#(congratulating myself for doing very easy and simple things. lol)

[dreamdripdistance]

i did two of the extremely scary (yet very easy) things ive been needing to do for weeks. i think i deserve a medal right now what the fuck

[actias-android]

So I heard through the grapevine a bit ago that there's been some certain people with an axe to grind for whatever the hell reason I can't fathom considering I haven't talked to them in multiple years going around saying, 'lol Nevi doesn't know shit, he's basically kin-for-fun, he thinks you can just say you have a kintype because you want to be a thing, how stupid is that.' Like, I must be doing something right if I've got hate-followers letting me live rent free in their head, and given who it was (no I'm not sharing) I'm personally flattered that they dislike me so much. It's a good sign.

And if you thought I was going to refute that, no, fuck the law, you really can just be a thing because you want to be the thing, but there's also a lot more nuance in that than certain people are giving me credit for.

It starts with trusting people, and that includes yourself. You have to trust people to know what they want. You have to trust people to know why they want something. You have to trust them to make accurate statements about themselves in good faith, even if they might later conclude that they were wrong or that their situation has changed. (You also, as a corollary, have to trust that a situation can in fact change, and why wouldn't it? Things change. Identities fluctuate. That's just life.)

Obviously this doesn't include trolls, because they aren't making a factual statement, nor are they acting in good faith. But it does include people whose criteria for judgement may not match yours. It also doesn't mean that you cannot ask constructive questions, or offer other ideas.

I sincerely don't think it's possible for someone to really, wholeheartedly want to be nonhuman if they don't have some kind of connection to the type in question to begin with. Wanting to be a thing is a major symptom of being the thing. You don't claim an identity because you don't see yourself in it, you claim it because you do. And if you feel you're nonhuman enough to say that you're nonhuman, and not be completely lying, congratulations! You're nonhuman. It's literally that simple.

This also doesn't mean that it's impossible to realize you're a kind of nonhuman that you aren't excited about. That happens. I legitimately was not very interested in fae and even now I don't feel much kinship at all with other fae. It's whatever to me. But I still see myself in that as an identity and I still want to say that I'm fae. I can say that I am and I feel truthful, or I can say that I'm not and I feel dishonest. That's literally enough right there.

You also don't have to claim labels that you don't want. Nobody has to be otherkin. That's just a word. Nobody has to subscribe to the entire ideology, and make no mistake, it is a heavily prescribed ideology, with a ton of social and cultural norms. You aren't obligated to follow them if you don't feel like it. You can just not do that. On the flip side, because forcing labels onto people is shitty, nobody is otherkin unless they say they are and actively adopt that label, which hilariously enough makes being otherkin entirely, 100% voluntary. Go figure.

But at the end of the day, if you can say, in good faith, that you are this or that or the other thing? You are. That's it. That's the whole bar you have to step over and it's not high. There's no way to conclusively prove or disprove someone else's entirely internal, subjective experience anyway and that's fine. You can just say you are a thing, and you are the thing. Boom. Easy.

Assuming that I'm out here proclaiming that people are allowed to invent falsehoods for shits and giggles kinda says more about the person making the assumption than it does me. Nobody is saying that, but go off I guess. I'm saying that if someone really, sincerely feels it's true, and they want to assume this identity as a result, then yeah, it's true, because that's all any of us are working with anyway. All the 'proof' in the world amounts to a fuckin' hill of beans, in which the beans are various little thoughts we've decided to see patterns in and assemble in a certain way. That isn't different regardless of if you just got here or if you're the grayest of muzzles. Nobody's got shit over each other, here.

(Also maybe if we haven't spoken in years and I'm still coming up in your conversations as some kind of bogeyman who is simultaneously too stupid to live and yet also somehow menacing your identity with my big smart mouth words, you may be sorely in need of a thing called 'a life.' 'Cause that's kinda sad and I guarantee I'm not thinking about you.)

[ari-kari]

No seducing but was curious on what tips or advice you’d give to beginner writers. Did you study other writers or just winged it and did what felt right to you? I want to start writing but perfection is a bitch for me. Thank you for your time! I adore your stories 💛💛

hey!! thanks so much for this ask, it made my night

so to say perfectionism is relatable for me would be…an understatement lol. To the point where instead of rattling off a bunch of tips, it might just be more helpful for me to share how I got to this point.

I used to be insanely, toxically allergic to being seen as “cringe” - which is kind of just a way of saying I was allergic to vulnerability. I actually wasn’t able to write narratively, at all, until I was in my 20s. Like, “can’t write a single sentence without deleting” level. But I really wanted to express myself creatively, and writing was a cheap and easy way to do that. So without even meaning to, I kind of did my own little exposure therapy regime.

I started out with journaling - simple, factual entries about my day. Dry enough that even I couldn’t tear them apart. Then, slowly, they got a bit more colorful. I started adding jokes. Describing things around me with more “poetic” language. Channeling some real emotion into the thing.

From there, I moved onto poetic prose. Which I justified by claiming wasn’t really poetry - I wasn’t one of those losers, who wrote sonnets and did rhyme schemes and shit. Only…then it was. And the first few were agonizing, but eventually, it was natural. Just a thing that I did.

You see what I’m getting at. It sort of just snowballed from there. I wrote poems, and then I shared those poems with very trusted people, and then before I knew it I was delivering spoken word in front of live audiences. And then I got a little overinvested in ~certain pieces of media~, and thought that maybe I could show my love for said media by making a little media myself. And here we are.

I don’t know exactly what it is about your own writing that scares you, and so I don’t know if any of that tangent was useful. But an idea I genuinely believe in - even if it sounds corny as hell - is that the moment you put a bit of your heart into something, it becomes beautiful. Like, if you’ve bled over something, then congratulations - you’ve made a beautiful thing. My favorite fic of all time is riddled with enough grammatical errors and plot holes to make an English teacher weep, but I genuinely love it - because they put their soul into it, good and bad, and it shows. So if you’re worried about being “that writer” who has no idea what the hell theyre doing, don’t worry - I will probably eat your shit for breakfast. And if I don’t, someone else will. People are wired to connect through art, even - and especially - if it isn’t “perfect.”

anyways sorry it’s 2am here and that went long lol. but thanks for the ask. hope you get to make some cool shit really soon ❤️

[link4eva]

Kiro’s Work Visit Date (探班之约) Translation [CN]

Hi! Just a couple of notes before you begin reading...

