#yes there is an english sentence in the french text no I am now going to translate it

[sohnric]

paris – l. juyeon

pairing: lee juyeon x fem! reader

genre: exchange student! juyeon in paris (ft. his erasmus friends). friends to ???, angst, fluff. actually, the genre is longing. halloween party au but the halloween part plays like,, 0 part in the fic, basically. idk the paris pics did something to me he is so european coded. paris by the 1975 without the drugs in a fic, essentially

warnings: cheating from yn's side, swearing, alcohol, smoking. the reader is canonically french im sorry 💀

word count: 6k

There’s quite a few reasons why Juyeon never told his friends from home about you- the girl he met on his student exchange trip. Some were the cause of Juyeon’s insecurities in himself, some the cause of your relationship status, all the cause of his unrequited love and the way you broke his heart, making Juyeon’s whole memory of Paris a bit hazy and bittersweet and the leave, paradoxically, that much harder. But still– and maybe you’re the reason for it– oh, how he’d love to go to Paris again.

a/n: do NOT cancel me for being a casual matty healy enjoyer i am a 2014 tumblr girlie at heart

“And where are my gifts? Where are the souvenirs?” Hyunjae calls after the boy that’s still kind of jet lagged from the flight (even though it’s been 3 days since his landing and he slept the whole day after his brother picked him up from the airport), the latter looking at him with tired eyes. 

“That’s all you want from me after not seeing me for 6 months?”

“Yes. Where’s my baguette?” Hyunjae glares, making the younger boy whine at the request.

“I didn’t know you wanted a hard rock baguette from me. If I had known, I would’ve taken one with me and smashed it against your head the moment I arrived here.”

“Well, if it’s authentic,” Hyunjae shrugs, laughing. “I’m just joking… I know we’ve been calling and texting like, every other day, but let me ask again. How was it?”

Juyeon finally smiles at his friend’s question. This is what one expects after coming home from studying abroad for 10 months– not a souvenir request. And trust me, Juyeon did bring gifts, out of the warmth of his own heart, but after being asked for them, he kind of doesn’t want to play Santa anymore. Kind of like when you decide to wash the dishes, but your mum tells you to do it at the same time of your decision– the motivation fades away the mere second you’re requested to do the thing.

“Well, it was good,” he shrugs, “it was… something,” Juyeon says– because how does one fit 10 months of their life into a few sentences without stammering– and before he gets a chance to say anything, Hyunjae catches him off guard with another inquiry.

“Is it true, by the way? Are European girls really prettier?” he grins, wiggling his eyebrows at the boy as if to suggest something– but all it does is make Juyeon shrug, acting not really bothered with the question. 

“Dunno,” he hums, “I think it’s equal to here.”

“So you’re telling me you went 10 months without getting laid in France?” Hyunjae gasps, making Juyeon furrow his brows in utter disbelief.

“When did I say that? Or anything that would even suggest that?” 

Now, this was a trap. Juyeon is too gullible. See, Juyeon was pretty transparent with everything during his calls with Hyunjae back when he was in Paris. He told his friends back home all about the European food, the rock-hard french baguettes, the weird looks and annoyed sighs he got when speaking English to the clarks in the shops, the cold showers in his accommodation and the pretty park in front of his university building. They also know all about his friends from Paris– the international students he met in his course like Shotaro from Japan, Bence from Hungary and Marco from Italy– but when the question of girls came around, specifically in the romantic light of things, Juyeon went awfully quiet. You can’t blame Hyunjae for getting into suspicions.

“So you did?” Hyunjae gasps, grasping at the straws.

Juyeon sighs, reaching for his bag. His awfully big hand slips inside of the black backpack, fingers touching various things before he brings out a bunch of gifts: a keychain with the Eiffel tower, some magnets, postcards, a fashionable beret he found in one of the souvenir stores but never saw anyone actually wear in the whole 10 months in the streets of Paris, some perfume and high quality chocolate. Hyunjae’s eyes go wide, making satisfaction swim through Juyeon’s veins at the sight– he managed to deflect the attack.

Sometimes, having materialistic friends is a plus.

As he watches Hyunjae touch all the things on the table, fingers trailing over metal and the shiny wrapping of the dark chocolate with an acknowledging nod, Juyeon takes out another thing out of his bag– his digital camera that he brought along for the ride. He sent his friends a lot of pictures when he was in Paris, and he also posted quite a few on Instagram for everyone to see, but the camera held more memories and more moments than anyone’s ever seen before– it’s a source of treasure for himself as well, but he figures it wouldn’t hurt to share a glimpse with his best friend.

“Wanna see? I took tons of pictures, but you can look through only the interesting ones, if you want to,” Juyeon hums, offering the camera to the male, the display already shining at him from the gallery, small icons of all pictures on the SD card in a 3x3 row on the small thing. 

A few pictures of the town are on preview right now, but if you scroll through the gallery, moments of his friend Marco’s birthday party that his friends threw for him, or the snapshots of his friend’s faces come into sight– Juyeon’s sure Hyunjae’s eager to see how all of the people he’s been talking to him about look like.

Hyunjae nods, taking the camera from him and squinting at the little icons. His fingers move along the touch screen and scroll through the gallery, eyes zooming on the interesting ones and grinning as he shows them to Juyeon, awaiting the backstory of a certain image. 

Everything goes well, until Hyunjae gets to the latest pictures on the SD card– well, apart from the ones Juyeon took from the window on his flight home. And Juyeon really doesn’t know what he was thinking, but hey– sometimes he doesn’t think things through as much as he should– and that’s why when a particular photo comes into his best friend’s sight, turning the camera towards Juyeon with a shiteating grin on his face, the question ‘Who’s that?’ makes the poor boy a bit shaken.

His tall figure, standing alongside someone shorter– you, in your vampire costume, fake blood running down the side of your mouth, a hand thrown over his shoulders and your side pressed into his a bit too close as he stares down onto you with an obviously star-struck face, suit covering his body in a poor attempt at Joker’s costume– the moment stares back at him like a haunted memory.

He clears his throat. “That’s… that’s just Y/N.”

Hyunjae hums, having a staring contest with the picture on the screen. The date on the bottom reads 31/10/23, the last day of Juyeon’s stay before he had to go home. “How come I’ve never heard about Y/N?”

“There wasn’t much to say, I guess,” Juyeon shrugs, taking a sip from the bottle of beer on the table.

“Sure…” Hyunjae doubtingly nods, scrunching up his nose in disbelief.

“I’m serious. She’s just a friend I met there,” Juyeon offers, licking his lips in nerves. 

And it’s the truth– you were just a friend and there really wasn’t much to say about you two– so why does Juyeon’s heart hurt a bit as he recognizes the events of the night as if it happened yesterday? Why does he feel nostalgic, maybe a little bitter about the way you two left off? 

Hyunjae doesn’t know, but there’s quite a few reasons why he never heard about you in the first place. Some were the cause of Juyeon’s insecurities in himself, some the cause of your relationship status, all the cause of his unrequited love and the way you broke his heart, making the whole memory of Paris a bit hazy and bittersweet and the leave, paradoxically, that much harder. 

But still– and maybe you’re the reason for it–

oh, how he’d love to go to Paris again.

31/10/2023

The buzzing of the room makes Juyeon’s already thumping head ache in its crevices, the smell of alcohol in the breath of everyone talking to him only making his stomach twist and turn with acid. He’s had his fair amount of drinks himself, but there is a very faint line between the amount that’s just enough to keep him going through the night and the amount that makes him puke and have a two-week hangover, and with the flight home he has to take tomorrow afternoon, he doesn’t think drinking more would be a good idea.

“Don’t break it!” Juyeon tiredly hurries out as he sees his friend Marco handle his camera, the device almost falling out of the foreign friend’s hands. 

“I won’t! Hold on, let me just–” the Italian mutters, the coating of vodka shots and the cheap red wine (made to look like blood to keep things festive) making his words slur together as he speaks. 

Juyeon reaches towards his drunk friend (while also questioning how he’s going to take a plane back to Italy tomorrow in a very hungover state) and tries to pray the prized possession out of his hands, but comes to a fail as the tall man waves him off with a theatral arm wave, shoving the poor boy towards the white wall and putting the camera up against his own face. “I’ll take your picture! So you can– you only take pictures of us, Juyo,” he rambles on, “I’ll take your picture so you can show it at home to your friends!” Marco grins, having Juyeon aimlessly sigh and stretch out his lips into a fake smile, waiting for his friend to take the picture so he can get his camera back to safety.

“Me too! Me too!” he suddenly hears from somewhere to his right, and before he has the chance to decipher the owner of the female voice, a weight on his shoulder tells him you just jumped at his side– almost topping him over and into the spooky decorations to his right– as you giggle into his ear. “Have it?”

“Aaaalmost!” Marco stretches out as he squints at the camera– and in the spare few seconds before the shutter goes off, Juyeon allows himself to stare down at your figure glued to his side. You’re wearing a dark lipstick on your smile, a drip of fake blood rolling down the side of your mouth. There’s a corset top enveloping your middle and a flowy black skirt only pulling the whole look together even with the absence of fangs– and while you don’t suck out his blood, Lee Juyeon can physically feel how you sucked out all oxygen out of his lungs in your sexy vampire costume. 

He’s seen you around tonight, but he never got the courage to walk up to you. Something about this being his last night in Paris might be the reason why. 

He was simply too bummed out about how things between you and him never went further than fits of laughter in class as you helped him with his French, or friendly hugs when you bid him goodbye at the corner of his street. Maybe it was his own fault for falling for someone so out of his reach. He always knew his stay in France was temporary– hell, he was an exchange student, he was aware of what he was getting himself into– but still, he couldn’t help but recognize the familiar warmth in his stomach whenever you were around and the strange racing of his heart whenever you were close enough for him to smell your shampoo for what it was. He was completely, utterly smitten with you– a french local that would be erased out of his lifestyle as soon as he lands back home in Korea.

The shutter of the camera is all it takes to break his train of thought, making him snap his head back to his Italian friend. A sigh of relief is heard in the room as Juyeon finally reunites with his digital camera (he was surprised to see Marco let go of it so easily), and before he has the chance to think of a conversation topic to indulge in with you, you have his words catching in his throat at your own pace of speech.

“Have you been here for long?” you ask, flattering your eyelashes at him. Juyeon gasps before he presses his lips together into a tight line, shrugging.

“A bit.”

“Why haven’t you said hi?” you frown. “You said it’s your last night! You wouldn’t leave without a goodbye, would you?” you shake your head at him, playfully poking his shoulder with your pointer finger.

He was going to. Not anymore, he guesses.

“No,” he disagrees instead, “I was gonna look for you when it was my turn to leave,” he quickly comes up with an explanation, having your features relax as a warm smile overtakes your pretty features again.

Even with your face all bloody and your eyes having dark circles under them from eyeshadow (and mascara that weared off a little, which you were completely unaware of), Juyeon finds you absolutely, utterly and fascinatingly beautiful. He’s glad no one is able to read his inner monologue– or else he’d be the one with blood running down the side of his face. If the punch to seal the cut would be coming from you or your boyfriend, he’s not quite sure. 

Maybe both. The main thing is, you’re taken and his feelings aren’t reciprocated. 

Which is why his silly crush on you that maybe, just maybe, turned into something more meaningful was that much damaging to his poor soul. 

Because Juyeon swears he never loved anyone before, but after spending the night with you drinking cheap wine in his empty dorm room on his birthday completely alone– since it fell on a Sunday this year and he didn’t have that many friends yet to celebrate with, only having spending 2 weeks in Paris at the time– during which you taught him French swear words and kissed his cheek goodbye (which he thought may be a cultural thing, although he wasn’t sure); after all of this, he felt like you’re the person he’ll think of when someone asks him about his first love when he's old.

And even if he had the balls to do anything about it (which he didn’t), he simply couldn’t. You were out of reach.

“You’d better,” you hum, “or else I’d hitchhike a plane and come over to Korea just to kick your ass.”

“You can’t hitchhike a plane, you weirdo.” 

You sigh, shaking your head. “Of course I can. Watch me.”

Juyeon finds himself grinning at the adorable determination in your voice. It makes him feel a certain type of way that he knows he shouldn’t– but after spending 10 months with the feelings (5 of which you were single, 5 of which you’ve spent dating your boyfriend) and absorbing the idea of leaving you and everything behind tomorrow, Juyeon no longer feels as guilty about the act of loving you. Not anymore– not tonight.

“I like your costume,” Juyeon comments, pointing to the attire you’ve dressed yourself in.

“Really?” your eyes light up. “Look, I even wore the bow my idiot of a boyfriend said looks tacky,” you say, making a little twirl for the man. Your skirt flows nicely in the air and you stumble a bit due to the alcohol in your system, but when Juyeon catches you by your forearms and steadies you, there’s a content smile sitting on your lips despite your previous sentence.

“It looks pretty on you,” Juyeon hums, nodding. “It’s not tacky at all.”

“I always knew you had more taste than him,” you sigh dramatically, making Juyeon question your actions. 

Oh? 

“Anyways, I like your costume as well,” you comment. 

“Thanks,” he says, although his half-assed attempt at a Joker’s costume wasn’t anywhere near your level of preciseness, “Shotaro was supposed to go as Harley to match with me, but he pulled out of it at the last minute,” Juyeon pouts.

“Gosh! That would’ve been fucking amazing,” you laugh, swatting your friend in the arm playfully– the way you always do when you laugh– but as you come down from it, there’s a bitter tone in your voice. “I asked my boyfriend to wear a couple’s costume too, but he said all my costume ideas were lame.”

“Y/N–” Juyeon starts, wanting to speak up about the matter very obviously present in the conversation, wanting to console you, say anything, but you cut him off again– your courtesy– with a shrug and a grin on your face made to mask your true emotions (didn't work. Juyeon knows you too well).

“It’s okay. That’s why I dressed up as a slutty vampire just to spite him,” you say. 

“What’s his costume?” Juyeon asks.

“Not sure. I think he just bought the Scream mask, or something,” you mutter, rolling your eyes at the male.

And now, Juyeon was never big on gossip. But if gossiping meant poking fun at your boyfriend, the last night before his plane back home takes off is not the time he’s passing on a snarky comment. “Lame.”

“I’m so glad we are on the same page, Juyo.”

His heart leaps at the nickname– a lot of people call him that, but the tone you say it in, the sweet melody of your voice as you throw it at him like a promise (of everything and nothing at all– you’re fond of him, but never fond enough), only you have this effect on him when you call him that. He wishes he had you saying his name recorded, documented somewhere on his phone, your accent and all, so he could hear you say it when he foolishly misses you in the middle of the night, like he knows he will when he lays awake at home, in his tiny, silent room.

“Do you want to get out for a bit? It’s getting too hot in here,” you say as you wave yourself, hoping to cool off, but failing miserably with the heat created from the bodies swimming through the house, and Juyeon finds himself nodding at your question.

Your feet drag you outside of the house, the cold breeze instantly cooling down your sweaty bodies. You two stand on the front porch together, watching the world around you revolve in a fast, yet slow manner– there are couples making out in the corner of the yard, one of them pressed up against the tree, and friends chasing each other down in zombie costumes, passing by bottles of alcohol between each other. 

Juyeon hears you hum, making him turn his head towards you and see you offering a cigarette to him. He'd never been much of a smoker before, but Europe taught him to never turn down a cigarette when offered, and so he only takes out one out of the pack, watching you mirror his movements. You fish for your lighter in your bra (and Juyeon finds himself too mesmerized to look away during the action), clicking it and putting the flame against the cigarette trapped between his lips.

He doesn’t know what it is about the action that makes his eyes hooded as he watches you– noticing the forgotten speck of glitter from some step of your makeup routine under your eye, making him want to swipe his thumb over it and take it off for you– but he can’t get his gaze off you as he breaths in the smoke, his head going more fuzzy than it has been only a few minutes prior.

When Juyeon’s cigarette is lit, you move to light your own, all while the male watches you with almost a dreamy look on his face. Somehow, he’s glad no one’s watching you. He doesn’t think he would be able to conceal his feelings for you tonight.

“Are you gonna miss this?” you suddenly ask, looking up at him from his right.

You? Absolutely. 

“I think so,” he nods, “it’s a lot different to home, but I made a lot of memories here.”

He watches a hint of smile spreading over your features. “Do you remember when you accidentally told our professor you were horny instead of excited?” you laugh.

“Oh, shut up,” Juyeon laughs at the memory. His French never really got to a perfect level– that’s why most of you settled on speaking English between each other– but the first few weeks were a living hell of a language barrier for Lee Juyeon. “The more concerning part is that this is what made you approach me,” he notes.

“Well, I recognised that you needed help, and I was willing to provide it,” you say, taking a drag out of the cigarette and blowing the smoke into his face.

Juyeon looks at you through the smoke cloud, snickering. “I’m kinda grateful, though. You were the first friend I made here.”

You look at him with a tender look– something so full of care Juyeon swears he feels his stomach doing somersaults– before you press your lips into a solemn smile. “Well, I’m honored, Juyeon Lee,” you drag out in a posh accent, making the boy break out into a laugh.

He takes another drag off the cigarette, inviting the nicotine into his system. Mixed with the alcohol in his veins and your aura surrounding him, he almost feels on cloud 9, like he’s flowing in space and he can’t get down. He watches as you lean over the railing of the porch, forearms meeting with the metal in a set of goosebumps. Breeze flies through the air, making your barely-clothed figure shiver.

He knows he probably shouldn’t. Your boyfriend is somewhere inside, and although you two are seemingly in a weird sort of fight, it’s not his place to act as a gentleman. 

Still, Juyeon finds he has nothing to lose. He shrugs off the suit jacket he’s been wearing and drapes it over your shoulders wordlessly, noticing the way you look back at him over your shoulder with a soft smile on your lips. 

A comforting silence overtakes you two. Juyeon takes the last drag off the cigarette and puts it out on the iron railing, enjoying the effect your sheer presence has on him. The music coming out of inside is only a mere background noise now, providing him an occasional distraction to the buzzing of his own thoughts.

“Say, Juyo,” you start, “do you know where Dorothy lives?” you ask.

Juyeon hums in disagreement. “Don’t think I do. Why?”

“I’m sleeping over at hers tonight,” you mumble, mentioning your best friend– the girl Juyeon’s met plenty of times in the 10 months of knowing you. “I was supposed to stay at Andre’s, but I’m not talking to him right now.”

“Oh,” is all Juyeon says. The mention of your boyfriend always throws him off the track a little.

“I dunno where Dorothy went, but I’m getting kind of sleepy.”

“Why can’t you just go home?” he asks.

“Juyo,” you laugh, “my parents would kill me if I got home tipsy and smelling like cigarette smoke. Don’t you know how they are?” you joke, shaking your head in disbelief.

He doesn’t. He kind of wishes he had the chance to know, though– because if he knew your parents, maybe it would imply something. Signify something more.

“Do you want me to walk you to Dorothy’s?” 

“Yeah,” you nod, lids heavy. Juyeon doesn’t know what time it is, but the last time he checked, it was well past midnight– he doesn’t think he’d stay around much longer himself.

“Okay,” he nods, watching as you slowly peel yourself off the railing and wear his suit jacket properly, the fabric drowning you, but keeping you warm. The sight, the sentiment of it, makes Juyeon’s hands shake and his throat go dry. You’re so close, yet so out of his reach.

Your feet are slow as you march towards the direction of your best friend’s house. Juyeon doesn’t know how far it is, but he wishes for you to take the long way home– if those are the last moments he has with you, he wants to drag the evening out the best he can.

The night is quiet. The only thing ringing in your ears is the sound of your own footsteps, when Juyeon surprises himself with the question that noisily cuts out of his throat.

“Why don’t you break up with him?” he asks.

He expects you to go mad at the question– you were known to have quite the fierce temper. You and Andre have had a few problems in the past: he was known to be reckless with his snarky comments that somehow hurt your pride, his nasty behavior when he got drunk, and the not-so-happy opinion your parents had of him. You were known to blow things out of proportion, screaming, crying and making a scene whenever you could if you thought it was appropriate, known to talk about your conflicts with your friends and digging out opinions out of them on the matter.

Juyeon always made sure to give you lukewarm arguments whenever you asked him about your boyfriend. Never too heated to make himself seem suspicious. Your relationship was none of his business.

Again– tonight, though, he has nothing to lose.

