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ghouljams · 2 months

Note

ghoul

ghoul you keep hitting the mark on every one of my kinks

monstrous size differences, seeing ur person as holy, ovul-

its like ur in my brain get out of there before u see something that starts turning these rough military men into men that fear what i want to do to them (the erotica of cyborgs, mechs and their maintenance handler just DOES something to me. someone just turning my screws and fixing my internal wires while i look down at them feeling up my most vulnerable parts. my engineer knowing every external and internal piece of me, my repairman knowing exactly which metal plates are bothering me and which screws need to be tightened more often and which parts i won’t say need fixing but he knows, i want to be known wholly and entirely by someone who can fix me and make me into their own theseus’ ship)

The eroticism of the machine.... thinking about android!Ghost....

He always seems to be hanging around when you're working on other droids or laboring with mechs. He checks over various weapons while you sit crosslegged on the tiled floor surrounded by neatly organized plates and screws. You can feel his eyes on you, but every time you look up at him, he's studying a trigger switch or tipping a gun barrel this way and that. You try to keep your attention on the open chest cavity in front of you. Your fingers trail over wires and trace circuits, looking for the too tight screws and miss-laid paths. It's delicate work, work that takes years of practice to get good at even with natural skill.

You twist to check the diagnostics window running on your bulky tablet, the cords running between it and one of your favorite droids humming with electric life. Binary flickers over the screen, replaced by strings of code as the machine parses and translates subroutines and operating systems. You squint at the glowing green letters, eyes flicking through code as you push your finger against the screen to scroll back up. You lean closer to the open cavity, flick your safety goggles down as you turn your attention back to your hands.

"I don't want to have to shut you down," You tell the droid, "So let me know if your servos start locking up." The droid gives you a thumbs up from their position on the floor.

"Isn't it safer shuttin' 'em down?" Ghost hums from the other side of the room. You ignore him, flicking the spark on your torch until it lights. You need to rewire the auxiliary movement board for the right leg, maybe reprogram the routines that are making it twitchy. You doubt anyone else noticed this bot starting to drag its foot when it walked, but you did.

"Five doesn't like being shut off," You explain, heating the metal connecting the wires to their "hip", "Says the lost time cuts productivity." Which is as close as you've ever heard a bot get to expressing an opinion. Even then saying they don't "like" being shut off is a stretch. Machines don't "like" or "dislike" anything, they simply are. You prod at the loosened wires with a pair of tweezers, pulling them from their places and examining the frayed ends. Definitely need replacing.

"Suppose I can understand that," Ghost grumbles. Again you ignore him. You don't know what he's doing, trying to bait you into a conversation or engage your curiosity, two things you can't afford when you're doing detail work. You solder the other end of the wires, rolling your shoulders to try and get some of the tightness out of them. You really should work on your posture, you're sure you look like a shrimp curled over your work, but you need the leverage.

You sit back, inspecting the freed wires, mentally tallying their length and checking the screen readouts. You set about snipping and stripping new lengths of wire, push a few buttons on your little screen, and feel your shoulders hike up to your ears as you lean to get the new parts installed. You think part of your fascination with machines comes from how repairable they are. You've long since come to terms with the fact that detaching your shoulders and giving them a good scrub down isn't actually possible. Not unless you want to look into cybernetics for yourself, and with the grade of parts the military offers you think you're better off eu natural.

"Still good five?" You ask, soldering in the new wires, you glance at the screen, watching the routines for speech zip across the green.

"Yes."

You smile to yourself. It looks like everything is running normally up top, that's reassuring. You weren't sure if this was a systematic issue or a parts issue, never know 100% until you open up whoever you're working on. You mentally scroll through your project list as you run the wires from the metal "hip" to the central data column. You scratch your tweezers against a bit of flashing, frowning. That shouldn't be there. You wave your torch over the distorted metal, and trying to find the defect. You hear a soft 'click, click, click' like nails flicking against each other as you heat the area.

You're jerked back by your collar as the bot jerks, its defensive system snapping like a bear trap over its open chest. Your heart hammers in your chest, your tools still tightly clenched in your hands, and your breath coming quick with adrenaline fueled fear. Ghost hauls you up to your feet like picking up a kitten, all titanium and inhuman strength getting you to standing. He leaves you to swipe the repair pad from the floor, the wires stringing it to the android shredded as cleanly as your neck would have been.

"Still stubborn enough to get yourself killed," He grumbles, shaking his head, the red glow of his cameras seems almost disappointed under the white skull paint. He tosses you the pad and you fumble to catch it. "Inter-system problem, shut 'em down." It's an order, his voice carrying all the authority it should as your superior officer.

You nod quickly, swallow some of the dryness in your mouth, and punch new numbers onto your little computer. "Um, thanks," You manage, watching him re-assemble his rifle with practices precision.

"Don't mention it." He replies, and you get the feeling he means that as an order too. Don't mention it, don't go spreading around that he saved your neck. Don't try to thank him again and he shoulders the rifle and pushes past you out of the landing bay.

#cod x reader #x reader #simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x reader #ghost mw2 #simon riley #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #mw2 ghost #ghost cod #android!ghost #cyberpunk au #mechanic!reader

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moodymisty · 5 months

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Hiya! Could I request some Magnus / GN! Reader shenanigans? Like the reader is trying to learn a spell (to impress Magnus), does it by "The books are just guidelines anyways", and it works. Then they go to show Magnus and confusion hell breaks loose Blease and thankyou <3<3<3

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 | 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Author's Note: Magnus time! I was actually working on something just like this, so this gave me the motivation to really spruce it up and finish it. But I really apologize because when I reread your request I realized I might've gone a bit less silly than you might've wanted. I hope you still enjoy.

Relationship: Magnus the Red/Gn!Reader

Warnings: None apart from this being my first time writing Magnus so please forgive me figuring him out I'm sorry if he feels off

Word Count: 1220

Sorcery is by it's very nature, finicky.

It has no solid answer, no yes or no. It's not as if it's a machine you can turn on or off, or a star you can see is alive or dead. It's an ebb and flow- something you feel.

But how do you feel something you've never felt before?

These tomes are largely nonsensical to you; The scribblings of madmen, words with no translation and sentences backwards.

You'd once again today attempted to make sense of it all, to tempt your better judgement that kept saying it maybe wasn't your most intelligent idea, but nothing has happened yet. So now you sit in bed, flicking through pages of tomes scattered across the blankets; Attempting to perhaps make enough sense of it and not bring anymore embarrassment to yourself than you already have.

In your fussiness you've already given yourself two different paper cuts, licking your wounds both physical and mental. You should probably be sleeping, the stars are out bright, and the wind gently raps against the windows as you study.

Magnus' tower is so ethereal, you look towards the window for a moment and see nothing but the midnight sky illuminating everything underneath it.

After thinking, you look back towards the oversized tome in your lap, lying on your thighs over top of a blanket. You'd picked many of the books not necessarily at random, but attempting to find the most basic of starting places from a collection that puts most others to shame. Magnus has many shelves up here, filled with his personal collection of tomes and scrolls. You sort've wish he was here to help guide you, but at the same time, you wish to surprise him to some degree.

You try just one more time, attempting to light a small ember in your palm. You follow every word exactly as the instructions- if you could call them that, and mange to hold it for only a few moments before it flickers away as if blown out by breath.

"Ugh!"

You drop your head, it coming quite close to hitting the pages of the tome.

"What is this?"

Your head suddenly whips upright, seeing Magnus himself standing in the doorway across the room. You don't know how you hadn't heard his footsteps, though you suppose you were far too distracted for your ears to prick to any other sound than what was right next to you.

Entering the room and closing the massive door behind him, Magnus takes in the scenery he's missed while aboard Photep, traveling the stars. After his quick glances he focuses on you cross legged in his bed, surrounded by opened and unopened books.

"Magnus!" He slowly walks closer to the beside, one finger brushes a tome he's clearly familiar with and opening it to a particular page; Glossing over it before he lets it gently fall back shut.

"Now, what are you concocting in that little mind of yours that requires so many spell tomes?"

Magnus watches amused as you close the book in your lap, legs cross underneath it and look at your slightly burned palm.

"I was trying to call fire. But it seems it's a bit harder than I thought." His smile fades a bit softer, watching your expression. The fabric of his robes is weaved with gold string that shines in the soft candle light.

"You seem to have had it, from what I saw."

You can feel his long red hair brush against your arm as he sits beside you, his massive height and weight difference forcing the appropriately massive bed to dip heavily to his side. It almost makes you roll, but you quickly adjust to prevent that. Now in your atmosphere it's a bit easier to look him in the eye, but you still have to crane your next a decent bit.

"I was following the tomes exactly like they said, and the best I can do is a little baby kindling. I'd have trouble even setting a letter alight."

You look up towards him, hands playing with the edges and filigree of the old, worn tome in your lap. Magnus speaks up, his tone curious and a bit surprised.

"Exactly?"

His eye glances down to the front cover of the tome in your hand, and recognizes that one instantly. With one hand, he gently reaches underneath the covers and gently clamps the tome shut, the top of his hand laying against your thighs before he pulls the tome towards his chest.

"Then you are taking it all far too literally." Perhaps the book shouldn't be written so literally then, you rebelliously think. He lays the tome aside, and uses the same hand to gently cup your jaw between his fingers and look up at him.

"it's far more of a feeling that anything, my love. If you keep just following the tomes, you might end up burning something down. Or as you've noticed, burning nothing at all." He lets out a laugh, feeling your cheeks move under his finger tips.

"I never thought you to be so studious in following directions. Perhaps you'd prefer Primarch Guilliman to myself?" You let out a harsh puff of air through your closed lips, making an insulting noise. Your hand grips his wrist and tries to pull it away, but to no avail, and instead you just grip the massive muscles of his arm and scowl.

"Funny."

He smiles wider. How you speak to him so casually now, compared to months ago. Perhaps his teasing makes it easier for you to forget who he is. He doesn't mind it.

A testament to your determination, you'd been able to cast something despite a lack of knowledge; But you could do well in having someone set you on the right path. Afterall, Magnus knows simply treating something with such an ebb and flow as sorcery as rules you can memorize will never bear any fruit.

Magnus can guide you, and truthfully, he would love for nothing more than to.

His sons don't need to be taught. They learn from his actions, and most are more than capable of progressing on their own and honing their own skills. To be able to teach his beloved something that is such a core part of himself, to guide your hand and your mind to touch something greater- he finds himself almost, dare he say excited.

He's rough on his sons, he knows they can take it. That they're built for sorceries and touching the warp. But with you he'll have to be gentle. The thought of it, to sit with you and show you wondrous things that your home planet kept from your eyes, he would start right now if not for one thing.

Magnus lets go of your jaw. He leans down and gently brushes a kiss against your temple, his fire red hair brushing against your skin again.

"Now, as much as I don't wish to part you from your reading, I have returned from Terra at my absolute wits end and desiring some rest." He smiles and vaguely gestures to the mess you've made of his bed during his absence. He can see other little messes throughout his chambers, as well.

"So my love, perhaps you could move your research, off the bed?"