This fluffy and wholesome date was just released (March 11, 2021) in the CN server and will eventually be released in the ENG server sometime next year.

I also don’t know any Chinese myself so all of this translation was done through the power of Google Translate and with help from the lovely @keliosyfan​ .

You can read his Couch Potato call that comes with this date here!

Hope you enjoy!~

*Spoilers ahead for future content!*

[First Part]

MC: So now the question is….

Kiro: Wait a minute! I didn’t seem to understand too much of what was said. Let me take a look!

During the video call, Kiro suddenly moved his face close to the screen with excitement.

Kiro: Miss Chips, do you mean that….you’re going to go in person and be a host on the show?

MC: Pretty much….

Some time ago, I did a variety show about a certain European town called “Cloud Tourism”.

The reason it’s called “Cloud Tourism” is because I’ve never been to this small town before. I only got a preliminary understanding of the traditional customs there through a novel.

Out of an abundance of interest, I consulted a lot of relevant sources and finally released a program with the concept of “seeing words as faces”.

Originally it was just an experiment inspired by an idea that didn’t really make any big splashes in China.

Unexpectedly, an internet celebrity from the small town recommended this program on his personal blog which led to it becoming popular very quickly.

Kiro: Oh….slowly but surely, I figured it out.  Not only has this show received great praise, the local TV station also sincerely invited you to come and do some interviews. Even in the form of a reality show, I must say that Miss Chips is amazing!

MC: ......

MC: I think you understand it pretty clearly but some parts are exaggerated….

Kiro: Congratulations, MC!~

Kiro: If I wasn’t shooting abroad, I would definitely take you there to celebrate! But we can celebrate like we did before….

MC: Wait! Wait a minute! I haven’t decided whether to go or not yet….

Kiro: This is a great opportunity to promote the company. Why are you so hesitant?

MC: Although I have previous experience, this would be my first time shooting as the host….

MC: What if I’m too nervous in front of the camera? It’ll affect the shoot.

Kiro: Miss Chips.

On the screen, Kiro sat upright and pushed his glasses up that were nonexistent.

Kiro: It seems that you’ve forgotten that there’s an experienced acting teacher right in front of you.

MC: Pff….I would like to ask Mr. Kiro how I can act natural in front of the camera. 

Kiro: It is very simple. Step one is to do the warm-up exercises in advance. Your shoulders should also be really relaxed. Then imagine the camera as a friend who can’t speak and has big eyes….

A few minutes later, Kiro was still “teaching” very professional acting techniques on the phone screen.

Kiro: Hello, MC, are you still listening?

MC: Um….I don’t think I can do this.

His bright eyes suddenly crinkled upwards, hiding a triumphant smile.

Kiro: I’m just teasing you. In fact, you only need to remember the first few steps.

MC: But I’m worried that if I get nervous, I’ll forget those first few steps. I hope that I can become Kiro that day!

Kiro curled his lips up again when he heard those words.

Kiro: Then close your eyes and hypnotize yourself….

Kiro: “I am the superstar Kiro!” 

[Second Part]

At five o’clock in the morning in the dressing room at the local TV station.

I tilted my head to face the makeup artist and held back yet another yawn.

The makeup artist whispered a few words to the accompanying translator and then left the dressing room.

Translator: Miss MC, the makeup artist has finished your makeup. The director will be here shortly. You can rest for a while.

I nodded gratefully. This country’s language is one that I’m not familiar with so the TV station specifically hired an interpreter.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I felt my phone vibrate.

Kiro: MC, are you still in makeup?

MC: Just finished. Are you ready to start work too?

Kiro: I’ve already been working for an hour.

MC: Why so early? It’s only five o’clock where you are!

Kiro: Don’t worry, I’m used to this kind of shooting routine.

Although I’ve known before that Kiro started almost every filming session in the morning, this was the first time experiencing it for myself. It’s hard work getting up early and putting on makeup.

What’s more, he often works overtime to catch up on his other stuff and rarely has enough time to rest.

MC: Then you must take time to rest!

Kiro: It’s okay. If I’m tired, I just close my eyes and think of Miss Chips’ smile. 

Kiro seemed to take a deep breath on the other end.

Kiro: Hmm~ Charging is complete!

I seemed to see him being content and I couldn’t help being amused by him. 

Kiro: By the way, what is your shooting schedule today?

MC: It’s sightseeing shooting. The director arranged to take me to several local attractions and I can also choose places of interest. 

MC: The first stop on the agenda is to explore the shop on the pedestrian street.

Kiro: Great! I heard from the crew that there is a famous cake shop on the pedestrian street of that small town. I will send you the address.

Kiro: Only by filling up your stomach and replenishing your energy can you be in the best state!

(Cut to the street)

MC: Well….

I watched my stiff expression and rigid body in the video replay. I couldn’t help but curl my toes and pick at the ground.

Director: Take it easy, alright?

I nodded slowly.

The director looked at me with sympathy and discussed some things with the translator for a while.

Translator: The director wants to know if you have anything you want to do. He suggested that if we start with one of your interests first, you’ll get into the right state of mind faster.

MC: Well, there is one place….

I almost immediately thought of the cake shop that Kiro had mentioned.

(Cut to cake shop)

Because of how early it was in the morning when we arrived at this cake shop called “Flipped”, the first batch of pastries had just come out of the oven. 

I was standing in front of the shop window outside the store while the director was preparing for shooting and I made adjustments for myself. 

Shoulders down, jaw relaxed, a smile appeared on my face. I recalled the formula Kiro taught me.

Close your eyes. Look into your heart.

“I’m the “not afraid of anything” Kiro!”

A burst of mellow sweetness lingered wantonly in the air. I opened my eyes and focused on the window again.

A pair of bright and familiar smiling eyes appeared in the window. The owner of these smiling eyes waved to me.

I felt my heart jump out of my chest.

Kiro: Hello, Miss Chips~ 

Looking at the two intersecting faces on the window glass, I finally couldn’t help but smile.

Oops, I really did become Kiro.

