Saint-Germain: I have not been 'nameless' since I joined Idea :/
Trismegistus: Ah, yes, what do you call yourself? 'Saint'? What a wonderful name, you should give thanks to whomever parental figure dubbed you thus.
Saint-Germain: I fairly burst with thanks. Indeed I would like to strike said 'parental' figure in the face. How fortunate that he is here.
Aw
Saint-Germain thinks irritably that he'd like a word with all the people who think Trismegistus is a saint or even god, considering he keeps fobbing all his work off on Saint-Germain to go travelling.
But this time Saint-Germain isn't just here to scold Trismegistus. Trismegistus has been researching the Philosopher's Stone, and while Omnibus generally ignores all the alchemists dabbling in the idea, she is concerned that Trismegistus may actually succeed.
Trismegistus: It seems my skill has been overestimated. And might you actually...be concerned about me?
Saint-Germain: Hardly. You are merely the man who razed my birthplace to the ground. If you died I might dance a jig.
Trismegistus: My, my(*)...you used to have a touch more decorum, whose influence could this be I wonder? ;)
(*)He says this exactly like a female shoujo villain
And then he says no. He made a promise 'to a certain someone', and is willing to risk his life, though it is worn to the bone after thousands of years.
Saint-Germain finds this baffling: nothing is more valuable than your own life. Trismegistus says he'll understand one day what it is to value someone else as much as yourself.
Cardia loves Paris, and how the elegant Saint-Germain fits right in. She's not surprised it's the city he's lived in the most, 300 years all up, as everything from a baker to a priest. Saint-Germain offers to hold hands but she says she doesn't trust him not to 'try something'. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU IGNORE BOUNDARIES, SAINT-GERMAIN.
The translation keeps having Saint-Germain use French words here and there, when Lupin did this I noticed English in the Japanese audio, but I think Saint-Germain is just using Japanese. The background images are using French for shop signs etc, which is plausibly as incorrect as the background English was but looks fine to me!
Cardia gets distracted by two lovers kissing each other on the cheek, and then starts thinking about how elegant Saint-Germain is when she's just dressed like a boy.
Noticing her distress, despite her protests Saint-Germain pulls her close, whispering into her ear that he saw her lips quivering with desire, and reminding her he is the one person she should always feel free to touch.
She is embarrassed, annoyed she's so unable to resist his gentle sexy domineeringness, afraid for his well-being, and super into it. I think they're possibly both kinda into knowing it would cause him pain which...ok!
They're interrupted by a little boy who is playing tag, and mocked by the other kids for being bad at it. So Cardia gives him some tips on evasive manoeuvres from Lupin, bless. Saint-Germain says her new disciple is very cute, and cheerfully watches the two of them, happy that Cardia has the confidence to seek out the company of others. Now, if her gem could just be controlled, she could fully live the life she wants, including her wish to touch others. Delightful. And yet...
Haha even in France his mansion is IDENTICAL.
The little boy calls her Onee-san-sensei ;_; (Big sister teacher, which is translated as the much less cute Miss Coach)
Cardia: Next time I'll teach you all about setting traps ^_^
And then she bumps into Lupin, who is overjoyed to see her, especially in his hometown. But Saint-Germain seems to doubt that it's just a coincidence. "Perhaps he came to check on you. Lupin- that is, everyone loves you."
Lupin comes to visit while Saint-Germain is out. Cardia confides that she feels like Saint-Germain has been acting odd, and he's supportive. She's left alone wandering the mansion at midnight, and then finds Saint-Germain in the garden, cutting flowers.
Saint-Germain: In my immortality I pursued beauty that would endure, like art...but the ephemeral beauty of flowers is endearing all the same.
Cardia: They're so beautiful...and temporary, I suppose. I wish I could touch them. And not just them...
He embraces her, and lets out a sigh so sad it's almost a sob.
Saint-Germain: What would you do...if the toxin could not be neutralised?
Cardia: Isn't the whole purpose of us travelling to prevent that? But...but if it did...:(
Saint-Germain: Worry not. I alone will stay by your side. Even if your kiss becomes the kiss of death...I alone will accept this fate. Would I alone be enough to grant you comfort?
She wonders if she should say yes. But then the flowers he's holding brush her cheek, and rot. She says she doesn't want to think about what would happen if her poison doesn't go away.
Saint-Germain wonders to himself what's wrong with him that he would ask her such things. He realises that from the first time he felt her warm, smooth skin, he's felt a twisted desire to remain the only one she can touch, the one constant in her life.
