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#zero motivation to complete anything in my usual style
fruitsofhell · 2 years
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I have a Kirby Heardle Thread on Twitter so sometimes I go off about how much I love this series' music, here’s 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 so far (with a lot more added in lol):
     Kirby finales have a distinct structure that is kiiinda still being followed in KatFL and it started with K64. If you were wondering why the boss theme medley at the concert skipped everything from the 2000s after it, its probably cause this structure is the pride of Kirby OSTs now.      The structure is that the first or penultimate bosses have wild high-energy themes done by Ishikawa, and then the last song for the grand final boss battle is an orchestral song (usually) done by Ando. (EX: Miracle Matter & Zero-2, Under My Control & CROWNED, Sullen Grace & FLOWERED, Crazy Rolling in Money & VS Star Dream, LA FOLLIA D'AMORE & Star-Conquering Traveler Suite, The Raging Lion Roars and/or Hunted By the Beast & Roche Limit). This is an awesome staple of Kirby games cause it compliments the common motif of their being a greater cosmic evil behind the motives of the main villain of the plot, and it also means we gets to have two really cool brands of Kirby music for the finale: Ishikawa's heart pumping bangers, and Ando's beautiful motif-dense orchestral compositions. 
     Technically my favorite pre-final boss theme by itself is Crazy Rolling in Money because it’s incredibly dynamic and moody in a way that portrays Haltmann’s emptiness and madness better than the other themes do for their subjects in my opinion. But I think as a combo, La Follia D’Amore and the Void Termina Suite are some grade A gourmet shit!      Hyness' fight is led up to with the eerie echo of Hall of Worship leading you to the fight - a twisted version of Friendly Fields which is a hint to the parallel between the Jamba and the Star Allies. It compliments Hyness’s slow hollow mannerisms that give you the impression that this great “Officiant of Doom” has completely lost himself (with the lore dump outburst hinting at his underlying hysteria). That energy is carried with more energy into Puppet Offering which gives off an even stronger vibe of his hollowness before you get into the second phase.      The way he loses it when his veil is knocked off, him draining the life out of the mages till they turn to stone and using them like goddamn BASEBALL BATS as the music just goes crazy in the background - ITS JUST SO GOOD!! It’s still the darkest the series has ever gotten and it is so earned with the way Hyness’ mad screeching blends with the frantic and desperate La Follia D’Amore! They took a lot of care to make sure Hyness' voice (amazingly provided by Shigeru Chiba, a big shot VA in Japan) paired perfectly with the music too, and boy does it deliver. La Follia’s barely the same without Hyness’ voice in the background. Everything about that scene builds up the shock of it so damn well, and even after I’ve watched it a thousand times and have gotten over the “woo so dark” of it, its just really fucking powerful. Hyness’ madness and desperation comes to full boil in this fight as he throws LITERALLY EVERYTHING - even the people he once loved - at you to make sure his wishes are seen through. And coming after the build up and first phase that blends that gamelan style into the Ishikawa-core composition is just a masterful, seamless transition - mwah!
     And after all that into the Void Suite! IDFC if The Star Conquering Traveler Suite comes off as too mellow or boring or whatever to you, if you don't like it you are my enemy!! It is a bee-a-utiful composition and I couldn't imagine anything better for Void Termina. It perfectly encapsulates the fight of a false God of Destruction's first steps. (Also fucking love the movement names, ty Kumazaki.) The super dramatic and orchestral theme fits the fact that Void is not just another greater evil as in other games like a corrupted crown or mad computer, but a God! Specifically a God not from it's own definition and understanding, but from the weighty title placed upon it by it's creators -by isolated and lost people who turned to darkness for catharsis and salvation. You learn later that the true nature of Void Termina is not the God the Jamba thought it to be, but the fact that it is by the power of their faith makes the painfully grandiosity of the suite fit perfectly! If there is no true “God(s)” in the Kirby universe, these people MADE one, physically and metaphorically. And that still gives it more power and merit than anything you’ve faced so far, and its gonna exude all that godliness and power the whole battle - UNTIL YOU GET TO ITS CORE! UNTIL YOU GET TO ASTRAL BIRTH VOID!      SPARKLING STAR STARTS WITH THE SAME CRAZY FINAL BOSS MUSIC BUT THE MORE YOU FIGHT IT THE MORE KIRBY REALIZES WHAT IT REALLY IS!! He realizes Void Termina was not some inherently malevolent being, but a creature with no other choices acting out! And he sees how it was so much like him, how if it could be given a second chance the poor lil godlet could’ve been better. AND THATS WHEN THE MUSIC GETS ALL SOMBER AND SHIT AND THE GREEN GREENS KICKS IN ON THE PIANO! AND AS KIRBY REALIZES THAT VOID AND HIM REALLY DO COME FROM THE SAME ORIGIN THE FUCKING DISTORTED CHIPTUNE KICKS IN!!!!!!!!! AND EVERY LOOP IT BECOMES CLEARER AND CLEARER AS KIRBY GETS CLOSER AND CLOSER TO SAVING IT - TO GIVING VOID A NEW BEGINNING!      And Kirby finally gets to Astral Void, to the core of Void Termina and the origin of himself as well, and he breaks through! And Astral Void glows blinding white and explodes with a smile on it's face in a shower of friend hearts....... Kirby Star Allies is SO fucking good man...
     Good-at-best gameplay and generally disappointing ass OST, but KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK AND INTO THE STRATOSPHERE with the storytelling and finale!       La Follia D’Amore and Star Conquering Traveler work together on this and tell an amazing musical story about how the Jamba were driven to insanity. How this group that once considered themselves family deteriorated and only wished to spread more hate and corruption. And collected that within themselves and into a vessel that they called a God. But really it was just a false idol, and a being representing the limitless possibilities of emotional connection. They brought it to life filled with crazed spite and grief, they propped it up as a destroyer of worlds and it fed on that because it had no way else to live. But Kirby and his friends combated that with the power of positive connection, of bonds built on magic and friendship and rainbows and heart. And through the limitless potential of Void, Kirby reached out and made an ally out of the unconquerable depths. Because KIRBY IS A FRIEND DOGGUMMIT, and even the eldritch horrors and its cultist worshippers are invited to the Sunday picnic!!!      Fucking love KSA... I wish it was technically better and more ffun but it is still an amazing finale and full of so much love. It’s maddeningly dense with envirornmental and musical storytelling I could talk about it for AGES.
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spikecrayon89 · 2 years
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fifty-percent-weeb · 2 years
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Giogio a little cray cray 🥰
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thewildomega · 3 years
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Star in the Sand Final Chapter
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It should have come as no surprise to you that Croc would plan your wedding out for only a month after he proposed to you. Wasn't like there was much to do anyway the both of you agreeing on a small, intimate affair. Really he probably would have married you the following week but there was still your dress and such to get in order so he had waited. Plus you had something you wanted to get made for him. Now however the day was here and as you looked over your reflection a smile came to your face. While you never thought you would be pregnant on your wedding day, well you never thought you would be getting married in the first place but here you were and you had to say you were quite happy with the way you looked.
Your white lace dress flowed wonderfully and you again had to give Croc props when he helped you pick out the style of the dress. He hadn't been amused when you wouldn't let him see it for himself but he eventually got over it. Your hair and makeup were simple but elegant with your hair left down in a waterfall braid. As far as jewelry went you wore the necklace and ear rings Croc had given you along with your engagement ring.
"Oh y/n/n you look so beautiful. Mr. Zero sure is a lucky man." Bentham spoke with both hands on his cheeks as he smiled at the bride.
Turning to see Bon standing there you smiled at him, a blush coming to your cheeks. Even though he was simply walking you to join you husband at the alter location he had dressed to impress. Walking over to him you took a deep breath as he smiled at you. Thinking back on the last year you couldn't help the emotions from taking over. Without a word you leaned forward to hug your friend.
"Oh." Standing there for a moment Bentham blinked and then moved to return her hug.
"Thank you Bon, truly. If it wasn't for you I would still be in that awful place... hell I'd probably be dead by now. You saved me, you saved us and because of you I'm getting ready to marry the love of my life. I get to have a family, my child gets to have a family. Thank you."
Rendered speechless he just stood there until he hummed and smiled. Giving the woman a small squeeze he pulled back to look down at her, rubbing her arms. "You are more than welcome my friend. Now no more tears, you will ruin your make up." he chuckled as she gave a light giggle. Dabbing the tears from her eyes with his handkerchief he tucked it away and held out his arm. "Ready to become Mrs. Crocodile? I snuck a peek at him earlier and I dare do say he does look even more handsome than usual."
Smiling you nodded and took the queen's arm.
.................................
Standing on top of the cliffside he stared out at the sun setting on the sea, the light breeze blowing his hair. He was thankful the weather seemed to be on his side today, not too cold, not too hot. Looking up to the sky he even noticed a few stars starting to pop out and grinned. Feeling a presence he looked to see Daz making his way over to him and rose a brow at his attire.
"What? Are you the only one allowed to dress nicely?" Daz spoke in his deep voice, glancing down to his black dress shirt and black dress pants.
Seeing he had left the first three buttons undone he huffed. "You clean up well." was all he said around his cigar.
The two men continued standing in a comfortable silence until he saw his first mate smile softly at something behind him. Quickly tossing out his cigar to the sea bellow he looked behind him and felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes locked on his bride. He was sure in that moment he had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life. While he knew her dress was going to be lace he didn't know it would look so damn good on her. Even being pregnant she was stunning. As she was led to him he saw knew Bentham was smiling like the idiot he was but paid him no mind, all his attention on his soon to be wife.
Walking up the hill you saw him before he saw you. Even though he was facing away from you you felt a large smile split your face at how good he looked. Even more so with a breathtaking backdrop like the one he had. As he turned to look your way you felt your heart flutter, Bentham was right he was even more handsome than usual. Black dress pants that before you saw shaped his ass perfectly were tailored to perfection. A white dress shirt tucked into his pants than had the first button undone in a more casual look that he knew you loved so. To top it all off he had on his black suit jacket, a single y/f/f pinned to the pocket. Damn what a lucky girl you were.
Meeting her eyes he grinned at how much they were shinning. Holding out his hand for her to take he felt her place her small hand in his as she came to stand in front of him. Swallowing hard when just for a moment he thought of how close he had been to never having this moment he gave her hand a small squeeze and saw her smile at him. Nodding to Daz when he asked if they were ready to begin he stroked the top of her hand with his thumb.
"A Soulmate is the one person who's love is powerful enough to motivate you to meet your soul. To do the emotion work of self discovery, of awaking so you can change for the better...."
Listening as Daz spoke of the both of you becoming one you repeated your vows to love and care for Crocodile until the end of your days. "....and then after that."
Grinning at her added part he took his turn repeating the vows of marriage. "...Forever with you simply will not be enough, but from this day forward, I vow to make the most of every moment." he added and saw her smile up at him so sweet it made him feel like a young man again. As it came time for the rings he slipped the wedding band he had made to match her engagement ring on her finger, feeling a sense of pride at the way it looked on her finger. "With this ring I thee wed." he spoke in a deep voice. When Daz brought up his ring he went shook his head but heard his star speak first.
"With this ring I thee wed." you said in a soft voice, taking the ring you had made for him off your thumb where you had it hidden and slipping it onto his right ring finger.
Snapping his eyes down to the ring she had pushed onto his finger he knit his brows a little. He wasn't expecting to wear a wedding ring, he didn't have a left hand and wedding rings were worn on one's left ring finger. However she seemed to have other plans. Seeing the gold ring there he looked back up to her and saw her smiling lovingly a him and grinned.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. Captain, you may kiss your bride."
Without a moment's hesitation he leaned down to press his lips to hers, wrapping his left arm around her to rest his hook on her side while his hand moved to cup the back of her head. He didn't know wither it was his imagination or not but as they sealed their marriage he felt the binding mark on his hip grow warm, pulse. Pulling away from her lips for only a moment he kept his lidded eyes on her. "You both can go now."
Rolling your eyes some you turned your head the tiniest amount to look at the both of your friends, even if Croc himself would never admit they were. "Thank you." Seeing Bon smile and Daz bow his head some before walking away to leave you both alone you didn't get time to say anything else before your husband's lips were back on yours. Wrapping your arms around his middle under his jacket you smiled and kissed his exposed throat as he stood back up straight. Craning your neck to look up at him you watched as he lifted his hand no doubt judge the ring you had given him. "Does it meet the infamous Sir Crocodile's standards?"
Looking over his new ring he saw it was gold and it looked to have a intricate design carved into it, one like he had never seen before.
"It's called a eternity knot." you told him blinking slowly up at him. "They're complete loops that have no start or finish to represent eternity. Only one thread is used in each design which symbolizes how life and eternity are interconnected." Seeing him turn his hand around to look at the other side you grinned. "There's an engraving."
Knitting his brows some he used his other fingers to remove the ring and looked over the inside.
'Put your ring back on!'
He couldn't stop the small chuckle that left his throat and shook his head as he moved the ring back on his finger. He should have known it would be something like that with her. "I love it. Thank you darling."
Seeing him smile you did as well and met his eyes as he looked down at you, his hair blowing lightly in the wind. As it all sunk in you felt your eyes water a little. He was your husband, you were his wife, the both of you were married. "I love you Raiden."
"Not nearly as much as I love you little star."
"Better be careful, those are fighting words."
Chuckling he leaned down to press his lips to hers.
.................................
Washing the few dishes from supper you heard the deep sigh, alerting you to his presence before you felt his arms wrap around your middle, noticing his hook had been left off after his shower.
"How many times must I tell you to leave them to the maids."
"It was just a few." you tried to tell him but felt his hand move from your belly to turn off the water and force your own hand to drop the sponge. Tilting your head when his lips moved to your neck you hummed as he started kissing and sucking at your sweet spot. Feeling something poke your back you bit your lip before you were turned around and lifted up into his arms. Giggling you wrapped your arms around his neck as he carried you back to your bedroom.
Trailing kisses up her throat he gave a bite to her thin skin, lapping over the area with his tongue when she let out a small hiss. Dropping her panties to the floor along with his shirt that she was wearing, he moved to lay her on the end of the bed. Kneeling down in front of her he looked over her body and felt a low growl rumble in his throat. Her belly was now prominently round with their child and her breast were beginning to swell a tad bit as well. Although she herself seemed more annoyed by her pregnant body, once calling herself a whale, he couldn't get enough of her. He enjoyed the sight of her carrying their child, the instinctual knowledge that it brought, that he had fully made her his.
When you didn't feel him move above you, you looked down and felt your eyes widen a bit when you noticed him kneeling before you. Your husband met your eyes and smirked before diving in making you gasp and arch your back as his skilled tongue ravaged you.
Feeling her wetness cover his finger he purred and pushed forward, filling her tight hole with his finger. She gasped at the intrusion and he grinned. Moving his hand he stroked the front of her wall and moved his mouth down to suck at her clit before adding a second. Sucking and lapping at her sex he swallowed down everything she had to offer him, letting the taste of her fuel the fire within him. It didn't take long until she was a withering and whimpering mess. With one last curl of his fingers she spasmed around his digits. Working her back down from her high he lapped up her soaked cunt one last time.
Still in a state of bliss you felt as he kissed up your body, flinching when he nipped your nipple between his teeth. When his mouth finally found yours again you cupped his face in your hands and closed your eyes. Rolling your tongue with his you felt his one hand rubbing up and down your thigh. Moving one of your hands into his hair you tugged on the black strands and heard him groan. "Croc... need you."
Chuckling he kissed her a few more times before kissing across her cheek to her ear. "Do you trust me darling?" he asked and felt her nod. Grinning he stood and saw her look up to him. Grabbing her hand he pulled her up, pecking her forehead before turning her around to face their bed. Rubbing his hand up her hip he met her eyes when she looked up to him. "Kneel on the bed."
Taking a deep breath you moved onto the bed like he said, taking his hand when he offered it to help stay balanced. Once you were on the bed, facing away from him you heard as he removed his pajama pants and inhaled deeply as he came up behind you. Closing your eyes as he kissed your shoulder and neck you felt him ease you down so you were on all fours.
Kissing and licking down her spine he moved to kneel behind her. Stroking up her slit with his finger he was happy to find her dripping for him. Admiring her ass he grabbed his cock and ran it up and down her slit, covering his member in her slick before pressing the head to her entrance.
You coudl only whimper as he entered you, the stretch of his cock indescribable. His hand moved to your lower back as he slowly thrusted in, his thumb rubbing circles over your skin. Once he was the whole was in, his pelvis meeting your ass you swallowed hard with how full you felt. As soon as he started moving you felt your mouth fall open and dug your nails into the bedding. Being thrusted forward with every snap of his hips you moaned and felt your mind slipping away, the pleasure of your lovemaking taking over.
Gritting his teeth he let out a low groan, gripping her ass cheek hard enough to leave bruises. Dropping his eyes he watched her small body get fucked by his large cock. Growling he let his eyes slip closed and focused on the immense pleasure he was feeling. She was moaning and crying out, fueling his engine to pick up speed. Leaning down over her he held his weight with one hand while his left arm looped under her pelvis to keep them as close a possible.
He was hitting all new angles like this making moans and sighs flow from your mouth. It wasn't long before you felt your second orgasm approaching. "c..croc...ah..."
As he felt her fluttering around his cock he dipped his head to kiss her temple, he was close as well. "Cum for me little star." he told her in a deep voice and as she clamed down on his cock he pushed his hips as far into her backside as he possibly could, letting out a deep groan as he filled her, only slightly aware of her own moaning.
Feeling extremely exhausted after two intense orgasms you were thankful when your husband helped lower you to the bed to lay you on your side. After helping to clean you up you cuddled up into his side, sighing as he brushed your unruly hair out of your face. Using the rest of your energy you turned to kiss his chest and mumble a small 'love you' before sleep claimed you.
Grinning to himself as she quickly fell asleep in his side he kissed her forehead and rubbed her belly. "Goodnight my dear wife."
..................................
Whimpering you bit your lip and closed your eyes. Just a two more hours, come on you could do this without him.
"Y/n/n are you alright?" Bentham asked with furrowed brows as he watched the young woman stiffened up again.
Not trusting your voice you only nodded in response. Taking deep breaths in through your nose and letting them out through your mouth you crossed your arms over your chest to try and hide your discomfort from your friend. Walking around the room you thought back to this morning when you had first felt those contractions. At first you thought they were just strong Braxton hicks but they seemed to be getting worse. Croc was currently in a meeting and you really didn't want to bother him. Stopping when a sudden pain came you had to grab onto the nearest piece of furniture to keep from doubling over.
"Okay you are clearly not alright or fine as you keep saying. I think I should really go get..."
"No Bon. I'm fine it's just Braxton hicks."
"But Mr. Zero said that if you were in pain to...."
"He is in a meeting, one he has been getting ready for all week. I don't want to bother him." you told him, your voice shaky. "I'll be fine, I just... I need to walk around a bit." you said quietly as you moved towards the garden. Seeing Bon's worried eyes on you you gave him a reassuring smile. Continuing to walk around outside you licked your lips. Your water hadn't broken so you still had a while... maybe, or at least that's how it was in the movies. Placing your hand over your large belly you tried to feel for any movement.
Watching the woman closely he saw her just walk around the private garden. Nothing else seemed to happen for a while until he saw her clench up again. This time a small cry of pain leaving her lips.
Leaning forward you rested your head on your folded arms that were against the wall surrounding the garden and tried to focus on your breathing. "Oh fuck.." you whimpered.
"That is it Y/n I am going to get Mr.Zero right now." Bentham spoke as he hurried over to help keep his friend from falling to the ground. Walking her back inside he winced as she clung to his hand.
"N...no Bon I..." You words quickly fell silent as something wet dripped down your legs. Snapping your eyes down you saw a wetness covering the front of your lounge pants. "O..okay yeah I'm not fine... I'm in labor."
Bentham quickly let out a small yell as he led her inside. "You sit down and..."
"Don't want to sit down." you spoke softly with a shake of your head, your eyes screwing shut.
"Fine but please just stay here. I am going to get Crocodile. Everything is going to be alright! You will be fine and little Croc junior will be fine and..."
"Bon p...please just hurry."
"Right. Be back soon."
Listening as Bon ran from the home you tried to even out your breathing. Deciding it would be best if you got to the bed room you tried to wobble your way down the hall but the contractions were coming in hard. Clenching your eyes shut you grit your teeth and tried to muffle your scream behind your teeth. Once you could breathe again you looked to your bedroom door. Painstakingly making it to your bedroom you glanced to the bed and bit your lip, tears streaming down your face. Glancing to the bathroom you stumbled over to the door, grabbing the frame so hard you were afraid you might crack the wood. "Ahhh!" you sobbed. Quickly shoving your lounge pants down your legs you breathed through another contraction. You needed towels, that you knew. Going to take another step you were overcome with a horrible pain and felt your knees buckle but before you could hit the ground two strong hands were holding you up. Looking to their owners you saw none other than your friend and husband's right hand man, "Daz..."
"It's alright Y/n I got you." he spoke as he lifted the woman up gently and carried her to the large bed in the room.
Easing back into the pillows with Daz's help you looked up into the man's black eyes, "C..croc?"
"He'll be here soon I'm sure, Bentham met me on the way." he told her.
Nodding you saw him walk to the bathroom and come back with his arm full of towels.
Easing a few of the towels under her he left the others on the table for now. "I'll be back, I'm going to get a bowl of hot water." Seeing the apprehension in her eyes he laid his hand on her shoulder. ""I'm coming right back Y/n, I promise." Seeing her nod he hurried to the kitchen.
Laying there you worked on breathing, gripping the bedding hard. Overcome with emotions and pain you soon felt more tears roll down your face. You wanted your husband, you wanted your Croc. A burst of air filled the room before you felt something stroking your cheek and opened your eyes to see none other than your soulmate. There was a look of what you thought was fear on his face, something you hadn't seen before. "He wants t..to make a grand appearance just like h..his daddy."
Chuckling slightly he looked over her flushed face and licked his lips. He coudl see the streaks on her face where she had been crying and her eyes showed the pain she was in. Leaning forward he placed a kiss on her sweaty brow, stroking the side of her face with his hand. When he heard her let out a whimper of pain and felt her clench up he looked down to see her face contorted into one of agony and he hated it. Hearing footsteps he snapped his eyes to the door to see Daz coming in with a steaming bowl that when he set it on the side table he saw it was water. Glancing between his first and his wife he swallowed hard. "What can I do?"
"Comfort her." was all he said before he turned to see Bentham running in practically dragging the midwife in behind him, the poor woman looking petrified.