[Third Part]

I didn’t expect Kiro to have secretly been planning to see me on set. I was pleasantly surprised and realized that I was deceived by him during the morning call.

I made a “follow me” gesture to him through the glass.

(Cut to alleyway)

In the alleyway next to the cake shop, I wiped away the shock in my heart and checked, again and again, to make sure that no one else had followed us.

Kiro: Don’t worry, MC. Almost all the folks in this small town will have no idea who I am. And….

He pointed proudly to the sunglasses on his nose.

Kiro: I also came prepared.

I looked around and around and deliberately put on a face of worry.

MC: Why are you here? Weren’t you filming in another country?

Kiro: Actually, I don’t have any shooting arrangements today. It only takes an hour and a half to fly to this country from the shooting location. And it only takes two hours to take the train from the town’s airport.

MC: No matter how easy you make it sound, that was no easy journey….

MC: And with this time off, you should be resting in the hotel.

He pulled down his sunglasses aggrievedly. 

Kiro: But I really wanted to visit you at work for once, and give you encouragement at your side, just like what you did for me last time.

Kiro: And more importantly, I really missed you…. 

(Here’s a cute little clip of this dialogue uploaded by @cheri-translates​  !)

MC: Kiro….

All of my pretentious arrogance dissipated in an instant and I was about to reach out and hug him. But, he crossed his arms in front of him.

Kiro: But speaking of shooting, I just observed it secretly and your performance does have some small flaws.

Kiro: Your expressions are small and stiff, your movements are rigid and tiny, and your eye contact flutters from time to time….

Kiro: Also, you can walk without looking at the camera…. If I look at the camera while walking, [robot noises] don’t I look like a robot?

The more he talked about it, the more he assumed the coach position. He made a great show of it too.

I was so embarrassed that I nodded my head to accept the criticism with shame.

Kiro: Hahahaha--I’ll stop teasing you. 

He leaned over and squished my cheek and curled his lips again.

Kiro: Although, I can see that you are a bit nervous. I’m used to seeing your confident working style as a producer on set….

Kiro: It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this nervous. You can do it, love! *Did my own interpretation of what he said here cause I had no clue what Google was trying to say lol.*

He opened his arms and the morning sun fell on his shoulders.

Kiro: Come on, Miss Chips.

Kiro: Thank you for your hard work. For that, you get a rechargeable hug from Kiro.

I nodded my head hard and as soon as I took a step of joy, the director poked his head out of the alley. 

Director: Stand by, sweety!

I slammed the brakes and took out my phone, pretending to take a call. I shook my head slightly at Kiro.

He immediately showed me an aggrieved expression and I gave him a wink.

MC: It’s okay, I’ve already learned a recharging trick from Teacher Kiro.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, sketching a picture of bright, smiling eyes on the pitch-black canvas.

When I opened my eyes, those smiling eyes gradually merged with Kiro’s in front of me.

MC: Charging is complete~

(Cut to inside cake shop)

Under the guidance of Kiro, “the super professional”, I calmed down and tried to get into the shooting state.

However, in order to not affect my shooting state, Kiro pretended to be a stranger and waited silently near the shooting location.

When I don’t know which dessert to choose, he would raise his voice and give me a hint.

With pastry crumbs hanging on the corner of my mouth, he pointed at the corner of his mouth and winked at me until I understood what he meant.

During the filming, there were children running around noisily, so he used the tablecloth on the table to do some tricks to attract their attention.

Perhaps because of his “invisible” companionship, I really became more natural before I knew it.

Translator: The shooting in the store is OK! The director said that we are going to shoot some scenes on the pedestrian street next. Miss MC just needs to walk around the street casually.

After checking the route with the director in the cake shop, I realized that the table where Kiro was sitting was empty.

(Cut to the street)

I walked out of the cake shop and looked around but did not find him.

Without giving me too much time to think, the director shouted to start behind the camera.

I tried to walk the streets with peace of mind but my eyes subconsciously looked for Kiro.

Although the sun is shining in the early spring, there is still a bit of a chill in the air that has just warmed up.

Inexplicably, my heart is a little empty.

There was hustle and bustle on the other side of the street and my gaze followed the prestige in the center surrounded by a group of local children. The familiar blonde hair was dazzling and shining.

Kiro was holding a few yellow balloons in his hand with the children cheering around him as if he had helped them stop the balloons from flying away.

He squatted down and handed them the balloons one by one.

As if he could feel my gaze, he turned around and gave me an unreserved smile.

The empty part of my heart instantly filled up at this moment.

I retracted my gaze and found that the director was gesturing at me to continue walking. I quickly continued to walk.

When I pretended to spontaneously look to the other side of the road, I found Kiro with his hands in his pockets walking at the same pace as me.

Although separated by the road, he walked with me in such a special way.

The approaching noon sunshine finally had the temperature as spring.

[Fourth Part]

The shooting had finally come to an end before dusk came.

But Kiro disappeared when I was filming the last scenic spot.

As soon as I had finished work, I took out my phone to check it and found that Kiro had sent me two text messages half an hour ago.

Kiro: MC, I will have filming tomorrow so I have to rush to take the last train.

Kiro: Also, you performed well. I know my MC is the best.

I hurriedly called Kiro but the call informed me that his phone was turned off.

I took a look at the time and it was about 20 minutes away from the shooting location to the train station in town.

Maybe Kiro has boarded the return train and even arrived at the airport….

However, before I could think rationally, I didn’t hesitate to reach out and stop a taxi.

(Cut to the train station)

Due to the small population of the town, the train station at dusk is deserted.

I couldn’t understand the local language on the big screen at the station so I stood on tiptoe and looking into the waiting area in the hall.

Benches in the waiting area, a window for manual ticket purchases, on both sides of the platform, beside the vending machine.

Kiro wasn’t there.

My shoulders drooped in disappointment and I walked slowly towards the station gate.

The setting sun gives off the last bit of its light and the half-curved dome clouds shroud half the station hall in the shadows.

A slender figure stepped out of the shadow and looked at the phone in his hand, his face was as disappointed and lonely as mine.

The sunset gradually kept coming down for another minute but it just happened to pass through the windows around the station, covering the entire lobby with a layer of gold.