He laughs darkly at his twisted betrayal of her feelings, disgusted with himself. And then Lupin appears, 'a gentleman thief visiting the vagabond lovers'.
Lupin asks how the research is going and points out that Saint-Germain doesn't seem very enthused at the thought of Cardia becoming 'an ordinary girl, free to follow her own desires'. Saint-Germain silently finds Lupin's intelligence matching his own a thorn in his side, and reluctantly admits his mixed feelings.
Lupin: Say another word and I'll slug you >:( Can you imagine my feelings right now? Listening to the whimpers of the man I entrusted with the girl I'd promised to make happy. *pulls on Saint-Germain's collar so tight he chokes* The day I met Cardia, I made a vow to rid her of her poison. Time for a casting change, then. I will rid her of her poison. You lack the confidence that there will be anything to stop her leaving you once the poison is gone. So stand aside.
Saint-Germain, totally losing his cool, crying out like a child: No! It doesn't matter if she has the poison or not! It doesn't matter who else is in her life! I won't give her to you, or anyone else! Because I love her more than anyone else in the whole world!!
Lupin: Is that so, Cardia?
Cardia, stepping from the shadows: ...
Saint-Germain: D: D: D:
Lupin: I will meddle once more, Saint-Germain. You seem to bear a great deal of anxiety and whatnot...but have you discussed it with her even once?
Saint-Germain: ...I...
Lupin: That's the problem with you overly intellectual sorts, never considering anything beyond your own heads. Well, I'll take my leave ;)
Saint-Germain laughs weakly and tells Cardia she is looking on a man at his most wretched. They both try to apologise, but she stops him to say it's vital he understands that she doesn't love him because he can touch her- she wants to touch him because she loves him. He is touched, and says the next time he declares his love, it will be when her gem is controlled, and they can share a true kiss.
We see Lupin mutter to himself that they're a troublesome couple, and he'd be better off if he was more of a jerk. Sorry, Lupin, you are objectively the better boyfriend, but me and this Cardia are into messed up weirdos.
And then we see Saint-Germain asking for Lupin's help to track down the stolen lab items, especially an emerald tablet engraved with notes. Cardia thanks Lupin for helping and he gets awkward...and then admits he was the one who looted the lab in the first place, when he was an apprentice with 'no sense of aesthetics'. But he felt guilty and never sold it.
When Saint-Germain sees the tablet, he stares and then slowly reads out the words in an ancient tongue.
Flashback to Saint-Germain visiting Trismegistus for the first time in 50 years, having been sent to kill him. Saint-Germain tells him to run, but Trismegistus says there's no point, and if he is to die he'd rather it be at the hands of a close friend.
Saint-Germain: You still consider me a friend, even though I have come to kill you? Truly, you are a foolish man.
Trismegistus explains that he is tired of living, and tired of trying to kill himself. Tens of thousands of years is too long for a fragile human heart. And though he is not as prescient as Omnibus, he has some foresight, and knows that though his research will end here, someday it will prove useful to 'someone's happiness.
And then we flash back to Saint-Germain's final moments of humanity as he bled to death, grasping for Trismegistus's hand and wishing...to know an ordinary happiness.
At then end of the tablet, Trismegistus says "At the end of a very long road, I pray that your wish will be granted. Your friend, Hermes Trismegistus"
It was for Saint-Germain all along ;_;
We see Victor in London squeeing over the emerald tablet. And then he touches it to Cardia's cheek...and nothing happens! The key to neutralising her gem is the emerald in the tablet itself. He is going to find a way to reduce her gem's energy down to just enough to keep her alive, so it doesn't exude excess energy as toxin.
Some time later Saint-Germain takes Cardia on a tour of London, ending on the bridge.
Saint-Germain: It seems the best place to discuss something important. *takes off hat*
Me: Aww is he going to propose?
Saint-Germain: I shall tell you directly...I am a truly hideous human being.
Me: AWWW <3
He talks about his anxieties and apologises for ever doubting her. And then he vows that his love for her will carry on forever. He tells her to close her eyes.
She feels him remove her glove, and put something on her ring finger...an emerald ring. And though he is kissing her bare skin, she feels only gentle warmth.
Credits!
Cardia and Saint-Germain are on another ship, reminiscing about That One Time They Visited Egypt and Got Trapped In A Pyramid. Next up is "a country in the far East that was recently forced to open itself to foreign visitors" (yes, I get it, writers) and then America to visit Impey. After that, back to London, by which time Cardia should be fully free of poison.