#magnus the red x reader #primarch x reader #warhammer 40k x reader #reader insert #reader #mywriting

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rainnmaybank · 1 year

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Safe once again

vance x reader (GN)

masterlist

navigate my blog

warnings!!: mentions of bad parent relations, breakups

like most nights, this one was miserable. rain poured down drenching the aura around. y/n was wet down to the bones. small flows of lightning swam through the clouds lighting up the surrounding.

it seemed to be fight after fight, i didn’t matter if it was with their parents, friends or best friend. no matter where they went arguments sparked and burned them.

that night was worse then it ever had been, her mother spoke words she knew she didn’t truly mean. y/n never forgot words spoken out of anger.

the words rang through their head over, and over, and over again. “maybe you should leave, all you’re doing is annoying everyone”

in y/n’s mind that translated to we don’t like you, we don’t want you. like being kicked out by the only people you ever loved, heart wrenching pain snuck it’s way though their veins the farther they ran.

no particular place in mind, y/n just needed to get away from it all.

the storm rolled in quicker, wind picking up and thunder rumbling closer. the grab-n-go. of course that as the only place still open at this time of night.

y/n pushed on the door, ringing the bell over their head mixed with the howling noise of nature.

there was nothing they could do but wait for the storm to lessen. roaming around the store to seem busy, boys pushed and shoved each other around the infamous pin ball machine. she knew who was there.

y/n kept their head down, tear stained cheeks didn’t mix well with fluorescent lights.

eventually y/n had came face to face with the last aisle, the end showed the boys whom had been making all the noise.

y/n paced themselves walking down that row, not wanting to reach the end to quickly.

to say y/n was sad was an understatement. anxiety crept through their veins now, all that they had know just threw them away. deep sense of dread flooded their mind, heavy thoughts ran like a river. feeling how it felt to no longer have unconditional love, nobody ever realizing how damaging that really is.

every step brought them closer to the end, pace after pace. their mind never silenced. it spoke so loud they hadn’t noticed how close they’d gotten to the boys. stopping themselves before running into them.

y/n raised their head only to be faced with the one and only boy who’d ever broken their heart.

vance.

for a moment it was like the whole world had stopped, their mind stopped, the sounds muffled in her ears.

he was exactly what they needed, what they missed. even if both of them were chaotic, they brought unspeakable peace to mind.

like starting death in the face, beautiful calming death. their worst nightmare but only need. they didn’t dare to speak a word in fear their voice would fail them.

like stabbing in their heart, pain intensified over their body, they weighed heavy to the ground.

vance glared over feeling the presence of someone not in his little group, a smug look covered his face till he noticed it was y/n.

his hands stopped playing as his mind lost focus, friends behind him confused looked at eachother then over at y/n, reading the room they stepped away from the two.

vance stepped away from the pinball machine examining y/n’s face as he approached them.

“you’ve been crying” damn those fluorescent lights. y/n spoke lightly “no i haven’t, it was the rain” they waved their hand towards the window. “yeah right, i wasn’t born yesterday y/n, what happened?” his hand moved brushing stray hair from their face

the warmth floating off his body was enough to crack y/n, tears swelled within their eyes once again, parting their lips and taking a deep breath y/n went to speak

vance stepped closer rubbing his thumb over their cheek, his voice was gentle in a way you hadn’t heard in a some time “tell me what happened” y/n slightly leaned into his hand as they began to speak.

“my mom…” was all they got out before the water works hit, that was all vance needed to hear pulling them into a tight hug.

vance waves bye to his friends as he took y/n out helping them into the passenger seat of his truck.

knowing the last place y/n would want to go was home, he took them to his place. his parents weren’t home.

y/n glazed outside watching rain drops racing down the window, the lightning light up their small town in ways it never had before.

stormy nights are just like stormy thoughts.

vance had brought them inside, handing them clean dry clothes and starting the shower, y/n was chilled to the bone from the cold drops of the sky.

he waited for them outside the door, sat against the wall thinking to himself.

the bathroom door creaked open to reveal a much warmer looking y/n, his heart skipped beats at the sight of them in his clothes once again.

pushing himself from the floor his body moved faster then his thoughts as he embraced them.

y/n had no fight left within, falling into his arms.

a safe place that never seems to run out of safety.

that’s what he was for them.

vance took them back to his room, “get comfy i’ll be right back” y/n nodded, exhaustion filled every inch of their body, back clashing into the mattress their eyes laid heavy.

it wasn’t long before vance had returned handing them a glass of water and a plate with their favourite cookies on it.

y/n smiled sleepily accepting his offer

they spoke few words as they shared cookies, warmth finally wrapped around the pair as y/n’s eyes closed small hums coming from their lips, vance smiled to himself taking the glass from their hands placing it on the nightstand.

he turned off the lamp beside him, wrapped his arms around y/n he sighed holding their body to his own.

vance was at peace once again.

y/n was safe in her mind.

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thezombieprostitute · 2 months

Text

Sparks Fly - Part 6

Summary: After working as an engineer for Wilford & Gilliam Trust for several years you find evidence of seedy dealings and burned books. After turning in the evidence you find yourself in danger and seek help. You're taken into the protection of a mob family where you run into your high school best friend, Mace.

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: Courtroom stress. Implied violence and murder. Please let me know if I missed any.

Part 5 -- Epilogue

Series Masterlist

During the recess Mace left the courtroom to get some sustenance. He needed something since his nerves had already eaten through his breakfast. He wasn’t allowed to check in on you. No contact with you or the people looking out for you to make sure there was no connection that might be used against your testimony. And it was killing him.

He hit up the nearest vending machine. Not exactly the best option but he didn’t want to stray too far. He kept his eyes moving to his periphery as he watched the candy bar drop. Franco the Younger arriving at the courtroom? Franco the Elder was likely nearby. He knows the security guys are going to be on the alert as well. Maybe they’d already found him and took care of him. Maybe the brothers had both hightailed it. Maybe they were hiding, waiting for an opportunity. There were just too many ‘maybes’ and he needed to calm the hell down.

He turns and tears into the candy bar, hoping the sugar doesn’t make things worse. He looks around and sees Nick coming out of a door labeled ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. Mace makes sure to not look directly at him or draw attention to him in any way but he felt reassured that Nick had done something about at least one of the Francos.

As stressed as he was, he couldn’t imagine how draining this was for you. Having to deal with the barrage of questions, all of the attention focused on you. But damn you were doing an amazing job. He hadn’t had the education and experience you had but he was still able to follow along with your testimony really easily. He hoped that translated to being understandable to the judge and jury.

He hurried back into the courtroom, not wanting to be late for your return. He checked his phone and saw a note from Teach saying she thinks she’s found a job for you but has to discuss the details to make sure it’s a fit. Mace smiles, hope alighting in his chest. He just got you back, finally got to confess his feelings, and there’s a chance he won’t lose you again!

As the trial resumed he hoped you’d be able to see his smile and know that something good was happening.

You wolf down the proffered food and drink. You haven’t had this kind of intense questioning since your Doctorate defense. And that was with people who spoke at your level on these topics! You didn’t have to pull double duty and think of, not just the answer, but how to put the answer in a more generally accessible wording. You’re extra grateful for Scott’s help on that front.

As he’s going through his phone you can see some worry lines form on his brow. You want to ask, but at the same time you’re scared to. If something bad has or will happen, you don’t know that you want to put your tired brain to work trying to process that on top of everything else. It’s scary enough having to give your testimony. Having everyone looking at you. Knowing your every word is being scrutinized.

Scott snaps his fingers in front of your face, startling you out of your panic spiral. “You okay there,” he asks. “Do you need anything?”

“Sorry,” you shake your head. “Just…just started spiraling.”

“For what it’s worth you’re doing an amazing job. I’m nowhere near smart enough for all the technical stuff and even I can follow what you’re saying.”

You smile appreciatively, “how much longer do we have?”

“We’ve got another 20 minutes if you want to stretch your legs or something.”

“More like pacing around the room,” you softly chuckle. They were keeping you in a small, windowless room. The only thing you liked about it was the private bathroom making sure you wouldn’t have to leave Scott’s protection for the public ones.

“Yeah, I know,” he nods. “I’m a pretty active guy so this kind of thing is stifling to me, too. But it is necessary.”

“For my protection,” you concede. “Are there any chocolate chip cookies? I could use some comfort sweets.”

“Of course,” he pulls his phone out again. “I’ll have someone bring a few right now.”

“Thank you,” you say. It’s not as much comfort as being able to be with Mace would provide, but it’s something.

Mace spends the rest of the recess answering questions from his employees and renewing his thanks for them covering for him during the “family emergency”. He’d been so invested in the time spent with you he’d pretty much forgotten about work. That was unheard of since he started working for The Family. Mace chuckled at that thought. He’d been on Curtis to make schedules more consistent so everyone could have planned downtime and then he never actually used his time off. He’d just spend it on-call for the apartments he managed. From what you’d told him your life was pretty similar. Just with a big corporation instead of apartments and mafia intel gathering. Maybe this was a chance for the both of you.

As he’s getting lost in the thought of waking up to you every morning he’s startled out of his daydreaming by the sounds of the trial getting back on. He makes sure to keep a smile on his face. It’s easy to do when he sees you and thinks about getting to spend his time off cuddled up with you. Thinking about getting to hear your laugh every day. Getting to feel your touch. Just getting to be with you without the fear of something or someone taking it away.

You begin answering questions again and Mace spots Nick in his periphery. He’s not sure if that’s a good or bad sign. Is there another hitman here in the crowd? Is Nick just making sure there isn’t someone else? He can’t think about that now. He’s gotta focus on you, reassuring you with a smile if and when you need it. When Nick walks out he does find he can relax a bit more.

When your testimony is over Mace makes a beeline for his truck. On his way out he recognizes Hal in a repairman getup, flirting his way past the front desk. Nick must’ve taken out the younger Franco. Mace feels like he should be helping but he’s been ordered to take care of you first and foremost. You’re his mission.

In the safety of the apartment you let yourself collapse onto the couch. You are beyond exhausted. Mace sits next to you and pulls you in, snuggling you, gently kissing the top of your head, repeatedly telling you what an amazing job you did. You let yourself enjoy the sound of his voice, the feel of his arms holding you tight, the gentleness of his kisses. No concerns, no stress, for just a moment.

“Have you heard anything from Teach,” you ask.

“She texted me earlier today saying she might have something.”

“Did she tell you what?”

“No, she still needs to meet with you and make sure it’s a good fit.”

“The sooner we can meet with her the better. As nice and safe as this apartment is, I know I can’t stay here forever.”

“I’ll ask her when she can stop by,” he kisses the top of your head again. His stomach growls loudly and he blushes, “in the meantime, maybe I should cook up some dinner.” You giggle and let him get to the kitchen.

That night you ask him to sleep in your bed. No sex, you just need to be held. He’s happy to acquiesce.

You’re the first to wake up and the sight of Mace in bed with you makes you feel instantly safe. Remembering that you’re supposed to meet with Teach this morning you check the time.

“Oh, shit,” you exclaim. “AC, wake up! AC, Mace! We slept in!” You start pushing on him and he grumbles awake.

When the words register his eyes snap open, “what time is it?”

“We’ve got about 20 minutes before she’s supposed to be here,” you jump out of bed and go to change.

“Shit,” Mace hisses and follows suit.

You’re both scrambling to change out of your pajamas while also trying to sneak looks at each other. Mace’s build is so much more muscular than you were expecting. The strong arms were one thing but seeing how thick and firm his entire body seems to have become has you stifling a groan.

Mace grabs his phone and sees the text from Teach that she and Curtis are almost there and they’re bringing breakfast. He lets out a sigh, thankful that he at least doesn’t have to worry about food. He’s catching glimpses of you getting dressed and has to keep himself in check. If he didn’t have to worry about timing he’d have already smacked your gorgeous ass and pinned you to the bed.

The two of you manage to get dressed and brush your teeth just as Mace receives the text that Teach and Curtis are here, confirmed by the knock at the door.

When everyone is settled in and eating, Teach tells you what she’s found. “It’s not a high paying job and it’s definitely not high profile like you’re used to, but the free clinics the Family sponsors, need someone to maintain their medical equipment. You’d be reporting directly to Dr. Chris Beck, the Family’s primary physician and the man in charge of keeping the clinics running smoothly. I’m pretty sure you’ll be asked to help with other daily operations, nothing that would violate HIPAA nor anything that would require an actual medical degree, nursing or otherwise.”

You nod as you eat. She’s not wrong that it would be quite the pay cut but she promises that, not only would you, unofficially, be on the Family’s payroll, but that there would be a lot of benefits. You also appreciated that you’d still be allowed, if not encouraged, to continue pursuing your engineering interests. Patents could be negotiated as they came up but those, and any papers you wrote, would all have your name on them.