I looked at the young man illuminated by the golden light and couldn’t help but shout.

MC: Kiro!!!

He raised his head with a surprised expression.

Kiro: MC?

I waved at him frantically and ran in his direction.

He regained his senses after a brief moment of disbelief and then opened his arms wide like everytime he hugs me.

The moment his breath came to my face, my heart was filled with contentment.

Kiro put a hand around my waist tightly, lowered his head, and rubbed my forehead.

Kiro: Why are you here?

MC: I remembered that I borrowed something from you today, so I ran to pay you back.

Kiro: What’s that?

I tightened my arms around his neck.

MC: Isn’t this for you?

His breathing seemed to be slightly stagnant. He slid his hand on my waist to my hair.

Kiro: Then I’ll gladly take it.

MC: I….

He bowed his head slightly, and put the words that I was eager to confide in between his lips.

.

.

.

Trains in foreign towns are always prone to delays. Thanks to this, Kiro has been at the station until now so we now have the opportunity to be alone outside of our schedules.

As soon as the setting sun fell, the stars scrambled to fill the sky.

We were dressed in starlight, sitting side-by-side on the benches outside of the station, waiting for the late train. 

Kiro: How was the last scenic shoot? Did it go well? 

MC: OK! But when I was eating a snack, I poured all the ingredients inside by accident.

MC: But in fact, you’re just supposed to pick a flavour and eat it as a dip. The director laughed and shouted “CUT”....

Kiro: Pff….hahahahaha! Fortunately, I wasn’t there or I would’ve been laughing even louder!

MC: And there was….

I counted all the interesting things about today’s shooting, and laughed happily with Kiro.

Kiro: I’m glad I was able to come to the shoot today. Otherwise, I would have missed so many interesting things about MC.

MC: Kiro, do you feel that our current conversations seem to have the roles reversed?

MC: I used to visit you at your shoots, and you talked with me about all the interesting things that happened during them.

MC: Today, we “swapped” identities, and I feel a little delicate.

Kiro: Can I interview the delicate mood of Miss Chips?

He held his hand out to me as if he were holding a microphone and placed it in front of my mouth.

MC: Well, when I was shooting before, I could always feel your gaze. I felt it a lot today.

MC: It turned out to be difficult to stop myself from gazing back.

MC: Obviously, I saw you all day, but I had to hold back from looking at you.

MC: Obviously, you are by my side, but I have to resist the urge to hug you….

My cheeks were slightly hot and I avoided Kiro’s gaze. I lifted my head to look at the stars in the sky when I heard a “click”.

I turned my head and found that Kiro was taking pictures of me with his phone, the power bank that I had given him was still hanging from it.

MC: !

I took a look at the phone in his hand and saw the picture.

MC: It’s ugly! Delete it quickly!

Kiro: How is it ugly? The most natural MC is obviously the most lovely MC!

MC: I’m not letting you keep the power bank to charge your phone as revenge. Delete it quickly!

I struggled to snatch the phone from him, only to find that all the pictures he had taken today were of me.

I randomly clicked on a picture Kiro had taken of me eating a grilled sausage with an exaggerated expression, with me nervously facing the table in the background.

MC: You little….!

I glared at him angrily then clicked on other photos.

I frowned and watched the replay. I was stubbornly asking for another shot and I looked at him in the distance.

Kiro: Miss Chips….

He prolonged the ending, slowly coming closer to me.

Kiro: Don’t delete them. They’re all my precious memories of you. I want to keep them.

MC: No wonder your phone is out of power. You took too many photos!

He heard the relaxation in my tone and happily took the phone from me.

Kiro: Is this really too much? Compared to all of the photos of me on your phone, this is nothing out of the ordinary.

I blushed and tried to retort.

MC: Well, that’s because you are Kiro!

Kiro: But to me, you are MC.

He said this in a sincere tone.

Kiro: Just like you said, I also felt MC’s unusual mood today.

Kiro: I was worried whether you would be thirsty after talking for so long. And worried that you’d be tired after shooting for so long.

Kiro: You did well. I'm proud of you.

Kiro: The most important is….

He slowly came closer to me. I was the only thing in the reflection of his eyes.

Kiro: Although the scenery of this small town is beautiful, your shooting content is also very rich.

Kiro: But just like this moment….

Kiro: Under the starry sky, I can only see you.

Kiro: You are the unique star in my world. 

[END]

[hughiecampbelle]

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MILESTONE!!!!!

May I please ask you for a ship with a guy from MCU?

As for description: I'm a heterosexual girl. I'm usually quite introverted and hate talking about myself or being in the spotlight but am trying to get out of my shell more often than before (still, it's a long process so...). I'm kind and friendly but do have a temper and a poisonous tongue when I'm angry (I'm working on that too). I'm from Bulgaria and just love learning - I'm quite curious about... everything!

I'm a mix of Slytherin and Ravenclaw traits but I've always inclined more to the Slytherin side of me as this is my fave HP house. I have a very strong intuition but need to listen more to it. Boys usually consider me as one of them and never see me as the romantic interest - and I'm too shy to show that I have feelings to someone so you can imagine how hard that makes the things in the romantic deparment for me lol.

Books are my greatest love! I can even start listing my favourite books as this will be an endless ask and I'm sure I'll forget something in the end. I can only say that I hate chick-lit and am allergic to rom com movies. Actually, I'm quite the cynic when it comes to love as I don't believe much in it.

Have a lovely day! 💖

What trope are you? Everyone Can See It But You 💕

You grew up together, you, Thor, and Loki. In Asgard, where the world was beautiful and safe. Everyone knew. Everyone saw the way Loki looked at you, how sweet he was to. He played tricks on all the other kids, but you were special. You were inseparable. Even Odin, a man who took little notice of what his children did, understood that what Loki felt towards you was something more than simple friendship. You never noticed. You'd always thought it was because you were nice to him, that you showed him kindness. You knew what the other kids said behind his back, how they laughed and teased, even how his brother teased him mercilessly behind closed doors. Loki needed a friend and you were more than happy to be there for him, to laugh at his jokes and watch as he surprised you with his "magic". He was your best friend, your adoration mutual. Together you spent quiet afternoons reading together and exploring your home, both of you getting into trouble.