It's been spreading from her left hand, and currently about half of her is safe to touch stuff. Saint-Germain says they should get married in London, and wants to invite the rest of Idea, much to Cardia's surprise.
She asks him about Trismegistus, and says she wants to visit Saint-Germain's home town in West Asia. *looks up West Asia* OH. HE'S FROM BABYLON. Which is in modern day Iraq, huh! (Maybe Iraqis all had pale blue eyes and silver hair back then lol)
Kinda lost track of my memory of the scene with all that geography research, what happened...
They embrace and say some very sweet romantic things. He kisses her and though he's not melting any more she's still filled with heat ;) She thinks about how Saint-Germain kisses every part of her he can as the poison retreats and he uses pretty words to imply how much he's looking forward to having sex (and also getting married). Cardia thinks about the happy future they have made for themselves.
THE END
That was great! If more established relationship fluff had weird body horror and seething self hatred I'd be way more into the genre.
This was great. Weird, but in exactly the way I like.
Content note: mention of suicide.
Saint-Germain's angsty backstory: he was a nameless slave, bitterly spending his whole life building a tower for his king...only for an Apostle of Idea to show up and turn the tower to rubble. The Apostle offers the dying Saint-Germain the choice of the prison of immortality, or the release of death. Saint-Germain doesn't consider this a choice. He also laughs at the idea of having a wish: he has never felt able to wish for anything his entire life. The screen fuzzes with static when he says what it is.
Cardia wakes to the familiar soft warmth and disturbing smell of a kiss. She rants at Saint-Germain at length (but largely off screen) about (a) self preservation and (b) consent.
They have been searching Europe for a cure for a year, and approach Paris. Saint-Germain is going to visit one of the few people he's met as brilliant as Isaac: another Apostle, the alchemist Hermes Trismegistus. (I don't expect any of that wikipedia page to actually apply to this dude but it's still interesting)
Saint-Germain describes Trismegistus as brilliant, selfish, capricious...and dead.
Bless you Saint-Germain, even your established relationship fluff is enjoyably weird.
Entering a secret underground facility, Saint-Germain offers a prayer for Trismegistus, though he was not religious, a heretic who didn't even obey orders half the time.
He gives the impression of complex mixed feelings, and Cardia wonders what their relationship really was. YEAH, CARDIA, I SHIP IT TOO.
The lab has been looted and the remaining notes are in languages like Hebrew and Akkadian. Saint-Germain tells her to check anything she can read for mentions of the philosopher's stone, since Trismegistus was researching it.
(I love how on his path Victor had already found a partial cure by now. Clearly he needs the motivation of smooches)
Saint-Germain notices Cardia feels down about them failing to find anything, and tells her to have a nap as he drives them to Paris. Then we get his POV, charmed by how innocent and defenseless she looks but resisting how much he wants to kiss her.
Saint-Germain: Ah, Trismegistus, even in death he confounds me. But he...probably isn't enthused about helping the man who killed him.
Flashback. Trismegistus (no sprite, boo) is the same slow, soft-voiced Apostle who recruited Saint-Germain, and still calls him "Nameless slave child". (The thought that Saint-Germain may be physically a teenager is very odd. He is one the shorter, higher voiced LIs, and Cardia herself seems to be stuck in her late teens physically, but still. Odd! Regardless, I shall continue to semi-headcanon him as a trans dude)
Saint-Germain: I have not been 'nameless' since I joined Idea :/
Trismegistus: Ah, yes, what do you call yourself? 'Saint'? What a wonderful name, you should give thanks to whomever parental figure dubbed you thus.
Saint-Germain: I fairly burst with thanks. Indeed I would like to strike said 'parental' figure in the face. How fortunate that he is here.
Aw
Saint-Germain thinks irritably that he'd like a word with all the people who think Trismegistus is a saint or even god, considering he keeps fobbing all his work off on Saint-Germain to go travelling.
But this time Saint-Germain isn't just here to scold Trismegistus. Trismegistus has been researching the Philosopher's Stone, and while Omnibus generally ignores all the alchemists dabbling in the idea, she is concerned that Trismegistus may actually succeed.
Trismegistus: It seems my skill has been overestimated. And might you actually...be concerned about me?
Saint-Germain: Hardly. You are merely the man who razed my birthplace to the ground. If you died I might dance a jig.
