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claire-starsword · 4 months

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Shining Force II Encyclopedia - Character Profiles

(You can also read this one on Neocities to not have to scroll through 30 characters in one post. Then again maybe you like that, so do whatever you like)

The "Characters" section of the book has a short profile for each character, plus basic gameplay information such as starting class and items, spell list and stat growth. I have ignored the gameplay info as it is basic stuff already covered in guides and walkthrough elsewhere. The strategy part of the book however also has small info boxes for when a character joins the force or appears in the story. I have translated those in this section as well, to gather all character info in one place, and also because Kazin's destroyed me emotionally. I have noted which part of the story some info boxes are placed, when they depend of context.

So, let's start!

Besides the protagonist who you'll be leading the adventure as, there's a total of 29 characters who will become your allies. They'll be a helpful bunch to have around. They are of many different classes and species, but will support you in many ways through this long and harsh war. Among them, some will be hard to recruit. You should find out by yourself how to get them!

This thing opens by telling you all secrets so that's an hilarious line.

Bowie Human / Male The protagonist. A boy with golden hair and blue eyes. Humans are weaker than dwarves and centaurs in battle, and inferior to elves when it comes to intellect. But he has greater endurance and fighting spirit than most humans¹. Aiming to become a legendary hero, he became a swordsman and is training under Sir Astral. His father was in the Granseal army² and disappeared during a expedition to slay a dragon³, so he lives with only his mother now.

¹Humans suck. Luckily for you you are special boy

²His father is mentioned as captain of the army in the JP version.

³Curiously, Mars of Shining Wisdom has a dad with pretty much the same story, except he's brought up in game, although unrelated to the whole plot.

Sarah Elf / Female A girl training under Astral, alongside Bowie. Her long blue hair and big red eyes are quite distinctive. She has always been the kind that enjoys looking after others, and comes across as a big sister despite being the same age as Bowie. Because of that personality she oftens ends up doing the jobs no one likes to do, and is nice enough to pull them off without complaining. New Member blurb: A pupil of Sir Astral, the same age as Bowie. A kind girl good at taking care of others.

It fascinates me how every guide seems to ignore the troublemaking and feisty side of her we see in the actual game. Like, none of the above contradicts it, it's just very pointedly not talking about it.

Chester [Huey] Centaur / Male Bowie and Sarah's classmate. Training under Astral in order to become a knight. He doesn't speak as much as the others, because centaurs are a quite prideful race¹. But his good nature is written plainly on his face. New Member blurb: Being a centaur, his movement is superior. Another student of Sir Astral.

¹i cannot remember a single time this man sounded remotely snobbish. He's more of a pushover at the beginning of the game, and is the one to thank Slade for jailbreaking them at Galam before Sarah decides to grill the man instead. The closest thing I can think of is that he doesn't wanna talk while dismantling the ship. He's also pretty annoyed at Jaha but, it's Jaha. Most people are annoyed at Jaha.

Jaha [Jaja] Hobbit / Male Another classmate, training under Astral to become a warrior. He talks a lot more than the other three, and Chester tends to get annoyed at that. His attack and defense are high, so he'll be a good ally in battle. New Member blurb: The oversleeper joins the team. He's usually clumsy, but a great help in battle. Kazin [Kazun] Elf / Male A boy studying magic under the scholar Hawel, a researcher of the ancient ruins. Has above average talent for magic. He puts up a cool and collected front, but can be quite fiery at times. Key Character blurb: [when met at Yeel Village] Training at magic under Hawel. Has a better reputation at Yeel Village than his master. New Member blurb: [when joining the force after Hawel is killed] Loved Hawel like a real father. A reliable guy, specialist in fire spells.

:'(

Slade [Jippo] Scavenger¹ / Male The one who started the calamity, bringing turmoil to the once peaceful Granseal. He's a thief, and likes the adventure more than gold or fame. New Member blurb: [when met in jail] A scavenger known as the thief on the side of justice. There's still a little time until he fights alongside the force.

¹The term for Slade's species, スケイブン (sukeibun), seems to come from Warhammer’s skaven race, which is pronounced a bit different than the word scavenger (which would be something like スカベンジャー(sukabenjaa) in katakana instead). However, the term first showed up in this series for those rat enemies at the start of Gaiden 1, and SFCD translated it as Scavenger, so I’m going with that. Honestly, I’d rather just call him a ratguy.

Kiwi Green Turtle¹ / No gender² A mysterious creature. Their body and shape is much like a turtle, but no one knows for sure what they are. Given the shell on their back, their defense is absurdly high. Seems they'll grow into an amazing character. New Member blurb: A poor creature put up for sale. The truth about them is deeply shrouded in mystery.

¹Green Turtle is the name of Kiwi's class in-game as well, in the JP version. I usually stick to the official class translations but, TORT has always been a weird one.

²Kiwi has only one line where they use the first person pronoun "boku", which is usually associated with little boys. However, that line is right at the beginning when they are at the pet shop and barely knows how to talk, so it might be them just copying the first little boy they heard. Also, as far as I know, more gender neutral pronouns like "watashi" or "jibun" are not commonly used by little children. One gender neutral option for a little kid would be just using their own name, but Kiwi doesn't even have a name at that point. So the pronoun used makes sense, though it would have been better to just not use any pronouns for such a short line. Then again I'm not taking this turtle as a serious attempt at agender representation, I'm just finger-gunning that no gender label anyway.

I suspect the devs main reason for listing Kiwi as genderless is that Kiwi is named by the player in game, and they didn't want to limit the player's interpretation. Still peculiar that they say "no gender" as opposed to the "unknown" Zynk and Claude got.

For the record, the english localization does refer to Kiwi as a he. I have chosen to use they/them pronouns here to emphasize this piece of trivia and the whole gender discussion.

Peter Phoenix / Male A phoenix chick. The phoenix is a bird spoken of in legends throughout every country. Brimming with curiosity, he's the kind that faces things without much fear. While he's blunt and asks a lot of questions, there's also a certain charm to him. The god Volcanon is like a father to him, and has also influenced a lot of his personality. After promotion, he becomes a very helpful character to have around. New Member blurb: A phoenix that ended up traveling with Bowie and the others. May [Matilda] Centaur / Female A girl of a hunting tribe who loves nature. Despite being both centaur classes, knights and rangers are very different. Compared to the prideful knights, rangers are more cheerful and open. New Member blurb: The ranger May is a bow user. She seems to be bored, so call out to her.

The portrait used for her throughout the guide seems to be from earlier in development.

Gerhalt Beastman / Male Hates crooked things! He's like the personification of moral sense. He's less hairy than other beastmen, and has a complex about it. The kind that likes fighting, rare to find in a peaceful village like that. New Member blurb: A beastman warrior tired of being nice to the villagers who forgot how to fight. Fights with fists strong enough to break stone.

Luke [Ludo] Birdman / Male Prince of Bedoe, the country of birdmen, and a great friend of Peter's. Is both kind and brave. Trusted by god Volcanon, the people of Bedoe work day and night to protect the peace of South Parmecia. New Member blurb: The brave prince of Bedoe. Willing to lay down his life for his country. Rohde [Lloyd] Human / Male A middle aged scholar who studies the Ancients. His fervor for his research has made him respected by other people. However, because he gets too absorbed in it, he's also known as an oddball. New Member blurb: A scholar who lives in the south of Hassan. Obsessed with ancient ruins, he continues to research them on his own. Rick [Mick] Centaur / Male A boy scared of adventures and facing the unknown, who ended up being left behind all alone. After meeting Bowie and the team, he grows up a bit.¹ New Member blurb: A sensitive yet strong willed boy. Lives in the harbor town of Hassan².

¹The manual also describes him as timid, yet he's very enthusiastic when you meet him, taking the initiative to join the team as soon as the Caravan picks his interest. It is possible that this description is more of a past thing, or his personality was reworked late in development. Or even, he might be putting in some effort to hide whatever fears he has.

²While this backstory is in the manual and most official guides as well, it contradicts the in-game story, where Rick has just arrived in Hassan, and had no idea what the town was like.

Elric [Polnaref] Elf / Male A resident of Fairy Woods. Friendly with the fairies and dwarves. Has a great sense of justice, and keeps himself well informed. He's not very strong physically, and can be easily caught by traps.

New Member... blurb? Yeah no, sorry, they forgor him.

For actual Elric trivia, see the post about his mom.

Eric [Elric] Centaur / Male While searching for a magic sword, he got caught in an unfortunate incident and became trapped in a certain place. Has an air of sadness, and is quiet and well mannered. It seems he was lord of a castle somewhere, a long time ago. New Member blurb: A knight who was shrunk down in middle of his travels, searching for a legendary sword. Karna [Twiggy] Human¹ / Female A beautiful woman with a roundish face, but old-fashioned looks. She's fit to work as a priest, having a kind heart. She worries about Bowie and the others getting caught up in an incident as if it was her own problem. New Member blurb: A priest girl. Can use healing magic, so you definitely want to bring her along.

¹You read that right, human. Both this manual and every guide book I know lists both her and Taya as humans despite the ears. I've heard that the official novel calls her a half-elf to go around this issue, but as I don't have the novel (yet) I can't confirm this.

Randolf [Dongo] Dwarf / Male A barbarian who likes to drink. He's happy as long as he has alcohol, and looks like a hooligan. He seems related to gully dwarves¹, as his roughness stands out. The original dwarf people are virtuous and well mannered. New Member blurb: A strong dwarf warrior. Shows incredible destructive power in battle.

¹The term for his subrace (ドブドワーフ) seems to come from Dragonlance, or at the very least that was the only result I got looking it up. I'm gonna take a moment to say I really dislike these fantasy race stereotypes, they usually don't get too much focus on Shining games but I feel this guide in particular is laying a bit thicker on them which is a bit annoying. I already pointed out how the prideful centaurs thing doesn't even match this game's characters.

Tyrin [Piper] Elf / Male A level-headed middle aged mage, who is polite, but a bit hard to talk to. Likely thanks to years of accumulated wisdom, he has good mastery of magic. He is also physically stronger than the younger elves¹. New Member blurb: An user of offensive magic. His mastery of magic will be very useful in battle.

¹Tyrin's physical strength comes up in the manual as well, and it's nothing but a few attack points above Kazin and Taya as far as I know. He still has less than Sarah and the archers, so the elf line is a bit silly. The manual correctly associates it with his class instead.

Janet Elf / Female A girl of the forest who came after her boyfriend, upon hearing that he was working alongside the Granseal army. Her skill with the bow is on par with Elric's. New Member blurb: An elf like Elric, with similar skill with the bow. It's reassuring to have her around. Higins Centaur / Male Captain of the army of Pacalon, the centaur kingdom in North Parmecia. As captain in a country of prideful centaurs, he has a stern personality. However, he has a bit of a scatterbrained side as well. New Member blurb: Captain of the army of the centaur country. With high attack and movement, he has the enemies at his mercy. Skreech [Fielder] Birdman / Male He looks no different from an adult birdman, but is actually still a young boy. Birdmen grow faster than other species. He has a sharp, clear gaze, and a strong body. New Member blurb: Talk to everyone underneath the town's grounds¹. New allies join the force, and someone headed the same way follows along.

¹This blurb pops up at the Moun battle guide, refering to Frayja, Skreech, and Zynk. It is therefore incorrect, since Skreech joins at Tristan. Other parts of the guide describe the correct way of getting him to join, so it's a curious error.

Taya [Linda] Human¹ / Female A shrine maiden serving Goddess Mitula. A very reserved and mysterious woman. She often has a downcast look. She's transformed somewhere, waiting for Bowie. New Member blurb: As talked about in Tristan, someone with the power to control nature awaits somewhere in the shrine.

¹Both this manual and every guide book I know lists both her and Karna as humans despite the ears.

Frayja [Sharol] Hobbit¹ / Male The priest of Moun, tormented by regret over something he did. He looks a bit fat, given his sagging cheeks and the short stature of hobbits. Also at the age where he's losing hair. New Member blurb: Talk to everyone underneath the town's grounds². New allies join the force, and someone headed the same way follows along.

¹Some guide books call him human instead. His proportions are very different from the other hobbits/dwarves in the series so I’m willing to believe that more.

²This blurb pops up at the Moun battle guide, refering to Frayja, Skreech, and Zynk. It's a bit odd, since Frayja joins before the battle, not after freeing the town. It is also just wrong when it comes to Skreech.

Jaro [Falcon] Pegasus / Male Used to be a Galam soldier. Disliked having to fight alongside unknown monsters. The pegasus are a special race, centaurs who have sprouted wings. New Member blurb: Satisfied with how the battle ended, he joins the force as a helpful ally of great mobility. Gyan Hobbit¹ / Male A very hotblooded man. The kind that cannot stand still seeing others in trouble. He's a kindhearted person who loves children, and is always worrying about his family. New Member blurb: Warrior of superb power and stamina. A reassuring ally to have at the very front.

¹He calls himself a dwarf in game. Some other guide books call him a dwarf as well.

Sheela Human / Female An old pupil of Astral. She became a priest after her training, but for some reason has abandoned that profession, and became a disciple in the ascetic monks cabin. She's frank and sociable. New Member blurb: Someone who once trained under Astral. Has great attack and can uses several kinds of magic.

Zynk [Backus] Robot / Unknown¹ Was once just junk lying around in the ancient pathway. After a lot of tinkering from the one who picked them up, they began to move. Joins Bowie after a certain event. New Member blurb 1: [when met on Moun] Talk to everyone underneath the town's grounds. New allies join the force, and someone headed the same way follows along. New Member blurb 2: [when joining after Petro's death] After meeting Petro, he joins the force after following around since Moun.

¹Zynk speaks in a rough manner when first met under the rock of Moun, including using the casual and rough pronoun "ore", which is usually masculine. After that, they switch to polite and gender neutral language.

I suppose that the unknown label here is more due to the fact of robots likely not having a biological sex.

The english localization refers to Zynk as a he. I have chosen to use they/them pronouns here to emphasize this piece of trivia and the whole gender discussion.