As you grew up, you grew apart. Your lives took different routes, though you would always hold a special place on your heart for him. Loki never dated and after you, he made no more friends. By then it was clear he'd never get to be King, that he'd never be his father's favorite or be anything more than Thors brother. What you had always feared came true: Loki let his temper get the better of him. You knew what that was like, having to bite your own tongue. It caused quite a bit of trouble. Still, you moved on. You lived your life, wanting to reach out, reconnect, unsure how. You lost track oh him for some time, never knowing who to ask about him. You thought he was gone for good, and it saddened you in a way you couldn't explain. Years had passed, you thought you'd moved on, that you'd properly mourned the end of your friendship. Why was it hurting all over again? He tried not to think of you, not to follow this homesickness he felt with no one else. He knew you were adults now, that you were different people, buy how much could things have really changed?

He'd gone to Sakaar, hidden out from his brother and everyone else he knew, when he saw you. In the street, just there. Another place to visit, to learn about, to see. You weren't sure why, but your gut was telling you you needed to go there. For once, you listened. You wanted to rub your eyes, pinch yourself, do anything to see if it was real. After all this time, there he was. You could do nothing but wave, your expression melting into an easy, effortless smile. He did the same. Frigga always told him stories of soul mates, the kinds of people who found the love of their life. He never believed his mother, though he wished he had. The cynic in him laughed at tales of incomplete people walking aimless until they found the one. Now he wasn't laughing. Instead he walked unsteady and embarrassed, wanting to ask you about every second that passed between you all those years ago, coming up speechless. You watch his face grow red, suddenly shy, the two of you unable to say anything. Everyone knew before you did, how you truly felt. You'd ignores them, or thought they were saying it to tease you, but the realization struck you as soon as you saw him: maybe they were right after all. . . .

~ I hope you like it my love!!! Xoxoxo💜💖💜💖💜💖💜

[omoi-no-hoka]

I read your post on how you got started in the translation industry and I was wondering if it is possible to get an entry/basic level translation gigs in Japan with N3-level proficiency or if even those want at least N2 proficiency. Also since you've been living and working in Japan for a long time, what advice would you give those wanting to work in Japan in regards to avoiding black companies?

Finding Translation Work in Japan

Hi there! Thank you for your ask. 

To be honest, “translation” is so very broad that I can’t give you a simple “yes” or “no” as an answer. My answer is “Maybe” with the following caveats. For the sake of this post, I’m going to assume that your native language is English, or that you have native-level proficiency, and you plan to do English↔Japanese translation in a Japanese workplace.

Field of Translation

This is perhaps the biggest factor. I understand that in order to translate legal or medical things, there is a particular certification that you must obtain. This requires N1/native level proficiency in both languages. I have thought of attempting to obtain the medical one, but I’m not ready for it. I would need to study a LOT of terminology in both English and Japanese.

As for other fields, I think it really depends on the company and how much they are willing to teach you on the job. Also, depending on the field, many field-specific terminology may be katakana words derived from English, meaning that while they will be new Japanese words for you, they will not be entirely new words.

But if I were to work in, say, the banking industry doing translation, I would certainly have a hard time learning all the words, especially if I didn’t already have some sort of background in banking in English.

For example, I specifically work as a translator for a company that provides services to other very big companies that you have heard of. Technically, I work for an anti-malware software company and the technical support aspect of it. When a product is updated, I will translate internal manuals and things like that. I also translate the Big Wig conversations, which are done in English since the client and our company’s HQs are in America, so that our local guys know what’s going on. I also create/translate/edit/take minutes for presentations given to Big Wigs. I also handle all IT issues in our project, because our IT ticketing system is 100% in English. ANYTHING English-related is funneled to me.

Contractually-speaking, I do not work for any other clients. But since I’m the only translator in our company in Hokkaido capable of interpretation as well, I am often asked to assist under the table. (Translation and interpretation are two entirely different beasts, btw.) 

While I don’t have a background in IT or computers or anything like that, since most of the terminology is in katakana and I’m not absolutely clueless about computers, my learning curve wasn’t too sharp. I struggled more with bullshit corporate acronyms and the formalities of Business Japanese (sonkeigo and kenjougo). 

A person holding an N2 is considered capable of Business Japanese. Even if you have extensive knowledge in the field of translation, you will have a VERY difficult time adjusting to the Japanese-language workplace if you are not good with Business Japanese. From that standpoint, I cannot recommend someone at N3 to enter a Japanese company to do translation. It will be grueling. I was N1 when I joined the company, and I still had difficulty composing emails and other workplace-related words I hadn’t come across. 

Start with Freelance Translation/Proofreading

There was a year or so where I had N1 but was still teaching English. I found freelance English-Japanese translation jobs online. Lots of them were one-shot things, like “translate this brochure about our little tiny town” or “I am a researcher who has written a paper on Persian-French relations during the 16th century, and I need someone to proofread my English.” Lol that one was pretty specific and paid very handsomely. By doing well on a job, I established a relationship with that client and I would get more work either from them or someone they knew. Prices are fixed before translation. 

The average price for translation is 3-7 yen per character (if the original text is in Japanese) or per word (if the original text is in English). The price increases depending on the complexity of the material. The brochure about the little town was 4 yen per character, but the research paper was 9 yen word (despite the fact I was only proofreading instead of translating because it was incredibly complex). 

Proofreading goes alongside translation. I didn’t really do much of that, but you can see a price range of 1-5 yen per character/word. If you are N3, proofreading is great way to get your feet wet!

NOTE: Do not take on proofreading or translation jobs for a language that is not your native language. No matter how good you think your Japanese is, it will not be good enough to proofread. Even if you have an N1, you will miss things. Even I, as a translator with almost 3 years experience in my field, always have a Japanese coworker proofread everything I translate into Japanese, and 9 times out of 10 they fix at least one thing. 

How to Avoid Black Companies

In Japan, some companies are labeled ブラック企業 “black kigyou,” which means that they violate labor laws in some heinous fashion. Denying pay, benefits, or leave, forcing employees to do grueling amounts of overtime that can lead to 過労死 karoushi (death by overwork), etc. These companies will rob you of your sanity at best and your life at worst, and are to be avoided at all costs. 