“I dunno,” you shrug, your steps a little uneven on the pavement, “it’s… a matter of habit, maybe? It’s weird,” you say. 

The explanation gives Juyeon just about nothing. A matter of habit? Is it a habit to stay with someone? Was there not more needed for a relationship?

Juyeon doesn’t find it in him to reply. Instead, he lets you talk.

“I think I might love him, or something. I’m not really sure…” you mumble, the sentences breaking Juyeon’s heart a little by little, shattering it right in front of you on the pavement, “because if I didn’t, why else would I put up with all of this?” you ask, not really expecting an answer.

“All the shaming, the spiteful remarks. The pettiness, the silent treatment… tell me, Juyo, do I have any dignity?” you laugh, shaking your head in disbelief.

“Y/N…”

The snicker that escapes out of you quickly turns bitter. Your body grows impossibly closer to his, your hands sneaking around his bicep. You walk with linked arms, your head falling to his shoulder. “I don’t think I really love him, though,” you suddenly rebuttal, “‘cause like… I wouldn’t- I wouldn’t tell my grandkids about Andre, y’know? I think that’s the way you know. If you can imagine thinking so fondly about someone that you… that you’d mention them even in 50 years, ‘cause the memories still feel fresh and you’re delighted you once knew them, then…” you trail off, voice fading.

“Do you know what I mean?” you hum, pouting.

He does know.

“Sorry, I’m rambling–”

“No, I get you,” he reassures you, nodding to himself. 

“You always do,” you sigh, breaking Juyeon’s heart into a million pieces, “anyways, with that being said… I think I’m with him only because breaking up is too much of a hassle. And, I think I like the attention,” you splutter, laughing at yourself, “that’s… so desperate of me, I know. I’m starting to doubt if it’s even worth it.”

“He’s not,” Juyeon finds himself saying as you two cross the corner.

“You’re only saying that as my friend.”

“No, I’m saying that as your– as someone who cares…?” he stutters, mentally kicking himself for sounding so readable. Surely, you must’ve already noticed. If not from his current statement, then from the way he looked at you the whole night. You are a smart girl– you were always quick to point out the men that would soon hit on you when you were at the club. You have a good eye when it comes to others.

You only laugh, though. Oh, how Juyeon loves the sound.

“Thank you,” you hum.

You two fall silent for a while. Juyeon finds himself enjoying it. It feels comfortable– to walk with you through the emptied Paris, accompanied by the yellow lampposts and soulless streets. Only you two, your linked arms and his suit jacket around your shoulders.

“We’re at Dorothy’s,” you muse when your steps come to a halt, gesturing towards the silent, dark house on the other side of the street, “I think she’s not home yet, though. Her light would be on.”

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Juyeon looks from the house and back at you, then back at the seemingly empty house again. “And now what?”

“I have to wait for her,” you shrug, “will you… keep me company?”

You don’t even have to ask. He’d always keep you company. 

“Well, I’m not just gonna let you stand alone in the street in the middle of the night, am I?” he playfully shakes his head in disbelief, but secretly enjoys the fact that he has more time with you before you have to pay each other goodbye.

“Always knew you were a gentleman.”

“Pretty sure that was my middle name,” he notes.

“I thought you said that was ‘handsome’ once?”

“I have two,” he laughs.

“Is that possible?” you tease.

“Of course! Look it up,” he says, turning to you as he talks. “My name’s actually Lee Handsome Gentleman Juyeon, it’s on my ID and everything,” he jokes, watching as your eyes turn into moon crescents and your throat lets out a fit of amused giggles.

Another playful punch to his shoulder. A happy sigh. A shake of your head, full of disbelief. 

“Damn, Juyo. I’ll miss you like crazy, you know?” you suddenly utter, making the boy’s heart fall down into his stomach. The implication of your words sounds a lot like a goodbye, and although he was aware of the fact that he was leaving before, he doesn’t think he really let the reality down on him until now. 

This time tomorrow, there will be no Paris. No Marco. No Shotaro. No Bence. No French locals, no bagels for breakfast, no shitty ass dorm room.

No you.

“I’ll miss you more,” he says. He thinks he’s right.

You’ll miss him like a friend. He’ll miss you like his first love.

You stare at him for a heartbeat. One, two– before you latch onto him, much like when you first met tonight. Your arms wrap around his neck, pulling him close, head resting on his shoulder only when you notice his hands wrapping around your middle. Breathing in your scent, Juyeon focuses very hard to keep his heart rate in check– it’s hard to not falter under your touch when your nose buries itself into his neck, cold skin nuzzling into his hot one, hands squeezing him tighter.

Juyeon doesn’t think you’ve ever hugged him like this before. 

And now, you won’t ever again.

You break away from him only enough to still be in his hold, your forehead resting against his. The new intimacy between the two of you makes him gulp, eyes focused into yours– watching the silver and gold swirl around your irises, counting your eyelashes. Noticing the faint mole on the top of your nose bridge. 

Foolishly letting his eyes dip lower. Memorizing the shape of your lips with his gaze. Taking in a shaky breath when he feels your fingers playing with the hair on his nape.

“Will you tell your grandkids about Paris?” you ask, voice barely louder than a whisper. Juyeon would almost think you’re suggesting something with your question, but when you speak up again, the suspicion is proved correct. “Will you tell them about me?”

The boy drags his eyes up back to yours. He examines the intention. He finalizes that he has nothing left to lose. 

Tomorrow, this will all be a memory. A moment out of his reach– much like you, all this time. A moment of time he experienced and won’t ever get back.

“I will,” he nods, swallowing. “Will you?”

You smile at the boy, the curve of your lips capturing his attention again. If anyone asked, he’d tell them it’s pure biology– the way his eyes zoomed in on your mouth the moment your expression changed. That’s how attention fluctuates– he learned about it in class somewhere, he’s fairly certain.

Why he’s unable to look back into your eyes after the question is a matter of something else, though.

“I think I might,” you breathe out.

There’s buzzing in his fingertips as he relishes the moment. The sentiment makes his knees weak, his brain fuzzy, his sight blurry and a little hazed. When he finally catches a glimpse of your gaze, he finds it glued to his mouth. 

He could take it as an invitation. 

He won’t, though.

“Kiss me?” you ask, whispering.

He shakes his head in disapproval. “I can’t.” 

Not when you’re taken. Not when he’s aware. Not when he knows you might regret this in the morning.

“Can I kiss you, then?” you ask. 

That, however, is a whole other situation. 

You asked to. You're making the first step. He doesn't have to feel guilty– who cares whether either of you might regret this decision tomorrow.

A simple nod–

that’s all it takes before you lock your lips with his. Your mouths move against each other with a passion he’s contained for his whole stay. You taste like vodka and orange juice, the slickness of your lip gloss making Juyeon’s lips slide against yours with more ease. He kisses you like you’d kiss your first love– with everything in him, with everything he is. 

He kisses you in a way that shows he wants to remember this forever. In a way that makes you lean even closer, pressing up firmly against him as you angle your head to make the kiss deeper. One of your hands moves from behind his head to twist itself deeper into his hair, tugging a little at the root to make the boy gasp under your actions. That has you inviting your tongue into his mouth, eager to taste him, to explore.

Juyeon doesn’t think he’s ever been kissed like this. He doesn��t think he’s ever felt so vulnerable, so open while kissing someone. This is him with his heart on a plate, naked and ready to be stabbed, squished by the weight of circumstances breathing onto his back.

His cold fingers move along your sides. Your hands settle on his shoulders to steady yourself, head pulling away to gasp for oxygen.

You look so pretty when he opens his eyes. Lipstick smudged and eyes blown out, hair a little messy from the October wind. He’s like an addict presented with his favorite drug– he can’t get enough, he can’t resist as he chases after you, leaving kisses along your jaw and the corner of your mouth, where the blood is, slowly meeting your lips again in another lock.

Everything else disappears. In this moment, there’s just you, you, you…

No flights. No weight of his own conscience. No boyfriends, no unsaid feelings. 

No regret.

And Juyeon thought he had nothing to lose, but suddenly, with you in his arms, he feels as if he’s being stripped of everything he never even had, only got the glimpse of last minute, a few hours before he’s gone.

You lean away again. Juyeon watches you with big eyes. A smile appears on your face as you move a finger up to his face, cleaning up the side of his mouth off the dark lipstick you’ve imprinted on him. He feels fragile under your touch. One bad move and he breaks, falls apart under you.

“You have to come back to visit one day,” you whisper, cradling the side of his face.

Juyeon nods. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever get the chance.

But as you stand on your tippy toes and press a kiss to his forehead, making a million different fireworks erupt in his stomach, he doesn’t let himself think of that (im)possibility. He watches as you smile at him, locking your eyes in a gaze tender and soft, yet electrifying, holding something special.

Before you take off to meet your best friend walking up the other side of the street, you hug him one last time and whisper into his ear.

“Goodbye, Juyo.”

Seeing as you lock your arms with Dorothy, walking up into the silent house and never looking back, Juyeon lets himself feel the last hint of longing for someone he always knew would never be his. And it’s strange, because he hasn’t even left yet, 

but oh, how he’d love to go to Paris again.

#deoboyznet #the boyz #juyeon #lee juyeon #tbz #the boyz x reader #the boyz angst #the boyz fluff #juyeon x reader #juyeon fluff #juyeon angst #lee juyeon x reader #lee juyeon angst #lee juyeon fluff #tbz x reader #tbz fluff #tbz angst #juyeon scenario #juyeon fic

[hannahtempler]

Hi! I am a big fan of your webcomic (and also I just realized you did some of the artwork of Thirsty Sword Lesbians and congratulations on that, it rules). Anyway, I found the Book 1 of Cosmoknights at a comic book store yesterday and I have been pouring over every little detail since. And there is one thing that's making my brain buzz. So I hope you don't mind me asking...

The thing is, I am reading the French translation, and that means stuff is a LOT more gendered. Particularly, in Cass' flashback during her time as a princess, when she goes to meet with Bee, people use male epithets to refer to her, including Bee. Also, Jaws uses female wordings to talk to both of them at the bar, but during the tournament the only time the turn of sentence genders her he says "tu es cinglé", which is the masculine form. I have checked, and all the male epithets correspond to places where the original story says either "fella", "dude" or "big guy", which could mean that the translator has just decided to keep the masc vibe of those terms and ignore that fact that (as far as I'm aware) the terms they're using in French are not as gender-neutral as they are in English. And I guess Jaws saying "cinglé" instead of "cinglée" could be a typo. But all put together, with the fact that the commentators use he/him for Bull even in the English version, makes me wonder...

So I guess my question is, on one hand, did you get any say on the translation? Is this the translator's interpretation, or yours?

And if it is yours, can you tell us a little more of what's going on with Cass' pronouns here? Is she (I'm using "she" because Bee does) genderfluid to some degree? Is she just someone who likes male epithets because of their associations? Does she have a male alter ego as a cosmoknight to keep pursuers at bay? If yes, does that mean all the cosmoknights know and are willing to protect the secret that she's a woman to the public, and that's why Jaws genders her like that at the joust?

(Also, is the second book going to come out in French? I'd love to have the series all in the same language, and not paying the price of the book in shipping fees would be great)

I hope I've not overwhelmed you, i'm sorry for the wall of text, and I hope you have a great day!

Hi! Thanks so much for your kind words and thoughtful questions! I'll do my best to answer here:

I didn't get a direct say on the translation– although I do speak French, I don't practice a lot, so I would probably miss a lot of the subtleties you're describing. It's possible that there is variation after translation, but from what it sounds like, the French version does come close to the intention of the English version.

Cass uses any/all pronouns and is gender-fluid– most of the time she uses she/her pronouns, but does not object to more masculine descriptors (for example, Bee affectionately greets her with "Hey, big guy" during the flashback). It's less that she has a male alter ego, and more that she is unconcerned with how people interpret her gender (Cass's gender expression matches my own, so I'm also partially speaking from personal experience here).

It's worth noting that during the games the commentators assume she is a man because of her size and approach to fighting while still referring to Bee as a woman, and often in public Cass is addressed with male pronouns (or "hey fella" etc.)– and while that may help keep her identity hidden, it's not necessary for a secret disguise (some women do compete in the games, after all). Cass loves to play in the gender playground and gets a kick out of people's perceptions– for those who don't know her (e.g. fans of the game) it's an indictment of their assumptions about gender, and for those who do (for example, Jaws), it can be a sign of mutual respect and acknowledgement of her fluidity.

It makes a lot of sense that she would enjoy flexibility when we consider the highly gendered expectations placed on her growing up*– now that she's away from home and dressing how she wants (often wearing a binder), she's free to thrive in and out of people's expectations.

I hope that makes sense! There's a little more about this in the second book (specifically about the way knights interact with each other outside of the ring) that I think helps illuminate some of this too.

Also: yes, the second book will be out in French either later this year or early next year! No exact dates yet, but the publisher (Bliss) will announce at some point soon.

*here's some fun bonus Cass trivia: she's the youngest of five, and all the boys in her family have names that mean "ruler" or "king"– Kingsley, Derek, Rory, and Elric. Expecting another boy, her parents picked out the name Caesar, but she juked 'em :^)

#cosmoknights #cassar gail

[ladyhindsight]

Hi! So I'm re-reading TMI these days and can't help but feel for you anytime I stumble upon something frustating or laugh when a limb is having a life of its own lol. I don't know much about editing or the quality of the writing in general because I'm not a native english speaker so reading in english kinda makes it better, if that makes sense (even tho I now notice things thanks to your blog, and let me tell you, I had the displeasure to read a small part of the translation in french and it is so much worse that I'm fine with not getting how shitty CC's writing truly is) but omg I want to facepalm so often… Particularly now that I'm almost done with CoFA and I can see so clearly the influence of TID in it. Like in one of the first three books, when Valentine killed the Silent Brothers to get the Soul Sword, everyone insist they were ALL dead (which was stupid) but now some Brothers were away at the time so no worry, Jem is well and alive! Or Luke and Magnus could always get into the NY institute, but Simon had to stay outside because he's a vampire but now there is a sanctuary they never thought about using before because it was "out of fashion" (sure Jane) and they suddenly remember it exists! Poor Simon, knowing they could have hang out with him there all along but wouldn't bother to just think about that big room standing in front of their eyes. I was also very frustrated with the fact that no one seems to care what Valentine was doing for the last seven years after giving Jace to the Lightwoods and before coming back in CoB (yes, we do kind of find out at some point that he was probably hiding in Hodge's cabin or farm or whatever but why no one ever WONDER at least to themselves where he was?). There is also, of course, all the BS with Malec in general plus the fact that it makes no sense anyway with The Red Scrolls of Magic, but this is too painful for me to even think about. Nothing makes sense, really, as if we all knew those books better than the person who wrote them, can you imagine? I could go on for hours but I won't, I just needed to rant for a second and I felt so sorry for you who go so much deeper into that hell hole for your wonderful blog that I love. So kudos, stay strong and I can't wait to read your next post! (and sorry if this makes no sense, as I said I'm french and we all know french people can't speak english).

Hi! Thank you for the love, it means a lot. 🥰😊 I am slowly working towards the next post.

When I go through Clare’s writing, more often than before I have to just stop and think whether some things in the text are worth pointing out, because at this point stuff just begins to repeat itself a lot. Like noted in the previous message, Clare’s writing has barely improved in the course of 15+ books. I’ve made a PDF file of City of Bones with bunch of footnotes that never really made it to the blog, but the content of those notes apply to the following installments as well because of that repetition of writing mistakes, weird or weak sentence structures, choice of words, story structure, plot etc. And sometimes my opinions are just made of weird noises and frustration that I can’t put into words. 😂

Clare adding these new elements to the Shadowhunter world really show how little thought went into it in the beginning of the series. I was originally so confused when I read CoFA for the first time ever because I truly thought Valentine had killed every Silent Brother there was previous to that, and why wouldn’t we think that? It is exactly how the writing presented the case. The first three books of The Mortal Instruments feel so disjointed from everything else that came afterwards, because the world started getting bigger after them but none of those new elements were present in them (obviously they couldn’t have been, but you know). Jem as a character did not exist before Tessa appeared at the end of City of Glass to herald a prequel series. Similarly how Jace probably wasn’t Herondale when City of Bones was written. His scar appeared first in CoA, and then it was relevant for Imogen to notice it. Not that it had been an essential part of his character before the plot demanded it.

Similarly this case with Simon and the Institute Sanctuaries. In the original TMI trilogy the vampires appeared through Projections. There wasn’t such facilities mentioned before that. Clare just added things as she went along. Similarly to this, the Shadow Markets and the Scholomance. Imagine how bigger the world had been if there was even a mention of these places in the first three books? Especially since everyone has been visiting the Shadow Markets, like, always if GotSM is anything to go by. But there is that absence because, again, none of these concept existed, and retroactively writing stories about how, for instance, Jace as a kid went to a Shadow Market does not bring that same magic to the original trilogy where such concept is unheard of.

In Born to Endless Night the Sanctuaries are rendered effectively useless when Magnus’ magic can give Lily an access to wander the halls of the Institute. Aside from other grievances with that story, Clare effectively broke the rules of her own world to make it easier for Lily to be present in the party instead of writing them having a party elsewhere where Lily as a vampire could safely attend, and without this rule-bending as a surplus.

Valentine’s whereabouts, like you said, well he just kept training Sebastian and that’s about it. Every character never really thought about it more or questioned why he waited seven more years to finally resurface. Most things were just taken by face value. The first three books especially were really half-cooked, if even that, when they were published.

