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sideblog-666-thousand · 3 years

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Euronymous Interview in Decibel of Death, ‘87. English Translation. Ft. Euronymous’ depraved torture fantasies involving Coca-Cola.

‘Decibel of Death’ was a French fanzine from the 80s. It’s first issue was released in ‘86, and by the summer of ‘87, it switched over from French to English-language. This has been my favourite interview of Euronymous for a long time now, so I decided I’d translate it to English so that other, non-francophone, people could enjoy it too. This issue in particular is from February of ‘87, and was their fourth issue overall.

I’ll add a link to where you can find this, and other D.O.D scans, below. If anybody wants me to translate more French, or Russian, interviews, feel free to PM me.

Note: NDLR is the editor’s notes. Any commentary or context by me will be in bold and in parenthesis, so feel free to totally ignore it. If something is between “« »” it’s because it was already written in English to begin with.

Disclaimer: if some of the sentences sound like the energizer bunny is hooked on an iv rig full of pure meth, don’t blame me, I did my best. Take it up with Euronymous himself. Also, I’m not excusing Euronymous’ poor behaviour, I’m just saying his poor behaviour is kind of entertaining.

Without further ado...

D.O.D: And once again, here’s Norwegian Mayhem. If you remember, we presented them to you back in the May issue of D.O.D. Since then, they released a new demo titled “Death Crush”!! Because of this event, we decided to ask the guitarist of this rather sinister band a few questions.

D.O.D: Okay, there’s been more than a few line-up changes in Mayhem. Can you tell us what the current one is?

Euro: Alright, there’s me on guitars, Manheim on battery, Necro-butcher on drums, and our session vocalist, Maniac.

D.O.D: And what is the medium age of the group?

Euro: We are all 18 years old.

D.O.D: How long has Mayhem been around for?

Euro: Mayhem has been around since August of ‘84 with this line-up, before that, I played in another shitty metal group that was also called Mayhem. The other members also played in a crappy band before we all met.

D.O.D: How would you describe your music?

Euro: Ah, well, it’s like a wall of sound played at extreme speed all mixed with the sound of a chainsaw!!

D.O.D: In your opinion, who are the biggest posers on this planet?

Euro: That definitely has to be the Swedish group ‘Europe’. «Fuck them!!» I hate this band!!

D.O.D: Ha ha, what would you like to do to make them suffer?

(This is the exact moment where the interviewers realize that Euronymous is literally fucking insane. The editor censors some of the things Euronymous says because he has a very vulgar manner of speaking, so, brace yourselves. To make it abundantly clear— I didn’t censor any of this, if it was me, I’d let him continue swearing ‘til next year if he wanted to. Take it up with D.O.D!)

Euro: First of all, I’d cut them and make them eat their own (bleep)!! Then, I’ll fuck them in the ass with an empty bottle of Coke, and if they’re still alive somehow, I’ll drown them in their own piss!! (NDLR: I’d do the same to a few guys in Germany and Switzerland!!) But all of this is reserved for their guitarist, drummer and bassist, I have a far crueler torture for their singer, for him, I’m simply going to break his mirror and steal his perfume!! Haaaaafuckinghah!!! (NDLR: ahahahaha, this is so much fun!!)

D.O.D: Okay, Euronymous, onto more serious topics, who composes the most in Mayhem?

Euro: It’s me and Necro, but sometimes Manheim comes up with good riffs, he actually wrote most of P.F.A (Pure Fucking Armageddon)

D.O.D: I believe thrashers reacted pretty well to your first demo, right?

Euro: Despite the zero sound of this demo. It's true that it's actually the hardcore thrashers that appreciated it, although it was the others hating it that gave us an enormous promotion like with 'Metal Forces'.

D.O.D: Has there been groups that have influenced you?

Euro: Of course, early Venom has really inspired us, although we don’t sound like them in any way. We’re also influenced by bands like Hellhammer and Sodom.

D.O.D: Mayhem is a common band name, what do you think of other Mayhem (such as NYC Mayhem, Mayhem (WC), Mayhem (Oregon))?

Euro: NYC Mayhem* are excellent, I adore them! (NDLR: me too!!) and they call themselves NYC Mayhem. But as for the other Mayhems, they stink, «fuckin’ shit», like the Mayhem that’s on Metal Massacre VI*, they really stink, their music isn’t destructive like ours is at all, they don’t deserve this name, I hate them!!

D.O.D: I heard you guys played a show, how did that go?

Euro: It was really «cool», it was at a small rock festival that had around 3-400 «discofucks» (NDLR: this is the censored translation) and when we went on stage with our first session vocalist “Messiah”, we broke a bass over their mouths!! We gave these idiots hell!! Ha ha!! (I’ll link the show he’s referring to below)

D.O.D: And how did your other gigs go?

Euro: For now this has been our only show!! And we don’t know how the crowds will react at the prospect of future gigs.

D.O.D: Fair. Since we’re talking about future gigs, what will those be like?

Euro: They’ll be full of occult things, we’ll play in complete darkness and there’ll be red blood spots, chandeliers, smoke, and pig heads on stakes, it’ll be totally thrashing!!

D.O.D: How’s the Norwegian thrash scene? It’s pretty dull, no?

Euro: Right now, «it sucks», there’s no audience, but it seems to be going in the right direction with bands like Vomit*, Septic Cunts, Decay Lust, and Flowers in The Dustbin.

D.O.D: And what kind of things are your lyrics about?

Euro: depravity, like tearing someone’s (bleep), eating worms, and all those fine things!!

D.O.D: What are your favourite bands?

Euro: Really hard question, there’s so many good bands coming out but I think the bands I like the most are old Venom, Deathchamber, Sodom, Necrophagia, Destruction, Death, Kreator, Poison. (No, not THAT Poison)

D.O.D: Do you ever listen to hardcore?

Euro: «Yeah» I like Chaotic Discord, Septic Death, UK Subs, and others. It hasn’t been that long since I went to see Disorder and it was awesome!!

D.O.D: Are you considering going on tour?

Euro: No, not exactly. But soon we’ll play at a Norwegian thrash festival. We’ll also play at a thrash festival in Copenhagen, and probably do a few shows with Kreator/Necrophagia in ‘87.

(No, this isn’t a typo on my end, it actually says ‘87. There’s two reasons why this might be the case. One, it could be an error on the part of the editor, who deserves an interview of his own, or two, it could be an error by Euronymous himself since the interview might have been conducted in January. Euronymous could have mixed the years up as one sometimes does. However, ‘Death Crush’, the demo, actually came out in March of ‘87. What the interviewer and Euronymous are referring to as ‘Death Crush’ is likely ‘Death Rehearsal’, which is exactly what it sounds like, and was taped back January of ‘87.)

D.O.D: I heard you guys are recording a new demo, is it ready?

Euro: We just entered the studio to record the second “Death Crush” demo, but at the moment, we only have three songs. I’m also unsure of whether or not we’ll have enough money to record anything else, and the vocals still haven’t been put to music!!

D.O.D: There’s some rumours that you guys were contacted by certain record labels, is this true?

Euro: It’s true, we got a letter from Axe killer records saying that they were interested in us but they never listened to our music and I also sent them our demo tape but I don’t believe we’ll be receiving any letters from them now!!

D.O.D: Do you have anything to add?

Euro: Of course, «fucking ARGHHHH!!»

There, that’s all :)

If you’re interested in some of the asterisks I put in, here they are in order of their appearances:

*Unlike most of the bands Euronymous named in this interview, NYC Mayhem (and later as Straight Ahead) never released more than a few demo. They were a straight edge band from, you guessed it, NYC— Queens to be exact. Despite never releasing a full album, their sound inspired some grindcore and death metal bands, notably Carcass. They were also straight edge, which makes Euronymous’ mental breakdown over the Mayhem that was on Metal Massacre very, very ironic. Especially considering he was pretty straight edge himself, especially back in 1987– outside of maybe smoking some pot.

Here is their 1985 demo, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3geR1JbY4

*Metal Massacre is a series of compilation albums starting in 1982, released by Metal Blade records. Typically, these were independent and unsigned bands. Some notable ones include Metallica on the first edition with ‘Hit the lights’. Slayer in ‘83 with ‘Aggressive Perfector’. The ‘84 edition had Voivod, Overkill, and Hellhammer.

The one which Euronymous is referring to, however, is the one from ‘85. Here it is, the timestamp is 14:19 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HqwfsLvLvuY

It’s really not that bad— certainly not worth the double exclamation points.

*If you don’t know who Vomit are, you must not know much about early Mayhem. They were another thrash band who shared rehearsal space with Mayhem. Torben Grue and Kittil Kittilsen (what a sad fucking name) were also ‘in’ Mayhem at some point. Kittil once shaved off his eyebrow, but I don’t know why. Here is a picture of the dork:

The show Euronymous is talking about: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjay2Lmj9C8 yes, this is the show where Euronymous flashes his ass. I think it’s funny because he talks big but he seemed very hesitant to do it, and practically ducked backstage afterwards. Necro, on the other hand, was very proud to have broken his bass.

Well, that’s all I have. If you read this far, I hope you enjoyed the additional notes I left. Outside of a few more interviews of Mayhem, I also have a few obscure Emperor interviews that were posted to the internet in late 90s. There’s an especially funny one where Faust is allowed to interview Ihsahn and Samoth from prison. He’s sarcastic the entire time, refers to the readers as ‘morons’ and proclaims everyone should all die in a nuclear war with the same energy you cross yourself with. Overall, it’s a funny read. I also have one where he interviews Varg, and Euronymous (separately) for his own ‘zine back in the early 90s. Actually— I have A LOT of interviews of Faust for some reason, including two where he’s actually on camera. I might post them if I feel like it, or if somebody wants them. Is anyone here an especially big fan of Faust?

Last but not least, here is the link to the ‘zine:

http://france.metal.museum.free.fr/revues/fanzines/decibel_of_death/04/page_03.htm

#euronymous #mayhem #interview #black metal #true norwegian black metal #I typed this out so it’s mine #Euronymous interview #gee I really hope nobody else posted a translation of this because it took forever #can we make haaafuckinghah a thing?

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uwua3 · 3 years

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your name (pt. 2)

❄️📚 tsukioka tsumugi

part 1 — part 2 — part 3

summary: you find yourself in a familiar, but at the same time, new place.

author’s note: hi, everyone! :D this is the second part of the ongoing “your name” series~ ♡ this time, from your perspective! please enjoy, have a good day !! ☆(>ω・)

word count: 1,668

You woke up.

It was like a dream, like you had brought something back. You didn’t know what, but you were now awake. As you attempted to adjust to the darkness, all was quiet in the world. Until, you realized you had no idea where you were.

You quickly sat up from an uncomfortable position, the worn sofa beneath you doing nothing to help you feel better. Two separate stacks of unfamiliar papers surrounded both your sides as a T.V. was flashing colors against your shadow. Except… it wasn’t yours, per say. You looked over the sofa at the large shadow, moving your hand to see it do the same. This was real… but, who were you? When you reached into the person’s pockets to find some sort of a phone, you were disappointed to find a vintage, rundown flip phone weighing down the palm of your hand. Great, were you some sort of old man?

Trying not to scatter all the papers onto the ground, you took a careful step off the couch before hearing a sickening crack. This explained why you could barely see, as you crouched down to make out a pair of shattered glasses. You ignored the mess, moving away to find some sort of mirror. Instead, you discovered a barely lit studio apartment with everything wrong with it. The door was closed with a stool, half the lights didn’t work properly, and a distinct smell of cup noodles came from a broken microwave.

As you kept your hand on a wall to navigate, you began picking up small details that made this place home. The heavily marked calendar on the wall decorated the space, multiple photos of what seemed like student graduations neatly framed by the front, and certificates in psychology and education gave insight on who you were living through. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it felt like a place that made you trust the owner.

By the time you reached the bathroom door, you breathed a sigh of relief that the light didn’t cut out as you flipped the switch. When you looked into the mirror, you expected to see an aged teacher having a rough night of grading. Instead, you could see your expression form into shock at the reflection. You were… a college student? You knew that wasn’t the case considering the multiple Bachelor’s degrees, but you looked so young and old at the same time. It was like the person was physically young, but ancient from the way his hands automatically gripped the sink to keep himself up. You were looking into the eyes of a tired boy, and you could feel it in your bones that no amount of sleep could cure whatever he was going through.

You had to tear your eyes away to turn on the sink, waiting for the water to build up in your cupped palms. The water pressure was barely there, but it was what you needed to remind yourself this wasn’t a dream. For some reason, you had woken up in a random boy’s body in his no-good, terrible apartment. As you washed your face and met your reflection once again, you could sense the determination in the way his mouth formed a line. You were going to find out why you were here.

You took a moment to admire the body you were in. Although the boy seemed to carry the weight of the world upon his shoulders, he was doing rather well for himself. He had long, overgrown dark blue hair that just revealed his same-shade blue eyes. His eyes held the light of a student ready to learn, even after many years of strict academia. His features resembled one of a game protagonist, and you weren’t used to this tall height on your side. Even in just a striped shirt, you could tell he was beautiful in his own right.

“No matter what, I’ll find you again.” You said for absolutely no reason, with no one to hear except yourself—well, him. His voice didn’t take you by surprise; it was expectantly gentle and inherently kind, it was fitting to a light smile like his. You left the cramped bathroom with two goals in mind: 1. Figure out where you were, 2. Decide what to do next.

The room seemed lighter in comparison to before, meaning the sun must’ve been rising. You didn’t have to search long to find a passed-down clock by the sofa’s makeshift nightstand. The lines read it was nearing 5 A.M. as you identified an alarm was about to go off in exactly thirty minutes. Next, you were about to rummage around for any sort of geographic location before a loud car horn cut off your thoughts. Immediately snapping your head towards the opening, you saw a cracked open balcony hidden away behind a bookshelf. As you made your way through, you had no idea how you thought it was quiet. Although it was still the start of the day, you could already see a highway jam packed with automobiles going towards the big city. The buildings around you were nothing compared to the distant skyscrapers, and a realization occurred within you.

You were in Tokyo, Japan.

Before you could go watch what the T.V. was saying, a ring sounded from the flip phone. Hurrying to answer, you stood upon the balcony in an unfamiliar city you always dreamt of visiting. When you finally put the phone to your ear, you noticed how… modern urban accents were compared to your original rural one.

“Heya Tsumu-Tsumu! I knew you’d be awake, you crazy workaholic!” A loud voice made you wince as you flinched back from the sudden volume. Your silence didn’t deter—you looked at the contact—Miyoshi Kazunari as he rambled on. It was way too early for this type of energy, but you could spot college student caffeine addiction from a mile away.

“Lucky for you~,” Kazunari dragged out his vowels when he spoke. Not in a country way, but it was actually a stylistic choice all trendsetters seemed to have. “I’m also crazy! Just finished a project and I got an early morning class.” Kazunari made crying noises, and you genuinely didn’t know if they were exaggerated or he was having his midlife crisis breakdown. Too many things were running through your head, you could barely keep up with the bold personality Miyoshi Kazunari was. How the hell did a quiet person end up friends with an extrovert like Kazunari?

“And because I’m super smart, I know you’re usually grading papers or somethin’. Wanna get coffee today? I need it, bad.” Kazunari invited you to get coffee… but you barely knew your way around your own apartment, nevermind Tokyo. You were so lost in thought that Kazunari took your lack of response as a deafening “no”. A slightly awkward laugh interrupted the twenty seconds of silence, the noise suddenly much less confident than before.

“Ah… sorry, Tsumu-Tsumu. You’re probably too tired, right? You usually don’t want to go anyways, I don’t know why I asked.” Kazunari trailed off in a mumble, clearly discouraged already. Hearing this total stranger give up felt like kicking a puppy. You had no reason to agree, but you did anyway. You don’t know if it was you or “Tsumu-Tsumu” trying to reassure Kazunari.

“U-Um! No, let’s get coffee,” You paused, letting out a similar laugh that was obviously strained. “Kazunari?” It was Kazunari’s turn to be silent on the phone, before exploding into a pattern of shock and disbelief.

“KAZUNARI?! Yo, Tsumu-Tsumu! Are we suddenly BFFS now or what?! You’ve never called me by my first name before, you must be real sleepy!” Kazunari teased, but you could pick up on his revived energy and excitement about the day now. You responded with a laugh once again to show you were listening, and Kazunari took it as a sign to drop the sudden lack of honorifics between you two. As Kazunari said he’d message you the address of the “hottest cafe right now in all of Japan”, you mentally beat yourself up over the slip of tongue.

This Tsumu-Tsumu guy didn’t seem like the type to just call people by their first names. You hoped this wouldn’t severely affect anything for him in the long run. When Kazunari told you to be there by 7:30 A.M., he hung up and an instant message came with a winky emoticon and star symbol. The quiet finally gave you enough time to process everything that just happened.

You had agreed to meet a total stranger—well, to you—at a random cafe in the middle of the biggest city in Japan. You didn’t even know your own name. Staring out at the city you would soon find yourself in, you headed back inside and shut off the T.V. without another word. It was time to get ready and somehow figure out a way to get to… you checked the address again, Omi's House.

You checked the calendar from before and saw neat kanji of a name that felt familiar. “Tsukioka Tsumugi.” You read out loud, subconsciously tracing the characters with your finger. It felt right, you had no doubt it was this person’s name. You were quick to relax when you noticed Friday was the one day Tsumugi had off out of the entire week. You felt pitiful at how the one column of Fridays were being crowded by filled blocks of events, part-time gigs, and more work. When could Tsumugi just get a coffee?

Maybe, meeting Kazunari was a good thing. You found a brown peacoat hanging on the knob of the door and slipped it on. You said goodbye to an empty apartment, and left with no clue where you were going. All you had was a ripped bag and a newfound spark to your eyes.

You were Tsukioka Tsumugi, a random boy in Tokyo, and you were going to make the most of it.

#tsukioka tsumugi #tsumugi tsukioka #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3! actor training game #mankai a3!#mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #tsumugi x reader #a3! tsumugi #a3 tsumugi

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yeetussfetus · 3 years

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this is suppsoed to be for fun. to anyone who remembers, i proposed an idea for the CHEG to be a mysteriuos group that almost no one knew anything about it. well i will be explaning more in this one.

the story itself will be about a random ISB agent name Arus Dara whos a guy who needs some money and decided to use hiss knoledge for the Empire. in these first three logs, he will explain that his logs will be for himself, which will explain why he cusses in some parts. more info about him at the bottom.

words:1361

warnings: cussing, alcohol mention (idk if i made it obvious when its mentioned but just in case)

ENTRY LOG 1

This is an entry log by agent Arus Dara of the ISB, Empire. This is a personal log that is about my next mission, or, at least I hoped it would be my next mission, about the infamous group known as CHEG in the Empire. A little backstory on this particular group is that… well, almost nothing is known about them, besides the fact that it's so secretive and high up in the Empire that even the Emperor was a bit confused when he heard the name pop up, although that could be because he's hiding the fact that he's in it.

That doesn’t matter, though. The group in of itself hasn’t caused any issues for a while now, and that's probably the only reason why they haven’t tried to figure out who was in it. However, my boss, who is, by all means, the biggest bitch I’ve had to work with in the Empire so far, has requested that I look into the group. When I asked why, she didn’t specify, but she did tell me that I would get a promotion, which is extremely rare for someone like me, this young in their career.

Not only are the benefits great for the position she offered me, but I would only have to work for a couple more years before I could retire with that much money. It would be a great chance to get money for my mother. So, I did what any rational person would do, and I accepted.

Unfortunately the details were a lot more complicated than I thought. For starters, she's not the one who wanted me to find out about the group. It was someone way higher up. I was able to tell from the fact that, while their face was blurred along with their voice, they looked to be on a Star Destroyer. And a fancy office.

Well, the office itself wasn’t fancy, it was almost barren, but from the looks of it, the guy could afford whatever he wanted. He filled me in on what I was going to need to do: Figure out who's in the group, and report to him about my findings. Sounds about easy enough. And then it wasn’t.

There is a reason why almost nothing is known about the info on this group, and that’s probably because they are so good at hiding whatever dirty things they do. The only things I have is the name and possible candidates, all of them being high ranking officers.

I might have to request something to help me from my new… “boss”, if you want to call it that. For now, however, this will have to be it. Arus Dara, out.

ENTRY LOG 2

Well, that went better than expected. For the past few days I’ve been trying to find out who might be in the group, and it's been… terrible. Terrible trying to find out how to do this. Terrible trying to figure out how to even find these guys. It's unbelievable, I seriously don’t know how these guys even hide this much, social groups who the Emperor is in have more info then this. Is there someone who has a bigger role in the Empire then the fucking Emperor?