While you’re going over those details, Curtis and Mace are talking about their work. Mace has to get back to managing and intel gathering within a few days. Especially since it turns out Franco the Elder is on a bit of a rampage. The Wilford & Gilliam company is looking at major fines and payments to families hurt by their products so they’re tightening the grip on their resources. The elder Franco is going out and causing fear in their territory, reminding their people who is in charge. It’s a prime situation for a coup and the Family needs to keep all of their eyes and ears at work with this.

By the time Teach and Curtis head out you’ve signed all of the required paperwork to start your new job. Hell, your new life. Looking over your things you realize, “I’m definitely not going to be able to keep my apartment. I wonder if there’s a studio near one of the clinics.”

“You could always move in with me,” Mace offers. “It’s only a one-bedroom but I can sleep on the couch.”

“Why would you sleep on the couch if it’s your apartment?”

“Because I’m a gentleman like that,” he retorts with a smile.

“Or, we could share the bed,” you tease. “Like last night. But maybe with a little less clothing. Or are you too much of a gentleman for that?”

In a blink Mace has you pinned with your back against the wall, his mouth on yours, his hands roaming and squeezing. You can’t help but moan into his mouth as you wrap your arms around his neck, urging him not to stop.

He chuckles at your whine when he pulls away to catch his breath, “don’t worry, DC. I’ll make sure the sparks fly with every kiss.”

Part 5 -- Epilogue

Series Masterlist

Tagging:

@alicedopey

@chibijusstuff

@icefrozendeadlyqueen

@jamneuromain

@jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory

@rebekahdawkins

@texmexdarling

Please let me know if you'd like to be tagged.

#mafia!james mace #mob!james mace #james mace x reader #mace x reader #mafia au #mafia!mace #mob!mace

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deepdreamnights · 3 months

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Wonka was Just Joking About What he was Going to do With the Black Cloud

And other Jank: A Midjourney Secret Horse preserve.

I've mentioned Midjourney's /describe feature on more than one occasion. It's basically a Midjourney specific clip-interrogator, where you feed it a picture and it spits out four prompts that, in theory, produced something along the lines of what you presented.

Thing is, /describe never really worked.

And that's why I love it. I enjoyed taking random images, /describing them, and then combining the results, which were like this (base image is the wonka meme template above):

1️⃣ wonka was just joking about what he was going to do with the black cloud, in the style of light purple and light orange, stylish costume design, bronzepunk 2️⃣ a man in a purple shirt and hat smiling at a computer screen, in the style of fanciful costume design, whirly, blink-and-you-miss-it detail, gritty elegance, celebrity and pop culture references, glorious, polka dot madness 3️⃣ a beautiful young man who pretends to be waldorf, in the style of purple and bronze, polka dot madness, contemporary candy-coated, clowncore 4️⃣ can you name the top 10 funniest quotes ever?, in the style of light purple and gold, movie still, polka dot madness, groovy, handsome, neo-victorian, character

Beautiful madness across the board, and the results when run (clockwise from top left, 1, 2, 3, 4)-

-are like when Google Translate first hit the scene and it was dumb as rocks, so you could get fun stuff by looping text through multiple translations to get wacky stuff. Eventually all the translators got good enough that stopped working, and no one archived the stupid version.

Which brings us to now, as MJ has launched a better version of /describe. I'll do some posts on its capabilities and improvements soonish (it's brand new), but they told us a month ago it was coming, and I took action.

More than 54,000 prompts worth of action

I can't archive the /describe feature as it was, but I could build a stockpile of prompts before the system changed, and I did. About half of these are ones I /described myself, the other half were gleaned from Midjourney's public creation discords.

These are all fully machine-generated prompts, so they're public domain by definition. All shared on a google sheets file.

Caveats:

They are no longer associated with their base images.

They are organized alphabetically.

As above, what comes out does not always reflect what went in.

Not every prompt generated by Midjourney's bot will run on midjourney without editing as sometimes /describe makes prompts that trigger their prompt censor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If anyone wants to make a text-diffusion AI that generates prompts using the above as a dataset, go for it. Feel free to show off your results in the reblogs as well.

#secret horsing #midjourney v6 #wonka #/describe #midjourney describe #autogenerated prompt #archived prompts #free prompts #public domain #ai art #obsolete tech #ai jank

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sinisxtea · 1 month

Text

DOYOUNG ALBUM THOUGHTS

ok welcome to my album review rant today we're reviewing doyoung's album. it's a quite lengthy album too. tbh surprised at the amount of songs i actually enjoyed because ballards are usually a hit or miss for me, because i don't like hearing just straight vocals.

(im a doyoung stan i must stream yknow)

not going to review every song on the album bc i tuned out some of them... 😭

little light

upon first listen, i lowkey almost tuned it out, i'm sorry... but second time listening to it, since it is the title track, i'm paying more attention to it. the song is very j-pop coded?? in my opinion, the ballad-rock kinda vibe does fit doyoung and this was what i expected, but a teeny tiny part of me was hoping for a little bit more sm core style of music, with the experimental stuff, but this works too. havent watched the mv yet but i'll check it out soon, maybe look up the lyrics translation, cause songs have more meaning when you understand the lyrics too.

from little wave

tell me why it's giving mario kart... imagine listening to this while driving on rainbow road damn. no but this is such a car cruising driving song, and i pretty much liked it immediately upon first listen. the chorus is SO GOOD??? like doyoungs vocals shine on the whole album cause he's that talented but this one really demonstrates it i think. you can disagree with me lmfao idc. it's kinda giving 80s love ballad, and that's such a beautiful vibe of music i really like it a lot...

time machine

lowkey was a surprise to see mark and taeyeon featured on the album, but i actually really like this one. the vocals hard carried obviously, but mark + doyoung combo really hits hard lowkey they should do more stuff like this together. i'm a sucker for male-female vocal duets, so this one was so cute and sweet. i know why mark considers himself an "ARTIST" not a rapper lmfao. (also im waiting for mark's solo album...... SM PLEASE)

lost in california

THIS IS THE SONG I WILL BE REPLAYING OVER AND OVER THIS MONTH I THINK. hello it's so good why wasn't this the title track? it reminds me of "i don't think that i like her anymore" by charlie puth and that song hits hard. also the vibes are immaculate. seems way more sm core than ballad so obviously i prefer this lmfao... love the little harpsicord instrumental too that was so neat. sm pick ur title tracks better thanks.

rest

i got more appreciative of the song after the chorus came on, but it gives like jpop vibes?? jpop really has that hard metal/rock aspect, and this album has quite a few songs like that. all in all, this wasn't really a favorite favorite, but it definitely stood out to me because it wasn't a ballad lmfaooo. didn't add this one to my playlist but i do think it's pretty good.

dallas love field

this is so country coded guys...... and guess who actually listens to country? me anyways neat cause it's called dallas love field... but regardless i quite enjoyed this a lot, and seeing the country core vibes radiate off of this... like damn im gonna make doyoung cowboy edits soon just watch. (for legal reasons thats a joke im a doyoung stan don't come for me) the only weird part is the bridge, with all the voices chiming in, but other than that i like the phillips phillips vibes that remind me of my 2010s era.

#LOST IN CALIFOOOORRRNIIAAAA #nct #nct 127 #nct u #nct updates #doyoung #nct doyoung #nctzen #kim doyoung #kim dongyoung #doyoung album #youth #doyoung youth #doyoung nct #mark lee #nct mark #nct songs #Spotify

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shiningwonderland · 3 months

Text

Syo Kurusu (Repeat)

Translator: Raz (twitter: agnadance)

Editor: Snail (twitter: herbert_snail)

March - Turbulent Syncopation

Syo Kurusu: Well, I guess this is it.

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun, you've improved so much!

Syo Kurusu: Of course! Human beings are meant to advance every single day!

SELECT THE PHRASE!

1) 身長も？Their height, too? (+5 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: Shut up about height!

Haruka Nanami: You're not getting taller?

Syo-kun flinches, his words getting stuck in his throat.

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun, you've become so much stronger over the past few months that I thought you've grown taller….

Syo Kurusu: Is that what you think? Huh, yeah! Maybe you're onto something!

Haruka Nanami: Yes….

Syo Kurusu: Th-then, I'll go measure myself!

Haruka Nanami: Ah…. He left….

If he's going to measure his height, then maybe he went to the nurse's office? There should be a machine that measures height there.

Syo Kurusu: … I'm back.

Haruka Nanami: How was it…?

Syo Kurusu: One millimeter….

Haruka Nanami: You grew taller?

Syo Kurusu: … No, I shrunk…. What the hell was that?! Is it broken?!

Haruka Nanami: There, there….

Syo comes in fuming, but he immediately puts himself together and begins practice again.

2) 成績も？Their grades, too? (+10 Love +5 Music)

Syo Kurusu: Ugh…. Well, I'm not getting failing grades anymore…. I think that's thanks to you, actually. Your notes are well organized, after all.

Also, you're also really good at teaching. If you aren't able to become a professional composer, how about becoming a teacher?

Haruka Nanami: A teacher… at school? That sounds nice….

Syo Kurusu: Hey, hey, don't take that comment too seriously. It's a joke. You're gonna be my composer for life!

Haruka Nanami: Hehehe. Understood! I'll do my best! Let's win the graduation audition!

3) 体重も？Their weight, too? (+0 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: Yeah, yeah, hot pot really hits the spot this time of year–HEY!

Don't make fun of me! I'm an idol! I can watch my weight, y'know!

Haruka Nanami: I would expect nothing less of you!

Syo Kurusu: Lately, I haven't been having any symptoms either! Thanks to that, I think the surgery will go well. Our final problem is the lyrics….

Haruka Nanami: Huh? Didn't you finish writing them a while back?

Syo Kurusu: … Well, those lyrics do match the rhythm of the song so I can sing them if I have to, but I feel like they're not quite right yet.

What I want to say is that they don't feel complete. I want to put my soul into our song.

The power words have is huge. I feel like the lyrics don't hold a candle to your composition. There's something missing.

SELECT THE PHRASE!

1)テーマを決めてみたら？How about deciding on some themes? (+5 Love +10 Music)

Haruka Nanami: Hyuga-sensei advised us to decide on some themes.

Syo Kurusu: Themes, huh? Hmm, how about "life", "living", "strength", "dreams", "courage", "persistence".... Oh, and something like "Follow me!"

Haruka Nanami: Hahaha, I think that's good, too. I think the best part about you is how strong you are and how you never give up.

2)言葉を書き連ねてみたら？How about make a list of words? (+5 Love +5 Music)

Haruka Nanami: I heard if you get lost, try to write as many words as possible that pop up into your head into a notebook. It may be good to even try allegories.

You might get something interesting if you try different combinations.

Also, Hyuga-sensei said that it's okay to write words and not full sentences. He said to give musical phrases the utmost consideration.

The words will be put into song, so it's fine if the nuance shows even with one word. I think he also said that the chorus should be really catchy….

Syo Kurusu: I see. That's really helpful. Thanks, Haruka!

3)情景と心情を・・・Scenes and emotions…. (+5 Love +5 Music)

Haruka Nanami: Hyuga-sensei said not only to include emotions, but scenes too.

He said describing something that instantly puts a scene in your head is easy to understand.

If you put emotions into that, it's easy to immerse yourself into the song.

If I remember correctly, something like beginning with a character's actions, or describing the place they're in, then describing the feelings of that character….

That's just one of the methods that I was taught.

Syo Kurusu: Yeah! Just you wait. I'll write lyrics so good that it'll rock your heart.

Haruka Nanami: I'm looking forward to it.

It's the end of school.

Syo-kun and I walk towards the dorms together.

Haruka Nanami: Isn't that….

We see Kaoru-kun peek at us from outside the school gates.

Syo Kurusu: And then Ren said… huh? What's the matter?

Haruka Nanami: … It's nothing. I forgot something back at school, so can we split up here?