#Anti CC #Anti Cassandra Clare #Series discussion #Reply

[dystopian-penguin]

thoughts on culture and social media that english-speakers might wanna read

THIS IS NOT A GUILT-TRIPPING POST IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. i am merely sharing a point of view for the sake of exchange, i promise! 😁😉

americans and even first world english speakers have absolutely no idea how it feels to be fully bilingual and engage in international social media

from time to time you will find yourself in an (actually somewhat serious) identity and cultural crisis that will legitimately start to affect your mental health without you even noticing. it creeps up on you and you dont realize just how uttely lost you truly are until something happens and you spend some hours heavily engaging into your own culture and language and then it just clicks. suddenly you feel lighter, your mind more at peace. and it sometimes it can go on for months, even years, without you realizing where that disconfort is coming from. feels like there is a mist surrounding you very soul but you have the hardest fucking time putting your finger on it.

now to the part it might anger some (arguably immature) people from tumblr:

i had some serious body dysmorphia (had surgery since then, thank god), and i consider myself somewhat NB. as in, some days i feel like the girliest diamond-simping disney-like princess and the others i am the grimmiest most charmingly roughish of victorian era urchins. most days are close to a middle ground, of course

im only sharing this tidbit to really drive home the point i am trying to make: feeling far removed and disconnected from your culture can be psychologically compared to being forced to present your body/gender in a way that makes you unconfortable for prolongued periods of time

in this post i will try to pinpoint and explain the actual core of the issue, where (i believe, from an university level of understanding of the subject) everything stems from.

again, i am not making this post to guilty trip anyone, for the love of god. to the contrary, i wish social media was still dominated by my culture (long live Orkut lol). it is comfortable. there is nothing wrong with being in your confort zone (with some small moderation), no matter what tumblr tries to tell you. the human race has been struggling for 30k+ years to improve comfort. hell, id love to have that privilege of cultural prevalence in social media, aint gonna be hypocritical about it

i just wish native english speakers, in special those from the USA, kept in mind our way of speaking, our sentence conatruction, even the choice of slang translation we use. none of that is truly 100% "unpoluted". a lot of times we are trying our hardest to get to a close aproximation of our native language "personality".

tumblr and especially twitter could be a little more patient with it. its is damn fucking hard to master the flick of the switch to another language, let alone needing to change your whole manner of speaking because someone, somewhere, think you might be offending someone else, somewhere else

english speakers are fortunate that their native language became the world's Lingua Franca in a way that was natural. not "forced" like french way back when, or mandarin most recently. english flows. english is easy. i freaking love english my dudes, i literally majored in english translation. but when you dont have the need to learn a second language, it becomes, THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, natural to assume some text on the internet is being written under the same cultural and socio-econonical optics as you were raised in. ESL has become so commonplace, even more so for the last 5~10 years, that its nearly impossible to tell what country that person might actually be from.

and therein lies the problem: assumption. different people do things in different ways. there are some that are better and healtier than others (including from, yes, "third world" countries) there are some that are boarding inhumane (including from, yes, "first world" countries). but the massive majority? its simply different. if it works for you and your family and your peers, then it works. simple as that.

but on social media you only have text. how many feuds have been sparked because of the lack of intonation in text? everyone and theirs grandma's parrot has a story of miscommunication when texting. but when you add in manner of speech and cultural traits to it, it becomes a complicated issue

and then we ESL speakers overcorrect. even subconsciously, we start to shape ourselves to the native-english culture (mostly american, for the obvious reason called "sheer numbers"). but its not our actual culture. dont get me wrong, the more you can incorporate different points of view in your life the better. fuck, god knows how badly we need this in the world right now. nothing wrong with implementing it in your daily life and even your own "personal culture" and ways. hell, just see my spotify to understand how much i love punk rock, an initially political/cultural movement that doesnt even apply to my history 😂

but as i said, we are somewhat forced to overcorrect. and THAT causes more anxiety and anguish than people can possibly imagine. youre ESL reading this and think its not that bad, it cant possibly affect you that much?

allow me to demonstrate:

i cannot possibly expect an american (you will understand why i singled you out in a sec) to understand why is it that brazilians bore no ill will towards germany after the 7x1 or why is it that this last world cup in specificthe fault was actually on the coach and what were his strategy errors, or why the fault was on the players in 2014, or even WHY the players bevahed so, etc etc etc etc. soccer football simply isnt your culture. i only know of Tom Brady's existence cause of Gisele. Michael Jordan? 98% Space Jam, 2% the Air Jordan murders way back when. I have only a vague idea who Babe Ruth is, and keeping score in baseball sounds legit worse than quantum physics.

i cant expect you to answer the diference between bossa nova and samba, samba and axé, axé and pagode, pagode and samba, samba and tropicalia, tropicalia and bossa nova. and which group of people founded what, and why, and if it was for protest what they were protesting against. i cant expect you to know why the first election against bolsonaro in 2028 was worse than sophie's choice for the massive majority of us. and why the second in 2022 was another matter entirely. i cant expect you to know what the word "caiçara" means (or even that it exists!) and howcome its a different ethnicity than the ones simply 70km away, and a whole other ethnicity with the same word if used in another state

then why do all of us ESL people need to fully and nearly college-level understand the insane intricacies of american politics? why am i expected to view the mere fucking concept of police as evil incarnated, through the eyes of a country that has basically zero training of their force? why do i need to think and behave according to an apartheid-influenced race theory in my daily life, in my own country, when im not even from those ethinicities? why do i need to see gender pay gap and patriachism the exact same way, if the foundation of families (and labor law, lol) in my culture is nearly the opposite?

i belive, like, 90% of the people reading this by now will have clicked on what im getting at.

because for good or for worse, english is here to stay. no, chinese wont take over as Lingua Franca, not even in the bussiness world, and i could quite literally write a monography on the subject as to why. no, like, i actually can, i have an university degree in it. so yes international media is in english. that boat has sailed, that horse has been shot Inês agora é morta

ESL speakers obviously know that. we had to adapt to it.

but how much before "adapting" becomes "submissive"? well, i dont know the precise answer but id wage around 6~7 bus stops ago

so all i ask if that native english speakers consider that as well. we adapted, so can you. we are speaking your language, yes. we are engaging in your culture as well along with it.

but its almost 2023. isnt it time to realize that the culture of speaking english might not be only yours anymore? 😉😝

we try to stay away from everything that is widly known as offensive, obviously. most people know where The Line TM stands for most english speaking cultures. i hardly see a quid pro quo in this, but as i stated before, i dont expect people from other cultures to understand the intricacies of mine. everyone is subject to commiting a faux pas, everyone here is human ffs.

the issue is that i see native english speakers being actively but gently corrected on an honest mistake, aaaaaand then doubling down on it under the argument "this is english speaking media". or worse, an ESL person also commiting an honest mistake but then being canceled for all eternity because it didnt fit the english cultural optics.

social media is for all. english now is, like it or not, for all. we ESL folks dont mean to offend. and more: lot of faux pas are not even offensive to us at all in translation. and theres some english expressions that sound wrong to our ears but we let it slide

i think its high time we all come together to a middle ground yes? we are willing to learn, we have been for quiiiiiite a while. but maybe, juuuust maybe, not every different way of speaking in english and point of view should be considered "problematic" if it comes from a diferent cultural optic, hmmmm?

as for the culture-privation anguish i started this with? well, if you spend so much time trying to pretend to change your very principles for the sake of not being unjustly attacked by internet strangers, it will no doubt cause anxiety (to put it fucking mildly).

do a "going back home" session. take an afternoon to actively engage in music and media from your country. no social media involved. im willing to bet with the craziness thats our world, whatever language you speak shit is utterly chaos there as well. meditate on the messages of the lyrics and the plots of the series/movies/books and everything else in it. no need to go on a full monastery-like deep dive, or even to do it super frequently. it aint court-mandated therapy, relax.

but you may have gotten much more lost on that path away from your roots than you first realized. and stopping to find your way back, even if for a couple of hours, will do your mental health so much good.

as for the english speakers, just try to keep in mind the point of view i have exposed 😉

no need to agree, no need to change. hell, truthfully no need to even keep in mind if you dont want to, i suppose. but not everyone shares you issues, strenghts, and optics. not everyone has the same life story, or even history.

and remember: at the end of the day we are all the same species, sharing the same planet. we have more in common than you think 😉

#jesus fuck how do you even tag this? #probably under: things that will get ignored cause of my pitiful amount of followers 😂 #if anyone has any tagging sugestion im all ears #my stuff #my writting #just so i can find later lol

[an-asuryampasya]

[more language-y navel gazing, yes i'm back on this nonsense, welp. not a rant about hindi for once though! but shoving it under a cut anyway because i remember my manners.]

…oh. I just realised something a teensy bit concerning. you know all those posts about top ten german words to use in English? Or just now, I saw a tumblr poll on best yiddish word used often in english. Posts talking about words from other languages being used in english, but not in the sense of english words of foreign origin.

They're great! Sometimes a sentiment is best expressed by a word english just doesn't have and I, for one, am ALL for using them.

Thing is, I also do that with my own languages (side note, is this the first time in a long while I've called hindi 'mine'? Heh. To be clear, I rant a lot about the way hindi is presumed to be ubiquitous, but I have no quarrel with the language itself). Except I feel the urge to self-censor when I'm using telugu or hindi in that way. Admittedly that's primarily when I'm in company that won't understand the hindi/telugu addition, and it only started as a habit once I left my hometown and suddenly became acutely aware of how often I use telugu when english doesn't have a convenient conjunction (and the people I was with would have no idea why a random "ante" slipped into my sentence). I wouldn't say it's unjustified, since of course the whole point is to communicate and make myself comprehensible, but mhmm, the thing is.

I wouldn't hesitate to use a french phrase in my texts if I were reasonably certain about what it meant, but I never type a telugu phrase that way. Something about foreign languages makes them a-ok to use, but languages from my own part of the world being used that way? Feel like corruptions at worst, a quirk of being incorrigibly Indian at best. (incorrigible not being a word I use here lightly)

I... don't like this! Just earlier today I was thinking half-toying with the idea of making my tumblr header "no mohamats" which is based on a Telugu word, but I also almost immediately disregarded the notion because it'd be seen by folks unfamiliar with the language almost exclusively (heck, even irl, literally none of my friends would get the reference, but that's beside the point). ah, but when I see folks using french or german freely on tumblr? I don't bat an eye, I go on my way without questioning their choice. It's just when I use my languages, that I hesitate. tbh I'm more likely to use a latin phrase than a telugu one. I think the only exception I've ever made is my url (a telugu word), and that's because a lot of urls anyway don't make sense at first glance and most people skip reading them.

It's not just that no one would get the meaning - I'd not be comfortable with using german or make vague fandom references if that were the case, and practically every choice I've made for this and one of my sideblogs is all references to stuff i'm certain no one's picked up on yet. it's that telugu and hindi will flag me as a person I don't want to be on the interwebs. Because I am a long, long way from unlearning painful notions about english vs telugu as languages.

I'm trying to get more comfortable with being telugu on the internet. Now I automatically brace myself for negative takes or preempt them by cringing and dismissing them myself, when I see anything to do with my culture on the interwebs - it's a learned behavior and I'm trying to stop that. Or my speaking and texting language choices are very different - I say "ayyo" pretty frequently irl, but I never type it unless I'm poking fun at myself. I don't need to do that, especially when I'm talking to people who ARE familiar with ayyo already.

I'm. Trying to have fewer mohamatams about being Telugu - and here goes my first attempt! :) (mohamatam is a telugu word meaning hesitation, but in a specific way. out of self-consciousness, awkwardness or shyness, sort of? As in, as a guest you might experience mohamatam/hesitate to impose on your host and insist on specific food, but it wouldn't be mohamatam if you hesitate to jump while bungee-jumping. It can probably be explained much better because it's actually a VERY useful word that sees a /lot/ of use, but also bleh, that's not the point of this post. In this case, just know that it's a word that nicely encapsulates a specific sentiment that english lacks the term for.)

I do hope I'm eventually more comfortable with being telugu outside of telugu spaces, but uh, no saying how long it'll take to get there, oof.

#placeholder tag

[obey-r-us]

Okay my turn >:) 7, 14, 17, 24, 27, 34, and 35 for the writing ask game?! -french fry 😇💖

LMAO GUESS WHO SAVED THIS AS A DRAFT AND DIDN'T FUCKING POST IT DSKLAFJSLDKFJL SORRY @frenchfrywrites 7. What is your deepest joy about writing? FINALLY GETTING WHAT'S IN MY BRAIN OUT IN THE WORLD. It is exhausting having all these ideas melting my energy or gathering dust so every letter is a personal win. Bonus if any of it makes sense/is enjoyed by those who view it. <3333 14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back? Sometimes but usually yes. Those who I share with tend to share my tastes or are at least curious about them so there's only a little bit of nervous energy but that's because I'm an only child and tend to dance in weird and dark topics. Not exactly cuz a few years ago some shitty roommates of mine threw away most of my belongings so I just hope all those books are in good homes now. I probably never will get those things back but I'm slowly learning to cope with such a major loss. 17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text. *crying sobbing* I have so many plz i am but a wee little cowboy plz have mercy *CRIES HARDER* 24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it? Tbh it happens either out of nowhere during a manic episode and I'm heavy breathing for several hours in dead silence smashing my keyboard or I piece together everything I can get my hands on like a crone tending to a quilt older than time and there is very little middle ground to that if I'm being honest. My RBF gets even more intense when typing/drawing so my partner can definitely tell when I'm in The Zone. 27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why? 34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go: I put the comma basically wherever I want because I think in run on sentences and shit so uh follow the rules, don't, idgaf I didn't become an English Teacher anyway so yolo 35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens? tBH I say nearly whatever. I get flack for being so visual but I'm autistic and view many things by surroundings and sensory stuff so *does a kickflip*

#asks #frenchfrywrites #ask game #long post #i AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE REPLY WAAAH #how do i put a read more again who knows lmaoooo

[briamichellewrites]

65

Flashback: Bria was hanging out with Taylor Swift and her mother, Andrea. They were invited over by Mike as a surprise for her. Her entire body lit up when they walked into the house. They both said hello and introduced themselves to her. Taylor hugged her. Hi, I’m Bria. She invited them into the living room, where Rascal and Misty were hanging out. They both noticed the two strange humans, so they went over to investigate. He called them over because he didn’t want them jumping on them.

Rascal jumped up on Bria’s lap. She introduced the two animals. Taylor loved cats, so she said hello. Hello, human! Since she had breakfast and a clean diaper, she was ready for the day. Andrea started the conversation by asking her about the house.

“I bought it with an ex-boyfriend back in the mid two thousands. Mike moved in with me after my accident to take care of me. The animals have claimed it as theirs.”

“How many animals do you have? Is it just these two”, Taylor asked.

“Yes. I had two older cats named Tiny and Garfield. I adopted both in the late nineties or early two thousands. They both died the year before from old age. Now we have Rascal and Misty.”

Why was her cat named Tiny? She was the smallest in the litter when she adopted her. Her breeders didn’t know if she was going to make it because she was so small. She was her miracle cat. Taylor didn’t have any cats yet, but she wanted to adopt them. Did her cat get along with her dog? Sometimes they were best friends and sometimes they annoyed each other. They laughed.

“I adopted Misty as a surprise for Mike because he was talking about getting a dog. My nurse and I went to the animal shelter together. He wanted a French bulldog. The people volunteering there had to help me because I didn’t know anything about dog breeds. She helps me get outside.”

“Can we ask you what your diagnosis is”, Taylor asked.

“Yes, I am very open about it and I don’t mind questions. I have a traumatic brain injury from a DUI car accident.”

She and Mike explained her injuries and various surgeries. Because of her brain injury, she had epilepsy and Lou Gehrig’s disease. She and Mike hired two nurses, who each worked twelve-hour shifts five days a week. Saturday and Sunday were just them. When he was working, they had her in-laws and friends to help out. They also came over to hang out with her or to take her on their errands.

It was a way of getting her out of the house. Taylor asked what Lou Gehrig’s disease was. It meant that her brain could not send signals to her muscles, so they were unable to function properly. It took them a year and several doctors before they got a diagnosis. How was she communicating with them? He had them come over, so he could show them. They both got up and he pointed out what she was doing and how she formed sentences using her eyes.

She could also take pictures, post them on Instagram, make and receive phone calls; and send and receive text messages. It was very helpful when he was on tour because they could communicate more easily. She was very fast and proficient at it. It even could switch between French and English. They were impressed! It was like an iPad. Yes, it was. They sat down again.

“One of the best things I can do with this is play music. Our friend, Brad helped me set up a playlist of songs that I like to listen to. I have a little bit of everything.”

“Can you play a song from one of Taylor’s albums”, Andrea asked.

Yes! She went to her Spotify and found the song, Tim McGraw. They laughed as they recognized it. When it was over, he jokingly asked her if she had the Zoomies now. Taylor asked what that was. He explained it was when she went around in circles through the main floor of the house. She did it over and over to burn off energy. It usually happened in the afternoons after lunch and before she took a nap. It was their favorite part of the day.

briamichelle: Day 7 – Wrocław, Poland

Bria felt at home in Poland, even though she had never been there before. She was a quarter Polish, so she wanted to learn about the culture and the people who lived there. Unfortunately, she didn’t speak the language. She imagined her mother and how excited she would be that she was there. Joe asked her about her mother since she had mentioned her a few times. Wasn’t she Polish? Yes, she was a Namibian-Polish from Krakow.

What’s Krakow? It was a city in southern Poland. During the Second World War, the Nazis used part of the city as a ghetto. She remembered learning about it in school. It was one of many ghettos during the war. Where was Namibia? It was a city in Southern Africa near the ocean. Her parents were working there as doctors when she was born.

She didn’t come to the United States until college. What she knew about her mother was little to nothing, because her father didn’t like talking about her. It was too difficult for him. That was why she wanted to do a DNA ancestry test to find out where she came from. What about her father? He was French? Yes, he was from Alsace, a cultural region bordering Germany and Switzerland. She had never been there, but she had seen pictures. It looked very beautiful.

She didn’t know if it was true or not, but she was allegedly part of the bloodline of Robert the Strong of France. That meant she was a distant relative of Prince Lorenz of Belgium. What did that mean for her? Nothing. Even if they were related, she had zero ties to the French or Belgian monarchy. She thought someone mentioned that to her once. Maybe it was her father.

She couldn’t remember. One day, she wanted to go to Belgium and see the palace. They were likely going there during their tour in the new year. She would have to go with them. They would welcome her back one hundred percent. During the time she spent with them, they came to find out more about her. Phoenix joined their conversation after coming over and sitting down. It was a quiet afternoon. The day before, they performed with Fall Out Boy as their opening act.

She had a lot of fun talking with them before and after the show. Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump also took pictures with her. She posted them on Instagram and tagged them. Did she know their music? Yes, she did. She had a handful of songs on her Spotify playlist.

“It’s the Mullet Brigade”, Phoenix joked.

“It’s nice to see you, too”, she joked.

They laughed. Where was Rob? She had no clue. He was around somewhere. The hotel suite wasn’t that big, so they would find him eventually. He heard his name, so he came up behind her quietly. Phoenix and Joe looked behind her.

She turned around confused and jumped up in surprise when she saw him standing behind her. Oh my god! They burst into laughter. He wrapped his arms around her as Mike, Chester and Brad came out to see what the commotion was. Joe told them that Rob scared Bria. They joined the laughter. After they calmed down, they made sure she was okay. Yeah, she was. I’m going to fucking kill you! He kissed her cheek and then told her he loved her. I love you too.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia

[waitinglistbooks]

The Origins of Political Order, From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution

For a few years now, I’ve been leaning on reading more about Sociology, Politics, History of Nations and, eventually, the name of Francis Fukuyama came up. Fukuyama is an American writer and political theorist. He studied at the Cornell University and Political Sciences at Harvard. He is currently a fellow at the Stanford University. Fukuyama has also worked for the U.S. Department of State, having specialized in Middle East affairs, and, later, to deal with European Political and Military affairs. In short, he has an enviable curriculum and a lot of experience in the field of politics.

When I was listening to a podcast I caught his name, and put him on my “books to read” waiting list, and was only expecting to actually get to it in a while. However, the Universe had other plans and in one of my many visits to bookshops, I found one of his books just asking me to take it. And so, I did. “The Origins of Political Order” was the book. It’s a fairly dated book (from 2012), and it’s the first volume of a set of 2 (the second one being “Political Order and Political Decay”).  I couldn’t wait, and started reading it straight away – my other ongoing books were not happy…

It took me awhile to get through it because it’s such a dense book. Dense in the sense that every sentence is pertinent information. I usually underline passages, expressions, sentences in books, but on this one I just couldn’t. Everything is relevant and thought provoking.

In this first volume, Fukuyama goes through the origins of human relations and society since the primitive times up to the eve of the French Revolution. Not being his own view and systematization of history, he does it in a very neat way, starting with China, then going to India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and finally Europe, to explain how institutions are built and how the different social groups interact and make or destroy social organizations. I learned a lot with this book, as my base education is medical science, so I never got to go so thoroughly into history, Rule of Law, Social Movements, the Parliament, etc. It was so interesting to have a view on how the rule of law came about, how the different societies organized themselves, and how government and society interact with each other and how they, in Fukuyama’s point of view, can create strong or weak absolutists states, or democracies. I was also enlightened with regards on how the geography influences the culture and the way the government can control, or not control its people, and consequently, build states. Very, very interesting, and even if only a point of view on the facts, still food for thought.

I found the writing of Fukuyama very easy to read. Yes, this is textbook level, and yes, I am not that person that gets tired when reading thick, dense texts, but I would still think that, for the interested mind, this a very good recommendation.

I cannot go into specifics as the context is important, and I wouldn’t be able to, even if I wanted to but, if you want to learn more on how states, and political institutions come about, and to have a wider point of view on how things came to be, this is the ideal book to start.

“Samuel Huntington has suggested if the rallying cry of the English Parliament was “no taxation without representation”, today’s slogan ought to be “no representation without taxation”, since it is the latter that best incentivizes political participation.”

“The Origins of Political Order, From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution” written by Francis Fukuyama, Profile Books Ltd, UK, 2012 ISBN: 9781846682575

#books #literature #francis fukuyama #the origins of political order

[aobawilliams]

What's the FMA fic? 👀

[WIP Folder asks]

It's a really, really old one (like, uh, 2018, so maybe no that old but still old enough - old enough it's written in french, actually) I got like, 3 time travel WIP for FMA and it's one of those :')

It was probably inspired by another FMA fic that I can't remember the name tbh.

Basically, the promised day goes wrong, Hohenheim had an emergency circle just in case that can send someone who has seen the Gate, back to the first time they've seen it. The reason he hasn't used it is very much because he is human and couldn't bear it himself (sure he could defeat the Dwarf so much earlier, but he is tired), Mustang can't because it's not early enough to change anything, which leaves Ed (or Izumi) - but I went with Ed because it's funnier.

The price he pays is that he cannot communicate (in any way) about the future/why he is doing certain things. So he just goes around solving stuff without explaining anything to anyone.