He had stayed by his darling side as the midwife went about checking her over. Thankfully Daz had pulled Bentham out of the room a while ago before he coudl snap himself. It had been about two hours and during that time he could only sit and watch as the love of his life suffered in pain. Helping her take a drink from the cup of water Bentham had brought in he placed it back on the table before stroking her hair back again. The contractions were closer now and as the midwife checked her again she told them both that it should be anytime now.
Feeling your lower abdomen clench up you took in a shaky breath "Oh God.. I.. I think I need to push." you spoke and saw Croc sit up straight, his body stiffening.
"Go ahead, your body knows what to do, long push." the midwife instructed.
Baring down for a good minute you panted for air once the contraction ended. Breathing out you fisted your hands in the bedding and threw your head back as another strong contraction came, telling your body to push. Managing a long push you gasped out a sob when you needed a break, it felt like your body was being ripped in half.
"Good. Very good."
Dabbing at her forehead with the rag he felt his heart hammering against his ribs. He couldn't describe how much it hurt him to see his wife suffering. As another contraction came he heard her sob out that she couldn't do this. Grabbing her hand when he saw a small tear roll down her cheek he placed his forehead on her head and closed his eyes, "You can do this little star, I know you can. You are doing so good darling, come on just a little while more."
"You need to push again Mrs. A Long, hard push. Come on now ready, 1, 2, 3 push."
Nodding you bared down and pushed, your teeth clenching together so tight you were afraid they would crack.
Ignoring the pain in his hand he watched as she pushed. When she gasped for air he heard her choke on a sob and looked down, lifting the bottom of the shirt to see blood and... hair. Snapping his eyes back up to her face he smiled. "I can see the head darling."
"Big push." The midwife spoke as she moved between the woman's legs.
Seeing his wife sweating and exhausted he brushed her hair out of her face before taking her hand again. "Come on, you can do it starlight push." he said and saw her dip her head as she pushed again.
Feeling a pressure between your legs you took in pants of air and watched Croc look again, a large smile coming over his face.
"The head is out sweetheart, he's got some hair." he said, watching as the midwife gently unlopped the cord from his child's neck.
"One more push Mrs., just one more."
You were so tired, it felt like your limbs weighed a ton. Hearing the woman talking but not being able to fully pick up on what she said you figured she was talking to Croc.
Quickly nodding he followed the midwife's instructions to remove Y/n's shirt and without a second thought he ripped the front of his dress shirt that she was wearing open, buttons flying all over the room.
"Just one more darling, come on." he told her cupping her cheek in his hand.
With one last hard push you gasped out and felt a pressure leave your body.
Snapping his eyes down as the midwife moved to grab his child he couldn't stop smiling,.
"It's a boy."
His tiny son wailed in the woman's hands and he looked to his wife as he was laid on her chest.
Moving to hold your son you choked out a sob and felt tears run down your cheeks. "Shhhh." you cooed to him, hearing his small cries dwindle down at the sound of your voice.
Rubbing his son's back he didn't care at all for the blood and birth that was getting on him. The straw-hat doctor had been right, his son was small, his hand covering his son's whole body but as the midwife said that he seemed to be in perfect health he coudl only smile. He didn't care if he was small he had to be the perfect thing he had ever seen.
.................................
A while later he moved back to their bed, both his wife and son being cleaned up and everyone gone from their home. He had removed his hook, dressing down to his lounge pants as he carefully joined her in bed. Scooting over he watched amazed as his son suckled away happily. Stroking his fine black hair with the tips of his fingers he smiled softly and kissed Y/n's head. "He's beautiful darling. Absolutely perfect."
Humming sleepily you looked up to your husband and smiled as he kissed you. Feeling Caiman finally unlatch you adjusted him and then looked up to Croc before moving your son to his father's chest.
Stiffening when Y/n moved to place the tiny newborn on his chest he opened and closed his mouth.
"You aren't going to break him." you chuckled lightly.
Leaning back into the pillows he held his son with his left forearm while his hand moved overtop of him to keep him warm. For the first few seconds he didn't breath but as soon as he saw the babe nuzzle his cheek into his chest he smiled and relaxed slowly.
"See he knows his daddy." you spoke, smiling at the sight.
Looking down at his son it all sunk in and he took a shaky breath. He had a son, he was a father, a husband. He had a family. Licking his lips he glanced to the woman curling up in his side. "Thank you y/n, for showing me what true happiness is."
Humming you yawned and kissed his chest, stroking Caiman's knuckles and feeling him wrap his tiny fingers around one of yours. "I love you Croc."
"And I love you darling." he told her before he felt her body relax into his and her breaths fan out over his chest. Hearing the tiniest grunt from his son he rubbed his back, "Shhh. Let's let your mother get some well deserved rest." As the boy quieted down he saw one of his eyes crack open to look at him and smiled largely at the bright sea blue eyes that met his.
.....................................
"Again! Again!"
Smiling as Caiman demanded his father lift him up above his head with his one hand you smiled at his laugh.
"Alright Caiman daddy has captainly duties as mommy calls it."
"No I Captain."
Huffing he set his son in his lap. "Yes yes I know, you are the captain."
Giggling at just how much the two were alike you looked back down to your sketch of the two when suddenly a loud voice broke out from the deck.
"Straw-hat ship up ahead!"
Seeing his wife jump up he coudl only huff as she came over to take their son from him.
Walking out onto the deck you moved to stand with your husband as the Sunny came into view. Coming up beside the ship you smiled largely as the crew came out on deck. Holding onto your now almost two year old you felt Croc rub your back as his arm wrapped around you. Looking up at him you saw him glance down at you, the both of your sharing a loving smile before you heard the loud cheering of the pirate king.
A/n: Well that's it. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Thank you for reading. Please leave me a comment or like to let me know what you think.
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obxsummer · 4 years
Text
Who You Are // JJ Maybank
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word count: 2.2k
pairing: jj maybank x reader
warnings: insecurities about body image, mentions of anxiety and depression (*if anyone ever needs to talk about anything, please don’t hesitate to send me a message or anon. i promise i’m not here to judge. i’ll help as best as i can*)
summary: JJ finds you deep in your head on a particularly bad day but he has zero hesitation to let you know how much he loves you.
a/n: sorry, i had to bust this out because i’m really stuck in my head tonight and needed some comfort from jj. this is written based off my opinions on my weight and how i function with it, so i’m sorry if it’s not super relatable. it’s based off the song Who You Are covered by Anna Clendening. i hope you guys still enjoy :)
masterlist
ask me anything 
--
JJ understood every little thing about you. He knew your pet peeves and your favorite things, anything that was subtle and almost invisible to anyone, JJ knew it. That was the outcome of years of friendship into a relationship, and he was just so in love with you that he needed to know these things about you.
The day started off okay. You had been woken up by the sound of birds outside, which wasn’t awful, but you couldn’t fall back asleep afterwards which meant you were a little tired. You ate a good breakfast, had a little bit of alone time until your friends called to head to the beach, but overall, it was reasonable.
The first issue came with getting ready. Since the whole group had crashed at John B’s house as usual, you didn’t pack a swimsuit to bring. Kiara had packed an extra one that you managed to wiggle into. The mirror was your enemy though.
You didn’t consider yourself skinny. Even as a younger kid, you were on the heavier side and as you grew up, your height helped, but you still weren’t in a single digit size. Honestly, depending on the day, you could pull off looking smaller depending on what you wore. You were curvy, but you certainly didn’t have Kiara’s small waist to narrow yourself out as you stared in the glass reflection. You still had stomach rolls when you sat down and you constantly tugged your clothes to make sure no skin was visible.
“She’s not stronger than me, she’s just fatter than me.”
Today just wasn’t the day to be wearing a bikini to the beach, especially with your boyfriend and close friends. You just weren’t feeling it. You tried adjusting the fabric to cover more skin since you usually hid in high-waisted bottoms, but Kiara’s low-cut cheeky style wasn’t giving you any help. With a sigh, you tugged an oversized shirt on to cover up for the time being and blinked away the tears that had formed before walking out with a smile.
“Hi, baby,” JJ greeted as you walked towards him, bag in hand with a towel in your other arm. You gave him a smile in greeting as you slid your sunglasses on, not wanting him to see the redness in your eyes from your small breakdown. “You okay?” He asked as you sat next to him.
You nodded. “I’m fine,” You tried to muster emotion into your voice so he wouldn’t notice a difference, but JJ always did. He always noticed. Leaving it alone, he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his side while you waited for the rest of your friends to join.
After a few brief minutes, you were walking down to the sandy beach with a cooler in tow while John B played music through Kiara’s speaker. You moved your towel so it was flat on the sand, knowing you would possibly look smaller if you laid completely down instead of sitting.
“Babe, do you want a chair?” JJ asked as he set the two he was carrying on the ground.
You shook your head. “No, I’m going to try and tan my back first.” Of course, it was a lie, but he accepted it as an answer, still watching you closely. As much as you wished you could keep your shirt on, you didn’t want the goofy tan lines or plethora of questions that would come with it. You waited until the rest of your friends piled into the ocean before pulling your shirt over your head, practically running towards your towel to lay down.
“She’s stronger and fatter than you.”
JJ watched you with curious eyes as you adjusted your suit again after laying down. He knew you were always insecure about the way your body looked and he always tried to remind you of how perfect you were, no matter what the number on the scale said or the size of the clothing you wore, but it was so much harder said than done.
“You’re beautiful,” He mumbled as he crouched down to kiss your forehead gently. “Please don’t forget that. I’ll be in the water if you need me.”
Tears burned your eyes as you watched him run away, part of you wishing he didn’t know you so well. Some days were just like this. Everything could be going perfect but one thing went wrong and you couldn’t get your head out of it.
Eventually, the sun was going down and the air was cool as Pope started up a fire for you guys. You had pulled your t-shirt back on and sat on your towel with your hands behind you to hold you up. Kiara was strumming on her ukelele while John B told some outrageous story about his surf adventures he had the other day.
JJ walked away from the cooler with two drinks in his hands. He didn’t hesitate to sit behind you on the towel, grabbing your arms so you leaned back against him as you sat in his lap. The second his arms went around your waist, however, you panicked and sucked your stomach in as far as you could.
“Your jeans look too small.”
The action didn’t go unnoticed by JJ, who instantly looked down at you in concern. He hugged you tightly, his lips pressing a kiss against your hair. He hated the fact that you were reacting this way to his touch, but he knew he couldn’t say anything until you were alone.
“I grabbed you a drink,” The blond boy mumbled as he moved to hand the alcoholic beverage to you.
You shook your head slightly, not taking it from him. Your mind had instantly switched to counting numbers: calories, sugar, carbs, any of it, all of it added up. “I’m good. Need to drink more water anyways. Thanks, bub.”
You continued to lay in JJ’s arms as you scrolled through your phone. You flew past the collection of pictures on Instagram from Sarah Cameron, only pausing to look at what Kiara had posted. JJ watched silently from your shoulder as you zoomed in on your body in the photo, analyzing every detail before looking at Kiara’s, no doubt comparing yourself silently. It only progressed when you switched to Pinterest, adding countless exercise routines and dieting ideas to a secret board once you grew bored.
“Alright, I’m going to call it a night.” You clicked your phone off and sat up. Whatever previous conversation had been going on quickly ended as your friend looked at you. You gave them a smile and grabbed the extra chairs, leaving JJ to man the towel by himself. “I’ll see you guys up there.”
“Are those new stretch marks?”
Goodbyes followed your statement as you disappeared up the sand. John B was turning to JJ in a split second once you were out of ear. “Is she okay?” He asked in concern.
JJ shook his head, wanting to go after you but knowing you would just tell him you needed some time alone. “No. No, I don’t think so, but I know whatever I say won’t make a difference. She’s so broken, you guys. It hurts me to watch her pick herself apart like this and compare herself to everyone else.”
“Is this about the swimsuit?” Kiara asked, to which JJ nodded. “I felt bad. I could tell when I handed it to her that she wasn’t down with the idea.” Kiara knew that you could pick out every single thing you thought was wrong once you were in the headspace for it. She hated the fact that you compare yourself to her, especially when she herself wished she was different. Nobody was perfect.
“I’m going to go check on her. Don’t wait up.”
Inside John B’s house, you had showered quickly before changing into your comfiest sweatpants and a giant t-shirt, wanting nothing more than to hide in your baggy clothes and try to sleep. It didn’t seem to work as the moment you climbed in bed, your mind got too loud and you couldn’t stop the tears from pouring from your eyes.
“You need a bigger size.”
“You have to stop eating.”
“It only gets worse from here.”
“What went wrong?”
“Guys don’t like girls that are fat.”
“It barely fits.”
“You’re never going to get married if you look like that.”
Not good enough.
Not good enough.
Not good enough.
Your fingers dug into your skin, your mind getting too far ahead of you as your hearing disappeared minus the sound of your ragged breathing. Your chest was tight but you could barely feel anything around you as you kicked at the sheets, digging your head into your pillow.
“Hey, hey, hey. Come on. Come here. You’re okay.” You knew it was JJ. His hands were gently as he shifted you into his lap, holding you tightly. He pressed your hand to his chest, cradling you softly. “Breathe with me. I’m right here. It’s just us. I’ve got you.”
JJ continued to count with you, waiting until you were breathing normally despite the heart-wrenching sobs escaping your throat. You shook your head as you calmed down. You loved him. You loved him more than anything, but he deserved someone so much better. Someone like Kiara who would look beautiful even when she was sick or hungover or just got out of bed. Someone like Sarah who could fit into anything you threw at her, who still looked skinny despite being in a giant sweatshirt. It wasn’t fair.
“Talk to me,” JJ whispered once you had regained enough control to slow your breathing down. “What’s going on in your head, baby?”
You clenched your eyes shut, not wanting to look at him as you explained. “It’s just really hard, you know? It’s hard to get up every day and hate my body and hate the way I look. It’s awful. I don’t have the motivation to fix it because I know I’ll never win. I look at people like Kiara and Sarah and just wonder where I went wrong? Why don’t I look like them?
“And I wonder why you’re still with me, even when I can’t fit in your clothes or-or you can’t pick me up and carry me? A-And there’s so many other girls out there that can look ways and do things that I can’t, and it-it’s not-”
JJ shushed you as you cried harder, clutching onto him like he would disappear if you let go. His own eyes burned with salty tears at your words. He hated that you felt this way. “Y/N, look at me.” You ignored his request until he moved your face to look at him. “You are absolutely beautiful. You’re perfect in your own way. You don’t have to have a tiny waist or small thighs to be pretty. You’re not Kiara, you’re not Sarah. You’re Y/N. That’s who you are, that’s the girl I fell in love with. You shouldn’t look like them. You should look like you. If you want to change any part of you, it should be on your own terms, not because you want to please the world around you.”
He kissed your forehead, holding you impossibly tighter as the two of you rocked back and forth. “Babygirl, I don’t want them. I want you. I want the girl who laughs at my stupid jokes and craves my attention. I want the girl who hugs me nonstop just to remind me that she loves me, or the girl who sends me morning text messages even if she’s laying right next to me. That’s you. That will always be you. No matter what. Although, if you stopped sharing your ice cream with me, we might have a problem.”
You laughed slightly as you leaned against his chest. Even when dealing with the darkest parts of your mind, he still knew how to make you laugh.
JJ pulled on the waistband of your sweatpants slightly before you lifted your hips, letting him pull the item from your body, leaving you in your underwear. His hands wandered to your t-shirt, sliding the fabric from your waist slightly. You froze instantly, sucking in your stomach like you did before. “Don’t do that,” JJ mumbled as he kissed you softly. “Don’t hide from me.” He didn’t push your limits though and left your shirt alone, simply tracing circles in the bare skin that was visible.
“And you’re wrong,” He said after a moment of silence. “You’re so wrong.”
You were confused as he moved to stand up and went over to the dresser in the spare room. He shuffled around for a bit before pulling out an orange hoodie. You let him pull it over your head and down your torso, the fabric warming you up. It wasn’t your clothing, it was his. His favorite sweatshirt to be exact and it smelled just like him.
Climbing into bed, JJ tugged you under the covers and pulled you to lay your head on his chest, legs intertwined as he rubbed your back. He wanted you to feel safe, and loved, and appreciated. “You’re my girl. Every inch, curve, scar, freckle of you, I love. Don’t forget that.”
“And if you ever need a reminder on how beautiful you are, I’ll make sure to tell you every single morning and every single night but even then, it wouldn’t be enough to show you how perfect you are to me.”
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thefisherqueen · 3 years
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Review of The Green Knight
As a lover of Arthurian legend and medieval reenactment and a once-upon medieval literature student, the new movie The Green Knight of course was on my to-watch list. Especially after reading qqueenofhades’ excellent essay. I finally watched the movie last week. And I have some Thoughts to share.
There are a lot of things to like about this movie. It was delightfully non-sensational and devoid of GoT-like violence and political power struggles. There was some really beautiful cinematography, partly thanks to the beautiful Irish mountains this movie was shot in. I love that TGK not just adopted, but instead reworked the legend. The main moral themes and outcomes, while not a literal copy, felt authentic to the Christian medieval context of the poem, involving questions around honor, courage, hospitality, greatness, humility and what it means to be a good knight, or even a good person. The movie made it beautifully clear that Gawain’s main problem could have been avoided had he just given the Green Knight a scratch, but because he chose to behead the knight while said knight was lying kneeling and harmless at his feet, there is no escaping from facing the consequence of that action, which is neatly echoed throughout the movie. The green knight, the knight with the green belt and the lord who goes hunting in the green. The lover, the saint and the temptress. What you give, you will receive, and the other way around. The cast was great (too asexual to be thirsty for Dev Patel, though, sorry). The messing up of the mistaken image of medieval europe as just white is also always appreciated. I too liked that the film didn’t care to explain some of the wonders and mysteries, like the giants and the saint who lost her head, they just were accepted as part of that world. Being somewhat puzzled and enchanted is sadly rare in media nowadays where everything has to be explained or else it’s a ‘plot hole’. The liberty this movie takes with time, with multiple possible versions playing out and the reoccuring circular motives were impressive. However, the film as a whole didn’t quite work for me and I don’t really care to rewatch it. I think there are two fundamental reasons why.
The first is that the viewer isn’t given reason to care about the main character. I think this choice is deliberate, as we see Arthur asking Gawain to tell a tale of himself to get to know him, and Gawain replies that he has none, and after Gawain takes on the Green Knight’s challenge as an opportunity to gain a tale for himself. Questions about telling and re-telling tales and achieving greatness are a central theme. However, this narrative choice poses a problem, as it results in a movie where we see Gawain wrestle through difficulties on his quest and he’s this strange identity-less puppet, escaped from the children’s puppet show. We as audience are set up to be detached from him, which makes it hard to root for his success or even his survival, despite how pretty and sad Dev Patel may look in a dirty-and-distressed state. This could have been solved without removing those identity themes by giving Gawain, if not great deeds, at least some establishment of his character at the start of the film. He doesn’t have to be likable, but he has to be something more than a drinker and brawler with a faint sense of wanting to prove himself. That is just not enough to make us attached to Gawain’s wellbeing and involved in the quality of his decision making. The rest of the movie doesn't quite build Gawain’s character either. We get that he’s uncertain and afraid, yes, but his actions remain inconsistent, his motivations unclear. His main character arch - that he needs to give up the protection of the enchanted green belt, needs to face fear and consequences rather than to rely on the treacherous protection of witchcraft - doesn’t come off the ground because we only learn close to the very end that the belt is a problem to the completion of his quest. That’s no arch, that’s an exhausting flat march and a sudden steep slope right before the finish line.   
The second problem ties into the first. Namely, you don’t need a strong emotional tie to the characters if there’s a light tone, an adventure with a side dish of some fun and humor perhaps. This movie, however, is anything but light. It’s dark. It’s grim. It’s cold. It’s wet. There’s exactly zero humor. Above all, it’s slow. So slow. Apart from an emotional connection, you also need a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat amount of story tension for this kind of dramatic tone and slow pace to work, and the script just doesn’t build that tension. A shot of Gawain riding through the moor after he leaves his home is just that: the confrontation with the Green Knight is still far away, there’s no looming threat we’re aware of, there’s nothing else to be told or resolved. Together with our emotional detachment it makes for a movie that switches between boring and ridiculously overdramatic, while occasionally looking stunning and taking on deeper questions and parallels. Overall it just makes for a frustrating viewer experience that lacks impact. I was left with a thorough “meh”. Which is a shame, because this movie is very interesting and could have been so good. That clever panning shot showing Gawain as a tied up skeleton should have been devastating. I should have been shouting “No DON”T do that, you IDIOT!” at the screen the moment Gawain scares away his adorable guardian fox. Instead, I couldn’t care less. Come on, Green Knight. Off with his head.    
Some final details to note: erotic movie scenes are normally already awkward, but the scenes in this movie take the usual akwardness next level. At least it’s handled consistently - whether straight or homoerotic, it’s basically all a dissapointment. (That cum shot has scarred my brain forever). Which has its own merit, I guess, but does make for an odd contrast to the camera’s loving, even somewhat objectiving depiction of Dev Patel and the way about every character tenderly touches his face. I’m left wondering what the point was of this choice. It tells something about Gawain’s failure to meet chivalry standards, maybe.  
The scenes which show witchcraft was used to make the Green Knight appear were rather cliché and I don’t think they added anything, as the Christian morality and consequences of relying on witchcraft are already addressed in the theme of the enchanted green belt. Also, it’s frustrating to keep seeing scratched-in runes used as literal magic. As far as our limited knowledge goes, runes were a whole writing system, magical only in the sense that writing something down can have a power of its own. Please, movie makers, think of something original.
Also, torches are terrible for indoor lighting. They burn out quickly and are horribly sooty, so it’s lanterns or candles you want indoors. But the use of the pentacle shown as a common talisman for protection rather than a specific symbol for evil or magic was nice. I’m not equipped to comment much on the choice of costumes and they didn't try to be accurate to a specific historic period and place anyway, but would have loved to see more men in long robes like the beautiful ones they gave king Arthur. Somehow, medieval themed movies only seem to go for the pants and knee-length tunic style for men, while long dress-like garments were in fact very common. Gawain’s beautifully patterned yellow mantle was the brightest point of the entire movie.      
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vixenpen · 4 years
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youtube
Fuck A Fan (Bakugo x Camgirl reader pt. 1)
You had gotten the idea from one of your best friends in the cam industry.
“You sure this will work?”
“Trust me boo,” he had replied, “sometimes the best motivation for a man is a little friendly competition.”
Your bestie had insisted that a fuck a fan contest would be the perfect way to get CallMeKing to finally make good on his unfulfilled promise to see you.