It’s just been… a few stressful past days. However, I think I have the solution. The other day, I got the balls to ask my “boss” to get an employee log. Surprisingly, he didn’t know what that was. I had to explain to him that it was just a system that said when a staff of the Empire got into work and when they left. It was mandatory for everyone, except a select few, and if he didn’t know about it, he must be really high up in the Empire. And extremely oblivious to what normal people have to do.

I really hope I’m not giving this info to someone who's a spoiled brat. I could never live with myself if that happened.

That doesn't matter right now. Basically I had to ask him to give one to me of people close to and the people themselves of that list I had talked about earlier. From the past 3 months, since that was after people tried to figure out who they were. I haven’t found much so far, but I’ll look through the list again.

…

So far I've got one person that I’m pretty sure is part of the CHEG, and his name is Agent Kallus. His entry's logs are all over the place, and considering what he does in his free time is never present, he's probably part of the group. One minute he’ll be out the door, the next hour he’ll do the same. I’ll have to visit his ISD soon.

Well, that’s out of the question, his ISD is the Chimera. Also known as the ISD where Grand Admiral Thrawn resides. Grand Admiral- either his reputation is messed up, or he doesn’t know how stupid his employees are. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I got my info, and it's time to take a visit to the ISD Chimera.

ENTRY LOG 3

Nobody ever told me that the ISD Chimera, a ship that has one of the scariest Admirals to date, would be so… batshit insane. For starters, a captain or commander there, whose name is _____ _____ is just- how has she not gotten fired? I’m not sure myself, but from what I witnessed, she must have Admirals luck on her back because I’ve never seen someone act like that. She wasn’t rude, she wasn’t cocky (well, maybe a little), but she was… bold. She did what she wanted without a care in the world.

When I asked about her to the other crew members, they told me, “Oh, that’s just _____, she's always like that.” I have no idea how a woman could have this rank in a ISD and also be this chaotic. Not only that, but she's as old as me, and that means that she probably has connections- somewhere.

Another person of interest is a (again, forgot if he was a captain or commander) guy named Eli Vanto. He's not insane like his counterpart, but he's… strange. I saw him get his coffee from the coffee machine, down it, before making another cup. He had a water bottle with him the second day I was here, and it didn’t smell like coffee. Sometimes I’m glad that I’m not part of an ISD crew.

And then, finally, Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. I only met him once, and that was a long lasting impression. He was speaking with another captain of a nearby ISD, and that captain was… I think Captain Ilian if I remember correctly. Anyway, he was way more cocky then ____, and he was saying something about moving ships to Coruscant without any explanation, and Grand Admiral Thrawn listened, but never spoke. When he asked if he was still there, he simply said, “Indeed. Continue.” He didn’t even falter.

The captain eventually just dropped the whole thing. I never expected an alien from the unknown regions to be this far up the chain, but I’m starting to see what got him here.

And then Agent Kallus. Agent Kallus isn’t even going to be here for a while apparently, he's somewhere on Coruscant with another ISB member. Colonel Yularen, which is also surprising. I’ve heard of Yularen before, and he’s not someone to be messed with if I remember correctly.

Oh, one more thing. When I told my “boss” (who has now asked to go by boss), he stood in silence and then asked if I was serious. When i presented my evidence, he started to believe me and told me to hold my position and wait for him to return, and then figure out where he was going. He was so serious. I mean, what is so special about this group? It’s almost like Vader's obsession with killing jedi. That captain or commander _____ was making that joke, by the way.

So, I guess that will have to be all. Goodbye.

------

ok so Arus Dara is the son of a clone deserter who deserted early, like right after the geonosis incident. if you ask him he wont tell you why or how, simply stating that he doesn't like to talk about his father, which is understandable since he had to watch him die in front of him. his mother, a togruta, had to take care of him for the rest of his time with her. the reason why he needs money is because she has a disease that, while treatable, is extremely expensive. so he has to deal with that as well.

anyways the story is set more in the way of he speaks, and then what his datapad picks up will be put down so he can read them. its like a journal for himself. thats all for now, so ye. bye.

tagging: @danger-xylophones

#fics #grand admiral thrawn x reader #admiral thrawn x reader #eli vanto #eliiiiiiiiii #my bb thrawn

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ericsonclan · 4 years

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You Done Tattooing That Piano?

Summary: After missing her chance to tell Louis how she really feels, Clementine comes up with another way to reveal her affections.

Read on A03:

Notes: Wrote this after playing Louis' friendship route and being convinced the entire time that those two were just fooling themselves by labelling what they have as "friendship". Those crazy kids... <3

Clementine was in trouble. Here she was, nearly two months into meeting Louis, and all she seemed to be able to think about in every spare moment was him. This shouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, she’d never expected she’d even get a chance to feel like this again. The last time anything even approaching these feelings hit her, she’d been young, alone and too focused on her mission to pursue anything further. Now she had a home, a family, a boy who made her spine tingle every time he smiled at her from across the picnic table... she was finally in a place where she could start a relationship. The only problem? She was pretty sure she’d already turned Louis down.

She hadn’t known what to expect that night she decided to accompany Louis to the piano room. Hearing the music fill the room as Louis sat alone in the candlelight had stirred something within Clementine, a feeling that at that time she couldn’t quite place. Sitting beside Louis at his beloved piano in the dead of night had driven one truth home for Clementine: she cared for this boy, deeply. But when the knife was placed in her hand and she’d finished carving her initial next to Louis’, Clementine had frozen. Everything was happening too quickly. She’d only known Louis a little over two weeks. Were these emotions bubbling up inside her something permanent or a side effect of the nerves she had from waiting for the raiders to attack. Could she really take a leap like this when any second the Delta could tear down their gates and all this could be taken away from her.

She’d handed the knife back to Louis. Then Louis had opened up to her, thanking her for the times she’d listened when no one else had, how she understood him as someone beyond the jokes he told. Clementine hadn’t known what to say to that. How could she encapsulate the admiration she held for Louis, the gratefulness she felt that he’d forgiven her and A.J. after everything had gone so wrong? She went with what she knew. “Friends are all we’ve got, and I’m glad we’ve got each other,” Louis had offered her a fist bump which she’d returned with a bit too much force, the song Louis composed was named “Super Fun Times Friend Song” and they’d shared a few more laughs before Clementine was called away to watch duty. It had been nice, but something in the back of Clementine’s mind left her feeling that things could have gone in a different direction.

The weeks following the attack on the Delta had confirmed this for Clementine. Every step of the way, Louis had been there for her. During the battle to rescue their friends, when he’d circled back to help her and A.J. find their way to the school, and when he’d run breathlessly through the forest with Clementine cradled in his arms, desperate to get her to Ruby before it was too late. He’d sat by her bed for weeks as she recuperated, playing music on the gramophone since he couldn’t bring the piano to her. He’d helped her navigate the school with her crutches, saved her from many a spill, and was always there to cheer her up when she was feeling down.

Every time her eyes met his, Clementine saw something in them, a look that no one else gave her, one that sent her heart tumbling within her in an instant. She knew there was something between them. But Louis went no further than those looks. He never took the next step, never asked or said anything that did more than proclaim their undying friendship for each other. Three weeks out of bed and on her crutches, Clementine was forced to face an uncomfortable fact: that night at the piano room had been Louis’ move. If she ever wanted anything more to happen between them, the ball was in her court.

Considering how spectacularly she’d flubbed a verbal confession to Louis, Clementine doubted she’d have much more luck with a second attempt. Should she write a letter? No, her writings skills and penmanship had basically dried up at a third-grade level. She wouldn’t be able to express all that she wanted to say on paper. Perhaps a gesture then: taking on his chores, offering him some of her stew at dinner, picking flower from the greenhouse. Clementine quickly decided none of those would work. Louis wouldn’t accept her taking on any extra chores or giving up her food so soon after losing her leg and as for the flowers, Clementine could just hear Louis’ voice in her head as he told everyone at the school about the lovely “friendship flowers” Clementine had gotten him. No, it had to be something undeniably romantic.

Clementine was lying on her bed one morning when inspiration finally struck. Of course. She didn’t need to come up with something new at all. What she should do to prove her feelings was the very thing she’d been too afraid to do that night. Grabbing her crutches, Clementine snuck down the hall as quietly as she could, making her way to the music room. On her way there, she spotted Louis standing on watch duty. Good. She didn’t want to risk him walking in on her. She wanted to keep it a surprise. As soon as Clementine reached the piano, she plopped down on the bench, casting her crutches to the side. Pulling out her own knife, she tattooed the piano once more, adding a heart around her and Louis’ initials. Next time Louis sat down to play, he would see the heart and know what it meant: that Clementine was willing to give something beyond friendship a try if he was. Her work done, Clementine pocketed the knife and picked up her crutches, making her way out of the room before anybody could spot her there. Her heart beat excitedly within her. She wondered how long it would be until Louis visited his piano again.

That evening, things seemed to be going normally at Ericson. Omar had ladled out the stew and almost everyone had sat down to eat. Ruby and Aasim were sitting by each other with Willy to their right, Violet sitting across from him. A.J. sat to Clementine’s left while her right side, the spot normally taken by Louis, remained open. Clementine wondered where he was. It wasn’t like him to miss out on their biggest meal of the day.

Suddenly the doors to the admin building burst open. Louis strode out looking angrier than any of them had seen in some time. Making his way over to the picnic table, he stood at the head of it, his hand on his hips. “Alright, whoever thought it would be funny to graffiti my piano better own up right now,”

“What are you talking about, Lou?” Violet asked, placing down her spoon and squinting at him with her good eye. “That piano’s already been graffitied more times than I can count and you never cared before,”

“I’m not talking about the old graffiti. I’m talking about the new addition somebody made today. Now who thought it would be funny to draw a heart around Clem and I’s initials?”

Clementine’s heart dropped into her gut. He’s angry about it? Maybe she’d been misreading things this whole time.

“Louis, this is silly,” Aasim stated dismissively. “Why in the world would any of us want to do that?”

“Bold words from one of my primary suspects!” Louis declared, jabbing a finger in Aasim’s direction. “If you feel the need to get back at me for all the times I’ve teased you, leave Clem out of it. Our friendship isn’t a joking matter. It’s something I take very seriously, and I thought you of all people with all your talk of “privacy” would respect that!"

“It wasn’t me!” Aasim’s eyes narrowed at the accusation.

Ruby tried to place a comforting hand over her boyfriend’s arm. “Now let’s not fight about something so silly-”

“Silly? Don’t act as if you’re not a potential culprit too, Ruby,” Louis interjected.

“Now why in the world would I be a suspect?” Ruby challenged, her lower lip jutting out as she frowned.

Clementine wished she could disappear into the ground right about now. This wasn’t how she’d expected things to go at all.

Louis rolled his eyes. “You’re always complaining about how everyone’s teasing you and Aasim for being so lovey-dovey around each other. Did you think pretending Clementine and I were a thing would get some of the heat off of you two? Clementine is my best friend, that’s all! You can’t go spreading lies to make yourself feel better,”

Ruby gasped, clearly insulted. “You think you can just go around making claims like that? Well, let me tell you-”

“This is all fucking stupid,” Violet grumbled. “Someone just ‘fess up,”

“Was that a deflection, Vi?” Louis challenged, his eyebrow raised. “Did you-”

“Alright, enough!” Clementine shouted, her volume bringing everyone to a standstill. “I was the one who left the heart, OK? It was me,”

“You?” Louis asked, looking utterly lost.

“Yeah,” Clementine looked down at the table, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. “It wasn’t a joke or anything. I thought it’d be an easier way to let you know. Guess I was wrong,”

Everyone at the table was silent. Willy and A.J. were watching in confusion, their faces still covered in leftover stew. All eyes were on either Louis or Clementine, waiting for either of them to speak. Neither did.

Louis was the first to do something. Without a word, he turned around, heading straight back to the admin building.

Shit. I fucked up. Clementine didn’t have to raise her head to feel the heat of the stares upon her. Silently, she picked up her spoon and resumed eating her stew. I don’t get it. Would it be that bad to be with me? There’s not a single other available girl his age anywhere near here. Everything I thought I saw though... I must have made it all up myself.

“Clementine…” Ruby’s voice was soft, almost sad.

She couldn’t stick around for this. Grabbing her crutches, Clementine rose to her feet. “I’m gonna call it a night,” With that she made her way back toward the dorms, unwilling to look back and see the pitying gazes following her. I can’t believe it went down like this. Here I was so confident it was a sure thing, and then…

Clementine paused in her journey, looking toward the admin building. Louis was in there right now, probably trying to figure out a way to scratch out that stupid heart from his piano. Did he hate her now? Clementine couldn’t bear the thought of that. Did she owe him an apology for what she’d done, humiliating him in front of all their friends when he could have turned her down in private if she’d just had the guts to confess? Maybe there wasn’t anyone to blame here. It was all a misunderstanding. Still, she didn’t want to go to bed thinking Louis was angry at her. Steeling her resolve, Clementine switched course and set out for the admin building.

Everything was completely silent as Clementine entered, slowly turning down the hall to the music room. She tried to keep as quiet as possible, her crutches softly tapping the floor and her foot lightly scuffing it each time she took a step. She could feel her gut twisting in dread. She didn’t know what she would say to Louis when she got there. Perhaps he wasn’t even in the music room after all. No sound came from it now. As she neared the ajar doors, Clementine peered through the crack, trying to get an idea of what was happening inside.

Louis was in there after all, sitting at the piano. He wasn’t playing though. Instead he was staring at the carved heart. He reached out to touch it, his other hand coming up to cover his mouth. What was going on? After a minute of reflection, Louis reached inside his coat pocket, pulling out his dagger. He’d decided to scratch the heart out after all. As he dug his knife into the wood of the piano, Clementine looked away. It was a mistake coming here. She should go.

When she turned her crutches to leave though, one ran into one of the empty cans scattered throughout the hallway. Clementine winced as the sound echoed down the hall.

“Who’s there?”

No escaping now. Clementine pressed open the doors, too ashamed to meet Louis’ eyes. “Louis, I just came by to apologize. I never meant to embarrass you like that. Whatever you want to do to get rid of that stupid heart is fine with me,”

Louis looked confused for a moment before a soft smile crossed his face. He patted the spot beside him on the piano bench. “Care to sit with me for a minute, Clemster?”

Clementine was puzzled but complied. Sitting down beside Louis, she leaned her crutches against the piano before turning to face him.

“Guess I shouldn’t have run off like that,” Louis scratched the back of his neck, not making eye contact. “I wasn’t really thinking that clearly after I heard you say you were the one who left the heart. I had to visit again to make sure it was actually real. And it is,” He looked back to where the heart with their initials lay. “Then I wanted to add something of my own,”

Clementine glanced up in surprise, her eyes locking on the carving. It wasn’t scratched out after all. The heart was still there, and their initials, but something new lay between them. Where before there was simply a C and an L, now there was a plus sign connecting the two. Clementine’s eyes shot over to Louis. She saw that same look there that had been making her heart flutter these past few weeks.

“It’s complete now,” A small grin formed on Louis’ face.

“I can see that,” Clementine felt a smile tugging at her own lips, a giddiness bubbling up inside her. “So I guess that means… we’re more than friends now,”

“Definitely,” The grin had widened, covering Louis’ entire face now. “More than best friends too! Man, who would’ve thought after that card game where you denied having feelings for anyone that you were in fact lying. You do have feelings for someone, someone named Louis. Which just so happens to be my name!”

Before Louis could say anything more, Clementine leaned upwards, capturing his lips in a quick kiss. Screw caution, she was going for what she wanted.

Louis met the kiss eagerly, his own lips pressing against hers, causing a small moan to escape Clementine’s lips.

Clementine immediately drew back, her face overheating as she realized the sound she’d just made. She glanced up to see how Louis was taking it, but he seemed to be in some sort of blissful haze, giggling excitedly as he looked over at her.

“God, how lucky am I? I’ve got the coolest best friend in the world and now it turns out she likes me too? That’s the dream,”

Clementine smiled up at Louis, basking in the moment. This was what she’d wanted all along. She’d just been too scared to let herself admit it until now. Thinking of the others, she turned her head to look back, hoping that none of them had thought to come check on them. “Do you think we ought to head back? We did stir up a lot of drama back there,”

“Ah, it can wait till tomorrow,” Louis waved his hand dismissively. “A moment like this calls for celebration. I’ll have you know I did not plan to call the song I played for you that night “Super Fun Times Friend Song”. I hereby retract that title so I can assign it one more befitting,”

“And what exactly did you have in mind?” Clementine asked, her eyes crinkling in amusement at Louis’ excitement.

“’Clementine’. Y’know, because I like fruit. And I like you even more so… there,”

That had Clementine blushing. She felt her face heating up as Louis began to play the song, the beautiful melody filling the room and dancing around them. Clementine let the music seep into her bones, taking in how much this song meant to Louis. It was the first thing he’d ever composed and he’d named it after her. That was the greatest gift she could ever imagine.

Slowly Clementine let her head rest upon Louis’ shoulder. She felt him flinch for an instant, but he didn’t miss a beat, continuing on with his music without dropping a single note. Clementine closed her eyes. She could see why Louis had gone to double check the piano. She didn’t quite believe this was real herself. But it was. She was home, she was happy, and her best friend was now something so much more to her. She felt complete.

#twdg #clouis #twdg louis #twdg clementine #fluff #fanfic

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smilingspinel · 5 years

Note

even mORE SOULMATE AUS for spinel x reader >:3 how about the soulmate au where theres a black spot where you first make physical contact with your soulmate and when they touch it, it becomes a patch of womderful colors~

SURPRISE!

I was so inspired by this particular imagines prompt that I ended up breaking my own mold and writing a 2.8k fic for it instead.

It was a lot of fun to write this out, so I hope that you enjoy it!

You were born with your spot on the back of your hand.

It didn’t come as a surprise to you, or your parents, or any of your friends, really. Everyone had them somewhere, and the back of a hand was considered one of the most common parts of the body to have them appear.

It’s your soulmark, and its location determines the first spot your soulmate will ever come in contact with. When you were a young kid in elementary school, all you could think about was who it could be. You would chase the kids around at recess, waving it in their face, taunting them to touch it. It was a game, and only the bravest of the few would actually comply, but nothing would ever happen. You all would break into giggles, knowing very well the result would never change, and joked it would not work by coincidence, that nothing happened because the wrong person touched it, or that they did not touch in the exact center of the black spot.

That’s all it was to you, as a kid. It was a game, because the idea of a soulmate sounded more like a fantasy from the fairy tales the teachers would read at story time. But as time passed and your friends and classmates got older, you felt like you were the only one who still wanted to play the game, who saw the spot as just the source of a fantasy game you play at recess. Some of your classmates were finding their soulmates as early as the sixth or seventh grade. You wouldn’t have believed it had you not seen a few of them go down yourself. You suppose it isn’t that odd, since you always hear stories at weddings about how the couple met when they were small children.

Which…wouldn’t bother you, except middle school came and went, and so did high school, and while everyone around you was walking around with colorful displays of love splashed all over their bodies, you still had your black little spot on the back of your hand. It’s not like you’d given up on dating, it’s just that you’d begun to shy away from letting your partners see the spot on your hand, because you were always so afraid of heartbreak, that you would believe you’d found the one only to find out you were meant to break up, that you never thought it was worth the trouble.

“It’s just…” you sigh, bringing your wrist to your forehead as you lie down against the grassy hill against the crystal temple. “It doesn’t feel right, you know? Waiting your whole life for one person to come find you? When you’re not even sure that they’re coming at all?”

Beside you in the grass, Steven laughs. ”Y’know, [y/n], you really remind me of someone else I know. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were meant for each other”

You raise an eyebrow at him in question, which makes him laugh.

“No no, I’m serious! I think you’d really like her”

You blink. “You do?”

“Yeah! I think you two would really hit it off, if you know what I mean”, he says, and nudges your shoulder. You can feel a blush forming on your face, and Steven must be able to see it forming on your face, because before you can make any form of a protest he’s already standing to his feet.

“Wait right here,” he says, like you have any other option but to comply, and between one blink and the next he’s already sprinting off. You watch him go until he’s just out of your sight, and once he’s gone you roll over onto your stomach to observe some of the flowers in front of you.

Should you pick some of the flowers for her? Does she even like flowers? Will she know that you just picked them at the last minute, instead of carefully thinking out an arrangement at a local florist? Steven’s friends with a lot of gems, what if she has future vision like Sapphire does? What if she already knows what you look like, before you even get a glance at her?

“Ugh,” you complain to yourself, and scrub your hands down your face. All of this worrying is getting you nowhere. Steven’s been your best friend since early childhood. If anyone’s going to have any idea of who would be perfect for you, it’s going to be Steven.