Trismegistus: My, my(*)...you used to have a touch more decorum, whose influence could this be I wonder? ;)
(*)He says this exactly like a female shoujo villain
And then he says no. He made a promise 'to a certain someone', and is willing to risk his life, though it is worn to the bone after thousands of years.
Saint-Germain finds this baffling: nothing is more valuable than your own life. Trismegistus says he'll understand one day what it is to value someone else as much as yourself.
Cardia loves Paris, and how the elegant Saint-Germain fits right in. She's not surprised it's the city he's lived in the most, 300 years all up, as everything from a baker to a priest. Saint-Germain offers to hold hands but she says she doesn't trust him not to 'try something'. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU IGNORE BOUNDARIES, SAINT-GERMAIN.
The translation keeps having Saint-Germain use French words here and there, when Lupin did this I noticed English in the Japanese audio, but I think Saint-Germain is just using Japanese. The background images are using French for shop signs etc, which is plausibly as incorrect as the background English was but looks fine to me!
Cardia gets distracted by two lovers kissing each other on the cheek, and then starts thinking about how elegant Saint-Germain is when she's just dressed like a boy.
Noticing her distress, despite her protests Saint-Germain pulls her close, whispering into her ear that he saw her lips quivering with desire, and reminding her he is the one person she should always feel free to touch.
She is embarrassed, annoyed she's so unable to resist his gentle sexy domineeringness, afraid for his well-being, and super into it. I think they're possibly both kinda into knowing it would cause him pain which...ok!
They're interrupted by a little boy who is playing tag, and mocked by the other kids for being bad at it. So Cardia gives him some tips on evasive manoeuvres from Lupin, bless. Saint-Germain says her new disciple is very cute, and cheerfully watches the two of them, happy that Cardia has the confidence to seek out the company of others. Now, if her gem could just be controlled, she could fully live the life she wants, including her wish to touch others. Delightful. And yet...
Haha even in France his mansion is IDENTICAL.
The little boy calls her Onee-san-sensei ;_; (Big sister teacher, which is translated as the much less cute Miss Coach)
Cardia: Next time I'll teach you all about setting traps ^_^
And then she bumps into Lupin, who is overjoyed to see her, especially in his hometown. But Saint-Germain seems to doubt that it's just a coincidence. "Perhaps he came to check on you. Lupin- that is, everyone loves you."
Lupin comes to visit while Saint-Germain is out. Cardia confides that she feels like Saint-Germain has been acting odd, and he's supportive. She's left alone wandering the mansion at midnight, and then finds Saint-Germain in the garden, cutting flowers.
Saint-Germain: In my immortality I pursued beauty that would endure, like art...but the ephemeral beauty of flowers is endearing all the same.
Cardia: They're so beautiful...and temporary, I suppose. I wish I could touch them. And not just them...
He embraces her, and lets out a sigh so sad it's almost a sob.
Saint-Germain: What would you do...if the toxin could not be neutralised?
Cardia: Isn't the whole purpose of us travelling to prevent that? But...but if it did...:(
Saint-Germain: Worry not. I alone will stay by your side. Even if your kiss becomes the kiss of death...I alone will accept this fate. Would I alone be enough to grant you comfort?
She wonders if she should say yes. But then the flowers he's holding brush her cheek, and rot. She says she doesn't want to think about what would happen if her poison doesn't go away.
Saint-Germain wonders to himself what's wrong with him that he would ask her such things. He realises that from the first time he felt her warm, smooth skin, he's felt a twisted desire to remain the only one she can touch, the one constant in her life.
He laughs darkly at his twisted betrayal of her feelings, disgusted with himself. And then Lupin appears, 'a gentleman thief visiting the vagabond lovers'.
Lupin asks how the research is going and points out that Saint-Germain doesn't seem very enthused at the thought of Cardia becoming 'an ordinary girl, free to follow her own desires'. Saint-Germain silently finds Lupin's intelligence matching his own a thorn in his side, and reluctantly admits his mixed feelings.
Lupin: Say another word and I'll slug you >:( Can you imagine my feelings right now? Listening to the whimpers of the man I entrusted with the girl I'd promised to make happy. *pulls on Saint-Germain's collar so tight he chokes* The day I met Cardia, I made a vow to rid her of her poison. Time for a casting change, then. I will rid her of her poison. You lack the confidence that there will be anything to stop her leaving you once the poison is gone. So stand aside.