Chaz [Oneia] Human / Male Hawel's son. Travelling through many countries as he polishes his magical abilities. Later on, he inherits Hawel's research. A rare kind of mage, curious and enthusiastic. New Member blurb: Here comes a special ally capable of understanding any incident in the world!! A passionate and active mage!! Lemon Human / Male As his appearance shows he is clearly a soldier, the highest commander of the Galam army, in fact. A person who hates crooked behavior and wrongdoings, but for some reason, his personality has completely changed. Key Character blurb: [when coming after the force near Hawel's house] Highest commander of the Galam army. He hates wrongdoings, so why is he acting like this? New Member blurb: [after defeated in the Red Baron fight]: An honest man who shows respect even for his enemies. Would be reassuring if he became an ally. Claude [Mud] Golem / Unknown¹ A stone giant. Supports the group from behind the scenes without drawing much attention, but can unleash powerful attacks with their huge body. Their weak point is their low movement, but since they can take many hits, they can work well as a shield.

¹Claude speaks casually and uses the rough and masculine pronoun "ore" when first met. In HQ, they are slightly more polite and use the polite and gender neutral "watashi" instead. Because there's not dialogue about them, I don't recall the english version using any pronouns for them as well.

I suppose that the unknown label here is more due to the fact of golems likely not having a biological sex.

Claude does not get a new member blurb, because the guide does not cover the Ancient Pathway as part of the walkthrough.

#shining series #shining force 2 #shining force 2 encyclopedia #long post #giant ass post in fact! has taken a good chunk of my life these past weeks!#never expected to talk so much about the gender of a turtle but that's where we are #pretty sad that this genderlessness here feels just like male-lite but alas lol what did you expect #i'm running with it anyway #also it should be obvious that i just copypasted the stuff from neocities so there's some redundant information from other posts #it's gonna become the norm here a bit. doesn't hurt anyone #same for the links to the website because things are better organized and revised there #oh no i just realized i need to update zynk's tag because i changed the romanization #i want to make a page about character names at some point #unfortunately my phone ate a draft i had

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ashpkat · 11 months

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can we talk about this cover? besides the fact that it’s my favorite cover of the series and gorgeous but also the contents of the cover

first off, WHERE ARE THEY? there’s not a place in the magisterium that looks like this, i suppose you could argue that it’s the elemental prison, but i don’t think it was described like that? and i remember in someone else’s post, don’t remember who, that it looks like european architecture (which. don’t fact check me.) and going with that at the very least this isn’t the magisterium and is somewhere else in the world entirely, does this potentially mean The Bronze Key we got was not the original concept at all?

to add onto this! let’s talk about the knife calls holding. it isn’t miri. i suppose you could attribute the odd design to the fact that none of them are consistent in the covers, but the one thing that throughout books has stayed the same is the design of Semiramis. it gets used several times for chapter headers and ALWAYS looks similar and or exactly the same. and at the very least, if the knife he’s holding was meant to be Semiramis, don’t you think they wouldn’t have curved the blade? kept it straight? here’s my conclusion, the knife he’s holding is The Cosmos Blade. the original title for The Bronze Key.

but.. why? why does the cover not align with the book? this is the ONLY book it happens in.

(with the sort of exception of The Golden Tower, my friend has a theory that it’s aaron on the dragon and not alex and they resorted to just making alex blond in the book but. whatever not the point because there’s not as much evidence)

and the original translated synopsis— which might be fake and i’ve never confirmed as real so take this with a grain of salt— does NOT match up with the book at all. could it be that more than midway through the book they completely scrapped the idea? opting to go with The Bronze Key to fit with the metal theme? could this explain why the cover took so long to come out? there’s more i want to say on this but i cannot find the words for this.

i don’t doubt that through the production of a book ideas will change, but let’s talk about when these changes occur. unlike with small changes like The Copper Gauntlets change from The Copper Mask, this change actually is huge. because in TCG, a mask IS mentioned, constantine’s mask. but in The Bronze Key, not even a passing mention on anything that could remotely be The Cosmos Blade is mentioned. and let’s talk about the under use of european mages, yeah it gets sort of explained why they hate makaris in The Golden Tower with maugris but let’s not forget! maugris was implied to be improvised by the authors.

there are tumblr posts from the authors mentioning the european mages, saying that yes they would get mentioned in the third book or at the very least the fourth one, posts that just BARELY predate The Bronze Key.

this post isn’t me being sour that aaron died in TBK, because let’s be honest here, he was always going to die. nor is this me being sour that calron was never canon, because i could care the fuck less if it was (my main issue with callmara is how underdeveloped it is and how it totally watered down tamara’s character to a love interest like they did with celia. im a callmara fan, but everytime i read it in the books I GAG).

this is me being sour at the AUTHORS for choosing to devote more time to their already established and more popular book series. they had too much on their plate. they chose to opt for a potentially more simple plot for time purposes with each book having less and less pages. they needed better time management skills. they are NYC best sellers and yet, and yet, these final three books are lack luster in quality as their own series thrive and continue to climb in popularity.

so yeah. justice for The Cosmos Blade.

#fuck this got long #The Cosmos Blade #I’m never giving it up. never ever #maybe i’ll write a fic on the cosmos blade #would i get sued? idk let me check #there is a chance i might #magisterium #the magisterium #callum hunt #aaron stewart #jasper dewinter #tamara rajavi

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isthisselfcare · 1 year

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Please forgive my absence, I log into tumblr once every 4 business months

I have answered some asks but not all, for which I apologise

hello! rereading your work for the second time, proud of myself for translating less words than before (this british english's got hands and they kick me a lot). i keep beating myself about the question: WHAT is the clue about the mole in chapter 1? you said it was paltry, i didn't believe you, now i'm trying to make my eyes fall out over finding said clue. spare me.

It was the line about Shacklebolt’s assistant, she was grouchy about Draco for no discernable (at the time) reason: ‘Draco scheduled a visit with the Minister of Magic later that week. He sauntered past the Minister’s sour-faced assistant on the designated day, wondering who had pissed in her Pixie Puffs.’

She’s the one who would’ve heard Hermione discussing her findings with Shacklebolt early on, and subsequently learned that this Notorious Auror was going to protect her. That’s the entire not-even-clue. Rubbish, isn’t it?

Hi, since you like Jerome K Jerome, I was wondering if you've read "Two and a half men in a boat" by Nigel Williams? He basically recreated the boat trip on Thames with his friends like in Jerome's book. Nowhere near as good as the original, but it's pretty funny! He emulates Jerome's wit quite well.

I have not, but will add this to my reading list!

Is Hermione bi in your fic?

I am congenitally unable to write cishet women, so, yes, or pan, possibly. Didn’t get into her head enough to know

hey girlie. what does "cutty-uppy" means? i can't find the definition anywhere

Sorry. That was a made up word, referring to the sort of people who cut people up, those terrible Muggle surgeons

England vs France on Saturday, who are you going for?

Like Lizzie Bennet, from this day on I must be a stranger to one of my parents.

I have decided to forgo both and support Morocco

do you mind if your tags are used on other fics? i think your tags on DMATMOOBIL are a creative writing piece in their own right (they make me laugh sm) so I was a bit disturbed to find fics that copy them verbatim with no credit.

I don’t mind at all, AO3 tags take on their own self-referential, memeish life and I am happy to add mine to the ecosystem. My own tags on Mortifying include the ‘no X we die like men’ and ‘what is X if not Y persevering’ meme-phrases

do you see yourself writing more dramione in the future?

I haven’t any plans to do so at present, sorry!

Continuing an investigation to see if you are actually Hermione, can you do a taraskvana?

Hah. No. I've got a dodgy knee, I can hardly even sit cross-legged!

She's a 10 but she only has 1 story posted

It’s me!

Dont know If somebody has already asked you this - would it be okay to print Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love?

Printing for your personal use is fine

I noticed something about the Beltane chapter: "hippocampus" is a part of our brain's limbic system and one of its functions is memory formation, specifically creation and consolidation thereof, so I thought it was very symbolic that Hermione and Draco were racing creatures with the same name. Cause I feel like that chapter is a turning point in their relationship - Hermione stops seeing him as a barely tolerable pureblood ass. It's around that point that they really do start kind of liking each other and start - if you will - forming new memories together! I know I'm just overthinking things, but I love dmatmoobil so much I'm constantly on the lookout for hidden meanings and symbolism.

There are a lot of easter eggs in the fic, but with this one, you have given me far too much credit. Thank you for sharing it!

Will you be participating in the DHr advent?

Hiya, no, I had to decline as I hadn’t any writing time this autumn, honoured to have been invited, however, and eager to read the works!

Would you ever write a Tomione or a Sevmione?

I never say never, but frankly the possibility is remote. So sorry

Pain au chocolat ou chocolatine?

Scandaleux comme question, ça… pain au chocolat !

Re the “Marathon of chaos” on your Instagram. It’s been such a ride to not only follow your fanfic (I was an early adopter, which I know makes me sound like a hipster snob, and maybe I am one) but also watch it go from like 100 kudos to one of the top fics in the fandom. I’m here for your marathon and really grateful for all the work you put into MOBIL. Now for the question… when can we expect your next book? I don’t care if it’s Dramione, any other pairing, or any other fandom, or original fic, I WILL read it! Please continue to hit us with chaos!!!!

Thank you for your kind words!

I haven’t got an answer on the timeline for the next piece, or whether I will link it with this online identity, but I am toying with the idea of writing it entirely in comic sans

Your Hermione was my gay awakening

If this is serious, I hope you find your own Hermione one day!

Can we please be friends? You sound like you would make a great one

Unfortunately, I am a rubbish friend who never responds to texts and cancels plans at every opportunity, you don’t want to know me

I was so happy to see Uzbekistan mention in your story. That had never happened before. Thank you for mentioning my country 😻

You are welcome! Uzbekistan is honestly one of the most breath-taking countries I’ve ever visited – monuments that dwarf the Taj Mahal – unearthing the grand and bloody history of the Silk Road – stepping upon the same sands that the great Khans thundered across – seeing the ruins of the caravanserai – sheer magic! To say nothing of the hospitality of the people. I had far too much plov and quickly discovered my limit for vodka

You are my favorite cryptid

Cheeky. Thank you

And, finally, thank you to the person who sent me this article on a sacred relic that was stolen from an abbey and then returned ‘in an unceremonious cardboard box’! Hormone and Crotch are still at large

#asks #over 80 remain in my inbox #please forgive me for not answering all

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julianbashir · 2 years

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The characters in Evil Dead: The Game have dialogue if you view their models in your collection! More characters/plaintext description under under read more.

Ash Williams (The Evil Dead): Delta, tuned up and gassed -- check. Suitcases, TV, football, and blankets in the trunk -- check. Map to the cabin -- check. Worthless magnifying glass necklace boxed up like actual jewelry and in my pocket -- check. Linda’s gonna love it. She’ll never take it off.

Ash Williams (Evil Dead 2): I know I’m punching above my weight with Linda, but the important thing is she doesn’t know it. Heck, she doesn’t even realize that piece-of-crap necklace I gave her came out of a gumball machine.

Ash Williams (Army of Darkness): I had a real life once. A job, a car, a girlfriend. Together, we drove to a cabin in the mountains. An archaeologist had come to this remote place to translate and study his latest find, Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, the Book of the Dead. It was never meant for the world of the living. The book awoke something dark in the woods.

Ash Williams (Ash vs Evil Dead): I’ve been called a lot of things: El Jefe, the savior of humanity, the boomstick butcher with the chainsaw hand. The truth is, I’m just your everyday, charming, ruggedly handsome dude from Michigan. I didn’t ask for any of this, but when evil picked a fight with Ashley J. Williams, they picked the wrong dude.

Annie Knowby: The Castle of Kandar is an obsession for my dad. I guess that’s where I picked it up. We were exploring the castle’s rear chamber when we found it -- Naturom Demonto, the Book of the Dead. Mom and Dad took it back to their cabin to translate in peace. I stayed behind here at Kandar to find the missing pages.

Scotty: Way out in the woods with the trees and the moonlight, what girl can resist that romantic setting? Shelly and I have been going out for about a month and a half, but this weekend is gonna kick it up a notch. Nature brings out the primal instincts, you know?

Henry the Red: As Lord of the Northlands, I have been witness to all measure of hazard and hardship, but nothing approaches the abomination that now threatens out land. At the behest of the hero from the sky, I will put aside my grievances with Arthur in the south. I will ride with my men into battle against evil itself. Blows, blood, and death, I say!

Ed Getley: As an associate professor, to be invited to join Professor Knowby’s expedition of Castle Kandar was the highlight of my career. I could never have imagined that it’s also where I’d find the woman of my dreams. From the moment I saw her, the professor’s daughter, Annie, took my breath away. In that instant, I knew that I’d follow her into the mouth of hell.

Kelly Maxwell: ValueStop was supposed to be a temporary layover for me, a pit stop to gas up and get my bearings before the magnificent future ahead. I don’t plan anymore. I don’t even think about the future. While everyone else dreams of peace on Earth and puppies, my eyes are wide open to the evil closing in around us.

Amanda Fisher: I can’t explain what happened to Detective Carson in that house. He was my partner, my friend, and then he was...something else. He was sick. At first, I thought I couldn’t trust my eyes, then I saw the same thing again in the bookstore and the diner. This Ash guy isn’t someone I’d normally trust, but at this point he’s my best option to stop this thing.

Cheryl Williams: I always feel like an outsider with Ash and his friends, like the tag-along little sister. Scotty doesn’t make it any easier, teasing me all the time. I don’t even know why Ash likes him. Ash says this’ll be a fun weekend, but I don’t know. Stuck in this creepy old cabin for a weekend with this group? I’ll be glad when it’s over.

Pablo Simon Bolivar: When I was a kid, my Uncle Brujo would say “Fear the devil. Evil is always waiting in the shadows.” He told me that when the time came, El Jefe would rise to stand against it. I always thought he was crazy. Now, I may not be El Jefe, but I can see the time has come -- the time to rise and stand against the evil.

Lord Arthur: For time beyond measure, the brave people of Castle Kandar have stood as the final bastion of hope against the terrors of the Deadites. Under my leadership, our people have kept safe this region, while we await the prophesized hero from the sky to deliver us. But I fear our time runs short, and our end is nigh.

Henrietta: Fresh souls run scared in the night, and sweet Henrietta is hungry! Bring me to them, and I will do the rest.

Eligos: Release me, and together we will torment the living until they beg for death.

Evil Ash: I live again! I shall command every worm-infested son of a bitch that ever died in battle!

#ash williams #ash vs evil dead #evil dead the game #evil dead #evil dead ii #army of darkness

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autolenaphilia · 1 year

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The 1922 film Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (“Spieler” can be translated as gambler or player) is a really good film, even if it might not seem appealing today. It’s very long, 4 hours and 30 minutes in total, and was released in two parts because of this. And being from 1922 it is of course a silent film.