Putting the finishing touches on your flyer, you finally posted the announcement to all social media. You knew CMK was still lurking. So he’d definitely see it. Hopefully, this little contest would be enough to spark his interest, if this failed, you were going to scream.
Because for the first time in your cam career, a man had you chasing him.
The audacity!
To be fair, he did say that he wanted to see you too, but had to keep a low profile due to his career. He promised as soon as worked dialed down you guys would meet up.
Well that had been over a year ago, and not only had you guys not met face to face; he also didn’t seem to check in on you as much anymore.
He still tipped and re-subbed to your page. He had even cash-apped you money for Christmas and your birthday.
But aside from that, there were no more late night, sexting sessions, no more random check ins, no more nude trading.
At first, you brushed it off.
He was apparently a very successful man. Successful men were busy. They couldn’t give you every second of their time. As a successful woman, you could relate to that.
Not to mention, you were a bad bitch and bad bitches did not pine over any man.
PERIODTTT.
Buuuut...when the man in question was fine as hell with boulders for biceps, a big dick, and long money, well...you’d like to think the City Girls, Meg the Stallion, and all the other bad bitches you looked up to would understand your thirst.
“Alright, King,” you sat back in the furry, white computer chair and glared at your laptop screen. “Ball is in your court now.”
“Mr. Ground Zero, can I get a picture too?”
A precocious looking blue haired kid asked. He stared up at Katsuki with wide, hopeful eyes.
Katsuki grimaced.
“Whatever kid, c’mon.”
He leaned down, attempting to keep a safe distance from the walking germ pool, while keeping in the lens of his camera phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thanks a lot, Mr. Ground Zero!”
The kid giddily ran back to his group of friends.
Kirishima slung his arm around Bakugo’s shoulder, weighing down on his slightly shorter friend.
“Wow, Bakubro, looks like those public relations training classes have really been working, huh?”
“Whatever, I just don’t need anymore shitty press with kids.”
“You still have energy for happy hour with Sero and Me tonight?”
Bakugo replied with a noncommittal shrug. He scrolled absentmindedly through his phone as he and Kirishima headed towards their agencies to call it a day.
He decided to check in on (cam name’s) IG page to see how she was doing.
A pang of longing tugged at him. He missed her. A lot. Sure, she was a cam girl, and being friendly and flirty was her job, but she always brightened his days. With crime picking up steadily over the past year, Bakugo could use her presence in his life now more than ever, unfortunately, nothing in his schedule would permit it.
He was researching a new threat that had been developing in the crime world. Apparently the new mob of villains seemed to have some connections to the crime world in America, and Bakugo found himself flying back and forth to the west for meetings and to make media rounds to help put the public at ease.
His sleep schedule was completely out of whack with all the stress he was under, so any spare moment he wasn’t working, he was sleeping. Which meant no time for his virtual boo thing. Though he did try to make it known he was thinking about her with bill money.
As he flipped through her newest posts, something caught his eyes.
Fuck a fan contest? Winner gets to make content with me at secure location!
What the fuck was this shit?
Whatever it was, he was certainly going to get to the bottom of it when he got home.
CMK: Hey, (cam name) what’s this all about?
Y/N: what does it look like? Fuck a fan contest
CMK: fuck u mean? You don’t do meet ups!
Y/N: 🤷🏾‍♀️ first time for everything.
Anger hummed beneath Bakugo’s skin. Since when did y/n start doing meet ups? She had always told him she didn’t trust her fans as far as she could throw them.
He had encouraged her to not be forthcoming with personal information and never feel like she had to meet up with randos online for money. He would take care of anything she needed before it came to that.
So what was the meaning of this? Had he not been taking good enough care of her? Keeping her bills paid? Her nails and hair done?
Y/N: u entering or what? 👀
CMK: hell no im not entering and neither is anyone else. Now take that shit down.
Y/n: (voice note) first the fuck of all, you don’t tell me what to do. Second the fuck of all, do you know how much money is in this? You ain’t stopping my bag boo. Period! 💅🏾
He was practically seething. Who the fuck did she think she was talking to like that?
Who the fuck did she think she was saying no to?!
His dick stirred in his pants as he re-listened to the voice note of her cursing him out.
CMK: how much does it take to win?
Y/N: just whoever has the most.
CMK tipped $150,000
CMK: now take it the fuck down
Y/N: nobody else has entered yet.
CMK: nobody else up here has the money I have.
Y/N: if you’re not meeting with me, I ain’t takin it down.
CMK: god fucking dammit y/n. Tonight. 9pm. Text me the addy. I’ll have my driver pick you up.
True to his word, CMK had his driver pick you up an hour and a half before the time he had mentioned.
Your knee bounced, causing the black mini dress hugging your shapely thighs to ride up. You pulled it down absentmindedly.
You could count on one hand how many times you had been flown out by one of your fans. It certainly wasn’t a weekly occurrence for you the way it was for other models.
Fear and excitement fluttered in your stomach.
You wondered what the driver thought of you. Heading to this rich and powerful man’s house in the middle of the night.
You had tried to dress up as if you were going to be taken on a fancy date. Your hair styled, silver chandelier earrings dripping from your lobes to match the long silver necklace that dipped between your pushed up cleavage.
If the driver gave two shits, you at least hoped he thought you were going to get a nice meal before getting dicked down.
The community where CMK lived was on the outskirts of town; hidden in a forest of natural and manicured foliage. One could go literal miles between each home before they saw the next one.
You pressed your forehead against the window to take in the flora and fauna, manicured lawns, and huge mansions. So. Many. Styles. Of mansions!
“Here we are ma’am.” the driver announced.
He drove you up a looping, stone drive way that led to a very modern home that reminded you a bit of abstract art what with its odd angles, jutting sides, and square architecture.
The driver stepped out and opened your door. Once you were faced with the massive stairs and wooden doors before you, the song: Pretty Woman blared in your mind. You certainly felt that way.
Before you could knock, the door swung open revealing a pair of red eyes that were devouring your body head to toe.
“Oh my god...”
“Wasn’t expecting to hear that before I even touched you, beautiful.” He chuckled. His lips quirked into the cocky half smirk you’d grown familiar with from his interviews.
Was this real? Call me king was Ground Zero?!
“C-call me king?” You managed to stutter out pitifully.
“I would prefer to call you by your real name.” He joked. “Come in, beautiful.” He grabbed your hand gently and pulled you through the door.
You couldn’t even appreciate the high ceilings, polished wood floors, and tasteful stone wash colored furniture as you followed Ground Zero through the door.
He took leggy strides into the airy kitchen taking out a couple of glasses from a cupboard. You could only gawk.
He looked good as hell in his short sleeved denim button up shirt and ripped black jeans. His physique flexed under the well tailored clothes showing off the broad chest and bulging biceps you’d seen in the Nudes. His spiky Blonde hair looked soft and a bit damp.
“You wanna drink, beautiful?”
“I don’t accept drinks from new people in new environments.”
He looked up to shoot you a half smile. The usual mischief was missing from his red eyes, replaced with genuine affection.
“Of course you don’t. My (cam name.)”
“F/N,” you replied.
“Bout damn time you gave me a real name. Mine is Bakugo, babe.”
He strolled over with a glass of water for himself.
“So, f/n,” his ruby colored eyes darkened with a predatory gleam as he stepped right to your face. “Why don’t you have a seat? I promise the couch won’t bite.”
He brought a hand down to smack your round ass, making you jump.
“Can’t say the same for myself though.”
Licking your lips, you lowered yourself into the couch. Bakugo settled beside you so close the sides of your bodies touched. He draped an arm around your shoulder.
“I know you got a camsona and all, but damn, y/n, where’s my feisty little c/n? Huh? Lil Ms. Period!” His voice took on a lighter tone as he tried to imitate your twang.
The attempt earned him a giggle.
“Well excuse me, sir, but I wasn’t expecting the number two pro-hero in Japan to be my biggest fan.” You snapped back, playfully rolling your eyes. “Forgive me if I’m still wrapping my brain around it.”
“There’s that smart ass mouth I love so much.” He tucked your chin.
This close to him, you could feel his warm minty breath fanning against your lips. A familiar warmth was already growing between your legs.
Pulling away you asked: “Why me?”
“Hah?” His brows knit in confusion. “Fuck kinda question is that? What do you mean why you?”
“I mean, I’m a bad bitch or whatever, but I’m just...me and you’re...you.”
“Tch. You just answered your own damn question, dumb ass.” He tilted your face back towards him. You felt his other large hand roam the bare skin of your thigh and shivered.
“You’re a bad bitch. You don’t seem to forget that any other time, don’t fuckin’ forget it now, got that? Your confidence is what’s sexy about you.”
A smile tugged at your lips as heat flooded your cheeks.
“You know, when you’re not being a fuckin’ asshole, you can be pretty damn charming when you wanna be.”
“And when you’re not being a defiant little brat, you can be real fucking cute.”
A moan slipped from your glossy lips as his hand crept steadily up your thigh
“Please,” you leaned closer to him, “you love my brattiness.”
He scoffed, amused.
“I’ll show you just how much I like it.”
Without warning, Bakugo scooped you up. His large, rough hands dug into the soft flesh of your round ass as he straddled you on his lap.
Your wet, bare pussy pressed into his bulge as he stole a greedy kiss. Your gasp quickly morphed into a moan as desire burned in your core and flooded your entire body.
His tongue overtook your mouth effortlessly.
“No panties, huh, brat? I can feel you leaking through my jeans.”
“I hate panties,” you managed between kisses. “And bras.”
That little confession just inspired more arousal in Bakugo. He deposited you on the long couch and let his hot tongue snake along every sensitive bit of exposed flesh he could find. Goosebumps rose on your skin.
“Damn, beautiful,” he managed between kisses, “can’t wait to taste the rest of you.”
His bulge rubbed your aching clit deliciously.
You tugged his shirt up over his mess of blonde hair.
He grabbed the deep ‘V’ of your dress and ripped it open, drawing a gasp from you.
“Now we match.” He grinned
“You ass—“
“You’ll have a new outfit by tomorrow afternoon, now shut up.”
True to his word, Bakugo tasted every inch of you. He nibbled your ears making you shiver, licked your nipples making you hiss his name, and devoured your toes like blow pops.
Your body was trembling from sensory overload.
“God..” you moaned.
“You look like you want something, babe,” Bakugo smiled wickedly as he hovered above you. “What is it?”
“Eat me.”
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mithrandirl · 2 years
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Why did you apologize for posting one-shots? They are so good! I wish you would continue them though!
i think you're talking about the tags for one of my last little one-chapter stories i posted where, you're right, i did apologize for posting so many one-shots lately. i've got a lot of feelings about one-shots so i'm going to try to answer this honestly.
1. i know a lot of people who write on ao3/tumblr/etc feel this way, but i can never get over the feeling that i'm spamming people with my writing. i know, i know, everyone chooses to read it or not, or to subscribe to me or not. but i have a not-zero amount of user subscribers on ao3 that get emails every time i post something and what i post is pretty varied -- someone who likes one story may hate another because i completely changed writing styles/settings in between. and that gets in my head sometimes.
i won't apologize for apologizing, that's a little too hypocritical meta, but you're right, i should stop putting myself down or prefacing my work with an apology. it doesn't add anything, and really it takes away from your and especially my enjoyment in the process.
2. but also, because of your last sentence, honestly. i post a lot of one-chapter stories. i get it. i have a lot of ideas and not a lot of follow-through usually. i kind of hate writing (and reading) long fan fiction stories and do it very rarely. that's just me! sometimes i will go back to a one-chapter story that i had no intention of continuing and find that i do have more to say. in fact i've done that a couple times this year and have a few more in the works. but most of the time, i do mean it when i say something is done. i don't usually mind when people say something along the lines of "i wish you'd continue this" because i do get it, the nature of a (good, imo) one-shot is that it starts things not at the beginning and ends them before there's a chance for a big emotional wrap-up conclusion. that's just how my brain works though.
it's nice to hear that people are sucked into the world i gave a glimpse of, but when that's the only feedback i hear, i tend to think people don't like the words for what they were: just that one self-contained story.
so long explanation short, it's fine to say that to someone who wrote a one-shot (hey, maybe that's all the motivation someone needs to keep writing something they didn't think other people would be interested in!), but maybe add something else to your comment too. because if that's all the feedback i get, it makes me think i have something to apologize for, which brings us back to #1.
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latibulesims · 3 years
Note
Hey Lati!
I’m so sorry to press you for more information, but I’m so fascinated by your filming process and I have some additional questions if that’s okay. Specifically around your sets that are just individual rooms, are these just multiple secular room sets on one lot, or do you use a different lot for each set? Like with the River’s house when any family member is coming downstairs, is Tresor or Raign’s room not on that lot? The living room and kitchen? Lol I’m just so fascinated by this if that’s the case, and if so it’s extremely impressive because they look like they all could actually be one complete set. Sorry if this makes zero sense, I’ve just never thought to try this and now I really want to! ☺️ Thanks so much!
Haha no you make total sense!! First of all thank you for watching my series, and don't worry at all about asking questions! I know filming with The Sims 2 can be difficult bc of how often it crashes and its loading time, so any tips I can give to help the game crash less, im happy to share 💖
The sets are actually on different lots entirely! So, when Tresor "comes downstairs", or the characters go from the living room to the kitchen, I load an entirely new lot! I think the only exception I make is with bathrooms because they're so tiny haha, but any time you see the characters going from one room to the other, it's usually a different lot all together. :')
It may sound exhausting to some, having to jump from one lot to another, but over the years (I've been doing this since 2017, at least!) I've managed some tips that help, for those that are interested:
1) I make multiple sims of the same character, so that every sim belongs to every lot! So, if Tresor for example needs to be in her bedroom, the living room and Simons bar within the same episode, I create 3 Tresors (TresorBED, TresorLIVING, TresorBAR), and that way I don't have to move her around.
I should also note that I change neighborhoods every episode (more on that in tip #3), so it might sound like a lot of sims over the episodes but really it's usually just 3 versions of the same character in one neighborhood at a time.
You might find it's easier to just move the sims from one lot to the other, but in my experience moving the sims around (or using the tombstone to extract them) always ends up crashing my game so this is a really good way to avoid it all together!
2) I don't film chronologically, but by sets! This is my #1 tip. I basically gather up all the scenes I have in 1 set and I film them. That way i dont have to go back and forth between lots, instead I just finish off all the scenes I need using a lot and move on to the next! Sometimes a set has so many scenes I end up filming in one set for weeks at a time (usually Simons bar, haha, that S2E1 Christmas episode needed like 3 sets (Simons bar, Simons living room, The Rivers living room), and I spent two months just filming in Simons bar).
The only time I won't recommend this, is when you havent yet found your own style. Then you might risk something like this happening: You're just starting to film, and you have the 1st and last scene in the episode in the same set. So, you film them both. Then you film a couple more scenes after that, and then you reach the final set and by then your filming skills have changed (if you haven't found your style and take months filming an episode - which is completely valid, BTW - this could mean a drastic change). Then, scene #1 (which you filmed at the very beginning) could have a completely different filming style than scene #2 (which you filmed at the very end), and so on. You wouldn't want that.
I had something like that happen to me, where I discovered reshade mid-filming an episode, so the scenes I filmed at the beginning of the episode didnt have it, and then the scenes I filmed at the end did it. It made the epsiode look incosistent, which is something I don't really care about (and neither do my viewers, really), but you might so letting you know as a heads up! Some of these tips do compromise the "professionalism" of the episodes, but it's how i manage to film and pop out episodes with (relative) quickness :').
Thats why for many reasons, including should you want to film by set instead of chronologically, I suggest you find your style before filming an episode or starting a series all together. This can be done through creating small machinimas, filming tests, music videos, etc. Take it from someone who can't even handle sitting through the first 8 episodes of my own series because of how much my style back then. The way it drastically changed from one episode to another irks me so much! 😅
3) And this is my most controversial one, LOL, but I always build sets + new neighborhoods from scratch with every episode. As I mentioned above, I change neighborhoods with every episode because, in my experience, neighborhoods get corrupt with time so starting with a fresh neighborhood every episode helps avoid crashing. Previously, neighborhoods would get so corrupt, they'd stop loading at all mid-filming an episode, so im forced to interrupt my filming streak and build the sets and characters all together which absolutely wrecks any motivation I have to film afterwards. Once, this happened mid-filming a scene and so I had to rebuild, and let me tell you: Theres a difference between sets looking a bit different because I had to rebuild between episodes, and sets looking different within the same scene. At least when you rebuild the set with every new episode, you can blame minor changes on the fact that time passed from one episode to the other.
Also: I make sure to build all the sets I need for the episode before I start filming, because I dont want anything to interrupt my filming once I start it. If Im forced to build when I'm motivated to film, I end up losing that motivation in the time I spend building, if that makes sense. As u probably already know as a machinima maker, we do the work that is usually required of a team (writer, director, editor, and also stylist and set designers), so I like to do things one at a time so I can have a clear understanding of my schedule and timetable. So, I dedicate 2 days to style all the sims, a week or so to build all the sets, usually months to film the episode, then another week to edit and audio edit. I try my best not to have all of those parts overlapping, otherwise it gets too overwhelming.
The reason I rebuild from scratch, as opposed to just extracting the lot and installing it in a new neighborhood is because, again, I prefer a fresh start and have found that lots are less likely to get corrupt if they're "new". A lot of people think im crazy for it LOL, or that it's a colossal waste of time, and maybe it is! But it's the process that works best for me, and I end up filming really fast with much less crashing and hiccups because of it!
Hope that helps!!! :') Let me know if you have any other questions about my filming process or any other tips 💖💖💖 I'd love to help!
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gukyi · 4 years
Text
for you, anything (post-script) | ksj
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summary: in the midst of all of the coworker chaos over your newfound relationship, you and seokjin make a deal. 
{established relationship!au, friends to lovers!au, enemies to lovers!au}
pairing: kim seokjin x female reader genre: fluff word count: 2k warnings: bts being annoying coworkers a/n: shoutout to @aurawatercolor​ for being so wonderful and for commissioning this drabble’s monster predecessor: for you, anything!! thank you for being so patient with me and overall being a good friend of mine. much love!
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Here
“Back off, he’s mine!” You shriek, furiously mashing your keyboard buttons as your eyes zero in on your computer screen. Maintaining as much of a grip onto your mouse and keyboard as possible, you push your office chair towards Seokjin’s in a desperate attempt to get him to lose his hold by crashing into him, bumper-car style. You hear the scratchy fabric collide, a soft thud that ricochets you forward, almost like you had crashed into a fuzzy rock. 
Naturally peeved, you turn around to find your boyfriend completely unbothered, having moved barely an inch. And yeah, you weren’t great at Physics when you took it in high school, but you have a feeling that that’s not how Newton’s Third Law works. 
Unfortunately for you, the split second you spend glaring at the back of Seokjin’s head means that he can go in for the killing blow, sword stabbing through the warrior king on the screen until he collapses in a pool of video game blood. The sound of a death cry and a cheer echos from your computer speakers, and you groan. 
“Not again,” you say, exasperated. You toss your head back against the chair, eyes rolling upwards, just enough to make out Seokjin eyeing you, a smug expression written all over his face. “I told you I had him.”
“You just weren’t fast enough, I guess,” Seokjin says casually, bouncing out of his chair to gloat to you all up front and personal. 
“You better share all of the money and rewards you got from that kill,” you demand, poking a finger against your cheek. Seokjin kisses you gladly, wrapping his arms over the chair and around you as he rocks your office chair side to side. The benefit of working together in Kingdom is that you always have backup you can trust (unlike some other MMO games, one of which rhymes with Meague of Megends), but Kingdom was designed for loot to be collected by whoever delivers the death blow, and not split evenly among all parties. 
Lucky for you, your boyfriend happens to be both good at the game and willing to share all of his treasure. 
“Ew, gross, PDA at three o’clock,” Jungkook says loudly, his whiny voice interrupting you and Seokjin’s lovers’ quarrel. 
“Ugh, just because you guys can have a successful and empowering relationship doesn’t mean you have to rub it in all of our faces,” Taehyung adds with a huff. At least nobody’s singing playground nursery rhymes about the two of you anymore. Since when last did people actually sit in trees, anyway?
“Get a room,” Yoongi deadpans as per usual. His attitude has not changed even though the state of you and Seokjin’s relationship definitely has. You know you can always count on him to give it to you straight. 
“Hey, no making out on office premises,” Namjoon says, barging into the room with his glasses tucked into the collar of his sweater, one of those pastel cream ones that dads who golf wear (though Namjoon is neither a dad nor plays golf). He’s switched to an iPad in recent weeks, which, despite being much more environmentally friendly, is still not Namjoon-friendly, and he often has to troubleshoot basic things like the functionality of the Notes app. Not to mention, his place of employment is filled with twerps who love doing things like spamming his camera roll and locking himself out of his own iPad. You think the record is three hours, but give the device to Hoseok and he’ll get it up to a couple of days with ease. “You guys agreed to that when you signed the employee handbook.”
“You always think so lowly of us, Joon,” Seokjin chides, and since he’s everybody’s best friend, he’s the only one who can get away with doing that. “We were just talking.”
“And playing Kingdom,” Yoongi pipes up, quickly switching away from his Haikyuu!!! tab. 
“If there’s a rule against Kingdom in the employee handbook, you’d have to fire all of us,” you remind Namjoon pointedly. Not even Yoongi would be spared, even if he’s terrible at the game itself. 
“But if you did, maybe Jungkook could finally live out his dream of being an E-sports gamer,” Taehyung adds, sending Jungkook into a tizzy. 
Seokjin scoffs, “He’d have to knock me and Y/N out of first and second place first, though.” 
“But please don’t fire us,” Taehyung pipes up weakly. 
“Nobody’s getting fired. You guys just better be doing your work,” Namjoon says. “Hey, it says that my iPad is going to be updated later tonight, do I need to do anything about that?”
Everyone groans. 
“Hey, what if we got married?” Seokjin nudges you with his shoulder. 
You sputter out the water you had been drinking all over your desk. “Married?” It dawns on you that shouting out that word in an office filled with nosy coworkers may not be the brightest idea. 
“You guys are getting married?” Taehyung shrieks excitedly. “Oh my God, I call being best man!”
“You don’t get to make that decision, idiot!” Jungkook shouts. “Besides, Seokjin would totally pick me over you anyway.”
“Who says?”
“Guys, we’re not getting married,” Seokjin says before the whole office breaks out into a brawl. Taehyung’s expression falls, sinking back into his chair, defeated. Yoongi had even quirked up for a moment before immediately turning back to his anime. “At least, in real life, we’re not.”