It’s a calming thought, but the idea that Steven very well may be bringing you your soulmate causes your heart to start slamming into your chest.

“[Y/n]?”

The sudden call of your name nearly makes you jump out of your skin, and when you peak through your hands at whoever called your name you see Steven holding hands with…someone you can’t make out in the bright sunlight.

You quickly jump up to your feet, brushing yourself and your hair off, pretending she didn’t just see you pathetically moping around in the grass.

“[y/n], this is Spinel!” Steven beams, nudging a gem looking equally as nervous as you closer to you so you can get a better look at her. She shyly rubs at the back of her neck with a gloved hand.

She’s….she’s beautiful. She’s so much prettier than you could’ve ever imagined. She’s bright, she’s bold, she-

You start giggling uncontrollably, and Spinel frowns, turning to Steven.

“H-hey, what’s the big idea here? You said they’d like me!”

“Oh, no no!” You frantically wave your hands around, a blush burning into your cheeks. “It’s not that! It’s just…” You giggle. “You just look like you’re in a punk rock band or something”

Spinel blushes, taken a bit aback, and beside her, Steven’s eyes turn into stars. “Awwww!” he coos, nudging Spinel just a bit closer to you. “That’s like, the biggest compliment you could give someone! Punk rock is the coolest!”

That makes your blush worsen, which makes Spinel snort in laughter (oh no, that’s adorable). She outstretches a hand to you, literally.

“Spinel! Though I’m sure you already figured that out, since Universe just told you”

You shy away from her outstretched hand, holding your own to your chest, but you flash a smile regardless. “I’m [y/n]”

She retracts her hand and laughs again. “Aww, whatsa’ matter? Afraid of a little punk rock?” she teases, and you laugh, but keep your hand where it is regardless.

Steven giggles. “Didn’t I tell you? Their spot hasn’t changed yet. They’re still on the lookout for their soulmate”

The playful smile suddenly fades from Spinel’s face, and it’s replaced with a dark magenta blush. “Really?” she says, in a hushed sort of whisper. “Lemme see” she takes another cautious step towards you, and you take a cautious step backwards.

“Nah, I won’t touch it,” she promises. “I just wanna see it”

She’s got an indescribable look in her eyes, but something about it tells you she’s telling the truth, so you cautiously show her the unimpressive little black spot on your hand.

She sure seems to think otherwise. “Wow,” she gasps, walking in a circle around you to get a good view of it at every angle. “I’ve neva seen one of these when they weren’t already full a’ color. Steven told me he’s had his filled since he met that girl Connie, and Garnet’s had hers since she first fused. I didn’t even know gems could have one, let alone a fusion” she shrugs, and stretched her neck around to look at herself. “I can’t find mine, that’s for sure”

Okay, that’s pretty reassuring to say the least. You snort in laughter, which makes her retract her neck back to its original place, and she grins widely.

Steven beams equally wide at the display.

“Aww, see? You’re perfect for each other!”

You and Spinel seem to blush at the exact same time, which only seems to prove Steven’s point even further. He laughs, and clasps his hands together. “Looks like my work here is done, let me know when you need a minister for your fusion ceremony!” he calls out, and runs off like he’s expecting you to chase after him for making such a comment. And you would, hadn’t it been for the worsening blush on your face.

“Fusion ceremony?” Spinel asks, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

“Marriage” you mumble, just under your breath.

“Oh,” she replies, equally flustered, which gives you the idea that Garnet must’ve filled Spinel in on the idea at some point or another. For a brief, seemingly never ending moment, you two stand in silence beside each other, the only thing capable of breaking the tension in the air between you two being the occasional breeze.

“Well…” you say, kicking at the grass and stifling a giggle. “Do you…wanna try the whole dating thing? To see how that goes?”

Spinel snorts in laughter, but vigorously agrees once you clarify that it’s a genuine offer.

It’s honestly the best decision you’ve ever made in your entire life. Although you’re both very shy about getting touchy with each other, you actually hit it off very well. One experimental date becomes two, than three, than four, than five, until you two eventually come to the very obvious conclusion that there’s nothing experimental about it anymore. You go on walks, to new movie releases, on mini road trips together, and with every date you go on you find yourself falling more and more in love with her, and you’re positive the way she looks at you she’s feeling the exact same way.

Your first kiss comes naturally. You’re sitting beside each other at sunset, hands mere inches away from touching, when you both lean over simultaneously and just go for it. It makes you both collapse onto the sand with laughter, your arms covering your eyes. Once you recover, you both sit up in the sand and give it another go.

After that, it becomes sort of a game between you two to try to sneak a kiss to the other without physically touching otherwise. You’d wind your hands around your back, you’d stand on your tiptoes, and on one or two occasions you’d recreate that kiss from Spider-Hero just to avoid touching each other.

And it’s not long before you find that you’re happier with Spinel than you’ve been with any other partner you’ve had in the past. All of this worrying about waiting to be found slowly fades around you. You no longer care who the universe may claim to be is your “assigned” soulmate, because as far as you’re concerned, you’ve already found yours in Spinel.

You’re pretty confident she feels the same way, so you psyche yourself up in the mirror to tell her you don’t care; you don’t care what the universe thinks, because you know she’s your soulmate. If you need to cover up your little black spot with layer after layer of concealer to hide it, to defy the universe’s choosing, you’d do it every day for the rest of your life.

You’re going to tell her.

You’re going to tell her, you repeat to yourself, stepping out of the bathroom in Steven’s home, where you’d been practicing. It was, in fact, the easiest place to meet Spinel, since the homeworld warp was right there beside his bedroom. And even then, she practically calls this place her second home, since she visits from homeworld so often so she can see you.

You’re going to-

You suddenly stop dead in your tracks at the sound of Spinel…crying?

“Spinel?” You frown, looking around for any sight of your girlfriend. “Spinel? Where are you?”

She doesn’t respond, just starts crying harder at the sound of your voice, which gives away her location as upstairs in Steven’s room. You book it up there between one blink and the next, and you find her curled up on Steven’s bed, hiding under his mass of blankets.

“Spinel?” you ask again, sitting beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Go away” she hisses, though she doesn’t sound like she actually wants you to leave. You shake your head. “Spinel, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong”.

She visibly tenses up under the blankets, and stretches to push herself even further under the blankets. “I said go away”.

You sigh, and shift your position on your bed. This isn’t the first time you’ve seen her break down like this. She’s broken down to you dozens of times before, about Pink Diamond, about her fear of abandonment, and of her commitment issues, and you know her well enough to know that she very rarely ever means it when she says she wants to be alone. But if she really means it this time, you suppose you can talk to her another time and let her work through whatever’s bothering her on her own.

You stand up from the bed. “Okay,” you cave. “But come and find me if you want to talk it out, okay? I’ll wait downstairs until you’re ready to talk”

There’s a pause, and you’re sure she isn’t going to say anything, but just as the first step creaks from you stepping on it, she tosses the mass of blankets aside.

“Wait,” she calls after you, and her voice is scratchy and broken from crying. “You’re right. I do want to talk to you”.

That’s more like it. You turn on your heel, and make your way back over to Steven’s bed, sitting right beside her. “Yeah?” you ask, as gently as you can. “What do you want to talk about?”

She wipes her tears away from her eyes with her wrist. “I…” she starts, twiddling her hands together. “I know how you’re always tellin’ me that you love me, and you wanna be with me no matter what, and all that stuff about how I didn’t deserve what Pink did to me, yadda yadda,” she sniffles, “but I overheard ya talkin’ to yerself in the bathroom. I heard ya sayin’ all this stuff about your soulmark, and how you don’t care this, and ya don’t care that, and…” she temporarily cuts herself off to curl her arms around herself. “I just kept thinkin’….if…if we really ain’t soulmates, if we really ain’t meant to be, then you’d run off, that you’d leave me for wastin’ all your time, that you’d forget all about me, and-” she chokes back a sob, and no matter how much she tries to continue she just can’t seem to compose yourself.

Your heart breaks for her. “Oh, Spinel…” you whisper to her gently, and you reach forward to cup her face gently in your hands, gently wiping her tears away. She jumps in shock from the gesture, but leans into your hand, gently bringing a hand of her own to place a hand of her own on top of yours. “Listen to me, okay? All of that stuff I was saying to myself in the bathroom was that I don’t care what the universe thinks of me anymore. I don’t care about who my soulmate was supposed to be, because I’ve found her in you. All of that was because I’m willing to defy the universe for you, Spinel” you tell her, and you gently rub little circles into her tear streaks with your thumb. She opens her eyes to gaze into yours, but before you can say or do anything else, there’s a brief flash of light as the black tear streaks on Spinel’s face suddenly bloom with color.

You must be staring at her in shock, because she’s laughing again. “What?” she teases. “I got somethin’ on my face?”

“Spinel…” you whisper, only managing her name, and suddenly you’re the one tearing up and just as it had when you first met those fateful few weeks ago, the smile in her face is suddenly fading away, replaced by a dark magenta blush.

“[Y/n]?” She asks you, equally as soft. She pulls her hand away from yours and gently pats at her face where her hollow tear streaks had just been moments ago. Tears start welling up in her eyes again, and this time she takes your hand from her cheek, and lo and behold, where there was once an empty black spot was now a spot bursting with every color of the rainbow.

“I knew it had to be you” you murmur, your voice breaking with emotion, and she chokes out a laugh as she launches herself at you, wrapping her arms around you and planting passionate little kisses all over your face.

“I love you too,” she murmurs, between one little set of kisses and the next.

#spinel #spinel x reader #spinelxreader #su x reader #my writing #fic #:)

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exosmutfactory · 5 years

Text

Something Bout You

gif not mine 🌹

— Pairing: You & Baekhyun

— Genre/AU: smut,

— Word Count: 3.7k

— Rating: 18+ (M)

— [ Contains: you’ll find out ]

❥ Sub Baekhyun because the woman behind this blog is a switch 💀💀 let’s go

ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥

Your best friend was having a party-a very 'suit&tie stuffie event' if you must admit. Attire requirements ranging from borrowed floor-length gowns to personally tailored suits. Housed in a grand ballroom supposedly used on an occasion for the Queen of Wisconsin or whatever, you don't know and you don't want to know. In fact, you don't even want to go.

But you have to, for one reason and ONE reason only.

To be the wing (wo)man as your bestie aims to woo her every-so-posh coworker; Kim Minseok.

Honestly, if your best friend didn't already call dibs on the guy, you surely would. With his midnight black hair and intense cat-like eyes, Minseok is an eyecatcher. Hell, all he has to do is walk into the room and nearly all inhabitants turn to him.

You shake your head, clearing your thoughts. 'I have a mission,' you remind yourself, sighing at the state of your hair. You quickly put it up in a bun, loose curls of your hair hanging down in the front. You consider putting on a bow until you remember the type of party you are actually going to. 'Right,' You roll your eyes, reaching for a tube of red lipstick instead.

Since you are going to such a formal event, you will try to look the part. Putting behind your usual comfortable/girly pinks and long sweaters for bold reds and a sleeveless dress. A dress so sleeveless that it fits like a vest, fully showcasing your slim arms and prominent collarbones..

Are you being a wing woman or a man stealer?

Shrugging, you look for your trusty black heeled boots, slipping into the 3-inch heels with ease. You need your 'morning after' foot pain to be as minimal as possible.

Checking yourself in the mirror one last time, you nod; satisfied, and head out for the event.

Getting there proves to be difficult as the GPS in your car fancies telling you where you have to make your turn at the last possible second. But you being you, you left a little early in case something this ridiculous was unfortunate to happen. It hardly lessens your urge to curse at it though.

Finally getting there, you pull up to the place; eyes widening at how grand it actually is. 'Did she say the Queen of Wisconsin or the Queen of England?' Either way, you are left in awe.

A little while after handing off your 'baby' to the safety of a car-boy, you make your way across the grassy lawn and lift your flowy skirt while going up the marble steps.

Two men are there to check your ID and open up the double doors; revealing how the building looks even more stunning in its interior.

Stepping inside, you immediately stop your friend, greeting every guest that walks in. She calls out your name as you swiftly make your way over; not missing the sigh of relief she gives while wrapping you in a light hug. "I'm so glad you could make it. Look, he's right over there."

You pick up a glass from a tray going by and nod, taking a sip as you skillfully eye the handsome man engaged in conversation with another–

Holy shit.

You nearly choke on your drink while eyeing the redhead next to Minseok. While Mr. Kim rocks a white suit, this man sports a turquoise one; the light in the room reflecting off of it in a magnetic way. Judging from the other ladies around also to seemingly take notice of the stunning man, you know you aren't alone. And you know one other thing too:

You need a closer look.

So, taking the hand of your protesting and panicky friend, you move closer to the two men.

They don't notice you at first, 'Thank goodness,' You think, turning to your still jabbering friend. "Vic. Listen."

She goes quiet, taken aback at the serious look in your eyes.

You gesture towards the redhead as discretely as possible, "See him?" She nods, so you continue, "I'm getting that tonight."

Her eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Really? You like Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun. The name triggers a memory. An annoyingly attractive man who teased you for confessing to being a dom at a small 'Truth or Dare' gathering.

Clenching your jaw and looking back at your friend, you nod curtly. She smirks as if being able to read you, patting your shoulder, "Go for it, babe. Just stay by my side as I woo Minseok, okay?"

All you do is smirk in response; straightening your posture before continuing to make your way over to the stunning duo. Your friend not far behind.

Minseok is the first to notice you, a polite smile on his face. "Ladies." He nods in acknowledgment, gesturing to the man next to him. "This is Byun Baekhyun, as you may know."

"Oh of course," Victoria gushes. "Who wouldn't know the co-director of one of the biggest designer brands."

Minseok nods, though an odd look crosses his face; you squint slightly to catch the flicker of jealousy in his eyes. "Of course." He claps a hand on the back of said man in a rough manner, nearly making the latter spill his drink. "Baekhyun is a hard-working man."

Victoria nods, "Although," She looks down in a shy manner; peeking up at him under perfect eyelashes, "Working as the chairman for Lotto Inc is extremely admirable."

Minseok's eyes widen in surprise, "Oh?"

'She's got him,' You think, 'Hook, line, and sinker.'

Vic giggles flirtatiously, hooking her arm with his, "Of course."

Leaving them to their own conversation, you focus on your meal for the night; already finding his eyes on you. He takes the courtesy of speaking first.

"So," He looks at you from head to toe, eyes lingering on predictable places. You could scoff at how he shamelessly licks his lips. He takes his time dragging his eyes back up to yours, "Are you hoping to catch a new victim tonight?"

You smirk, keeping your eyes locked on him, "I'm looking right at him."

He raises a brow, trying to play it off as if your words don't affect him. But the tremble of his hand and struggle to swallow as he sips his drink isn't failed to be seen by you.

"And what if I don't want to be the prey?" He challenges, eyeing you with significantly darker eyes.

You chuckle deeply, taking your sweet time to sip at your own drink; thriving off of the impatience in his eyes. "Well." You hum, speaking lowly, "There is no being the predator with me, baby. I hunt." You take a step closer, relishing in how he gulps, "And you." You chuckle about a foot away from him, leaning closer to set your glass down on the table behind him.

You can tell he's buzzing in anticipation; body nearly crying out for you to take him. Before you lean back, you don't fail to brush your lips against his ear; humming as he shivers. "I make sure to take full pleasure in my every meal." You lean all the way back, taking notice of his blown pupils and heaving chest.

He continues to watch you with those dark eyes of his, not making a single move. You take a look around and notice that your friend and her crush have already departed with a sigh, yet still managing to send Baekhyun a polite smile. "Well, it was nice seeing you I guess–"

A hand grabs your wrist, "P-Please." A whisper. In the sweetest of tones. You want more of it. You want more of him.

Turning back to Baekhyun you have to gulp yourself at the look of desire in his eyes.

Right then and there you finally decide. You see him. You like him. And you want to make him yours. Even for just one night.

With your mind made up, you take hold of his hand, tugging him roughly. He stumbles forward with a yelp, grabbing your waist to stabilize himself. You pull him close, your own hand resting heavily on his hip while your other moves to his back. "He's feeling a little unwell," You say, waiting until the onlookers look away; understanding overshadowing the jealousy in their own eyes. You take a peek to see how Baekhyun's doing, his face resting in the crook of your neck.

You brush your lips to his ear again, biting down on it hard and soothing it when he gasps. "Come." You take a step back, taking his hand again and walking back to a hallway you saw earlier.

Baekhyun follows you closely behind; breathing heavily down your neck. You are two seconds away from ordering him to stop when he starts leaving wet kisses down your neck; opting to shove him off instead. He whimpers, confusion written all over his face when you look back at him; holding his hand even tighter and walking farther into the unknown.

After trying a few locked doors you come upon an open one, pushing it farther to reveal a king-size bed. Cream curtains and silk sheets. You smirk, 'Perfect.'

Turning around, you pull a hesitant Baekhyun farther into the room, pressing him into the ajar door. He yelps as it slams, moaning shamelessly in your mouth when you pounce on his. His hands grab on to your hips and he yelps again, blinking at you after you spank his thigh in warning.

You lok right back at him, "No touching without permission."

Not surprisingly, he nods, letting his hands hang by his sides. You hum, more than pleased, leaning to peck his lips, "Good boy." He beams under the praise.

Chuckling, you slowly walk backward, pulling him with you. At the last second you switch your positions, pushing a surprised Baekhyun to the bed. He lands with another yelp and you nearly roll your eyes. 'Seriously? Shouldn't he expect this by now?' Although one look at how wrecked he already is, you remember that he is a first timer. His soft lips already rosy and swollen, palms digging into the sheets and the look of pure lust in his dark brown eyes.

You make a noise. "Look at you.." Shaking your head you trail your eyes farther down his body, tsking at the strain in his pants. "Already so wrecked and I've barely touched you."

Baekhyun whimpers, palms twisting in the sheets as you take a step closer, leaning your knee on the bed, "P-Please–"

You press your finger to his lips, "Hush baby boy." You look him over again, seeing the light shine of sweat already covering his forehead, "Let's get these clothes off of you, hmm?"

Baekhyun bites his lip and nods, aiding you in taking off his coat and black turtle neck.

You make a pleased noise as more of him is revealed. "Damn baby, why do you hide all this?" He whines as you lightly run your nails down his chest, flicking his nipples playfully. He hisses at that and you chuckle, tapping his knee. "Pants too."

The man has the nerve to blush, lifting his hips as you climb off the bed to properly take the offending material off. Your eyes widen when his cock immediately stands up to attention, the head a flushed pink. Narrowing your eyes you look up at a red-eared Baekhyun. "Going commando, hmm?" You lean forward, spitting on his dick and taking it in your hand. "Had plans to get lucky tonight?"

"Y-Yes," He whines, lifting his hips as you squeeze him tightly. "For you!" He chokes out. You slow down your ministrations, letting him talk. He gulps at the stare you give him, "I-I was hoping to get lucky," He says softly, "With you."

That leaves a flutter in your chest, one you ignore by ghosting your lips over his tip, humming as he groans, jerking when you teasingly lick his slit. "Hoping to get lucky with me, huh." You chuckle, savoring his salty taste. Peeking up at him you feel powerful at the desparte look in his eyes.

"Y-Yes." He insists, twitching in your hand, "All for you."

"What a good boy." You hum, taking him into your mouth. Baekhyun nearly keens, head thrown back as you take more of him in.

"F-Fuck." You never expected him to be so sensitive. And vocal. But then again, that explains how loud he is 99% of the time. "That feels so good. Y-You feel so good."

Feeling him throb in your mouth you go all the way down on him, swallowing around his head once before pulling away; his whine near piercing as you wipe your mouth. "Hush baby. Mistress doesn't reward brats." You stand up, trying to unzip your dress only to remember that you needed help putting it on in the first place. Noticing the frustrated look on your face, Baekhyun sits up, "N-Need help?" The eager to please look on his face is borderline cute.

You smile, "Yes baby." You turn around, noticing how hot your own skin is as his fingers lightly brush your back. His breath hitches when the dress pools at your feet.

You smirk, you could get high off of the effect you have on him. "Thank you, baby," You coo, turning back to him and climbing into his lap. Baekhyun gulps yet keeps his hands at his sides. You sit right on his cock, feeling it twitch through your lace panties. You rock against him to test the waters and Baekhyun squeezes his eyes shut, whimpering. You can tell how much he wants to move by how his thighs tense.

"Look at you." You coo, cupping his cheek, "Being a good boy and staying still without being told to."

His eyes flutter a little, sucking in a sharp breath as you move again without stopping; slowly grinding. "M-Mistress."

"Hmm?" You kiss up his neck, nibbling on his ear as he moans, "What is it, baby."