Yet it earns its runtime by being actually rather good. Its director Fritz Lang was relatively young at the time, but he demonstrates a fine grasp of the craft of filmmaking. The storytelling is advanced for the time, yet easily understandable. There are some beautiful imagery in this, some really impressive shots and special effects work.

The star of the show is of course Dr. Mabuse himself, played by Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who is having a blast. He is a scheming mastermind criminal in the vein of Professor Moriarty and Fantomas. It’s great fun seeing Mabuse develop complicated schemes and wear elaborate disguises to execute. He has such skill with hypnosis that it makes him border on a comic-book supervillain.

The film in general is a major influence on modern crime thrillers. You get an early feature film car-chase and a climactic shoot-out scene.

It’s great pulpy fun, and Klein-Rogge as Mabuse predictably dominates the film. The “good” opposition is kinda weak in comparison, although Bernhard Goetzke as the heroic detective and State prosecutor Wenk is better than most in providing a good guy counterpart to such a charismatic villain. I really liked Gertrude Welcker as a sybaritic but sympathetic aristocratic woman.

The interpretation of Mabuse is two-fold. Mabuse isn’t explicitly identified as jewish, but an anti-semitic interpretation can easily be made. Some of his disguises definitely are based on jewish stereotypes. His main persona is a psychoanalyst, a profession associated with jewish people because of Freud. He is an inherently scheming and conspiratorial figure. He is also associated with symbols of Weimar German decadence, such as drugs, gambling, and prostitution. He hatches economic conspiracies with counterfeit money and stockmarket manipulation which reflect German economic problems and ascribe them to a conspiratorial bad actor. Both the writer of the original novel Norbert Jacques and screenwriter Thea von Harbou and actor Klein-Rogge later ended up working with the nazis (how much it was ideology or opportunism is hard to tell in all three cases).

Yet director Fritz Lang had Jewish roots and had to flee Nazi Germany. And an anti-semitic reading is possible, but never remotely made explicit. The other reading is that Mabuse is a figure of the manipulative authoritarian leader, a premonition of the rise of Hitler, which is how Lang viewed him later on.

You can read the film as a criticism of the Nietzchean rhetoric the naizs loved. Mabuse eventually reveals his justifications for his actions, which are a take on Nietzsche and his concept of the übermensch. He thinks he is beyond the law and conventional concepts of morality due to his superior abilities and strong will. He outright cites “the will to power.” And in the end his nietzschean ideals are disproven, as he ends up defeated. He locks up blind people in a room to count his fake money for him, and when through his own mistakes ends up locked in the same room with no chance of rescue, it breaks him. He can’t handle the same fate he condemns disabled people to. Like Nietzsche in real life, Mabuse ends up in a state of near-catatonia. In the sequel made by Lang about a decade later he is in a mental hospital.

Mabuse is a very ambiguous figure and which way you read the film is up to you. Still, it’s still great entertainment over a hundred years after its release.

#my writings #dr mabuse #fritz lang #movie review

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cerealnapkin79 · 2 years

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Telugu BIBLE Study Things To Know Before You Buy

Ahead to the Revised Edition of the Grace Ministries Telugu Study Bible. Q: What are some of your most treasured bibles relating to Jesus? A: Jesus was a sturdy proponent of excellent precepts, honesty, and stability. He comprehended that there must be someone who can lead your life to the end to offer him that kind of durability he so definitely desired. The very same LORD God who inspired the Bible led George Robert Crow, known as Bob Crow one of his friends, to equate the Word of God into spoken Telugu. One time his wife brought a publication from India to be converted in to English to reveal how God might be inspired. They found the book where the Word of God was stated to be spoken. The Bible led a team of missionaries to find the Lord and assist him make His Kingdom, the World, in a much better area. At the elevation of his preaching and teaching spiritual leadership, Bob Crow felt led to invest the following lots of years in equating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek – the original languages of the Old and New Testaments – into spoken Telugu. He would inevitably take over the religion's translation division because he was forced to at to begin with allow the church's interpretation plans. Bob Crow's main issue was that his religion's translation department would be observed as somehow biased versus his Christian clients. As he equated the Bible, Bob Crow checked along with a number of folks to improve a type here or a phrase there, so that the meaning of the content might be very clear for the people of Andhra Pradesh. At least three individuals were in charge of the translation, three of whom happened from the country's southern states. Bob Crow was on a purpose, a preacher of God, to educate the natives concerning this religion in the remote coastal location. Thus after the Telugu Bible in spoken foreign language was released, The Heavenly Father gave him an additional eyesight. In this vision we locate the Father and God in the beginning with the Father in heaven and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the physical body of water. This was known to Abraham throughout the grows older, and it was offered to him by God. The Holy Spirit was incredibly much in the title of the Father, and it is our heritage that his name was disclosed to Abraham. To prep a research study Bible for India. 1. Do not reviewed the Old Testament. 2. If you read through ancient record you must inspect the Bible's record before you come listed here. 3. Write down the Hebrew scriptures. 4. Obtain your professional's thesis. 5. You will definitely be capable to write regarding what he wrote and state to you about it. 6. Know. Research study 1. If how to read bible in telugu locate you possess no rate of interest in writing long, read through the entire Bible. Bob Crow and Jeevan Nair began to function on that task - not something replicated from a research Bible generated for the West, but writing details specifically for India. The work was being carried out through the Indian National Historical Foundation of Delhi, which now stores regarding three-quarters of Indian manuals that are regarding India's public and army record, which is not thought about to be written through American or British chroniclers. The project of developing the newspaper was contacted the Jeevan Nair Plan. Where village priests and Christians in little communities have no study assists or Scriptural information readily available. What they are providing in this type of mentor has been overlooked by the congregations. This is the kind of trait where there are actually no good Biblical literary works. When a preacher works thus little bit of, he must have the essential publications in purchase to educate the members about scriptural reality. This is a trouble that require to address and will certainly come to be an concern for all the religions.

For the following a number of years he was involved in writing notes on the entire Bible. Now in his mid-60s, when he was 40, he had merely accomplished his doctoral researches in Ancient Religion. It was throughout this opportunity that he experienced a gorgeous younger female, Margaret De Vry. This female sat facing a mountain range with three eyes looking westward at a gorgeous face on her hill in the desert. Observing the attractive face of Margaret De Vry was extremely interesting.

youtube

After all this it was equated into Telugu, with the assistance of India Bible Literature, Grace Ministries (established by Crow in 1983) released the initial Telugu Study Bible in record. The new version has been equated right into Tamil and Hindi and is now offered in bookstores and manual shops in almost half of India. After virtually a many years writing about the teaching, it was crucial for India to become component of the international area after being asked about what he thought of Hindi. Up to right now even more than 1,00,000 duplicates of this Study Bible have been distributed. Right now in its 25th wedding anniversary form, the Study Bible Project gives a worldwide and social version, featuring a worldwide download, a social Kindle, a Kindle application, a Kindle app store, a free of cost 3D printable variation, and a printable audiobook for audiophones and Personal computer owners as well. After several replication of the Telugu Study Bible, Bob Crow thoroughly changed the New Testament message, strengthened the Old Testament message, as properly as the details. This has led to a a lot improved image of how this research study Bible is interpreted. After one lots reprints, all the texts are presented again in a slightly much more comprehensive style. New Testament Bible Commentary New proof An attempt was made to transform the New Testament content of Leviticus right into Hebrew. He not merely inspected, boosted and repaired the text, but also straightened the New Testament content more detailed to the ‘Textus Receptus,” or the “Gotten Text” which is the very first released Classical message of the New Testament. Currently in add-on to the text and textual information, it was additionally equated into foreign languages and utilized in a amount of situations throughout the Western world, especially in the Middle Ages (not to mention in the very early 19th century).

#bible ela chadhavali #how to read bible in telugu #how to study bible in telugu #how to learn bible in telugu

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8bitscarlet · 3 years

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Witchcraft

Summary: You've found yourself falling deeper into a certain witch's spell. But no matter how strong the magic is, it seems that the two of you just keep missing each other.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Genre/Warnings: Angst/Fluff (minor cussing)

Word Count: 3.5k

A/N: This is a fic for @marvelxreaderfanfictionfest writing exchange. This one is for @mrsromanoff and the prompt: "I can't keep kissing strangers and thinking they're you." Hope you like it!

*please do not repost or translate my material or claim as yours.*

________________

You never thought your three month assignment with the Avengers would've extended as long as it has. Missions went by with minimal injuries and maximum wins. You found yourself settling well into the chaos of the compound; the echoing boasts of Thor, the competitive edge of Danvers and the snark between Romanoff and Stark. When your three months were up, it wasn't a surprise to anyone that you immediately signed the contract from Stark, an official placement on the team.

Despite all of the alien blasters, Hydra experiments and Tony's benefit parties, nothing could've prepared you for a single person to rock your world. It started innocently enough; stolen glances at meals and ensuring you two were on the same mission team. As time continued, things turned less innocent; sneaking off during charity balls to suck face in the broom closet, you could recall a few times you were nearly caught in the back of the Quinjet. There was something about this woman. The way her fingers slithered through your hair, how those green eyes made your heart say yes, she stripped you bare.

You had convinced yourself it was witchcraft. It had to be.

Sitting with your cheek pressed against your fist, you find yourself doodling as Steve drones on in the background. Someone nudges you and as you turn, Wanda raises her brows when your eyes connect. With a groan, you raise the pen in your hand. Steve notices, stopping his spiel to look at you with a clenched jaw.

"With all due respect, Cap, we all got in at four this morning. Do we need a recap of the mission right now?"

Steve sighs, glancing at everyone and seeing them agreeing with you. You all had barely had time to unpack, let alone write your after action reports.

"Alright, Y/N. We'll go over how your pants tore mid-fight on Monday."

You point your pen at him, warning him as you watch his stupid smile fill his face. Bucky slaps your shoulders in gratitude, picking up Alpine onto his shoulders as he strides out to find Sam. Wanda's fingers gently brush yours as you walk side by side, sending an electric charge through your body.

"You know, when someone says 'with all due respect,' they really mean, 'kiss my ass'." Wanda glances at you with a sly smile.

Walking backwards towards the couch, you outstretch your arms with a grin, "Because that's what I meant, darling."

Chuckling, you roll over the back of the couch and plop down onto the cushions, your head landing perfectly on a pillow. Wanda lets out a scoff, knowing how many times it's taken you to actually land on the cushion and not the floor.

Flipping through the pages of her book, you watch her through half-closed eyes. A year ago you'd be asking what she was reading. A year ago, she'd curl up with you and explain it all. A year ago, you didn't have guilt eating at you.

Things a year ago were more than good between you. There might have even been a chance beyond friends with benefits. You knew you wanted that. Every time you looked at her, you couldn't stop your pounding heart or the warmth that grew in your stomach.

But you were stupid.

Chickening out every chance you had to ask her on an actual date rather than sneaking around to make her moan. You both had set ground rules, no strings attached. If it got too messy, you both had to call it quits. So, you convinced yourself it was better to quietly love her and keep her, than to tell the truth and lose her.

That was before the year long mission with Carol and Bucky. Before you realized how big of a mistake it was two months in. Before every day texts and video chats diminished to every other week, then every other month. Before you got back to the compound and saw her kissing up on some random benefactor at the Welcome Home Party. It was definitely before she started dating that walking toaster, Vision.

Luckily, he hadn't been around much the past month so watching them kiss and stare into each other's eyes was doable, mostly because you turned whenever you saw that stupid spark plug.

Four months since coming home, you've tried to fill the void the witch had created in your body, your soul. You went out with Carol and Bucky, prowling the town and the bar. Matching shot for shot some nights, waking up in random apartments other nights. Eventually Bucky did what you never did.

He asked Sam on a date and that left you and Carol. Until she started hooking up with Maria and dragged her along so you wouldn't be hitting the bars alone. You had made yourself a pity case.

"Do you need something?" Wanda cocks a brow at you, making a face at your prolonged staring.

You clear your throat, feeling the heat rush through your face, "You look a little sunburnt."

With a shrug and a chuckle, Wanda bookmarks her page as she places it down on the coffee table. Standing, she sits down on the couch, your body automatically scooting over to accommodate her. Holding out her red and glowing hand, you watch her pull off her rings, displaying the radiating tan lines running up and down her fingers. A laugh escapes you as you feel her hand slap against your chest.

"I didn't have anyone to put sunscreen on me!" She groans, "It burns!"

You guide your finger gently down her exposed arm, pressing in slightly to her warm skin. As you lift, you see the true color of her skin before it's bombarded with the glowing red of her burn. Glancing up, her green eyes watch you carefully, both of you not acknowledging the weight of her hand still on your chest.

"An aloe vera massage would do wonders," You whisper, "And I'm all out."

With a roll of her eyes, she leans back into your legs, "You really are a pain in my ass, y'know? When I tell people about you, that's the first thing I say."

Watching her float the remote to her awaiting hand, you grin, "Oho, so you're telling people about me, huh?"

"Please, check the ego there."

For the next moment, the two of you sit peacefully in each other's silence. Wanda was one who clung to those she trusted. When you came back, it was like she had superglued herself to you any time you walked into the room. It didn't help that you were still madly in love and she was taken.

Right now though, you watch her delicate fingers play with yours. Her eyes squinting with laughter as she watches her sitcoms, glancing to see if you're laughing as well.

A commercial echoes through the living room and Wanda lets out a sigh for attention, patting your thigh as she drops your hand. You don't move it as it lands atop her thigh, only gently stroke your thumb against the silky skin you wish could press against yours. Letting out a noise that you're both awake and paying attention to her, she glances over at you.

"Since you got Captain America to actually give us a free weekend, what's your plan tonight, casanova?"

You shrug, "I have early training with Bucky and-."

Wanda moves her whole body to face you, your hand slipping from her thigh as confusion spreads across her face. She lets out an unbelieving scoff,

"You're joking. You used to show up half drunk to training and still kick ass."

She's watching you carefully and you try to keep a neutral look on your face, she knows all of your quirks. Glancing up at her with a small grin, you pull your legs into you. Shifting yourself, you sit properly on the couch and run your hands through your hair.

"Just don't want to go out tonight. It's boring." You chuckle, trying to swallow the lump in your throat.

Wanda rolls her eyes, "Why, no one catches your eye anymore?"

Another playful nudge and you sigh. All this playful teasing, these light touches. She has to know what she's doing.

Trying to keep a steady and nonchalant shrug, you shake your head,

"No one out there."