Syo Kurusu: That's fine, but why not just go together?

Haruka Nanami: Thanks, but it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow.

Once I confirm Syo-kun has walked out of sight, I run towards Kaoru-kun.

Haruka Nanami: Kaoru-kun!

Kaoru Kurusu: Ah, Nanami-san…. Why…? You've got sharp eyes to notice me….

Haruka Nanami: Did you come to see how Syo-kun's doing?

If that's so, then he must've come see him occasionally this entire time in secret.

Kaoru Kurusu: It's because I'm worried about him… but Syo-chan hates how much I worry about him.

Kaoru-kun purses his lips.

Kaoru Kurusu: I want to be by his side to support him always, but he's the one trying to protect me…. He's working too hard….

You're Syo-chan's girlfriend, right? Are you supporting him properly? Aren't you the one being protected by him instead of the other way around?

He raises his head and looks me in the eye. Ahh, Kaoru-kun truly cares about Syo-kun.

Kaoru Kurusu: I'm sorry for saying this, but you don't seem to be that reliable. You're not being a burden to him, are you?

Haruka Nanami: I'm… doing my best to not hold him back. Nonetheless, Syo-kun sometimes does work himself too hard.

I want to do even better to support him.

Kaoru Kurusu: Are you really supporting him?

He stares at me with a doubtful look in his eyes. I understand, I need to earn his trust.

Haruka Nanami: I'll do my best.

That's all I can say. Compared to Kaoru, who has been with Syo-kun since birth, I am just a stranger to him.

I need to work even harder so he can trust me.

Haruka Nanami: By the way, you two are twins, right? Is your health okay, Kaoru-kun? Your heart doesn't start hurting or anything?

Kaoru Kurusu: I'm fine. I'm completely healthy….

I took all of Syo-chan's energy when we were in the womb together. That's why he's so weak….

Haruka Nanami: That's not true….

Kaoru Kurusu: I know that's a completely irrational way of thinking, but that thought has always been stuck in my mind.

He must've felt so guilty for being healthy when Syo-kun has been suffering so much.

That must be why he began thinking like that.

But no matter how hard Kaoru-kun is on himself, that won't make Syo-kun happy….

Kaoru Kurusu: When my friends and I would play in preschool and kindergarten, Syo-chan would be bedridden in the hospital.

Syo-chan is energetic now, but he became ill very often when we were kids, and he was almost always in the hospital.

I wish he spoke up more, like say he wanted to go to preschool too, but he would say….

Kaoru-kun bites down on his lip in an attempt to hold back his tears.

Kaoru Kurusu: He would never complain even once. He would sacrifice himself by telling me that I should go out and have fun.

He would laugh and say he was fine, putting up a cheerful act.

Haruka Nanami: Yes… Syo-kun always says that, doesn't he? Even when he's in pain….

Kaoru Kurusu: But the truth is, Syo-chan is actually vulnerable.

I saw him cry to himself in his hospital bed when I wasn't with him.

Haruka Nanami: …

Kaoru Kurusu: "I want to live." "I want to get better." "I want to play outside with everyone else." He was crying, his voice shaking.

The moment he noticed I was standing there, he wiped his tears and acted like nothing happened. He laughed and said he's fine.

Syo-kun has been fighting all by himself this entire time, even when he was a child.

Kaoru Kurusu: I want to protect him, but all he does is protect me instead. I get so sad and frustrated….

That's when I thought I'll become a doctor and cure Syo-chan's illness….

Haruka Nanami: Is that so….

Kaoru Kurusu: But I couldn't become one immediately… so every time I saw Syo-chan like that, it was so unbearable that I would cry.

All I could do was say sorry to him. Syo-chan is in so much pain, but he would never complain to me.

He didn't say anything when he quit playing violin…. Instead, he began learning karate….

Haruka Nanami: That's because… Syo-kun wanted to become stronger in his own way….

Kaoru Kurusu: I understand, but…. At that time, I thought that he became so desperate that he was just hurting himself.

In fact, I still think he's doing that. He's trying to hurry through his life.

He's panicking because he thinks he has no time left to live, but… if one were to care for him, he can live even longer.

I want him to wait for me… until I become a doctor and become able to cure his sickness….

I just want him to wait patiently.

Haruka Nanami: The reason why you're aiming to become a doctor is for Syo-kun, right?

Kaoru Kurusu: Yes…. That was the reason at first, but now I want to cure not just Syo-chan but anyone who is suffering from illness.

I want to make them happy….

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun must feel the same way.

Kaoru Kurusu: Huh…?

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun is aiming to become an idol because he wants everyone to be happy and spread his joy to others.

Kaoru Kurusu: His joy…? Is that why he wants to become an idol?

Haruka Nanami: Yes, Syo-kun and Kaoru-kun's methods are different, but you're both aiming for the same goal.

Kaoru Kurusu: Is that so…? Is that true?

Haruka Nanami: Just like Kaoru-kun wants Syo-kun to be happy and put a smile on his face….

Syo-kun wants Kaoru-kun to be happy, so he's doing his best making his song.

A song that would lift the spirits of anyone who listens to it… that's why I want you to support Syo-kun's goal to be an idol….

Kaoru Kurusu: I….

He whispers to himself then looks down to think.

Kaoru Kurusu: … I'll go back for today. Tell Syo-chan to not overwork himself….

He leaves while clenching his fist.

Haruka Nanami: Yes.

Syo-kun and Kaoru-kun…. They care about each other this much, but why are they always at conflict?

Is it because they're too stubborn? I wish they would see eye to eye soon….

Syo Kurusu: So he went back home?

Haruka Nanami: Ah, Syo-kun! Since when….

Syo Kurusu: I came back a while ago because you were acting strange. That guy's a handful.

Haruka Nanami: He's just worried about you, Syo-kun….

Syo Kurusu: I get that, but he needs to think about himself more. He's only ever cared about me even when we were little.

When we were kids, he would cry so much every time I fell ill.

He would say that the reason why I'm not healthy is because he took all my energy when we were in the womb.

Even though that makes no sense, he always apologized to me and beat himself up for it.

I kept telling him there's no relation at all and he's at no fault, but he would never listen.

I just… don't feel comfortable seeing him cry. I decided I'll become better so I would never make him cry.

I made a vow not to ever show that I'm in pain in front of him.

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun….

But Syo-kun's consideration is the entire reason why Kaoru-kun is hurting inside….

It hurts me to see them care about each other this much and yet not truly understand each other.

Syo Kurusu: When we entered elementary school, I was able to go to school normally and Kaoru and I both began to study violin on our parents' suggestion.

At that time, we were aiming to become pro violinists together.

Syo-kun grins with a nostalgic look on his face.

Syo Kurusu: Even so, I still fell ill sometimes and had to take a day off from school. Every time I did, Kaoru would also take a break and stay by my side.

Although it's not possible to be together all the time, he would do his best to never leave me because he thought that I felt inferior to him.

That's when I met Natsuki and quit violin.

Kaoru incessantly asked me why I quit, but I never gave him an answer. He felt guilty because he was convinced that it was his fault that I quit.

After that, I began practicing karate. I lied to Kaoru that I quit violin because karate looked more interesting.

Kaoru was completely against me doing karate, saying that I should stop because it's dangerous for me….

But I never quit. I trained and trained, and when I got better at karate, my body became more and more resilient.

The doctor was surprised too, saying it was a miracle….

Haruka Nanami: I… always thought that you were powerful even since you were born.

But now I know that's not true. You became strong because you worked hard for it….

Syo Kurusu: Well, the ability to keep trying is a strength on its own. In that sense, you're strong too.

But Kaoru…. maybe because he was healthy from the start, or that I was like this, but….

He's fragile…. Or maybe sensitive is the better way to word it. Anyway, he would start crying over the smallest things.

I don't want to make him cry… If I told him that I'm planning to undergo surgery, he'll cry for sure….

SELECT THE PHRASE!

1) 内緒にしておく？Will you keep it secret? (+0 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: There's no way I'll do that. I'll tell him soon enough…. Will you come with me when that time comes?

Haruka Nanami: … Yes.

2) 言わないの？You won't tell him? (+20 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: No… I'll tell him with my own words. However….

Syo-kun clasps my hand.

Syo Kurusu: I want you to be by my side when that time comes.

Haruka Nanami: Okay.

3) 言わなきゃダメだよ。You have to tell him. (+10 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: … I know. Will you encourage me to do it?

Haruka Nanami: …?

Syo Kurusu: If you're by my side, I feel like I can tell him properly.

Haruka Nanami: … I'll stay with you. I'll stay with you as long as you're fine with that.

Syo Kurusu: Thanks.

Next day, Syo-kun calls Kaoru-kun to his room and tells him everything.

The fact that he'll never give up pursuing being an idol, and that he'll undergo surgery to do so.

Kaoru Kurusu: I understand that you're ready for this, but what about me and your girlfriend?

Syo-chan, you're always like this. Even that time when you quit playing violin suddenly…. All I can do is worry about you.

Why do you always decide this by yourself? I want you to talk it out with me…. Am I really that unreliable?

Syo Kurusu: That's not it….

Kaoru Kurusu: Then don't go. Don't go to a far off place by yourself.

Syo Kurusu: Sorry, but I've already decided.

Kaoru Kurusu: You're going no matter what?

Syo Kurusu: Yeah. When the graduation audition is over, I'm going to the States.

Kaoru Kurusu: What about her? She's your girlfriend. Are you just going to leave her behind?

Syo Kurusu: Yeah, that's how it'll be.

Kaoru Kurusu: That's how it'll be…? That's cruel! Are you serious? You're satisfied with that?

SELECT THE PHRASE!

1) 寂しいけど・・・I'll feel lonely, but…. (+15 Love +0 Music)

Haruka Nanami: But… Syo-kun will return no matter what, so….

Syo Kurusu: Haruka…. Yeah, I'll come back for sure.

Syo-kun puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in.

2) 翔くんが決めたことだから。Syo-kun has decided. (+15 Love +10 Music)

Haruka Nanami: I'll do as he says.

Syo Kurusu: Thanks. I knew that you would say that.

Syo-kun and I look at each other and hold each other's hands.

3) 信じてるから。I believe in him. (+25 Love +0 Music)

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun will come back better than ever.

Kaoru Kurusu: But… there's only a 50% chance of success. If this surgery fails…. Anyway, I think it's best for him to stay put.

Syo Kurusu: I can increase my chances with a fighting spirit! Isn't that right?

Haruka Nanami: Yes!

He's passionate and nothing will change if he runs away. I think that's what he's trying to say.

Kaoru Kurusu: I can't believe that. No, if Syo-chan's gone, what should I do with myself?

Haruka Nanami: Believe in him. Your emotions will become strength, and even though they're not visible, your wishes will come true if you gather enough of them.

Syo Kurusu: Yes! That's a great way to put it! It's not impossible!

There's a whole 50% chance! I believe in that 50%! I'll survive for everyone's sake. …No, I want to live for myself….

Kaoru Kurusu: You really believe in each other. I thought I was the one who understood you the most….

I always thought that I was the most important person in your life….

Syo Kurusu: …You're my little brother. You're one of my precious family members.

We're twins. We've been together ever since we were born and were raised under the same roof, but we have to walk different paths from now on.

She's my partner… and my girlfriend….

We'll be walking the same path together from now on…. She's special.

You're not alone. I believe that you can get your own partner….

Haruka Nanami: … Syo-kun….

Kaoru Kurusu: I… might take your girlfriend while you're gone. Are you okay with that?

Haruka Nanami: Huh? U-Uh….

Syo Kurusu: Try if you can.

Kaoru Kurusu: … You don't get it at all!

He storms out of the room.

SELECT THE PHRASE!

1) 行っちゃったね・・・He left…. (+0 Love +0 Music)

Syo-kun silently gazes at the door.

２）わかってもらえるといいね。I hope he'll understand. (+20 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: Yeah….