“Oh, you meant in-game?” You ask, the realization dawning on you. You notice everyone in the office eyeing you and Seokjin. Glaring at each and every person, you say, “He meant in-game, mind your own beeswax, you nosy freaks.” 
“Obviously,” Seokjin says with a roll of his eyes. “I love you, Y/N, but seeing as how we started dating three months ago, I think that marriage is pushing it. But in Kingdom, yeah, why not? We’ll get a lot of buffs from being married.”
Seokjin’s got a point. Being married in Kingdom means that the two of you will share wealth, property, and have the option of combining special powers during battles. It also means that the game will split boss and player rewards evenly amongst the two of you without you having to do it manually. Besides, isn’t it only right for the top two players in the game to get married? Assert their dominance? Remind Jungkook that he’ll never be an E-sports gamer for Kingdom? 
“Sounds like a plan,” you say, easily convinced. Besides, Seokjin could ask you to hand over all of your coins in the game, leaving you penniless, and you wouldn’t bat an eyelash. “We can do it later tonight.”
“My place? We can order takeout.”
“Only if we can get some cheesecake as well,” you say. 
“Done.”
Seokjin plants another kiss onto your lips before returning to his own desk, your office chairs facing away from each other as you get back to work, the promise of a nice meal and some quality time together keeping you motivated. 
Out of the blue, you say, “I would have said yes, you know.”
“To what?” Seokjin asks, not even turning around. 
“To asking if we could get married,” you tell him. He rounds on you, eyes wide. “I would have said yes.”
Seokjin seems frozen in place before he caves, body relaxing as his entire face begins to glow, red and orange and pink. “Tell you what,” he says. “I’ll ask again later, and if your answer is still the same, then we can.”
“How much later?” You ask. You don’t like to be kept waiting. Especially since the both of you know that your answer almost definitely won’t falter. 
Seokjin grins. “You’ll see.”
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There
“I never liked fancy dresses,” you comment, pulling at the collar of the white dress lacing your features, hugging your body like a bedsheet. It’s scratchy and uncomfortable and restricting, making you feel like you can’t eat a single apple without popping open. There’s a veil with a train the size of the castle behind you, and the tiara on your head is so heavy and sharp that ti feels as though you’re about to topple. All this for a wedding?
“Good thing you’ll never have to wear one again after this, right?” Jin whispers back, the two of you facing the officiant before you as a crowd of onlookers watches the two of you. 
“Is that a promise?” You ask. “We’re making a lot of promises today, aren’t we?”
“And I will keep every single one of them with honor,” Jin says dramatically. It almost makes you reach out to punch him in the shoulder, but you don’t for the sake of publicity, hands wrapped tightly around the bouquet, filled with roses and tulips and carnations. You can’t believe you’re saying this, but you think you prefer your knight’s garb. At least it comes with flat boots. 
You even tune out what the officiant is saying, an old, monotonous advisor who oversees all military weddings, waiting boredly until you are prompted to respond. Time usually goes by rather quickly in the Kingdom, whether you are strolling through the market or on the battlefield, but here, it feels as though it’s taking forever and a day. Discreetly, you turn to look at Jin, who notices your gaze and rolls his eyes, just to make you laugh. At least the both of you feel the same about this whole thing. You wish there were an easier way to do this, perhaps just going to a courthouse and signing some papers and making a vow or two. Does the entire kingdom have to watch? 
“Do you promise to uphold these values, Jin?” The officiant asks. 
“I do,” Jin says. 
“Do you promise to uphold these values, Y/N?” 
Relieved that it’s finally coming to an end, you nod. “I do.”
“Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss.”
Immediately, Jin turns to you, reaching an arm out to hold onto your waist as he pulls you towards him, your faces pressed up against each other, breaths hitting each others’ skin. 
“I’ve been waiting all day to do this,” he whispers softly. 
“Then don’t hold back,” you challenge. 
In one fell swoop, Jin presses a kiss on your lips, soft and warm and gentle. It’s filled with more promises than the officiant could even dream of making, filled with more vows than any wedding ceremony could produce. What this is is more than a silly pledge, a matrimonial technicality. It is an oath. To protect each other. To care for each other. To love each other.
And you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that for the rest of time, until the sun collapses and the moon vanishes, that you will.
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↳ links are broken, but don’t forget i’m still taking commissions!
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ectonurites · 3 years
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a very very genuine question: so its bad to repost art but no one says anything when people repost things from the source material/creator's sketches.....why?like sure everyone who likes it may recognize the style but there are plenty of fan artists i recognize immediately, new or old art, with or without. to me it just feels the same, like either dont repost art or people should be able to repost stuff, i dont see how they can work at the same time. and this isnt me saying people should be allowed to repost and all that bc i do understand the theory of why reposting hurts artists, just that the logic doesnt seem to fit once it extends to famous artists/creators. just bc its official and easily recognizable makes it okay? how does that work? again, there are plenty of fanartists who are easily recognizable and lose no money when people repost their work (bc they posted it for free) and from my own observation, it seems it just, somehow, makes them want to do art less (from what i have read from artists themselves). why do we not consider that when it comes to official creators? wouldnt they also feasibly be less motivated seeing their hard work plastered across the internet for free when thats the sole way they make their income? and its not a system where its solely sticking it to the man bc it hurts the artists income, as well. but if it makes them happy to see people enjoying and sharing their work with others, drawing interest, why isnt it the same with fan artists? people often repost art, not out of malice or intent to claim credit, but bc they enjoy it + want to share it, esp on social media where sharing isnt a feature (instagram, for example) again im not trying to justify reposting, just confused about the contradiction
First of all instagram does have a form of sharing posts- stories. Which yes they are temporary by default, but you can use the highlight feature to collect your favorite things you’ve shared from people right there on your own profile AND it links back to the original post and can permanently be on your profile as long as you keep it there. You can even label them and everything! But then moving on to answering more of your actual questions
To start: this is a very complicated thing. And I feel everyone trying to answer it might have slightly varied opinions. 
I personally see a pretty clear distinction between ‘Officially published/released’ works (like comic book [as like you’ve probably seen I frequently post comic panels] or other materials that may have been released in creator guides, official video game art, promotional art for things, etc etc) as opposed to like, personal work and fanart. Because with official works:
There’s usually a source to buy it and you should if you’re referencing it a ton (while I don’t own every comic I’ve ever read I do have a lot and if I did read something first through illegal means [because some comics are just straight up hard to find due to age/being out of print] and enjoyed it I try to seek out a physical copy after if possible)
There is a level of far wider recognition (I know you personally might find fanartists’ styles recognizable but like, things that are in mainstream media.. have just such a higher profile. it’s not really comparable) 
If you’re not supporting the official release you’re harming the big company that published it far more than the individual artist (like, the individual artist probably also wouldn’t appreciate it, because it can effect them for sure as well, but they’re not gonna be taking the brunt of the damage unless it was entirely self-published work, which I’d definitely categorize differently from what I’m mainly talking about here.)  
Often fanartists/professional artists who aren’t that well known, in addition to wanting to just create work for the sake of it, also want to build their own platform, to have an audience that they interact with. Or like, if they’re offering commissions, a bigger platform puts you in a position where people will actually see the art and want to commission you. When you say reposts of smaller artists’ fanart doesn’t ‘loose them money’ because they didn’t charge to post it, you’re missing the fact that it makes them loose out on proper linked-back-to-them exposure. Especially like, when a repost account on insta or something says ‘ah yes credit to [username] on tumblr’ the vast majority of people who see it aren’t going to then open up a whole different website and look for the artist. Some people might! but if there’s anything i’ve learned from working professionally in arts marketing it’s that people want things that are convenient and directly in front of them. Someone who wants to see more works because they liked one is significantly more likely to click on the username of someone who posted it rather than opening up a browser or a different app and searching a separate name put in the caption. 
Then honestly, I do feel weird about reposts of professional artists’ more personal works unless the artist has stated they’re fine with people reposting with credit. It should be about the comfort level of the artist. I think a lot of professional artists who aren’t in a position where they’re as worried about building a platform, because they already have one and might have professional connections/opportunities already lined up, might not really care about reposts especially on a website they don’t use. (Like tumblr. I’m coming at this mostly from a comics artist perspective here, but most professional artists I see are waaaay more active on twitter and instagram than tumblr) If it’s a website they don’t use, it’s not taking away from the platform they had been building there for themselves. And also, some artists really just don’t give a shit, which is their choice they can make with their work! But that’s not a universal thing. One artist being fine with their personal art being reposted =/= all artists being fine with it. 
In my own experience as a fanartist, when I see my art reposted without credit, especially when it’s art I’ve also already posted on the same platform... it’s definitely disheartening. Even worse is when the repost gets even more attention than my original post. (something that has happened to me multiple times!) Like, it can get so upsetting!  Because it lets me know that someone else was using my art to build their platform and I got exactly zero benefit out of it. Then when it’s reposted with credit it’s a little less annoying, but I still don’t... get much out of it. Especially if it’s an instagram repost and they credit my tumblr not my account on there, since insta captions don’t actually do links unless it’s to other insta accounts. Also with insta for example, I have a 'business’ account set up so I can look at and track popularity of my posts and see how they’re doing as something to keep in mind when considering posting times, etc etc. When other people repost my art there I have no control over it. That sucks a lot! Also, when I quite literally ask people not to repost my art (it is IN! MY! DESCRIPTION!) and they still do, it’s just straight up disrespectful. I asked for a boundary to be respected with my work and people have just completely ignored it. That doesn’t feel good at all.
But, conversely, I’m gonna talk about my more professional irl work for a sec. I’m a graphic designer, so I do things like posters, logos, etc, When I design a poster for a client that is meant to be advertising something, even if it’s got my own original illustration or something as part of it, I know my name isn’t necessarily going to be attached to it the same way as it is with my personal work. I get a credit line somewhere, but that’s in a fine print probably not even on the poster itself at all, but that’s like, part of what I signed up for. I already get paid separately, I am giving permission for my work to be out of my own hands in that way. Professional work for a client is often setup in some way similar to this. I don’t get mad when I walk down the street and see a poster I made up somewhere without it directly ‘linking’/referencing back to me (aside from maybe my signature if it had an illustration), in fact I go ‘OMG ITS THERE ugh wait i see one pixel is off oh noooooo” and then move on with my day. It’s just an entirely different situation because that kind of work has a different arrangement from the start, where you know it’s going to be put in a different type of circulation.
So yeah, my word isn’t god here, but I definitely see official releases as having a different set of permissions based on the fact that they are published in an entirely different situation. And I think reposts of personal art aren’t cool if the artist isn’t okay with them, no matter how big a platform they have. Other people probably approach this with a slightly different perspective, but that’s mine!
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forkanna · 4 years
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[AO3] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]
NOTES: Some nominal amount of smut ahead, and minor character death. NSFW. And, of course, Elsanna.
A small belated gift for Princess Anna's 194th birthday! Thanks to scuttlepantsworld and Aether_nb for helping to make this possible – or for giving me proper motivation and a prod in the right direction, at least. Commissions are still open at this time!
Yes, I know. It's been a thousand years to the day since chapter four was released. For the longest time, I vacillated between wanting to add to it and insisting the story was over; to be honest, I had never intended to write more than one chapter! But deep down, I knew the work was always unfinished. So the time has come to wrap it up and put it to bed forever. My writing style has changed in the years since, so I can only hope this manages to recapture the magic for those fans who have been waiting. And for the gawkers that just want a laugh… well, stay tuned for the epilogue, I guess.
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Min Søsters Kjeder: Anna
Well, that didn't work out so great.
My heart felt like it was crystallising as Kristoff helped me to my feet just in front of the grand ice doors of my sister's palace. So Elsa had rejected me. Again. She cast me out into the cold she created because she didn't think I could handle the "new Elsa" — that she had apparently been suppressing for years and years. Maybe our whole lives. As usual, pathetic little Princess Anna just wasn't worth clueing in on all the fine details. No matter how much headway we make, no matter how many walls and doors I try to knock down, she summons new ones of glittering sub-zero moisture to stand in our way.
"Hey, we should do something about this."
"About what?" I asked distantly, still staring up at the shimmering ice slide that had deposited us where we were currently crouched, breath fogging on the air. "I really don't think she's gonna let me in again. Not anytime soon. She's stubborn like that sometimes." Like I wasn't stubborn.
"Your hair." I looked up into his concerned eyes as he reached up with a gloved hand, batting at the newly-whitened hairs of my fringe. "It's… I can tell what this is, Anna. I've seen it before."
My brow furrowed. "What… Kristoff, what are you talking about, you've seen this? Am I the only one in the dark around here about ice magic?!"
Now he looked a little uncomfortable. And I took full advantage — by storming for the staircase again. Obviously I slipped right back down, but that didn't stop me from grunting and growling, trying to claw my way up the perfectly slick surface.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a weary tone.
"Going… to see… my sister!" I grunted, before falling on my butt.
"Huh," Olaf put in. "Maybe you know something I don't, but that doesn't seem to be working out so great for you."
"OOF! Are you guys gonna help me up there or not?!"
But we never had a chance for them to give me a boost. My new friend and my old snowman — or our old snowman, I suppose — were too busy gasping in horror. It took me a little longer than it should have before I turned to see the towering snow-giant, menacing-yet-soft features glaring down at us.
"Oh. Not… I guess."
                                                                ~ o ~
My life became a series of rude awakenings after that. They made me miss doors in my face; at least those weren't dangerous and scary.
First, we got thrown out of the palace by my sister's new snow-beast. And that wasn't nice. Then Kristoff had the bright idea that he should take me to see his "love expert" friends — who turned out to be his family. Even worse rude awakening, because I had never met any magical beings that weren't my sister or the semi-frozen creations she seemed to whip up without even thinking about it. TROLLS. Real, live, rocky, mossy trolls! And on top of that, they decided I was about to marry Kristoff, because… I don't actually know! They just decided! Wow, were they eccentric, and a little annoying.
But they were the ones that sent me back to Elsa's palace. See, their king — maybe he was a sage, or a bishop? — explained that because my sister's magic had crept its way into my heart, even though I wasn't sure how or when, that there was nothing he could do. Only an act of true love could thaw a frozen heart.
And there was only one person I loved. Sure, Kristoff was okay, and Hans loved me, and Olaf and Sven were buddies. Nothing wrong with friendship! But there was a queen in my life that I felt such a deep level of love for that no force on Earth could break it, and I knew she felt the same for me. Even if she wasn't always good at showing it. So if I was going to get defrosted from anybody, I was definitely going to go with the prime candidate.
Problem was…
                                                                ~ o ~
"I can't believe she was gone!"
"These tracks will lead us straight to her," Kristoff reassured me for what was probably the twelfth time as we galloped toward Arendelle. "Don't worry, I'll get you to Queen Elsa!"
"What happened?" I asked weakly, shivering as I curled even tighter against him. "A-all that destruction, all those hoofprints…"
He shook his shaggy blonde mane as he spurred his reindeer faster and faster. My heart was filled with deeper dread the larger the kingdom loomed in my vision. All I wanted was to be home. To curl up by a fire and rest… and see my sister. I wanted that above all else.
Kristoff got me to the gates. The officials didn't want to let him in, and I didn't have the brainpower to argue anymore; my entire focus was on Elsa, on fighting my way to her side. Seeing her dazzling blue eyes and her soft white locks above me, sliding my hands around her trim waist…
"Prince Hans!" Kai called as he and Gerda steered me into the meeting room. I felt lucky that the ice magic's effects were minimal; otherwise, I would have been barely able to walk by now. I saw several dignitaries gathered around Hans, including the Weasel himself. Odin Allfather, didn't that guy have a life at all? Or enough sense to notice nobody wanted him around?
"Anna!" my suitor gasped out, rushing over to embrace me tightly. Oh yeah… I kind of forgot in all the craziness that the last time I talked to him, we were supposed to be getting married. I'd have to straighten that out later.
"Hans! I… I have to find out what happened to my sister!"
He seemed stunned. "What? What do you mean? She left Arendelle, she left us all to deal with this winter."
"But I saw the hoofprints leading back here! From the North Mountain! Where… I know she's here, I can feel it!" And I could, I swear I felt her presence. Maybe it was just me fooling myself… or maybe it was just gas.
Hans opened his mouth to protest, but just then another guard came in, standing ramrod straight and saluting. "Her Majesty has refused any food or drink, Sir. What shall we…" Only then did he notice me there, and he saluted again — harder, if possible. "Princess Anna! You have returned! Then… you were not…?"
"Were not what?" I asked. When the rest of the people in the room began to mutter, I looked around more frantically. "Okay, I'm getting a little tired of the information wagon not wheeling in my direction! What in the fjord is going on?!"
"Listen," Hans breathed with a slight crease in his handsome brow, "I think you all should leave for a moment. Princess Anna is clearly overcome — and she is frozen to the bone. We need to give her some time, I need to take care of her and let her warm herself by the f-"
"NO. You can stay here and talk to these guys if you want; I have a mission." I turned to point at the guard. "You! Fred, or something!"
"Fredek, Your Highness," he said with a stiff bow, still looking a little out of sorts. Everybody did.
"That's what I said. Is my sister here?"
"Y-yes, but she is-"
"Where?" Hesitation. Again. "Hey, am I the princess around here or WHAT?! Take me to Elsa now! Right now!"
                                                                ~ o ~
Nothing could have prepared me for that trip up into the tower. When we were little, Elsa and I would sometimes go up there to play, pretending one of us was the monster that was holding the other captive. We would imagine our castle was Soria Moria, taking turns playing a princess — since we were always princesses and playing was about escapism — and Halvor, the hero. We usually wound up just squealing and rolling around in fear that the troll with three heads would gobble us up, starting with our toes. That was what our father always told us would happen if we didn't behave.
Father…
Not for the first time, I fretted over what he would think about all this. Had he known? Had Mother? Did they have magic of their own, and just never bothered to reveal it to me? Nah, that would be completely crazy; I would know if my parents had anything magical in their backgrounds. Still, nobody ever told me about Elsa, so it was possible. It would have been easy to let bitterness take over my heart, thinking about how left out I had been my entire life until now.
But wasn't I doing something every bit as depraved as them keeping secrets? By falling head over heels for my own sister?
"I'm sorry, Princess, you cannot pass. I have my orders."
"Skadi can have your stupid orders! That is my sister and I'm going to see her, and… and I'm the princess, and you are not. So there!"
"That has nothing to do with-"
"You're ORDERED to open this door! NOW!" That was starting to work pretty well for me. The man sighed and unlocked the door, pulling it open. "Okay, get out of here."
"Excuse me?"
"I need to speak with my sister in private! And if you're hanging around out here… just-" I shoved at him impatiently. "Go wait at the bottom of the stairwell, or something! I don't care, just don't let us be disturbed or I'm going to…" Sentence him to death? I couldn't even pretend to be that mean. "Or I'll turn you into a stable-boy, and you'll be shovelling horse dritt for the rest of your life!"
Honestly, I've never seen a soldier in full armour sprint down stairs before.
"Who's there?" croaked a weak voice as I crept into the chamber, yanking the door shut behind me. "Is… you have to tell me, have they found Anna?"
"Nope," I said with a smirk. "She's totally still missing. Probably got eaten by a muskox."
The blue-tinted form on the cot shifted and stirred, and a disheveled head of platinum blond hair raised to squint through the darkness at me. Wow, she looked a lot more rough than I expected… because never in my life had I seen her look anything less than perfect. Not even when we were little.
"I…" Once she had seen me with her own eyes, she let out a long, shaky sigh of relief. "We don't… muskoxen aren't even carnivores."
"No?" I grunted as I plopped down on the floor right next to her, not even caring how dirty the dungeon was. Can you have a dungeon in a tower? Is that not the same thing? Maybe there's another word. "Well fine, I got turned into grass by some other magical person, and then the muskox ate me."
"Stop that. I was so worried when Hans told me, and here you are making fun of me for worrying. That isn't nice."
"Uh huh. It's totally nice, because I'm playing with you. Remember how to play?"
Elsa smiled softly to herself, glancing at the tiny window. The sky was definitely awake; I knew that's what she was thinking because it was what I was thinking. Crazy how sometimes, we could be so in sync, and other times…
"I remember," she admitted under her breath. "What do you think I keep thinking about the entire time I've been up here?"
The smile that broke out over my face was bright enough to eclipse the sun. It turned just a little wicked as I stood tall with my fists on my hips and proclaimed, "Hutetu, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"
That made my sister turn to look at me with wide eyes. Which promptly rolled before she mumbled, "Oh Anna, please, anything but that…"
"Come on, you know this!" I hissed. "Just kill the troll, Halvor — cut off all my heads! Then you can sweep the youngest princess-sister off her feet!" For real, this time. In hindsight, maybe it was because we spent so much time pretending to marry each other as kids that led us to the big i-word.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" she asked, raising her hands…
My heart seemed to grow yet colder in my chest as I looked at those gleaming manacles. I'd never seen anything quite like them; they encircled Elsa's hands completely instead of just binding her at the wrists, and chains led from their tips to a metal plate bolted to the middle of the floor. Wasn't that weird? Why would any such thing exist?
Come to think of it… since when had this tower been a dungeon? It was always cold and forbidding, but the iron bars had not been there when we were little, pretending it was Soria Moria. Not that I trusted my memories much anymore after finding out my sister had ice powers and never told me.
Still, I could put two-and-two together. "Elsa, this prison… did you…?"
"Not I alone," she sighed weakly, staring down into her icy lap as she fidgeted on the cold-looking stone cot. "Father had this commissioned."
"Father wouldn't-"
"I insisted. I made him and Mother see that it was for the best, even if… if they did not want to put me in a cage. But sometimes we need cages, Anna — to protect everyone else from what's inside."
"So what, now you just… you're going to sit up here while an eternal winter rages throughout Arendelle? That's so- I can't believe you would neglect your duties to this kingdom. Don't you see we need you?"
Her brow furrowed as she turned away again. "No. Look what I have done so far. Why would anyone need a queen as unstable as me? Who can't even control her own curse?"
"Curse? Do you not remember- didn't you see Olaf? Real and as alive as you and me? You did that! And you built that beautiful castle, and made this dress- really gorgeous, by the way, I didn't get a chance to say it before."
At least I made her chuckle. A tiny bit. It didn't last long before she was brooding again, staring toward the window. "You're too sweet. Maybe… maybe I shouldn't have interfered."
"Interfered in what?"
"You and… what was his name? Hans. Or that large man who helped you find me."
"Kristoff. Wait… are you trying to marry me off to some man I just met? After all that?!"
"Anna, you deserve a chance at happiness with a man who can take care of you. If you keep pining after me, deluding yourself into thinking we can be something more than we are… then I'm afraid you'll never be happy. And that would hurt me more than I can bear, especially knowing it's my fault! All I have ever wanted is to make sure you are taken care of. That you're safe, and whole, and happy."