And you might've gotten away with it. Instead, you fell into the magnetic pull of those green eyes that cause you so much trouble. As your eyes land on hers, you can see the dilation within her pupils. Then the realization across her face. Her playful grin falls as she stares at you, blinking slowly.

"Y/N," She says slowly, "If you're doing what I think-."

You stand up quickly, your feet taking you to the other end of the coffee table. In two days you'll be gone and you'll be back in the place you hate being in right now. Placing your hands on your waist, you look up from your tapping foot.

"Wanda, I can't keep kissing strangers and thinking they're you."

Silence meets your face. You watch her as she slowly nods at you, "That's exactly what you're doing."

Groaning, she slides her fingers through her hair, pinning it from her face. Wanda lets out a careful breath before looking up at you, "What happened to no strings?"

Slapping your hands against your thighs in frustration, you let out a scornful chuckle, "Come on, Wanda. You know those rules were bullshit! No strings means not going on exclusive trips to museums and restaurants!" You watch her eyes flicker around the room, trying to find a way to disprove what you're saying. "It means not staying up all night when the other is sick!"

Wanda stands up quickly and you can see the look on her face, she knows what you're getting to. Waving her hand to get you to shut up, she tries to get to the stairs but your words blurt from your mouth,

"It means not falling in love!"

Her feet stop carrying her towards the stairs, her body frozen in the middle of the compound. Carefully, you step towards her, leaning ever so slightly to try and catch her eyes. They're glazed over from your confession, trying to understand the implications.

"I left. I..." You suck in a shaky breath, "I thought it would be easier if I wasn't here. You were so adamant about no strings, Wands. I broke the only rule, why would I stay?"

Her head jerks back at your words, her brows furrowing deeply down her face. Without another second to keep talking, Wanda's feet pivot as she shoots a finger into your face. You jerk away from her advance, seeing the growing mist within her eyes as she shouts,

"That's why you left?"

The crack in her voice sends one through your heart.

She turns quickly, her hands violently wiping at the tears that have broken free. You clench your brows. She's angry at you? You're the one who's had to watch her prance around with Vision, you just a memory of romance. Just before she can grab her bag and leave, you call out,

"Well, you seem to have fared better than me!"

As the words leave your lips, you bite down hard and shut your eyes. A surprised choke exits Wanda's throat as she throws her purse back onto the side table, knocking over the decorative bowl of rocks. They scatter across the ground but she doesn't notice, all of her rage is pointing at you. Her fingers run violently through her auburn hair, looking like she wants to rip it out.

"You are infuriating!" She jabs a fingers at you, "Why think that?! Because I'm dating Vision? He's filling a void, dumbass!"

Her words stab into you as her stomps draw nearer, you can feel the heat of her anger. She's not done, she's not letting you off easy.

"Every time he touches me, every time he kisses me. God, Y/N! All I can see is your dumb face."

Wanda's heavy breath washes over you as she finally stops her assault, so close you can see the blue in her green eyes. Her body radiates out to you and you have to force your hands into your pocket to not grab her and kiss her. Your eyes dip to her lips but you see sadness that has quickly replaced the facade of anger. Making a small fist, she slams it into your chest as her head bows. Her arm slides down your body, hanging limply at her side as she looks to you.

"Why didn't you talk to me?"

Wanda's fingers twitch forward, wanting to grab onto you. You sigh, taking your hands from your pockets and resting them on your waist. Your confession was supposed to be more romantic than this. Instead, you brought up issues you both were trying to ignore. You were angry now at yourself, taking it all out on the person you loved. You'd spent too long with all of this pent up emotion though, and it was all pouring out in waves.

"I have to finish my requisition forms. Get my gear ready."

You don't have to look up to know what face Wanda is making at you. It's the same face she had when you left the first time. The way her brows clenched together in disbelief, the pain behind her reddened eyes that threatened to spill more tears, how her chin trembled as she tried to breathe.

Her voice barely passes a whisper but standing so close, you hear every broken syllable, "You're leaving again."

You sigh, rubbing your throbbing temples as you feel your nose stuff up.

"You drop all of that on me and you're just going to turn around and leave?"

Shaking your head, you want this conversation to end. It's obvious where she is and it's not next to you.

"Don't you have a date or something?" You ask.

Wanda's been around you too long to not see exactly what you're doing. She lets out a chuckle, a lethal look in her eyes.

"No, you're right. And that date seems a hell of a lot better than this." Without another word, she snatches her purse from the table and starts to climb the stairs, leaving your feet frozen. Just as she reaches the middle of the staircase, she stops. You can feel her stare burning into you and as you look her way, you wish you hadn't.

"You're a coward."

Those words burn into your brain, rising through your ears and torture you for the rest of the day. The only thing you could think to do was slam your fists into the closest thing. The punching bags. People came and went, eyeing you try and punch away your frustrations to no avail. When the sun finally had sunk below the horizon, one Avenger had enough of your pity party.

"You know she's right." A voice comes from behind you.

You don't respond to them, just dodge the swaying bag. They walk into the room, stopping just inside of your peripheral.

"You're an idiot, you know."

With a chuckle, you sidestep the bag, "You need to be a little more specific."

"You're losing her again."

Another punch, "Uh huh."

Carol sighs next to you, "And you sent her away on her date."

"Yup."

She steps in front of the bag, stopping its movement and stares at you with determination in her eyes, "And you're not going after her?"

Avoiding her stare, you start to unwrap your hands, wiping at the sweat that pours down your face. Stopping, you can feel the cramp in your side and the throbbing of your knuckles. Chucking the wrap, you let out a shrug,

"Is there a point?"

Carol shoves the bag into you, grabbing your attention, "I am not going on another mission with you while you sulk. Do you know you talk in your sleep? Yeah. Guess what name I heard that whole year?"

You shake you head, licking your chapped lips as you search for water, "She didn't say it back."

You hear an exasperated chuckle from Carol, "Y'know Y/N, I'm going to go on a limb and say she wasn't expecting all of that to be thrown in her face."

Shooting her a glare, she keeps talking, "I'm saying this once. If you think this is going to be some cheesy Rom-Com where she bursts through those doors and confesses her love, you're more of an idiot than I thought." A finger jabs hard into your chest as you grimace, "You need to fix this."

Carol leaves you there with your head filled with more thoughts than before. Wanda was happy with Vision wasn't she? She hadn't talked about him much but you knew she had to be. Who were you to go and screw that up?

Night turned into morning and after staring up at your ceiling, you knew you weren't getting any sleep.

Sneaking down the stairs, you see everyone is still asleep. You take the opportunity to sit in more silence and wait for the coffee machine to finish steaming. The sun was just beginning to shine its red hues into the kitchen as you stood at the counter, twirling your empty mug. Lost in thought, you failed to hear the padding of feet coming down the stairs.

"I thought you had early training."

With a quiet chuckle, you lean into the counter, "You caught me."

In silence, you watch the witch pour in her coffee. The same amount of creamer and sugar every time, the same motions every morning since you've noticed her. Turning, she sees your mindless fingers twisting and turning your empty mug. Wanda raises her brows and holds out her hand,

"Refill?"

You hand over the mug and watch her work her magic on the black liquid, turning it into the caramel drink you love. Breathing in deeply, you watch the bubbles swirl around the liquid. You furrow your brows,

"I can never make mine taste-."

"We broke up."

Her words slam into you, your breath catching inside of your throat. Looking up, Wanda stands there in the middle of the kitchen, unsure if she had truly spoken or not. She looks up at you, her mouth closing as she realizes she doesn't know what she's doing.

"What? Wands, are you okay?" You start to stand to go and comfort her, you know they had a date yesterday. Did the son of a microwave hurt her?

Wanda's hand rises, stopping you in your tracks before she takes a quiet breath, "We broke up almost a month ago, Y/N."

Nodding at your obliviousness, you knock your knuckles against the counter as you press your lips into a thin line, "We're both liars then."

"Tell me you lied about the mission," She whispers, leaning into the counter. Her fingers laying gently across yours.

Your chest constricts as you sigh, "I didn't."

You watch her sullen nod, curling hair falling out of her messy bun as you gently graze your thumb across her knuckles. She quietly chuckles,

"We just missed each other."

Stopping your thumb, you clench your jaw. This isn't going to happen again.

"Wanda," You whisper, listening to the sad hum she gives you as she glances up with bloodshot eyes, "I'm sorry. I was scared and... I was an idiot."

Wanda pats your hand with a loud sniff, "I appreciate it, but-."

She doesn't continue. She doesn't want to believe that you're leaving. The love you feel wouldn't be strong enough to survive that time apart again. There's broken support beams and one thing will send it falling down. A far away mission isn't the nurturing this budding feeling needs.

Wanda tries her best to flash you a grin, "Let me teach you how to make coffee."

Before she can turn, you grab her hand quickly, "I'd prefer if you made it."

As you walk around the counter, you gently rest a hand on her waist, watching her carefully. Her handgrips your arm tightly, words stuttering from her lips as she tries to remind you that she's not going. You're leaving her again.

Without hesitation, you press your lips against hers, feeling her breath wash over you in a sigh. You pull her in tighter, leaning your head back to speak,

"Sam's going stir crazy. He can have it."

A smile tugs at your lips as you see her furrowed brows on her face, you place a kiss at the center of the wrinkles, pulling back to see the scrunching of her nose. A scrunch just for you.

"Wanda Maximoff. I love you. And I'm not losing you twice."

Without warning, her lips smash against your as she wraps her arms around your shoulders as you hoist her up. Wanda's legs wrap around you as both of you are smiling so wide that you can't kiss properly. Feeling her cold hands press gently against your face, you look into those green eyes that complete you life.

"I love you." Wanda whispers as her witchcraft wraps around you once more.

#marvelxreader #marvelxreader fanfic fest 2021 #wanda #wanda maximoff #wanda marvel #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda fluff #wanda angst #wanda mcu #WOM2021

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delilahbriarwood · 2 years

Text

i still can’t stop thinking about the moment of sylas calling grog an ‘oaf’

first if all, sick burn. the man knows how to read. (allegedly)

second of all, it’s just funny to me because next to delilah, sylas is the oaf. like, yeah, there’s the running gag of him being a himbo and dumb as rocks with nothing but charisma to his name, and on a more serious note i don’t actually think the contrast is so stark but the contrast is... definitely there.

going off of pure mechanics, on the usual scale of 1-20 delilah's intelligence score translates to 22. (i say translates to, because matt said she has a character sheet but we don’t know if the format is a monster stat block or a traditional character sheet and matt is still too much of a coward to share it DESPITE SAYING HE WOULD, so we just don’t know the specifics other than what we can decrypt from passing combat comments that actually have numeric values to work with.)

twenty-two. i mean, yes, very much doable, even for a PC. also just because the DM does whatever the hell they want. but still. that’s two over the usual cap. she’s out there just galaxy braining life.

and then, there you have sylas. the man who still asks his wife “delilah, what are you doing?” as she drags a corpse across the floor and dumps it in the center of a ritual circle. after YEARS of doing this shit. you’d think he’s caught on by now.

i know, i know, it was a set up for delilah’s iconic “protecting you” line, the sole interpretation shouldn’t be sylas just being confused 24/7 but going along with it anyway because he’s content to see his hot necromancer wife live her best life slashing throats and chanting in tongues. (but it’s more fun that way.)

where i’m going with all this is the joy of the concept that a relationship this devoted and passionate could flourish between them. i mean, bonds like that take time, energy, effort. conversation. is sylas ever going to tell delilah anything remotely intellectual that she doesn’t already know? probably not. and yet. here we are. he still has her attention.

kind of reminds me of romancing scott in monster prom, really. he has so little to offer in the ways of saying anything useful, but the longer he blabbers on the more you appreciate his simplicity.

i mean, there’s a certain amount of purity to how readily sylas seems to accept that he’s just not on the same level of brainpower. there’s no divide or underlying competition to their dynamic, he does what he’s good at and she does what she’s good at and together they just happen to cover all bases. let us not forget that sylas isn’t just a sweet talker, but a formidable soldier as well.

i’m just enamored with the idea of delilah as a young wizard buried in books, researching, training, holed up in a study, probably forgetting to eat or drink because she’s hyperfixated on getting a certain spell just right. and then sylas pushes into the room with idk, a fucking lemon tart and some tea, probably with his body aching after hours of sparring but GOD FORBID he doesn’t spend ten full minutes kissing delilah’s hands because her joints too are hurting from going through the motions of practicing the somatics for this hot new enchantment she’s stumbled upon.

and if she’s excited to share her new findings, he will listen. he might not understand all of that arcane mumbo jumbo, but he’ll be the soundboard for her enthusiasm and look at her with so much reverence and pride because he knows she’s an unstoppable force and he’s there to support her through all her exploits.

or, you know, maybe a complex conversation is the precise last thing she seeks after a day of running her mind on full capacity. maybe she’s extremely relieved to have him show up and take her into his arms and just talk about his day. he’ll tell her a story about that one guy who strapped his armor up the wrong way around (totally wasn’t him) and then some squire tripping over their own feet. he’ll try to make her laugh, and cheekily ease her out of a state of being on high alert, so her lovely brain can rest.

idk man, i just really fuckin’ love the briarwoods.

#sylas briarwood #delilah briarwood #[ it's loving husband of the century sylas briarwood hours again ]#[ i just need to scream ]#[ OTP ] we're taking over this neighborhood ;;

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burialapplicant · 3 years

Text

Musicman: the GazettE’s URUHA (Gt) and REITA (Ba) discuss their first album MASS in 3 years, LIVES and thoughts on their fans (May 27 2021)

Edited by @sillygirldisco

Please feel free to send a message if there are any mistakes or if you have suggestions on improving the translation. Please credit if posting elsewhere.

-Do you feel the 10th album has become a special work for the band, different from anything you’ve done before due to the unexpected Corona disaster?

REITA: No, I didn’t feel that it was any different. It’s more like an evolution from NINTH (released June 2018), I think it’s quite catchy actually.

-Certainly, I felt that it was easy to listen to in a good way, as if it would lean on the listener.

URUHA: Aah, that may be the case. To clean it up, we tried to make it easier to comprehend and communicate by eliminating as many expressions that may seem difficult to understand. I think that kind of feeling is more present in the band. It’s not only in the songs but also the announcements we make as a band, "What’s the point if the meaning isn’t conveyed?"

REITA: Though, we didn’t do anything special just because it was our 10th album.

-Maybe, you didn’t realize it was the 10th album…

URUHA: That’s not true! The last title was NINTH (laughs).