It's half crack and half very heavy, one day I'll revisit it and actually plan it more.

Have so very few writing I got in english because I'm too lazy to translate anything.

It surprise Hawkeye how good he already is to all the military official stuff. Even if he never used that knowledge, except on a few exceptional events, he had to learn it because it is part of being in the military, an active State Alchemist. She asks him, if he learnt from someone else before. He invent some bogus story, of being a genius, of having seen it before and remembered, of a game played between him and his brother.

He wish he could tell her, you already taught me all I need to know, and everything you told me helped me more than you could ever believe.

(She probably knows he's lying, but she just shrug it off and think, if he doesn't wish to tell me, I am no one to force the truth from him. It doesn’t stop her from reporting it to Mustang, on her report on how Edward is adapting to the military.) --

Ed sighed. « He's not a bad man. He's just a shitty father, thought he was a monster and that he had to leave the house so he could save the world. ��

(Actually have some in french)

Quand le lieutenant-colonel Roy Mustang reçut l’information que deux alchimistes de talents, de 30 et 31 ans, vivaient à Resembool, il ne s’attendait pas à grand-chose. Probablement deux hommes qui utilisent l’alchimie pour réparer et aider dans le village, des transmutations basiques qui apparaissent comme exceptionnelles pour ceux qui n’y connaissent pas grand-chose, et comme d’ordinaire dans les villages des campagnes, ils détestent l’armée.

Quand on lui dit que les frères Elrics ont actuellement 10 et 11 ans, il est surpris. Après tout, pour que des enfants aussi jeunes arrivent à faire parler d’eux au point que l’armée s’intéresse, il y a peut-être matière à travailler (et, si il est celui capable de recruter deux jeunes talents, cela ne peut qu’être bon pour son dossier, et un pas de plus vers son but.)

Quand il arrive à leur domicile, vide et déserté, et qu’il y voit le cercle de transmutation et tout ce sang, il est furieux. Furieux qu’ils aient tenté de briser l’interdit, furieux que quelqu’un les as laissé faire, que personne ne les as empêché. Mais quand il arrive chez les Rockbells, il est plus que surpris par ce qu’il y voit. Un gamin, bras droit et jambe gauche absents, bandés de manière clairement récente, probablement un des freres Elrics supply his mind, assis dehors et entourés de livres. A ses côtés, une armure géante qui monte la garde.

Il le fixe, choqué. Hawkeye, toujours fidèle, ne dit rien à ses côtés. Sous le poids de son regard, l’enfant lève la tête et le regarde droit dans les yeux. Roy Mustang ne savait vraiment pas à quoi s’attendre en recevant l’information concernant les alchimistes prodiges de Resembool, mais il ne s’attendait clairement pas à trouver un gamin estropié avec une telle fougue dans le regard. Il ne s’y attendait pas, mais il sut, à cet instant, qu’il avait bien fait de se déplacer.

#cro answers #HC #WIP Folder Asks #wow I can actually see how my writing got polished between then and now #yes there is an english sentence in the french text no I am now going to translate it #sometimes I write

[donald4spiderman]

i’m not sure if ur still writing for tasm!peter parker x fem! reader but i just love the idea of peter being rlly nervous around reader bc he has a crush on her and so he asks her to tutor him just to spend time with her (but he rlly doesn’t need the help) and then she figures out he never needed the help and then boom confession from him…PLS this was so long ty for listening

THE UNTRUTHFUL ACADEMIC

peter doesn’t need any help in world history. but, you don’t need to know that.

tasm!peter x fem!reader

tw: a small white lie

masterlist

“A TUTOR...” YOU SIGH, INCREDULITY LACED THROUGH EVERY SYLLABLE.

“Yes!” Peter exclaims, disrupting your skepticism. “World history. I need help. Lots.”

You study the awkward boy in front of you who shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Your brows knit together in confusion. “Peter, aren’t you like at the top of our class? I’m finding it hard to believe you need tutoring in anything, let alone from me”

“I-I am near the top—something like that. But I’m only good at math and science stuff,” He reasons, “Social studies, not so much.” He hopes you can’t see right through him.

See, Peter’s had a crush on you since the beginning of freshman year. You were the brilliant girl that sat next to him in his English class, and he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. The teacher paired the two of you together constantly, and you found yourselves becoming casual friends.

Peter’s had a few classes with you since then. But recently, his nerves have been getting the best of him. The more time he spends with you, the more he likes you, and the more nervous he becomes. The unfortunate cycle repeats until he can barely work up the nerve to greet you in the hallway.

So, he’s resorted to a plan based upon a very tiny, super harmless lie. You tutor other students one-on-one in the library after school every week, and Peter figured if he was one of them, he’d spend more time with you and eventually confess his feelings. Only problem is he doesn’t need tutoring. He’s a genius. Even before all the spider-powers, you would be hard pressed to find him struggling over any subject.

Peter decided to play dumb in world history; act like he’s suddenly lost in the class and desperately needs guidance. After all, how could you say no to someone begging for help?

“Alright...” You sigh in acceptance, brushing your hair away from your face. “I suppose even geniuses have their faults. Does every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 work for you?”

Peter nods with a grin, “Absolutely.”

-

A WEEK LATER

Peter completes the work sheet you printed out slowly—oddly slow. Even an average student would’ve finished by now, but Peter seems to be taking his sweet time going through the questions.

“Is everything alright?” You ask from across the table.

He nods, “Just trying to finish my work.”

You narrow your gaze, “Alright. If you have any questions, let me know. We’ll go over the answers once your finished.”

It takes him another 20 minutes to fill in the remaining bubbles. Either Peter’s actually...stupid, or something else is going on.

He hangs off your every word as you explain the answers about French imperialism in Africa and travel patterns on the Silk Road. His chin rests in his palm and he hums along with enthusiasm.

The hour and a half goes by very quickly. Peter doesn’t even care about getting home for dinner. Maybe he could stretch the session a little longer...

“Okay. Well, you did good?” What does good even mean for Peter? “So, I guess I’ll see you this Thursday for tutoring also. Text me if you have any questions.”

“Thanks, (Y/N).” Peter beams as he swings his bag onto his shoulder. “Can’t wait for Thrusday.” He skips off before you can even zip your bag.

What are you hiding Peter Parker?

-

TWO WEEKS LATER

Okay. Something is definitely going on with Peter.

It should not take a competent 17 year old upwards of 18 minutes to answer a three sentence question about the differences between South and East Asia. Especially when the answers are provided in the paragraph above.

Peter, in his mind, was not one bit concerned that he was overselling his facade. Even when he would spend three minutes staring blankly at the worksheet you assigned, he wasn’t worried you’d find his behavior abnormal.

You startled him by snatching the paper from in front of him. He attempts to grab it, but you have it just out of reach. So much for his special reflexes.

Your eyes scan what few words he has written down, rolling your eyes at the scribbled, fifth-grade level sentences.

“East Asia is China. South Asia is India, and so forth.” He smiles sheepishly as you read his answers aloud. “Peter, what the actual fuck is this?”

“Well, the question was: what are the difference between East and South A—“

“No.” You deadpan, slapping the paper down onto the table. “Are you trying to waste my time?”

He raises an eyebrow, “Is this how your supposed to talk to you tutorees?” He feels the foundation of his lie starting to crumble, yet he’s still confident enough to give you attitude.

You shake your head in frustration, “Maybe if you actually needed tutoring I would have an ounce of patience for your antics! But you don’t even need help with world history! I know it!”

“Just because you don’t see me struggle, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” Peter rationalizes, hands raises defensively.

He swears he can see smoke leaving your ears.“No, no. I’m not stupid or oblivious, Peter. At first, I thought maybe you wanted a little extra feedback on some ideas, or that you were struggling on grasping a specific concept. But the work your producing is the worst I’ve ever seen. I know you’re trying to look dumb on purpose!”

“It’s actually ‘purposefully’...”

You slam your fist down and his eyes snap wide open. “See! You’re not stupid! So why are you wasting my time by pretending like you are?”

Peter sighs, slumping his shoulders in defeat. “It’s complicated.”

You wag your finger in his face, “No. You owe it to me to explain why you took time away from other students who actually need my help. So spill it, Parker.”

“I like you...?” It comes out as a question, but he’s certain about it. “A-and I didn’t know how to approach you outside of class and ask to hang out. I figured if I pretended to need help in a class that you would tutor me; that way I could formulate a better plan to actually ask you out while still getting to know you better.”

Pete chews his lower lip anxiously. That is clearly not the answer you were expecting. You pace back and forth around the table with crossed arms. “I would’ve said yes if you asked me out two weeks ago,” Peter smiles with surprise, “But your plan to ask me out makes you sound like a total idiot.”

“I am! See! I wasn’t faking it, technically.” He chuckles nervously. “Wait. You would’ve said yes?”

“Duh, you idiot.” There it is again. “I actually thought you were kind of cute and sweet before all of this—even now, I still think you are—even though I shouldn’t!”

“So...is that a yes? Will you go on a date with me?”

You shrug, “It’s a maybe.”

“I promise I will never lie to you or waste your time ever again.” He crosses his hand over his heart. “You have my word.”

“Fine.” You huff. “But this date better be fucking amazing. And I’m not paying for jack-shit.”

Peter grins, the corners of his mouth stretching nearly to his ears. “O-okay. Anything for you.”

“Damn right.”

#peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fanfic #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x reader #tasm!peter parker #tasm!spiderman x you #spiderman #the amazing spider man #oneshot #andrew garfield x you #andrew garfield #andrew garfield fanfcition #marvel #fluff

[rigelmejo]

Audio Immersion Loop

I’ve read this suggestion by Nukemarine before, and I think its quite a good idea - especially for improving listening skills and reinforcing what you know into a more immediate-understanding. https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/886lfg/does_your_japanese_listening_ability_lag_behind/

The core idea is: a mix of ‘audio seeds’ (audio you’ve studied before and therefore understood before) and ‘other’ audio (ideally things you’ve watch/heard with english subs or directly in your target language before - so your mind ‘likes’ the material). He suggests 30% audio seeds and 70% other, though any combo may be useful and he’s not sure if another % split would be more effective.

The idea is your mind understood the ‘audio seeds’ before in study, so as you listen to it regularly without pause your mind practices understanding it quicker and without concentrating as much, then over time you hear words/phrases/sentences similar in the ‘other’ audio material and your brain latches on and starts trying to comprehend them too and practices. 

I’ve very roughly followed this article’s advice before, and it started helping. So I’d like to make a proper list of what I could use for a full on Audio Immersion Loop that meets all these needs:

Japanese:

Audio Seeds: - Core 2k Pimsleur (audio directly from Nukemarine’s LLJ decks and because of that it should be mostly things I’ve studied before, or you could study using the Nukemarine LLJ Memrise Courses): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8cWM0WNU3s4eFdSMzk5Vm9HR1E?resourcekey=0-KVCnBQh3SJxhn2oCUC-SiA - JapaneseAudiolessons.com (not ‘pure’ audio seeds idea since this includes english, but would count as comprehensible audio). Link for meL https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qoJ7B002ZEgyDvCnGyFXUS1u8S_qgoG2 , General link for you: https://www.japaneseaudiolessons.com/ - Clozemaster Radio Mode for Japanese - Well suited for this, since you can have it play audio of sentences you already studied!

Other Audio: - Lets plays of any game you have familiarity with/like - for me that’d be Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy X, Ratchet and Clank, etc. Also any ‘video game movie’ since it goes directly through parts you know. - Condensed audio of FFX (perfectly suited for this): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M5jdUQCM7O12r1X8np5y4ofkzBKMSdJo - Condensed audio of Death Note: https://www.paliss.com/episode/death-note-1615919536511x465432008057248060 - anything from this site if you’ve seen the anime: https://www.paliss.com/ - general condensed audio files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EMBr5yskSiBTZ-LUQtMY-r4AihRIJczJ

What I’d do: listen to Clozemaster Radio Mode Japanese, and FFX condensed audio.

Chinese:

Audio Seeds: - Chinese Spoonfed Audio (not ‘pure’ audio seeds because there’s english, but when I played this in even just the background regularly I saw listening skill improvements): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MCKgOxzW9cd1u9cWjzGwWrpxnL5pDz0w - Clozemaster Radio Mode for Chinese - again, well suited for this, as you have the option to play only sentence audio you have already studied. 

Other Audio: - Guardian audiobook! by Avenuex: https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=791802378&order=2&_hash=programlist&limit=100&offset=0 - Sherlock audiobook: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVyDH2ns1F757P-m8MHckuIFqWapl6y-1 - Guardian audiobook by wheat (I really like their voice): https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=794964371 - Silent Reading audiobook (note this is the same version as ximayala so if you have that then just search ximalaya this version has some sentences/paragraphs skipped): http://www.6ting.cn/books/59641.html - Silent Reading audiobook unabridged (UPDATE I am listening through this one while following the webnovel and YES this version actually matches the text): part 1 - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1b5411N7aa?share_source=copy_web part 2 - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1SX4y1G7z7?share_source=copy_web part 3 - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tU4y1p74y part 4 - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cy4y1t7cC?share_source=copy_web - Silent reading (on music.123 by 景喵- , I tend to prefer this site because you can still listen to it in a mobile web browser with it minimized)  https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=349361634&order=1&_hash=programlist&limit=100&offset=100  - Silent reading (on music.123 by  栗煜子)  https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=792725710&order=1&_hash=programlist&limit=100&offset=100 - Guardian condensed audio (my link, will not work for others, u can ask for a copy if you’d like I just basically ran the episodes and subs through subsrs, mainly to make condensed audio): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11J2qADG9rHSK_45rKpvVIpzXn8YYWhA_ - Silent Reading audio drama: https://youtu.be/DsdmeQBMD_M - Word of Honor audio drama: https://m.missevan.com/sound/2853120 - LiuLi audiobook: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH_aGSaKXFeHSofRd4LF1Hl8fpCSREVBW - HP audiobooks: https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=526222636&order=2&_hash=programlist - general condensed audio link for chinese if anyone would like (it has The Untamed): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LtZEKe9ItVg-H5q-G01YITLyfrWpOZR-

What I’d do: listen to Chinese Spoonfed Audio or Clozemaster Radio mode Chinese (whatever I could get myself to), then other percentage split between any audiobooks I’d want to listen to Guardian/Silent Reading/Sherlock.

French:

Audio Seeds: - Francais Par Le Methode Nature (literally made to be comprehensible, even if its brand new then Still just like chinese spoonfed audio files, it should be fine to just play repeatedly until you pick stuff up): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf8XN5kNFkhdIS7NMcdUdxibD1UyzNFTP - Gigafrench audio files (specifically if you have studied the related lessons already): http://gigafrench.com/construction/ - Clozemaster Radio Mode for French (however I’m not a big fan of my phone’s french voice)

Other Audio: - Dracula in french: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hdBpzGpYY - Frankenstein in french: https://youtu.be/8AP02iALr5A - Carmilla in french: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpOWTYUar6NK8Qn7niKNw7Vp0z5YE5t7Z - Buffy francias: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x42mdjh - Merlin francais: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2crj9t

What I’d do: listen to Francais Par Le Methode Nature on repeat, spend other portion of time going through Dracula audiobook tbh (unless anyone knows an audiobook I’d enjoy more that’s easy to find). 

---

As for me specifically, realistically what I plan to do for a while:

Listen to Clozemaster radio mode Japanese and Chinese more often in down time (make the most out of the fact I have the radio mode option lol)

Listen to more chinese audiobooks, in the background, any time there’s nothing playing otherwise. (Since I really could LISTEN more often, its super easy to do during work I just don’t do it).

Actual other materials in japanese and french I probably won’t get to for a while. But if and when I do, above is a good plan for ways to include more listening practice.

---

Overall, my main July (to maybe mid-August) study plan right now:

Listening to chinese audiobooks (so more listening in general)

Listening-Reading Method Guardian or Silent Reading (or honestly anything), just doing it when I feel like it or can. (so more listening and reading in general, along with getting through more of Guardian). This activity eats up the most study time.

Reading more chinese chapters (so more reading in general, I want to up the amount I’ve read)

Trying to use Clozemaster (Listening Mode and/or Radio mode) for Japanese more. (and chinese optionally, if I want) So more basic vocab/grammar for japanese. *italic is lower priority

Lower priority, but I’m also doing these:

Reading through japanese grammar guides (specifically finishing reading Sabuki https://sakubi.neocities.org/, and my Japanese in 30 Hours book). So enough of a grammar base to read more. This should take like 4 hours max to finish if I just sit down and do it. 

Small amounts of japanese immersion (mainly reading) - right now its been playing KH2 in japanese, and reading Guardian’s japanese translation.

Translating Guardian print novel into english (so mainly reading skills, translation practice). This is much slower going than reading, so I probably won’t have much time for this project until I’m finished reading it regularly. 

#resources #audio immersion loop #audio #japanese resources #chinese resources #french resources #rec list #audiobooks #condensed audio #july #july progress #study plan #july study plan #july goals

[hilichurlrights]

Who the hell is Xiaogong: “Waifu Languages” for the Westerners in the back

Now that Yomiya/Xiaogong has been officially announced, I can talk about her name on a blog that has my UID all over it without getting banned, woohoo! Source: I am a fluent Chinese speaker, semi-fluent in Japanese, and have studied some limited Korean. English is not my first language, please be kind about errors.

You may know the upcoming pyro archer character as Yomiya, or maybe you’ve seen it written as Yoimiya instead. You may (but probably did not) also see her name written as Xiaogong. In both Japanese and Chinese, her name is written 宵宮. Why, then, does it have such very different English transliterations?

Well, speedrunning thousands of years of history, Japanese was a spoken language long before it was ever written. Around the 5th century CE, Chinese had a fairly straightforward (this is a joke for the people who learned Chinese as a second language in the audience) written language that matched its spoken language. This is the century when Japanese began to be written down using Chinese characters, a form of proto-kanji. By the 8th or 9th century CE, Japanese was being written down much more frequently, and it began to take on a life of its own, evolving into its own written language.

Here’s where I have to also speedrun the entire Japanese language. Japanese is divided into three “systems”: hiragana, the very simple and cute curved characters that only appear in Japanese; katakana, simplified versions of Chinese characters that only appear in Japanese; and kanji, unmodified Chinese characters that appear in both languages. Chinese expresses tone by having four distinct tones. Each character is pronounced one way and one way only, and the same word in each tone may have a different meaning. Japanese expresses tone by intonation, like how you can tell in English by listening to intonation if something is a statement or a question. That’s why Japanese has extra characters: Chinese doesn’t have conjugation or declension.

It’s easy to tell Japanese and Chinese apart if you can or cannot find hiragana and katakana, which are unique to Japanese, or if you’re listening to either language being spoken. They sound very different spoken aloud, because borrowing someone’s written characters might mean the same thing, but it doesn’t sound the same way, because you already have a spoken language, you just needed a written one. For example, pyro archer’s name: 宵宮. No matter how you read it, 宵 means “early night hours” or “evening” and 宮 means “palace”. Those characters are kanji in Japanese, and you would read them aloud “yoi” and “miya”, or together, “Yomiya”. In Chinese, they’re just characters, and they read “xiao” and “gōng”, or “Xiaogong”.

Now, I can hear in the distance someone saying, “But 坟墓 (literally “grave grave”, or Graves, me), if 宵宮 is from Inazuma, which is based on Japan, making her Japanese, isn’t the Japanese pronunciation the correct one?”

Well, yes. If you don’t speak Chinese. Possibly also if you do speak Chinese. Most likely if you’re voicing a character in the Chinese dub of Genshin Impact. But it’s less a matter of one way being correct and the other being incorrect, and more a matter of one way being the way most people say it. If a French girl introduced herself as Capucine, you’d call her Capucine, not “hooded monk”, even though that’s what that name means. But if you’re reading a letter from your French friend Capucine and she tells you about her home’s remodeled foyer, she’s calling it a “foy-ay” and you’re calling it a “foy-er”. It means the same thing, but you’re going to read it in your first language with that word, and she’s going to read it in her first language with that word.

It’s the same with characters from Inazuma. I learned Chinese first, then learned some Japanese much later, so when I see Chinese characters, I assume I’m reading Chinese. Someone who’s more familiar with Japanese would probably do the reverse. I read 宵宮, 枫原万叶, 神里绫华, and 早柚, which are Yomiya, Kaedehara Kazuha, Kamisato Ayaka, and Sayu respectively, and hear Xiaogong, Fengyuan Wanye, Shenli Linghua, and Zaoyou.