"Then why did you spend over a decade shutting me out? Huh? Could you really not remember how much I loved you? Didn't you realize how that was going to hurt me, losing my sister — my best friend?" So maybe it wasn't very nice, but I couldn't help it; I lost my temper.
"I…" Her chest was rising and falling more rapidly, eyes narrowing thanks to the force of the furrow in her brow. It almost looked like she was panicking again, like she had at the coronation ball. "It wasn't my decision, but wasn't it for the best? I couldn't hurt you again. And us being together, especially the way we've been recklessly exploring the past couple of days… I can only see that ending one way."
"Elsa…" Knowing I had made a mistake, I approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Yes, she tensed up, but when nothing bad happened she relaxed. "I'm sorry. Maybe this has been rough on you, too, but I still don't think staying away from me was the best plan. Why couldn't we have tried to work on this togeth-"
"What part of 'I didn't want to hurt you again' is confusing for you? Why are you always so stubborn, Anna?!"
My temper threatening to rise again in response to hers, I snapped back, "The 'again' part, you jerk! Literally the only thing that ever hurt me was losing you!"
"No, it isn't! You just don't remember because of the trolls-"
Elsa cut off, her expression full of misery as she turned away. Lately, I felt like I was messing up all the time. Pushing too much. I didn't want to, I just… when I see something is wrong, I have this compulsion to fix it. How can anybody do any better if they don't try?
"I've been to the trolls. They said… well, they said if we don't do something soon, this is going to get worse."
"What is?" But this time, when she looked at me — really looked — she noticed. "Oh. Oh, Anna, it's getting worse…"
"How do you know about the trolls?" I asked suspiciously, scooting forward to make sure she couldn't escape my gaze so easily. "Wait — did you always know my hair was going to get more white? The way you said that…"
"No, no, they said they fixed it," she breathed, voice strained as if she were barely keeping her emotions in check. "I can't do this!"
"Elsa, for once I need you to actually listen to me and answer my questions! How do you know about the trolls, and what do you mean, this has happened before? And why don't I ever remember you having ice magic until your coronation? The more I think about it, the crazier it seems I wouldn't have noticed something that insane! Hey, I know I'm dumb, but I'm not that dumb!"
Suddenly, my sister's icy irises blazed with anger as she turned to look at me. "Don't you say that, Anna. You are not dumb. I have never mistaken your openness and your vibrance, and the naïvety that your excitement leads to sometimes, for stupidity."
Why did that turn me on? Talk about an inappropriate reaction!
"O-oh. Well… wow, Elsa, thank you. Um, I didn't expect you to say anything like that, I thought you would agree with me. Or something. I don't know." Desperately wishing I could force the blush out of my cheeks was distracting me from being able to string words together.
"Alright." Clearly relieved that I had accepted what she said instead of arguing, she closed her eyes for a moment. A long moment. "As I said, this is not the first time my magic has hurt you, no matter how hard I try to protect you. And there's a reason you-"
"Come on, Elsa! Why haven't you figured out yet that I don't need protection? Not from my best friend!" My body seemed to take on a life of its own, demanding I get closer to my sweet sister, that I show her how true my feelings really were. Otherwise, how would she ever see?
"Anna, wait-"
"I love you," I breathed as she backed into the corner, even though I was keeping pace, my hands pawing at her arms through her dress. The chains pulled taut beneath me and I saw my sister lurch from the unexpected resistance on her arms; I hadn't been paying much attention to them, I was so focused on getting closer to her. But then-
Then I let out the whimper. My sister whispered fearfully, "Anna? Anna, what's wrong?"
"Mmhhh, I didn't… well that's new…" My thighs flexed as I rubbed myself against the steel links that were now firmly between my thighs, vision going blurry briefly from the powerful surge of pleasure.
"What… are-" The gasp made it pretty obvious she had figured it out. "Anna, you stop that right now!"
"Why? It's… I mean, why can't I take a quick little break?" That was a pretty weak defense. Mostly, I was aware of how insane and depraved what I was doing was, but every second I was away from Elsa made my desire triple. At least, it really felt that way to me.
"We have…" Maybe it was the expression on my face, or maybe the sounds I was making, but I could start to see the colour rising in her cheeks. "Anna, we were in the middle of an important conversation. Please, can't your libido wait a minute or two?"
"I can… multitask…" At her glare, I finally brought my greedy pelvis to a stop. "You're right! You're right, I'm really sorry. I just already wanted you so bad, and then those chains hit me just right in- okay, shutting up," I added when I saw her death glare.
"Thank you. Now… I know this isn't going to be easy for you to hear. But I have hurt you before, when we were children. I wish I didn't have to explain it to you, I wish I could let you go on thinking nothing was wrong, but it's clear to me now that you will never stop fighting to get closer to me unless I explain why you can't do that. No matter what we both want, it just isn't meant to be."
"Okay, I… do not like that part. But the rest is good! We should be talking about these things — I mean, how are we ever going to fix things between us if we don't? So…" Oh wow, it was almost impossible to keep still.
"Your hips are moving."
"So what? My hips are here, my hips are th- ooooh, maybe they shouldn't go there. Okay, I stopped. So you hit me with some of your magic when we were kids and it gave me a white streak in my hair, and you guys took me to the trolls and they erased my memory and healed me right up? That pretty accurate?"
I couldn't remember ever seeing my sister look so completely shocked before. Literally had no words. It's too bad she didn't have something like that she could say to me, because I'm the chatterbox who needs to be quieted down sometimes.
"What? I mean, you left me some pretty easy dots to connect, and you just said I'm not as dumb as I look."
"I didn't- you don't look dumb, either! You are a beautiful young woman who could have anyone in the kingdom!"
Grinning, I whispered, "Aww, really?"
"Anna, please, try to pay attention. Don't you see how dangerous this is? Twice now I have gotten too close, let my attention lapse, and twice now I have hurt you. Can't you understand why I need to be kept away from you?"
Of course, I did feel my heart grow a little colder for just a second. But then I shook my head hard and glared at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I can see how you would think that — even how our parents could think that. Because they don't get it at all, and neither do you."
She looked so bone-weary when I started to crawl closer. Was hard not to take that personally. "Anna… what is it that you think you understand that I don't?"
"True love."
"What?"
"The trolls…" I shivered for a moment. It was getting worse, so I had to push ahead. "They said only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. So don't you see? If you kiss me-"
"NO. Anna, you have to listen to me! Stop this nonsense!" She was breathing hard in panic again now that our faces were only a couple of inches apart. Crystals formed on her eyelashes from the tears she couldn't fully shed. "I can't. Why don't you see I can't be that person for you? I'm a woman — your sister, the queen of the kingdom! No one will allow us to be together!"
Her words stabbed into me roughly like bayonets. Like icicles she was driving into my heart. And I could see fear blossoming in her eyes, could feel the cold creeping along my cheeks. Confirmation wasn't necessary; I knew I was getting worse. The magic was stealing me from the world. And Elsa just couldn't see that she was the only one who had the power to roll back the frozen tide.
"They aren't who counts," I breathed, my teeth beginning to chatter. Then… my hips started moving again.
"Anna, this is not the-"
"I'm going to freeze if I don't move. Don't you want to help me?" When she remained immobile, a little desperation crept into my voice as my brow furrowed. "Elsa…"
"I can't help. All I can do is make it worse," she sobbed brokenly. Even if she couldn't understand, at least she wasn't hiding anything from me anymore. Baby steps are all you get sometimes.
"Can't get worse than this!" I tried to joke. And when she only began to cry harder, I reached up to caress her soft cheek. "Come on… pick your princess, Halvor. You've b-been through so much…"
And she did kiss me. I had really been hoping that would break the curse. It didn't. But I was still going to enjoy this moment to the fullest. Hey, if it's your last one on the mortal plane, heck, why wouldn't you?
The deeper our kiss grew, the stronger my urges rose. It seemed to be helping me fight off the cold, so I renewed my efforts, grinding myself hard against those firm chains through the layers of Oaken's winter wardrobe. And my dear, beautiful sister no longer wasted any breath trying to convince me to stop; she did the one thing I had always wanted her to do, ever since we were little.
She supported me.
"Mmmhhhah!" I gasped when I was getting close. "Elsa! I love you!"
"Anna-"
"Never forget! Do you understand me?" Hazy as my vision was, I could still see the furrow of concern in her brow, how rapidly she was breathing. My poor big sister was terrified on my behalf. Screwed up as that might be, it felt amazing. She actually cared about me! "Don't you ever… forget that I love you, and I never blamed you, and I… all I ever wanted was to be close to you again! And you're giving that to me, and I am so, so happy!"
Tears slipping down her cheeks and shattering on the stone floor, Elsa rasped out, "Anna, you can't go! You're the one that deserves to stay — you have never done anything wrong! It's me! I am the monster, I cursed you, and I should be the one who is slain!"
"So what?! You… didn't do anything wrong, either!" But she didn't believe me. Of course. So I had to give her something different, something that would meet her needs. "A-and I forgive you! For anything, everything, whatever you think you need forgiveness for, you got it, sis!"
We kissed again. I only wished we could have had that conversation when I wasn't riding a couple of lengths of chain; it was definitely a little weird. But the burning between my thighs demanded I keep going, and it also felt like if I stopped, the cold would win. So on I bucked, over and over into that unrelenting metal-
Elsa did a little something for me that finished me off. And I can't even fully explain it, but I had no idea anybody could use their tongue like that.
"HMMNHHH!" was the only noise I could make because our mouths were joined together, but I felt like it was enough for her to understand. The orgasm that stole over my body was both satisfying and unsatisfying, because I was still so far away from the one I loved despite the passion joining our lips. But it would have to do. At least most of the frost had been rolled back from my body so I could function again.
Once the high faded, and the blaze in my crotch was back to being a dull ache again, we finally broke the kiss to look into each other's eyes. And there was understanding. I could see now that Elsa might still try to resist, and would probably always have anxiety about hurting me, but she was no longer deluded that we weren't meant to be together. She got it. Better late than never, I guess.
"Sooooo, your turn, Big Sis? Let me under that ice dress. Gotta show my appreciation."
"Anna!"
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have that fork with you, would you? Maybe in here?"
Elsa only had enough time to chuckle and roll her eyes before the door burst open. My finger instantly jerked back from where it had been inching below her neckline as I whirled to yell at whoever had interrupted us.
But it was Hans. Not just him, but the guard I had sent on an early lunch break. Both had swords drawn, but now they were definitely looking like they didn't know which way was up.
"Princess!" Hans gasped. "Are you alright? We heard you struggling to breathe!"
"I-I'm fine!" I laughed nervously, privately thinking I was really getting tired of people barging in on me right after I came. Maybe I should invest in a Do Not Disturb sign that I could just carry with me wherever I went…
"What have you done to her?" he demanded of Elsa, glowering. She shrank away, instantly on the defensive, so I held out my hands toward both of them.
"Stop! Listen, nobody did anything, everything is fine! We were just talking, and… and trying to figure it all out!"
"Princess, I advise you stay away from her. She nearly killed the guards when they found her on North Mountain!"
When I turned to my sister with a question in my eyes, she winced, shoulders hunching up toward her ears. "I-it was an accident. They were trying to kill me, I was only defending myself!"
"Trying to kill you? They were part of the search party — we only came looking because Princess Anna had disappeared."
"But they attacked! And they weren't even guards from Arend-"
"Please take the princess to safety," Hans instructed the guard. But I wasn't focusing on that for the moment. He had already picked me up and moved me away from the chains before the little seed of thought began to sprout.
"Not from Arendelle?" I had to raise my boot and brace it against the door frame to keep from being shoved out of the tower. "Wait, wait, what did I miss?"
Hans sounded very regretful the moment he started speaking. "Those were Weselton's men. I thought it would be good to have more in our search party, but perhaps I was wrong. They seemed to have their own agenda. But you still had nearly taken their lives when I found you, Queen Elsa. Perhaps if you weren't so aggressive with your sorcery, one of them wouldn't have tried to take you out with the crossbow."
So much of what he said made sense, and I understood the shame and regret in my sister's face. She didn't want to be a killer, she didn't want to hurt anyone. And the more I learned, the more I understood why.
"This is still my fault, Hans," I sighed as the guard finally put me down, seeming to realize he wasn't going to have any more success if he kept at it. Stubborn as a mule. "She was fine until I started pushing her, messing with her ability to… to keep it all in check. So if anybody should be in chains, it's me."
Turning back to me, Hans took up my hands and squeezed tightly. Oh, the pain, the… awkward. Yeah, it's super awkward holding hands with the guy you once told you were ready to marry but suddenly realized you only wanted to tie the knot with a blood-related sibling.
"Anna, you aren't responsible for your sister's decisions. She has still put this entire kingdom in danger. Don't you think she should answer for that crime?"
"Only if I answer for the same crime! Didn't you hear me? I provoked her into it, I was- was being a stinker, she felt trapped!"
"Don't be absurd," he responded a little more firmly, lips pressing flat. "You never forced her to unleash eternal winter! Besides, if both of you are tried for treason, how will you and I rule over Arendelle? There will be no one left to take the throne."
I blinked a few times. "What? You and I- oh, Hans. If only you were the one I love." While he was busy looking more confused than ever, I shrugged helplessly. "My sister was right. I was just caught up in the excitement of having a new friend, someone who would listen, and I didn't stop to realize… there's no way what we had could be true love after only a few hours."
"So… then…" Man, he was really breathing hard now. I felt like a colossal jerk for doing this to him, but I didn't want to live a lie. Not for a single second. That would only make this harder in the long run. "So that's all there is to it? You can't see your way to giving me… a chance? Maybe we were hasty, but that doesn't have to-"
"It does. My heart belongs to another."
You know, it's funny. Even while I was sharing a longing gaze with Elsa, small, knowing smiles on our lips as we felt our hearts warm with the power of love, Hans still didn't realize who I was talking about. Maybe that says something about me, or maybe it says something about men. About people in general. That's a question I can't really answer.
"Who?" was what he asked when he found his voice again.
"It's a secret," I compromised. Again, Elsa rolled her eyes, but I was starting to get used to that. It didn't make me feel belittled anymore.
"I see. That… that is regrettable."
Elsa still held my eyes when I heard the sickly sound of metal sliding through metal. Mostly, I just found it really annoying, but when I turned to figure out what it was and how to stop it…
"NO!" Elsa burst out before I could react.
"Alright," Hans grunted as he dragged the sword out of the guard's back. The blade gleamed red as the man curled his fingers around the spot it had protruded from his chest with the last of his breath, then sagged to the stone floor. "But I do regret having to resort to such unpleasantness."
Skadi. The guard was dead. As much tragedy as my sister and I had been through over the years, I have never seen someone die right in front of me before. Never had to watch the light of life fading from someone's eyes, never had to know his family would mourn him because of something I had witnessed firsthand. It was beyond horrible.
"You… what have you done?" Elsa was muttering in a distant voice, just as disbelieving as I was but somehow still able to speak while I was completely mute.
"Only what I had to do. Oh, it would have been so much simpler and more elegant if you could have been tried for treason and executed, Your Majesty." How could he look so casual, striding over to flick that sword at me — spraying me with some of the blood? What a sadist. "You really are a danger to everyone here, I can see that. But now that I know Anna will never consent to marry me, well… as I said, this change of plans is regrettable, but I seem to have no other choice."
"No," I breathed as he advanced on me, and I felt my heart jumping into my throat, pounding loud as a timpani. "Hans, y- stop! What do you think you're doing, how can you be so, so…"
He shrugged carelessly, as if none of this mattered to him. Maybe it didn't. I would say I knew better, but clearly I didn't know a damn thing about anything. "As the thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I would have to marry into the throne somewhere. Being the firstborn heir, Elsa was preferable, of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her."
"Excuse me?" Elsa snapped, clearly a lot more outraged now that he was focused on me while holding a bloody sword. Can't say I blame her; shoe on the other foot, I would be just as riled up. "I am not a prize to be w-"
"But you? Oh, Anna, you were so desperate for attention. Probably weren't getting any at home." Only then did he bother to spare a smirk for Elsa, which shot her fury through with agony — just like he wanted. Now I could see his little calculations playing out behind his beady eyes. How could I have ever thought they were dreamy before?
"Hans, you d-don't know what you're talking about," I chattered, the cold beginning to grow again. As focused as I was on Hans, and the way snowflakes were swirling around our heads because Elsa was mad and scared and stressed, there was no warmth of our sisterly bond to counter the prince's frigid scheme. "You don't know what you're doing!"
"Don't I?" Suddenly that cunning smile changed to a stricken expression. "I… I couldn't believe the queen could do that to the guard, her own sister. There was nothing I could do, I- I had to protect myself when she came at me. But at least Anna and I got to say our marriage vows… before she died in my arms."
Even while he was holding himself tightly, I gave a sarcastic clap and sneered, "Oh wow, what a ham. Nobody's ever going to buy that barrel full of last year's lutefisk."
"Won't they?" His expression turned cold as he raised the sword overhead, aiming to strike true. I was dead and I knew it. After everything we had been through, this was going to be the end. How disappointing. "The evidence will be compelling, if I do say so mysel-!"
But the blow never landed. Even if Elsa's hands were bound, the rest of her wasn't; I'm really not sure why neither of us had quite paid attention to that little detail. Hans certainly wasn't going to forget it anytime soon after she shoulder-charged him, sending him bouncing into the far wall. The crunch would have been sickening if it weren't, well… him.
"Elsa!" I gasped. "Whoa, you really cleaned his clock! Since when were you such a… oh!"
That was as far as I got before I was scrambling back against the wall, watching the cuffs around her hands frost over just before they shattered completely. I had to shield my eyes from the shrapnel, and when I lowered my arms again… for the first time in my life, I felt honestly, truly afraid of my sister — because that look in her fair features was even more vicious than the one Hans had been wearing a moment ago. Bloodthirsty.
Vengeant.
"WHOA!" I barely gasped out as I latched onto her elbows. Mostly to keep her from raising the ice sword she had just conjured out of the air. "Wait, easy, what are- what are you going to do?!"
"Ending his life." At least she wasn't pussyfooting around the subject.
"You can't!"
"Why not?!" she demanded, still struggling against me. And my sister was clearly stronger than I gave her credit for, because she was almost lifting me off the ground with the force of her arms. Again, hotter than it had any right being, especially in the middle of a life-and-death situation. "He was going to end yours! He doesn't deserve to live!"
"Because he's not worth it! Because…" I let go and quickly moved around to put myself between her and Hans. "Because I don't want to see my sister turn into a murderer. Okay? We already got him outnumbered — it's over! You don't have to kill him anymore!"
Her voice was as flinty as her deep blue eyes. "Anna, move."
"No! You can't kill him and still be the woman I love!"
I saw her hesitate. And just being that close to her, staring into her eyes, I felt the love bursting within my heart. Anybody would do anything for her, and… it's me. I'm 'anybody'.
Then she was knocking me to one side with an icy blast. My head bounced off the stone of the tower wall, dazing me slightly, but she hadn't thrown me far or hard enough for it to do any real injury. Mostly, I felt sick that my love wasn't enough to stop her from committing murder. As she brought the sword down, I screamed…
But it only clanged against steel. We had run out of time; Hans had recovered and was about to strike. Even as I watched them struggling against each other, teeth gritted in concentration as they tried to overpower their opponent, it slowly caught up to me: she didn't ignore my pleas. That bastard had been about to make another attempt on my life.
My sister just kept saving me.
"You'll… never take me!" he snarled into her features as he began to back her towards the opposite wall. With his ginger hair disheveled and that deranged expression on his face, he definitely no longer looked like the handsome prince who worked so hard to charm my pants off. Now he just looked like… Weselton. "You might have magic, but underneath that? You're nothing but a scared little girl, trying to fend off a man with true ambition! You are NOTHING!"
"Yes!" she grunted, struggling down onto one knee but still valiantly pressing back his attack, despite the cracks forming in her sword. Then she suddenly smiled fiercely. "But do you… know what's… stronger than a man with ambition?"
"What?!" he demanded with that vicious, taunting smile. "Love?"
Of course, that was all he ever got to say, because that next second I was bringing down the fallen guard's heavy helmet right on the back of his head. I could see the smile turn to a look of shock in the reflection of their swords just before he crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious. I really didn't hold back.
"Sorority, you dope," I snapped down at him, casually dropping the helmet onto his back. "You should know better than to mess with sisters."
"Anna!" Elsa gasped as her sword vanished completely. It didn't take her long to scramble to her feet and throw her arms around me, clutching me so tightly to her body that I actually felt winded. "Oh, Anna…"
"It's okay, Elsa. I'm here, I'm fine."
"Your head- you're sure? I didn't want to throw you but-"
"I get it, I get it," I laughed as she pulled back to pet over the side of my head. "Crazy way to protect someone, but I guess it's better than getting stabbed. Thanks."
"Oh. Your hair…"
"I know," I sighed. "But it's okay, Elsa. We'll figure it out together. Please don't feel guilty anymore; I know you never meant to hurt me, not back then and not now."
"No — Anna…" Eyes sweeping the little tower cell, she came upon the guard's sword. As she unsheathed it, for a wild moment I was afraid she was going to kill Hans while he was unconscious, but instead she held it up in front of my face.
And now I could see what she was talking about. "What's- huh?! Where'd my white streak go — why am I all auburn again?"
"I… I don't know." And I could tell she was legitimately confused. "Do you feel any different? Do you remember feeling anything different?"
"No, I…" But I did.
So many memories came flooding back the second I focused my mind on them. Building Olaf together in the ballroom, not outside during a wintry day. Dragon feet. Cuddling close to our mother as she sang us a lullaby, my eyelids getting heavy… All memories I had before. But they were different now; changed by something that had been hidden that was now in the light.
"Do the magic," I whispered softly, my eyes welling with tears.
"Oh," she breathed, just as misty as I was as she dropped the sword and yanked me into another clinging embrace. "Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry. I never wanted any of this, I just wanted us to be happy! But Pabbie said to keep you safe… I had to learn to control my power. But I can't."
"Oh, I think you can. I know you can." Pressing my fingertips into her back, I whispered softly, "You're my magical sister, and the strongest person I know. You can do anything." When she didn't respond at all, just sobbed gently into my shoulder, I smiled and asked her, "What were you going to say?"
"What?" she blubbered.
"Before I bonked Hans on the noggin. You had been going to say there was something stronger than a man with ambition…? I interrupted, sorry about that."
"Don't be sorry," she laughed wetly. "But… I was going to agree with him. It's love. I would do anything for my family, and I know you would do the same. And a man like him would never understand that."