"C-Can you–" He moans loudly at a particaly hard grind, shaking a bit.

"You stop, looking at him as his whole face goes red; the blush even covering his chest. "What do you want, baby. Tell me."

"Please." He whines, looking into your eyes withhis pleading ones, biting hard on his lip, "Please ride me."

You hum, whispering into his ear while grinding against him again, "Good boy." You sit up and slowly unclasp your bra, throwing it away. "Eyes up here." You say sternly, finger on Baekhyun's chin as he gulps, nodding quickly.

Continuing to grind again, you run your hands down his chest; reaching for his needy cock when he starts whining again. Finally deciding he had had enough, you pull your panties to the side, slowly stroking him as you brush him between your folds.

Just before you sit down on him, Baekhyun calls your name, grabbing your wrist.

You look up at him. "What." You snap impatiently.

Baekhyun gulps. "Y-You aren't properly prepared yet, Mistress." He daringly meets your eyes. "It'll hurt."

Something in his tone brings back that light flutter to your chest and lets him help you wiggle out of your panties and properly straddle him again.

Baekhyun's eyes start to drift, but they snap back up to meet yours; wordlessly asking for permission. You feel bare under that look as you nod, goosebumps covering your heated skin as he drinks you in.

"Beautiful." He breathes, hands twitching in the sheets. You silently grab his wrist and place his hand over your breast.

Baekhyun hums, softly palming your chest while leaning to lick your other nipple. You can't help but shudder; stuck between moving closer and pulling away. Your cheeks heating at your sensitivity. The moment he wraps his lips around it, you let out a sensual moan, tangling your hand in his hair.

Baekhyun looks up at you, running his unoccupied hand up your back before firmly grabbing your waist. Next thing you know, you feel a breeze and warm sheets against your back; looking up at a panting Baekhyun.

"I-I know you want to ride me. Just–" His hands slide up your inner thighs; gaze focused on what's in between. He licks his lips like a starved man and kneads them, pressing quick, sloppy kisses down your body. You try your best not to squirm, but the second his tongue is pressed against your slit, your hips buck with an embarrasingly high pitched squeal.

Baekhyun gets a good grip on your thighs, having to hold you down as you continue to thrash; moaning lowly when you tangle your hand back in his hair and roughly pull.

"You're so responsive." He breathes, whimpering as you tug his hair again. He sucks your clit into his mouth and groans, the stimulation pulling a needy moan from your throat.

God, how to tell him that you've never been gone down on before... Maybe you shouldn't. His ego is already quite large already...like his cock.

You try to get a look at his leaking member, nearly whimpering yourself at how flushed its gotten, leaving streaks of precum on the sheets. A familiar tension builds in your stomach.

"B-Baekhyun." You gasp, trying to close your legs when he easily slips two slender fingers into your wet core; pumping them quickly.

"Hmm?" He hums, brows furrowed in concentration as he crooks up his fingers; kissing up your thigh when you nearly shout. "Yes? M-Miss." He gulps, taking in your sexy glare as he keeps hitting your special spot.

"I-I." You pant, eyes shutting and back arching as that wave of pleasure threatens to wash over you. "I want to cum on your cock."

Baekhyun pauses and you down right near yell at him even though you told him to stop. His eyes run over your body, drinking in your flushed, panting form. As if realizes something, the look in his eyes shift; dark but with an innocent gaze as he looks up at you again. "I-I want you to cum in my pretty mouth." He breathes, licking his lips as you clench around his fingers. "I want to taste you. I want it. Please." He starts moving his fingers again, watching in awe as your legs start to shake.

You hiss at the pressure quickly building in your abdomen again, throwing your head back when you can't take meeting his innocent gaze anymore. "F-Fuck." You grunt, tears in your eyes as he sucks harder on your clit, flicking it wickedly with his tongue. "Fuck!"

Your thighs close around his head, and he keeps going; extending your orgasm as you cry out and shake beneath him.

Wait.

After a few moments, you jerk with sensitivity, not being able to look away as Baekhyun gently pulls out his fingers; sucking on the digits with an obscene groan. Your cheeks flush at the sinful act.

Baekhyun looks up at you and smiles, holding your waist again; flipping your positions. "Whenever you're ready," He leans up, whispering in your ear. "I'll be a good boy."

You nearly gawk at him, raising a brow. For someone who seems so dominant, he sure is making a mess out of you right now.

Okay. Enough of the foreplay, you are both near to cumming (again) at this point.

You take his angry red cock in your hand, stroking it a few times and pressing him to your entrance. Your breath hitches as you slide down, biting hard on your lip while Baekhyun moans his loudest one of the night. You're still so fucking sensitive, and the way Baekhyun is begging you so sweetly to move with his swollen, pouty lips has you clenching hard around him.

"I-I'm gonna cum." He breathes, hands resting on your hips as you start to move.

You tsk at that, spanking his thigh. "You better not." You gasp when he thrusts up into you, hitting your spot so good your thighs start trembling again. "Not before me."

Baekhyun hums, kissing up your neck as your pace quickens and biting your ear. "I want Mistress to cum again." He pulls another gasp from you with a sharp thrust; softly stroking your curves with his slender hands. His voice turning deeper and huskier as he throbs inside you. "You look so pretty cumming for me."

"Fuck." You swear, bucking your hips into his when he slides a sneaky hand down to roughly rub your clit. "Shit. Baekhyun."

He grunts in reply, holding firmly on to your waist and shifting, pounding straight into your gspot.

"Baekhyun!" You scream, squirming on top of him as you come hard, your head resting on his shoulder. Through your orgasmic haze, you feel his chest rapidly moving against yours, his hands holding you tight as he chases his release.

You use the last of your strength to clench tightly around him, pressing your lips to his ear. "Come for me Baekhyun. Come inside. Fill me up."

"F-Fucking hell!" The man cries, thrusting as deep as possible into you. You gasp at the feeling, a flush falling over you again at the warm spurts of his satisfied lust inside you.

Baekhyun slightly moves your hips back and forth, as if trying to coat your walls even more. You clench around him again and he groans; head dropping to your shoulder. "If you keep moving like that Doll, I'll want to go again."

You blink at the endearment, sitting up as he softly rubs your back. "What if I want to?" You mumble, looking his prettily wrecked form over; running your hands down his chest.

Baekhyun gulps and you feel him stir slightly inside you, making you smirk. You chuckle, nibbling on his ear and grinding again, "How bout you show me what you're made of, hmm?" You taunt, circling your hips.

Baekhyun's eyes take on a near sinister look as a sinful smirk forms on his lips. He flips you back over and you gasp, whimpering as his half-hard member nudges your spot. He brushes his lips over your neck and growls in your ear. "Gladly."

#why does this feel longer than the rest #I blame love shot performance for this one ok #baekhyun smut

227 notes · View notes

kaialone · 4 years

Text

Spirit Tracks Translation Comparison: The Lokomo

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover the cutscene in which Anjean tells Link and Zelda about the Lokomo people, and how they should proceed.

You can also watch this cutscene for yourself in English and Japanese. If you want, you can check out the EU English version, too.

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

Characters in this part who had their names changed between versions:

Sharin = Anjean, Valve = Gage

Returning to Anjean:

Anjean:

おぉ見事石版をとってこられたようじゃの！

Oh, good job! Looks like you got the lithograph!

Ah, so you managed to obtain the rail map!

Anjean:

お主らなら本当に各地の神殿の結界をはりなおせるかもしれんの！

You two might really have what it takes to fix the barrier of all the temples! (1)

You two just might be able to restore the Spirit Tracks in every realm!

Zelda:

しかし石版には少ししか線路が描かれていませんでした

But, the lithograph seems to only have a few tracks etched into it.

But, Anjean, the rail map has only a small part of the Spirit Tracks on it.

Zelda:

神殿とはどこにあるのですか？

Where exactly are the temples?

Where are the temples you were talking about?

Anjean:

結界の役目を担う神殿は４つあるのじゃ！そしてここから一番近い神殿はここじゃが…[DS]

There are four temples in charge of the barrier! And the closest of them is right here, but... [DS]

In each of the four realms is a temple. Look, my dear. The closest one is here...[DS]

Anjean:

確かにこのままでは神殿にはたどりつけんな

You definitely can't reach that temple the way things are now.

But I don't think you can make it to the temple as things are right now.

Anjean:

この石版はフォースの力で線路を表しておるんじゃ

The lithograph shows the tracks with the power of Force. (2)

The rail map has imparted energy to a length of the Spirit Tracks here.

Anjean:

魔物の力によって石版に蓄えられたフォースまでなくなってしまったようじゃ

The power of the monsters seems to have stripped the lithograph of the Force stored inside it, too.

But because of the Demon King's power, much of the energy was lost.

Zelda:

そんな… 神殿に行くことはできないのですか？

Oh no... Does that mean we cannot go to the temples?

So...we can't go to the temples, Anjean?

Anjean:

方法はないわけではない… 石版にフォースの力を宿すには…

わしの一族のものに会いこの石版にフォースの力を増幅してもらうのじゃ

It's not like there's no way to do it... To fill up this lithograph with Force...

You have to meet with one of my people, and recharge the Force inside of it. (3)

Not yet. But there is a way to restore energy to the rail maps.

You can ask my people to help you.

Zelda:

シャリンさまの一族の方… そのような方がおられるのですか？

Someone of your people... You mean there are people like you, Lady Sharin?

Your people, Anjean?

Anjean:

うむわしらロコモ族は代々神のお作りになった結界と

神殿を守る命を授かった天界に近き一族なのじゃ

Indeed, we Lokomo are a people close to the heavens, given order to protect the barrier (4)

and the temples created by God, and have done so for generations.

Indeed. We are called the Lokomos. We are servants of the spirits.

They have entrusted us with protecting the temples and the Spirit Tracks.

Anjean:

わしらは聖なる楽器をあやつって石版にフォースの力を宿す力を持っておる

We have the power to fill the lithographs with Force, by playing sacred instruments.

By playing our sacred instruments...

We generate energy that powers the Spirit Tracks.

Zelda:

楽器…ですか？

Instruments...?

Sacred instruments?

Anjean:

そうお主の持っておる「大地の笛」もその１つじゃ

Yes, and the "Flute of the Land" that you possess is one of them, too.

Yes, and the Spirit Flute you hold is one of them.

Zelda:

わたしの笛が…！これはお母さまからいただいたものだったのですが..

My flute...! It was given to me by my mother, but...

This flute was a gift from my grandmother. I didn't know it had any powers.

Zelda:

ご先祖さまから伝わる大事な笛だと伺いました

I have been told that it was a special flute, handed down from my ancestor.

I'd only heard that it was something precious handed down from my ancestors.

Anjean:

わしがおぬしの先祖にあたる者に渡した物じゃ！

I’m the one who gave it to that ancestor of yours!

Yes! And it was I who gave it to your ancestors!

Anjean:

何度もくれとせがまれたのでこの国の平和を築くという条件であげたのじゃ

She kept bugging me about it, so I gave it to her, under the condition that she would keep this country peaceful.

But only under the condition that they protect the land for all time.

Anjean:

その時はこんな一大事になるとは思ってなかったが…

At the time I didn't think things would end up getting this bad, though...

Of course, back then, I didn't think things would take such a perilous turn.

Anjean:

まあ持ってたのがおぬしらでよかった…

Well, I'm glad you're the ones who have it...

I'm glad that after all these years it has found its way into your hands.

Zelda:

この笛そんな大事なものだったのですか..

I had no idea this flute was so important...

Zelda:

私が小さい時にお母さまがよく吹いてくださいました

When I was little, my mother would often play it for me.

My grandmother used to play it for me when I was a little girl.

Zelda:

この音色を聞くといやなことがあってもがんばれるような気がして…

When I listen to its sound, I feel like I can keep going, even when things are unpleasant...

If I was sad or upset, the sound of this flute would make me feel better.

Zelda:

でもお返しした方がよさそうですね

But I suppose it would be for the best if I returned it to you.

But even so, I suppose its rightful place is with you, Anjean.

Anjean:

いやそれはきっと必要になるおぬしらが持っていた方がよい！

No, you'll definitely need it, so it's better if you have it!

No, you two will have need of it. Please take it with you! For now...

Anjean:

それよりも今はわしの一族に会い石版に再びフォースの力が宿るようにするのじゃ

More importantly, right now you need to meet with my people and fill the lithographs with Force again.

You must go find the other Lokomos and restore the energy of the rail maps.

Anjean:

そうすれば線路が再び浮かび上がるはずじゃ

If you do that, the tracks should emerge once more.

Once you do, the Spirit Tracks will reappear.

Anjean:

まずは森に行き森のロコモ族バルブという男に会いなさい

First, I want you to go to the forest and meet with a man called Valve, the Lokomo of the Forest. (5)

Go to the forest first, where you must talk to the Lokomo Gage.

Anjean:

[DS] この塔より南西の方にバルブの住むホコラがある

[DS] The shrine where Valve lives lies southwest of this tower.

[DS] South of the Forest Temple is a sanctuary where you can find Gage.

Anjean:

きっとおぬしらの進むべき道を示してくれるはずじゃ

He should be able to show you where to go.

He will be able to tell you where to go next.

Zelda:

はいわかりました！

Alright, understood!

Got it!

Zelda:

リンクいきましょう！

We should get going, Link!

Let's go, Link!

Zelda:

あ…でも今は機関車がありませんしどうやって森までいけば…

Oh, but... we do not have a train right now. How are we supposed to reach the forest...?

Oh...but we don't have a train. How are we going to get to the forest?

Anjean:

これに乗っておいき

Use this.

You may take this.

Anjean:

この汽車はいにしえの時代に神がお使いになった神の汽車じゃ…

おいそれと普通の人間が乗れるものじゃないんじゃが…

今はそんな事も言ってられんしそれにお主らなら神もお許しになるじゃろうて！

This train was used by God in the ancient times. The Train of God...

Ordinary humans aren't supposed to just ride it around like that, but...

We don't have much of a choice right now. And I'm sure God will make an exception in your case!

This train is a symbol of the spirits. People don't ordinarily ride around in it.

But these are no ordinary circumstances.

I'm sure the spirits wouldn't mind lending it to you.

Zelda:

ありがとうシャリンさま！！

Thank you, Lady Sharin!!

Thank you, Anjean!

Translation Notes:

I realize it’s worded a bit awkwardly when translated as literally as I did, but by ”the barrier of all the temples”, Anjean basically means “the barrier that’s being created by all the temples”.

“Force” is a concept that occasionally comes up in Zelda games. Not to be confused with the Triforce, “Force” is an energy that dwells within all living beings and the world. In the English localizations, it’s usually adapted as Force Gems when it’s shown in crystalized form, or even just energy or life force when it’s not physically shown.

What I translated as “people” here is 一族/ichizoku in Japanese, which could also be translated as “clan” or even “family”, but I think “my people” worked best in this context.

The Lokomo are literally called ロコモ族/Rokomo-zoku in Japanese, named after “locomotive”, so one could romanize them as “Locomo”, too.

What I translated as “the Lokomo of the Forest“ could also be translated as “a Lokomo of the forest”, but he does seem to be specifically assigned to the forest, so the former made sense to me.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This is only a short scene, but it features some important exposition, and some particularly curious changes in the English version.

I will start with what I consider the biggest change in this scene.

In the Japanese version, Zelda states that her flute was given to her by her mother, while the English version has her state that it was her grandmother.

This seems like a strange and unnecessary change, but I have a theory about why they did it.

I think whoever decided on this change might have wanted to imply that Zelda’s grandmother was actually Tetra, and thus that Zelda knew Tetra personally, and got the flute from her.

This might also explain why the English version didn’t mention that Zelda is specifically the great-great-grandchild of Tetra in an earlier scene.

As for why they would do this, I’d assume it would be because Tetra is a popular character, and they thought it would be better to have a closer connection with her?

But even if we assume that wasn’t their intention at all, and they just changed it to her grandmother for a completely different reason, this change certainly made many English-speaking fans believe that Tetra was Zelda’s grandmother.

So it definitely caused a misconception in the fandom.

But regardless of that, in the Japanese version of the story, it’s made clear that Zelda did not know Tetra personally, which is why part of her relationship with Anjean involves Zelda indirectly learning things about Tetra through her.

Now, one may prefer the idea of Zelda having known Tetra personally, and that’s understandable. But it would still be a change from how it was in the original Japanese version.

Related to the above, as Anjean and Zelda actually talk about Tetra here, she is simply referred to as Zelda’s ancestor.

As I mentioned previously, this is pretty much always what Tetra is referred to as throughout the story, being a recurring plot point.

In earlier scenes where she was mentioned, the English version correctly adapted this as “ancestor”, but in this cutscene here they instead go for the more generalized “ancestors”, which muddles the fact that this was specifically meant to be Tetra.

If they really did intent to change it so Tetra was Zelda’s grandmother instead, they might have done this to support that rewrite. But this would also make it inconsistent with the prior scenes.

Whatever the case may be, the English version will continue to use “ancestors” in future scenes as well, thus removing the recurring references to Tetra that are a part of the story in the Japanese version.

Still on that same topic, an especially notable difference in Anjean’s dialogue here is this:

She kept bugging me about it, so I gave it to her, under the condition that she would keep this country peaceful.

But only under the condition that they protect the land for all time.

In the Japanese version, where Anjean is more explicitly talking about Tetra, she also goes into more detail about why and how she ended up giving her the flute.

This is another one of the kinds of details I miss, since it gave us another small look into these characters and their relationship.

Just like in her first appearance, Anjean is talking about Tetra in a way that could almost come across as dismissive, but we can also tell from her general mannerisms that she was actually friendly with her.

For me, it gives off this impression that Anjean and Tetra were probably the kind of friends that might tease each other, or even come across as harsh, but really are good friends at the end of the day.

Either way, in addition to making most references to Tetra more vague, the English version also lacks these small insights into her interactions with Anjean.

Going back to the beginning of the scene now, the Japanese version has Anjean specifically state: “There are four temples in charge of the barrier!”

The English version instead has her say: “In each of the four realms is a temple.”

This change was probably made since “the barrier” has been written out, but it technically creates a small error here.

If you consider the Sand Realm its own realm, there would be five realms, not four. And even if you don’t, that would mean there are two temples in the Ocean Realm.

The phrasing in the Japanese version in turn actually leaves the possibility open for there to be other temples that aren’t related to the barrier, which we later learn is the case.

In the Japanese version, the lithographs specifically need “Force” to work, while the English version just refers to it as “energy”.

I talked about Force a bit in the translation notes already, and like I mentioned there, it’s supposed to be an energy that dwells within all living beings, and so forth.

It’s a recurring element in Japanese Zelda games, but the English localizations don’t always adapt it the same way, making the concept more obscure.

For example, the items called “Force Gems” that appear later in Spirit Tracks are also simply called “Force” in Japanese, and the “life force” mentioned in Phantom Hourglass was also originally called “Force”.

Even the Sands of Hours from that game are supposed to be made out of Force.

I’m guessing the English version changed “Force” to “energy” here because the general concept of Force isn’t as prominent in English Zelda games, so it might just be confusing if it was mentioned here without context.

Adding to this, the English version also says that the energy was lost because of “the Demon King’s power”, rather than “the power of the monsters”, which is probably also to simplify the idea?

Anjean’s explanation of the Lokomo features some minor differences, aside from the already familiar changes like “God” to “spirits” and mentions of “the barrier” being replaced with “the Spirit Tracks”.

In the Japanese version, Anjean says that the Lokomo are “close to the heavens”, which the English version leaves out, possibly due to religious implications?

Strangely though, the English version does allow Anjean to mention “the heavens” later in the story.

Perhaps there was a limit to how many times they could mention these things? That’s my best guess, assuming it’s not just a result of different writers working on different parts.

Anjean also mentions that the Lokomo have been performing their divine task “for generations”, which isn’t mentioned in English.

This is crucial information if one wishes to figure out the general timing of this game’s story, as this means the initial defeat and sealing of the Demon King Malladus occurred multiple Lokomo generations ago.

Since Lokomo live a lot longer than humans, this must have been a timeframe of at least several centuries.

Also, as a bit of trivia, the English version of this game uses “Lokomos” as the plural for Lokomo, but the English version of The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia uses “Lokomo” as the plural instead.

I personally prefer the latter, which is why I go with that as well.

Seemingly minor difference, but look at this line from Zelda here:

When I listen to its sound, I feel like I can keep going, even when things are unpleasant…

If I was sad or upset, the sound of this flute would make me feel better.

The English version treats Zelda being cheered up by the flute’s sound like it’s something from her past, presumably when it was being played for her as a child.

But the phrasing in the Japanese version implies this is something that is still true today.