I’ve neglected to mention Korean, third of the waifu languages trinity, so coined by anime simps. Korean script looks kind of similar to Chinese or Kanji. Take Kazuha’s name, since it’s longer, and longer text samples are better for patterns. In Japanese, it’s 楓原万葉, and in Korean, it’s 카에데하라 카즈하. Korean script uses more simple characters to write out one complex character. Do you see how all those Korean characters look like individual pieces of the four Japanese characters? In Korean, you’d read those four names like you would in Japanese, if you had a moderate Korean accent. Some sounds are different -- Kaedehara Kazuha becomes Kaedehara Kajeuha, but the characters read the same aloud as the Japanese versions.

This is all to say: I hope you enjoyed an unprompted linguistics lecture, and if you see me calling someone from Inazuma by their Chinese name, I’m right, and you ain’t see nothing.

[English vocab:

“transliteration” = an original writing in one script that has been written phonetically (as it is pronounced) in a different script

“intonation” = the way a word or sentence is emphasized audially to communicate different tones and moods

“conjugation” = verbs being changed from the same infinitive to express different tenses and subjects who are doing the verb

“declension” = nouns being changed from the same simple form to express different numbers, genders, etc.

“Capucine” = a French girls’ name gaining some recent popularity, likely because of the popular French model and actress Capucine active between 1948 and 1990, known for her roles in Pink Panther and What’s New Pussycat?]

#genshin impact #genshin #yomiya #yoimiya #genshin yoimiya #genshin impact yoimiya #kazuha #kaedehara kazuha #genshin kazuha #genshin impact kazuha #kamisato ayaka #ayaka #genshin ayaka #genshin impact ayaka #sayu #genshin sayu #genshin impact sayu #inazuma #genshin inazuma #genshin impact inazuma #genshin 1.7 #genshin impact 1.7 #long post #graves rambles about nerd shit #@ westerners I'm not making fun of u this time it's ok #please enjoy a complimentary insult-free lesson #but if you're worried I'm being held hostage to be nice to you #you're pronouncing the names wrong in every language lmao

[hanawrites404]

One Dance

Game : The Arcana

Pairing : some slight hints of various pairings

Characters : Asra Alnazar, Nadia Satrinava, Julian Devorak, Portia Devorak, Muriel, Lucio Morgasson, Wynne Toprak, Lyra Slaquer, Sèbastien Slaquer, Raymond Slaquer (the Slaquers belong to @the-soupiest-artist) and Maura Hickey (who belongs to @puzzle-piece-angel)

Warnings : None

Timeline : Modern-Dance AU

This story is based of this song :

And this story is an introduction to the Vesuvia Dance Company and its members, so come along and let's see what does it have in store ✨✨

3rd person POV

"Tch. Boring......."

The wind whooshed against her as she tucks her flowing strands of hair behind her ear. She was leaning against the railings of her balcony, her hands resting on the cold metal as she examined her painted black nails.

To her, black was always the perfect colour. And she nearly never altered it to any other shade. It would be too tedious again.

The woman crossed her legs as she drank her Limoncello from the rim of her glass, the bubbles of the alcohol fizzed inside. Her throat bobbed with every sip and jingled the translucent crystal attached to her dark choker. The liquor quenched her dry throat, pricking it with its gas bubbles and bitter taste as she sighed the cold air.

The sparkling alcohol matched with her eyes as they stared upon the heads of the people walking past her apartment from the balcony. The cars driving away looked like playthings to her, and the trees swaying against the soft gust seemed like shrubs. Nothing was of interest to her outside as she continued to drink her beverage and blink away the yawn from her eyes.

She thought of going to bed again since she had nothing to do either inside or outside, but then a simple phone call from her friend changed all her plans.

"What is it Asra?" She answered, not a good afternoon, not even a hi. She wasn't in a mood for this.

"Heya Wynne! How are you doing first of all??" The person from the other side of the phone didn't seem unfazed by her disinterest because of his experienced friendship with the woman. She sighed and replied, admiring her nails again. "Nothing much, just passing my precious time as always" she chuckled at the last phrase. "What about you? What's the occasion for calling me?"

"Well, I missed you dearly-"

Wynne instinctively made an expression which spoke out 'Oh really?'

"And I have something to propose to you"

The girl blinked from curiosity and pulled away from the railings, walking inside her penthouse, still holding the glass of Limoncello and her phone near her ear as she told him to continue.

"So! You and I both know how much you love to dance right? You have also given performances at your workplace and you just love to lose yourself to the club music. You are a very awesome dancer, Wynne. And you don't mind showcasing your moves to everyone"

"Yeah, so what?" Wynne rubbed her temples, Asra was sure taking his sweet time and her forbearance.

"Well, I have sort of an offer for you. Why don't you meet me at the address I'm gonna text you and I'll spill everything when you arrive"

"Wait what?!" Wynne places her hand on her coffee table, her voice of disbelief and bafflement. "You got to be fucking kidding me Asra. Please tell me what is it and don't you dare cut off like this"

"Sorry Wynne, but I am busy. I promise I'll tell you everything there. Goodbye!"

"Asra! ASRA!!!" but she was too late.

"UGH, fucking bitch....." Wynne snarled as she clutched her phone tight in her palm. The device then vibrated in her hand and she rolled her eyes, opening her phone to find that Asra had sent her the destination in their chat. It was an address that was unfamiliar to Wynne, and thanks to the wonder which had already accumulated in her mind, she growled, and finally decided to reach the place.

Wynne swallowed the last sip of her drink and looked down at her clothes. Assuming that Asra was calling her to a public place, she decided to change from her casuals to a sleeved black crop top and matching palazzos and chunky heels. She combs her blue hair and applies her dark lipstick before grabbing the keys of her old red Cadillac, and she descended the stairs after locking her house.

"Asra, this better not be a prank or I will slap you to grave" she murmured grimly as she started the engine of her car and drove to the address. With a bit of traffic and breakers in between, it took her somewhat half an hour to reach an unknown college building. Now, why would Asra call her here? Was it perhaps for a college reunion? Then why was he talking about dancing? She had so many questions, and Asra owes all the answers to her after leaving her hanging on the phone like that.

"Winnie!! Over here!!" The woman turned her head to the call to find her best friend trotting while waving towards her. It didn't take her long to notice the tie-dyed rainbow shirt and glitter pants with sparkle sketchers, as Wynne just nodded and waited for Asra to finally stop by her car so she could give an earful to him for leaving her edged at the cliff. But calming her urge to denounce him, she patiently asked.

"Alright, I'm here. Now what? Why did you call me near a college?"

"A college?" Asra snorted and burst into a laugh. This made Wynne even more confused and annoyed as she snarled silently and eyed him, unamused. By phoning her at an unknown place when she was in a particularly bad mood only to laugh at her, she had set up her mind to drive away right in front of him and crush him with her car. But then, he luckily spoke on time before she could act her frivolous murder.

"Boo, this is not a college. It may look like one, but it's not. Trust me" Asra winked at her. Wynne, still being unamused, leaned her forehead against her fingers as she replied lethargically.

"Well, what is it then? Care to explain after calling me here without any proper explanation?" She already wanted to leave honestly. And can't she just sleep?

"Of course. If you would follow me, Milady" Asra being the gentleman offered his hand out to her though he was aware of Wynne's already increasing irritation. He stayed patient because he didn't want to reveal the surprise yet to her. The vexed girl grunted again and got off her car, placing her fair hand over his tanned one. Asra gently squeezed her hand in his with a warm smile on his face. That seemed to lower her irritation as she squeezed his hand back. Asra with a small blush spreading across his golden cheeks led her near to the campus, and Wynne followed him gradually.

Soon both of them were near the polished mahogany doors after passing the lobby inside. And before he could enter, Asra checked on his friend with another appreciative smile. Wynne raised her eyebrow. To her, Asra looked very gladder than usual. Though he was known to be a happy guy, he looked....... exceptionally optimistic today. Was today someone's birthday? Was today her birthday? She had no idea what the hell was going on and what the hell was wrong with Asra.

"What's the matter?" She asked. She sounded calm, but inside she was bubbling with novelty that what exactly he had in mind.

"This is not a college, Wynne" Asra repeated what he said before.

"Yeah, so what? Please don't pull another suspense now" the woman placed her hand on her lip. She loved the suspense, but too much of it makes her feel lazy.

Heh, as if she wasn't feeling lethargic already.

Asra chortled and patted her head, and he finally pushed open the huge doors to uncover something imperial, stupendous and incredible enough to leave Wynne's mouth gaping and her eyes caught mesmerized.

Inside the so-assumed as college, was a tremendous majestic dance theatre of what looked like belonging to a prosperous french period. It glittered with gold and red, as a satin rose sprinkled with dewdrops glimmering of sunshine. The walls were delicately painted with a royal maroon gloss and regal purple imprints of what left an impression of lavender flower. Even the hall gave off the scent of apricot and apple orchards. The hefty velvet curtains hemmed the rectangle stage elegantly, the spotlights modern, and the footing was simply immaculate.

"Asra......This is-"

"Alluring? Captivating? Hypnotising??? Is there any other English word I am missing??"

"Well, I would say that yeah. But...this place is like a fantasy!!" Wynne exclaimed as she idolised the beautifully festooned and pleasingly symmetrical ceiling. "I know right? Told you so. I'm glad you liked it. It's one of my favourite places to stay at" Asra joined her as she entered in, the click of her heels grating into the carpets of the theatre.

"Yeah......it's like this has come straight from the golden era of art. Like in one of my school history books! I...I never would have guessed that it would even more wonderful in real life. I thought it was more of a vision of romantic people which were just left as dreams" Wynne skimmed the sides as she examined the details closely, thinking internally about how much work must have gone into creating such a painting over such a vast canvas.

"Well, this theatre runs on donations and funds, but it's sure undeniable that this dance studio is glorious and alluring" Asra shrugged.

"Yes...it is........ Wait" Wynne stopped in mid-sentence and turned to him, her hand still on the wall. "Did you say, dance studio?". Before Asra could open his mouth to reply to her, another unfamiliar voice echoed from a corner. It sounded soothing, pleasant and graceful, but Wynne could not recognise who it was. However, the source was soon revealed as she walked towards both of them, and both of their eyes got fixated on her.

"Oh! A guest! Is she the person you were talking about, Asra?" The fair lady enquired, and Asra nodded in agreement. "Yup! She is the one. The 'blueberry syrup' " Asra winked at the unknown lady.

Wynne was now really questioning her existence....... blueberry syrup..........

Seriously?

"Oh! Now I see why you called her that" the soft ravenette chuckled, even her laugh chimed blissful which can send anyone to ease. Asra giggled and agreed to her, his dimple delicately forming on his cheek like a tiny crescent moon.

"Anyways, here she is. Wynne" Asra introduced the bluenette to the foreign lady, who smiled sweetly at her and Wynne waved for a greeting.

"And Wynne, this is Lyra" Asra finally disclosed the name of the gentle lady, who then stepped closer to Wynne and reached her hand out for her to shake, which the other lady gladly took after staring at her pale hand. And as she had guessed, her hand was soft like feathers.

"Lyra Slaquer, but you can call me Lyra. It's a delight to meet you, Wynne. I hope you enjoy your stay over here" she spoke with another cute smile. Wynne nodded and took her hand back, breaking a small grin herself. The name 'Slaquer' whistled a bit familiar to her, but she had never met Lyra before so it was kind of odd, but she pushed the thought and quickly replied to her.

"I too wish to enjoy my visit over here. This place is still kind of anonymous to me since Asra did technically blackmailed me to arrive here" the woman stared at the white curlyhead with narrowed eyes.

"What?!" Lyra gasped as her hand partially covered her mouth. "He did?! I'm so sorry for that, Wynne! He usually does not do that though" she grabbed her chin in her two fingers.

"Wait, I never blackmailed you" Asra's purple eyes widened in scepticism.

"You provoked me. You fed my curiosity and you left me fucking dumbfounded by your sudden hanger, you agitated me so much that the urge you aroused in me won. And whose fault do you think it is??" Wynne crossed her arms and stared at him, with her weight on one leg.

Asra's cheeks lit up with bright pink by the lady's question. It was not a surprise that Wynne caught his fib about being busy just to bring her here. He had known her ever since they were kids, and Winnie was the most attentive one out of the two. A smirk engraved on her dark lips as she tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for a comeback, though she was already aware that he doesn't have an answer. He was caught, he was very badly caught. And he sadly had nothing to objectify with.

Lyra meanwhile just looked from Asra to Wynne, then back to Asra. She was waiting for one of them to speak, but someone calling her name, presumably from backstage, snapped her out. "Coming!" The twirly ravenette replied, and she rushed to attend to her call. But soon after she stopped at her heels for a moment, and turned back to gently grab Wynne's hand and then finally walking with her.

"Come on Wynne! Let's make you meet everyone. I'm sure they will love you" Lyra notified her and she continued dragging her. The blue-eyed lady sounded so favourable and eager that Wynne couldn't muster the will to pull away and refuse her. She was better than deterring the warmth of a civil lady like her, and Wynne peeked back at Asra, who just waved at her, mugging 'have fun' to her.

'I will kill you.....' she gestured back at him with a scowl and flipped him off until Lyra and she completely disappeared behind the stage. And good thing she didn't notice Wynne being blatantly horrible and rude.

Not that Asra minded her cynicism anyway, he still loved her for how she was.

"Guys, listen up! We have a visitor here. She is Asra's dearest friend!" Lyra with a sunny smile as twinkling as the moon inaugurated her to everyone present backstage.

But little did Lyra know that Wynne already knew four motherfuckers present inside.

"What the heck? How are you all at one place?? And most importantly, what are you guys doing here???" Wynne pointed her finger from puzzlement at all of them and questioned the troop she knew very well through conventions and clashes she would never forget. Some of them which she found awful, and some of them surprisingly candy. She honestly never wanted to meet any of them at all, but profoundly in her heart, she was obliged that she was oriented with the six awesome and decent idiots.

"WYNNE?!!" A particular red-haired fellow, a ginger girl, a raven head man and a purplenette lady, together cried out the lady's name. The four were in a greater shock than she was in. Because neither Asra told them who the guest was, nor did they expect her to be the visitor out of any other persons they could have guessed. Now that's quite a shocker eh?

"Oh~ you know them???" Lyra bent towards her, her blue eyes shone with inquisition. "Yes...Yes, I do" Wynne sauntered towards them, this time, with a wooden floor, her heels gave off the clicking like of a ticking timepiece. Her hands were crossed, and she was tickled that how all the pals she was intimate to were existing in the area.

"Since when?" Lyra strolled with her. "Long story, Dear. It's all thanks to Asra, you can say. He is the cause why I know all of them. Like I met Nadia during one of his get-together parties, and then I met these two siblings- what was their name again? AH! Julian and Portia, at a grocery store when I and Asra wanted some stuff. And like that, I met his other best friend, the giant guy over there, Muriel"

Wynne brought up each one of them as she enunciated about them to Lyra. The ravenette listened to the bluenette with peak attention. She adored the manner and the refinement she held up while chatting to her. It was ethical, posh and highly lordly, just as a splendid black swan.

"And that's the story in a nutshell. Now tell me" Wynne kept her hands on her hips and glared at the four. "What's going on here?". "Wait, Asra didn't tell you what exactly is this place and what is our purpose here??" The physician asked her with mistrust.

"Well, no. He told me nothing. But he did say that this is a dance studio" Wynne tapped her chin, trying to recall what else he had asserted.

"Well yes, you are correct on that. This is a dance studio. Which includes the theatre along with the backstage, the rehearsal rooms, a canteen area with the lobby, a recreational cabin and the dorms. Our dancers live here and we provide them with a comfortable and hygienic place to stay along with necessary hospitality, and they all perform for the company" Nadia replied.

"Wait, the company? You guys are running a corporation together?" Wynne cocked her eyebrow again. This all was very new to her, and pretty intriguing too.

"You can say like that. This is Vesuvia Dance Company, and I'm proud to say that we all are like a close-knit family here. I run the company and also work as the organiser. Portia is the set painter. All the lavender imprints you saw on the screens were done by her" the umber woman referred to the chubby girl as she waved heartily at Wynne.

Judging by Portia's denim suspenders splattered with numerous sorts of pigments, she did look like a very hard worker. Just like how Wynne always knew her to be.

"And that gentleman over there, Muriel, he does the building work. So the stage and every scenery of the bureau is retained by him. During performances, he also makes sure the lights and every other piece of equipment are operating appropriately. Portia occasionally teams up with him for the arrangement of struts and special effects. Without him, the true magnificence of the dance would never have reached the audience" Nadi commended.

Muriel's cheeks blossomed pale red as his jade eyes shyly lowered down. Portia had the opposite reaction though. She just grinned and locked arms with the giant man catching him off guard and turning him more rattled than ever.

"I-It's not that much of a big deal" he mumbled abjectly. Wynne chuckled at the scene and muttered 'cute' before facing Nadia so she could introduce the medic next.

"And you must know Dr Devorak. Just as his profession speaks, he takes care of the condition of every member of the company and assures the safety of everyone from likely injuries or illnesses. He also schedules a diet plan if required, and he is also quite sincere in his work, and the members easily recover, all thanks to him"

"And....did any previous member die even though he was around?" Wynne heckled, and Julian fell right into her mockery as his face burnt deep red, the vivid colour spreading across his porcelain skin. He was positively ashamed, and Wynne snagged him so badly he was staggering. But luckily, Nadia seconded him up as she soughed.

"No Wynne. No one has died. The doctor is a qualified physician, and every one of us relies on his skills of treatment. He is also very humble, so there is nothing for us to be concerned about in terms of health" She retorted. "Alright. I believe you" Wynne shrugged with a sly smile, although the flush on Julian's cheeks didn't vanish. Wynne was like a harpy when it comes to disparaging someone, which sometimes makes Julian fear her. Other than that, Julian did like her, she can be cute sometimes and he has seen it. But just like every ambivert, all she requires is the right time to express it.

"And moving on, Asra is our principal dancer, so he is the one who comes with most of the choreography, but he also ensures to give opportunities to the other dancers to suggest any addition. With his and everyone's aptitude, the event comes out to be beautiful" Nadia affirmed with a low smile on her swift lips.

"I see....." Wynne held her chin in her fingers and nodded.

"And the thespians along with Asra are, Lyra, Maura, and-"

"Hello guys! What's up?"

"Woah Woah Woah!! Take it easy! We didn't go anywhere" Julian stumbled back onto a table as he attempted to brace away from the not-so sudden jumpscare of the stranger who appeared to have popped out in between out of nowhere. Well, a stranger to Wynne, to be precise.

"Haha, sorry Ilya. I was just excited to meet the new guest, and I didn't wanna miss them!" The outsider gleefully met the sights of the new lady with his azure ones, a purple glisten romped within his iris, just like how the gold flapped inside the matron's lustrous eyes. Other than his apertures, she noticed how he looked a bit similar to Lyra, contemplating the same type of hair and complexion of the skin. She then looked down at his clothes. The uproar he was wearing captured her eye, reasonably. Wynne was stringent, and a fashionista filled with critique, but what the man was having over him wasn't so terrible to her at all. She could see the striped black-white sweater, baby pink pants,

And were those turquoise crocs he was wearing???????

"Interesting...." Was all that Wynne could say.

"This is Raymond. He is our pianist, and he with his band performs along with the dancers. And he also conducts the music" Nadia enlisted. "Oh, so he is the soul of the performance huh. Pretty....... eccentric" Wynne eyed Raymond who glanced innocently back at her. She rasped and dabbed Raymond's shoulder as she reacted. "But sure. He is cute".

"Oh! If I'm cute then you are the loveliest girl in the whole world, and the ebony fabric on your fair body is like shadows surrounding the glowing moon" Raymond's eyes sparkled with esteem and cherish towards her, like a child recognizing their favourite superhero. That wasn't a good sign for Wynne at all. Especially deeming that it has only been minutes since he and she got introduced to each other. But, inferring that he was the type of guy to give random sweet compliments to anyone, she coolly answered.

"W-Why thank you Dear. You are.....pretty yourself. I like your hair".