Syo-kun…. He wants Kaoru-kun to understand him more than anyone else.

３）あの・・・追いかけた方が・・・Um… will you follow him? (+10 Love +0 Music)

Syo Kurusu: No, it's pointless to do that…. I wanted him to understand me though.

I wonder if Kaoru-kun will come to the graduation audition?

I want him to hear Syo-kun's song…. I want him to know his resolve.

I have to practice as hard as I can until the very end….

MINI GAME

Ryuya Hyuga: Whether you cry or laugh, you only get one audition for graduation. There are no redos.

The only way to perform the best song on stage is to do steady, constant practice in the shadows. You repeat listening to the same song, perform it, and raise the quality.

Now, try performing your song as if you're on stage. Try to find any faults, crush them, and prepare for the real deal. Got it?!

This is the final lesson. Get your head in the game!

S RANK

Syo Kurusu: You came this far. Hm? What's wrong, don't cry! It's too soon to get emotional. If you're gonna cry, cry when you listen to my singing.

Haruka Nanami: Emotions started welling up inside of me…. I'll do my best to hold in the tears….

When I squeeze my eyes shut, Syo-kun pecks me on the forehead.

Haruka Nanami: Syo…kun.

He sees me stop crying from surprise and then makes a satisfied grin.

It's unfair that he's this cool. He's going to leave the country soon, but now I don't want him to leave….

But now that my tears have stopped, I must not cry again.

Syo-kun hasn't talked with Kaoru-kun after that. Now he's preparing to go on stage for the graduation audition.

Once this ends, he'll leave the country to undergo surgery.

I don't want to think of a situation where the surgery fails, but….

This may be the last time I see Syo-kun sing.

I know I shouldn't be thinking that, but I couldn't shake my worry.

Syo Kurusu: It's time for my performance.

Haruka Nanami: Yeah….

Syo Kurusu: Why do you look so gloomy, idiot? You aren't thinking of something ominous, are you?

He pokes me on the forehead.

Haruka Nanami: I'm sorry.

Syo Kurusu: Sheesh….

Syo-kun gently embraces me.

Syo Kurusu: … I was told this a long time ago, but… I was like a light bulb that's about to go out.

Haruka Nanami: Huh…?

Syo Kurusu: That I was shining brightly right before burning out… and I thought that was fine.

I thought that I needed to shine as brightly as possible because I didn't know when I was going to go out, but I wasn't satisfied with just that….

After I met you, I began wanting more.

I want to keep shining by your side…. That's why I won't give up on myself or my destiny….

This isn't the end. This is the beginning of my heroic saga!

Haruka Nanami: Syo-kun….

Syo-kun grabs both of my shoulders and looks into my eyes.

Syo Kurusu: Take a good look at how heroic I am!

He kisses me on the forehead.

With a grin, he runs to the stage.

Chapter End

#utapri #syo kurusu #syo repeat

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beyond-skies · 25 days

Note

What was that about okamiden headcanons? (Info infodump me pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)

oh jeez i wasn’t prepared for someone to actually ask about them lol

uhhh i’ll list some off (there will probably be spoilers so watch out)

Chibi is like my favorite character because i made up his character arc in my head so he’s gonna be the focus of most of these

-the scene where Kuni goes missing and Chibi almost drowns in Agata Forest is like the most crucial part of the whole game

In Okami, the death of Queen Himiko is the moment where Ammy realizes how dire the situation really is. (I have lots of thoughts on this but that’s its own separate post) This happens about halfway through her journey.

Chibi is forced to go through this almost immediately, with the “death” of his first and closest friend. This is fucked up

-I one hundred percent believe that Chibi gained a big fear of water from this. Unlike his mom, Chibi doesn’t know how to swim. Any time he is put in a body of water he panics. I bet that somewhere down the line Nanami would try to help him get over this fear.

-Frequently throughout the game, Chibi will throw himself in front of someone to take a hit for them. I believe this also comes from the scene of Kuni’s disappearance. Unless i’m remembering wrong, the first time Chibi sees someone do this is when Kuni uses his body to tank the hit of the log that separates them.

-When we first meet Kagu, she’s very self centered (and a little mean). She grows from this obvi but I think it still slips out sometimes, and whenever it does Chibi will just stare at her and wait for an apology.

-Kurow is a big dork, when he first saw the time machine he got so excited. He loves learning about the moon tech and how it works. Though i do think this partly comes from his dad.

-Chibi’s only knowledge of his mom comes from what the people of Nippon have told him. This could also be its own separate post I find Chibi and Ammy’s relationship soooo interesting

-Everyone always brings up the translation inconsistencies regarding Shiranui in this game. No one understands that everything is solved by realizing that Ammy is a transgender woman. (Note: this theory does not solve everything)

I’m sorry this post got really long, this isn’t even all my ideas. I think about this game a normal amount

#barking at the moon #okami #okamiden #chibiterasu #i hope you like these i could do this all day #(i don’t know if i could im bad at putting thoughts into words lol)

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mitchtheficus · 2 years

Text

A Golden Lovers Timeline

PART 23: THE POWER OF LOVE

the Okada trilogy takes place during a time of immense change in Kenny’s life, and you can see that in their matches

The Kenny who fought Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 had decided that caring for other people made him weak

[ID: close up of Kenny in his post-G1 climax car interview. He’s saying: “I don't want to feel passion towards anything but my wrestling. When I start to care too much about people I find that my performance suffers. I think that was my problem when I wrestled in the juniors.” End ID. LINK]

that caring about Kota made him weak

“[Ibushi] was the bane of my existence. I had thought that he stood for everything that I hated and everything that I wanted to destroy. Both the man himself, and what he was inside of me. [...]”

- Kenny Omega, pre-Dominion Interview [LINK]

And so he tried to become an unstoppable machine without passion

[ID: kind of pixelated picture of Kenny grinning during his WK11 entrance, he’s wearing a mask that covers the left half of his face and looks like the terminator. End ID]

And he lost to Okada anyway.

But that failure set him on a new path

“As hard as I trained, as hard as I prepared, I lost. Something’s missing and until I figure out what, I can’t wrestle.” - Kenny, Tokyo Sports [Chris Charlton translation]

when he emerges from the ashes of that defeat, he has already begun to evolve into something new.

he’s no longer interested in cheating to win, he wants to be the best. And more subtly, his relationship with the fans and his own heart has been shifted. He’s started to open up to the feelings he has denied himself for so long.

but these changes alone weren’t enough

When he faces Okada for the second time at Dominion 2017, it’s fair and square, but they fight to a tie, and the match is ended indecisively as they hit the 1 hour time limit.

“I thought it was my time tonight. I did everything I could. I said so many bad things about you, Okada. I really did. And even if they were all true, I couldn’t beat you. I couldn’t beat you.” LINK

something’s still missing.

even though Kenny’s putting his heart and soul into matches, those things remain broken and damaged by the choices he’s made over the last three years.

[ID: picture from Kenny’s rooftop interview with Kevin Kelly after the G1 Climax. Kenny says: “...that heart is black and that soul is mostly gone...” End ID. LINK]

the truth of that damage is written into his gear and spoken aloud every time he sets up his finishing move.

he has one wing and half a heart, and it’s just not enough to beat Okada.

When Kenny gets his third shot at the end of a grueling G1 block, Kota has returned to NJPW but they have yet to reconcile. Kenny is finally able to beat the champion, but not for the title, and Okada is badly injured and worn down by all his previous G1 matches. It’s not the victory Kenny has been striving for.

in the 10 months since Kenny and Okada last faced each other in the G1, the lovers have reunited and that reunion has changed Kenny in fundamental ways.

at Dominion 2018 Kenny and Okada face each other for the fourth time.

Okada has held the IWGP Heavyweight title for an incredible 1516 cumulative days, 720 of which come from his current reign. No one has been able to beat him for the title without cheating since Tanahashi did it in 2012.

Kenny wants to do the impossible.

But this time, he is entering the match with a restored and golden heart.

[ID: Kota stands in Kenny’s corner at Dominion, he’s wearing a GL shirt and looking at Kenny. Kenny is hopping a little and grinning at Kota and then looks up the entrance ramp. End ID]

in the lead up to this fourth and final match up, you can finally see that the Kenny/Okada series is ultimately a tale about the power of love and human connection

“[...] Both the man himself, and what he was inside of me. And then I realized that that really wasn’t the feeling at all and it was something I needed to embrace. My absolute best matches have all been ones that come from the heart. So why would I shut something away- why would I turn something down that’s still so near and dear to me? Ibushi was that. He is that. He always will be. And I’ve realized that moving forward, I’m much stronger as a person, as a human being, with him by my side.”

- Kenny Omega, pre-Dominion Interview [LINK]

Kota of course helps him train and strategize and motivates Kenny to prepare, but his most important contribution is love and the way accepting him back into his life has transformed Kenny

“And for this match specifically, it’s the first time in a long time when I’ve had a training partner and someone who has helped me formulate a game plan for Okada. I’m not saying that I’m arriving to this arena with a bunch of new moves, but I am saying that this version of Kenny Omega might be the most prepared. And a big part of that [...]”

- Kenny Omega, pre-Dominion Interview [LINK]

[ID: three gifs of Kenny doing his pre-dominion interview. His hair is golden and he says: “And a big part of that is because I’ve let someone back into my life that I cared about, that I loved, and that together with that power we can’t lose.” End ID. LINK]

A year and a half ago Kenny sat in an airport after his G1 Climax win and told us that loneliness made him better and stronger.

He understands now that that isn’t true.

Dominion 2018 - June 9th, 2018 [Official LINK, Unofficial LINK]

Kenny starts us off with a dramatic little intro video. in it Kenny is flinching from painful flashbacks of all the terrible things that have happened in the past year, when a single white feather falls from the sky, and Kenny looks up and sees Kota standing before him, wearing all white and standing among fallen white feathers.

And we see that Kenny is standing surrounded by his own pool of fallen black feathers. Kenny remembers Kota’s rescue and their reunion and Kota telepathically asks Kenny if he’s ready and has prepared himself for what’s to come. Kota asks, “What did it cost?” We see the bullet club logo disappear into dust and Kenny says: “Everything.”

(Okada doesn’t need a dramatic little video for his entrance cause this is just defense #13 for him)

and then...it’s time

[ID: picture of the lovers standing in Kenny’s corner. Kota’s hand on Kenny’s shoulder. They look intense and focused. End ID]

there’s a lot of little moments, their hug before the match

[ID: gif of Kenny and Kota hugging over the ropes. Kota is saying something to Kenny and patting his back for emphasis. Kenny nods along. End ID.]

Kota and Kenny talking strategy during the 2 minute breaks after a fall

[ID: two pictures of Kenny and Kota in their corner during the post-fall stoppage. Kenny crouches and Kota is kneeling in front of him, his hands on Kenny’s arm and knee, their heads together in conference. End ID]

but the most important moments come at the end.

Kenny wins the IWGP Heavyweight title, both falls coming from one winged angels

and the first thing he does is reach for Kota

[ID: gif of Kenny laying on the mat, sweaty and exhausted. Kota is nearby and Kenny reaches up both his arms and calls Kota nearer. Kota crawls over and leans over him and Kenny asks Kota to pour water over his hair. End ID]

the young bucks come out, hesitating on the entrance ramp. They want to go to Kenny and be there with him so badly, but they’re not sure if they’re wanted

[ID: two pictures. The first from far away, showing how alone the bucks are and how far away as they look towards the ring. The second picture shows their faces, both bucks are holding their new heavyweight tag titles and they look sad and wistful. End ID]

Kenny kneels beside Okada and takes his wrist. In his interview before this match he said he wanted to tell Okada: “You've done a great job, and now, my friend, it's time to take a rest.” and now he can.

Red shoes comes forward with the belt and Kenny gently pushes it aside and takes Matt in his arms.