"Yeah, sheesh. You'd think a guy with thirteen brothers would get it even more! But apparently they were pretty rotten."
Finally, Elsa drew back from the hug to cup my cheek, her expression full of so much adoration that I almost had to pinch myself to see if this was real. "I'm so glad you're safe, and so glad you are finally whole again. Even if I'm not quite sure how."
"Me, either. The trolls told me 'only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart', like I said. But I mean, if they meant getting myself off with your chains, well, that's pretty weird, even for people that grow mushrooms out of their backs!"
Elsa laughed a little — at first, then she grew thoughtful as her fingers combed through my fringe. "Love will thaw, hm? Well… I think… I'm starting to understand."
The room was silent for a few seconds. "So are you going to share with the class, or…?"
"Anna, don't you see? It wasn't the kiss — and certainly not your indiscretion with my chains. You healed yourself. Putting your body between Hans and I was what unfroze your heart, and I guess your head."
"Wait, what? Putting my- that was just because I didn't want you to have to kill that jerk. I couldn't stand the thought that my sister would have blood on her hands just because of me."
"And that's true love. Even if it was a little reckless."
"Hey! You could at least not make fun of me for trying to help my smmmph…"
That was as far as I got before she was drawing me into a gentle kiss. Melting into her arms was as easy as it ever was, pouring all of my longing and gratitude into her lips as our hearts beat as one. And of course, she was right; I guess protecting Hans, even if it was just to keep my sister's conscience clear… that was an act of love. For her.
A little at a time, we could hear commotion drifting up from downstairs. After taking a moment to slip handcuffs onto my former fiance's wrists, we went to investigate.
"Ohhhh, the storm is over," I breathed as I looked out the windows. "That's a relief; at least we can walk around outside without getting knocked down."
"Yes… but why…?" I turned to look at my sister, seeing her hand at her chin as her mind raced. She looked like a little junior detective when she did that. "Love will thaw. Do you really think…?"
"Think what?" But she was already grabbing my hand. "Hey!"
"Guards!" she snapped at the two who had also been gawking at the weather. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is a traitor to Arendelle, and one of our men is dead. Please remove the body and lock his cell until his fate is decided."
They were still clamoring through their confusion to manage a "Yes, Your Majesty" when Elsa yanked me further down the hallway, literally running in her glittering ice heels. How does she do that when I can barely run in boots?!
Once outside in the courtyard, I finally demanded, "Okay, Elsa, what are we doing? I mean, if you wanted to take a stroll, all you had to do was-"
"Shh." Grinning at me, she rubbed her hands together and then began to swirl them around each other, building up her energy — or something. You got me, since I've never done magic before. Then she curled them into claws and began dragging them upward from the ground, as if she were trying to summon the rocks from the earth and send them into the sky.
And as I watched, the ice and snow in the courtyard disappeared. That wasn't quite true; it was more like it evaporated. From the ground, the trees, the rooftops — from Arendelle. In no time, green was bursting out all around, and the confused servants throughout the castle were gasping in wonder.
"Whoa!" I squeaked. "You un-magicked your magic! Amazing!"
"Yes," she laughed, grabbing onto my hands and spinning me around in a circle. I couldn't help the peal of laughter that burst out of me, my heart was so light for the first time in forever. "Your love! That was always the key!"
"Yeah, sure!" I giggled. "My magical love!"
"No, really." Once we came to a stop, she pulled me in close, and I was struck again by how gorgeous she was, cheeks flushed and chest heaving slightly, bright red lips parted and curling into a smile. By Freya, she could have had anybody she wanted.
"You said that only an act of true love could thaw your heart, and your mind, Anna. I… I had to wonder if that's what I've been doing wrong all these years. Trying so hard to control my magic out of fear and anxiety for its consequences, terrified of hurting anyone, that I forgot… I forgot how to reach out, and let myself love you, and our parents, and… my people. That was the missing link."
My hand drifted up into her sweeping blonde forelock. "You sure you didn't bump your head when you tackled my ex?"
"Very sure. Our love thawed out Arendelle, Anna; that was all I needed."
"Oh," I breathed, knowing I looked like a shy dork by now. She had me so flustered in a way Hans could never have managed. "Well… I guess… you're welcome? Or thanks? I, u-um…" No, I could do better than that. "You'll always have as much love from me as you want, Elsa. Always."
And she kissed me again. That was never going to get old; it would always send tingles from my ears to the tips of my toes, set my stomach fluttering and my heart pounding. Even though I was no love expert, I somehow knew that was something only for the two of us.
Of course, when we broke apart we could hear the mutterings; the kiss had trapped us in a little world of our own, but pulling back revealed there were quite a few Arendellians shocked at what they had just witnessed. And I mean, I get it; their queen was acting like she was from Lesbos, not Norway, and with her own family member. That's a whole lot of Greek.
But even though I would have expected Elsa to retreat into her shell again, ashamed of what she had done, she did not. She stepped forward and announced loudly, "My sister and I have freed Arendelle of my magic. If any of you have a problem with how we have done that, you can air your grievances during the court levée I will open to the public on Monday morning. Until then, enjoy your summer again!"
Somehow, ending on that positive note triggered the automatic response of everyone cheering and clapping. Maybe it was a little bit of a trick, but it still gave Elsa the freedom to sweep me into her arms, to spin me around as I laughed. How long had it been since I felt that free?
Thirteen years. That's how long. But now we could be free forevermore. I only hoped the people of Arendelle would let us be free.
                                                                ~ Å Være Ferdig ~
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cynwritess · 3 years
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My Outlining Technique As A Pantser
I despise outlining with every fiber of my soul. I don’t care how much people persist you need an outline, I will put it off to the very last minute and do it very half-assed. Even in school, its straight to the first draft. Outlining requires a very precise skill of breaking things down as small as possible and my mind simply does not function that way. It’s literally all or nothing. Unfortunately while this may work for writing school essays, it’s not exactly a good idea when it comes to a book. Writing a book requires structure and precision because you need to carefully place information, have an idea where your characters are going, tedious yet necessary things. Fortunately, I’ve come up with a way to outline without completely frying my brain.
Characters. 
I almost always start with the characters first and build the world, other characters, and plot around them. If you have a name in mine, perfect! Go ahead and use it! If you don’t have a name, don’t dread scouring through dozens of baby name websites. Give them a place holder name or better yet, give them a role/title. I’m going to use one of my current characters (steal anything about her and I’ll send demons after you). When I first created Selina I only had a vague aesthetic and the idea that I wanted her to somehow be attached to spirits. Her name didn’t come to me until 25k into the story, but I had to refer to her as something so I used a conjunction of a place holder name and calling her “Reaper of Souls”. This way I know exactly who I’m referring to. Also, this helps me know what path my character needs to go down. Reaper of Souls is who she’ll become, but its definitely not who she is when the story begins. It makes me thing: What steps do I need to take to get her there? This is where you can start brainstorming character arcs and give them trauma. 
Another essential part of creating characters in my opinion is giving them “role models”. Personally, if this is a brand new character I’m creating off the top of my head its hard to write them because I know nothing about them. I don’t know their sense of humor, who they would and wouldn’t get along with, their inner monologue, etc. Now you have to be careful with this and make sure to mold them into their own unique characters at the end of the day, but you can use other already existing characters to help begin the process. When creating Selina I knew vaguely she needed to be connected to spirits. What characters do I know like that? Jodie from Beyond Two Souls is a good one and Zelie is a bit of a different twist to it but still the same general idea. But wait! Selina’s vibe doesn’t match either of them. So in this case I might look at Jude Duarte for inspiration for her personality. Nitpick all your favorite things about different characters and use that to your advantage! It gives you the jolt you need to really begin to explore who your character is. 
Always do the main character first, then follow with the supporting character or villain. In my opinion, the main supporting character and villain should be foils of the main character in order to get the most out of each one, because you’ll be able to see different aspects and different arcs they could’ve/will have. Once you have those three characters you can create the others as you progress with your story.
Setting.
This can either be really simple or your worst fucking nightmare. For me, it’s a mixture of both. If your story is taking place in the real world then this can be relatively simple even if you’re creating your own town/city. If your town has a very specific location like a town square or maybe there’s a river running through it, then just google “towns with a river going through it” for a start. If you have a specific town in mind you can also google the map and start dissecting different aspects of the town and incorporating it into your own. You can even use your own town for inspiration! The town my story takes place in is made up, but my hometown actually resembles it quite a bit so I’ve been using it for references. So far, its been working out pretty good.
Now if you have a high fantasy setting... I wish you the best of luck. I’ve only written one high fantasy story when I was twelve and... well clearly its never seen the light of day for a reason (partially because I deleted it, partially because there was absolutely zero world-building). I’m sorry to say my skills have no improved much since then. I’ve dabbled with the idea of high fantasy worlds and honestly my only advice is to look at other fantasy maps and draw inspiration from that. Narnia, Ravka, the ACOTAR world, the shifting isles of Elfhame, the Avatar universe, Orisha, to name a few. You’ll also have to look at some basic geographical stuff like the climate, but overall you have pretty much free reign over how your world looks. This is the one part I feel like you can’t bullshit if you don’t want your story to seem halfway. Really go in with the details even if its just for you. The more fleshed out your world is, even if its set here in the normal world, the better.
The main issue. 
This is pretty much a given but you do need to have some sort of idea who the main antagonist is/what is the big issue your characters are fighting. If you’re writing a series then chances are book one will probably focus on an entirely different issue before the big one is revealed. There’s not really much advice I can give for this because it’ll be tailored specifically to your story. I don’t think your antagonist has to be fully fleshed out if you’re going to be introducing them very late, but do have a general idea who or what it is, their goal, and why your character feels the need to stop them.
Usually you’ll notice the problem in the beginning of the story isn’t the ultimate problem, its just a gateway to it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a subplot but I guess technically that’s what it is. Think of Percy Jackson. The main issue of book one is him being accused of stealing the lightning bolt, but the ultimate issue was the war with the titans. Or The Cruel Prince. The main issue was Jude feeling helpless and wanting to create a place for herself in the faery world, but the ultimate issue was those attempting overthrowing the entire Greenbriar family from the thrown. 
This kind of goes without saying, but there has to be a strong motivation for the character to stop them or it just won’t work. You don’t see characters going after the antagonist because nothing in their life isn’t threatened. There’s always a motivation, something to fuel them even if done so reluctantly. For example, Zelie from Children of Blood and Bone was sick and tired of constantly fighting and being the hero, but she did it anyways because she was the only one who could truly help the maji. Or you can take a slightly antagonistic approach and look at Kaz from Six of Crows who did what he did out of greed for money, power, and revenge. Usually when I begin my stories, I only have a vague idea as to why my main character is joining the fight, which is perfectly fine. As long as you have some sort of idea and begin to build on it as you write, you’ll be probably be fine. 
Brainstorm.
I cannot for the life of me sit in front of my computer and write a bland summary of what it is that is going to happen in my book. Sorry, but I am simply not built that way but it also makes writing your books ten times harder as well. I’ve found a bit of a cheat. For one, brainstorm. Get a general idea what some of the main events you want to happen are. Do you want a character death? Does a specific location need to be mentioned? Is there subplots or character arcs you would like to explore? Is there any themes you’d like to explore? Jot them all down, along with your word count goal. You probably won’t be able to incorporate all of them in one book, but at least you’ll have an idea what path you’re going to head down in terms of your story.
And now onto my actual cheat. Because I’m a pantser who hates outlining, I usually jump into my stories without knowing what direction they are going. Recently I’ve discovered that I can outline the first five chapters, write them out, and give myself complete free reign. I’ll explore all sorts of character personalities, different beginnings, different writing styles, different scenarios, different relationships, anything I can realistically include in the first five chapters of my story. Then I’ll go back and edit it. Don’t completely delete anything, always save it in a separate file! I’ll go back and decide which characters are unnecessary at this point, what plot points can be introduced later on, what writing style suits this story, things like that. Then from there, I’ll go back to my outline and make any appropriate changes before proceeding to write the rest of the draft as normal (WITHOUT GOING BACK TO EDIT). The reason why I do this is because I need a solid base to begin my story, otherwise its so easy for me to go off track and begin to tell a completely different story. This way I’ll know exactly what I’m going after, I’ll be able to explore and get to know my characters and setting, and it’s enough chapters that I can even begin to incorporate the main issue at hand. 
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shihozaki · 3 years
Note
TW mention of anxiety
hi!! im so excited for your matchup event and i’ve really liked your writing style so far :) if it’s not too much trouble, i’d like to request a haikyuu male matchup please!! my name is joyce, i’m 17, and i use she/her pronouns. (i’ll message you my appearance and stuff :D )
i’m ISTP-T, a slytherin, and leo. my voice is pretty quiet and i’m just a quiet person overall when i’m around new people (social anxiety goes brr). i love baking, making hyper specific spotify playlists, and reading. i don’t really show my emotions well and i have pretty bad RBF so i usually come off as cold even when i dont mean to according to what my closest friends told me. also my self esteem goes from *i am the sexiest mf to walk this earth* to *im an ugly POS and deserve nothing* with no in between
my love language is anything tbh but especially gift giving and physical touch, even though i’m terrified of initiating it bc i didn’t really grow up in an affectionate household and i think i might be touchstarved :/. quality time is also nice since i’m completely down to just sit in comfortable silence with them, spending time together
in an SO, the most important thing is that they need to understand sometimes i just need time to myself. i’m not mad at them at all but i tend to isolate myself whenever my mental health deteriorates and i sometimes go a few days without contacting people simply bc i don’t have the energy to do so. whenever it does deteriorate, it’s usually because i just feel really down out of nowhere and it lasts 12 hours to a week.
i don’t really mesh well with clingy or unloyal people. i feel like i’d be okay if my SO focused on volleyball a lot bc i respect that they need time to work on their own things, so i wouldn’t say i’m necessarily needy in relationships. an ideal first date to me is going to an amusement park. i LIVE for the adrenaline roller coasters give me and i just think everything about it is super fun. plus it minimizes the chance for awkwardness bc there’s so much to do :D (i’m kinda awkward around people i don’t click with so uh yeah)
my favorite relationship dynamic is light hearted bullying. making fun of people and getting made fun of (with love ofc) is definitely a love language, and i’m not taking criticism <3 but i still want to be able to talk to them about serious stuff so knowing that i can wholeheartedly trust them is big for me
my athleticism is close to zero so in the HQ universe i’d probably be a manager. actually, i would give ANYTHING to be able to manage a team in haikyuu so rip 😔🤚
other facts:
i have a huge caffeine addiction bc i’m usually tired/sleep deprived (monster energy, coffee, whatever)
i also just love coffee in general (the aesthetic, the smell, everything is *chefs kiss*)
i’m more of a cat person but i still think dogs are so cool
my relationship w my parents SUCK so bad
i’m 90% book smart (my one flex is being good at math) and 10% street smart/common sense
even though i can bake well, i can’t cook for sh*t unless it’s avocado toast which i can make surprisingly well
i can be eliminated by a single peanut
Big Anxiety bc the only way i could get approval from my parents growing up was straight As and now my biggest fear is being unsuccessful 😎
artists i’m obsessed w right now are cigarettes after sex, chase atlantic, lil peep, the 1975, arctic monkeys, conan gray, and lana del rey
i love wearing my SO’s clothing and all of a sudden, their closet is now ~Our Closet~
thank you so much for doing this, and i look forward to the progress you’ll make in writing and whatever else you choose to set your mind to <3
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Hi! Thank you for requesting! I’m also a Slutherin and a Leo, happy to meet you :)
I pair you up with Tooru Oikawa!
- You guys first met when you signed up to be your school’s volleyball team’s manager. Oikawa was immediately intrigued. A girl who doesn’t immediately faint when he waves at them? Wow.
- When he first made you smile, he KNEW he had to ask you out.
- First date at the amusement park, just like you suggested. Oikawa was a bit shocked that you enjoyed rollercoasters but that just made him more interested in you.
- Since he is the captain of his Volleyball team, and quite obsessed with the sport, he is willing to give you lots of time for yourself. He does check on you from time to time though, maybe by texting or giving a call :)
- Never makes you uncomfortable. He knows how you don’t do well in social situations, so he didn’t even tell his volleyball mates that you had started dating (of course they somehow found out later)
- Teases you SO. MUCH. Always makes some type of remark about your height and how much you drink coffee (even though he buys you coffee for Volleyball practice)
- He can always make you smile. He brings out the “Leo” side of you often, and raises your confidence up. In return, you help him with the “book smarts.”
- You guys trust one another and understand each other well. Even if you guys have a “silent date” (where you are reading and he’s watching videos of volleyball matches), you don’t feel any awkwardness.
- He hates it when your self esteem is low. He doesn’t understand how such an amazing girl could feel that way.
- Oikawa’s self esteem is sometimes kind of low too, so whenever you give him a motivational playlist on Spotify, he listens to it on repeat.
- Overall you guys bring out the best out of each other :)))
Scenario: When you guys talk about the future.
“We could get a cat.” You suggested. “A cat?” Oikawa quickly wrote down ‘cat’ on the list named ‘our future’. “We need a name.” You claimed. Oikawa shrugged. “How about… ‘Peanuts’.” “No.” Oikawa laughed. “I think it would be ironic. It’s a cute name too.” You rolled your eyes. “Okay, let’s scratch that then. What about our jobs?” You asked. “Quite obvious. I want to be a professional volleyball player.” Replied Oikawa. He grabbed the pillow from the couch and pretended to set it, acting as if it was a volleyball. “Yeah… I believe you can do it.” You smiled at Oikawa. Oikawa’s eyes met yours. “What about you, Joyce?” He questioned. You stayed silent for a bit. “.. I’m not too sure. I just don’t want to make a mistake and choose the wrong career, you know? I don’t want to fail.” You mumbled. Oikawa slowly moved towards you and pulled you into his arms. You immediately relaxed on him, your heartbeat going slightly bit faster. “You won’t.” Oikawa declared. “I’m sure no matter what you do, you’ll be great. There’s so many things to choose from, Babe. You’re gonna be okay.” You smiled. “Besides,” Oikawa added with a smirk on his face, “You might not need a job if you have me as your husband.”
Song: Campus by Vampire Weekend
I hope you enjoyed it, thank you once again! Constructive criticism is encouraged :) I hope to see you again soon!
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gyakutengagotoku · 4 years
Text
GS4 vs AJ:AA - Episode 2, Part 4
I don’t want to start every one of these posts with an apology about being late again, so I’m just going to apologize to my eyes for keeping open this long. They burn, still do. I was tempted to count this day as another “unannounced sick leave” day, but I persevered for you all. You’re welcome.
And, uh, I’m just gonna leave a joke here that no one will get until they click the Read More link.
“What do you call a distressed lawyer who’d forgotten his badge in his house?” “Oh, darn, ok... house key.”
10/19/20 edit: Oh, nooo! I can’t believe I forgot to revisit the Detention Center! I’ve corrected this grave error. Now it’s complete. Also, since this case is a bit free-form in how it progresses, I’m just going the order I went the first time I played, or close enough to it.
--
> Wright Anything Agency
> Examine: piano
<Apollo> ピアノの上に、奇妙な 道具が並べられている。 There are all sorts of strange paraphernalia sitting on top of the piano.
<Apollo> これだけ道具があるんだから、 何かマジックやってみせてよ。 It seems a shame to have all these props and not do a trick or two.
<Trucy> いいですよー! You asked for it!
<Mr. Hat> また会いましたね。 ビックリくん、でしたか。 Heeeey, Mr. Righteous, was it? Wakka wakka!
<Trucy> ちがうよ。オドロキくんだよ。 “王泥喜 法介”! Justice, Mr. Hat! Apollo Justice.
<Mr. Hat> ああ。“汚泥鬼 呆助” Just is? Apollo just is what? That's what I want to know!
<Trucy> “ドロ”しか合ってないよ! Oh, you're hopeless!
<Apollo> ‥‥そいつはもういいよ。 ...Please, make it stop.
"It seems we meet again. Bikkuri-kun, was it?" [also means shock] "No, no. It's Odoroki-kun. 'Odoroki Housuke'!" "Ah, I see. 'Ohdorokie Housekey'." "You only got the 'doro' part right!"
...Anyway, if you look at the JP script above, you can see Boushi-kun got all the kanji wrong, though it's still pronounced the same way. Also, it's funnier when you realize Minuki just called him 'mud' because that's actually part of his name.
> Examine: silk hat
<Apollo> みぬきちゃんと同じ、 ブルーのシルクハットだ。 A blue silk top hat, just like the one Trucy's wearing.
<Trucy> それは、みぬきのイメージカラー 《ミヌキー・ブルー》です! It's my trademark color! Trucy Blue!
<Apollo> ‥‥勝手に“色”を 自分のものにするなよ。 I don't think you can trademark the color blue.
<Trucy> やっぱり、ステージに立つ人間は、 目立たないとアレですから。 Standing out is everything when you're up on stage!
ほら。オドロキさんだって、 キメてるじゃないですか。 Bet you didn't know you've got your own color, too, Apollo!
全身《オドロー・レッド》で! Crimson Justice!
<Apollo> ‥‥おどり出したくなるような、 おどろおどろしいような。 You make me sound like some second-rate superhero.
<Trucy> でしょー? At least it's better than being a first-rate super zero!
"Look, it's obvious what yours is too. A full-body 'Odoro Red'!" "...I'm guessing you'd want me to dance or be super flashy." "Right?"
Fyi, "おどり出す" (odoridasu) means "to break into dance" and "おどろおどろしい" (odoro'odoroshii) means "eerie" or "exaggerated"; basically not being subtle at all.
> Examine: plate of spaghetti
<Apollo> 喫茶店のショーウインドウで おなじみ、ロウ細工のスパゲティだ。 A dish of plastic spaghetti like some restaurants put on display.
そういえば、こんなの どこから持ってきたの? Where did you get this, anyway?
<Trucy> パパからの誕生日プレゼントです! It was a birthday present from Daddy!
うれしかったなあ‥‥ ずーっと欲しかったから。 I was so happy... You don't know how long I wanted one of these!
その夜は、抱いたまま寝ちゃって、 ヘシ折っちゃいました。スパゲティ。 I fell asleep with it, cradled in my arms, and the spaghetti bent!
<Apollo> (意外に女の子のウケがいいのかな。  こういうの‥‥) (Mental note: What she really wants for her next birthday: A bowl of plastic food...)
"(I guess this kind of thing is really popular with girls...)"
If anything, it's really popular with girls who work with attorneys at this firm... usually they ask for some sorts of noodles, or some saucy meat in buns if you count the EN versions.
> Examine: table
<Apollo> 手品用のテーブルの上に、 ポットが置いてある。 A hot water pot sits on a magic table.