"Thank you, Ms Wynne. You are too nice" he blushed with a wide beam. "Yeaaaaahhhhh" Wynne internally winced but tried not to show it to not come off as rude and anguish the cute boy.

"Alright! I think that's everyone in the area. There are three more people who are left to be introduced, but other than that, I hope everything is to your liking, Wynne. Asra brought you here so you could think about joining the company" Nadia rolled a strand of her long hair around her finger.

"Wait, join you all???" Wynne asked.

"Oh my gosh, you are gonna join us??? PLEASE DO!! I would love you for that!" Raymond practically jumped on his feet with enthusiasm.

"W-Wait, but why??? Why do I have to??" Wynne struggled to justify.

"Well, why not. We all have seen you perform before, Wynne. And you would make an exceptional dancer! Also, it's very fun hanging around with everyone and dancing too, don't you think?" Portia added.

"Yeah Wynne, Pasha is right. We know you don't like being around people so much, but we would give you space when you need it. We may stick close, but we will make sure to not bother you much" Ilya gently smiled at her. She did frighten him sometimes, but Julian would be happy to have a bit of her insolence and sarcasm hovering around. Everyone would love to have that.

"I agree with Julian. You are a wonderful lady, Wynne. It would be our absolute pleasure to have a talented entertainer as you dance with us. I promise I won't talk much if that annoys you. But I want to get to know you better, Wynne. I bet you would be very fun!" Lyra playfully whacked her shoulder, only to receive a deathly grimace from the bluenette's wolf-like eyes.

"O...Oh...." Lyra cautiously procured her hand and backed a bit away from her. She wasn't dreading of her if anything. She just got more.....intimidated. She had never met a woman with such grimness flooding out of her, yet be so nimble as a twilight waft along with the gloom she hauls. Lyra felt like a little butterfly just witnessing a vicious spider open her gapes and watch it flash with yearning and malevolence, but close enough, she could see the dignity and that dwelled deep in those gazes.

And those golden orbs had apprehended her just like a tempting spider's quagmire.

Wynne was never known to miss her target anyway.

"S-Sorry....." Lyra's diamond orifices veered under and a weak rosiness escorting her cheeks.

Wynne just shut her eyes, sighed softly, and immediately gawked at Muriel who was typically tight-lipped the whole time. But she decided to inquire him too because his opinion also mattered after all. "What do you think, Big Guy? Would you be happy to have me over?" She straightforwardly asked. The huge man was taken aback for a bit, he had believed that Wynne won't bring any mind to him, and obviously, she proved him wrong. And now he had to respond to her because everyone else had their eyes on him too.

"I......." He started.

"Mhm?" Wynne waited.

"....................."

"I won't mind" that's all he said.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of solace and rejoiced while Muriel just reddened and pouted. He wondered what made the people so relieved when all he did was say 'yes' for the new girl to stay. But what it truly meant was that they were ahead in favour by one more vote.

Wynne snorted. "Yeah yeah, celebrate all you want, but still. I haven't agreed to this yet. So technically there is still be left to decide. Now don't get too much excited already" she stated.

"You are certainly right on that. But we are willing to wait for your final decision, Wynne. Whether positive or not" Nadia told her, and the others agreed to her, nodding and muttering to each other. "Good. I don't like rushing things. I'm glad that you understand" Wynne's lips curved into a slight smile, and everyone else in the room returned a grin. "Of course. We want you to be comfortable after all. You are our friend" Julian added. "And we promise to support ya!" Portia said. "You can speak to us if you ever have any trouble, Wynne" Lyra peered at her. "And we promise to not irritate you at all!" Raymond assured her with a bright grin on his lips.

"We......We would take care of you too....." Muriel softly smiled.

Wynne softly chuckled, shaking her head delightfully and placing her hands on Raymond and Lyra's shoulders. She gleamed at both of them, and she thanked all of them for the patience and hospitality they all gave to a newbie like her. She truly felt honoured and warmly greeted by all of them, and she felt much pleasanter than she was feeling appearing for the first time. Nadia was pleased to see how everyone welcomed Wynne. She was looking forward to the guest making herself comfortable among the partners and come to be a valued part of the small artsy gang and relish the beauty of dance and music together with everyone.

And am I missing someone important to introduce?

"So! What did I miss, lovely ladies and gentlemen?" Some other unidentified person barged in like a typical theatrical garish zealot. Just as assumed by his way of the fashionably late entry, his clothes were incredibly contemporary and vogue and his shirt were half-buttoned to expose his semi-hairy chest. The unknown man rested his elbow at the frame as his piercing emerald eyes stridden around on everyone's faces until it spotted its victim. A certain gal in black.

"Ah! Gotcha" the stranger grinned and grazed his teeth over his lower lip. He pushed himself back on his feet and walked towards his prey. His hand brushed through his curly dark locks, the hooves of his shoes made a satisfying click with every step he got closer to Wynne. He wasn't focused on anyone else other than her, his eyes glimmered under the daylight, like lush green leaves after monsoon showers.

Wynne perked up her eyebrow up. Who is this guy now, she pondered. She glanced at his shirt for a moment and noticed patterns of peacock feathers with splats of prominent blue and white matching the print. Very remarkable, she thought. But also somehow very familiar too. The design on his cloth was something she had seen somewhere before, but she couldn't recollect when exactly.

Nevertheless, the unfamiliar man wearing the familiar clothing gently took hold of her hand and locked his emeralds with her gold.

"And you might be......" She started.

"Sèbastien Slaquer at your service, mademoiselle" he fervently kissed her knuckles, nurturing the sweetness of her skin on his lips.

"Ah...Slaquer......french....Wait a minute" Wynne interrupted.

"Yeah, what's the matter? Remembered something important?" He tilted his head and looked at her, his eyes taking in the charm of her marvellous face and dusk merging with her rosy skin.

"Slaquer.....no wonder why it was sounding so weird to me.......I think I have heard this name before.....in a brand name" Wynne held her chin.

"Oh, you have? I don't know. My brand sure is well-known--"

"Wait, did you say, your brand???" Wynne gripped him. "Yes of course" he shrugged. "Hmmm.....that explains your shirt..... the peacock designs..... peacock designs???"

Wynne suddenly gasped. "You are french, aren't you?!"

"Oh, are you giving me a racist remark now?" Sèbastien knocked and chuckled at his joke. "But yes, you are right. I'm french. And so is my little brother and my cousin behind you" he gestured to both Raymond and Lyra who were currently casually conversing with each other. "Ohh those are your siblings? Alright," Wynne nodded. She wasn't surprised because the three of them did kind of resemble each other. The opaque curly hair, ivory skin, thrilling eyes.

And speaking of Raymond and Lyra, Wynne noticed how personal they were. Both were standing near one another, and Raymond never halted eye contact with Lyra, and Lyra also had her entire attention on him. They didn't seem to mind anything happening around them. They just talked, but every word they said to each other pertained only to them. They were just cousins, but Wynne was mildly amazed how they behaved like mutual siblings who loved each other to the brim.

It thawed her heart, but also made it ache as soon as she realised she doesn't have such a person whom she can call a sibling. Her mother was never there to give her a sibling.

Wynne was always alone at such times.

"Anyways, what do you call a peacock in French by the way? Maybe that would remind me" Wynne turned to the tall man. It disturbed her how he towered over her. She was fundamentally disturbed by how ALL of them towered over her.

Heh, looks like someone has taken Portia's place of being the smallest.

"Oh, Paon" he answered within a second.

"AHH! I got it! That's your fashion brand, ain't it so?" She banged her fist on her palm as soon as she ultimately understood the name she was trying to remember all the time. "Well yes, you are correct again. Wait, you mean you know my work??" He gazed at her. "Mhm. I have seen it. Peacock layouts are your trademark, along with the colours, royal blue and brine green. Your type is modern, but also have a slight tinge of French flavour, dating back to the eighteenth or nineteenth-century or so. I have even seen the blogs that talk about you, very impressive I must say" she complimented him.

"O-Oh...Why thank you for your tributes, mademoiselle. You are pretty vigilant and almost figured out my whole style. Not many people can, you know" he laughed. "Of course, no problem Mr Slaquer" Wynne giggled. She found Sèbastien relatively interesting already, even after knowing him only for instants. Not only she liked his judgment of fashion, but also how he and she shared the same passion for design.

"Oh please, call me Sèbastien. It's my upmost pleasure to meet you, Miss......."

"Wynne. Wynne Toprak" she said.

"Toprak?? You mean, Priddell Toprak??" Sèbastien asked her. "Yup. I don't use my middle name too often, actually" she mentioned. "Ohhh I am have heard about you a lot, Ms Toprak. I have witnessed your works too, but I just wasn't lucky enough to see your beautiful face until now. Lucifer's Wings, that's yours right?" He questioned.

Wynne's cheeks turned a slight pink. She always thought that she can improve her style more and more, so she never found her methods perfect. And someone just breaking it to her that they admired her works and call her beautiful on top of that turns her shy and flustered.

"I-I...Thank you. And yes, that's my brand. I started it when I was like, 15 years old or so" she replied. "Woah, now that's a young talent I see. Very terrific, Ms Toprak. And I love how you make black match every other colour of your clothing. Your mode is very diverse and comfortable for anyone. Now that's how I want fashion to be. It should be dispersible to everyone, without any discrimination. And also with being unique, but also not too bizarre, if you know what I mean" Sèbastien's eyes shot to Raymond for a second.

Wynne bobbed her head. "I agree with you. Clothes which are different but also not too much of it. We don't want to walk around looking like piñatas now, do we?" She shrugged. Sèbastien broke into a fit of laughs and he shook his head. His laugh sounded like harmony to her, she chuckling with him too.

"Also, I am guessing you work with Nadia in designing the dresses for the dancers?" she continued. "Yup. Right. I have a contract with her for that. And Raymond has one too for his band to perform in the theatre" Sèbastien rubbed his neck. "Ahh...I see......Well, my friend had invited me here to take a look, and decide whether I should join the company with all of you or not" she noted.

"Oh! So you are going to design with me too?? Like a collaboration??" He sounded pretty energetic about it. "Well, maybe. But I also am a dancer. So let's see what happens" Wynne shrugged again.

"Woah...what a gifted lady. I'll be looking forward to work with you, mademoiselle" he softly kissed her hand again. "Oh it's nothing much. Trust me, Dear. But sure, I'm anticipating too" she sadly smiled at him. She still wasn't sure if she should join or not. But seeing so many likeable people who welcomed her so sweetly, made it hard for her to refuse. But also, what worse can happen if she joins? She loved dancing, and maybe along with fashion, she can make her career in another field too.

But still, she needed a bit more time. Though her mind was already telling her to agree to the contract and sign in. But she still needed to wait. Not just yet, please.

"Ohh!! What a lovely lady in the house!" Wynne heard another adorable voice from the entrance. She glanced at the new blonde woman, her long hair as golden as daffodils and her eyes as green as polished malachite. She also noticed the dress she was wearing. A long red skirt and a white buttoned top. It was simple but pretty, along the black ghillies with distinguishing neat white socks.

"Oh hello there. Nice to meet you" Wynne turned her attention to the blonde dame, whose cheeks lightened to blush as she bashfully smiled at Wynne.

"Nice to meet you too! I'm Maura. You must be Wynne, right? Asra told me about you" she replied. "Yeah, that's me. In flesh" she snorted.

"Ah, Wynne. Maura is the one who planted all the flowers and plants in the garden. And she always knows what type of flower would suit anyone. Also, not only she is the gardener, but she is also a prudent performer of Irish stepdance. It looks very difficult to me, to be honest. But Maura always does it so effortlessly" Sèbastien added on. Maura blushed harder and timidly thanked the man for the compliment, who just patted her head with a playful wink in return.

"Oh! Now that's very sweet of you. I absolutely loved the sunflowers in the garden by the way. They are my favourite. Every other flower in the garden were beautiful too" Wynne smiled at her. "Of course! I'm glad you liked them. I love sunflowers too. They sure a happy radiant flowers, don't you think?" She glinted at Wynne. "Definitely. I love them because they remind me of my mother, that's why" Wynne sadly smiled, the fond portraits of her precious mother as her hair and eyes lustrous as the cloudless floral elegance of nature flooding into her psyche. She dearly missed her, too bad she was no more.

"Oh! That's wonderful! I'll make sure to make a bouquet of sunflowers for you once they fully blossom. You can even gift them to your mom. And tell her I said hi" Maura twinkled. Wynne was seized aback by her abrupt tenderness. People were being too much nice to her today that it seemed so alien to her. But appreciating her generosity, Wynne warmly smiled.

"Thank you, Maura. She would like it" she still couldn't believe that such kind people still exist.

"My pleasure, Wynne. This is the least I can do" she smiled back.

"Also, Irish dance, now that's very interesting. You gotta show me some moves and teach me one day" the bluenette placed her hand on her hip. "Ohh for sure! I would love to. What dance do you do? Or do you specialise in some other thing than dancing" Maura leaned her head.

"Ah! I'm usually into hip hop and ballet. I learnt a bit about belly dancing too, it's also called Raqs Sharqi in Arabic. And other than dancing, I also run my fashion brand, and that's my real profession. It's called 'Lucifer's Wings'. I still remember how I took days to come for a decent name" she facepalmed and chucked at her forenamed naivety.

"That's a very nice name! You gotta show me your works someday then. I bet they will be very very beautiful and elegant, just like you!". "O-Oh....thank you for the.....compliment, Dear. And of course, I'll show you my latest designs, if that will satisfy you" Wynne brushed back her bangs. "I am sincerely honoured, Wynne" Maura grinned at her, her hands behind her back and her cheeks pink.

"No pressure. Your welcome" she raised her shoulders. Alright, she had to admit. She had started to like Maura too. Who wouldn't? And it was funny how she presently was liking the Slaquers and Maura more than the six she already was aware of. Maybe it's the benefit of the joy of meeting new people. Maybe........

"Also, I have a small question, would you mind me asking?" Wynne blinked. "Not at all, sweetie. Ask away" the blonde replied.

"Asra said this place runs through funds" Wynne blinked again.

"But who exactly is funding you all?"

Maura wasn't the one to answer her question. And neither was Sèbastien. Or Raymond. Or Lyra. Or any of the five.

It was the one out of the six who was known to be snooty, and robust, and blond.

And a passionate pup person too.

In came the notorious devil with two of his faithful albino pair of hounds growling at everyone in the room. His garnet coat with gold trimmings and the spotless Tom Ford Customs, obviously costing so much it would make our pockets spontaneously explode, were dry cleaned and smoothed very strictly, and his hair was huddled back with shower gel, replacing the pleasant smell of vanilla in the air with a tincture of mint.

"How are you all losers? You missed me?" The man removed his Gucci glasses and straightened his silky black gloves on his hands as he looked down at everyone.

"Tch, not him again" Wynne heard Sèbastien scoff and cross his arms. He looked irritated, and so did Maura, but she didn't have any frown on her face like him. She just looked..... unsettled. Meanwhile, others in the room were feeling as uncomfortable as both of them too. Muriel was looking away, Portia began to mind her business, Julian hid behind his papers, Lyra and Raymond tried to ignore the man and Nadia just sighed tiredly and rubbed her temples to give some comfort from the headache she just got. Possibly because of the new blond who entered.

"Hello Lucio" Nadia was the one who bothered to greet him, and she didn't look like she had a choice.

"Hello, Noddy! So how are my wife and her useless crew doing?" He cocked.

"Ex-wife, for your information. And they all are doing better than you, anyway" she scowled.

"Ah, still defending them huh? You do know this won't stop me" he smirked and kept his hand on his hip. Nadia closed her eyes, breathing calmly. "I don't care if you stop or not, but you are wrong. You always will be. My crew will always be committed and hard-working. And they all mean a lot to me no matter what bad you say about them"

Nadia's words effectively dissolved the tension in the room. Wynne just kept up at her place, listening to everything. She wasn't stunned to find him here. If her five friends would be here, then so would he.

The surprising fact was that she preferred the blondie over everyone else due to their previous relations and memories. It may sound unbelievable, but Wynne knew Lucio more than anyone, and it probably was the same with Lucio too, that he knew Wynne more than he knew anyone else. She was just a kid she met the guy when he was younger than today. And it has been two decades since, yet they kept in touch and their love never deteriorated.

Maybe.....maybe Wynne did have someone to call a sibling.

"So good to see you here, Lulu" she sounded pleasantly happy. That adds to another reason for joining the company.

"Wait- WYNNE?!!" The man was startled, finding his close friend at a place he least expected to. His lips widened to a grin and he forgot about everything, only to dash to the lady and tackle her in the biggest hug he can ever lend. Wynne laughed, and simply held his back, embracing his nostalgic warmth and scent close to herself, remembering every time they spent together merrily.

Sèbastien was dumbfounded, his mouth agape. Maura too was a bit astonished, that a sophisticated lady like her would be friends with such a flamboyant and hyperactive person. Well, she didn't judge it. Opposites do attract, you know. Maybe that was the case here. Maybe......

"What...What are you doing here??? I didn't know you were coming for a visit. Noddy never tells me anything" Lucio implored, fretting at the last sentence. "Well, it was more like a surprise visit. Nadia didn't know, so don't blame her" she replied. "Arrgh, fine. If you are saying it, then I'll gladly listen" he winked at her."Good" she cracked a tiny smile, snickering in the middle, and he joined her with the laughs.

"Now now, do you work here too??" She asked as she stopped.

"Work?! No!! I don't work with these idiots. THEY, work for me" his chest surged like a roasted turkey's bust.

"Oh yeah???" She raised her eyebrow, her eyes darting to Sèbastien. He shook his head, denying Lucio's statement. He then crossed his arms, and behind Lucio's back started mocking him by making his hand talk like Lucio and mouthed the gibberish with his eyes rolled up.

Wynne almost got caught by wheezing and cackling like a witch. Luckily her convenient hand covered it up.

"--And that's how I brought them all here. I am their saviour, Wynne. I raised them from the streets and gave them homes and look how they repay me. Not even a decent formal greeting!!" He bragged. Wynne already knew that the 'saving' part was not true no matter how fondly she thought of him, but she still played along to not dishearten her best friend.

"I understand, Monty. They are pretty tired too, you know. You can excuse them for that" she augmented, perfectly roleplaying.

"Excuuuuuse me?!! I work for hours at the meeting of the cooperations and look at me!! Not even a sweat on my brow. Oh, come on!! Are you all that lazy??? You are such losers for god's sake UGHH" Lucio hysterically placed his hand on his hip and cited them all. None of them were diverted, just as predicted. But Lucio was just pouting as always, and Wynne was feeling hotter and also sheepish. Were the two things even proportional?? She imagined so.

"U-Uhhh" she slowly walked to him and carefully placed her hand on his shoulder. She clasped her fingers around his joint and sighed peacefully.

"Hey...Lulu. I know you are worried about them and thinking that they are not....... trying harder, but they all deserve a break, you know. They all are like you after all. You all are humans, you need rest. You need fresh air"

She stopped and breathed a bit.

"And you know what you and your mates want??" She asked him, with a small beam of mischief on her lips.

"Huh??? What do I need??" He raised her eyebrow at her. She then grinned and booped his nose.

"You need ice cream, Silly! Ice cream! Who doesn't want a sweet cold treat on such a hot day hmm?? Come on all!! Let's have ice cream outside! I'm sure Asra can cover us up on that, free of charge" the bluenette invited everyone over, melting the potent tension just like ice cream under the giant ball of burning gas, leaving sweetness and chill dripping all over.

Everyone agreed to Wynne and relaxed from Lucio's outburst. They were finally keen to take a break they deserve and make their way through the other side at the exit. Lucio and his pets already ran to where they would most probably find the ice cream guy of the house, while everyone else silently thanked the blue lady for preventing Lucio to turn things worse. Some shook her hand, some gave her a quick hug and a bright smile, while some gave her thankful glances. She welcomed all of them with a simple nod, happy to help of course.

"You did great, Wynne. Thanks for shutting that asshole up" Sèbastien patted her head before moving out, shoving his hands in his pockets and whistling away a loud ballad. Maura followed Sèbastien, but she stopped to gently shake Wynne's hand and give her one of her confectionary smiles, also thanking her for saving her from the virago.

"It was nice to meet you again, see you soon" and she went away, her skirt fluttering with the inside wind, as the bluenette saw her walking.