[ID: two gifs. in the first Kenny gently pushes the belt aside and takes Matt into his arms and Matt immediately puts his arms around him and closes his eyes. in the second Matt is holding Kenny and trying not to cry and Nick comes in and hugs them both. End ID]

Kenny has learned a lot about what’s truly important in the last three years

Kota makes the first move to include himself in the hug, and the crowd, who were already cheering the Elite’s reunion, erupts into cheers again. This isn’t Kenny picking one family over another, this is the building of a new family.

[ID: Kenny and the bucks are hugging and Kota comes up on Kenny’s side and puts his arms around all three of them, pressing his head against theirs. End ID]

Kenny Omega, the boy who ate a star and lost his heart in pursuit of his own ambition - who once thought that he had to give up everything that he cared about to achieve his dreams - finally learns that allowing himself to love and be loved is what makes a moment like this possible

[ID: Kenny is looking tired and euphoric an sweaty. he has an arm around Kota’s neck and he pulls him close and presses his forehead against the side of Kota’s head and then gives him a little head pat. Nick and Matt are there two. Matt is smiling at the GLs and Nick has his hand on Kenny’s back. End ID]

It’s a beautiful story.

[ID: screenshot of a tweet from Matt Jackson saying: “Tonight, friendship, family & the power of love won. #GoldenElite” End ID.]

[ID: two gifs of Kenny is wearing the title and some stray golden streamers and sitting on Kota and Matt’s shoulders. Kota is looking at the camera and pointing a finger at Kenny. Kenny ruffles his hair and Kota looks up and smiles at him. Kenny is grinning. Matt is quietly beaming at Kota. End ID]

“With the power of love and friendship I did something I never thought possible.”

-Kenny Omega, [Chris Charlton translation]

we so rarely get stories of reconciliation in wrestling, especially stories that give reconciliation the same time and weight that betrayal stories get.

we rarely get to see wrestlers try to reconcile, we rarely see them make an effort to make things right.

and that’s part of what hits so hard about the golden reunion with the bucks. just how much they all wanted this happy ending. How much they fought for it. It wasn’t easy, they had to try over and over. They never gave up. They kept reaching out. They apologized and forgave each other, made themselves vulnerable, put aside their own anger and pride and jealousy. They earned this reunion, they built it with their own hands.

Kenny gives a victory speech, much of it is in Japanese [LINK to njpw’s translation]

He says that he and the young bucks are champions, and Ibushi-

[ID: picture of Kenny giving his speech. he’s gesturing to Kota and saying: And Ibushi is my strongest and most handsome partner.” Nick has his hand on Kota’s shoulder and Matt is beaming proudly with his title. End ID]

now that they’ve all come together, the bucks are just radiating love at Kota, like Nick has been waiting for ages to brother-in-law it up with this man and he is just all over him now, it’s so cute. and Matt is just beaming at Kota every time he looks at him. they love him so much already.

[ID: Kenny giving his speech saying: “My way is to make my own rules. My way is to live life the way that I want. And with all of you by my side, and what I realized is my friends, my best friends, my lovers by my side we can truly do anything.” End ID]

Before they can leave the ring, Cody appears on the entrance ramp.

[ID: picture of Cody in a white dress jacket standing midway down the entrance ramp. in the ring Matt is sitting on the second rope like he might be holding it open for Cody to come join them. End ID]

presumably he’s thinking about challenging for the title, but during the last few weeks of BTE episodes, Cody has begun to regret the consequences of his actions, if not the actions themselves.

instead of making a challenge he just stands there all alone, witnessing Kenny in this moment of triumph, surrounded by love

In some ways he’s the antithesis of the Golden Elite story. He doesn’t have the courage to reach out, to be vulnerable and ask for forgiveness. He's not willing to put his pride aside. Not yet.

After leaving the stage, Kenny reiterates the message of the story

[ID: picture of the post-match. Kenny sits behind his title, speaking to the reporters. Matt and Kota have their hands on his shoulders. Kenny says: “You know, up until this point, I’ve used all my hatred to fuel my matches. [...] Then I realized I’m focusing so much on the negative when so many people are giving me love and respect and treat me like a real human being. [...] What really fuels great performances are my friends and the people that I love, and using that as my energy, that is how I truly became champion.” End ID. LINK]

in the BTE episode from Dominion [LINK] we get to finally see what was in the box the bucks sent to Kenny

The bucks show their love in many ways, and shared merch is one of them. It’s a t-shirt and a proposal of a new group that includes Kota

[ID: picture of Kenny holding the opened box. inside the box is a folded Golden Elite T-shirt. It has “the ELITE” written on it in gold. End ID. LINK]

and the back says CHANGE THE WORLD

[PART 24] [ALL PARTS]

#kenny omega #kota ibushi #the young bucks #the golden lovers #goldenloverstimeline #the golden elite #matt jackson #nick jackson #mestuff #myGLgifs #myomegagifs #mykotagifs #myyoungbucksgifs #dominion 2018

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scuffle-with-spirals · 1 year

Text

I remember when I borrowed Battle Royale from the library. It was one of the original translations I believe (with Shuya and Noriko on the front) and like, amidst all the absolute tomfuckery happening all around in that book, one thing young me found unironically funny was just. The way the book would bring Kazuo into a scene.

Spoilers for Battle Royale aiosdfmmiodfmiosdfmiosdfio

Big infodump under cut!!

OKAY SO

Sparing most of the details about the Program and all that, each of the 42 students who get released onto the abandoned island to fight to the death are each assigned a random weapon in their backpack, alongside some other necessities. It’s an insane coin toss on what you get here. You could get a little lucky and get something long-ranged — a gun, an automatic crossbow, etc... Maybe something on the blunter side like a bat or hammer. Or, you could be unlucky like one of the boys did and get something like a fork. It’s incredibly hit or miss.

So, for those not playing “the game” and have a good weapon, they’re at least somewhat reassured that if push comes to shove, as much as some really don’t want to, they’ll have something to defend themselves with.

But the thing is: for those who are playing, who are “with the Program”, so to speak, if the odds are in their favor, the others are uh. Kinda FUCKED

SO.

There are many, many aggressors in the novel who want to play the game. There are two big, famous ones as well, that many people who‘ve either read the book or watched the movie know: Mitsuko Souma, and Kazuo Kiriyama.

So my memory is fuzzy on the events of the book. I’m trying to finally give it a second read with the Remastered version; it’s been a few years and I’m still on it LMAO, and I’m sorry to say I’ve unfortunately not watched the movie yet. Currently, I’m only now finally finishing the manga, so it seems that, based on my fresh knowledge from that specific adaptation (which changes some things from the original novel), Mitsuko, while her assigned weapon is a sickle, does change her formula by snatching others weapons. There are many panels of her capping someone’s skull in and it’s infuriating to read for like, all of it, lmao.

But Kazuo? Nonono. No. He doesn’t get any farming tools as his weapon. Y’all, this dude is playing. And he was assigned a FUCKING MACHINE GUN

AND LISTEN

KAZUO DOESN’T FUCKING WAIT. IT IS ON SIGHT WITH HIM

sOooOoOo many characters die because Kazuo just happens to walk in through stage left and start blastin’. He’s a fascinating character to me because, while you have some people trying to convince others they’re not playing or to put their weapons down, while others go “ayo that’s stupid as shit kill or be killed dumb dumb” or Mitsuko pulling her expert gaslight gatekeep girlboss tricks, Kazuo’s just silent, blunt, and lethal. And once anyone who doesn’t get their ass obliterated before they can notice realizes this, they’re visibly terrified whenever he shows up again, letting anyone else nearby know that this dude’s out for blood even if that other person was also playing the game themselves.

So uh! About the novel!

In some, but not all cases probably, for some reason, the translator decides to announce Kazuo’s sudden entrance into a confrontation with the phrase:

“It was Kazuo Kiriyama.”

And like, at first, this made my heart stop. Especially when a character I liked was in the scene, I was like, “Ah shit, here we go, oh fuck.”

But then it just kept happening

This is literally just an example and probably matches nothing of what happens in any adaptation but just to show you how it looked, here’s a mockup of how this shit would play out:

Hiroki’s eyes darted to the nearby treetops, tensed by the rustling trees. In the glint of the moon, he assumed the worst, and tried to pinpoint any figures stationed in the branches. His eyes squinted. Please, let it be anything else. The wind, or perhaps fleeting birds, unfamiliar with the cruelty of bloodshed.

But it was Kazuo Kiriyama, and with a fucking ka-klinK he made sure his airpods were blastin that doom music as he ratatatatatata-

THIS SAME EXACT WORDING GOT USED SO MANY TIMES TO THE POINT WHERE I JUST GAVE A SLIGHT CHUCKLE WHEN I SAW IT LIKE

MAYBE IT’S JUST MY HUMOR

MAYBE I’M REMEMBERING IT WRONG?!?!?? HLEL

In the remastered versions there’s NOT ANY “it was kazuo kiriyama” moments yet, which on one end, is kinda upsetting because this is probably the easiest way to access the novel and I just want to know this wasn’t another terrible case of my memory so I can show it to people and laugh or something, but also, I mean, I get why they chose to change it up lmao. It’s. yeah.

I tried to make this an inside joke with some friends a few years ago but nobody else had read Battle Royale so i kinda gave up instantly lmao. But one friend DID suddenly hit me with a fast one referencing it one time and I just immediately lost it on SPOT she was so cool for that lmsfiofmsdfiomiosdffmiod you know who you are

PLEASE if anyone also remembers or even possibly owns the version of the novel I’m referring to, can you please let me know if this was actually a thing that happened? Like, a lot, or even at all? :0c I’m really curious, ;v;

Thank you so so much for reading this long ass post SDFIOMFSDFMIO!! And if anyone else wants me to talk about BR for any reason — whether it be because they just want to here my thoughts on things, on certain adaptations, or would just want to hear my retelling of events without actually reading the source material (SO VALID), PLEASEE LET me know. I’ll probably do this anyway but I mean!! Finding like-minded people who’re interested in anything is neat!!

#battle royale #battle royale kazuo kiriyama #kazuo kiriyama #tw murder #tw guns #gun mention #rambles: blorb'd edition #PLEAAASE let me know if i'm leaving out any tw or cw tags!!!#I really don't want to make anyone upset or uncomfortable #especially with media like this!!!!

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randomfoggytiger · 1 year

Text

I'm picking up the baton @amplifyme handed out freely (thanks for the free-for-all inclusion; and your answers were intriguing to read.)

1. Are you named after anyone? Yes: both my grandmothers (first: masculine version of my dad's name for paternal grandma, she had a childhood friend with that name; middle: derivative of my maternal grandmother's name.)

2. When was the last time you cried? Um, almost yesterday? Really sick and wanted a pizza. I did not get a pizza.

3. Do you use sarcasm? Because it was discouraged growing up, I didn't develop the skill of friendly sarcasm.

4. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Probably their silhouette or their hand (to shake), because it takes forever for me to look them in the eye. My eyes give away everything; and I prefer to keep my transparent secrets to myself until I know them better.

5. What’s your eye color? Rich brown, shot through with red.

6. Scary movie or happy ending? Both are good; but happy endings can be enjoyed in all my various and sundry moods.

7. Any special talents? I'm surprisingly flexible-- it feel good to physically perform (though I usually flunk at sports, and it doesn't feel good to keep flubbing. Dance is great, though.)

8. Where were you born? Cali. Then I hit the open road for most of the next ~two years before moving away from mainland US.

9. What are your hobbies? Reading. Streamlining interests into lists (which are easy to translate into my fic rec posts.) Makeup (currently dabbling in green color correctors.) Sudoku. Drawing? Would love to sew; but haven't taken the time to learn the machine. But what I'm most proud of: compiling tomes of emails daily to send off w/ the day's collection of saved memes and thoughts on random internet/world events.

10. Do you have any pets? First, I had a multi-colored beta fish that had to be rehomed. Then I had two rabbits who have since passed. 1st: Bun-Bun, who was a gentleman and amazing first pet. 2nd: Elsie, who was the grumpiest, faux-aggressive female that had a larger back foot.