このテーブル、 どうしてこんなに脚が細いのかな。 Why is the stand for this table so flimsy looking?
<Trucy> ‥‥うーん。 カッコイイから、かなあ。 ...Hmm. Maybe it looks better that way?
<Apollo> ‥‥もっと、おもしろい コタエを期待してたのに。 ...I was hoping for a more professional explanation.
<Trucy> ‥‥うーん。 Well...
シカケがないコトを 見せるため、とか? Maybe to show that there's no tricks involved?
<Apollo> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ マトモだね。 ... Not bad.
<Trucy> ‥‥アタリマエのコト 言っちゃ、ダメなのかなあ。 I still think it's just that it looks better that way.
The last two lines were: "......Well, that was pretty honest." "...I think giving the obvious answer would be against the rules, though."
Btw, I can see why they translated Apollo's line as "Not bad", since 'matomo' can be used in contexts where someone is giving something a "decent" rating. I just think Minuki's next line makes it more clear about what he means, though with the changed context, it's only fair Trucy's last line here is changed too.
> Examine: Charley
<Apollo> 観葉植物のチャーリーくんだ。 It's Charley, the houseplant.
ずっと前から、この事務所で 育てられているらしい。 They've had it for years, apparently.
<Trucy> “くん”なんて、シツレイです! “先輩”って呼ぶの。 That's "Mr. Charley" to you! He's been here longer, after all.
<Apollo> ‥‥は、はあ。 ...Right, sorry.
<Trucy> チャーリー先輩、すみません。 レイギを知らない新人でして。 I'm sorry, Mr. Charley. He was raised by a tribe of heathens.
<Apollo> (水をやりながら、  なんか言ってるぞ‥‥) (She's saying something to the plant as she waters it...)
<Trucy> あ。それから。アイサツは “おはようございます”ですから。 Mr. Charley forgives you. This time.
<Apollo> ‥‥そういえばココ、 芸能事務所だったっけ。 ...Is there anything else I might do to please His High Leafiness?
Huh, I've spotted a legitimate mistake in translation for once: Apollo's line in (). For reference: "It's Charley-kun, the houseplant. They've been raising it for a long time in this office." "'Kun'!? That's so rude! Call him 'senpai'!" "...Right, sorry." "I'm sorry, Charley-senpai. He's just a newbie who doesn't know his manners." "(She says to it, as she waters it...)" "Oh. From here on, you'll greet him with a 'Good Morning, senpai', okay?" "...Oh yeah, this is a talent agency, isn't it?"
10/10/20 edit: Thanks, Ash. Tweaked Odoroki’s last line here to make it clearer what he means. It’s customary in talent/entertainment agencies to uphold a stricter code of seniority, especially one with a reputation. It seems it’s also customary for staff to say “Good morning” as a general greeting regardless of what time of day it is. The only reason Odoroki forgot his place is because he’s still used to thinking this place is a law firm.
> Talk: Wocky's Father
<Alita> なんかね。今の組長さん、 極道から足を洗おうとしてるの。 Did you know that the boss is trying to get out of the business?
<Apollo> え。そうなんですか! (極道を‥‥やめる?) R-Really? (Mr. Kitaki wants to quit being a gangster!?)
<Alita> フツウの企業に生まれ変わろうと しているみたい。 He's trying to transfer his assets into a normal company.
滝太クンのお父さんがね。 最近、急に言い出して‥‥ He only announced it recently, out of the blue...
組員のヒトたちも、ずいぶん とまどってるみたい。 I hear there's quite a lot of confusion in the ranks.
<Apollo> (そういえば‥‥似合わない  エプロンをつけてたな‥‥) (Hmm. I wonder if this explains that apron?)
‥‥でも、それ。 滝太さんは反対しそうですね。 ...I can't imagine Wocky going along with that.
<Alita> ふふ。あのヒト、 やんちゃなトコロがあるから。 Hee hee. He's highly motivated, isn't he?
<Apollo> “やんちゃ”って 感じじゃないですけど。 Um, that's not the word I would have used.
<Alita> 『オレが組長になって、  ゼッタイ極道をつづける!』って。 He said, "I'll be the next Big Boss, and keep the Family alive."
ちょっぴり、背伸びしたい オトシゴロなんですよね。 I think he's at that age when boys want to make a mark on the world.
<Apollo> (ややこしそうだもんな。  あの親子) (That's not the way I would have put it...)
Fyi, she uses "yancha", or "naughty kid", to describe him.
The last line here: "(What a complicated father-son relationship.)"
>
<Alita> 最近、すごーく 儲けてるの。キタキツネ一家。 His father moves in a lot of circles... He's really focused on profits.
滝太クンのお父さん、 いろんな世界にカオがきくから。 The Kitaki Family's been making a killing recently!
<Apollo> (たいした人物らしいな。  滝太クンのお父さん‥‥) (Again, not the way I would have put it...)
<Alita> 滝太クン。『極道がカネ儲けに 走ったらオシマイだ』って。 But Wocky says it's not about the money. They have the gangster tradition to uphold.
<Trucy> それって、アレですね! Ooh, a generation gap!
“ぜねれーしょん・ぎゃっぷ” ‥‥ってヤツ。 They've even got the ever classic "what about the family business" thing going...
<Apollo> ふつう、父と子の主張は 逆だけどね。 Usually, it's the father worried about tradition...
The first three lines here: "Lately, they've been making soo much, the Kitakitsune Family. Takita-kun's father holds a lot of influence in lots of places, after all." "(His father sure seems like a big deal, alright...)"
> Present anything to Alita
<Alita> ごめんなさい‥‥わたし。 事件のこと、詳しくはわからないの。 I'm sorry, I don't know much about the case.
わたしにできることは少ないし、 あなただけが頼りなの。 I... I feel so helpless. You're my only hope.
滝太クンのこと助けてあげてね‥‥ Please, help my Wocky-Pocky...
Hahaha, she said "Pocky". I just imagined Wocky-style Pocky sticks and I want some. I bet they'd have some foxy designs on that choco...
Ahem, sorry. I just wanted to share. She doesn't call him anything different here in the JP either.
> Move: Detention Center
<Apollo> よし。河津さんの話を聞いてみよう。 ‥‥ちょっと疲れそうだけど。 Alright. Let's have a little chat with Mr. Stickler. (I hope I don't regret this.)
<Trucy> 貴重な“目撃者”ですからね! He is a valuable witness!
<Apollo> (まあ‥‥ある種“貴重な”  目撃者だよな、アレは‥‥) (He is a bit "precious", I'll give him that.)
<Stickler> なんなのですか‥‥ ワタクシはこれで、忙しいのですよ。 Please, keep this brief, if you would. I'm quite busy.
今日中に、論文の構成をまとめ‥‥ ムムッ! アナタがたはッ! I need to finish this paper... Nyurk! I-It's you!!!
<Apollo> ‥‥河津さん。 お話をうかがいに来ました。 ...Mr. Stickler. We'd like to have a few words with you.
<Stickler> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ......
‥‥まあ、いいでしょう。 手短にお願いしますよ。 ...Very well. As long as they're few.
<Apollo> (立ち直りが早いな‥‥) (Nothing would make me happier, believe me.)
“(He sure was fast to return to form...)”
> Examine: guard
<Apollo> 面会のようすを監視する看守だ。 A security guard. He stands here, watching this room.
オレたちの話を聞いているのか いないのか‥‥‥。 I have no idea if he's listening to us talk.
まったく、表情が変わらない。 I'm not even sure he's breathing.
That’s a bit harsh there... It was just “His expression doesn’t change at all.”
> Talk: Panty Theft
<Trucy> みぬきのパンツのシカケを 知りたかっただけですもんね。 You wanted to know the trick to my panties, right?
<Stickler> あ、あなたはッ! Y-You're here, too!?
<Trucy> ‥‥? ...?
<Stickler> どうか、あなたを “先生”と呼ばせてくださいッ! Oh, Great Trucy! Teach me!
<Trucy> ええっ! Eh!?
<Stickler> なんとかして 教えていただけないか! I must know the secret of your panties!
ワタクシの人生を狂わせた、 あのパンツのナゾをッ! My very existence hangs in the balance!
なんなら、このワタクシを あなたサマの“弟子”にッ! Please, make me your apprentice!
<Trucy> オドロキさん! なんとかしてください! Apollo! Help!
<Apollo> いいんじゃない? カッコウもマジシャンぽいし。 I dunno, I think he'd make a great "lovely assistant".
<Trucy> そんなムセキニンな‥‥ Don't say that, Apollo...
Hahaha! He straight up called her “Sensei”. That’s kinda cute if I’m being honest.
Odoroki’s last line here: “Why not? His uniform kinda looks like a magician’s outfit too.”
> Present: anything
<Apollo> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ...
(‥‥証拠品、見てくれない) (...Fine, ignore my evidence. See if I care.)
(おおかた、パンツのナゾの  コタエを考えているのだろう) (I wonder what he's thinki... On second thought, let's not go there.)
Actually, Odoroki has a pretty good idea: “(He’s probably still thinking about solving the mystery of those panties.)”
> (optional at any time) Return to W.A.A. to talk to Trucy
> Present Magic Panties
<Trucy> スゴイでしょ、みぬきのパンツ! 法廷でも大カツヤクでしたよね! Aren't my panties amazing? They were a big hit in court.
<Apollo> (たしかに。今日の裁判の  決め手になったもんな‥‥) (They were the star player of the day, that's true.)
<Trucy> 明日の法廷も、 みぬきにおまかせです! What should I show them in court tomorrow!?
<Apollo> (毎回、パンツにたよる弁護士には  なりたくないな‥‥) (If only I could count on panties to save the day every day...)
The last two lines: "You can leave it to me to make a show in tomorrow's trial too!" "(I've had enough of being known as the 'panties attorney' these days, thanks...)"
I know nothing about that, I swear.
> Move: Eldoon's House
<Guy> 屋台が“現場”って どーいうコトよ! How can a noodle stand be a crime scene, that's what I don't get, Trucy-doll!
あのヤロウ、死んでまでもヒトの 商売のジャマをしやがって‥‥ Even in death he's after my neck, I tell ya! Bah!
ワシが、そんなに しょっぱいってか! Can't even cook an honest noodle...
<Apollo> “あのヤロウ”‥‥ですか? "He"...?
<Trucy> “死ん���まで”というコトは‥‥ 被害者の宇狩院長さん、かなあ。 "Even in death"... You mean the victim, Dr. Meraktis?
<Guy> まあ、そんなワケでな。 I tell ya.
ワシのカオも《極みそ》並みに しょっぱくなっちまうワケよ。 It's enough to drive a man to make his soup even saltier.
<Apollo> (‥‥やれやれ。  キゲンが悪いみたいだな‥‥) (Remind me never to eat his noodles when he's in a bad mood...)
"What do they mean, the noodle stand is the 'crime scene'!? That jerk, even in death he's in my way of a good sale... Not even I'm that salty!" "'That jerk'...?" "'Even in death'... You mean the victim, Dr. Ugari?" "Yeah, that's him. Makes me so salty that I could even rival my 'Extre-Miso'."
By the way, "Kiwami" means "Extreme"! ...But seriously, it shocked me how well I could fit "extreme" with "miso".
> Talk: Noodle Stand
<Guy> あの屋台はな。 矢田吹家の男児が代々、 That stand... For generations, it's served up the very best noodles us Eldoons could make.
ちぢれ麺と秘伝の“みそ”と ともに伝えてきたのだ。 A tradition of noodles and salty broth.
ある種、このあたりの歴史そのもの と言ってもいいシロモノなのだ。 It's more than a stand, it's history, I tell you.
<Apollo> (それは言いすぎだろう) (Watch what you say or it might become true...)
Originally, he said "(That might be pushing it a bit.)" Though, I gotta admit I like the way the loc team did it.
>
<Apollo> あの‥‥ムギツラさん。 Mr. Eldoon, I don't mean to pry...
あなたの、ムカシのお仕事って、 なんだったんですか? ...but what exactly did you do before you became a chef?
<Guy> フン! クチに出すのもイヤな、 ニガくてしょっぱい思い出だよ! Bah! Let old noodles lie, that's what I say.
<Apollo> (なんとなく‥‥  ハナシが見えてきたぞ) (I'm starting to get an idea of what he did, anyway.)
<Guy> とにかく! トナリのオヤジは、 ワシから夢を奪って死んだのさ! He stole my dreams and left me with nothin' but noodles.
《営業停止》という、 ドえらいメーワクを残してな! And now I don't even have that!
Originally, he answered: "Hmph! Even saying it aloud brings back horribly bitter, salty memories!" "(I'm starting to get an idea of what he did, anyway.)" "Anyway! That geezer next door stole my dreams dead, he did! And I was left with a big, fat 'Business Suspension'!"
> Talk: Meraktis Clinic
<Guy> 個人の医院にしちゃ、 リッパなモンだろ? He's the only doctor at that clinic, you know. Pretty impressive, eh?
ヤツは、成功するために ヤクザたちと手を組んだのだ! I'll tell you the secret to his success... The mob!
<Apollo> やくざ‥‥というと、 《キタキツネ一家》ですか? You mean... the Kitaki Family?
<Guy> 連中、“抗争”とか言って ケンカが多くてな。 They're always having one of them "turf wars" or whatnot.
ケガ人が絶えなかったのさ。 そこに目をつけたのが、あの宇狩だ。 Always an injury or two that needs fixing. Meraktis saw a chance for some business.
《キタキツネ割引》という サービスを始めた。 So he started giving the Kitaki Family a good deal...
<Apollo> わりびき‥‥ A deal...?
<Guy> きっと、先代の知恵の結晶‥‥ Every fifth operation for free!
《やたぶき屋スタンプ割引》の アイデアをパクったんだよ! He stole the idea from my pops! One free bowl of noodles a week, he used to say.
To clarify, it seems the noodle stand tradition was to provide customers a stamp discount. I'm not sure if it's standard or not, but most shops I know that have stamp discounts count by fives or tens, so on the 5th or 10th purchase, there's a discount or some special deal that comes with it.
> Talk: Former Profession
<Apollo> オヤジさん。もしかして、 “ムカシの職業”って‥‥ Mr. Eldoon... or should I say "Dr. Eldoon"...
<Guy> ‥‥バレちまったみたいだな。 Figured it out, did ya?
そう、ワシは外科医だった。 おととしまでな。 That's right, I was a doctor. A surgeon... until the year before last.
<Trucy> じゃあ。宇狩さんは、アレですね? “しゅくめいのらいばる”ってヤツ。 So Mr. Meraktis was your rival?
<Guy> ‥‥アンタ。 ラーメンのネギは好きかい? ...You like those onions they put in the soup broth?
<Apollo> え。はあ。ワリと。 Um, yeah, kind of.
<Guy> ちりれんげでスープを飲むと、 かならずネギがまじっている。 You take a spoon, you drink some broth... Those onions will find their way in there.
ネギ好きにはたまらないが、 ネギ嫌いにもたまらない。 For people who like 'em, why that's just fine. For people who hate 'em...
‥‥ワシは、 ネギが大ッキライなんだッ! ...I hate onions. Hate 'em!
いちいち、よけいなところで 味わいのジャマをしてくさる! Always sneaking in from the side, gettin' in the way of a good tastin' spoonful.
アイツがそうだった! 宇狩のネギボウズがッ! Well, that's what he was. An onion! Onion-boy, that's what I called 'im.
And to clarify here, it's usually green onion, or scallion as some chefs prefer to call it, that you'd find in soup broths. Personally, I love that stuff and grew up with soups where my mom would add it all the time, no matter what soup she was making.
Fun fact: "たまらない" (tamaranai) can change its meaning to the opposite side depending on the context. If you mean it positively, it's "irresistible"; if negatively, it's "unbearable". Basically, there's a strong response of some kind.
> Move: People Park
<Apollo> あれ。なんか、 ちょっと印象がちがうような‥‥ Huh? Does something about this scene look different to you?
<Trucy> きのうは、地面に青いシートが 敷いてありましたから。 The blue tarps are gone! Maybe that's it?
<Apollo> ああ、そうだっけ。 あ。あそこ。 Yeah, I think you're right. Look over there.
<Trucy> きのうの、白い刑事さんですね。 The white-frocked detective from yesterday.
ゴミ箱に向かって土下座して、 必死にあやまってます。 She seems to be apologizing reverently... to the trash can.
<Apollo> ‥‥カワイソウに。 きっと、捜査が進まなくて‥‥ She's... under a lot of stress.
すこし、アタマがおかしく なっちゃったんだな。 The investigation's probably not going so well.
By "apologizing reverently", they mean she's prostrate before the trash can. More likely, she was just head-down focused on tracing those footprints, but to be honest, I get that feeling a lot, especially lately. Straining your eyes on little things or bright screens for such a long time...
>
<Ema> ちょっと! アンタたち! Hey, you there!
ナイショ話なら、聞こえないように やってくれないかなあ。 If you're going to talk about someone behind their back, do it more quietly, please!
<Apollo> あ。刑事さん、どうも。 Oh, Detective Skye. Hello.
<Trucy> なんか、今日も ゴキゲンななめみたいですね。 You seem as gloomy as ever.
<Ema> ホント、最低ね。 新しい道具はうまくいかないし。 This is miserable! Miserable! I just got a new kit, and I can't get the stuff to work.
じゃらじゃらした おニイさんには、やさしくされるし。 And everyone's all smiles for that glimmerous fop.
<Trucy> じゃらじゃら‥‥? 牙琉検事さんのコト、かな。 Glimmerous...? Does she mean Prosecutor Gavin?
<Apollo> ふつう“ちゃらちゃらした” って言うんじゃあ‥‥ More to the point, doesn't she mean "glamorous"?
<Ema> あのヒトが歩くと、クサリが じゃらじゃら鳴って、気になるの。 When he walks his shiny chains catch the sun and glimmer in my eyes! It's distracting.
さくさくさくさくさくさくさくさく さくさくさくさくさくさくさくさく。 MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH
<Apollo> (この刑事さんが歩くと、  さくさく言って、気になるな) (Speaking of distracting...)
It pains me to admit that "glimmerous" is not a real word, but in my heart it is.
Anyway, originally the word Akane used was "jarajara", which is onomatopoeia for a jingle-jangle sound. Odoroki tries to correct her with "charachara", which also can mean the same thing, but also can refer to "flirty" or "flashy" types. She specifies she means "jarajara" because his chain necklace keeps jingle-jangling around her.
> Talk: Prosecutor Gavin
<Ema> ちょっと、合わないんだよね。 I won't lie, I'm not fond of the man.
ああいう、 じゃらじゃらしたタイプは。 Those glimmerous types always rub me the wrong way.
<Apollo> “ちゃらちゃら”‥‥ね。 "Glamorous"... right.
<Ema> やっぱり検事さんはこう、クールで ちょっとミケンにシワ寄せて‥‥ A prosecutor should be cool of wit and furrowed of brow.
“じゃらじゃら”より “ひらひら”した感じが理想よね! Less "glimmerous" and more "simmerous"... you know?
<Apollo> ‥‥まったく イメージがわかないなあ。 ...No, actually, I don't.
She wants less "jarajara" and more "hirahira" from her prosecutors. I'm sure you all know that "fluttery" sound by now.
> Talk: Ema, reject her offer
<Apollo> ‥‥今は、やめておきます。 失敗したら、悪いし。 I think I'll pass. Wouldn't want to waste a kit if I messed up.
<Ema> うーん、困ったなー‥‥ 手を借りたかったのに。 Really? That's too bad... I really could use the help.
<Trucy> えー! やりたいな、みぬき。 トクイなのに。手打ちうどんとか。 Aww, I want to try! It'll be just like making pancakes in the dirt!
<Apollo> (あとで気が変わったら、  やらせてもらおうかな‥‥) (I guess I can always talk to her again if I change my mind...)
Aw, Minuki mentioned it'd be like pounding up udon dough. (Who knew that udon dough would become a lot more relevant down the line in a future game...)
> Accept it, examine any set of prints
<Ema> あ。そのカオ。 I know that face.
なんか“見つけた” みたいなカオしてるね。 That's the face of someone who's made... a discovery!
<Trucy> あれ。 やっぱり、わかっちゃいます? Hey, how did you know?
<Ema> ふふん。 科学捜査官の目をナメちゃダメね。 You can't fool someone trained in the ways of science!
<Apollo> (そこは“カガク”は  関係ないと思うけど) (Next she'll have us analyzing face prints...)
<Trucy> とにかく。宝月刑事さんに おねがいしちゃいましょうよ! Let's ask Detective Skye to help us, Apollo!
Originally: "(I doubt her eyes had much 'scientific' procedure to do.)"
> Examine smooth footprint, present wrongly
<Ema> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ あたしがナニ食べてるか、わかる? ... Know what I'm eating?
<Apollo> まあ‥‥ カリントウ、ですよね? Um... Snacks?
<Ema> あたしね。フキゲンなときは、 カリントウ食べるの。知ってた? Snacks. More precisely, whenever I'm in a bad mood, I eat chocolate Snackoos.
<Apollo> ‥‥それは、知りませんでした。 ...I had no idea.
<Trucy> たぶん、オドロキさんのコタエが ちがった、ってコトでしょうね。 I think she means you picked the wrong evidence, Apollo.
<Apollo> (まわりくどいな) (...I had no idea.)
Ah, here it is, the origin of Snackoos. They were "karintou" before, which are a kind of crispy, bite-sized, brown-sugary cookie sticks. On the occasion, you can find a few bags at your local Asian supermarket.
> Present: slippers, get Ema's permission to investigate
> Move: Detention Center
<Wocky> はーい、お待たせ! ボクのかわいいペテン師ちゃん! Yo, 'sup, my little imposter!
<Trucy> きゃあッ! な。な。なんですかッ! Eeek! Wh-What did you call me?
<Wocky> うお! な。なんだ。アンタかよ。 美波ちゃんだと思ったぜ! Dizzam! It's you!? Sorry, G, thought you were Alita.
<Trucy> コイビトを“ペテン師” 呼ばわりしてるんですか? "My little imposter" sure is a strange nickname.
<Wocky> あれ? そんな感じで言うだろ、 シャバのヤツらは。 It's a clink thang. You wouldn't understand.
ええと‥‥ あ。“堕天使ちゃん”か? D-Did I say "imposter"? I meant "poster"... like "poster girl", 'aight?
<Trucy> “ペ”や“だ”は いらないと思いますけど。 If you're going to drop part of that, why not drop "poster" and just call her "girl"?
<Wocky> とにかくよォ! オレにとっちゃ 弁天サマなワケよ、ある種。 Cause she's so much more than that, G. She's like... She's like an angel. A fallen angel.