When I was searching for a position teaching English, I googled reviews of each big Eikaiwa school, like AEON or whatever else there is. Many previous teachers air their grievances on places like glassdoor.com. It was easy to learn which schools I should avoid.

Also, I applied online to many different big Eikaiwas. Three of them (sorry, I can’t remember which) immediately emailed me back and said I was hired, without an interview or anything. That should be a HUGE red flag to you right there. Why are they so desperate to hire that they’ll take you without even giving you an interview? And even if they do later say, “Your hiring is dependent upon an interview,” that means that their initial contact email was fraudulent. 

Research the company as best you can. See if you can find someone who has worked for them. Beware of smaller, private companies. They tend to fly under the radar and are prone to be even shittier. Then again, there was a woman who died of death by over work a few years ago and she worked for the biggest advertising firm in Japan.

Here’s an article from Business Insider about karoushi and black companies.

A 2016 report examining karoshi cases and their cause of death found that more than 20% of people in a survey of 10,000 Japanese workers said they worked at least 80 hours of overtime a month.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry defines the threshold for karoushi as greater than 80 hours of overtime a month. Since this article was posted in 2018, a new law regarding overtime has been implemented by the Japanese government. Now there is a legal cap on overtime of 100 hours per month (and 720/year) for busier months, with the general upper limit set at 45 hours per month (360 hours/year). 

Even if a company isn’t black, be prepared for overtime. My company makes sure that every employee adheres to the 45 hours per month limit...as best they can. If you follow this blog you know that I have done 60 and 70 hours of overtime in certain months, because I am our only translator and when shit hits the fan I’m the only one who can handle it. 

However, my company is very good about making sure that I receive all of my overtime pay. Every single minute of overtime I do is properly reimbursed. Sometimes this means that if I work 60 hours one month, I will only report 45 that month, and then report 15 extra hours the next month. Or I will take a couple days off but claim that I worked (with my bosses’ approval, of course). 

I can’t speak for other companies for sure, but I fear that when this law was introduced in 2019, many companies did not change their business models and instead forbid employees from reporting overtime that exceeded legal limits, meaning they would be going without compensation. 

So be aware that if you are going to work in a Japanese company, you are likely to have overtime. Some people don’t, and congratulations to them! But it is an extremely real possibility. Make sure that you can handle it physically and mentally, and that you are being properly compensated. After my first month of Big Overtime, my boss told me, “I’m surprised that you managed to do all that. I thought that Americans had a poor work ethic compared to Japanese people, but now I see that’s not true.”

kinda racist, but thx

If you have an interview and it goes well and you receive a contract, ask to take the contract and have time to think about it. Then, have a Japanese person you trust read the contract and make sure there is nothing shady hidden in there. Contracts and legalese are difficult enough in my own native language--I don’t trust myself to catch something in Japanese. 

If your friend thinks that the contract is fair as well, and if you feel like the company has a good atmosphere, take the job. That is what I did, and I am glad I did.

Translation and Interpretation

A lot of people don’t know the difference between “translation” and “interpretation” and use them interchangeably, but they are actually entirely different tasks that require different skills. 

Translation: the conversion of written text from one language to another.

Interpretation: the conversion of spoken word from one language to another.

You will most likely be hired as a translator, because translation is much cheaper than interpretation. However, if your company is like mine, you will have interpretation work to do as well. You may be asked to take part in meetings and facilitate communication between the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking people, or act as a guide to a client from American headquarters, for example.

With translation, you usually have the blessing of time. You can look up a word you don’t know, you can think about the grammar, you can think about tone. 

But with interpretation, you need to be:

Listening to Speaker A’s English and mentally summarizing their words

Starting to say Speaker A’s words in Japanese while holding on to the bits that will come later because English and Japanese word order is so different

Continuing to listen to added speech from Speaker A as you concurrently are relaying their previous speech in to Japanese and retaining the parts that you can’t say yet because of word order.

Then do it all for again for Speaker B’s reply, and repeat. 

Basically, your mind has to be doing three things at once. Does your head hurt? Mine does. If I have to do simultaneous interpretation like that for more than a couple hours I literally develop a headache. 

I will NEVER recommend an N3 person attempt interpretation in a business setting. Nor N2 for that matter. It is hard and you do not have the benefit of time to think and double-check things.

Also, many people don’t understand exactly how difficult it is to do interpretation. I have to sometimes just say “Sorry, pause” to the speaker because my head can’t retain any more, especially if figures and data and dates are referred to. Thankfully my coworkers have come to understand my method and are just happy that I can facilitate communication for them. 

If you have any other questions regarding job hunting, please let me know and I’d be more than happy to offer what advice I have! 💖

[youngbugandtonystank]

I was wondering if I'm the only one who gets irritated when certain articles or movie reviewers on YT refer to Tony and Peter's relationship as one of "mentor and mentee"? While this is true, I feel like addressing them as mentor & mentee makes their relationship solely professional. Like, all Tony cares about is Spiderman and training him to be a better superhero. I get really angry when people interpret things like that and eliminate the personal connection between them. (1)

(2) Some also interpret Happy's words in FFH "Tony wouldn't have done what he did if he didn't know that you're going to be here after he was gone" as if Tony wanted to make sure that Spiderman was alive, so there will be someone to keep the world safe and continue his legacy as a superhero. Again, there is truth in this but I doubt Tony cared about Spiderman when he invented time travel. To me, he wanted to bring back Peter and for no other reason but because he loved him as a son.

(3) Could you please elaborate on this and point out why Tony and Peter shared more of a father/son relationship rather than purely teacher/student one. I love that in a recent post you talked about how Peter's goodbye to Tony was not the typical mentee goodbye. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this because to me, Peter was clearly saying goodbye to a father figure. He was almost begging him to hold on, to not leave them, etc. Thank you in advance!

Hi!

I know what you mean, I hate it when they do that too. 

Before this, we need to see the difference between the three concepts Peter means to Tony:

1. Mentee: is a person who is being mentored. 

(’What we discussed. Keep your distance. Web 'em up.’)

(’Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping little people, like that lady that bought you the churro.’)

(’Don’t do anything I would do, and definitely don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. There’s a... There’s a little grey area in there, and that’s where you operate.’)