-Excuse me (laughs). However, with your 18th anniversary concert on March 10th cancelled, and the 20th anniversary coming up next year, did you ever feel frustrated with the way things had turned out? For example, "It's bad luck"?

REITA: No, I think we’re lucky. We already planned to make an album after the March live, we’re quite lucky compared to other artists

URUHA: I agree. Of course, it would be crazy to say that it hasn't affected us at all, there have been times when we had to do things remotely that we originally planned to do in person.

-Then, was it hard to see the members?

REITA: After discussing the cancellation of the 18th anniversary live, we probably didn't see each other for about a month and a half. It was at the second song selection meeting or something like that when we met after a long time, that's when the lead song “BLINDING HOPE” came out.

URUHA: But for recordings, we went into the studio.

REITA: We recorded string instruments at home, only drums and vocals were recorded in the studio. So the drums were being recorded while the string section was working out the phrases, it was a precious time to see everyone. The rest of the time we wouldn't see each other.

-On Reita’s birthday, Uruha wrote "Congratulations!!” I first thought that he may have not met with you because he took the trouble to write it [on the blog], but I guess he did.

URUHA: It's true that I don't usually write "congratulations" to the members on their birthdays but because of Corona I was so out of touch with the world… So I decided to write a bit. (laughs).

REITA: You just didn't have anything to write about! (laughs).

URUHA: If you stay at home all the time, you really have nothing to write about. I don't write about my personal life and I don't have anything to write about unless there's something going on as a band… Sorry, that's just an excuse.

-No, not at all (laughs). What did you do during the stay home period apart from making the album?

REITA: I didn't really watch movies or read that many books. Well, I mainly did physical training. I don’t wanna be out of shape whenever the next live is. Of course, I have more time to practice the bass. The more time I have, the more I watch YouTube and the more equipment I buy to prepare for recording, the more time I spend playing the bass.

URUHA: I used to only watch music videos on YouTube, but after the current situation, I became interested in news related things, generally speaking, I feel like I spend a lot of time watching YouTube. Even if it's the same thing, it’s completely different when the point of view changes, and it's very interesting! It's especially easy to get information that's useful for you, isn't it? For example, if I hear that “The hypertension standard is being unfairly lowered in order to sell drugs,” I think, "Oh, what?" because my blood pressure is quite high.* That's what scares me.

REITA: No no, you’re just too expensive!* (laughs)

* @sillygirldisco T/N: Reita is making a pun. He called Uruha 高い which could be translated as high, expensive, or tall.

-People tend to believe only what is convenient for them, right? Your new album MASS was born in the midst of all this and it has a stronger message than ever before, but has the concept of creating an album and the way of selecting songs changed from the original routine? Or did RUKI explain the lyrics to each song?

URUHA: It’s not like that. The original songs are basically RUKI’s, we tried to make something better and the consensus was that it would be best to include the songs that he had made. In the beginning stages there were already phrases and songs, so it was nearly done, he didn't have to explain what the song was about and how he wanted it to be played. It’s all about how you feel.

REITA: When we're in pre-production and each of us has made a phrase, he'll say, "Can you do this a bit more?” But he doesn't tell us what to do from the beginning.

URUHA: Yea. He’s quite particular about things that it makes me determined to go “This is it!” but he doesn’t push it. It’s more like “If you have any better ideas, give them.”

-I see. So the first song that was made is the lead song “BLINDING HOPE” which opens the album following the SE.

URUHA: That’s right. Normally when you're writing the lead song for a new album, there's a certain amount of pressure and it’s easy to lose focus, isn’t it? In fact, I'm the type of person who tends to fall into a situation where I don't feel "unique" as a result. But then, RUKI would come up with something and go, "This is it!” I think that’s what is interesting about RUKI. In other words, it's the GazettE’s way, it's straightforward and rather special, but it's the fact that we can take it to a place where we feel it’s safe without hesitation that makes it impossible for an ordinary mind to do. When we heard “BLINDING HOPE” we were all like, "Ooh..."

REITA: From the moment the song started, I knew that it was a song that we should shoot a music video for just like the last album’s lead song Falling. I could already imagine the video being made.

-It starts with a shocking scene of a woman jumping off a building who continues running in search of light… Did RUKI also come up with the idea for the music video?

REITA: That’s right. I was moved to see the result myself, or rather shocked. The music video is quite long before the song starts, we've tried to make it dramatic in the past but this time we were able to create a storyline that goes even deeper. But, the filming was… hard, wasn't it?

URUHA: Yea. It was cold since we were mainly shooting in the basement of an abandoned hotel! We also did artist photos in the same place, so we were doing that over several days.

-I didn't know you had such a hard time. So, apart from the lead song, which other songs made a particularly strong impression on you?

URUHA: I was excited about the 8th song, “MOMENT,” when RUKI gave me a chance to listen to the instrumental and the first part of the A melody. There were pop ballads or acoustic ballads in the past but with a rock feeling to them. We haven’t produced a song like this where we went all out, so it was fun to put all our energy into it.

REITA: Personally I thought “Ooh!” with the 4th song, “NOX.” There’s a medium “on and off” tempo, it’s ambiguous and something that we don't often do as a band, but this time we got it right. Especially during lives, it’s that kind of song where the importance of the rhythm section comes out, if I can carry that tempo it’ll become another weapon in my arsenal. I also like dark songs so the 6th song “DAKU” is...

URUHA: DAKU is dark, right?*

*Uruha makes a pun with the similar pronunciation of DAKU and dark (daku)「「濁」と“ダーク”」

REITA: Not at all! (laughs). I can picture stage lighting myself now. Surprisingly, rather than high intensity songs, I’m looking forward to the smoother ones because they’re more challenging to play live.

-Speaking of lives, the album closes with “LAST SONG” which depicts the everlasting desire to perform lives and it’s very moving.

URUHA: “LAST SONG” was written during the demo, it’s a song that has a strong message for the fans and represents our wishes. The song is catchy and straightforward, it’s easy to listen to. A relaxed feeling at the end of the live… A kind of song that makes me want to share that safe space as soon as possible. It’s a moving song, the approach is stylish and modern, for example the intro contains EDM vocal chops.

REITA: From the first arpeggio, the floor tom and then the kick goes quickly, you can already feel “the last song is starting!” At that point I already had a feeling it’s going to be a live that will give you goosebumps.

-So the word LAST in the title in a sense means it will be the LAST song played at a live?

REITA: Originally the title was LAST. It was also meant to be placed at the end of the album so as a result the title became “LAST SONG.”

URUHA: LAST was there since the beginning of the album, so it didn’t feel strange.

REITA: Well, if the temporary title was never LAST and we suddenly named the song “LAST SONG” we would’ve thought “Wait, what’s ending?” (laughs).

-I’m relieved. So at what stage did you decide on the album title MASS?

REITA: I think RUKI told us around the time the lead song was done.

URUHA: NINTH was decided late but it was quite early this time.

REITA: Oh that’s right. But DOGMA (The 8th album released August 2015) had a title since the start, it depends on the album. I asked RUKI “What does MASS mean?” He said “It’s 質量 (shitsuryo)* or something like that” so I was like “Aah, I get it.” I think it gives an impression of things coming together.**

*I assume this is because Reita didn’t understand the English word “mass” so RUKI explained it to him using the Japanese word, which is in it’s literal translation is also “mass”. **@sillygirldisco T/N: Reita says 集まってる (which means "to come together"), so I think he's saying that MASS gives the impressions of something accumulating a lot of 質量. Like, the title has something to do with pulling things together.

URUHA: After all, I think what we wanted to convey wasn’t very conceptual like DOGMA but more so the foundation of the band. It’s the evolution of the band.

-In a way, the GazettE itself was the theme. However, I felt it was typical of the GazettE that they were so open about their feelings when it came to lives and packed in songs that would do great live. There are many bands that release albums for the sake of listeners since they can’t hold the same kind of firey lives as before. Ultimately, I want to know if you’re going to do lives once things are better.

REITA: Well, I would say we're not in as much of a hurry as other bands, but we're talking about doing it in a situation where we're ready. We can’t say for sure when that may be due to the Corona situation.

URUHA: Of course, I think we’re all a bit nervous about being forgotten. But we don’t have that much of a range so we can’t just say “If a live is possible, let’s do it in any shape or form!” If we’re unable to express what the fans want and what we want then there is no point in doing it at all. But it’s not that we won’t do it unless the seats are full. Even at 50% we would.

-Is it more about the style than number of people?

URUHA: Right. I wouldn’t change my style though. It’s a waste of time to force yourself to do something like that.

REITA: So, I think it would be okay if headbanging and jumping were allowed, but I want to avoid a situation where we have to cancel a live we decided on holding.

URUHA: Also, we never experienced a live during Corona so I think the big thing is how will we feel when we do it?

-I've heard that the louder the audience cheers at a live concert, the more uncomfortable it feels. Even when members appeared on stage they were applauded instead of called out.

URUHA: Then I’ll have to ask to turn up the volume of the SE (laughs).

REITA: Though, when the fans want to speak up but can't, they will try to make it more exciting by applauding.

URUHA: If you’re excited you say “Wow!” It should be easy to express that without a voice. Maybe.

REITA: Right. I think you will feel that feeling somehow. Us as well.

-By the way, are you thinking of live streaming?

REITA: I haven’t thought about it. For over a year no one has suggested “Let’s do a live stream” So maybe they don’t want to (laughs).

-The style is based on fans, right? Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the band's formation, how do you feel about the fact that the band has been together for 20 years?

REITA: We've been together as the GazettE for a long time, it all went by so fast. I would like [for us] to continue in a way that people will feel that time has passed before they knew it. I want to be that kind of band.

URUHA: Well, when I first started, I was enthusiastic like, "Let's keep playing in a band even when we’re old!" So when I think about it, we still have a long way to go and the future will be even harder. I’d like to see how much more I can do even when I can’t move my body anymore.

-We can predict you're ok to keep going for another 30 years.

URUHA: That’s right. Well, as long as no one dies (laughs).

REITA: The only thing I’m worried about is whether KAI will be able to hit both bass pedals.

-For the 20th anniversary, is there anything you're planning or want to accomplish before then?

REITA: Well, live shows would be ideal, right? September 2019 was the last time we held a live so my goal now is to do another. Really, I have a personal goal to show the GazettE in an angry state. Since time stopped a year and a half ago so of course, the movement and the aura that we create is even more... sharper than before.

URUHA: Idiot (laughs).

-Basically, it’s not short nor aggressive.

REITA: That’s right. To show that kind of performance, I have to train hard.

-Uruha, do you also train your body?

URUHA: No, not at all.

REITA: He said, "I'll do it when the live is decided." It's too late! Even if you do it after it's decided!

URUHA: It's a bit of an excuse but no matter how much running I do, on the first day of a tour I always put in a lot of unnecessary effort and I get really tired. In my case, if I don’t feel comfortable I’ll get overwhelmed, so if I first identify the phrases I’m not good at and work on them, I’ll be able to do it without straining myself. I have yet to play through songs off the album, but as I practice I have a feeling I’m going to find more and more phrases I’m not good at, this time I will finish them at home before going into the studio.

-For the fans, the next live will be the one they have been waiting for, the first live show in two years, everyone will be expecting to see the GazettE that has evolved over the past two years.

URUHA: But if I can't show that... It's really bad, isn't it? "What the hell were you doing all this time!"

-Then, do you prefer performing one live or a tour?

URUHA: A complete tour. That’s what I wanna do.

REITA: If it’s just one live then it’s difficult to choose one place to hold it. Right now our fans are working hard, spending time on their hobbies and listening to the GazettE’s music when they’re home, in our case, the GazettE is all [us members] have. We’re more eager than ever to see our fans. We are really looking forward to meeting you.

URUHA: The next time we can hold a live, it will be in a space where we’re able to enjoy whatever we do. But don’t get spoiled. We want to create something more worthwhile and exciting than the old the GazettE, so please look forward to it.

#the gazette #uruha #reita #interviews #translations #may 2021 #2021 #burial posts

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verdantmoontruther · 3 years

Text

the anti-bkdk ramble that turned into an anti-internet ramble

i’m not like the biggest or most present bnha fan on here (i’m more about naruto personally) and i know this point has been discussed to death within the more intellectually capable circles of the fanbase, but i think we should really talk about the hypocrisy of people that excuse or ‘forgive’ bakugou’s behaviour for whatever purpose they come up with, whether it be shipping or ‘bc he’s hot’ or whatnot.

the tl;dr of what i want to say: bakugou and midoriya do not like each other. there is no evidence for that in the books or otherwise. it is unwise to view their genuine dislike as unresolved sexual tension because injecting a sexual component into bakugou’s decade-long antipathy makes for a much, much scarier bullying scenario. also, please touch grass and get a hobby outside of media consumption; i make friendship bracelets and photograph graffiti around my town. it’s very fun. take a break from the online world.

first things first: i UNDERSTAND, fully and wholeheartedly, the desire to see a queer enemies-to-lovers relationship happen in mainstream media. i may be young enough to be on the cusp between gen z and millennial, but i’m also old enough to remember when homosexuality was the weird joke paraded out on late night telly to explain a man’s bizarre behaviour, or be the shitty punchline to an equally unfunny joke. i remember feeling young and disgusted, young and scared, young and hopeless when i thought that we would never see anything remotely resembling a healthy gay relationship on tv. i didn’t even think legalised gay marriage is something that would be won in my youth. but you’re going about it the wrong way.

bakugou bullied midoriya for a long time. that is an immutable fact, and a very important aspect of both of their identities. in their childhoods, bakugou cemented midoriya into a victim role by singling him out and tormenting him. it’s important for some of you to understand that you can’t come back from that. whatever relationship they may have in the future will forever be tainted by the fact that, when bakugou knew he had the upper hand physically over midoriya, he chose to ridicule, belittle, and hurt him, and was never told by those around him that he may have been wrong for it.

it bothers me to no end that the people who will recognise how well the bnha universe fits as an allegory to the treatment of disabled people in society - which is, in my opinion, a completely astute and intelligent observation - will fail to see bakugou’s treatment of midoriya in their formative years as not abusive or ableist, but criticise a character because they said something demeaning about the quirkless population. it’s interesting because the allegory only extends to the characters and actions that are easily dealt with (cancelling a minor character for their words is very easy), but as soon as you raise the issue of physically, emotionally, and mentally abusing someone for their disability, it gets wishy washy because that’s their favourite character that we’re accusing of unsavoury behaviours. it begs the question - do you actually give a shit at all?