"Hey...that was considerate of you, stopping Lucio from flaring on all of us. I never liked him screaming at anyone, but thanks to you, now I can finally breathe fresh air" Lyra humoured and Wynne chuckled with her. "No problem, Lyra. Lucio and I have been together since my childhood. He had been like this since his college days. So it's not shocking that he is still like this. I honestly love it" she laughed.

"That's great, even for him. I'm happy that you have someone close to you" she gladly smiled. "Yeah, I am happy too. You also have awesome siblings, take care of them just like they take care of you, okay?" Wynne leaned on her weight. "Ah! Of course! Ray Ray is my closest confidant. We are just cousins, but I treat him as my brother. Sebby is also very sweet to me, but he is one thirsty man for gossip and he often turns......scandalous" Lyra whispered the last thing to her.

"But I'm really glad they are here for me, and I'll be there for them too! I'll protect them at all costs!!" Lyra puffed her cheeks with resolution and adherence. Her adorable reaction made the goth lady guffaw from amuse. She held her stomach, one of her hands fanning her face and gashes of laughter accumulated at the nook of her eyes.

Watching her laugh was like watching a thunderous hurricane reflecting a widespread rainbow, or like a broken glass casting an bewitching silhouette.

"You are such a sweetheart. Keep it up like that" Wynne patted her shoulder out of appreciation. Lyra shied a little, she found the other lady's laugh so mellifluous as a psalm's ensemble. She creased a ringlet behind her ear and ogled fondly at the shorter woman.

"I am trying my best, Wynne" she timidly replied to her. "I know, Dear. I know" she closed her eyes and exhaled. She unfolded them again, only to glimpse back into her sapphire watches. Lyra was so captivated by her that her heart skipped a beat when she observed the golden blaze and crystal frost inside her. It was enthralling.

"Also, may I ask for a favour?" Wynne gently held Lyra's chin and poked it up her lips. She didn't even realise that her mouth was open in awe that she blinked rapidly, and stammered a bit, her face flickering to an apple glow. Soon she regained her composure and answered back to her, not making her wait for long.

"Yeah?? What's the matter?"

Wynne stayed silent for a bit.

"......................."

".............................."

".................."

"......................................................"

"Can you show me the contract papers? I gotta sign up"

The clock strikes at 11, and so does the cap of Wynne's pen. Finally, she wrote her name on the paper and learned to become one of their family. She was having fun and was impatient for her first performance.

Well.....maybe Asra did the right thing annoying her huh. Bless him for that, and everyone else of the Vesuvian Dance Company.

Now let the extravaganza begin!

#the arcana #the arcana game #fan apprentice #wynne toprak #arcana apprentice #arcana mc #arcana oc #asra the magician #asra alnazar #the arcana asra #doctor julian devorak #julian devorak #ilya devorak #the arcana julian #nadia satrinava #countess nadia #the arcana nadia #Lucio Morgasson #the arcana Lucio #count Lucio #muriel of the kokhuri #the arcana muriel #the arcana Portia #Portia Devorak #Pasha Devorak #Raymond slaquer #lyra slaquer #Sebastien salquer #what i wrote #Maura

[mango-forest]

more than survive (part 1)

part 2, part 3, part 4

Marinette lays on her bedroom floor, hair loose around her head and dull eyes looking at the ceiling. She sighs and turns her head to the laptop next to her. ”I don't know, Dami. What am I doing wrong?” she asks in English.

She can see Damian glance at her through the screen, obscured chest down by the desk. Damian hums and places his pencil down. “I think you’re going about this the wrong way, Angel. Have you ever thought that the class is the one in the wrong?”

Marinette huffs and turns over to her stomach, resting her chin on her arms. “They’re wrong to believe Lila, but maybe I'm just not putting enough effort into being friendly?” she wonders.

Damian scoffs and taps his screen. “Angel, you literally tried making them all cookies,” he says in French. “And then the bitch claimed she was allergic.”

“Dami!” Marinette covers her face. “You can't just cuss someone out!”

“Mm,” he hums unconvincingly. “Say, didn’t you have something coming up.”

Marinette squints her eyes at the boy on the other side of the screen. “I see what you're doing. But yes, I do. It’s supposed to be a big trip or something.”

“And it’s soon?” he asks, resuming his work.

“Mmhm.”

“And you don't know what it is exactly?”

“Yep,” Marinette huffs out. For a moment, she just presses her face against her carpet and closes her eyes. “I wish we could meet,” she says, not really registering what's coming out of her mouth. “Video call and texting is nice but being in person could be colder. Cooler.”

Damian is silent and Marinette opens her eyes to see him biting his lip and staring hard at his desk. “Dami?”

“Hm?” Damian jerks and looks at her. “What? Is something wrong?”

Marinette raises her eyebrows. “Everything okay in Gotham?”

Damian nods. “Yeah, why?”

She motions to her own neck. “There’s a bruise on your jaw.”

“Oh uh,” Damian flounders. “It’s a. . . hickey?” he says unsurely.

Marinette stares at him for a moment, a grin growing on her face. She ignores the weird ache in her chest as she says, “A hickey. Really? From who?” The last part is partly teasing and mocking, and partly curious.

Damian scoffs. “Plenty of people would want to give me a hickey, unfortunately.”

“Do you even know what a hickey is?” It's official. Damian’s face is too hilarious. Marinette bursts out laughing, and says, “Your face! You are scowling so much!”

The scowl disappears as Marinette keeps howling, curling on her side, still pressing against the carpet.

"Wait-Wait, for real? Like, you, Damian, actually got one? Or did you get into a fight?" Marinette asks, after wiping at her eyes. "And tell me the honest answer, Damian."

Damian huffs and stays silent for a few moments before he says, "I may have gotten into a fight."

"Damian!"

Damian is quick to reassure her. "It's okay though! Angel, honestly, I'm fine."

Marinette sighs and rolls over back to her stomach, squinting to who she considers her best friend. "Did you tell your dad?" Damian never really talks about his family. She knows more about animals from him than his actual family.

Damian grins at her, and she distantly notes that her friend is fairly attractive. "Yes, Father knows. My brothers are being annoying though."

"Brothers?" Those are new. Marinette doesn't remember Damian ever mentioning them before. Then again, she never asks. She understands not wanting to talk about certain things.

Damian's hand runs through his short black hair. Marinette likes how Damian is comfortable enough around her to not have it styled. Damian mentioned once or twice in passing how he always has it styled in public. "Yes. Unfortunately they feel the need to bother me 24/7. Wait, isn't it late in Paris?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes! Well, not really, but I am trying to get more control of my sleep schedule." That isn't exactly a lie. Marinette hates straight out lying. Even more after Lie-la.

"I suppose this is goodbye, Angel?" Damian says with a soft smile. Marinette always feels her face heat up a bit when he does that.

"Uh. . . yeah. Yeah, goodnight Dami," she says, distracted by his kind expression.

"Goodnight, Angel." The video call ends and Marinette stares at the screen a bit longer before turning her laptop off and burying her face in her arms.

"Tikki? Do you think Damian has a romantic partner?"

Her kwami looks up from her cookie, sitting on the desk, out of the computer's view. Stuffing the rest in her mouth, she zips over to her Chosen. "I'm sure he doesn't," Tikki says. "I would think he'd mention if he does."

"God, why am I even thinking about this Tikki," Marinette groans. Sure, she gets uncomfortable whenever she thinks about him having a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, or anything like that. But she's just his friend! She has no reason to think about his life like this.

"Let's just do patrol before I start burying myself in the ground. Tikki, spots on!" After she transforms, she grabs a jacket she has been using more and more often. It's a heavy black hoodie with a red inside and her symbol on the back. The red circle with five black dots stand out and makes her more identifiable.

It's getting colder and colder, maybe a few weeks from now, she'll have to wear leggings or something. Opening the window lets in the cold air, and Ladybug shivers. The hoodie may help, but the cold still makes her feel sleepy and slow.

She blames that fact later when she doesn't know she has company until a hand grabs her wrist. Letting out a yelp, she twists around and flips the other person, backing up a few feet when she sees the black leather.

"Hello, M'Lady," he says, and Ladybug stiffens. "You've gotten stronger."

She cocks out a hip, and says, "You would maybe know that if you show up to akuma fights. Also, don't touch me."

Chat Noir's face screws up for a second before smoothing out again. "Well, you didn't seem to need me. And also, not touch you? So no hugs?" He spreads out his arms and steps forward, smile still on his face.

Ladybug just scowls. Hers has gotten better since she first started talking with Damian. "I said don't touch me, Chat Noir," she hisses.

Chat Noir huffs and drops his arms, looking at her with a condescending expression. "I don't know why you're being like this, Bugaboo. Maybe we can talk about this over ice cream?" He winks at the end of his sentence.

Ladybug suppresses a scoff of revulsion and shakes her head. "Stay away from me, Chat Noir." She starts to swing away.

Thankfully, Chat Noir stays behind and doesn't chase her. But Ladybug still hears him call out. "I don't know why you're fighting this, M'Lady! We're destined to be together! You'll see eventually!"

When Ladybug gets home, she locks the skylight and detransforms in her room. When she's in her sleepwear and Tikki's out of sight, finishing off her pastries, Marinette settles on her chaise and opens her laptop. All the lights are turned off, so her face is illuminated by the screen glow.

Marinette wonders if Damian will answer if she calls. Then, curled around a pillow, she sends out a video call request. For a few seconds she wonders if he won't answer. But then the screen is filled with Damian and Marinette cracks a relieved smile.

"Angel, I thought you went to sleep hours ago?" Damian asks, voice full of worry.

"Turns out I can't really fall asleep," Marinette whispers. It's true. She still feels icky from her encounter with her former partner. "Maybe you can tell me about those Gotham--" She's cut off by knocking coming from her skylight.

She freezes and, judging by the narrowing of Damian's eyes, the boy on the other side of the screen catches the movement. "I'm sure it's nothing," she tries to say. The knocking continues more harshly at the end of her sentence, and she winces. “I’ll actually be right back,” she whispers, and she ends the video call before Damian can protest.

Marinette makes her way to the skylight and taps it, reluctantly opening it after she sees the shadow move. She climbs out and shivers at the cold night air, wishing she grabbed a jacket instead of going out there in a thin strapped top and shorts. Chat Noir’s leaning against the balcony railing, tail flicking behind him.

“What’s with all the banging? I was trying to sleep,” Marinette says.

“Weren't on your bed,” Chat Noir replies.

“I was on my chaise. What do you want?”

“Me-ouch, Princess. Just needed someone to rant to.”

Marinette knows she won't get out of this, so she curls up on the lawn chair while the black cat themed boy perched on the railings. When he launches into a rant, she drifts in and out of focus.

“I saw her in the rooftops--”

Blink.

“--only wanted to--”

Blink.

“--flips me, which is kinda hot--”

Blink.

“--and then she blames me, really--”

Blink.

“--and she yelled at me, Princess!”

Marinette makes sure to nod at the end, tacking on a quiet, “Oof.”

Chat Noir stands up, maybe trying to show off how he can stand on a railing with no problem, and stretches. “Sorry to take up your time, princess. I’ll see you later?” Without waiting for a response, he shoots away, gone by the time Marinette gets past the sickness in her stomach.

Marinette climbs back into her room and nearly falls asleep right then and there when she got to the chaise and got a blanket around her. She turns on her laptop, again, and this time Damian automatically picks up, a worried frown on his face. “Angel, who was--”

“Dami, can we please not talk about it,” Marinette interrupts.

“Angel--”

“He didn't even do anything, okay,” she continues, not noticing her mistake.

“He? Angel, why was a guy kno--”

“He just talked to me!” Marinette tries to reassure.

“Angel, you looked terrified--”

“IT DOESN'T MATTER OKAY, DAMI?” Marinette shouts into her pillow. “I don't want to talk about that. Can't we just forget it? I just want to learn more about Gotham’s superheroes or something until I fall asleep.”

A pause, then, “Well, they're more like vigilantes. . .”

@maribat-archive @ozmav

#not edited #or beta read #uuuuggggghhhh #working title #more than survive

[akalei]

Staying Whelmed and the Other Thing

I’ve got another installment!! And I’m like 80% sure it’s the last installment before Damien makes an appearance!! So as always please feel free to send me asks or message me about this AU and I hope you enjoy!!

@ozmav

@kelelamentia

@resignedcatservant

@imfreakingmagical

@northernbluetongue

@tinybrie

@constancetruggle

@foofoocuddlypoopsgavesokkaapples

@queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm

@mooshoon

Too much was happening at once and all she could do was to try to stay whelmed. That’s all Marinette could say to describe her situation, sure within the last few years of being Ladybug she had gotten better at juggling her civilian and hero lives. But this- this was on a whole new level. An “I’m going to procrastinate by helping others” level, and that’s what Marinette did. It had only been two weeks since Wally...disappeared and five days since the other thing. So Marinette made sure she stayed in contact with her friends on the The Team, she wanted to make sure that if they needed anything she’d be able to help and help she did. Marinette was able to see Kaldur, Artemis, M’gann, and Connor, they all were dealing with the loss their own ways and Marinette was just glad that they seemed okay. 

And then she got a call from Dick. It was unexpected since he hadn’t replied to any of her past messages but she picked up the phone nonetheless. 

“Am I speaking to LB?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

“Yes, it is, who’s speaking?”

The man on the other end of the phone cleared his throat, “This is the manager of Old Town Bar, your friend here is passed out drunk and you’re the only contact I could reach.”

Marinette’s eyes widened, she wasn’t necessarily surprised that Dick was at a bar, it was the fact that she was the person being contacted - oh and the fact that Dick got blacked out drunk. 

“Do you need me to come and get him?” she asked.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” oh Marinette did mind, but that didn’t really matter, what mattered was making sure Dick got back safe before Bruce got a hold of him.

“It’ll take me a while but I’m on my way,” Marinette grabbed her coat making her way out of her house. 

“Thank you,” and the man hung up. 

Marinette walked to the nearest zeta tube, “recognize Ladybug B14” 

**

He had been using a fake ID, smart since he was still underage and now it made more sense as to why the manager called her instead of someone affiliated with the Waynes. When Marinette got there Dick was sound asleep on the bar’s counter, the manager’s relief at her arrival was palpable. 

“Dick come on, you gotta get up,” Marinette prodded at his shoulder. 

Groggily he lifted his head, “Mari? What’re you doing here?”

Marinette took his arm and slowly lifted him to his feet, “The manager called me, said you were passed out drunk,” Dick clumsily tripped over his foot as she placed his arm around her shoulder, “asked me to get you.” 

“Why you?” 

Marinette looked up at him, “No idea but he did and I’m here, so let’s get you home,” Marinette walked him out of the bar, “did you drive here?”

Dick squinted into the dark, eyes trying to adjust, “No.”

“Okay, well I’m not gonna walk you all the way to Wayne Manor so you might as well call Alfred.” 

And that’s what they did, Alfred didn’t sound too pleased but he was on his way. 

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked as she and Dick waited outside of the bar for Alfred.

“I’m fine, I’ll have a hangover but fine,” Dick replied.

Marinette eyed him, he was no longer leaning on her for support, and seemed to have collected himself, “that’s not what I meant.” 

“What do you mean?” Dick didn’t look at her, and she knew that he was aware of her true true question.

“You know what I meant Dick, I’ve been talking with everyone and well you’re not the only one who isn’t oka-”

“I said I’m fine!” Dick cut her off. 

“Getting drunk to the point the manager has to call someone to get you is not what I’d call fine Dick,” Marinette took a deep breath and looked up at the moon, “None of us are okay Dick, and that’s okay,” She glanced up at him to see that he was staring at her, “you’re not alone Dick, you have us.” 

With that Dick’s eyes widened, “LB what time is it? You have school don’t you?”

“It’s okay Dick, I can manage.” Slowly Alfred pulled up in front of them, “You’re more important right now anyway.”

Dick made his way to the car and opened the passenger door for himself before looked back at Marinette, “what about you? Are you okay?”

 Marinette not wanting to lie but also not wanting to worry him just smiled, “go home Dick, I’ll text you when I get home,” and she turned around to walk back to the zeta-tube, back to France and back to the other thing. 

**

Marinette was late to school the following morning, not that that was any surprise. Adrien was absent again, which meant that school was about to be ten times more unbearable than usual. Lila was her usual pathological lying self and Marinette ended the day with a headache, which was pretty uneventful for a Wednesday. It was when Marinette was leaving school that her day became unusual. 

“Mari!!” 

Marinette looked up from the sidewalk only to be pulled into a big hug from M’gann. Her blue eyes widening when she saw the rest of her American friends standing over M’gann’s shoulders. 

“Qui est….What are all of you doing here?” Marinette started to ask in french before switching into English. 

“We wanted to make sure you were alright,” Kaldur replied. 

“You’ve been checking in on us for the past two weeks and well,” Artemis shrugged, “we figured we’d return the favor.” 

Marinette opened her mouth and then closed it, not knowing what to say. She was so used to being the one to care about others and go out of her way to ensure they were okay, she never had someone do it for her. 

And it made her really happy.

“Marinette qui sont ces gens?”

Marinette broke from M’gann’s embrace to see Lila standing a few steps above them. It took Marinette a minute to comprehend what was happening, to formulate a response that would make sense and would hopefully not add fuel to Lila’s lying fire.

“Mes amis,” 

This time it was both Lila and Marinette who turned over their shoulders with surprised looks on their faces. It was Connor who had spoken with his arm crossed over his chest.

You totally just asked Dick how to say friends in french didn’t you? Marinette asked him telepathically knowing that M’gann had activated the link and raised an eyebrow at the half-Kryptonian.

Maybe. He replied, a ghost of a smile making its way onto his face.  

Lila was left a little flabbergasted, Marinette couldn’t tell if it was because it was stoic, intimidating Connor who had answered or if it was something else. 

Shaking her head and chuckling under her breath, Marinette turned to Lila speaking in french, “They’re friends of mine that’ve come to pick me up,” Marinette glanced over Lila’s shoulder to see a bunch of her classmates watching them, “I gotta go but I’ll see you in class tomorrow!” with that Marinette happily turned around and walked to her friends, leading them back to her place. 

“Seriously though, you didn’t have to come check on me,” Marinette said once they were well away from Lila and her prying eyes. 

“We wanted to plus it seemed like you had more going on than just-” M’gann tappered off leaving the sentence unfinished but Marinette knew what she meant. More than just losing Wally. Marinette didn’t want to think about it, it was hard enough dealing with losing a friend she wasn’t ready to think about the other thing.

“I’m okay, you guys don’t have to worry about-”

Marinette was cut off when Dick grabbed her arm, his grip was gentle but firm, “Come on Mari, it’s just as you said last night, you don’t have to go through it alone, you have us,” 

Tears welled in Marinette’s eyes, “Damn it, Grayson I was trying so hard to stay whelmed,” 

Dick gave her a kind smile, “What’s going on LB?”

Marinette took a shaky breath, looking at her friends, “It’s Adrien,”

Kaldur’s eyebrows pinched in concern, “I noticed he wasn’t with you today is he okay?”

Marinette shook her head, preparing herself to put the other thing into words, to make it as real as she feared, “Adrien knows and now he’s in danger.”

“Knows what, how’s he in danger?” Artemis prodded.

Marinette’s blue eyes were filled with tears but her gaze was firm as she looked at her friends.

“Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth”

#ladybug young justice au #maribat #lyj

[davieslandon]

WHO: Landon and @amchopraofficial​ MENTIONED: @monroephile @lorencourtier @romanbeckett @theharrykingston @aaronhart93​ @zanebishara​ @timmyteehill​ DESCRIPTION: Landon texts Avery about being invited to their place and they end up taking the piss out of each other. Landon jokes about telling Monroe she loves her and Avery teases Landon about having a type.

BIG BRO So apparently I'm invited over?