The localizers got lucky here that the word “imposter” is close enough to “poster” to make that joke. The joke had to be changed from Japanese, since it was more wordplay. Takita actually made a mistake; he meant to call her “ 堕天使ちゃん” (datenshi-chan), like a “fallen angel”, but called her “ペテン師ちゃん” (petenshi-chan), “imposter”/”swindler”, at first.
Then, Minuki says: “I don’t think you need to add the ‘pe’ or the ‘da’, though.” “Anyway! She’s like Benten-sama to me, in a way.”
Benten, or more formally Benzaiten, is the Japanese name of the Buddhist Goddess of Wisdom (and sometimes as Shinto Kami) who often is seen holding a biwa, a Japanese lute. She was originally based off of the Hindu Goddess of Wisdom Sarasvati, whose name was honored in ancient Chinese Buddhist texts as the religion carried over and later to Japan.
>
<Wocky> ば、バカ言うなよ! オトコってヤツはなァ。 M-Man... I ain't trying to hear that!
タイセツなものを守るために戦って、 それで死ねるなら本望なんだ! A man fights to protect what's valuable to him, you know what I'm saying?
<Wocky> ミナミちゃんに会いてえよォ。 つれてきてくれよォ! ...I miss my fallen angel!
アンタ、オレの ベンゴシなんだろォ? Hey, you go get Alita for me. You're my lawyer, aren't you?
<Apollo> (やれやれ‥‥  世話の焼ける依頼人だな) (Lawyer, not gopher...)
“(*sigh*... What a troublesome client.)”
> Talk: Alita Tiala
<Apollo> 来月、ケッコンされるそうですね。 So, I hear you're to be married next month?
<Wocky> そうさ!  もう、サカヅキはかわしてるんだ。 Straight up! We poured the nuptial 40 out on the stoop!
ミナミちゃんも、来月から�� ウチの一家さ。サイコーだよな! Alita! Oh, snapplecakes! She soooo foine!
<Apollo> (ヤレヤレ‥‥  そうとうホレてるみたいだな) (I think he's smitten with her in his own weird way.)
Man, how could I have left out most of Wocky’s wonderful swag-talk...
By the way, Takita mentions how they even exchanged sake cups. This practice is a pretty big deal in Japan and one that most people wouldn’t do lightly. There’s usually a solemn oath to be made with such an exchange. It doesn’t have to be between lovers getting married; just between two (or more) people who swear to abide by some social contract.
And guess what, it’s the very same practice that Yakuza are renowned for doing when they swear brotherhood among their ranks. One does not simply become “kyoudai” without some serious exchange of... Wait. I can clearly remember someone in a Yakuza game who was kinda “ok” about things and it happened. Okay, it’s usually the case anyway.
> Talk: Kitaki Family
<Wocky> 極道ってのは“ワル”の道だ。 “ワル”にこそオトコの美学がある。 Life in the Family is a G thang. It's about being a man.
‥‥わかるだろ? ...You know what I'm saying?
<Trucy> みぬき、女の子だから。 わかんないなあ。 Sorry, I'm not up on my G things. I'm not even sure what a G thing is...
“I’m a girl so, no, I don’t get it.”
>
<Wocky> オヤジのヤツ。ここ最近、 急に弱気になっちまってさ。 But my old man, he's gone soft.
《切った張ったの時代は  もうオシマイだ》なんて言ってよ。 He says the old rival gang days are over. He just wants to make money!
<Trucy> いいじゃないですか。 Isn't that a good thing?
<Wocky> バカ言え! カネもうけに、 なんの美学があるんだよ! Man, there ain't no soul in making money!
ワルってのはな。スカッと生きて、 アッサリ死ぬもんさ。 Better to live fast and die young. Fo'shizzle!
<Apollo> (やれやれ‥‥) (*sigh*...)
There’s actually an important point his dad makes here, about how the gang war days are over. While he certainly is referring to the way that the Kitaki Family is going legal again, it’s also true to modern Japanese history.
While the 80s had a huge economic boom and Yakuza were likely all up in that biz, it led to a huge bubble that collapsed and a depression that lasted through the 90s. Though Japan was still relatively quick to recover, through the 2000s and on, Japan entered into a period of changing politics and much more governmental intervention. For the once very profitable and romantically dramatized Yakuza, renowned as the “necessary evil” to keep petty crimes off the street, future prospects weren’t nearly so hot for them anymore, and their MO had to change. Some formerly Yakuza-run Big Zaibutsu Biz went completely legal and stand to this day. Even as a concept, the Yakuza gradually fizzled out in popularity in public opinion. Only traces of their former glory remain in crime drama series and games like this.
And then there’s the Yakuza series and their memes.
>
<Wocky> 見てな。 オレが組長になったら。 Wait till I run the yard. Then everyone'll know what time it is.
《ワルい奴ら》のカッコイイ世界を 作ってやるぜ! That's right! O.G. time all the time. Represent!
<Trucy> “ワル”はどうかと思うけど。 夢があるって、イイですよね。 Apollo, why does he keep talking about "Old Guys"?
<Apollo> (平和な子だよな‥‥) I don't think that's what "O.G." means, Trucy.
The last two lines: “I don’t know much about being ‘bad’, but it’s nice that he has a dream to follow.” “(Such a peaceful kid...)”
> Talk: Pal Meraktis
<Wocky> 公園で、ヤツと出くわした。 なぜか‥‥屋台を引いていた。 When I run into him in the park... and he's dragging this noodle stand behind him!
<Trucy> あの。滝太さんが “要求”したんじゃないですか? Wait, you didn't put him up to that?
ほら、アレ。 “みのしろきん”感覚で。 Like, you know, in the movies?
『イノチがおしければ、  屋台を引いてこい』みたいな! "If you value your life, you'll bring the stand..."
<Wocky> ‥‥ムジャキなカオで くだらねえコトを聞くな。 ...Shorty, you're more wacked than I am. And that's saying something.
<Trucy> ううう‥‥みぬき、 シンケンだったのに。 ...But I was serious!
Wacked, indeed. Or as it was originally: “...Don’t gimme that stupid crap while lookin’ so innocent-like.”
> Present: anything
<Wocky> ‥‥‥‥‥‥ふーん。 いいんじゃねえの。 ... Yeah, whatever.
<Apollo> (何か別のコトを考えてるな。  ちゃんと見てないぞ) (He seems preoccupied... I'm not sure he even looked at my evidence...)
<Wocky> ‥‥ミナミちゃん。 会いてえなあ。 Alita, man. Alita.
“...Minami-chan, I wanna see you again, babe.”
> Move: Meraktis Clinic
> Examine: reception desk
<Apollo> 病院の受付だ。 当然だけど、ダレもいない。 The clinic reception desk. No one's here, of course.
カウンターに、標語のような ものが張り出されている。 There's a small sign on the counter...
《ココロとカラダに  やさしい、明朗会計を》 "Please pay your bill: Remember, we're the ones holding the scalpel."
‥‥深いな。意外に。 Brutal... but effective.
Originally, the sign read: "Treat your heart and body well with a honest bill." So it has a similar message, but isn't as directly threatening.
> Move: People Park, ask about print analysis, present slippers & sandals
> Move: Meraktis Clinic, then its Office
> Examine: cabinets
<Apollo> うわ! なんだコレ! Whoa! What are those?
カベ一面、ビーカーで 埋めつくされてるぞ‥‥ The wall is covered with beakers...
<Trucy> きゃあああッ! 中で何かが動いてますッ! Eeeeek! Something's moving inside that one!
‥‥オドロキさん! みぬきの かわりに、見てくださいッ! ...You look, Apollo!
<Apollo> そ。そういうのは、自分の 目でたしかめなよ! ‥‥あれ。 H-Hey, look yourself! You can't... Oh.
‥‥なんだ。金魚じゃないか。 ...It's a goldfish.
<Trucy> わあ! 他にも、 いろいろなお魚がいます! Wow, they're all fish! So many kinds!
<Apollo> (まったく‥‥ヒト騒がせな  インテリアだな‥‥) (Whoever designed this had a sick sense of humor...)
That "sick sense of humor" must be from someone who likes to cause trouble or raise false alarms... Basically, a troll.
Oh wait, Meraktis definitely was a troll. He trolled Eldoon since they were kids and kept doing it even in death. Man was a master troll to the end... Normally, I don't respect trolls, but I can make an exception for someone who dedicated his whole life (and death) to the trade.
> Examine: safe, present fingerprint set, enter code
> Examine: papers
<Trucy> これは‥‥ カルテ、ですね。たぶん。 This looks like... a medical chart.
レントゲン写真といっしょに、 1組だけ入ってます。 There's an X-ray in here with it.
<Apollo> レントゲン写真‥‥か。 見てもイミがわからないな。 An X-ray...? Hmm, can't make heads or tails of it.
‥‥カルテも読めないし。 ドイツ語だから。 And I can't read the chart either, it's all in medical- speak.
Interestingly, this medical chart is written in German. I know historically, Japan had quite a long-term relationship with Germany even before the advent of WWII, and German engineering influenced quite a bit of Japan's growth in industry before the US came along, so the Japanese still have a few words borrowed from German and other European languages, especially in regards to scientific terms.
Case in point: "karute" from Karte, which is German for "map". The transition isn't perfect, of course.
10/10/20 edit: I blame Google Translate for this. So it can mean “map”, but it also can be used for “charts” in general, including medical ones. Though, “karute” in JP is used exclusively to refer to medical charts.
>
<Trucy> でも、名前のトコは日本語です。 患者さんの名前‥‥《北木 滝太》 But, the names are easy enough to read. Look, by "Patient" it says... "Wocky Kitaki"!
<Trucy> あの滝太さん、ですよね。 ‥‥依頼人の。 So this is Wocky... our client's chart, huh.
<Apollo> どうして、このカルテが 1組だけ、金庫に‥‥? Why would this one chart be here in this safe...?
医師のサインは、ええと。 《担当医:宇狩 輝夫》か。 Let's see, the physician's signature says "Pal Meraktis".
え‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Eh...
<Trucy> どうしたんですか? オドロキさん。 What is it, Apollo?
<Apollo> こ。ここ‥‥ “カルテ処理”の担当者の欄‥‥ Look here where it says who filed the chart...
<Trucy> ええと。 担当看護師‥‥《並奈 美波》 Let's see... "Nurse Alita Tiala"...!
<Apollo> 滝太クンの婚約者、だよな。 なみなみなみなさん‥‥ Alita Tialita is Wocky's fiancée!
<Trucy> “な”が1コ多いです、 オドロキさん! That's one "ita" too many, Apololo!
Ha. Alita's name in JP is "Namina Minami", last-first, and Odoroki added one too many na's to her name. Look at Trucy wrecking his name, though.
>
<Apollo> なんで、ここに彼女の名前が! Never mind that, what's her name doing here!?
<Trucy> し。知りませんよ! でも。名前があるってコトは‥‥ How should I know?
どうやら、この病院のスタッフ みたいですね。みなみさん。 Though... I guess it means she's on staff at this clinic?
<Apollo> ‥‥どうして、今まで 教えてくれなかったんだろう‥‥ Odd that she neglected to mention this before now...
<Trucy> それは‥‥ヤッパリ。 何かの理由があったんでしょうね。 I'm sure she had her reasons.
<Apollo> (‥‥なみなみなみさんは、  宇狩外科医院のスタッフだった) (So Alita Tiala worked at the Meraktis Clinic...)
(しかも‥‥きたきたきたきの  カルテを処理している‥‥) (And she had access to Wocki Kitaky's medical chart!)
<Trucy> “き”が1コ多いです、 オドロキさん! You got the "I" and "Y" wrong, Appolo!
And Wocky's name is "Takita Kitaki", last-first, and Odoroki added one too many ki's this time. Look at Trucy still wrecking his name. Now I can't unsee "Apollo" as looking weird.
> (optional) Move: People Park
> Present: lamp
<Apollo> そうだ。 このスタンド、見てもらえますか? Say, could you take a look at this lamp?
<Ema> あれ。電球が割れてるね。 Hmm. The bulb's broken.
<Apollo> そうなんです。 ちょっとオカシイですよね。 Right. Strange, isn't it?
<Ema> うーん。そう? あたし、 よく割れるけどな。電球。 Really? I break bulbs all the time.
デスクが散らかってるからね。 すぐ落ちるの。スタンド。 My desk is a mess and my lamp is always falling over. ...Not too bright, huh?
<Apollo> (問題外だな、それは‥‥) (Ouch...)
<Trucy> ちょっと、気になりますよねー‥‥ I still think it's kind of odd...
I swear this bit about the lamp falling over is a direct reference to Turnabout Sisters. Emphasis on the word "stand" too. Odoroki even said: "(That's practically unthinkable...)"
> Move: Eldoon's House
> Present: medical chart
<Trucy> あの。どうしたんですか? ダマりこんで‥‥ Why the sudden silence, Mr. Eldoon?
<Guy> なんだ、こりゃ‥‥ どういうコトだよ、コレは! What...? What's going on here!?
<Apollo> いやいや! こっちが聞きたいですよ! That's what we want to know!
その、カルテ‥‥ オレの依頼人のものなんですけど。 That chart belongs to my client.
<Trucy> 今、サツジンの容疑を かけられて、裁判を‥‥ He's on trial... On suspicion of murder.
<Guy> バカ言ってんじゃねェよ! On trial! That's crazy!
そんなネムたいコト言ってたら‥‥ 死ぬぜ、このクランケ。 You can't put him on trial! He's ABD!
<Trucy> ‥‥くらんけ? ...ABD?
<Guy> 患者だよ、カンジャ。 こいつは‥‥一刻を争う事態だ。 All but dead. He's knocking on the Pearly Gates, and someone's about to answer.
Originally, he refers to him as "kuranke", which is from the German word "Kranke", which means "sick".
For the record, no, I don't know German. Ironically, I have Google Translate to thank.
10/10/20 edit: Thanks have been revoked. The word actually means “patient”, not simply “sick” as an adjective.
> Move: Detention Center
<Wocky> はーい、お待たせ! ボクのかわいい堕天使ちゃん! Don't cry angel, Daddy's back and Daddy's...
‥‥って。 またオマエらかよ! ...Oh. You again.
<Apollo> あの。 毎回、その登場をするんですか? Do you always have to announce your entrances like that?
Hey, he got it right this time, good for him.
<Wocky> まあな。さっきは オヤジにやっちまってさァ。 Man, my old man, he... Man!
かなり気まずいムードに なっちまったぜ! Now I'm all in a funk, and it's his fault.
<Apollo> (‥‥そのケイケンから  何か学んでほしいな‥‥) (One can only assume that his father tried to teach him a lesson. And failed, clearly.)
<Wocky> それにしても。 アンタらも、ゴクロウだよな。 You two got your work cut out for you, straight up.
オレはもう、 カクゴはできてるってのにさ! Course I don't care if they lock me up. I'm ready to go!
<Apollo> (やれやれ‥‥有罪になる気  マンマンだな) (Some days, I wonder why I do what I do.)
“(Oh, boy... He’s sure pumped up about being convicted.)”
> Present: medical chart, then talk about Alita again
<Trucy> ‥‥《宇狩外科医院》ですね? ...The Meraktis Clinic?
<Wocky> そこでさ。出会っちまったワケよ。 オレだけの堕天使ちゃんに。 That's where I met her. My fallen angel...
<Apollo> 並奈 美波さん‥‥ですか。 You mean Alita Tiala?
<Wocky> 最初は、オレのコト、 コワがってたみたいなんだけどさ。 She was scared of me at first, turns out.
ひかれちまったんだろうなァ。 オレの“悪”のミリョクに! But you know what they say -- the bad guy always gets the ladies.
<Apollo> はあ‥‥ Right...
I try not to waste entry space, but I was just reminded of a certain song about “Why good girls always like bad boys?”, but mixed with “How baa-a-a-ad can I be?” and I hate it, thanks.
> Present: anything else
<Wocky> ‥‥‥‥‥‥ふーん。 ダッセェの。 ... Man... that is so far off the hook, it's off the chain, G!
<Apollo> (何か別のコトを考えてるな。  ちゃんと見てないぞ) (He seems preoccupied with something else...)
<Wocky> ‥‥ミナミちゃん。 何してんのかなあ。 ...Wonder how my Alita's doing. Man, I miss her.
Man, I suck at ending these posts. Here, have more Wocky free-stylin’.
Fyi, his first line here, he’s calling something “lame” and I dunno if he really did see but didn’t care or didn’t notice it at all.
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domyhomeworkk · 3 years
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Perfect Preparation Advice For Rather busy & Fed-Up Individuals
To the majority of, investigation can be quite unpleasant. It's perfectly comprehensible why... Consider how enthusiastic you would be at thinking about having get the job done family home. We're certainly not happy about that, though i know many people complete the work. Our family homes are sacred relaxing grounds wherever really good food is ingested and terrific family unit situations are contributed. hire a writer The final thing any of us needs to do is to try to taint that representation with get the job done or Investigation. There are various tactics we might do today result in the adventure more fun for the young ones while. You can actually make use of the strategies presented for producing the ability of having family home get the job done of your very own more fun for you in addition. Try to remember while; it's all with the insight.
Our young ones have to have motivation, normal routine and incentive and from these happen greatest results, which varieties a lot of same exact. Challenging aspect of the whole entire adventure certainly is the get started with. At one time going, the habit kicks in and perhaps helps keep the momentum for success or speeds up it even sooner.
Our really concentrate has to be upon which could provide you with the support and also reason for your night of research if your start out is toughest piece. That's not a simple task in the least. Mainly ever since there are various other pursuits rival for your kids' particular attention. Lots those people rival possibilities are regarded by our young ones for being highly interesting and some are. So, how are we will make Groundwork more pleasant than that nice provide or that game they've been anticipating viewing?
You should have for the greatest site to be able to do their groundwork. This may be some increased a lot of time in college, some a lot of time with the selection once class, or even a site in the house that you've arrange simply for that reason. Destination ought to be the to begin with an important part of their habit. Look at setting up a preparation area: an establishment wherever they will certainly do their due diligence day to day. Only greatly self-driven consumers could do the same exact high-quality of work in many sites. If he or she could easily get very much the same excellent quality of labor with this worker working from home, a good number of United states bosses wouldn't will require their staff members to point out as high as purpose everyday. Using the same approach, it's really good to find your kid familiar with executing due diligence within a single simple site. Because of this, when it's time for preparation and you just acquire them to the site, it'll be a lot simpler to be able to get cracking, ever since they're familiar with executing their research in that particular site day to day.
You should ensure your kids' due diligence space is clearly lit up and ample. It ought to be good good enough to your account in the event that you're were required to reply something or two from their website. Their homework destination should do without any disruptions in the least. No Television for computer, no desktop computer (until they really want it to try and do the homework), no very loud song, no buzzing mobile phone or mobile phone, with zero young ones who don't have due diligence that will disrupt the peace of mind and secluded.
It's a fact that a good time to do preparation is shortly after class. Given that the material your youngster found out remains to be healthy of their minds and also practical knowledge will undoubtedly be strengthened by their homework functions. However, nearly everybody can't commencement their homework shortly after classes. Some young ones demand a rest, time from, some time to his or her self, to freshen up, and also get a specific thing of their stomachs. It's alright with regards to your youngster to look at a minor destroy, just about half-hour to any hour once class will need to work. Before starting their groundwork, they are able to also have a food. It's wise to keep treat rather lumination to make sure they don't come to feel sleepy after food it. It's also essential to allow for them a quick 5 moment destroy per half-hour of exploring ever since half-hour is concerning the typical the highest level of stretch of time a typical man could completely focus (for most it could be much less than half-hour).
Always remember which keeps this in their habit. You want them becoming accustomed to executing their homework at specific times and wishing to try and do their homework together regularly. It's also important to note that by establishing their preparation inside of an hr of getting away from class, it provides them with the correct quantity of energy to do their preparation. If having said that, their preparation has taken too much effort and certain night time they're just unable to top notch it, you then definitely ought to speak to their instructor to see the time your family preparation could be considering them. Realizing from your very own professor the correct amount of your energy the child need to be concluding their homework in will permit you to detect other issues the child may just be encountering.
Usually have the perfect necessities expected nearby in your own young ones specific due diligence space. There's quite possibly a whole bunch of math concepts necessities your child applications. You should have these necessities widely nearby so your son or daughter doesn't really need to preserve getting out of bed to find a specific thing. The act of getting up several times to find a specific thing is bound to interrupt your child's level.
You need to enable the child continue being sorted by keeping their loosened records for style in marked folders or trapper keepers. It will certainly most certainly enable when it's chance to analyze with an test. Holding all correlated components in labeled folders/trapper keepers also will enable the child continue being centered and maintain their prepare of consideration. The less time wasted hunting for a specific thing, the more often time the child have to consentrate on their preparation task.
After carrying out these systems, some young people could also struggle to start out executing their research. I became most certainly one of those particular young ones as soon as i was growing up. Research just looked so uninspiring to my opinion. You can actually alternative these feelings by establishing their groundwork With each other. As you grab the tire spinning with regards to your child's investigation, you can actually quite easily slide off to take steps despite the fact that the child goes on their project.
If all else stops working, you may test sweetening their investigation bargain by giving rewards for trying their investigation. Be sure you have a place and tell them the fact that the benefits are for High-quality Preparation, besides just about anything. Your top mission utilizing this procedure while is with the incentives application to signify the child how special their accomplishments are especially independently. Whenever they come to feel how really good it will be to try and do clearly at school, the incentive for executing their research will undoubtedly be primarily their excessive marks in school.
Establish a central destination wherever the child does their groundwork regularly and be sure the placement is secluded, clearly illuminated, rich in necessities, and void of interruptions.
Keep due diligence space sorted and cool which means your son or daughter will come to feel inspired when it's chance to do their groundwork.
Start off their investigation using them to get their cerebral tires spinning.
If all else falters, establish some benefits for these people for filling out their homework, just enough to ensure they could flavor the fruits of these perfect scars.
Possibly you'll really need to use various these processes to make investigation interesting with regards to your son or daughter. It's worth it while ever since preparation works an incredible area of their entire achieving success in education.
Knowledge hobbyist, mentor and tutor and achieving success advisor, M Tutor certainly is the designer of MyTutorBlog [http: //mytutorblog.org]
M Tutor's most common concentrate is not only helping high school students accomplish their scholastic desires, but will also supporting high school students be a success together with their educational achievements. Sign up to the MyTutorBlog E-newsletter, within the web site web page create, for any current useful methods, analyze competencies hints, necessary news reports, and a ton of 100 % free devices as they simply end up being out there.
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