the reason i raise this is because fiction directly translates to real life. the things an author, screenwriter, or mangaka write about and the perspective they write about it from effect our view of ourselves and other people, especially in an industry aimed at, and mostly consumed by, the youth. that’s why i discussed what i did in the second paragraph - representation is important because it makes people feel more comfortable in their skin. and i can understand why you crave seeing yourself depicted as the hero of a story. but it also means that bad interpretations can weasel their way into the malleable minds of the young people consuming these stories: think about everything jk rowling was cancelled for. her only irish character constantly blowing things up. hook-nosed elves in love with money. werewolves preying on young boys as a metaphor for the aids epidemic.

i can’t blame horikoshi for the way that people infer his writing because there is absolutely no evidence in his writing that bakugou and midoriya harbour romantic feelings for each other, but i do know where this sentiment comes from: you kids are grasping at straws, wanting to make genuinely antagonistic characters into some sort of star-crossed romance because this is your first time being exposed to fighty blowy uppy shounen that doesn’t give a shit about love, and it worries me, because it means you begin romanticising all the wrong behaviours. if i was reading half the shit you guys like about the mythical bkdk dynamic in an actual book, it’d be raising red flags immediately. no communication. possessiveness. jealousy. entitlement. belittling. taking out their anger on each other. i’m concerned for you lot.

some of you aren’t going to like hearing this, but i think the reason we are seeing such a strong insurgence of the romanticisation of such an unhealthy relationship dynamic, apart from representation, is because being bombarded by so many stories and headlines and works in a day due to the internet has desensitised us to a lot of things. you look at a news headline about a bombing or a murder and you don’t feel anything anymore. same thing with fiction: ten years of bullying, when you have nothing from your own personal life to compare it to, doesn’t sound that bad. someone telling you to kill yourself gets brushed off like water off a duck’s back because everyone tells everyone to kts these days. having no friends is normalised because all of us people online are ‘depressed and anxious uwu no fwends’. in order to get a real hit right in the gut you need something that takes the word angst and amplifies it by a scale factor of seven million. in a culture that sensationalises pain and is devoid of empathy, midoriya’s situation is just not enough anymore.

once again idk if any of this made sense. i write what i think and if it comes out like a jumble of random letters then oh well.

#anti bakudeku #anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugou #bnha #bnha opinions

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tuber-culosis · 3 years

Text

I've been reading through a lot of radfem blogs and posts lately. and gotta say, i'm leaning a lot towards radical feminism. And im definitely gender critical.

but one topic I want to talk about in particular is the criticism of Islam.

Which I feel is totally valid considering the current state of mainstream islam and Muslims.

Mainstream Islam (is what you see on all social media, seemingly practised by a lot of Muslims) IS sexist. And homophobic. There's no use denying it, neither do I think I'm a bad Muslim for not supposedly defending my own religion. You have to recognise the flaws in your own system to improve and progress.

Then arises the question why am I still Muslim then/ why do I still practise Islam? If I recognise the way it is practised is sexist and homophobic, which are things I'm against?

The difference lies in my belief that "mainstream Islam" is much different from the root of Islam.

Many (read: a LOT, not all) modern Muslims have been influenced by ultra conservative movements that want to return Islam to the way they believe was practised during the time of the Prophet (pbuh), ie; some centuries back. This is propagated by the ideas of Salafism and Wahhabism that frankly, prevent progress, reform or any sort of growth in Muslim communities.

I personally have witnessed this in my own country, India, where women are increasingly wearing the hijab and even full body covering purdahs, not talking to the opposite gender, men not looking a woman other than their wives in the eye, etc compared to when my mother was a child, when almost all Muslim women dressed in normal comfortable clothes and there were no much gender segregations. (Gender segregation still existed to a certain degree due to conservative Indian culture ofc)

This radicalisation led to the development of ultra conservative Muslims who enforce sexist, homophobic and separatist policies in the name of God.

They claim to want to return to "true Islam" but they add so many unnecessary rules and regulations you have to follow in order to be a "true Muslim" that are almost so impossible to follow I can vouch I have unconciously broken like 50 of them in one day maybe. These "laws" are derived from:

1. The hadith

2. Arab culture

3. Poor translation of the Quran to fit these radical ideals.

Explaining each of these in a little more detail,

1. A lot of practising Muslims might come at me for this one, but I feel that considering the hadith to be a holy source of guidance and believing everything in the Hadith when there are so many contradictions and logical fallacies, is foolish.

For those who have no clue what the hadith is, Islam basically has the Qur'an, which is, as we believe, a holy book revealed by God to the Prophet (pbuh), which acts as divine guidance on how to live life as a good person. It has rules, suggestions, and guidance to take desicions on a lot of everyday matters we face. It was a godsend (hehe pun fully intended) to women, who weren't even allowed to own property back then. Muslims believe that the Quran is guaranteed againt corruption by God, as revealed in one of the verses. Therefore, to a believer, it is THE book to consult, and the verses will never change, no matter how many years pass. There's actually a really interesting way the Quran is coded, so people can know if it has been tampered with or not, if anyone is interested. But the bottom line is, for a Muslim, the verses of Quran cannot be challenged. There are various INTERPRETATIONS of said verses, but the core Arabic text is the same.

Now there is a secondary source of guidance in the form of Hadith, which is literature that claims to record things the Prophet (pbuh) has said in his lifetime. The problem I find, along with other hadith critics, is that it was compiled much later after the death of the Prophet. Muslims argue that these hadiths were passed down in a proper recorded chain of transmitters that can assure the message hasn't been altered or tampered with. The problem is, that the standard used then was just how reliable was a person's memory and how trustworthy they were, and they did not actually judge the actual content of the hadith. So even if a hadith hypothetically said "Kill all the disbelievers", (which, fyi, it does NOT) and it had a reliable chain of recorders, it would be accepted as "sahih" (trustworthy) hadith, even though it clearly goes against the guidelines of the Quran, where it says there shall be no compulsion in religion (which implies you cannot just murder anyone who refuses to believe/ believes another religion). If one actually examined the content of this imaginary hadith, it would be easy to see it's tampered with by people with or without malicious intent (for eg, it might've actually been "You can kill the disbelievers ONLY if they attack you and will not leave you and your family alone") or some may not even remotely be the words of the Prophet, as he only followed the Quran.

Also, the integrity of the Hadith isn't guaranteed by God anywhere in the Quran. To know more about this, I suggest you read this link , and this one.

So yeah, I take hadith with a (large) grain of salt. So I will not be including them in my discussion obviously.

Now a lot of these hadith have been fabricated, as established, or reflect something that was applicable specifically in that time and setting, seeing that the Prophet was an ordinary man who couldn't predict the future or know about all the different cultures of the world.

So even if the headscarf was a part of Arabian attire, that doesn't mean it has to be assimilated into our cultures now. Just because prostitutes used to pluck all their eyebrows out to signify that they are prostitutes (sex work is forbidden in Islam, because of the negative impact on women and society), doesn't mean that women are not allowed to pluck their eyebrows now.

Following these hadith blindly without considering for a moment that hey, these might be outdated, seeing it isn't meant for all time periods like the Quran, and half of these contradict themselves, maybe we shouldn't consider this as an authority on rules in Islam. Personally, I don't believe anything is forbidden that is mentioned as such solely in the Hadith, and not in the Quran.

But the staunch belief in all of these Hadith leads to micromanaging of women, and literally everyone else. Few ridiculous examples include:

women can't pluck their eyebrows

men can't wear silk or gold, and they need to grow beards

music and dance is forbidden (seriously???)

the Prophet married a literal child of nine years (no do not try to justify it as "it was acceptable back then". According to the Qur'an it wasn't. Girls had to be mature enough to reject or agree to marriages and literal children can't do that. There is plenty of research to prove that Aisha (ra), his wife, was at the very least 19 or 20. Again a case of unreliable and maybe purposefully manipulated Hadith. Scholars and people who uphold the theory that Aisha was 9, and hence, child marriage is legal are pedophiles through and through)

I feel that if anything, hadith should be considered with the authority of historical commentary, giving us more context to the times, and should never be blindly trusted just because a lot of scholars say it is a "sahih" (trusted) hadith.

Also a main feature of Islam is that you don't need an extra priest (no offence to religions who have priests) or a scholar to tell you things and intervene with God for you. You have a holy book, your own common sense and humanity, and you pray to establish a connection with God. Scholars are secondary OPINIONS who can provide insight from their knowledge and research to people who want it, but by no means any authority on things, just like hadith.

2. Arab culture and society, especially back the times that radicals want to emulate, was heavily patriarchal. Islam gave women rights and protection, but they were still limited by the cultural norms of that era.

What these people actually want is to return society to Arabic culture in that time period. (Exhibit A: the abaya/purdah for women and khandoorah for men. exhibit B: sex-segregated spaces)

Back then, women were expected to be caretakers and mothers, and men were expected to be the strong masculine protector.

Enforcing said cultural norms into modern day Islam is ridiculous. Saying that women rarely left the house back then, hence women shouldn't leave their houses now is the same as saying there weren't phones back then, so I shouldn't use one now. Would you ever give up your phones? So how about we do the same to women's autonomy and freedom? Adapt to modern times like regular humans?

If women were meant to stay at home, and meant to just rear children, and never meant to be seen in public, and never meant to be seen by the opposite sex, as extremists say "is God's will", then why is none of this found in the Quran? Do you seriously believe that God, describe multiple times as All-forgiving and generous and kind, would ever persecute women to such a fate? If you do believe that, then maybe you need to re-examine in the nature of God that you believe in. Also if you tell me the "it's for their safety" gimmick, I will flip out. It has been proved multiple times that a woman's dressing has nothing whatsoever to do with why men rape.

Sure, Islam advocates for modesty in dressing, for both sexes. Both are called to not stare rudely (many Muslim men seem to forget that part of the verse, strangely), both are advised to dress in modest, comfortable, clean and practical attire. Never once is anything remotely like "YOU'LL GO TO HELL IF YOU EXPOSE YOUR ELBOW, WOMAN". But the way modern Muslims enforce the dress code (some even going to the lengths of saying women shouldn't wear BRIGHT COLOURED CLOTHES, so as to not attract attention!!! I'm looking at you, Mufti Menk), you'd think that God says something much worse than that. Infact God pulls out Uno reverse, and encourages us to dress as beautifully as we want, especially when visiting the mosque.

3. A lot of English translations of the Quran come from Saudi Arabia. A country famous for its conservative practise of Islam. While the original Arabic text cannot be changed, a lot of these translations include information in parantheses that add "rules" based on the above mentioned factors, that a casual reader or a new Muslim who doesn't know Arabic will consider to be authentic rules of the Quran, extrapolated from the verse, and not extra additions that are often derived from hadith. A very good example of this is the headcover verse, which you can see in this link.

Even all the hostility surrounding homosexual people has been derived from cultural influences and one set of verses. From around 6000 verses, just a single set passingly mention homosexuality. Don't you think that if it truly were such a great sin, God would have explicitly forbidden it? Also why would he create such a natural variation in sexuality and then forbid it? Why isn't it forbidden for animals then? Is all-loving God that cruel to create this natural and healthy attraction in them and then explicitly forbid it when straight people get to marry and live life in bliss? (Please don't say that "God also created pedophilia, and that's natural, so by this logic shouldn't we allow that too?" because pedophilia IS NOT HEALTHY, AT ALL. IT'S IS A DISORDER. Unlike homosexuality) I'm also not picking and choosing things to fit my lifestyle, as some might say, as I am straight, and the only reason I support the LGBT community because I have basic humanity?? And they're humans who deserve rights and joy and freedom and acceptance just like the rest of us.

There have been reformed translations of Quran which examine the verse without prior bias against LGBT people, and they have presented an alternate translation, that the verse condemns sexual assault, which happened to be homosexual in the particular story. Check out this link too, which explains how closely examining the words used could change the meaning from one thing to another.

What I attempted to prove in this extremely long post is that the practise of a religion isn't necessarily the reflection of its true nature.

There are progressive open-minded people who believe in Islam because it gives them hope and solace. People who believe because core beliefs of Islam aligned with their own views and simple logic.

NOT to say there aren't religious bigots who will totally use religion to manipulate people into oppressing themselves or other people. There are, there are a LOT of people like that who call themselves "scholars". And there are a lot of people who follow these extremely harmful regressive version of Islam without critically thinking about what they are following.

I've seen a post discussing the meaning of the word Islam, which means submission to God. It said that it implies total submission, without questioning what we believe.

That is an argument used by both religious extremists to further their beliefs, and by the opposite side, who say the religion is oppressive.

I wish to present a view that Islam itself tells us to think critically, to use our brains to question everything and anything we believe. And then to arrive at our own conclusions. And if you're a decent, kind human, those beliefs maybe align with Islam (not saying that if you're not Muslim, you're horrible, that is not what I meant at all). And if the opinion between people differs, there's always logic and reasoning behind every rule that is presented in the Quran. Don't believe me? Here's the verse that tells people not to blindly follow their parents' religion. And here's a list of verses about critical thinking.

The reason we (atleast reformist Muslims) submit to God is because we questioned it, we came to the conclusion that Hey! This is right. I can submit to my Creator by, who is basically the consciousness that created everything and is the source of all goodness, love and strength, because the rules mentioned here make sense and they privde a moral framework for me to base important desicions on. They feel right. And there is logic behind everything written in this.

I don't mean to present Islam as an all-perfect amazing religion everyone should believe and that I'm right, everyone else, especially those liberal atheists who criticise my religion are wrong and WILL BURN IN HELL. I consider Islam a perfect moral framework, and that's my business only. Anyone can follow what they want and it's none of my business. In fact there is no compulsion in religion at all, and people who say Muslim or go to hell are wrong imo.

What I intended was to paint a picture of reformist Muslims who are still out there, who follow the religion because they questioned it. And not the religion as this stringent rule book we all have to follow down to a t, micromanaging every aspect of our lives and living in perpetual fear of hell, but rather this basic moral guide that teaches us tact, compassion and justice, to bring us closer to God spiritually. I wanted to show that the majority isn't always reflective of what I think is the true core of Islam.

I feel that many practises in the name of Islam are highly questionable and should be criticized, but I also want people to know that the people who seemingly represent the religion, are not representative of the entire mass of believers. That sometimes the practises you might criticize might have nothing to do with the actual religion, atleast according to some of us. It was also for fellow Muslims who might be in the same place I was a few years ago, questioning everything I had learnt was part of my religion.