Haha, even at this stage Tony congratulated Peter like three times the same day lmao

Peter Parker: Hey, everyone.Tony Stark: . . . Good job.

Tony Stark: Nice job, kid.Peter Parker: Thanks.

Peter Parker: What?Tony Stark: You did a good job. Stay down.

Tony Stark: I wanted to tell you what an incredible job your nephew did this weekend at the Stark internship retreat. Everyone was impressed.

The pattern of telling Peter that he did a great job constantly is something Tony wanted from his father and from there, you can tell he’s already entering the parental territory even if he was just the mentor at that time.

Protegé: is a person guided and protected by a more prominent person, their relationship is mutual. 

(’I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you?’)

(’it’s never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT.’)

(’You know what? He actually made a really mature choice. It just surprised the heck out of us.’)

Son-figure/Pseudo-son: one who can identify on a deeply psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. A person who looks up to someone older and treats them like a father. 

(’What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on you. And if you died, I feel like that’s on me.’)

(’I wanted you to be better.’ ‘Pete, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you.’)

(’My dad never really gave me a lot of support... And I’m just trying to break the cycle of shame.’)

(’But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way...’)

Peter Parker: Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?Tony Stark: Kid, where'd you come from?Peter Parker: Field trip to MoMA.

Peter is all of the above. He went through those with Tony and their relationship developed into father-son territory.  

For me, it’s easy to tell that they have a father-son relationship by just looking at the same scene you mentioned; Tony’s death.

Think about it, Pepper has been in Tony’s life for around 10 years and Rhodey has been in his life since he was 15 and the fact that Peter is within the circle of people to say goodbye to him personally means a lot. The directors picked Peter, Pepper, and Rhodey to create an emotional goodbye to Tony, with the people who are closest to him. Peter is one of them, I don’t think a simple mentee would get that privilege. If Peter was just the mentee in Tony’s life he would’ve gotten this type of goodbye:

Far away and keeping distance. But Peter got the close contact, Rhodey even gave Peter time with Tony and Pepper even helped Peter up. That looks like a family dynamic. 

I don’t if you read my comparison between Harley and Peter but if Peter was playing only the mentee part he would’ve been in Harley’s position. Tony and Harley probably kept contact through text messages and emails. He was invited to the funeral and stood very far away from Tony’s inner circle. Harley could’ve easily gotten an internship just like Peter since the kid is also smart and Tony could’ve said something about him in the movies but not once was this kid mentioned. This is because Harley is more like a ‘part-of-the-legacy’ kid of the generation that Tony appreciates than a pseudo-son. 

A simple mentee wouldn’t get the treatment Peter got:

I think some people really think EDITH is just a normal A.I. or some pair of technological glasses lol no. EDITH can and is: 

Tony’s security and defense system.

Tony’s most powerful artificial tactical intelligence.

Gives access to Stark Industries' global satellite network. The entire Stark global security network.

Stark Industries’ arsenal of missiles and drones.

Back door to all major telecommunication networks.

Capable of hacking into nearly any computerized device. 

Is programmed to have Peter Parker as the only authorized user.

Stark Industries' weaponry. 

Is the user interface to the entire Stark Industries network.

Tony basically gave him his legacy and his company there. A mentee wouldn’t get that responsibility. Why not give the glasses to Rhodey; an officer with the United States Air Force and liaison between the military in the Department of Acquisitions and Stark Industries; an actual aerospace engineer and Tony’s best friend? Why not leave that to Pepper; the CEO of his company and wife? Or Happy, his head of security and one of his best friends? In terms of the company, Peter now has almost the same power as Pepper. Almost. 

He gave that to Peter because he trusted him and loved him as a son, someone worthy of carrying his legacy.

Many wanted Tony to leave Peter money or something fancy, but the truth is, what’s really more important and personal than a man’s entire legacy and trust? Nothing. Not even money. Also, who’s to say he didn’t leave money too? We’ll find out in the next movie, who knows, maybe he left something else too. 

Let’s also remember EDITH wasn’t just a pair of glasses before, she was just like JARVIS or FRIDAY but Tony decided to upload her system in the glasses.

More proof of this is Peter being able to call Happy and ask him to go to an entirely different continent to pick him up in a private jet where Happy not only helps Peter with his injuries and lets Peter use Tony’s technology like nobody’s business but also assures him that Tony did everything he did in Endgame for him. This is not the treatment a mentee gets. 

Even in Ant-Man, Hank Pym gave his protegé Darren great power in their relationship because and I quote: ‘I thought I saw something in him, a son I never had perhaps.’

Even if their stories are different, Pym mentions he saw a lot of himself 

Darren Cross:All those years ago, you picked me. What did you see in me?

Hank Pym:I saw myself.

Darren Cross:Then why did you push me away?

Hank Pym:Because I saw too much of myself.

Some mentees and protegés are meant to evolve into something more and this is what happened with Tony and Peter. I don’t think they thought their relationship would get to the point it got but it did.

Directors, producers, actors, and actresses have said it before and the only ones who can’t accept the fact are either tony antis, comic book super fans or fans of the first spiderman movies. Other people can clearly see their relationship for what it is. 

There’s one thing I really hated before FFH came out, actually even before Endgame came out; many were already replacing Tony as Peter’s father figure and were guessing who was going to be the next one in line. They were nominating Doctor Strange, Happy or Fury as if being a father figure is something superficial and exchangeable. And you want to know why they were already replacing him? Nope, it’s not because Tony was going to die, at that time nobody knew that, it’s because it was stated before that RDJ was not going to participate in FFH. That’s the only reason. I get it, Peter had two father figures and he lost his biological dad but that doesn’t mean Peter sees every single male out there as a father figure, sure he can get attached because he’s a kid but he doesn’t love them the way he loved/loves Ben and Tony.

Thnx!♥ 

I also know I have other asks in my inbox and I promise I’ll get to them as soon as possible. 

[vlogsquadssquad]

Welcome Back To Views - Chapter 5

summary: David invites reader to do his podcast since Jasons out of town and Carly and Erin wingman the interview. David and reader bond as friends.

warnings: none

A/N: this is a continuation of an ongoing story on my page. you can find my master list here and the previous chapter here 

“just call her, Dave.” Natalie sat on the couch eating a mango, while dealing with David's breakdown.  