11. What sports do you play/have played? None. I was taught to swim briefly (still stink at it.)

12. How tall are you? 5'5; and I'm proud of that # because it's numerically pleasing.

13. What was your favorite subject in school? It depended on the day and the difficulty and the grade. Mostly it vacillated between English (easiest), Math (because while I love numbers theoretically I always, ALWAYS miss one), and History/Science (depending on how dry the material was. Physics killed me.)

14. Dream job? For a while I thought it was writing; but my heart is drawn to medicine, particularly maternal fields (if that's the way to say it?) However, I think my strengths would best suit jobs that are mainly filing or archiving and less with interpersonal dynamics.

I'd love for everyone to have a shot at this IF YOU WANT-- I'm a curious cat. But to name some names, off the top of my head (missing some, I still want your answers, too~):

@baronessblixen @anders-hawke @annablume @mondfuchs @ellivia @edierone @demon-fetal-harvest @agentelmo @agent-troi @agentwhalesong @x-files-scripts @dd-is-my-guiltypleasure @ghostbustermelanieking @paperheartsarts @contrivedcoincidences6 @thescullyphile @the3williams @the-spooky-alien @thatfragilecapricorn30 @borogirl @greekowl87 @tossingmyglossymane @medicaldoctordana @sarie-fairy @gabby-msr AND I ran out of time, but insert your @ here.

#tag #Tumblr #2023 #picking up baton from amplifyme

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fountainpenguin · 9 months

Note

Hello! This isn't trying to pressure you or anything, I'm just genuinely curious and wanted to know about your plans for Mario content (since I know you've wanted to do that for a while). Any fun worldbuilding you'd like to share? :)

Thanks for the Ask!

Man, I wrote Mario world stuff ages ago that I completely forgot about... I had a 100 Prompts series and I think I got into the 30s before it stopped. I had tons of worldbuilding for Cackletta and Fawful specifically since they were my favorites :)

I do still keep my [current] Mario drafts around, but unfortunately I'm not sure when I'll post them... I'm never satisfied. I like the canon worldbuilding the way it is and it Does Not Translate very well into my writing style. I've tried for years, but it just... doesn't.

My Mario stuff is "okay," but it just feels very "meh" to me. I think I'll get there someday if I'm willing to work on it, but I'm not able to do that right now. I HAVE actually thought about it and I might post the occasional one-shot, but I'm not sure yet. My worldbuilding is still all over the place and it's very messy and I'm not in love with it.

---

One of my stories is called "Political Machines" and it's about how the name "Mario Kart" came to be; it's Peach POV and delves into the culture of racing Yoshis back before karts came around. I like the idea of it a lot, but it's extremely info-dumpy and I've been struggling with it for years. I think I need to write something else first, but I haven't figured out what. Here's a scene from that:

I also love how savage Peach is skdflj:

---

I also have two Bowser stories (a one-shot called "1-Down" which is Kamek POV and covers the deaths of Bowser's parents, which I LOVE but can't make it hit right) and a very loose draft for a story called Carapace Rex which is a Bowser backstory 'fic. Here's a good scene from the former:

I do miss this 'fic... I really like how extreme Bowser is despite how badly bullied he is by his abusive mom; he's vicious to her and I love that.

tbh it's actually really nice and maybe I'm overthinking it. I'd love to finish it; I just can't get the emotions right.

That said, I might take another whack at it soon and post when I'm done fiddling since I've already seen how I'll fiddle with it for years if I don't commit to a date /shrug. It's definitely one of the stories that ever was... It's just not hitting the emotions I need it to.

---

I LOVE the opening lines to Carapace Rex (not sharing for major "1-Down" spoiler reasons), but I probably won't write the latter since it's been almost 6 years since I started it back in 2018. Getting older, hoping to publish original work, and starting a new long 'fic wouldn't be a good idea (Dog's Life draft started in early 2022 and Factor in 2018; I'm just wrapping up existing projects for now, but Carapace was always super vague so I don't really want to get into it). I might turn it into a one-shot though since I really love the voice in it.

-> The concept behind Carapace was that Koopas were predators of Toads... I actually reskinned the intro for Carapace into a piece of original content I used in my advanced creative writing class in college, then reskinned it again as the backstory for my OC Courtney the snow leopard, then reskinned it again to be the original project I took to a writer's conference this year...

I'm dying to do something original with predators and prey, but I've had a lot of talks with agents and editors and professional authors and we agreed it's not the right time for this content. To make a long story short, I'd either have to strip the fantasy politics out and de-age the characters so it's "animal people middle grade" or I'd have to age up the characters and push the adult angle and I... I don't know how I feel about my public author persona being "adult furry content"...... that's not what I want; I just want wolf kids hunting in the woods for their coming of age and growing up in this post-war world of fantasy politics and ceremonies... sob. The publishing world has categories though and you have to play by the rules.

Maybe someday... but I have a weird relationship with Carapace because of that, because I'm in LOVE with the scenes from it but I'd hate to use them in Mario fanfic when I'd like to use them in original work. Tsk-tsk. Maybe someday once I've already gotten my foot in the door. I'm keeping this project on the backburner as something I might self-publish but I've talked to a lot of people and I'd rather get something published traditionally and try to build my author platform before I invest, because self-pub is... expensive.

Honestly right now Dog's Life is giving me my "we're way too young to be carrying the weight of this many interspecies politics on our shoulders" fix, so at least I have that <3

---

I also have an 8-chapter 'fic called "Out of You" which is about Kamek trying to raise the Koopalings (and Junior). I'll probably scrap most of that and rehash it as something else; I don't think there's much worth saving...? I'll have to think about it.

But here's my favorite WIP scene from it, ft. Ludwig and Peach:

Potential's good, fun is good... Just need to find the right kind of worldbuilding that satisfies me. I'd originally hoped to post Mario stuff before the movie came out in April, but I just never got around to it. Maybe someday? It just doesn't feel right, though, and I can't invest my energy in something I'm not in love with.

---

That's all I have to say right now; I don't want to say too much about my worldbuilding since it's still super messy. I have ideas about what would be "cool" or "interesting" but I just... don't love those ideas enough to make them part of "my take" on the world. There is a fine line between "Riddle's usual magical realism writing style" and "At this point it's an AU." I think I need to cull back the crazy ideas and stick closer to canon.

Is that "boring" and "uncreative"? Eh, I think that's just where my passion lies; I write fanfics because I love the media, and if I didn't love it, I wouldn't be writing fanfics. When I write, I want to continue writing the worldbuilding that I love, which means basing it closely on the media. I guess I'll always be canon compliant at heart even in a fandom where I'm okay with writing AUs, ha ha.

Maybe I'll dig up some of my really old one-shots from that 100 prompts project, clean them up a little, and post some of them. I know there were some Baby Bowser and Doopliss pieces in there. Might be a nice icebreaker.

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femchef · 1 year

Text

Fingers crossed for me y’all

Facts:

I am teaching a class about chocolate

We have a floor model chocolate tempering machine for large batches

We have a huge valentines sale in two weeks where chocolate is the key ingredient

I have not yet turned on the machine

The machine is made by an Italian company and has a European plug

Because it’s a European style plug, it is grounded and permanently attached to the wall

We had a power surge two days ago

The previously turned off tempering machine is halfway turned on

There is no obvious switch with which to turn the machine off

We can’t just hit the breaker because it’s the same breaker that powers half the room

This Tempering machine was purchased by the previous department head over 10 years ago

The previous department head was French

The operating manual, which is over 200 pages long, is written entirely in French because it was ordered by a Frenchman

The operating manual has been missing for nearly as long as the machine has been in residence

The Frenchman never actually read the operating manual and left it to 4 of his exclusively English-speaking students to translate and figure it out

1 of those students later went on to occupy my current position, but never taught anyone else how to use it and also didn’t keep up with the cleaning (also he left after a huge embarrassing experience short story don’t sell drugs to your students yo)

1 of those students is currently an instructor, but it’s been more than ten years and they didn’t teach that class so they don’t remember how (totes fair)

1 of those students isn’t involved with the school post-graduation

1 of those students, formerly teaching the class, never used it and has no idea how to work it and just never bothered

Did I mention that the only deep dive internet search yields about half the manual pieced together in French and Norwegian

So anyway - I have a heating element I have no control over with a password function and a digital key pad and… hmm.

I emailed the manufacturer so hopefully they will get back to me

We can make translating the manual a group effort I just really really really need to know how to turn it off

#work things #TO BE FAIR #these machines are built to run continuously for days at a time and no shut off #and it’s temping at a comfortable 32C #that’s fine #but uh #yeah #I really need the operating manual actually and it probably needs at LEAST a maintenance check after over a decade of improper use #:(#chocolate

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kareenvorbarra · 1 year

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i can only think about you (Laela/Samira)

here it is...my Laela/Samira playlist

it's a lot of sappy gay pop songs about the frustration of seemingly unrequited love, or about not being able to tell how someone else feels about you, or just about being hopelessly obsessed with your crush. these are not in any particular order, so you can listen to them in the order they're listed or just hit shuffle. extremely self-indulgent notes about each song below the cut:

Wanna Be Missed - Hayley Kiyoko

I wanna be held, fragile like glass Cause I've never felt nothing like that

This is a classic pining song, so ofc it's about Samira. having unbearably intense feelings for someone and desperately wanting them to be reciprocated! the lyrics above also make me think of Samira's particular situation. She wants a kind of physical and emotional relationship that she's never had before - with someone who sees her as a person and cares what she wants.

2. Prophet - King Princess

I can only think about you And what it's like to walk around you And why they like to talk about you Cause I can only think about you

Samira's POV again. I picked this song mostly on the strength of the chorus and the general vibes, but I do think the lines about other people wanting to use subject of the song for their own gain vs. the narrator just wanting her (Like it's gold, you're a prophet/Someone's gonna profit/Don't you know, I just want it) fit Laela and Samira's situation pretty well.

3. Love They Say - Tegan and Sara

Love, they say it heals all wounds, Love removes the hurt in you, Love, I know that this is true.

This is the only song (so far) that has made it onto both the L/S playlist and the K/M playlist. I first listened to it at a time when I was thinking about all these characters a lot. the hope and conviction of the lyrics juxtaposted with the characters' actual situations really got me. For Samira at this point in her life, I think it's more that she wants to believe this than that she actually does.

4. Delilah - Florence + the Machine

Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine But maybe not tonight It's a different kind of danger And the bells are ringing out And I'm calling for my mother As I pull the pillars down

This one is a Laela POV song, so it doesn't deal head-on with her feelings about Samira, and is preoccupied with lots of other things as well. It mostly makes me think of her many, many worries during Thick as Thieves; the choices she makes that disrupt her own life and the lives of the people she cares about, her hope that things will get better, her fear that it will all fall apart.

5. Chance - Hayley Kiyoko

Does she feel the energy the way that I do In the air whenever we get in the same room? Cause I don't know how to read her mind And I don't wanna cross a line

More Samira, of course. This song reminds me of how she's feeling as of chapter 10 - afraid that her time in the household is coming to an end, and that it's too late for her to admit anything to Laela. If I ever take a stab at arranging these songs in chronological order based on the events of the fic, it'll probably end up much later in the playlist.

6. 1950 - King Princess

I hate it when dudes try to chase me But I love it when you try to save me Cause I'm just a lady

Putting all these songs in order makes this whole thing feel very predictable! Anyway this makes me think of Samira again, but it's more her imagining the relationship she and Laela might have than the one they actually have at the moment. Also, having to deal with unwanted male attention while constantly thinking about a specific woman who you can't pursue openly is a very Samira mood.

7. Ela - Andromache

You could be my only one

This song is in English and Greek, and the English verses are okay but the lyrics I like best are in the chorus, which is mostly in Greek (translation here). The mood is, again, Samira fantasizing about what it might be like if she could actually be in a relationship with the person she loves.