This is also NOT to undermine struggles of people forced to follow Islam and its seeming requirements like hijab. This is not to claim that nope, every Muslim is fine and ok, and we're all peaceful progressive people. In fact I wish to do the exact opposite, to show that people who enforce oppressive policies in the name of Islam aren't actually backed by the religion and neither should they be backed by other Muslims. I'm also not trying to say no one should criticize Islam. Criticism helps us grow. Criticism is necessary to uncover oppression and eradicate it. So by all means, criticize.

I'm so glad I found the subreddit r/progressive_Islam when I did because it helped me a lot, and opened me to other like-minded progressive Muslims, who actively hope to counter the negative effects of Salafism and conservatism that is overtaking Islam.

So yeah, I think I covered almost everything I wanted to talk about and here's a final link that pretty much just states my position on things.

PS idk why this thingy is in different colours it just seemed cooler and less boring to read

#religion #islamicpost #radfem #gender critical #muslim #progressive #change #critical thinking #sexism #feminism #feminist #allies #humanity #extremism #womenempowerment #freewomen #headcovering #mine

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link4eva · 3 years

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Kiro’s Victory and Defeat Date Translation [CN]

Hi, y’all! I just have a couple notes just before you begin reading. I don’t actually know any Chinese so this translation was done through the power of Google Translate. Also, thanks to @cheesy09 and @keliosyfan for looking it over! ありがとう！💛

The translation below contains spoilers for a date that hasn’t been released in the ENG server yet so please don’t look below the cut if you don’t want to be spoiled.

You can read the call that comes with this date here!

Hope you enjoy!~

*Spoilers for future content below!*

On a rare sunny day, I opened all the windows in the house for some fresh air.

The wind gently fluttered the curtains, bringing in a hint of the coolness of spring.

Looking at the two tickets sitting on the table, I walked over and put them in my wallet one by one.

Just recently, Kiro and I learned that an expert street dancer from abroad was coming to Loveland City to have a “strength exchange” in an underground workshop.

The moment our eyes met, Kiro and I smiled in harmony and immediately booked two tickets.

Suddenly, there was a familiar-sounding knock on the door that interrupted my thoughts.

Before the answer was completely formed in my heart, I had already made up my mind.

As soon as I opened the door, a dazzling golden colour appeared before my eyes.

Kiro: Miss Chips!

The person standing in front of me flashed me a bright and brilliant smile which made me laugh to myself.

MC: Why did you come so early? Didn’t you say that I will see you at night?

Kiro pouted his lips, pretending to be dissatisfied, and patted my face quickly.

Kiro: Well, that’s a simple question to answer.

Kiro: Of course it was because I missed you. So, I showed up in advance.

That bright, smiling face made me lose my train of thought for a moment.

Suddenly, his eyes glanced behind me, showing an unexpected expression.

Kiro: But, behind you, Miss Chips….

Before he finished speaking, I seemed to remember something and hurriedly rushed to the living room to put away the game controllers scattered on the floor.

MC: It’s nothing. You didn’t see anything!

Kiro: I clearly saw everything!

Kiro: The messy living room, the controllers on the floor, and the dark circles under Miss Chips’ eyes….

Kiro pushed up his non-existent glasses with a serious face, analyzing every “clue” in front of him.

Kiro: So, according to my speculation, the truth is that--

Kiro: Miss Chips pulled an all-nighter last night playing games.

Hearing Kiro figure out the answer, I couldn’t help but whisper to myself.

MC: I didn’t mean to stay up that late but this game was kicking my butt.

Seeing Kiro’s confused face, I sighed and decided to confess the truth.

MC: Actually, last night, I was practising the fighting game we played together last time.

MC: Last time, I hadn’t played much and the experience wasn’t the best.

MC: So, I thought about practicing in secret. I thought it would be a lot more interesting when we played together next time.

Kiro’s eyes were surprised. He stared at the controller on the ground.

Kiro: Practicing by yourself isn’t as effective as playing with another person.

As soon as he stopped talking, he stepped forward, holding my gaze firmly in his.

Kiro: So, let me join in.

Kiro: My cute and hard-working Miss Chips~

[Second Part]

As soon as I brought over the fully charged controller, Kiro sat down on the couch with me in his arms.

MC: Eh, do you want to play like this?

I turned my head to meet Kiro’s eyes but didn’t expect to be held even tighter.

Kiro: Don’t we always play like this?

Kiro: Is Miss Chips still not used to it?

MC: But we are playing as opponents in this fighting game….

MC: It’s too hard to play this close!

Kiro: Is this too close?

Kiro: What about this?

As he asked this, he nuzzled his head lightly into my neck, his face pressed against mine.

When he became even closer, the tips of my ears began to burn uncontrollably.

MC: This is even closer than before!

The next second, he leaned back contentedly on the couch with a satisfied smile, his arms still encircling me.

Kiro: Are you ready?

Kiro: Remember, I don’t show mercy to my subordinates!

After Kiro pressed the start button, the TV entered the countdown phase.

3, 2, 1--

The living room was silent for a bit aside from the sounds of the game from the TV and the mashing of buttons.

Although I couldn’t see Kiro’s expression behind me, his state seemed to match those of the characters on screen.

The perfectly-executed combo and roundhouse kick instantly reduced my health bar by a lot.

I couldn’t help but hold my breath, hold the controller tightly and get more serious.

Although I may be at a disadvantage, probably because of all the practice the past few days, I didn’t panic.

At the same time, the combo moves that I had been waiting to use also swiftly responded at the same time.

Soon, our health bars were equal. The drawn-out battle made me want to win even more.

MC: Look at me!

Kiro: Miss Chips, be careful~

Suddenly, Kiro’s character shot up into the sky, a precursor to an even bigger move.

I immediately sounded the alarm in my head and quickly hid the moment his character fell.

Kiro: Nice!

Although I enjoyed hearing his praise, I didn’t dare take it lightly.

I held my breath and walked towards Kiro’s character, like a cheetah lurking quietly before hunting.

Suddenly, Kiro’s moves finally showed a small opening, and I quickly followed the moves that I had practiced hard over the past few days.

After triggering a series of critical strikes, his character instantly fell to the ground. A big “WIN” flashed on the screen.

I raised my hands happily but Kiro turned my body to face him and pitched my cheeks lightly. His eyes were full of joy.

MC: Yay!!!

Kiro: Miss Chips is amazing!

MC: Phew, if it weren’t for all those “make-up classes” every day recently, I’m afraid today would be another miserable defeat~

Kiro: MC’s desire to win is very strong!

MC: So is yours! You are on so many leaderboards for so many games!

Kiro held his chin pretentiously and blinked.

Kiro: This can’t be compared with the desire to win!

Kiro: As for me, I was just adhering to the principle of “perfect clearance”. So naturally, I ranked first.

MC: What you said just now….Makes me wonder if you just let me win.

I squinted my eyes and slowly approached him. He waved his hand quickly.

Kiro: I didn’t. If you lose, you lose, but….

Kiro: If I only lose to you, I will be willing.

He looked straight at me, his blue eyes gleaming.

And in such gleaming eyes, only me is reflected in them at this moment.

I nestled my body in his arms again and shook the controller.

MC: Well, should we play another round?

Kiro: Yeah, let’s play some more before we go out!

I pressed the start button excitedly and we both sat up slightly, looking at the game screen with full concentration.

When night fell, we reluctantly put down our controllers, took the tickets and prepared to go out.

(Cut to the warehouse)

After nearly an hour’s drive, we came to a warehouse in a remote suburb.

I looked back at Kiro, who was already wearing a baseball cap and helped him to lower the brim of his hat with worry.

Kiro: Don’t worry, I won’t be recognized.

Kiro: Let’s go in.

[Third Part]

Unexpectedly, there are some warehouse buildings outside. But, there is something special when you walk in.

The graffiti all over the wall shows the unique atmosphere here. The young people’s swaying to the rhythm synced perfectly with the beat.

Looking around, dozens of circles surrounded by people are scattered in various places of the warehouse. Cheers and chants also oscillated in it.

Looking around, I saw a passerby who was about to bump into me….

Kiro quickly stretched out his hand in front of me and blocked me. The passerby paused after bumping into Kiro’s arm and then walked past us.

MC: There are a lot of people here, and it seems that the expert street dancer isn’t here yet….

Kiro: Then let’s go to the side and wait for a while, alright?

I nodded and followed him to a place with fewer people.

After sitting for a bit, I didn’t expect to see several young women looking at Kiro.

I was shocked. No one would recognize Kiro, right?

Seeing the gazes of the young women continuously cast towards Kiro, I silently stepped forward and blocked his figure.

While I was thinking about countermeasures quickly, one of the men with dreadlocks had already walked in front of Kiro.

Man with dreadlocks: Hey, buddy. Seeing you up closer, is this your first time coming?

The brim of the hat blocked most of Kiro’s face, his blue eyes were also hidden in the darkness.

The brief silence made the man with dreadlocks frown. He twisted his neck and it cracked.

Man with dreadlocks: There are a lot of people who bought tickets just to have fun here. It’s really unpleasant.

Man with dreadlocks: If I’m wrong, you’re welcome to use your strength to let a few of our brothers have fun.

As the man with dreadlocks said this, his companions quietly surrounded us in a circle.

Just when I thought I was ready to stay silent again, Kiro raised his chin and said,

Kiro: These words don’t sound very inviting.

I don’t know if he was deliberately concealing his identity but Kiro’s voice was much deeper than usual.

Man with dreadlocks: Oh, I have seen people like you a lot, you are just afraid of losing~

Man with dreadlocks: After all, your girlfriend is watching. Wouldn’t your image in her heart be greatly damaged if you lose?

MC: You….

I couldn’t help but prepare to fight back and Kiro gave out a soft laugh beside me.

Kiro: It seems you didn’t understand what I said.

Man with dreadlocks: What?

Kiro’s lips raised up to make a shallow arc and slowly walked in front of the man.

Kiro: In this case, I also have my own rules.

Kiro: If you really want to “communicate”, should we place a bet?

The flickering neon lights made Kiro’s face light up. He gave off a dangerous aura.

I don’t know if they noticed Kiro’s faint provocation. The faces of the group of people became a little timid.

Man with dreadlocks: Hmph, that’s crazy!

Before he could finish speaking, one of them leaned close towards his ear while looking at Kiro at the same time.

Man: Brother, why do I feel like the more I look at this person’s face, the more he looks like Kiro?

As soon as he asked, the man with dreadlocks suddenly raised his head and laughed.

Man with dreadlocks: Him? You should go to the hospital to see the eye doctor.

Man: ….

Man with dreadlocks: Besides, even if it is, how strong can a star be? All that praise is for nothing.

Those harsh words kept echoing in my ears. My worries were gradually replaced with anger.

I can’t help but think back to the way Kiro was immersed in practice and creation for countless days and nights.

The work is polished over and over again. He only wants to show the best side of himself to everyone.

Thinking of this, I took a deep breath and couldn’t help refuting it.

MC: Do you think you can wipe out all their efforts with just one sentence?

I had been silent this whole time. I couldn’t help but stun the people around me.

MC: They will never be defeated by prejudice.

The man with dreadlocks suddenly laughed and shook his head helplessly.

Man with dreadlocks: Another girl who’s been brainwashed by celebrities….

He wanted to say something more when a cold voice sounded in the air.

Kiro: Enough nonsense.

I followed the voice and found that Kiro had reached the center of the open space. He raised his chin and ignored the person in front of him.

Kiro: What are you waiting for?

[Fourth Part]

The rules for the dance battle are simpler than I imagined. There are no restrictions for either party. The people around the scene will be the “judges”, and the side with the louder voices wins the game.

Man with dreadlocks: Brother, it’s not too late to admit defeat, you know?

Kiro shrugged indifferently as if he didn’t care about the mockery of the other party.

Kiro: Before we start, let’s decide on the “trophies” for both sides.

Man with dreadlocks: Raise the stakes all you want, you can’t win anyway.

Kiro: In that case….

Kiro stopped in the middle of speaking as if thinking of some interesting idea. He slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Kiro: After I get the CALL, you’re gonna have to admit really loudly that you love Kiro so that everyone in the building can hear you. How about it?

The man with dreadlocks was stunned as if he hadn’t expected it. I quickly smirked and asked,

MC: Isn’t that a little much?

Man with dreadlocks: How can I do that! I don’t know how to CALL. We need to change one thing.

Kiro ignored his opponent, lowered his head, and leaned towards me.

Kiro: Could I ask Miss Chips to do a demonstration of CALL?

Kiro: It’s also considered cheering for me.

His voice is as soft as a feather, slowly brushing my ears.

My body temperature rose uncontrollably and I blushed as I met his gaze.

There was a little bit of starlight hidden in those blue eyes and the corners of his lips rose slightly to form a little devilish smile.

Kiro winked, my mind trembled, and I nodded subconsciously.

MC: The friend who doesn’t know how to CALL, let me teach you.

I glanced at the man with dreadlocks, took a deep breath, shaped my hands into a horn, and shouted out loudly.

MC: Kiro, I will love you my whole life! And I will not regret it!!

My heart beats like a drum with every word.

Those shouts that had been hidden in my heart for a long time had finally poured out at this moment.

This is what I’ve always wanted to do. But, I rarely seem to be able to do it in public….

My voice caused many people to look sideways. I gradually recovered and hid behind Kiro.

Kiro: Thank you, Miss Chips. I can hear you clearly.

Kiro’s words floated past my ears and were soon drowned out by the surrounding music.

The man with dreadlocks walked to the center and made a provocative gesture to the sky to indicate the beginning of the dance battle.

He immediately began to move, and after a series of smooth waves, he drew a lot of voices from the surrounding crowd.

The rhythm became faster and faster and he finally landed on the ground with a somersault, raising his eyebrows at us with disdain.

Kiro glanced disapprovingly and then turned to face me.

Kiro: Look after this hat for me.

Before I could respond, he pulled up his sweater and hat and walked towards the center stage step-by-step, with an unclear look.

The surrounding lights are still flickering and dimming, adding a little mystery to the atmosphere at this moment.

Kiro stood in the middle of the crowd with his head down. He raised his head when the music in the background dropped the bass.

In the next second, Kiro fell straight to one side and just when I thought he was about to lose his center of gravity….

He steadily caught himself with one hand on the ground. He took advantage of the momentum to lift his feet in the air to cross and freeze, his flying necklace also crossing a beautiful parabola.