And if you think back, you may recall that in an earlier scene, we do see Zelda playing the flute by herself in her room, as she waits for Link to answer her request.

So the implication here might be that in the present day, Zelda still plays the flute on her own, in order to cheer herself up or calm herself down.

Anjean’s directions are slightly different between versions.

In Japanese she directs the children to “southwest of this tower“, and in English to “South of the Forest Temple“.

Both lead to the same place of course, but I think the English version changed it since just “south” might be easier to remember than “southwest”?

Story content aside, another factor to consider during localization is making sure the text is easy to understand for the player from a gameplay perspective.

All in all, the localization in this cutscene is another pretty faithful one.

Most of the changes are just the same general ones that appear constantly, like “the barrier” being written out.

You can tell Anjean is a bit more serious in English, like I mentioned before, but the content of what she actually says is generally the same, too.

The biggest difference is the way the references to Tetra are handled here, especially since the localization was a lot more accurate about it previously.

And again, I can’t say for sure if changing Zelda’s mother to her grandmother in English was also an intentional rewrite to make it seem like it was Tetra. But as I said, it did make many fans believe it really was Tetra.

And references to Tetra really do suffer quite a bit in this localization, I’m afraid to say. Both due to the reasons I have already gone over, and more that’s to come.

This scene is just another part of that larger issue, but I think it’s where it really starts.

But that’s the end of this part right here. Feel free to check out the next one!

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

#legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #tloz #spirit tracks #legend of zelda spirit tracks #legend of zelda translations #spirit tracks translations #my translations #spirit tracks comparisons

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hazzabeeforlou · 4 years

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50 questions

You’ve never been asked!

Thank you @haztobegood for the tag, I gotta say I love these games, must have to do with the LACK OF HUMAN CONTACT anyways.

1. What is the color of your hairbrush? Blue

2. A food you never eat? Meat

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold? I AM LOUIS I AM ALWAYS COLD

4. What were you doing 45 mins ago? creating a tiktok account for a school project, long story

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Offf. I haven’t been able to eat candy like... ever (I’m ‘allergic’ to sugar, makes me super sick) but I do like those ones with the puffed rice in the middle that crunch? I don’t know their names though omg that’s embarassing

6. Have you ever been to a professional sports event? GREEN BAY MUTHERFUCKING PACKERS, Houston, 2014 (?) six touchdown passes by my gay main man Aaron Rodgers. Nothing like seeing drunk Texans pissed off :)

7. What is the last thing you said out loud? “Don’t water my trees with your water!” (I have these peach trees and they hate the special water my mom uses for her plants hence this sentence)

8. What is your favorite ice cream? Shit. Um... mint chocolate chip

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? WATER, ugg

10. Do you like your wallet? Yes, it’s yellow and some fancy brand name (christmas gift) and v old and v dirty, but it has a wrist band!

11. What was the last thing you ate? Almond crackers, my stomach is upset

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend? NEW CLOTHES? ME? um, no

13. The last sporting event you watched? In full? The last Packers’ game lol

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? It comes in FLAVORS? Excuse me. Just SALT and BUTTER

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? My sister, I sent her the Carol Baskins tiktok dance thing because I couldn’t stop laughing

16. Even go camping? Used to ALL THE TIME when I was a kid! Haven’t been in ages. I loved it.

17. Do you take vitamins? My pill intake would scare you all

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? HAHA no. I do with my parents and practice astral projection sometimes when I can’t weasel out of it

19. Do you have a tan? Yes, it hangs over from summer ALWAYS (I tan super easily, thanks Mexican genes)

20. Do you prefer Chinese food to pizza? Actually, yes, I LOVE Chinese food

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? People DO that? Um, no.

22. What color socks do you usually wear? Bold of you to assume they’re one single color, I wear the most outrageous socks

23. Do you ever drive above the speed limit? *whistles*

24. What terrifies you? Loss of limbs/appendages

25. Look to your left, what do you see? An empty plate used for almond crackers

26. What chore do you hate? I hate tuning my h***. I’m a bad musician.

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent? My family over there

28. What’s your favorite soda? ROOT BEER, Sprecher’s of course

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive-through? I like never do fast food, unless Panera counts? Then I go inside.

30. Who’s the last person you talked to? My mom

31. Favorite cut of beef? I’m a veggie :)

32. Last song you listened to? Beethoven Symphony no 3 mvt. 1

33. Last book you read? I’m finishing that brief interviews with horrible men book by DFW

34. Favorite day of the week? Friday

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Honey, I have to sing it just to say it forwards...

36. How do you like your coffee? I used to like it with milk and honey and maple syrup but I can’t drink coffee now RIP

37. Favorite pair of shoes? I hate shoes. As soon as snow is gone it’s flip-flops for months

38. At what time do you normally go to bed? Ug. 1 am.

39. At what time do you normally get up? 9?

40. What do you prefer, sunrise or sunset? Sunset usually

41. How many blankets are on your bed? Four

42. Describe your kitchen plates. They’re white and blue with that old design that looks like a Christmas scene around them

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage? I can tolerate pink wines that taste fruity

44. Do you play cards? Yesssss

45. What color is your car? Gray

46. Can you change a tire? adlfkjaslkdfjlasdjflkajsdf I’m gay

47. What is your favorite state/province? I am partial to my home state, but I love NY a whole lot very much too

48. Favorite job you’ve ever had? Playing in orchestras. Sigh. Might not be able to do that for a looooong while now.

49. How did you get your biggest scar? Ho boy. I had super-major-awful-bad-life-changing surgery almost four years ago, and I have a 9 inch scar from it. It’s not pretty or fun to deal with on a daily basis rip

50. What did you do today that made someone else happy? Does my bunny count? I fed her a smidge of banana and she was THRILLED

Idk who wants to do this, so I mean it when I say consider yourself tagged!!

#tag games

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bearingwater · 5 years

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July Forecast for Aquarius

Surrender to change, Aquarius—it’s coming whether you like it or not. July is a month of many expressions from above, including two alchemical eclipses, a rare double-header of new moons bookending the month and (eek!) communication planet Mercury spinning retrograde from July 7 to 31. There won’t be a dull moment on deck, Aquarius—so brace yourself for an active month that could transform you in crucial ways.

Against the backdrop of the Sun in Cancer and your sixth house of health, fitness and organization (until July 22), a July 2 total solar (new moon) eclipse lands in Cancer, jolting you into action. Is it time to go full KonMari on your clutter? Or maybe change your habits around eating and exercise? You may get doctor’s orders to do so, or the urge might come from a desire to reconnect to your body. The way you’ve structured your life could have pieces falling through the cracks, and this cosmic event is your unsubtle prompt to shift your systems, stat! At the July 2 Cancer solar eclipse, a powerful new six-month cycle of vitality opens up.

This is the midway point in a series of eclipses falling on the Cancer/Capricorn axis between July 2018 and July 2020, activating your analytical sixth house (ruled by Cancer) and your twelfth house of spirituality and release (ruled by Capricorn). For the past year, you’ve been transforming the balance between mind and spirit, control and surrender. There have been moments that awakened you to a need to be more alert and attentive or to more deeply connect to the earth. (We have THREE Aquarius friends who have turned their land into small organic farms in the past year!)

The second eclipse might require you to keep a few friends on standby for emotional support. On July 16, a Capricorn lunar (full moon) eclipse will land in your twelfth house of closure, healing and transitions. A chapter of your life may come to an abrupt end, and all the attendant emotions can surge up just as suddenly. If you haven’t dealt with grief or mourned a loss, this could be one of those long-awaited “ugly cry” days that helps you heal. With alchemical Pluto riding close to this full moon, the intensity is multiplied.

This eclipse might also bring a spiritual awakening, a soulmate encounter or a moment of profound epiphanies. You may see someone’s true colors—and the palette could be shocking. This eclipse may expose a secret or bring hidden information to light. Look back to January 6, 2019, when a corresponding Capricorn solar eclipse set events into motion. Since astrology is cyclical, endings clear the way for beginnings. Trust that if you have to release anything, it’s for the highest good—even if whatever’s “next” doesn’t immediately show up. In fact, breathing through the unknown instead of anxiously trying to micromanage events will be your biggest—and most rewarding—spiritual challenge.

In between, there could be a couple moments that starkly expose the “control freak” that we all have within us. Control is an outcropping of fear, after all. And you’ll get a front-row seat to some of your own untended anxieties when the Cancer Sun forms its annual oppositions to Saturn (July 9) and Pluto (July 14) in Capricorn and your illusion-fueled twelfth house.

Your mission: To uncover where more boundaries are needed in your life. Have you fallen into a role of codependent enabling and sacrifice? As the Sun opposes boundary-hound Saturn and power-player Pluto, you may need to cut some of those cords in no uncertain terms. Or, if you’ve put up TOO many barriers, you’ll see where to let go and open yourself up to receiving support. You may have to trade some ego or a sense of control—but it will be a small price to pay for feeling like others have your back!

Adding to the fun, Mercury will be retrograde from July 7 to 31. It will split its time between Leo and your partnership zone (until July 19) and Cancer, ruler of your health and organization zone, from July 19 to 31. Shore up your defenses around travel, technology and communication, all areas that can be affected by chaos when Mercury goes rogue. Triple-check reservations, back up data and practice extreme patience!

During the Leo leg, take extra precautions in your closest relationships. Explain yourself with explicit clarity and check to make sure the other person REALLY heard you. Try the mirroring technique, silly as it may feel, where one person says something and the other answers to the tune of, “What I hear you saying is…” then adjust as needed. Contracts fall under the seventh house AND Mercury’s domain, so tread lightly (if at all) around signing any paperwork. If people seem to misunderstand you at every turn, take a deep breath and try again! Be sure to extend the same courtesy to others as well.

With argumentative Mars in Leo and your partnership house all month, it will be extra challenging to get on the same page. And when Mars plows into a fiery square to your co-ruler, volatile Uranus, on July 11, you could reach a breaking point. A family member or living-situation stress might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back if you’re not careful.

Really watch those stress levels when Mercury backs into Cancer and your wellness zone from July 19 to 31. Avoid multitasking or taking on too much, especially since you’ll be susceptible to a late-summer cold or flu. Wash your hands regularly and avoid anyone who’s sniffling or hacking!

Camaraderie could light the way starting July 22, when the Sun swings into Leo and your partnership zone for a month. While you may feel a bit low-power now, you’ll have people to lean on coming through. Cut back on all the extraneous social engagements and focus on the folks who truly have your back. One of them could rise up as an incredible friend and champion on July 25, when Mars in Leo forms a flowing trine to effusive Jupiter in your camaraderie zone. And who knows…maybe there’s something beyond just friendship in the cards for you, whether that’s a romantic relationship or a business alliance. With these two excitable planets aligning, it’s a perfect day to explore possibilities! You don’t have to commit to anything…just enjoy that blue-sky dreaming.

The first moment to even CONSIDER making it official doesn’t come until July 31, when Mercury ends its retrograde (amen!) and a rare second new moon lands in Leo, cutting a six-month trail into your zone of committed relationships. Between now and next February, something beautiful could unfold if you play your cards right. Follow the synergies and see what happens. Or, if you’re ready to take it official, this new moon could prompt talks of getting serious.

Love & Romance

With impassioned Mars roaring through Leo and your dynamic-duos zone from July 1 to August 18, all kinds of partnerships heat up, from romantic to professional to creative. Couples might find themselves arguing a lot—perhaps over the pettiest of problems—yet at the same time feel ever more attracted to each other. Lusty Mars can crank up the sexual chemistry AND the combativeness, so be prepared for both.

One thing to stay aware of: Expressive Mercury is going retrograde this month, and from July 7 to 19 the reversal happens in Leo. During this cycle, miscommunications can abound with your romantic partner and close connections. Anticipate this by being extra clear about what you’re conveying and don’t make assumptions. If you must get something off your chest, be sure to do it when both parties are able to really hear each other. Springing a “we need to talk” on someone out of the blue will NOT get you the response you hope for.

July 16 features the year’s only Capricorn full moon—also a potent lunar eclipse—in your twelfth house of release, fantasy and healing. If you’re in a solid relationship (or have one in development), surrender to soulmate-style love. If you’re barely hanging on in a union that’s passed its expiration date, this lunar push could be the thing that helps you cut bait. Single? Be vulnerable and willing to stretch beyond “the usual.” That’s when the magic can happen!

Should any misunderstandings arise between July 3 and 27—which is kind of inevitable when Mercury is retrograde—tactful Venus in soothing Cancer will support you in talking things through diplomatically. And since Venus is in your analytical sixth house, you’ll be able to keep enough emotional perspective to not get defensive or be inappropriately giving (read: codependent).

Wherever you land at the end of the month, a bold and loving Leo new moon on July 31 extends an olive branch and helps you make any kind of fresh start you desire. Start over, go deeper, reinvent the whole relationship: The world is your amorous oyster!

Key Dates

July 17: Venus-Saturn Opposition You may not be in the kindest, gentlest mood today, as “by the book” Saturn faces off with sensitive Venus in your nitpicking sixth house. Your instinct might be to lash out at someone or get defensive if anyone so much as suggests you try to do something a little differently. Ouch! Deal with the real issues, but anything that might be more in the “molehill” category, leave it alone for now.

Money & Career

Back to reality, Aquarius? July’s financial stars are delivered without any window dressing as the Sun travels through Cancer and your practical, analytical sixth house. This zodiac realm also rules wellness—and your “fiscal fitness” could be put to the test by the first of two groundbreaking eclipses. On July 2, a Cancer total solar (new moon) eclipse could catapult you into a new line of work, perhaps one that involves sustainability, health or data. Check in on your stress levels while you’re at it. Today’s world is a pressure cooker, and that can take a toll on your physical state. With Mercury retrograde from July 7 to 31 (in Cancer from July 19 on), you’ll want to seriously filter the information you take in. If it leaves you feeling upset and fearful, it’s okay to change the channel—or walk away from that screen.

A second eclipse on July 16 could bring a major turning point. Is it time to say “enough already!” and wave the white flag? Because this lunar (full moon) eclipse is in Capricorn and your twelfth house of endings and transitions, a part of your life that no longer serves you could be “eclipsed” away. No more hanging on by your teeth, Aquarius. Make space for new relationships instead of staying mired in struggle. Remember: Suffering is optional! When you quit trying to force an outcome and surrender to a bigger plan, miracles can and will arise. And they’ll come through the NEW people you allow into your life. As the Sun enters Leo and your partnership house on July 22, prepare to make contact with some fascinating folks who can help you on your path! On July 31, the day of the Leo new moon (and the end of Mercury retrograde), someone’s promises could materialize. You’ll know who’s solidly on Team Aquarius soon enough!

Key Dates

July 9: Sun-Saturn Opposition Guard the perimeter! You’d love to let the whole world into your inner circle, but until someone has proved their trustworthiness, keep private info under wraps around them. It’s not being paranoid—in this age of rampant identify theft, an Aquarian can’t be too safe!

Love Days: 28, 4 Money Days: 11, 20 Luck Days: 9, 18 Off Days: 2, 7, 16

#aquarius #monthly forecast #horoscope #horoscopes #astrology #aquarius monthly

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checkoutafrica · 5 years

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CheckOutAfrica Highlights: Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu Presents Award-Nominated Theatre Piece ‘Sweet Like Chocolate Boy’

Written and directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, and produced by Play Back Drama, the 2-time Off West End Theatre Award (The Offies) nominated ‘Sweet Like Chocolate Boy’ is the latest must-see theatre piece.

Described by critics as “nothing short of a modern masterpiece”, “a captivating storyline with brilliantly realised, often hilarious, interpretations”, and “a remarkable animated and innovative play, ” the piece is named after Tristan’s favourite song, and one of the biggest UK Garage records of the ‘90s, ‘Sweet Like Chocolate Boy.’ First created as Tristan’s final year piece at Roehampton University, before being further developed via scratches at The Kiln, Rich Mix, and Cockpit, before its 5-star rated run at the Jack Studio Theatre, we recently caught up with Tristan to find out more about the man behind the piece. See what went down below:

So let’s start on the title “Sweet like chocolate boy”. What is it about the title of a 90’s record you like so much? Honestly, it reminds me of the times when I was 6 and the excitement of going to new estates because I honestly thought they were like castles. So that’s the nostalgic reason. But being almost 25 now, it is listening to the lyrics feeling they spoke to me as a black person in a multitude of ways. 1. We are saucy. 2 My blackness is both unique, ever-changing and beautiful 3. This is how the oppressive powers-that-be view us. We are a delicacy to them. They don’t hate us, they want to devour us. You grew up in the ’90s, what is it about your upbringing and surroundings that inspired you to write “sweet like chocolate boy” I feel that I am now coming into truly appreciating the multitude of black British culture that has grown around me. Music, Food, Fashion, Language. I want to make sure that – in my lifetime – I wrote a piece that was dedicated to that. I also feel the 90s is a decade widely enjoyed but seldom explored so wanted to delve into that more. Lastly, I wanted to the people of the estate – which includes neeky little Cartoon-Network mad me – a voice that was infused with all the joy we experience as well as our troubles. We are multi-layered, intercultural treasures that are to be cherished (but not devoured or diluted).

You studied at Roehampton University where you first wrote the script for your final piece. What is it that led you to take a degree in English and drama? And what would you say to the people considering what they are going to do at university?

I studied English & Drama because I made a decision to further my knowledge in both areas as much as possible. I knew that was where my future career lay. Playwriting wise, I wanted to ensure I understood the mechanics of words from the supposed greats and how to make them bang as a Director. To all who consider, I was very sure of what I wanted to do BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT. As far as I am concerned University is best for those who can already identify themselves as intrapersonal and audio learners PLUS already have a desire to speak on a critical, academically articulate, intellectual level. And with all those words, that does not make you better than anyone else – cos there is an argument that you can just go to talks & the library more often. Unless your a doctor, lawyer or teacher (even then) do not go to university to solely secure yourself your dream job. Go there for the access to be more widely read and delve into semantics of your craft OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL. The debt is not a joke and mental health pressures of keeping up with joneses can be a lot. How do you feel the show has been received so far? Did you have any expectations and have you met them so far? The show has been very well received. Many laugh, holler and cry. Some see it and need a few days to digest and enter into new conversations with it – which I love too. My biggest thing was making sure it reaches as many people as possible and start as many convos as possible about culture, revolution and what is the right act in this politically charged times we have (and still do) live in. I know my play does that. What message do you hope to convey and what can the audience expect? When you see this play, get ready to say ” I remember that tune!” Get ready to 2-step in your seat whilst watching poetic, physical storytelling coming at ya at blistering speeds. The message I want to convey is: Look at the multiplicity of us. We are the seasoning & the sauce. And we have had it, hard man. But let’s not forget what we created. And when we remember, lets treasure and start conversations how we keep ourselves sane whilst trying to rebuke centring our lives on eurocentric oppression in the meantime.

Who would you say has been your biggest inspiration through your journey and why? Well, I ain’t leaving here without saying Nyame (God), My Mum and my Dad for constantly telling me I have the ability to reach higher. Specifically, on an artistic level, I would say is fellow Ghanaian Michaela Coel. Her journey writing the incredible play Chewing Gum Dreams – based on her archiving the transformative power of her schoolyard days – as unapologetic bold and tender. Furthermore, she took that everywhere to the point it became a TV series. Her work crosses form & place. I need to do that too. And finally, what can we expect next from you? I’m still writing, got a couple of new plays cooking. In terms of directing, I recently won this year’s JMK award and will be directing the G.O.A.T – Arinzé Kene’s – seminal piece Little Baby Jesus at the Orange Tree Theatre. And tickets for that are out now!

Check out Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu’s Award-nominated “Sweet Like Chocolate Boy” piece as it hits Theatre Peckham, London this Saturday. Pick up your tickets here.

The post CheckOutAfrica Highlights: Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu Presents Award-Nominated Theatre Piece ‘Sweet Like Chocolate Boy’ appeared first on CheckoutAfrica.

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#Art #Culture

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hearteyes-for-killmonger · 6 years

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Kindred • Part 2

AN: Thank you for supporting my first ever fic you guys are the best and I love you, I love you, I love you!!! 💞💞 I read so many fics y'all and I felt bad like I was coming to a potluck eating everyone's food without bringing a dish 😂😩 But yeah I'm thinking there's gonna be a Part 3. Let me know if you wanna be tagged.

Also, I'm trying to add a page break to make scrolling past the post easier, but it's not working. Are my chapters too long? Help?

Warnings: Language, Slooww build up

"So tell me, what's your biggest question now?"