8. Solid - MUNA

She is not a screen on which you project She is not a scene on your movie set She is not a mirror in which you reflect Yeah, she is of material substance

If I'm being honest, a lot of the songs on here are just songs I got really into during the long process of planning and writing What We Are Allowed, and this is one of them. Not that it doesn't apply to them! But the lyrics are a little less spot-on than some of the other songs. I think Samira and Laela both admire each other a lot for their competence in their respective roles, and for their strength of character in general. The first verse in particular feels like a dig against those people (like Nahuseresh) who view Laela and Samira as purely decorative or useful rather than actual people.

9. Mudbira - A-WA

This song is in Arabic (translation into English here). It seems to me like it's about a young woman who feels trapped, like her luck has run out and she isn't sure where her life is going, which feels appropriate for Samira. In the chorus, other women talk to the protagonist of the song, acknowledging her problems and inviting her to join them, which also feels right.

10. Ease My Mind - Hayley Kiyoko

Haunt me to my grave Don't you ever fade away Seeing every delusion I dont want to face You keep me up You keep me up at night

Samira is pining, folks. I just really like this song, especially the line Girl, ease my mind. When I first heard this song, I was still in a long-term LDR and the idea that my mind could be eased by the presence of a specific person (a specific girl) really resonated with me. I think it works for Samira's situation, too.

11. Silk Chiffon - MUNA ft. Phoebe Bridgers

Watch her silk dress dancing in the wind Watch it brush against her skin Makes me wanna try her on

Most of the references in this song are pretty modern, and it definitely feels more like Samira's fantasy than anything these characters have actually experienced, but it also makes me think of post-canon Samira and Laela, once they're actually free to live their own lives. The fabric imagery also feels like it fits them.

12. Without You - Oh Wonder

And I'm digging down holes without you Can't be on my own without you I'm a little bit lost without you

Samira again. On its face I think this song is pretty straightforwardly about missing someone, but in this context it's more about her being afraid of losing Laela, who she has known and relied on for her entire adult life.

13. La novia entre flores - Renaissance Players

Lyrics and translation here (it's not an exact match to the version on the playlist, but all of the lines are there, even if they're not in the same order). This one is basically just vibes - it's about a bride, there are two women singing together at the beginning, and the whole thing is sort of wistful.

14. Mary - Agnes Obel

In the dark I hear you sing Fingers move and chords they ring Be the witness of my shame

Agnes Obel's lyrics are never very straightforward, but the whole song feels right for them, I guess. The lyrics above in particular remind me of Laela and Samira's scenes in chapter 10.

15. Steady - The Staves

Steady, steady, steady Your steady touch I love so much I'm sleepless Oh God, oh God, oh God God, I'm only human and I'm helpless

Another Samira song, about wanting someone so badly that you're afraid of the intensity of your own feelings.

16. Las casas de la boda - Aman Aman

A song about brides and weddings and houses (lyrics and translation here). You've read chapter 10, so you know why I have emotions about it re: these characters. Of course, there are a lot of Sephardic songs about brides and weddings, and this one in particular I picked because it talks about multiple brides and other women dancing.

17. Which Witch - Florence + the Machine

And it's my whole heart Weighed and measured inside And it's an old scar Trying to bleach it out

Another Laela song! Like the last one, this is about lots of things other than Samira, because Laela has too many things on her mind and is too afraid to let herself feel much of anything besides fear. Some of the lines speak to her fear of what will happen if she's caught (who's a heretic now?), others to her fear for Kamet (I'm miles away/he's on my mind), and others to her desperate hope that the plan will succeed in the end (I'm not beaten by this yet/you can't tell me to regret).

18. Lamma Bada Yatathana - Lena Chamamyan

Lyrics and translation here. This song is in Arabic; the lyrics, at least, are from medieval Al-Andalus, but I haven't been able to find out for sure if the tune is contemporary or not. I'm also not sure whether the narrator of the song is describing a man or a woman - different translations use different pronouns, and I don't know enough about Arabic to have any idea why. But if the narrator is talking about a woman, then it's a female singer praising the grace and beauty of another woman, which is perfect for Laela and Samira. I'm definitely imagining Samira singing this for an audience and only thinking about Laela.

19. I Go Crazy - Orla Gartland

Oh won't somebody hold me and tell me it'll all work out Say that there's nothing to worry about now Cause I'm so sick of the drama and I hate to shout But you drag it out of me

This entire song is VERY "Samira as of chapter 10": freaking out because you have no idea if the person you're in love with returns your feelings. The lines quoted above make me think of the scene where Laela tries to comfort Samira but botches things by saying that nothing bad will happen, which seems inane and insulting to Samira because she knows better. Part of Samira does want someone to tell her that everything's going to be fine, but she's too pragmatic to actually believe it, and she hates the thought of Laela treating her like a child who might be mollified by a comforting lie.

20. Anything 4 U - Banks

I say you shouldn't do something I wouldn't do The problem is I'd do just anything for you Don't tell me I can't choose, cause every time it's you The problem is I'd do just anything for you

Samira again...a combo of trying to figure out how Laela feels about her, wondering what's really bothering Laela, and wishing she could do something to help. Laela, of course, is not telling; I think she knows deep down that Samira would do anything for her, and that's one of the reasons she's keeping her at arm's length.

21. Doghtar-e-boyerahmadi - Minoo Javan

A traditional Persian song where the narrator is talking about their feelings for a woman, sung by a woman (folk music in general is great for these). The first version of this song I listened to is actually a video of a live performance, which has an English translation in the subtitles (available here). I would have put that version on the mix, but as far as I can tell the YouTube video is the only recording, so I found a different version for my playlist.

22. Going Home - The Aces

Well, you could name a place and time There's nowhere that I wouldn't go As long as it's just you and I It feels like I'm going home

Another song that could be Samira fantasizing about the life she wants to have with Laela, as well as some foreshadowing about where they might end up :) The lyrics about seeing another person at their worst and helping them through it also fit really well, because even though Laela and Samira haven't been able to talk openly about their feelings or be completely honest with each other, they both have to spend so much time pretending that it feels good to let their guard down at all, even if they aren't communicating perfectly.

23. Play Along - flor

We used to run as if it mattered We used to get lost, play along, play along I wanna run to break the pattern Are you missing getting lost? Play along, play along

This song is also basically a fantasy about being free, through the lens of nostalgia. Even though Samira was from a poor family and Laela was born into slavery, they both look back on their their early childhoods with fondness, when things were (comparatively) simple and the adults in their lives were able to shelter them somewhat from the worst aspects of the world. Maybe a little bit of a stretch thematically, but I like the song!

24. forever - Hayley Kiyoko

I am always willing if you're ready for it Cold like the ocean breeze, healed all your broken pieces Saw you and I knew what I was headed for Loved you since seventeen and our love is all we need

Mostly this is just a cute f/f pop song, which would be enough honestly! The lines that made me put it on this playlist were Take me back to skipping classes/Second chances, I just wanna be close to you and Loved you since seventeen, because they remind me of the fact that Samira's crush on Laela did originate when Samira was a teenager and Laela was one of the cool older girls, but then Laela became Samira's sort-of-boss which made things significantly more complicated.

25. Mantissa - Marina Satti

A Greek pop song that an acquaintance sent me like eight months ago, and I'm still completely obsessed with it. Basically, the lyrics (translation here) are about someone vowing to do impossible things to be with the person they love, which is pretty much exactly how Samira is feeling (even if she finds herself unable to actually act on those feelings).

#sorry it took me a million years to post this #i got a little carried away with the commentary sjkdhfkjdfhgf but i had fun which is what matters #what we are allowed #my fanmix #laela

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tobythesudriantram · 1 year

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Learn to communicate with peers: Confidence (Learning with Mingle and Friends: Confidence, but I GOOGLE TRANSLATED IT 40 TIMES)

Teacher: Sir! Confused! I enjoy the garden with my friends.

* It's a bicycle-swing game, so when you try to ride it, your friend will try to go on the pole.

Dean: Hello.

Donkey: Yes!

Read: BP!

Sekalainen: This country is a great place to work. i love the site! I think you should work in this field.

* The boy wanted to climb the monkey mountain but could not. Tried to catch him but failed.

Friends: *friends only*!

Paul: Don't go, buddy. good friend

*asked the girl*

* Try to ride the bike and fall many times.

Kai: Wow!

Mars: So doctor?

Togo: Yes, I'm fine.

* Try, succeed, succeed.

Merlin: Yes. do a lot

Course Description: Open.

Don still wants to skate.

* Numbness trying to jump.

Dingle: Wow! he

Malang: My heart hurts. Painful, right?

Digg: Well, I tried to jump right in and I fell.

Mixed program: You can repeat the same program if necessary.

Bat: Good team.

* Rest and return to camp.

* Wake up with your beloved, wake up in the light.

Boy: Cry! Bob's brother

* The boy gets up and tries again. I fell many times.

Dad: *sorry* nod!

* Do not try to get out, but said

cried the donkey

Dunk: Why aren't you done yet!

*love and tears*

* Dingle leaves the room but kills his mother.

* not the pain of death.

So no. they are very patient

Everyone is surprised by the number of digits. I need your help. Oh, something made me happy! The future must be predicted.

* The string is cut from the glass.

Note: This is a mineral water bottle. The small light turns on and off as you walk. You can use it to heal.

* Li Ming called everyone and everyone came to him. *

Tonk: Really? *Name*

Introduction: I can help you here.

*Tuesday morning together*

Plus: a glass of cocktail.

*Pull*

Below are the steps.

• Everyone stirs the bottle, and everything in the bottle begins to weigh and burn. *

Delia : Are you ready? Call me when it snows. Don't forget to stop. Relax your body🎵

* Everyone happily turned off the lights.

Manga: What are you doing?

Question: Yes.

Cash machine

Friend: My baby is crying.

Rolly: Yes. Thank you for the music

On Tuesday he drank a glass of champagne and passed out.

Mars - I wonder if you are trying something new now, but if you put in the time and effort. You will achieve your goal

Donkey: Where can I ride a bike?

Humble: Yes. I know what they said. Practice makes perfect.

Tingle: I think that's right. Maybe we can imagine.

Boop boop you stupid people?

After all, spending a lot of time is not a bad thing. This is how you prepare for the exam.

my friend

Mangal: I know you. Believe that you can do anything.

Tangle: What do you think? Well, maybe we should try.

Dan: Yeah, I'll try again today.

* Try to sink the bike and get back on the bike.

All boys

* The boy returns to the monkey house

Don't worry about missing games again. I know it's hard.

Thank you Miguel

Contact details: Welcome.

* Start all over again. *

* Continue until everyone understands that everything will be fine if they trust him. Everyone wants the best and everyone wins in the end.

* Kubka jumps into the waves, one foot down at a time.

Dangal: Ah! It will happen!

Exchange

* The donkey sits well on the chain and moves well.

Thanks: *sigh* baby! comparison! I ride a motorbike!

Link: Good luck and thanks!

*Run, Build, Catch Monkeys*

Friend: Push! Sound

Aunt Lee: So young!

He was hit by a motorcycle.

Tonka. This is good: I would like to think that integration solves this problem.

Zentel: Thanks for helping us get to know each other.

Date: c.

*shoots but misses*

Book: Is Beep Beep Beep Chip Normal?

Milan: Yes, I can help you.

• Help your child turn off the lights.

Sponsor: Name: Name

Discussion: Yes, it's good to try something new. Trying new things is hard, but eventually it is possible. When you have a problem, think calmly and believe in yourself. Thank you for using our service. *Back pain:

Link (Credits):

@friendlyfox34 - Learn to be friendly (The original Learning with Mingle).

Google - has created the best translator in the world (Creating the best worst translation tool in the world).

The Coder Cat - I use the default configuration (Making Bad Translator, the programme I used for this).

Yes, I like the smell (And, of course, me - Bringing this crap to life).

#learning with mingle and friends

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