I couldn’t help holding my breath, my eyes swept across the smooth body lines and messy golden hair subconsciously.

In the end, I couldn’t look away from those azure blue eyes. They were a very determined pair of eyes.

He, at this moment, is completely different from when I was nestled in his arms that morning, making it hard to concentrate.

Suddenly, the music seemed to make things difficult for Kiro on purpose, and the rhythm suddenly became crazy and rapid.

He didn’t look the slightest bit worried. He followed the variation of the beat to improvise one brilliant move after another.

Every movement is sonorous and powerful but light at the same time. There was no sense of heaviness.

The atmosphere on the scene became more and more intense. The force of the crowd kept pushing me out until I was gradually pushed out altogether.

As I tried to squeeze back in, cheers sounded around me.

I jumped up anxiously, vaguely seeing a familiar pair of arms raised high.

The result of the dance battle seems to be obvious and I can’t help but want to eagerly witness the moment of his victory.

MC: Let me in!

My voice was instantly overwhelmed and there were many voices in my ears that wanted to compete with Kiro.

Just when I was getting a little anxious, someone held my hand tightly and the noise around me stopped instantly.

Kiro: It’s okay to compete with me, one by one.

Kiro: But, my person should have the best viewing position, right?

A cold voice sounded in the crowd. At the same time, my vision gradually widened.

Kiro: Miss Chips, keep looking at me.

MC: OK!

Even though I was a little shy to be watched by everyone, I stood not far away from him, a warm feeling filling my heart.

People who wanted to compete came up one after another and then slipped away amidst the sounds of the crowd.

Until the end, no one dared to step up, only the undulating admiration remained.

As time passed, the crowd didn’t seem to be as crowded as before. They were quietly spreading out.

Seeing that Kiro’s hair was stuck to his forehead because of sweat, I took out a tissue and wiped it.

MC: Obviously you are a person with a strong desire to win, But this morning, you pretended to be a pig and eat a tiger in front of me.*

*So I had to google this phrase here and it’s an idiom. It’s basically saying that Kiro acted weaker than he actually is in order for his opponent to lower their defense against him.

Kiro: Because the situation is different.

Although Kiro tried his best to cover it, he was still slightly out of breath.

MC: Different?

Kiro: Well, because in front of MC, I don’t need to strive for perfection in everything.

Kiro: Being with you makes me happy and helps me relax.

Kiro: But just now, everyone was looking at us. I had only one thought at that time.

Kiro looked at me seriously, his eyes brighter than ever.

Kiro: In front of the person I like, I don’t want to lose.

Kiro: I can’t lose.

As soon as his voice fell, my heart skipped a beat, my hand that was gradually moving stopped.

The sweetness and emotion in my heart were repeatedly intertwined. I looked at him and couldn’t speak for a moment.

Kiro leaned over, his line of sight aimed right towards my lips.

Kiro: Since I won, will I be rewarded by Miss Chips?

Kiro: Such as….

Without waiting for him to finish, I quickly gave him a peck on the lips, blushed and “escaped from the scene”.

Kiro: Wait, just that? Is that it?

Kiro’s voice came from behind. I snickered and continued to run forward.

I didn’t tell him, in fact, that I didn’t care about winning or losing.

Because in my heart, Kiro will always be the best and irreplaceable person.

But seeing him win the game for me, I secretly smiled in my heart and just let him have this moment.

He’s always handsome no matter what. *Phrasing was a little weird here so I hope I interpreted this right lol*

[End]

#mlqc #mlqc kiro #mlqc spoilers #mr love queen's choice #mr love game #mr love #mr love kiro #mr love dream date #date translation #kira #I'm so proud of you MC!!#SHOW YOUR MAN SOME LOVE!!#HE DESERVES IT!!!

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celiabowens · 3 years

Text

25 books recs from my 2020 reads

I’ve been wanting to make this post for a while, but I wanted to wait and see how my last reads of the year would go. Also, narrowing them down to 20 was a nope, so I just made a bigger list instead lol. I’ve tried to include a vague description of each book and the main trigger warnings and rep. I apologise in advance if I forgot anything (for trigger warnings, I suggest double checking on the site booktriggerwarnings).

Adult SFF

A Memory Called Empire: it feels like I’ve raved about this one enough but just in case: A Memory Called Empire is a space opera following an ambassador who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and a political conspiracy. It’s got brilliant world building and a nuanced and intricate reflection about culture, language and colonialism. Subtle slow burn f/f romance on the side (+ a poly relationship shown in flashbacks). TW: suicide.

Black Sun: first book in an epic fantasy series inspired by pre-columbian Americas. Great cast of characters and very interesting use of mythology + the main plot is focused on political and religious conflict and the author handles both sides of it quite well. The book has bisexual and non-binary rep, one of the main characters is blind. TW: suicide, abuse, self harm. There’s some gore, although it’s not extremely graphic.

The Sword of Kaigen: a Japanese inspired stand alone epic fantasy. The book is not focused on battle or war, although they play an important role in the plot itself, but on family dynamics and personal growth. It’s a very character driven novel, with some rather conventional elements (elemental magic) and some more original reuses of traditional fantasy tropes. TW: abuse.

Empire of Sand: first book in a duology of companion novels inspired by Mughal India. Mostly focused on religious and political conflict, although romance is heavily featured in both books. Pretty good slow burn romance in both cases. TW: abuse, slavery, torture, sexual assault, self-harm.

The Light Brigade: a rather unconventional space opera with a complex non linear narration. This is not an easy read in every possible way, but the pay off is worth it. Also it’s one of those cases in which I think it’s best to go in knowing nothing or almost nothing. TW: torture, murder, ptsd, war, gore, infectious diseases (yeah you need a strong stomach for this........).

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a coming of age story set in Mexico during the Jazz age. A bit of a lighter read, a journey-adventure featuring a god slowly becoming human, tasks to complete etc. TW: bullying.

River of Stars: more of an alternate history than pure fantasy, as most of GGK’s novels are. This one in particular was inspired by Chinese history and it’s ideally a companion to Under Heaven. Both can be read as standalones but I find their parallels and differences very interesting. I’d also recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Brightness Long Ago, by the same author. All of them revisit historical events from the point of view of rather ordinary people who find themselves in the middle of events they can’t control.

Empire of Gold: the last book in a trilogy, starting with City of Brass. The first novel is more trope-y and naive in places, but I found both the second book and the conclusion of the trilogy more nuanced and satisfying. There’s a m/m relationship on the side. TW: mass murder, torture, enslavement, abuse.

Adult SFF novella edition

The Deep: novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. The novella deals with trauma, both personal and generational one.

This Is How You Lose The Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war. Enemies to lovers f/f romance. Very character driven, don’t expect a lot of world building.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life.

YA SFF

Return of the Thief/The Queen’s Thief series in general: the last book in the queen’s thief series! Honestly just read this series it’s literally too good? It is carefully planned from start to finish and it has politics, adventures, characters with extremely questionable morals and good banter? TW: loss of a limb, torture (not extremely graphic), ptsd.

The Kingdom of Back: probably Marie Lu’s best book yet? think of the concept of “shakespeare’s sister” as explained by Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, but with the Mozart siblings. I actually had no idea Mozart had a sister prior to reading this. It’s a quite emotional read, as it shows how little opportunities women had to be recognised for their talent.

Adult Literary Fiction

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and gender. TW: war, ptsd, death.

Augustus: an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Not even remotely historically accurate, but a lot of fun to read if you’re familiar with historical accounts of that period.

A Gentleman in Moscow: following Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A peculiar novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life.

How Much of These Hills Is Gold: following two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era, the book is an adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration. TW: abuse, sexual assault, racism.

The Memory Police: published in Japan in the mid 90s, but translated recently, it’s an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories of certain objects and feelings slowly disappear.

The Nickel Boys: the book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist. TW: abuse, racism, death.

Manga/Graphic Novels

The Girl from the Other Side

Opus: very meta, much like most of Satoshi Kon’s movies. Kon actually never finished this (the magazine he was publishing it on was cancelled) and a last chapter was published after his death after his family found the sketches for it.

Oriental Piano: based on the story of the author’s grandfather, who invented a musical instrument in Beirut in the 1960s, combining Arabic music and a western musical instrument. Sort of reminiscent of Satrapi’s style.

Webtoons

Lore of Olympus (TW: sexual assault)

Clara and The Devil

Non Fiction

The Professor and the Madman: the peculiar and extraordinary tale behind the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. TW: self-harm, ptsd, war.

Honourable mentions: The Binding (TW: abuse, sexual assault, suicide. Gay rep.), The Silence of the Girls (TW: sexual assault, death, war), To Be Taught, If Fortunate (bi, ace, poly rep), The Kyoshi Novels (bi rep, f/f relationship).

#book rec #book recs #litblr #2020 reads #happy new year i guess #i read like 210 things in 2020 ain’t happening again any time soon lol

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jacaranda-bloom · 3 years

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FIC WRITER QUESTIONS

Thank you to the lovely @allwaswell16 @runaway-train-works @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @uhoh-but-yeah-alright and @evilovesyou for tagging me to answer some questions about my writing.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

901,445 (Hoping to hit the Magic Million by the end of the year!)

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

1 (One Direction)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

When Tomorrow Comes 1155

The Baby Whisperer 950

Love, Ever After 898

Harry Poppins 856

Play Me A Memory 760

More under the cut…

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh gosh. Uhm. I don’t really write angsty endings? All my fics have Happy Endings and most have epilogues to round them out and tie them up in a bow. Perhaps I’d say If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow) purely because (spoiler ahead) the epilogue is written 100 years into the future so they’ve both passed.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Interestingly, I would actually say the answer is the same as above, If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow). The epilogue is so uplifting and I cry happy tears every time I re-read it. It’s written from the POV of their granddaughter and you get to see the world they had a hand in changing for the better through her eyes, so you get a sense of how impactful their lives were on the rest of society. Oof, tearing up right now just thinking about it.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Yeah, I have actually. I really enjoy doing new takes on an existing universes, although they aren’t always the easiest thing to pull off tbh. I’m not sure which I would say is the craziest, but the hardest to write was definitely The Peter Pan/Hook AU.

Harry Poppins - Loosely based on the book/movie Mary Poppins, but without any magical aspects.

Playing To Win - Set in the Big Brother house.

The Pirate and The Piper - A Peter Pan/Hook AU which I took a lot of liberties with.

In The Still Of The Night - My Dirty Dancing AU.

A Hungry Heart - This is a Great British Bake Off AU that is due out in September for the Cliche Fic Fest!

8) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Whoa Nelly. Yeah, I do. All the time. Every fic actually. There’s only one, Exposed, the only fic I’ve published that’s not rated Explicit and doesn’t have smut. But, to be fair, the challenge was to write exactly 666 words and I still managed to get the implication in there. Plus, Louis was naked and Harry was applying body paint for the majority of the story, so like, I think I can get a free pass on that one - I tried!

In terms of what type of smut, I guess it varies depending on the story. I tend not to push the boat out too far, but I do dabble in BDSM in quite a few of my fics. A recurring theme in the comments I receive is that my smut scenes are well constructed and detailed, without being too tedious or drawn out, which is lovely feedback to get because they can be challenging to write.

9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Absolutely. Every single one.

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not often, people are usually so kind, but there have been a couple.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, quite a lot, particularly on Wattpad, all with my full consent. That said, I’m thinking of stopping this because it’s getting a bit out of hand and I’ve been feeling uncomfortable about it recently for various reasons that I won’t bore you with here.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! I don’t think it’s really my thing tbh. I get very in my head about writing and struggle even to brainstorm or share too much until I’m well into a story.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

Of the 47 fics I’ve written, there are 45 Larry, 1 Narry, and 1 Louis/Dermot O’Leary (I think mine is still the only fic with this ship hahahaa), so that’s probably a good indication of my fave writing ship.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have one lonely WIP sitting on AO3 from 2018. I keep promising myself I’ll finish it and it’s on my schedule every year, then I get distracted by other fics/fests and it gets pushed back. Plus, it needs a complete rewrite because my style has developed so much since I started it, so it’ll be a big job. Based on that, I think that the fic, in its current form, won’t ever be finished as the rewrite will completely wipe out what it was, although the underlying plot will still be there.

16) What are your writing strengths?

World building (or so I’m often told). I write very visually and people often say they can imagine the scene exactly, or that it’s like a movie, or that they think it’s actually a real place I’m describing, when most of the time it absolutely isn’t, it’s just something I’ve created in my weird brain.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue (although my lovely beta disagrees) and telling rather than showing. They’re both things I’m actively working on.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve never really considered it. It’s not something I’d shy away from necessarily, but it’s just never come up.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

One Direction. First and only.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Wow. This is really tough because it changes over time. I find that once I’ve finished a fic I don’t want to revisit it for a few months because I’m kind of over it. But I find comfort in them after a while, like I get to go back to that happy place and immerse myself in that world and the characters again, similar to catching up with an old friend. It’s familiar. I think I also like different stories for different reasons and I’m drawn to various ones depending on my mood. My top 3 (although, ask me next week and the list will probably be completely different!) would probably be:

1. If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow). Written for the hybrid fic fest (a fest I created just for this fic lol). It’s not everyone’s cup of tea due to the hybrid aspect, but it’s one of the stories I feel is the most rounded from a character development perspective and the world building was pretty epic, if I can be so bold as to throw that out there myself!

2. No Going Back. One of my Big Bangs from 2020. I adore the way their relationship develops in this fic and the setting (as remote lighthouse keepers) was such a lot of fun to write. Plus I got to collaborate with an amazing artist who created an entire website as an accompanying travel blog which was truly wonderful.

3. From The Heart. This is a series I wrote for wordplay back in 2019. I had no idea that what I was doing was so unusual and so meta by having Louis essentially write for the equivalent of wordplay in the fic. It was such an fun way to share my writing process and challenges I encounter (exactly how many synonyms tabs do I have open at any one time?!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the outcome (although getting there was definitely a struggle).

This was really fun and thanks to anyone who made it this far! Writing brings me so much joy and is a wonderful outlet for all the imaginings in my head, so I appreciate everyone who supports me and joins me on that journey.

I’m pretty late with this and I’m not sure who has already done it but I’ll tag @fallinglikethis @homosociallyyours @lululawrence @reminiscingintherain and @beau-soleil-louis if they’d like to do this and haven’t already.

#August 13 2021 #fic writer questions #tag games #this was really fun!

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