Your head is swimming with all of this new information filling empty holes in your memory, creating new thoughts and feelings. It's too much at once and you grab your head as if you can force the thoughts to quiet by squeezing. You start massaging your own temples trying to calm yourself. If this man is telling the truth, and it sounds like he knows too much not to be, then not only was your dad murdered all those years ago with no justice, and not only were you abandoned by a country you didn't know existed, but you also almost died by the hand of someone you considered to be your very best friend. "My whole life is a lie," you murmer, dazed.

"Nah only most of it," Erik sighs standing to his feet in one lithe motion, dusting off his pants. Again the thoughts swirl in your brain. You're emotionally drained, too tired to go through any more shocking revelations or emotional fluctuations. You push everything you're feeling down and breathe. In.. out.. In.. out..

"That's it?" He sounds mildly disappointed. You find your feet underneath you and push off the grey ground so that you too are standing. You start to speak, but think better of it. Then you realize there's one big question you ought to ask, a question that won't trigger you emotionally.

"Where am I?"

He pulls a keyring from his hoodie pocket and unlocks the white door behind him, pushing it open. You were in a garage afterall. He steps into the adjoining room and disappears. You're hesitant to follow.

"Get ya ass in the house," you hear him snap. You shuffle through the door and follow him through the laundry room, into a short hall leading to a den with rustic decor. To your right was a bar that seemed to be fully stocked and to the left, two large leather sectionals, a large stone coffee table and an entertainment system. He waves you over to the sectional closest to the right and you take a seat. "Do you want a drink?"

You shake your head no and he joins you on the couch. He slides his hand through his locs before stretching loudly and reclining back, sinking into the cushion of the sectional. His eyes fall closed. He exhales and his chest slowly falls. You avert your gaze not wanting to stare at this beautiful but dangerous creature. "You'll sleep here tonight," it blurts.

"Where's here?"

"My home away from home," he mutters, eyes closed.

"Are we still in Petersburgh?" God knows how long you were unconscious.. you'd never been knocked out before. He doesn't answer. "Are we still in Virginia?" Still nothing. You sigh, "How long am I supposed to be here?"

"Don't worry about that right now," Erik slowly moves to his feet and disappears into the hall. You look around without getting up. One exit, the hall he left through. No windows. Looks like he still doesn't trust you. You check your clothes for your phone. You still have on the same black t-shirt and the same denim shorts with no shoes. You don't feel 'strange' down there, so you take it there was no funny business while you were unconscious. That's good. However, your phone, ID, and your cash is missing. You sigh and your stomach rumbles loudly as Erik re-enters with two big blankets. He drops one on the left couch and tosses one at you. He then heads to the bar where he bends to open what sounds like a trunk or..

He pulls out two bottles of water... a mini fridge.

"I ain't got no food down here, just liquor.." He pauses, hesitating. He looks back at you as if he's still searching for something. "Where's your head at," he barks.

"I'm trying not to think too much," you murmer, "you know, with all the trauma," you wave at nothing in particular and face the giant black flat screen to your right. In a few seconds, Erik is beside you on the couch offering you a cold water bottle. You take it.

"Drink," he commands as he takes a swig of his own and twists the cap back on. You look at him. His eyes are still questioning yours. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" You snap a bit louder than you intend, surprising yourself. His eyebrows raise and he scoffs, "I think the shock's wearing off now." You glare at him, returning his stare. He doesn't blink and neither do you. This has become a challenge and like in the animal kingdom, you're fighting for some type of control despite the sharp turn your life has taken. He turns his body into the couch to face you and rests his arm across the top, face inches away from yours. Your lip twitches in annoyance and humor filters into his eyes.

"This is the longest you've looked at me since I walked into that house to fuck up ya girl," you notice a glint of something metallic in his mouth, and your breathing hitches. The corner of his mouth briefly twitches upward. Since he's in such a playful mood, you decide to be bold. "Interesting that you'd fuck her before killing her," you look up accusingly meeting his gaze. He smirks. "I'm not going to kill you if that's what you're asking." You realize then that you lost the staring match by staring at his lips and you want to smack yourself. Your stomach grumbles again and he smacks your thigh. It jiggles. "Let's get you something to eat before your body starts eating itself." He hops up and heads to the hall. This time you follow.

The large kitchen is spotless and there are pans hanging from the ceiling. You spot a pizza oven, a legit, real pizza oven. "You must cook a lot," you inquire as you rest on a tall bar stool with your elbows on the island before you.

"I guess," Erik mumbles with his back to you. He's at the stove frying omelettes and bacon. You look at the time. It's almost 2 AM. Finally, he places two plates of food on the island and sits on the stool beside you. You're so hungry you all but lunge at the food on your plate and when you're chewing your last bite you look up for the first time. He's staring at you in mock disgust, plate untouched. You're actually embarrassed. He slides his plate in front of you and takes your plate to clean it. You demolish that plate too, chasing it with the water you were given earlier. "About your earlier question?" Erik looks up briefly before grabbing the second plate to wash, "I can't keep you too long, you'd eat me out of house and home." You gasp. Was that a fat joke? You knew you were a little chubby and you liked to eat, but was that so bad? "Well according to you, you have alternative housing options anyway so what's it matter?" He exhales a sharp breath and you realize he's laughing at you. "You right," he chuckles lightly, "guess I can keep you with me a little bit longer." He turns to you and smiles mischievously as he dries his hands on a towel and you realize you've been played.

"That's not what I meant, I want to go home," you press, not completely sold on your own assertion. "Mhm," he grunts as he returns to your side of the island, spinning your stool until you're face to face and planting a hand on either side of you. "Home where?" He rests his forehead against yours and you're suddenly insecure about your breath. His piercing brown eyes go so deep and for a second you allow yourself to get lost. His low, smooth voice brings you back.

"You're staying here," he moves his head but before you can miss his warmth, he plucks you hard in the center of your forehead. "Ow!" You lunge in protest and try to return it. He grabs your wrist and presses you firmly back into your seat. "You're staying here and you're gonna eat all my damn food. Then maybe if you're good I'll let you eat one of the couches," he muses. You squint in full mocking sarcasm. He grins flashing the golden caps on his teeth hinted at earlier and kisses the inner wrist that's caught in his grip before allowing you to snatch it away. You feel your pussy pulse and immediately know you're in danger and not just of being murdered. You'd be damned if you succumbed to Stockholm's syndrome, especially this early in the game. You still have trauma you haven't dealt with and tons of things to unpack. He watches your face as you attempt to become more distant. He laughs, openly, loudly, niggerishly, and you're low-key offended.

"I'm tryna be sensitive and shit right now but it's obvious you wanna fuck me and you're going through some mental battle. Just let me know what you decide." He sits on the stool beside you again and observes you, humor all through his handsome face, unhidden now. Your face heats and you jump to your feet, stonefaced, "I gotta pee." "Down the hall to your left," he gestures and you feel his eyes on you as you exit.

You're staring in the bathroom mirror at your disheveled reflection. Your bantu knotout has frizzed and you have dust smudges on your face. You're glad you weren't wearing makeup or you'd look like a complete clown thanks to all that crying earlier. You dial down some of the damage to your appearance and drop the toilet lid, sitting to collect yourself. Maybe now where there's some privacy you can think and allow yourself to feel some of the emotions you'd been holding back.. and suddenly, it's like a dam has broken. The tears return. You recall your father's warm hugs and animated accounts of antics and experiences in the beautiful land of Wakanda. A land where blackness reigns supreme and every black person could find their Eden. He'd talk about bringing Wakanda to black people all over the world. "One day I'll bring it to you and you'll drink in freedoms only dreamt about. I'll make it real." He used to say this and you didn't fully understand what he meant, but you'd smile anyway because he was so passionate. Sitting here now, you bet Erik could explain exactly what that meant. He said that you two were similar and that he'd lost his dad the same way you'd lost yours. You decide you'll ask him when you go back out. For now, you appreciate this small amount of privacy.

💞 @sweetsexysavagery @panthergoddessbast @mermaidchansons @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @ironsquad @destinio1 @killmongurl @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @lalasparkles @siriuslycollins @inxan-ity @killmongersaidheyauntie

#erik killmonger imagine #erik killmonger fanfiction #erik killmonger #erik killmonger x you #erik killmonger x reader #erik stevens x you #original #tags acting up in the post sorry about that

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fandammit · 6 years

Text

Loss like the sharp edges of a knife (7/8)

[A/N: At this point should you even believe me as to when this fic will be completed? Probably not. I love you all, thank you for your support and reading and continued patience. PS. Death Wish Coffee is a real coffee and I nearly died when I found that out.]

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6

It's two days later when he gets a present back from Karen.

He's running past her apartment with Gracie, expecting nothing but the low grade thrill he always gets when he runs past her place, when he looks up and sees the pot of daffodils sitting out on the windowsill.

He stops abruptly on the sidewalk beneath her fire escape, the movement so sudden that Gracie yelps a bit as her collar digs into her throat from the force of the stop.

He immediately drops down to one knee and loosens her collar, rubbing his fingers across her neck.

“Sorry girl,” he says softly, breathless in a way that he knows is only partially from the effort of running the last half hour.

He squints up at windowsill, trying to make out what might be waiting for him. It’s looks too big and heavy to be her simply returning the book to him, which he knows is a ridiculous fear to have but has weighed heavily on his mind in these last two days anyway.

He gives Gracie a few more rubs to her neck, then walks her over to the streetlamp nearby and loops her leash around it and tells her to sit and stay.

A few minutes later, he’s back down with a substantially heavy box under his arm. He almost wants to wait around for Karen, for any number of reasons, really, but right now because of the fact that she’d left her window half open and wedged the box underneath it to hold it in place. He’d closed it firmly before he’d descended down the ladder, but just knowing that it’s unlocked, capable of being easily opened and slipped through by any passing stranger sets off a wave of anxiety in the pit of his stomach.

He feels Gracie brush up against him and drops down to his knee to scratch behind her ears.

She lets him get in a few scratches, but it’s obvious that she’s far more interested in the box in his hands. Which makes sense, since he’s pretty sure it’s mostly for her seeing as the words Bark Box are stamped on the front of it.

He opens it up and finds an explainer card for what is apparently a subscription box meant to spoil Gracie every month. This month’s theme is apparently “May Flowers,” a small point of fact that makes him smile.

He -- with plenty of help from Gracie -- rifles through the box and finds two toys, a bag of treats and a rawhide chew stick. In the corner of the box, wedged between plush, stuffed flower pot and a rubber flower chew toy, is a mug with painted pitbulls on it. Inside is a gift card stuck in a plain brown envelope with an address written on the front in Karen’s firm, looping script.

He opens up the bag of treats and gives Gracie one as he looks up the address on his phone. He and Gracie walk over to his truck so he can drop off the box -- to her great consternation -- then keeps walking West from Karen’s apartment.

The coffee shop is just a few blocks down, a relatively nondescript brick storefront with the wide open windows and plush seating you might expect from any other coffee shop. He leans over and looks at the name -- Vigilantes, written in bold, blocky font on the front window.

He squints a bit at it and tilts his head, considering the name. He’s about to loop Gracie’s leash around one of the chairs when he sees a sign on the door that reads, “Dogs welcome and encouraged!” The corner of his mouth quirks up as he reaches out and opens the door, steps inside to the pleasant smell of coffee beans.

The walls are covered with art of the many different superheroes this city’s got zipping around it at any given time, interspersed with framed front pages of newspapers with headlines about aliens and science experiments gone wrong and gods from other worlds.

He walks up to the counter and is greeted by a kid who can’t be any more than 19, long dark hair falling in waves around his face. The kid smiles widely at him, energy practically buzzing off of him.

“Hey, hey, welcome to Vigilantes. Have you been here before?”

“I have...not.” He holds up Karen's gift in his hand. “Got a gift card.”

“Cool, man, cool. So, each of our orders is based on a different superhero or vigilante. For example,The Hulk -- the beans are roasted --.”

The kid’s voice fades into the background as he scans the menu in front of him. When he sees what he's looking for, he holds up a hand to him.

“Hey, uh -- can you tell me what type of drink I get if I order a Punisher?”

The kid -- Allen, according to his name tag -- smiles widely.

“Yeah man, sure, sure. That's actually one of my favorites. So, it’s just straight up black coffee, no fuss, no muss, nothing added. The beans are roasted at a shop here in New York -- little place in Saratoga Springs. It's this incredibly bold flavor with a kick -- oh, shit, sorry! I'm supposed to show you a bag, too, in case you wanna buy some -- hold on.”

He ducks down for a moment, then comes back up with a black coffee bag in his hand.

Frank grabs the bag of coffee and studies it. It's all black with a skull and crossbones stamped on the middle of it, the words Death Wish Coffee Co. circling around it.

“So, yeah,” Allen continues on rapidly, “it's called Death Wish Coffee, and like, perfect right? They say it's the strongest coffee in the world, which I absolutely believe, because this stuff will absolutely, absolutely kick your ass.”

Frank purses his lips for a moment to try to keep from smiling, then just bows his head towards his chest and laughs -- a deep, loud sound that comes from some place in him that only rarely sees the light of day.

He looks up and sees Allen looking at him with a confused expression and clears his throat, though he knows that there’s probably still a too-wide grin on his face.

“I’ll take an 8 ounce Punisher, Allen.” He holds the bag of coffee up. “And I’ll take one of these, too.”

He hands the card over to Allen, who smiles brightly at him.

“Alright man, cool, cool.” He looks down at the screen and taps it a few times. “Oh! You want beans or grounds? Because I gave you beans.”

“Grounds,” he says, handing the bag back over to Allen, who takes it and disappears beneath the counter for a second before coming up with a different bag.

“Here you are, man.” He swipes Frank’s card, then turns the screen around so that it faces Frank. “And just so you know, you had 50 bucks on the card originally, and you have 27 bucks left on the card after the drink and the grounds.” Allen smiles even wider as Frank taps for a 20% tip. “Oh hey! I think I know your friend who got you this gift -- Karen, right? Blonde, tall and, like, willow-y -- works for the Bulletin?”

Frank blinks rapidly. Her name catches him off guard, and he hopes that he’s managed to smooth out the longing in his expression to something flatter, more neutral.

“Uh, yeah, sounds like her.” He glances around the shop, imagines her walking in, her blue eyes bright and sparkling. He feels his expression falter. “She in here often?”

Allen makes a so-so motion with his shoulders, tilts his head back and forth.

“I mean, we just opened last week, so we haven’t had too many people come through yet, but she’s been in two or three times at least, I'd say -- on her way to work. I remembered her because there haven’t been many people who’ve bought a gift card, and definitely no one else who bought one for fifty.” He clicks his tongue, bounces up on the balls of his feet as he thinks. “And I just remembered her working at the Bulletin because she said that she doesn’t write up food or drink stuff, but that she’d pass our name along to the guy who does, which is good because -- .”

Jesus, this kid must drink the coffee by the gallon. He can practically feel him vibrating with energy.

“Yeah, that’s Karen,” he says, and he manages to shake himself free enough of his distracted longing to offer the kid a genuine smile. “She, uh, she knows I’m a big coffee guy. Always looking for the strongest stuff.” He grabs the cup that’s materialized in front of him during Allen’s long, rambling explanation and takes a sip, then whistles low and smacks his lips together. “And I gotta say, that does feel like a bit of an ass kicking.”

Allen smiles broadly at him. Frank wonders how the kid’s cheeks don’t hurt all the time from the force of his continued smiling, but also decides that it’s somewhat endearing in its own way.

“Yeah, right? It totally is.” He swivels the screen back around to face him. “So, also, there’s a dog bowl of water in the corner over there if you want to sit and chill a little bit with your dog. And treats, too -- homemade!”

Frank tips the coffee cup in Allen’s direction, then walks over to the recliner in the corner that he pointed out. There’s a jar filled with bone shaped treats next to him, and he promptly finds the biggest one and gives it to Gracie before he sits down.

It’s actually a pretty nice little place, all things considered. The decor on the walls is interesting where it might be kitschy, there’s a glass display case of some nice looking pastries, and hadn't been lying when he said the coffee was the strongest he’s ever had.

Gracie finishes up her treat and stretches in front of him before laying down at his feet and resting her head on top of his shoe. To anyone that might be watching, he knows it must look like a quiet moment of contentment. And it might be, too, if he could manage to tamp down the excess of emotions that have been slowly and steadily rising up from the pit of his stomach ever since Allen said Karen’s name at the counter.

Because all he can think about is sharing in this place, in this moment with her. All he can think about is the wry look on her face as she watches him order a Punisher, the pointed way she’d order some other drink -- a Thor, maybe, or a Captain America. It’s absurd how clearly he can see the teasing glint in her eyes, how distinctly he can hear her laughter in the air. He thinks about the way she would brush against him as she laughed, the easy way he might knock his shoulder into hers to let her know he’s teasing. As if they’ve spent endless conversations laughing and joking with one another, as if they’ve ever had more than mere moments of lighthearted conversation.

It’s ridiculous, he knows, to miss something that you’ve never even really had in the first place.

But it doesn’t stop him from missing it.

“So, I didn’t realize that you and Karen had been in touch,” David says a few nights later, looking across the table at him.

He huffs out a sardonic laugh and sits back down heavily across from him, picks up his beer bottle and takes a swig before answering.

“So, what - you two -. “ He levels the bottle and between where David and Curtis are sitting. “You just gossiping about me while I’m in the bathroom?” He shakes his head. “Maybe I shouldn’t’ve asked you both to have a beer after all.”

Curtis laughs as David shrugs, a grin stretched out across his face.

“Gifts on her windowsill, Frank? Really? I was half-joking when I said that to you.”

“I don’t know why you’re even surprised,” Curtis says, leaning back in his chair and eyeing David. “You knew about the flowers on the windowsill from before. I just found all this shit out last week.”

“Which, by the way,” David says, narrowing his eyes at Frank, “I can’t believe you’ve been coming over twice a week for, like, over a month and you never mentioned this.”

Frank purses his lips, then shrugs a shoulder.

“You never asked.”

David huffs.

“I was trying to be, you know -- cordial or some shit. Wait for you to bring it up.”

“Not really much to bring up, David.”

Curtis laughs as David swivels in his chair and looks at Frank incredulously.

“You and Karen are leaving each other hats and photos and whatever other shit on her windowsill like you’re in some sort of 18th century, like, Victorian novel or something. That’s definitely something, Frank.” David narrows his eyes, tilts his head at Frank. “You do know we have email, right? The postal service even?”

“Nah, that’s not dramatic enough for Frank,” Curtis says, a truly shit eating grin on his face. “Man’s got a love for the theatrics.”

Frank scoffs and finishes up the rest of his beer, then looks across the table at the two men opposite of him and shakes his head.

“You know, I’m regretting introducing the two of you to one another.”

Curtis just smiles at that while David leans in across the table.

“So, what’d you give her other than the photo of you and Gracie?”

He tilts his head, narrows his eyes at David.

“What makes what you think I gave her anything else but that?”

David shrugs.

“It’s not exactly reciprocal in nature, right? You leave Karen flowers and bullets, she leaves you coffee and a beanie. You leave her a picture, she leaves you a picture. It wouldn’t be even if she gave you and Gracie a gift and you just gave her a picture of you two, yeah?”

Frank shrugs, tries to keep a neutral expression on his face.

“Seems like you sure think you’re right.”

“That means you’re right, man,” Curtis adds in as he leans back in his chair. “Now I’m curious, too, Frank. We know that it’s gotta be something that tells Karen something about you or how you been doing.” He taps his fingers on the table, a thoughtful look on his face.

David glances over at Curtis.

“Why is that something that we know?”

Frank turns towards him as well, curious about his answer.

Curtis gestures towards Frank as he turns towards David.

“Well, that’s the pattern as far as I can tell -- Karen gives him things to let him know that she’s thinking of him, Frank gives her stuff to let her know how he’s trying to build a life that doesn’t revolve around vengeance.”

“That's - huh.” Frank sits back in his chair and purses his lips, nods as he considers Curtis’ words.

“You really didn’t realize that was the pattern?” Curtis shakes his head and huffs a laugh. “I thought it was pretty damn obvious.”

“Yeah, well -- sometimes Frank has trouble seeing what's obvious to everyone else,” David adds, grinning over at Frank, who has the sudden urge to both roll his eyes and punch David squarely in the chest.

He does neither, just reaches across the table and finishes David’s beer with one long swig.

“I left her a book,” he says, wiping his mouth before setting the empty bottle down in front of him. “Moby Dick.”

David and Curtis both shoot him near identical looks of exasperation and disapproval.

“Frank, what the hell,” David blurts out, at the same time that Curtis says --

“Are you serious, Frank?”

He shrugs.

“It’s one of my favorite books.”

“Makes sense,” David says, giving Frank a crooked grin. “Little on the nose though, yeah?”

Curtis is just shaking his head next to him.