LIL SIS yeah! mars misses elle and i want to introduce you to waffles

BIG BRO Great! so this isn't at all about what I texted Monroe? LIL SIS you and monroe were texting?? BITCH, i swear if you told her what i told you it's on sight BIG BRO ye of little trust I didn't say anything about what you told me i was just...teasing her a little LIL SIS

you're my brother am i MEANT to trust you?? BIG BRO Of course! Blind brotherly trust I'd never do anything to hurt you yadda yadda LIL SIS ... uh-huh... you're the epitome of trust all three feet of you and your hedgehog self 100% the definition of trust totally completely yep yep

BIG BRO i take it back i'm going to text her and tell her all about what you told me IN DETAIL right now that's what you get for making fun of my height AND calling me a hedgehog AT THE SAME TIME

LIL SIS BITCH!!!!! DON’T YOU DARE BIG BRO WATCH ME I’M DOING IT RIGHT NOW LIL SIS DON’T YOU DARE I’LL SICK WAFFLES ON YOU DON’T TEST ME, BOY BIG BRO OOOOOH I’M SO SCARED OF YOUR CAT

LIL SIS YA BETTER BE PUNK ASS LIL BITCH BIG BRO I WROTE THE MESSAGE AND I’M GOING TO SEND IT UNLESS YOU APOLOGISE FOR CALLING ME SHORT LIL SIS CAN’T APOLOGISE FOR SOMETHING FACTUAL BIG BRO 'Hi Monroe, I won't be able to come over today because my bitch lil sis is in love with your ass and I don't want Elle to have to see you two getting your shit together and FUCKING WHILE SHOUTING YOUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER I'm already traumatised from what I saw, don't need to traumatise my daughter as well' LIL SIS YOU FUCKING LITTLE SHIT DON’T YOU DARE SEND THAT I’LL BEAT YOUR ASS MYSELF DON’T YOU DARE BIG BRO I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY LIL SIS DON’T TEST ME BIG BRO SHOULD I ADD EVEN MORE TO THAT MESSAGE? LIL SIS DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE LANDON BIG BRO 'she's never been in love with anyone the way she is with you but she's a COWARD and won't tell you SO I'M TAKING THINGS INTO MY OWN HANDS' LIL SIS YA BETTER NOT TAKE THINGS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS BITCH DON’T YA DARE BIG BRO I HAVE TO IF ANYTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN because YOU WON'T DO IT LIL SIS I'M WORKING ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I TRIED THIS MORNING BIG BRO pffffftttttt LIL SIS BUT MARS WAS BEING CRABBY BIG BRO yeah, right LIL SIS IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!! BIG BRO and how did you try LET’S HEAR THIS the party was ALMOST A WEEK AGO are you telling me Mars has been crabby THIS WHOLE TIME?? LIL SIS ... i'm not sure i should give you the details of the first hour of trying to tell her... LISTEN BIG BRO .....really??? LIL SIS LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN BIG BRO ........REALLY???????? LIL SIS KINDA HARD TO SAY "I LOVE YOU" WHEN I'M BARELY ABLE TO SAY A COMPLETE SENTENCE THAT SOUNDS EVEN REMOTELY ENGLISH BIG BRO TOO MUCH INFORMATION I DID NOT WANT TO KNOW THAT LIL SIS THAT’S WHAT YOU GET BIG BRO I’M TRAUMATISED LIL SIS GOOD BIG BRO I ALREADY THREATENED TO SHARE EVERYTHING ABOUT HOOKING UP ON THE DANCE FLOOR TO MONROE YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT TOO?? LIL SIS JFSDLGHDFJGHDFJGHDFLJGHFDLG i’m good, thank you now don't you dare tell her or i swear BIG BRO TOO LATE LIL SIS LANDON BIG BRO SENT MY MESSAGE ALREADY OOPS LIL SIS LANDON I SWEAR TO GOD BITCH ASDKJFHSADKFJGHDFKJG I'M GONNA KILL YOU AND MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A BLOODY ACCIDENT HOW DARE YOU BIG BRO 😬 THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR NOT APOLOGISING LIL SIS FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GO FUCK YOURSELF WITH A CACTUS THE FUCK, MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG BRO 😱 THAT’S JUST  RUDE I WILL GO FUCK MYSELF ACTUALLY I NEED IT BUT WITH SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE GENTLE THAN A CACTUS if you catch my drift 😏 LIL SIS a hedgehog? ya nasty BIG BRO YOU CAN'T CALL ME A HEDGEHOG THEN TELL ME TO FUCK A HEDGEHOG and you call me nasty?? LIL SIS I MEAN HEY, IT'S BASICALLY ANOTHER VERSION OF SAYING GO FUCK YOURSELF, I GUESS but you better not tell her that i love her or i s2g BIG BRO WELL FUCK YOU TOO ughh fine i guess i'll keep it to myself OR WILL I? LIL SIS i haven't found the right moment yet, okay??? i keep trying and failing and it's just??? becoming more difficult??? every time i try to tell her, something goes wrong. i just don't get it maybe i'm not meant to be with her? what am i doing wrong?? BIG BRO you might be the biggest coward i know but that doesn't mean you're not meant to be with her you know what you need? DATE NIGHT A romantic night with candles and a nice dinner and all that shit LIL SIS speak for yourself, mister 'i'm still in love with roman' bro, the only food i can cook that isn't automatically awful is breakfast food how can i make that "romantic"??? BIG BRO oh wow you actually WENT THERE you little bitch LIL SIS AM I WRONG??? BIG BRO DETAILS. I'll have you know I'm sort of seeing someone SO HA! also, heart shaped pancakes LIL SIS who sorta looks like an off-brand roman, but okie dokie this isn't valentine's day, landon BIG BRO 😱😱 TAKE IT BACK you're going to get me IN TROUBLE ASSHOLE do you want romantic or not???? LIL SIS NOT MY FAULT YOU HAVE A TYPE i just want to find a way to tell her and not have everything crumbling down every time i try maybe i should just give up maybe i'm not meant to be with her like that BIG BRO JUST BECAUSE THEY BOTH HAVE CURLY HAIR DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE A FUCKING TYPE you are depressing and an idiot maybe your first mistake was trying to tell her with a CHILD running around and causing distractions?? LIL SIS tall, curly brown hair, light eyes, cute smiles. i dunno man, how dramatic is ob!roman? shut UP hey, i've also tried telling her when it's just us two!!!! BIG BRO FUCK YOU 😒 AT LEAST I TELL PEOPLE WHEN I LIKE THEM LIL SIS  AGAIN, AM I WRONG?  FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF BIG BRO SO WHAT IF THEY LOOK A LITTLE SIMILAR? LOREN'S FRENCH....see??? different ok here's the plan even though you really don’t deserve my help I'll take Mars for the night, you prepare a nice romantic night, drink some wine and tell her then i'll bring back Mars and tell her myself when I realise you didn't do it which is why "new boy" is off-brand roman LIL SIS  OH, PISS OFF, YOU TWAT! BIG BRO STOP CALLING HIM NEW BOY HE HAS A NAME AND YOU KNOW IT What???? that's the thank you i get for my fantastic idea???? kids these days no appreciation whatsoever LIL SIS  oh, right, my fault sorry, ob!roman roman jr? am i close?? you are NOT going to tell her i love her BIG BRO ASSHOLE LIL SIS  that is meant to be between me and her, okay? BIG BRO BITCH LIL SIS  his name is asshole bitch?? that’s unique BIG BRO I HATE YOU SO MUCH LOREN his name's fucking LOREN LIL SIS feeling's mutual 😇 see, even their names sound sorta similar/kinda rhyme loren, roman say it out loud BIG BRO i CANNOT believe you LIL SIS  me??? BIG BRO YES YOU LIL SIS YOU'RE the one going after a guy similar to your ex!!!! hell, even /harry/ was almost similar to roman though that's more of a tad stretch but they’re there BIG BRO HOW IS IT MY FAULT IF THEY LOOK A LITTLE SIMILAR AND I HAPPEN TO LIKE HIM??? what. WHAT Harry and Roman DO NOT look alike LIL SIS brunets, light eyes, tall (at least, compared to you), cute smiles is harry naturally curly?? just wondering BIG BRO everyone's tall compared to me in your books 😒 ....no comment LIL SIS again, am i wrong?? LANDON, IS HARRY NATURALLY CURLY??? LANDON???? BITCH, ANSWER ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my god holy fuck, he's naturally curly I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!! BIG BRO I DON'T KNOW OKAY LIL SIS  👀 BIG BRO i might have seen some pictures of him with curly hair BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER LIL SIS uh-huh whatever you say, sonic BIG BRO IT DOESN'T LIL SIS WHATEVER YOU SAY, SONIC BIG BRO FUCK YOU FINE I HAVE A THING FOR CURLY HAIR  HAPPY NOW???!!! LIL SIS  NO THANKS, I'M GOOD oh, it's more than "curly hair", but A for effort, sweetie BIG BRO JUST TAKE IT  I’M NOT GIVING YOU MORE THAN THAT although it does help if they have a big dick I'll tell you that 😏 LIL SIS bitch, i don't like this "although" EW, STOP THAT i mean i already know ro does BUT I DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OB!ROMANS GROSS BIG BRO ......how do you know how big Ro's dick is? oh, it's very well-endowed I know from EXPERIENCE definitely not GROSS LIL SIS  gross, stop, stop talking about ob!roman #1 and ob!roman #2's dicks please don’t need that info don’t need that image #gross BIG BRO YOU DESERVE IT AFTER HOW MUCH SHIT YOU'VE BEEN GIVING ME are you sure you don't want to know about the very lovely sex we had a few days ago? also i haven't forgotten HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW BIG ROMAN’S DICK IS LIL SIS SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP bro, i've been working with him on Rocketman- he wears some VERY tight pants hard not to notice BIG BRO oh true but he gets hard while wearing VERY tight pants? that’s...uncomfortable  LIL SIS jaycee's sometimes there at practice and he's sometimes texting on his phone during breaks do the math BIG BRO OKAY I DON’T WANT TO KNOW  forget i asked LIL SIS good sonic :) BIG BRO fuck you again do me a favour don't go around telling Harry and Lo I've got a type pleaseeeeee LIL SIS again, not interested BIG BRO that would be AWKWARD and UNNECESSARY LIL SIS and don’t worry, i won’t

BIG BRO good LIL SIS  but i feel like SOMEBODY'S gonna notice at some point BIG BRO PFFFTTT no they won’t anyways  back to you and the romantic dinner you're going to plan LIL SIS you sure? oh my god BIG BRO I’M SURE  THANK YOU i have the perfect dish for you to cook

huh? huh?  LIL SIS ... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, i can order something from the cove instead? BIG BRO but but but THAT DISH IS PERFECT but yeah order something from the cove LIL SIS i am not going to have food tell monroe that i love her before telling her myself first that's what valentine's day is for BIG BRO you're obsessed with valentine's day LIL SIS better safe than sorry with the cove BIG BRO can't a person do something romantic without it being February 14th? good point so you’re doing it? romantic dinner? 

LIL SIS I'M JUST SAYING, with v-day, you sorta get some slack for being uber cheesy romantic i’m... going to try i don't think it's gonna work but i’m gonna try BIG BRO ok that's true but there's nothing wrong with being very romantic i like romance  don't tell anyone i said that i didn’t think i’d convince you i'm very impressed with myself YOU’LL BE FINE LIL SIS listen, i suck at being very romantic. ask all my exes really? i’m not surprised your type is a very romantic type I WILL NOT BE FINE BIG BRO i don't have to ask, i got that on my own when you dissed my pancake hearts idea what that i like romance? that's so not true YOU WILL

LIL SIS again, it's cheesy and works better for v-day the tall light eyed and curly brunets club says different, but okie doke YOU REALIZE I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL HER SINCE FUCKING NEW YEARS, RIGHT??? BIG BRO at least you have valentine's day covered already, YOU'RE WELCOME liking tall and curly guys doesn't automatically mean i like romance??? since New Years??? WHAT THE FUCK'S WRONG WITH YOU?????!!! LIL SIS ... you missed my fucking joke/word play and at this point, i'm not gonna explain it to you a lot, but that's for another day and you're not Tee BIG BRO please?? :pleading_face: thank god I'm not i can barely handle my own drama LIL SIS "your type is a very romantic type" romantic  ROMANtic finally get my drift? BIG BRO 😑 i’m not amused LIL SIS i swear, tee's about to become the richest man in kingsboro soon well considering you didn't get it the first time, neither am i now BIG BRO hahaha he totally is! lucky guy...or not, depending how you look at it that’s how UNAMUSING it was  LIL SIS eh, it's a win-lose situation? WELP, i, for one, am excited to meet ob!roman #3 in the future i'm sure he's a blast BIG BRO you never learn do you? LIL SIS now that's just rude BIG BRO YOU DON'T DESERVE TO HANG OUT WITH HIM LIL SIS FOR SPITTING OUT STRAIGHT FACTS?!!??!?! BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WACK BIG BRO FUCK YOU....AGAIN HE'S NICE i really like him LIL SIS AGAIN, not interested, not your type either i’m sure he is OH, SHIT!!! THAT'S ANOTHER SIMILARITY!!!!!!!!!! okay, i'll stop now BIG BRO you're really not....too annoying for my tastes FUCK OFF should i have found an asshole so at least they're not similar in your eyes?? LIL SIS feeling's mutual, sonic sooooooooooo are you saying should you have gone for aaron?? possibly, yes BIG BRO that's...true but also disgusting Getting together with Aaron would be like fucking my brother no thank you what do you mean yes??? LIL SIS i do not need that image in my head, yikes it means that i am messing with you BIG BRO neither did i but you brought it up so now you deserve to have that image stuck in your head bitch LIL SIS shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, we speak no more of this slut BIG BRO are you slut shaming me? 😒 bitch i've slept with like 4 people in my life LIL SIS i'm shaming you and your incredibly non-diverse type ... OKAY, so maybe i'm the slut in this family BUT!!!!! i haven't been in a very long time but that's besodes the point *besides BIG BRO i know what i like and i'm not scared of getting it, that deserves a fucking award you are, glad we’re in agreement because you're in loooooooove LIL SIS yeesh, pardon me for keeping my options open 🙄 dfghdfjghdfjg i literally ended up ghosting one of my fuck buddies for roe tbh and that was even BEFORE i realized i had feelings for her ... holy fuck, i've been in love with since the day i met her basically BIG BRO that's lame what poor fuck buddy so basically you're finally admitting what i've always known? that you’re a loser LIL SIS yeaaaaaaaaaaah, not one of my best moments 😬  i feel so shitty about it, especially because i would like to have a strictly platonic friendship with him. i just... didn't really know how to tell him that while also trying to explain WHY i was ending it before fully knowing what it was i was feeling for roe[14:48] i actually saw him recently  first time in over a year YIKES on yikes oh, piss off, ya damn wanker BIG BRO yeah i'm sure he really got the impression you want to be friends when you ghosted him with no explanation :grimacing: oh fuck what is it with people we don't want to see coming back recently? well, it’s been a year so i’m sure he’s over it nope, i'm telling the truth LIL SIS LISTEN!!! i've never really been good talking about my feelings!!! it wasn't until monroe when i started to actually /try/. before, i typically would've ignore my problems and run away. which is shitty, i know that. but i'm trying so hard here[14:51] god, it was... something. that's for sure as long as luca and liza don't show back up, i'm good[14:52] whatever, sonic BIG BRO i know you're trying hard i’m proud of you ....just try a little harder so maybe you can actually be together? i’m begging here LIL SIS IT'S SO FUCKING HARD TO I START FEELING CONFIDENT ABOUT IT THEN BAM  SO MANY WHAT IFS BIG BRO maybe don't tell her face to face LIL SIS THEN THERE COMES ALL THE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD STILL TRY BIG BRO i know it sounds bad but what if you like...write her a letter or something LIL SIS THEN IT GETS SO COMPLICATED fuck, i don't know... what if she thinks that's not as genuine as telling her face to face? god, what if i've been seeing things that aren't there?? BIG BRO i don't know, i think it's still pretty romantic then again i was married to a writer so i kind of have to think that SHUT UP. you’re not trust me LIL SIS  this isn't going to work if it was, i would've already been with her at this point BIG BRO it's not working because you're too scared and you're messing up your own chances LIL SIS liza never thought that writing my feelings out in a letter was genuine god, monroe's gonna think the same i just know it BIG BRO liza can fuck off LIL SIS i don't think i can do this BIG BRO it's very genuine trust me LIL SIS i can't ruin what we already have i can’t lose her too BIG BRO you WON’T LIL SIS yes i will!!!! every time i try to be honest about my feelings, i lose them!!! miles, liza, luca, max; i was too scared to tell miles i was falling for him and i lost him. i tried to be honest with liza and luca and max, guess what? i still lost them i’m going to lose roe too BIG BRO she loves you too I JUST KNOW IT LIL SIS thta’s literally just how things are for me  BIG BRO you won't lose her LIL SIS she's my best fucking friend, lan i can't risk doing anything and losing her i can’t tell her i can’t risk it BIG BRO How did we go from romantic dinner to this? i’m going to come over there  and SMACK YOU LIL SIS that’s child abuse  i'm your BABY sister, remember? BIG BRO I DON’T GIVE FUCK LIL SIS  rude. but i truly wish i wasn't the way that i am. maybe things would be easier. maybe i'd already have her idk i love her and want her so much BIG BRO then you tell her before it’s too late I know what I’m talking about LIL SIS but literally everything about my past proves that i never get what i want and if i lose her i have no idea what i'm going to do with myself i'm still waiting for the inevitable day that i lose mars and won't have him in my life anymore i just can’t lose either of them BIG BRO You’re not going to lose anyone Look at it this way LIL SIS they both deserve so much better than me BIG BRO you’re annoying and i hate you but i’m still here So why would they leave? That’s not true You’re a wonderful mum to Mars LIL SIS i'm a stripper whose baby daddy is an "ex" drug dealer cps would have a field day knowing that fact alone mars and monroe are the most important people in my life and i'd lose my mind if i lost one of them; i can't imagine what would happen if i lost them both i'm so constantly scared all the time i'm so comfortable with her and have told her things i haven't even told you about but then i try to tell her that i love her and i just clam up BIG BRO It’s normal to be scared and I get why you’re so scared of telling her, I really do LIL SIS and then it becomes so conflicting because i can SEE us being able to work on things together and make us work and i WANT that so much BIG BRO

But I’m so sure she loves you too and I hate seeing you like this knowing everything could be so much better if you tell her LIL SIS  but then i'm also scared that in the end, despite all of our hard efforts, it still doesn't end up working in the end, because i'm just so use to that i love her i love her so much and would do anything for her and i want to tell her and i want to try to make us work she's already helped me and inspired me to become a better person than i was this time last year but i'm so use to everything eventually going to shit at the end and i just can't imagine my future without her so what happens if i do lose her? what do i do? BIG BRO YOU WON’T FUCKING LOSE HER I PROMISE YOU What if she’s feeling the same???? And that’s why she hasn’t told you??? Then what you just go around each other in circles for the rest of your lives until one of you gives up and finds someone else? LIL SIS she deserves someone better she's the most amazing person i've ever met i’m just me BIG BRO i’m going to kill you you’re infuriating I’m going to say this just once so listen well LIL SIS so i’ve been told BIG BRO YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON AND YOU DESERVE LOVE AND HAPPINESS AND IF SHE DOESNT SEE THAT THEN ITS HER LOSS LIL SIS do i??? i literally told you not too long ago that i literally ghosted someone whom i truly wanted to befriend over a year ago. i have constantly pushed away and hurt and lost so many people, including my high school best friend. including max. i've constantly made so many bad choices over the past six, almost seven years of my life and have hurt so many people. i can't hurt mars and monroe, too, and end up losing them as well BIG BRO You can’t base your whole life in bad choices you made in the past!! Do you have any idea how many fucked up things I did?!? Does that mean I don’t deserve to find love again? Don’t answer that.  we’re talking about you You deserve love!! LIL SIS i need to go buy some more groceries i’ll talk to you later BIG BRO You’re running away from me Fine 🙄 LIL SIS  landon i just it’s hard to believe that okay? after everything i've done and after hurting so many people, it's hard to believe that i deserve something as good as those two it just doesn't seem like something that should be a possibility for me BIG BRO yes i love her i love her and mars more than anything else that's why i'm so scared of losing them BIG BRO i think they’re worth the risk LIL SIS i know  i wish i could stop being so scared BIG BRO Can I just say though if you’re so scared of losing her ...maybe you two should stop FUCKING LIL SIS ... shut up

BIG BRO Nope 

LIL SIS  OKAY, i seriously need to go buy groceries, byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee BIG BRO Byeeeee

#discord #text #m: monroe #m: loren #m: roman #m: harry #m: aaron #m: tee #m: zane #//this is long #but very entertaining #enjoy!