Saint-Germain, totally losing his cool, crying out like a child: No! It doesn't matter if she has the poison or not! It doesn't matter who else is in her life! I won't give her to you, or anyone else! Because I love her more than anyone else in the whole world!!
Lupin: Is that so, Cardia?
Cardia, stepping from the shadows: ...
Saint-Germain: D: D: D:
Lupin: I will meddle once more, Saint-Germain. You seem to bear a great deal of anxiety and whatnot...but have you discussed it with her even once?
Saint-Germain: ...I...
Lupin: That's the problem with you overly intellectual sorts, never considering anything beyond your own heads. Well, I'll take my leave ;)
Saint-Germain laughs weakly and tells Cardia she is looking on a man at his most wretched. They both try to apologise, but she stops him to say it's vital he understands that she doesn't love him because he can touch her- she wants to touch him because she loves him. He is touched, and says the next time he declares his love, it will be when her gem is controlled, and they can share a true kiss.
We see Lupin mutter to himself that they're a troublesome couple, and he'd be better off if he was more of a jerk. Sorry, Lupin, you are objectively the better boyfriend, but me and this Cardia are into messed up weirdos.
And then we see Saint-Germain asking for Lupin's help to track down the stolen lab items, especially an emerald tablet engraved with notes. Cardia thanks Lupin for helping and he gets awkward...and then admits he was the one who looted the lab in the first place, when he was an apprentice with 'no sense of aesthetics'. But he felt guilty and never sold it.
When Saint-Germain sees the tablet, he stares and then slowly reads out the words in an ancient tongue.
Flashback to Saint-Germain visiting Trismegistus for the first time in 50 years, having been sent to kill him. Saint-Germain tells him to run, but Trismegistus says there's no point, and if he is to die he'd rather it be at the hands of a close friend.
Saint-Germain: You still consider me a friend, even though I have come to kill you? Truly, you are a foolish man.
Trismegistus explains that he is tired of living, and tired of trying to kill himself. Tens of thousands of years is too long for a fragile human heart. And though he is not as prescient as Omnibus, he has some foresight, and knows that though his research will end here, someday it will prove useful to 'someone's happiness.
And then we flash back to Saint-Germain's final moments of humanity as he bled to death, grasping for Trismegistus's hand and wishing...to know an ordinary happiness.
At then end of the tablet, Trismegistus says "At the end of a very long road, I pray that your wish will be granted. Your friend, Hermes Trismegistus"
It was for Saint-Germain all along ;_;
We see Victor in London squeeing over the emerald tablet. And then he touches it to Cardia's cheek...and nothing happens! The key to neutralising her gem is the emerald in the tablet itself. He is going to find a way to reduce her gem's energy down to just enough to keep her alive, so it doesn't exude excess energy as toxin.
Some time later Saint-Germain takes Cardia on a tour of London, ending on the bridge.
Saint-Germain: It seems the best place to discuss something important. *takes off hat*
Me: Aww is he going to propose?
Saint-Germain: I shall tell you directly...I am a truly hideous human being.
Me: AWWW <3
He talks about his anxieties and apologises for ever doubting her. And then he vows that his love for her will carry on forever. He tells her to close her eyes.
She feels him remove her glove, and put something on her ring finger...an emerald ring. And though he is kissing her bare skin, she feels only gentle warmth.
Credits!
Cardia and Saint-Germain are on another ship, reminiscing about That One Time They Visited Egypt and Got Trapped In A Pyramid. Next up is "a country in the far East that was recently forced to open itself to foreign visitors" (yes, I get it, writers) and then America to visit Impey. After that, back to London, by which time Cardia should be fully free of poison.
It's been spreading from her left hand, and currently about half of her is safe to touch stuff. Saint-Germain says they should get married in London, and wants to invite the rest of Idea, much to Cardia's surprise.
She asks him about Trismegistus, and says she wants to visit Saint-Germain's home town in West Asia. *looks up West Asia* OH. HE'S FROM BABYLON. Which is in modern day Iraq, huh! (Maybe Iraqis all had pale blue eyes and silver hair back then lol)
Kinda lost track of my memory of the scene with all that geography research, what happened...
They embrace and say some very sweet romantic things. He kisses her and though he's not melting any more she's still filled with heat ;) She thinks about how Saint-Germain kisses every part of her he can as the poison retreats and he uses pretty words to imply how much he's looking forward to having sex (and also getting married). Cardia thinks about the happy future they have made for themselves.
THE END
That was great! If more established relationship fluff had weird body horror and seething self hatred I'd be way more into the genre.