“Jesus Christ, Frank. She gives you a nice shirt, and you give her a homework assignment.” He furrows his brows. “Hold up -- that doesn’t exactly follow the pattern you two have set up. So there has to be, I don’t know, some kind of specific reason for it.”

“A reason other than that you want her to stop communicating with you altogether because you gave her a 700 page novel about a whale,” David jokes, a slight tinge of incredulity to his words. “Moby Dick, Frank. Seriously?”

“Well, it was my copy of Moby Dick, if that makes you feel any better.”

David raises an eyebrow.

“It...doesn’t. Should it?”

Frank sighs and leans back, stretches his arm out across the back of the chair next to him. There’s a part of him that just wants to shut down the conversation completely -- shrug it off and stonewall the two, or just get up and pay his tab -- but it’s overruled by the part of him that knows that this is all part of building a friendship, of building his life back up from nothing. So he just sighs heavily and looks over at Curtis.

“I was listening to you, you know.” He makes a looping gesture with his hands. “Uh, what you said -- what you said to me the other night.” He fidgets a bit, taps his fingers along the side of the chair. “Karen -- she doesn’t really know me, she doesn’t...she can’t really know me.”

“That’s not all I said, Frank,” Curtis says, shaking his head.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but…” He rubs his hand across the back of his neck. “But it’s true, right? It’s -- .”

“It’s not the whole truth,” Curtis interjects. “If you remember, I also said that Karen could help you figure out what -- who -- you might be.”

“But she, uh, deserves to know -- should at least have the chance to know who I am. As much as, you know, as much as anyone can.” He folds his arms in front of him. “The copy that I left her...it’s the one I read, shit, at least half a dozen times when I first got my apartment. It has, uh, it has all my notes and shit in it, right? Shit I wrote in the margins, shit that I underlined. It just, it -- it has all my shit in it. It...it has a lot of me in it.” He swivels his head between Curtis and David. “Figured Karen at least should...she reads that, and it gives her a pretty good idea about me. Then, you know.” He shrugs and nods. “Whatever she decides.”

He sees Curtis and David glance at one another.

“Well, I think you're an idiot,” David says.

“Thanks David. Appreciate that.”

David gives him a wry look and shakes his head.

“Not for giving her a book -- for thinking that could change anything.” He looks around, then leans forward in his chair. “She met you when you were on trial for murdering 37 people, Frank. She's not gonna care that you have some weird affinity for Ahab.”

He has both the urge to argue with David and the desperate need to believe him. Gives in to neither and instead settles for giving David a long, inscrutable look.

“It's not,” he finally says, because he’s suddenly struck by the fact that two men sitting across from him know him better than anyone that’s currently alive, and that neither of them know much at all about what Karen is to him. At least, who she is as much as he can explain it.

He’s not quite sure he can handle any more lines of questioning about what Karen may or may not do, about who he is or isn’t. But he can talk about what Karen has done for him. He thinks the two men sitting across from him deserve at least that.

“It’s not…” David starts, a questioning look in his eyes. “You don't have a weird affinity for Ahab?”

Frank shakes his head.

“Nah, man -- it's not when I first met her. Not, you know, technically, at least.” David looks surprised, while Curtis just looks interested. “She was helping to protect this shitbag Kitchen Irish member -- Grotto -- and...”

Curtis raises an eyebrow.

“And you were…”

Frank shrugs.

“Shooting at Grotto.”

David, for some reason, looks infinitely disappointed in this story.

“Ok, so, not quite the meet-cute I had in mind for you two.“ He sighs heavily, like he’s just had some dream of his ripped to pieces. “I guess that is a more you story though -- meeting Karen when you’re shooting at her.”

“At Grotto.”

David rolls his eyes.

“In her direction, then.” David tilts his head and furrows his brows. “I’m going to assume that your second meeting was less, you know, guns and violence, since somewhere down the line she actually wanted to help you.”

He looks down at the table, scratches at a mark that’s probably been there for the last ten years, then licks his lips and looks back up at Curtis and David.

“Second time I met her, I was in police custody. Beat to hell, strapped to a hospital bed. They had this, this red fucking tape -- just this box around my hospital bed that no one was supposed to cross for their own safety or some shit.” The corner of his mouth quirks up, even though the memory can’t actually be described as anything even approaching pleasant. “Karen crossed it, though, ‘cause…’cause that’s just who she is.” At this, he can’t help but smile, thinking of her. The fearlessness, the determination. Thinks she would’ve made a hell of a Marine. “She was with the two attorneys on the case, and I just...I didn’t give a shit about them, about the case, about anything. I was just -- I was done, you know. Just really done.” He shakes his head. “But Karen, she was just getting started. She’d done all this research, you know, looked into my story, realized that something wasn’t right. That there was some shit going on. So she sees me, and she knows that I’m just some asshole who’s gonna end up dead if I don’t get my shit together, so she crossed that tape, right, she crossed that line. And she -- she shows me this picture of my family -- me, Maria, the kids at the carousel and…” He trails off, finds that he can’t meet either man’s eyes for a moment.

“How’d she get a picture?” David asks. “I wouldn’t think that’d be in your file.”

He looks up, lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug.

“She broke into my house.”

Curtis blinks rapidly at that, while David just shakes his head and lets out a small chuckle.

“You know, it’s no wonder you like her so much -- you’re both driven as hell, and neither of you have any kind of sense of self-preservation.”

Frank ducks his head down, thinks about the truth of the second part of that statement and frowns. He wishes that was one thing that they didn’t share.

He clears his throat.

“The whole time, you know, that whole trial -- it, uh, it mattered to her.” He glances sideways at both Curtis and David once, before looking back down at the table. “Finding out the truth about what happened to me, what happened to my family. It mattered to her that we did something about it.”

Even now, he can hardly believe that it’s true. He wonders if she knows what that meant to him -- to have someone notice that he was once a man, to have someone remind him what it meant to be more than a mission. He hopes she does -- hopes that their wordless exchanges aren’t limited to matters of safety and times of crisis.

(Another part of him, quiet but insistent, tells him that he doesn’t have to simply hope. That this is an exchange that doesn’t, needn’t be wordless. He ignores it. Finds that it isn’t as easy as it was before.)

Curtis rubs his temple, narrows his eyes at Frank.

“You mattered to her, Frank.” He waits for Frank to meet his gaze before he continues, picks up that prior thread of conversation like it hasn’t been over a week since they first started talking about it. “That’s what all this tells me. It’s never been about your mission or your war. It’s always been you.”

He doesn’t say anything to that, just tilts his head back and forth, makes a noise that might be agreement, might just be him clearing his throat. He notices David and Curtis exchanging glances again, but can’t quite make out what passes between them.

Finally, David clears his throat.

“I guess it makes sense -- her wanting to make sure the truth came out. That’s what she did with Union Allied, too, right?”

Frank furrows his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that’s how she ended up working for your attorneys, uh --.” He snaps his fingers a few times. “Nelson and Murdock -- that’s it -- in the first place, right?” He frowns at the look on Frank’s face. “She got framed for murdering someone at Union Allied, Nelson and Murdock took her case on against the murder charges, turned out there was some shady shit going on at Union Allied that she knew about? I mean, stuff that went all the way up to Wilson Fisk.” He spreads his hands out in front of him, palms up. “Shit, Frank, do you really not know any of this? I mean, I didn’t even have to dig very deep for it -- few front page articles, connected a couple of dots.”

Frank crosses his arms tightly in front of him. David squints at him, takes in his posture, his expression.

“It bothers you.”

“What?”

“It bothers you that I might know more about Karen than you do.”

He grunts, raises his shoulders in a tight imitation of a shrug.

“Maybe it bothers me that you felt like you needed to look her up.”

“Frank, c’mon. I didn't know who she was. I didn't know how she fit into everything, and you weren’t exactly as chatty as you’re being right now.” He sighs. “I needed to know that I could trust her.”

“And what you found -- that made you trust her?”

David shrugs, the corner of his lip turning up in a small half-smile.

“I learned to trust you.”

Frank relaxes his shoulders and forces the scowl off his face, lets the air of his lungs slowly.

“Yeah, alright.” he mutters. “Ok.”

“You know, what you could do if it bothers you that David knows all this stuff about Karen that you don’t?” Curtis asks. “You could just ask her about it yourself.”

He chews the bottom of his lip, tilts his head, looks back and forth between the two men.

“I left her that book, right?” He scrapes a hand across the stubble on his chin. “We’ll see how she feels after it.”

He says it with a finality that signals that the conversation, as far he’s concerned, is over. And it must speak to his friendship with both Curtis and David that they simply accept that, easily turn the conversation to other, more mundane and normal aspects of their lives.

He’s glad to have them both here, together; knows he’s fortunate to have a sounding board and a guiding hand and sharpened steel knife when he needs it. But it’s exhausting, too -- laying himself open like this, pulling parts of himself and holding them up to the light.

Which is why it’s only a little bit later that he wraps up the night, citing an early morning run and a long boxing workout with Paul as a reason to head home before 10 p.m.

Curtis nods as David signals to the waitress for their check.

“So, this early morning run -- doesn’t by any chance take you right past Karen’s, does it?” David asks as he stands up to go.

“Maybe,” Frank replies mulishly.

David grins.

“Well, in that case, I fully expect to hear about you seeing Karen in person the next time I see you because she is not going to give a shit about whatever it is you wrote in Moby Dick.” He claps Frank on the back, then holds out a hand to Curtis. “Good seeing you again, Curtis.”

Curtis stands up, pulls David in for a half-hug.

“You too, David. We’ll do it again soon.”

David smiles at that, gives both men a final wave before he heads out of the bar.

Frank signs his receipt and stands up, stretches his hands above his head.

“You are though, right?” Curtis asks.

“I’m gonna…?”

“You’re gonna see Karen in person once you get your book back? You’re not gonna drag this out or wait for her to give you a goddamn, I don’t know, handwritten invitation or something before she finally convinces you that she really does want to see you?” He ducks his head down, raises an eyebrow. “You’re not gonna be a wallowing asshole, right, Frank?”

Frank purses his lips and nods.

“I -- uh -- yeah, Curt, yeah. I’m not gonna be a wallowing asshole.”

“Good, because that offer still stands -- I will kick your ass for being one.”

He huffs out a small laugh, shakes his head and glances up at Curtis.

“How are you on her side and you’ve never even met her?”

Curtis breathes in deeply, reaches out and rests a hand on Frank’s shoulder.

“I’m on your side, Frank. I always have been.” He drops his hand, crosses his arms in front of him. “You’d rain down hell on anyone that messed with Karen, wouldn’t you? On someone that hurt her?”

He narrows his eyes at Curtis.

“You know I would.”

Curtis tips his head in Frank’s direction.

“Well, you keep this up much longer, Frank, and that person is gonna be you.”

#kastle #kastle ff #frank castle #curtis hoyle #david lieberman #i love curtis so much??? he's such a big part of these last sections and it's been the best thing to write #my fic #fic: loss like the sharp edges of a knife

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meroniasecretexchange-blog · 6 years

Text

The Experiment.

Author: thewalkingpoptart

Gift For: @addie-scribbles

Prompt: Practice kissing for the sake of science

Author’s Note: I really nervouse about how this came out but I am not dissatisfied with it. Hope you enjoy.

Near didn’t believe in luck. Luck to him was always careful planning with smart timing. People like to believe in luck when it suits them. When they don’t want to take responsibility or know the odds are against them. Near would never consider himself careless, bad at timing, or most importantly, a hypocrite. But at this very moment, he was feeling very extremely unlucky.

Ms.Olufsen was currently sitting behind her desk looking at a bundle of test papers. She had pushed a small crumpled sheet of notebook paper towards the young male. The words Science Partners were written in dark blue sharpie and below it a list of student names. Each person had written their own name beside the person they wished to be partnered with. Near’s eyes slowly moved down the sheet, noting every un-doted ‘i’ and every curved letter. He saw Mello’s bold, big, angled signature was missing a name next to it. “Mello doesn’t have a lab partner,” Ms.Olufsen said. explained. She went on to say how Mello’s drive may have, well, scared a few of the students. Because of an illness, Near had been sick the past three days. “I know you and Mello don’t have the best chemistry but I am sure this science project can fix it. Besides l know that if you two paired up with anyone else you’ll most likely have to hold back. ” She went on and on for a good 5 minutes. Near licked his dry lips. He was in no way opposed to working with the blonde. In fact, he quite liked his willingness and his overall feel. He ran his fingers through his hair feeling a strong sting of pain when his pointer hooked on to a knot. He twisted the strands of hairs. “It’s quite alright, Ms, Olufsen. It is only reasonable that my absence is used as a place marker for anyone who was left without a partner. I am sure Mello and I can figure something out.” He quickly signed away his name next to Mello’s. His waveline handwriting small and light.

Mello’s dorm was just a little ways away from Near’s. Mello was one floor above and closer to the end of his hallways compared to Near being at the beginning of his. Near wasn’t nervous per say just extremely cautious. He must have spent 7 hours working on a paper replica of the Sagrada Familia before taking a quick nap. Near had never been there in person but calendar photos and his extreme want to go helped drive him to build the replica. He wouldn’t want to go by himself however nor with an appointed babysitter. A long time ago he had thought about asking Mello. In short, it didn’t go well.

Near was halfway to Mello’s dorm. Near slowed his pace and focused on keeping a straight face. He needed a safe way to approach the situation. He couldn’t just knock on Mello’s door and expect the boy to be okay with it. Of course, Mello would be upset that Near was 'probably, interrupting his study time. This could end with the two parties feelings being hurt and if a grade was on the line Near couldn’t afford any more negative emotions to happen before the project even began. Near looked up from the floor. His eyes moved away from their stationary position on the floor. He hadn’t realized that he had stopped in the middle of the hallway. Near may be the most personal person in the world but he had something of an idea of how to talk to people. However, when it comes to Mello things always get out of hand.

“Hey Short Stacks, whats cooking?” Near couldn’t hide his startled jump. “Oh, Hi Matt. I’m on my way to have a talk with Mello.” Standing before Near was Mello’s oldest friend, Matt. He and Near didn’t have any beef, but Matt usually preferred to keeps his distance from the Near. No one knew if this was because of Mello or the redhead’s own personal preferences. Every now and again they would engage in conversation. It was always pleasant. Matt nodded his head. “Right now? It’s about the project isn’t it.” Near shook his head. “Yeah, I figured. Ya, know. I love my boy but I had my eyes set on a different passion project if you know what I mean.” He gave Near a sleazy smile before letting out a chuckling laugh.

“You need not feel like you need to explain yourself to me, Matthew. Are you and Linda actually going to do a project this year?”

Matt shrugged off the question, continuing on his way to where ever he was off too.

Near let out a soft raspberry, bragging his feet against the hardwood floor. Reaching Mello’s door he raps his hand against Mello’s door. Mello was one of the few who didn’t decorate their door with anything. Even Near had a small transformer hanging from his doorknob. A frown formed its way on to Near lips after 3 minutes of staring at the plain wooden door. He knocked harder on the door and called out the boy’s name.

The soft sound of bed sheet ruffling could be heard before silence once again filled the air. Near, now feeling frustrated, grab the knob, swing the door open just barely missing Mello’s face. “Ah Mello, I’ve see that you are not busy. May I come in?”

The boy walked into Mello’s personal courters. The walls were rather bare besides a few test paper and note cards posted on the wall. The door to the bathroom was closed. A small football was off in the corner. Mello’s think green sheets seemed to be thrown about at almost as if someone was laying on them just minutes before. “Near, Mello started.”

“I have just recently been informed that we are science partners. I would like us to beginning planning because I could imagine that we are already behind. I was thinking something in the mood of agriculture.” Near made sure to avoid eye contact. The smaller boy stepped farther into the room and sat down on the bed. It was warm.

“You do realize it’s 10 o'clock at night, right?”

Near tried his best to suppress a look of shock. He felt his cheek burn. Near had taken a long nap a couple of hours prior. He could he have forgotten to check the time. “I hope I hadn’t disturbed your rest, Mello.”

There was a soft but stern sigh. Near let his eyes wander up to watch Mello’s mouth. He had a full bottom with paired with a symmetrical top lip. His teeth were a natural white with a pink tongue showing when Mello gave a huge yawn. Near bit his own inner lip.

“But I guess its too late for that. I would honestly rather do something quick and easy with you, Near. I would rather spend as little time with you as possible. Let make a fucking paper mache volcano or some shit.” Mello was stretching as he spoke, letting his midriff show. Letting is perfect fine blond hair flirt with Near’s eyes, asking him if he wants to go for a ride. “Near!”

“Mello,” Near’s voice cracked just a little, “I don’t think we shouldn’t half-ass things just because of your personal vendetta against me. I am surprised that someone with as big as an eg - Someone with such a passion for flair, would want to do something simple.”

There was a pained looked on Mello’s face. He clutched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut. He mumbled about not wanting to do this at this time of night. “Near. Lets just. Fuck. Let’s just look for some ideas on the computer, okay?” He said it in a babying voice.

Mello than squatted down in beside that area Near was setting at pushing his fingers underneath the mattress, pulling out a small apple laptop. This was interesting to Near because students at the Wammy house weren’t allowed to have their own personal devices for fear of classified information being leaked. Even Matt had to rent his handheld gaming devices from the library.

Near wanted to ask how he got it, Near wanted to ask if Mr.Ruvie knew he had, Near wanted to what he used it for, but most importantly he wants to know if he could use it. “You got that while you were on one of your mini adventures?” Mello hated when Near called his 'Outings’ to the city an adventure. It reeked of miatisum. Mello just rolled his eyes before lazily typing in science projects.

“ Look at this isn’t this nice, uhhhhh, the science of plants and music.”

“Mello, you’re not even trying.”

The two went on for a long time. Mello eventually pushing the illegal laptop to the side allowing Near to take over completely. After about another hour of searching, Near swung the laptop into Mello’s direction. “Let’s make a chemical-sniffing robot.”

Mello growled turning his face away for the bright screen softy lazy waving away Near’s words. “Sure whatever, just get out of here,” he mumbled. Near let out a short grunt. “Just let me…” Near proceed to try to email the article to himself for future reference. Opening up Mello’s email, clicking the compose button. He sent an email to [email protected], smiling triumphantly to having his way. His cheeks blushed a deep red when he saw Mello’s first and only unopened electronic letter. Someone had apparently answered Mello’s comment on the article “13 kissing techniques to ignite your love life.” Near knew that this was against the law but he frankly didn’t care. He pushed the laptop away closer so that it’s back was facing the blonde. The article was one of those shitty slideshows but it was captivating enough.

1. “Start Slow. One of the biggest kissing complaints I hear from the women in my sex therapy practice is when men go for the kill right away.”

Near, tugged on his hair. He never understood why people were fond of kissing so intoxicating. Why the game spin the bottle was so popular, it was a mystery to him. The idea of having someone’s spit in his mouth never seemed appealing. The next slide feature a woman and a male in a loving embrace on a bed.

2. “Take Your Time. Another major complaint I hear from women is that men are too quick to move on from kissing.

Near read all the way through to slide 6. The 6 slide was taking a painfully long time to load. He was now fully on the bed sitting criss-cross listening to Mello’s even breathing learning about a subject that should not be having this effect on him. None of the pictures were extremely sexual nor was writing explicit. Could he be this deprived of human contact that the meer mention of it cause a reaction or maybe the power of hormones was too strong even for him? Near hadn’t’ acted this way during his sex education course. He took the time to straighten his face and peek over to make sure Mello was still asleep. He looked like an angle. His shinning blonde hair slowly falling over his closed eyes, head resting on the edge of the bed. His left lip twitching every now and gain. He should shake Mello wake. Having a body resting on the edge of the bed with legs folded underneath him would give anyone neck issues.

Near inched forward gently moving a strand of hair from falling into Mello’s mouth. 'Mello’s a big boy. He’ll get over it.” Near thought.

6.Play with her hair. I know it sounds cliché, but most women love having their hair played with, especially during a makeout session. Put your hand at the nape of her neck, with your fingers spread wide. Slowly rake your hand up the base of her head, lightly scratching her scalp with your fingertips. Then, pull your fingers together so you’re gently tugging at her hair—or hold her face with your hands, and run your fingers through the hair behind her ears.

Near felt a pleasurable burst of heated embarrassment down in his stomach. Near was in no way ignorant about his own character. He had a thing for hair. He loved that sharp pain that spread through his scalp and the light buzz that followed after. It was one of this one physical stimulation that could calm him and excite him all at the same time. Near clicked to see the next page but he was interrupted by a black screen that read “AD.”

He sucked in a breath and prepared for death.

Loudly a Lady asked Near if he was sick and tired of being cold all the time and not being able to cover his toes with a blanket. Introducing the SNUGGIE. “I already have one,” Near hushed. He moved to click off the ad, yet the computer stalled causing the video to break up its speech.

The laptop slammed shut almost catching nears fingers. A disgruntled Mello with pure hate in his eyes was the site that followed after. An angry knocking could be heard on the side of the wall. “You’re still here?”

“I got side tr-tracked, honestly. I was just trying to email the information to myself” Near twisted a strand of hair, blushing deeply as he did; never letting his eyes leave Mello’s.

“Why are you blushing? What were you?” Mello’s eyes widened. “You didn’t, did you?” Mello gave his laptop a hard look. “You were reading my emails.” It was said more as a statement than a question.

“Not exactly,” Near explained the situation, lying little. He had said that opening the email was a simple mistake and from there he was simply learning some new things he needs to know for his chemical justice class.

“You need to learn about kissing for you criminal justice class.” Mello Lifted an eyebrow.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a personal interest in the action myself. From the looks of if you do too. I don’t understand the act of kissing. It is unnecessary in the act of procreation and is just another way to spread germs. In fact, I bet it all hype, just awkward movements human do to express lust and/or admiration. Just another physical act one needs the forget about in order to be the next L.”

“Are you asking me to kiss you.”

“Of course not. Mello. I am simply asking you to show me the reason people are so obsessed with the act of swapping saliva. It’s in our movies. It’s portrayed as an act so powerful it cause two to fall in love on site. I want to know if the act of stimulating someone’s mouth is really so grand that it cause this amount of human attention. The first kiss is almost as important as a person’s first time. Of course, I should get going. You’re probably to tried to take part in something of an experiment.”

Near unfolded his legs sliding off Mello’s bed sheets.

“An experiment you say? It sure sounds like you’re looking for something else, Near. A good time?”

“No Mello. Stop looking for something that isn’t there you know I’m not like that. This is for the pursuit of knowledge!”

Mello pushed his tongue to the side of his mouth. Standing up so that he was towering over Near. “What would I get out of it?”

“ Learning if the kissing techniques displayed in the article actually works.”

Mello let out a scuff.

“ And bragging right for FINALLY being more knowledgeable on a subject than I am.”

“Fine.”

Near swallowed, before setting back on the bed this time with his right leg pressed up to his chest and the left folded under.

Mello opened his laptop and quickly muted it. “Step one” he chuckled.

Near licked his lips. Leaned in. Letting his hands rest on his knee. Mello tucked a lock of hair behind Near’s ear. He gently grabs the back of Near’s head; leading him into the kiss. Near could feel his warm breath against his lips. Near puckered. “ Hold on. Mello said. "You are far to stiff. Relax.”

Near just blinked emptily at Mello. Mello leans away and cracked his neck. “Come on Near I don’t want to be here all night. Science can’t wait, RIGHT?”

“Of course” Uhhh. Near pushed his right leg under his but much like his left. He shook out his arm. “I am ready.”

“No, You’re not, Mello laughed, Look at your face. Come on, have you honestly never done this before.

"No.” Near snapped.

“Never played Spin the Bottle.”

“I don’t get invited to parties Mello.”

“Not surprising. Is that why you’re on the great passage to figure out if kissing really is so sexually stimulating to warrant the cultural reaction? You know for the science?”

“ Are you going to kiss me for science or not”

“Come here,” Mello cooed.

He pushed Near into his lap and wrapped his arm around Nears waist. His left hand softly ran up and down Near’s back. Once again the two of them led into each other. Mello had a soft smile on his “What’s our hypotheses?,” Mello breath against Near’s lips. “Hypothesis?”

Mello laid his hair to the right. He pushed his lips onto Near’s. The younger boy’s shoulders hitched and his back locked into an uncomfortable position. Mello started to slowly move his lips against Near’s. Near’s heart attacked his ribs and he begged his lips to move along Mello’s, yet his body seemed fully content with letting Mello do all the work. Mello’s hands were now cupping his face. They stayed in a soft dance of Mello leading them for a few minutes. Near was relaxed by now. Pushing against Mello and coping his moments. Near let out a soft moan, letting his fingers rest on the open part of Mello’s legs. Mello softly bites Near’s lip pulling back slowly. Near let out a loud breathes gasps pushing himself into Mello, giving the taller boy a quick peck. They let their foreheads touch.

“Trail One,’ Near Started. ” Was unsuccessful. I um I still don’t think its all that.. that great.“

"Don’t hold you’re breath this time Near. It’s okay to breathe.”

“Mello, Slide three said we need to put our bodies into it.”

Near opened his ears only to meet Mello’s deep blue orbs. “Mello smiled. He quickly turned and opened a word doc and typed 'Trial one: Unsuccessful.’

Near pushed his chest against Mello’s and repositioned his to the sides of Mello’s hips. Mello’s lips were once again passed against Near’s hands once again caressed Near’s cheeks. Near traveled his hands up Mello’s side lifting them and wrapping his arms around Mello’s neck. Mello sucked on Near’s bottom lip before plunging his tongue int the wet cavern. Near moaned in surprised. Mello’s tongue explored Near’s mouth. Near began to softly roll his hips against Mello desperate to get closer. His body was on fire and his mind was running miles. Near felt Mello’s hand cup his butt and message knots into the soft flesh. When Mello pulled away from the kiss, Near once again felt awkward. He didn’t quite know what to do with his mouth. Mello kissed Near’s check, leaving a trail of kisses down the boy’s neck stopping, kissing and sucking on Near’s shoulder. "Ah, fuck. Mello!” Near pulled Mello’s shoulder to help him press closer to Mello’s. Near let out a small laugh. Near leaned away from his newly forming hickey to type into the computer “Second attempt unsecsefull.”

Mello pulled away. The two sway gently against each other both taking turns to peck at each other’s lips.

“Still don’t understand, Mello. I think this may take all night.”

Mello picked up Near laying the boy down on to his back, near wrapped his legs around Mello’s waist and grabbed a fist full of hair.

“That’s fine with me. Anything for science. ”

#death note #dn #meronia #meroniasecrectexchange #submission

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ghoul-caps · 6 years

Text

y'all i’ve 🐝n tag’d

Yay!

So me ( @i-b-a-r-a-h-i-m-e ) and our lovely co-worker @sunhumbird, we were tagged here to answer some really personal questions :D and we will do it with pleasure! We haven’t answered this kind of questions until now, so you will get to know us better!

So the text in bold is for me

The text in italic is for Yassen

And the text in italic and bold is for both of us

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better.

So, I don’t know if any of you have done this one, if is that so, link me the post where you shared it!

mmm, I wont tag anyone because I don’t really communicate in Tumblr and I don’t have people in mind.But if you want to do this just DO IT! And u may tag me too hahaha!!

If u don’t want to do it, then… Guess it’s fine(?)

Second Rule: Bold the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE - I am 5'7 or taller - I wear glasses - I have at least one tattoo - I have at least one piercing - I have blonde hair - I have brown eyes - I have short hair* - My abs are at least somewhat defined - I have or had braces

PERSONALITY - I love meeting new people - People tell me I am funny - Helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - I enjoy physical challenges - I enjoy mental challenges - I am playfully rude to people I know- I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it (my fav is repeating random words till they lose any sort of sense xD)- There is something(more like many things) I would change about my personality

ABILITY - I can sing well - I can play an instrument - I can do over 30 pushups without stopping - I am a fast runner - I can draw well - I have a good memory - I am good at doing math in my head - I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - I have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - I can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES - I enjoy sports - I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - I have learned a new song in the past week* - I exercise at least once a week- I have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - I have drawn something in the past month - I enjoy writing - Fandoms are my #1 priority - I do some form of Martial arts

EXPERIENCES - I have had my first kiss - I have had alcohol - I have scored a winning point in a sport - I have watched an entire TV series in one sitting - I have been at an overnight event - I have been in a taxi (who hasnt been for god sake???)(Agreed, and taxis are fun xD)- I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year - I have beaten a video game in one day - I have visited another country - I have been to one of my favorite bands concerts

MY LIFE - I have one person that I consider to be my Best Friend™ - I live close to my school/work - My parents are still together - I have at least one sibling - I live in the United States - There is snow where I live right now - I have hung out with a friend in the past month - I have a smart phone - I own at least 15 CDs - I share my room with someone

RELATIONSHIPS - I am in a Relationship - I have a crush on a celebrity - I have a crush on someone I know - I’ve been in at least 3 relationships - I have never been in a Relationship - I have admitted my feelings to a crush - I get crushes easily - I have had a crush for over a year - I have been in a relationship for over a year - I have had feelings for a friend

RANDOM - I have break-danced - I know a person named Jamie - I have had a teacher that has a name that is hard to pronounce - I have dyed my hair - I’m listening to a song on repeat right now - I have punched someone in the past week - I know someone who has gone to jail - I have broken a bone - I have eaten a waffle today - I know what I want to do in life(At least Viktoria does xD) - I speak at least two languages - I have made a new friend in the past year

Oh, so me (ibarahime) i just realised that my q&a got really boring.. so I decided to add some more details about me, which I believe are important for my personality.

1)I adore cats

2) I love old music but I don’t have a favorite band or singer.I have never had also a favorite genre of music.I just listen to what I like. From classic to some rap.

3)I love reading Bulgarian literature.Mostly the books we have to read for school, but honestly I adore them.All of them are so good!

4)I am in last year of school and I am going go to university after like 8-9 months( i may become a journalist, who knows? hi-hi-hi)

5) I am still not sure what I want to work but I know only one thing - it MUST be something artistic.

6)I love making different edits in PS.I do that since like 5-6 years ago or more.

7) I have a travel blog…not really a travel blog.Just blog for Italy, I love it and I write articles sometimes

8) I am from the people who get headaches all the time. And yes, my sight is awful…I can’t see anything without glasses.

And some info about me, Yassen, now:

1) I adore volleyball. #service #volleyball fans assemble

2) I was the biggest fan of this blog before I became part of it, for which I’m extremely grateful

3) I am good in maths and sciences and even won a bronze medal once in a Maths competition. (not cocky at all)

4) I used to be a listener on the online therapy chatroom 7cupsoftea.com and I highly urge anyone with experience in the field to check it out.

5) I made it to 100 km for a week with a bike this summer xD

6) I am a phone addict - thus how I had to start wearing glasses

7) I love writing metas and will be glad to hear your requests for such!

8) Seidou Takizawa is my fav character!!!

#i hope u like it #<3

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chelseaapproved · 7 years

Text

I’ll Sing a Song Beside You

Read on Ao3!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

Chapter Five

“Would you rather lick the floor of the metro or lick a public toilet?”

“Ew! Neither!”

“You have to choose one, M.”

“I wouldn’t want to do either of those though.” Marinette looks up from painting her toes to glare at Alya.

“That’s the whole point of the game,” Alya groans, clearly frustrated with Marinette. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so bad at this.”

“You keep giving me gross ones!”

“Ugh fine.” Alya switches from the green polish to the blue one. She’s going for some fancy marble effect that Marinette is jealous of. For all Marinette is creative and artistic, she has yet to master the art of painting nails. “Would you rather marry Adrien or have a successful career designing clothes?”

Marinette feels her face warm up at the idea of marrying Adrien. She might be a little pathetic. “Both,” she says, once she gets control of her pounding heart.

“You can only choose one.”

“But they’re my two life goals, how am I supposed to choose?”

“As previously stated, multiple times, that is the point of the game. It’s not supposed to be easy. How have you never played this before?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette shrugs. “Can we play something else? I’m clearly not cut out for this game.”

Alya definitely says something but Marinette doesn’t pay attention—she’s too distracted by the very familiar ‘thunk’ she hears on her balcony. Marinette freezes, her back stiffening as she realizes she forgot to lock her sunroof. Which means—

“Good evening, Mari! How are… you…?” Chat stares wide-eyed at a slack-jawed Alya.

Oh no.

“Chat Noir,” Alya exclaims, breaking the silence. “What are you doing here?”

“I—er,” he glances at Marinette, panicked.

“Cookies,” Marinette blurts out.

“Cookies,” Alya repeats.

“Yes! He, um, orders cookies from us sometimes. And if he gets here after my parents go to bed, he’ll come up here to get them!”

“Right,” Chat says, throwing Marinette a look that clearly tells her the lie sucks. “So, do you have my cookies ready for me?”

“Um.” Marinette glances around her room but there are obviously no cookies to give him. “I must have gotten distracted by our sleepover that I forgot to bring them up. I’ll be right back.”

“I can get them if you want,” Chat says quickly.

“No, you stay there. Just give me a second!”

Marinette flings open the trap door and races down the stairs. They usually have a few sweets at the end of the day but most of their leftovers get donated to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. She scrambles to find a few cookies and rummages through the cabinets to find an extra box to put them in.

She grabs a marker and writes ‘For Chat Noir’ in fancy calligraphy. It’s already been too long so she doesn’t bother with string or ribbon.

Rushing up the stairs, she can hear Alya questioning Chat. Marinette flinches before bursting into the room. Chat is awkwardly standing in the middle of the room with Alya beaming up at him.

“Here are your cookies! Sorry to keep you waiting so long.”

“No harm done little lady.” Chat grabs the box out of Marinette’s hand, brushing her fingers as he does so. It sends a tingle down her spine that she ignores. “The sweets from here are well worth the wait.”

“Right. Well, I hope you enjoy them. Bye!” She all but pushes Chat back toward the bed so he can escape through the sunroof.

“Don’t forget our interview,” Alya calls as Chat starts up the ladder. Marinette winces; Alya must have cornered him into an interview while she was getting cookies. She makes a mental note to bring it up to him the next time they meet.

“I won’t. Take care of yourselves. Thanks again for the cookies!” Then he’s gone.

There’s a beat of silence.

“How long has Chat Noir been visiting you and why haven’t you told me earlier?”

Chat doesn’t visit for the rest of the weekend. It should be good because after the very awkward and uncomfortable conversation with Alya, they spend the entire weekend hanging in Marinette’s room. Marinette thinks Alya was hoping to catch another glimpse of Chat but thankfully the cat knew to stay away.

Unfortunately, Ladybug is able to beat the only akuma of the weekend before Chat even shows up. Normally, Marinette would consider this a good thing but it’s been days since she last got to speak to him—really speak to him, without any third-party members present—and she misses him.

“Hey Marinette.”

Marinette startles and jumps in her seat, hitting her knee against the bottom of her desk. Already embarrassed, Marinette can feel her face growing warm while Adrien watches on with concern.

“Are you okay,” Adrien asks.

“Y-yeah,” she forces out. “You’re fine. I mean, I’m fine. Me. Is fine.”

“Okay…” he says with a hesitant smile. One of these days Marinette is going to have a conversation with Adrien that doesn’t make her want to bash her head in a wall. “Uh, anyway, I was wondering if you had any plans for lunch?”

Marinette blinks at him. “Me?”

“Yeah,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Would you—Do you have any plans?”

Marinette looks around but everyone has already fled from the classroom. She has no lifelines. “I—I was just going to go back home. Alya and Nino are going on some weird date-not-a-date thing and I usually eat at home anyway because the food is fresher and warmer and it gives me an opportunity to talk to my parents. But I don’t have to do that! I am always open to other things and eating with new people and doing whatever during lunch. I mean, not whatever, I still want to eat but I just meant I don’t need to eat at home.”

Adrien stares at her, a small smile forming on his lips that gets her heart pounding. He’s too beautiful for her to handle.

“I have to go home and wanted to know if you’d mind coming with me?”

The next few minutes are unclear to Marinette—she thinks she might have blacked out—but suddenly she’s in the back of the limo with Adrien beaming at her.

“Thanks again for coming,” Adrien says when he catches her eye.

Even in her daze, Marinette can recognize it’s a weird thing to say. “You don’t need to thank someone for hanging out with a friend,” she says.

Adrien shrugs. “I know but… I had a rough weekend and this morning was even worse and I just… really needed a friendly face?”

Marinette’s heart goes out for the boy sitting next to her. Her biggest regret about her interactions with Adrien is that he seems like the kind of person who really needs a friend but she is wholly underqualified to be that person for him.

“I’m sure Nino would have rescheduled his thing with Alya for you,” she says.

Adrien looks down at his lap. “I didn’t want to ask him to do that just for me. Besides, he’s still not allowed in my house…”

Marinette closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She is going to get this out properly the first time. “Adrien,” she starts. When he snaps his eyes to her, she feels bold enough to hold his hand. “Friends like helping each other. And Nino, especially, is a wonderful human being who will always be there for you. You could have asked him for help. But I’m glad you reached out to me.”

He squeezes her hand. “You’re really important to me, Marinette.”

And here comes the blushing. She pulls her hand out of his and anxiously plays with her hair. “Ahh… y-you’re important to me, too.”

Adrien’s colossal bodyguard thankfully cuts off their conversation by opening the door. Marinette squeaks out a ‘thanks’ but the man stays stoic and silent as usual.

Adrien leads Marinette to the dining room where two plates are waiting for them. He must have called ahead and asked the chef to prepare a meal for her as well and it just… melts her. She doesn’t think she is going to survive this afternoon.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, picking at their salad.

“D-do you want to talk about your weekend,” Marinette finally asks. She stays looking at her food because that’s the only way she can have this conversation without panicking.

“It just wasn’t a good weekend,” Adrien shrugs. “Not much to talk about.”

“Okay,” Marinette says. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he says with more gratitude than she can handle. This entire lunch is more than she can handle, in all honesty.

They lapse back into silence. Marinette wracks her brain for something to say and break the awkwardness between them but her mind is unsurprisingly blank.

“My father overbooked me again this weekend so I barely had time to breathe, let alone relax,” Adrien says. Marinette puts down her fork, intent to give Adrien her full attention. “I was supposed to go over Nino’s to help him test out some new software he downloaded but I had to bail last minute. He said he understood but there’s only so many times you can ditch someone before they give up on you, you know?”

“I’m sorry you missed out on the weekend. Nino understands your father is…particular,” Marinette settles for a much gentler word than what she’s thinking. “We all do and none of us judge you for it.”

“I feel like a horrible friend.”

“You’re not. I bet if I called Nino right now he would agree that you’re an amazing friend, Adrien.”

His cheeks turn the faintest tinge of pink, which is absolutely adorable and has Marinette blushing like crazy herself.

“You’re an amazing friend, too,” he mumbles.

Her face grows even hotter so she decides she should move on from that particular subject. “Y-you also mentioned today wasn’t too great either.”

Adrien sighs. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid.”

“I have a fencing match tomorrow and Father said he would try to make it this time but when I woke up this morning, he was gone on a week-long trip.”

Marinette stares in horror at the poor boy in front of her. She can’t imagine what it must be like to live with a father like Gabriel Agreste. Super-talented and awe-inspiring fashion designer, but unfairly neglectful father.

“I’m so sorry. That must feel awful.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Is there anything I can do,” Marinette asks.

“Just being here is enough,” he says. Somehow, Marinette doesn’t faint on spot.

Despite the incident on Friday, Chat drops into her room without any warning. She supposes he isn’t the one forced to interact with a suspicious Alya all the time now.

“Hey,” she says, barely glancing up from the banner she’s working on.

Chat leaps off the bed and stands next to her. “What are you working on,” he asks.

“My friend has a meet tomorrow,” she explains, “and his family isn’t going so my friends and I are going to go and root for him instead.”

“You’re making a banner for him?” His voice sounds off but Marinette doesn’t bother with it.

“Of course. What kind of fan would I be if I didn’t make a sign?”

“You’re so nice,” he says. “I can’t believe you’d do this for him.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’d do it for any of my friends.”

“You’re a really wonderful person, Mari.”

Marinette puts down her banner and properly looks at him. He has tears in his eyes and is looking at her like there’s no one else in the world that matters.

“Chat, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says, blinking rapidly.

“Come here.” She leads him to the chaise and pats the spot next to her to sit. He immediately sits and leans into her, letting his head rest against hers.

“What happened,” she asks.

“I needed this,” he sighs.

“You’re making me nervous, Kitty.”

“The past few days have been crappy and I didn’t get to see you, which made it even worse. I had a friend cheer me up earlier today but I really just needed this.” He nuzzles the top of her head to drive his point home.

Marinette reaches up to scratch behind his cat ears, a spot she knows he’s weak for. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not really. It wasn’t anything bad and I already talked to my friend.”

“Want to watch anime and cuddle on my bed?”

“Absolutely, I do,” Chat says, leaping off the chaise.

Marinette grins at him and grabs her laptop while he runs up to the bed. She glances at the half-finished banner she abandoned, then back at Chat. It’s going to be a late night, but both her boys deserve it.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #marichat #ladynoir #adrienette #chps 6 and 7 are on ao3

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