“I can't just call her, Natalie! I haven't texted her since I basically said she was beautiful and she didn’t reply!”

“yeah, but you guys talk on twitter or Instagram all the time...?” Carly waved her arms, confused.

“no, that’s different.” David sighed “I guess I can just congratulate her on her new stupid boyfriend.” all the girls, Erin included nodded.  

---

After he hung up the phone he looked to the girls with an apologetic face. “I'm so sorry, I know I said I'd do the podcast with you guys but it just slipped out and I wanted to see her again.”  

“aw daveyyyy!” Erin squealed, “you really like her!” David nodded his head “honestly David, its fine. Do you want us to stay and wingman this podcast?” Carly offered “ooooh fun!” Erin excitedly wrote notes in her phone to try to figure out y/n.

---

You knocked on the door and David came to let you in, “hey, y/n! Great to see you.” and went in for a hug. You hugged him back and greeted everyone.  

After about an hour of talking with everyone and eating food, David set up the podcast stuff and decided to do it on his couch in the living room, since there were a few more people than normal. You got comfortable and David handed you a mic. He tested the sound and got started.

“hello you guys welcome back to viieeewsss, the podcast where I'm not here with Jason, today I'm with the most beautiful girls in the worl- living room. My living room. Right now.” he laughed his iconic laugh and everyone else scoffed. You took over, “well I'm here with world Guinness smallest penis champion, DAVID DOBRIK, let's give it up for him whoooo!” and all the girls cheered and clapped.

“okay, I'll be honest, does not feel good being the bullied.” he laughed; he had such a good sense of humor.

After some simple chitchat and introducing each of the girls, Erin chimed in with her invasive questions.

“so, y/n I know you have an ex-husband and a child but you seem so young!”

“uh yeah, I guess, well I got pregnant when I was 18. I got engaged after I found I was pregnant and then I had my son at 19. I didn’t get married till my son was 2 just cause money was tight. And then we got divorced a year and a half ago.”

“oh wow, girl, you been through it. You want to go get drunk instead?” Carly joked

You laughed, “no I mean it was hard at first, definitely but now me and my ex can just focus on being parents and he's my best friend above everything, he supports me in everything I do and we’re still very close. We just were meant to have this amazing child and then go our separate ways.” you chuckled nervously.

“that's great. It seems like your child has a very healthy set of parents. How old are you, I'm sorry?” Erin had questions back to back

“I'm 24. about to be 25 in a few months.”

“wow I suddenly feel so old...” Carly joked “you've had this whole life and I've had two boyfriends and a slightly successful YouTube channel.”

Everyone in the room laughed, but David's laugh covered everyone else's almost like a warm blanket. After about 10 minutes of chit chat Erin was ready for her next question, “so give us the deets, what's your type? What do you look for in a guy?”

“um, that’s so hard because no one believes me.” you laugh softly, “I'm definitely a personality person. I know everyone says that but its genuinely true for me. I like someone who can make me laugh. I always joke with my friends that if a guy can make me laugh when I'm sad or mad, its done, I'm his, I'm in love.” everyone laughed. “but if I HAD to say looks... I don’t know, I tend to date guys with brown hair. I mean that’s the only common thing. I just really love genuine nice guys, someone who cares about others. Maybe an advocate? I like dorks too. Jim halpert, nick from newgirl, shawn spencer in psych. Those type of guys, I don’t know.”

“aw that’s a good type of guy to like.” Carly agreed. “Dave, you're so quiet it's like our podcast now, we should change it to ‘girl talk.’ do you have any questions?”

David laughed, “yeah, I know, I should just sign over the rights to you guys. You're doing a much better job than when Jason and I do it. But umm, sure, y/n, what's your ideal first date?” the girls ‘oo’d and David shook his head with a slight smirk.

You giggled and took a second to think. “I don’t know. I'm a pretty simple girl. I'm fairly easy. I want to say like watch movies at either persons house and pig out, but I don’t wanna scare anyone away.” everyone laughed. Erin chimed in, “um I'm sorry with that body, you're not scaring anyone away.”

The girls laughed and David raised an eyebrow.  

“well I guess talking is really important to me. A lot of guys think a movie is a great first date and it definitely can be if it followed with a dinner or something to get to know each other. A picnic would be romantic. Or even an activity. Like the art museum, or the beach, or a theme park. I don’t know something where you're forced to actually get to know each other. That’s so lost in today's generation. Everyone just wants a fast hook up. That’s why I also wait for any first kisses a couple dates down and I don’t have sex till I know for sure this person is serious and I'm serious about this person.”

The girls were in awe “wait really?” Carly asked. “that's so great because you're 100% right.” Erin added. “yeah, that’s really cool. I actually respect that a lot. There's nothing wrong with girls sleeping around or whatever but it's also cool to see some girls hold off and don’t give in that easy.” David added.

“yeah, I don’t know it's just not me to flaunt my body or sleep with people regularly. I like to keep it more of a mystery. I think that chase is really hot and can make a relationship last even longer. But there really isn't a problem with girls flaunting what they got or sleeping with people, to each their own. But my own ideals are different.”  

After 30 minutes of getting lost in conversation, David wraps it up.

“alright this is going to be the longest podcast in views history, thank you girls for coming on and helping me not tank this week's podcast without Jason... you know maybe I don’t need him after all,” everyone laughs “no but seriously thank you Carly and Erin and a special thank you to y/n for coming on here, congrats to your new boyfriend, he's a lucky lucky guy and I wish you the best, um thanks for listening this has been views... my name jeff, bye!”

David starts to put the podcast stuff away and you start to help him.

“hey, you don’t have to do that, I got it.”

“no no, I'm a guest. I was taught to clean up after myself in someone else's house.” you laugh softly. “well thank you.” David said.

After another hour or so of chatting it was already 11pm and both Carly and Erin left. It was just you and David on the couch just talking. He talked about his parents, and you talked about yours. You both talked about childhood pets, stupid things you thought as children, and what kind of people you both were in high school. Soon it was 1am and you had to get up at 7am for a shoot. David offered to let you stay there but you didn’t bring any clothes and you had to come to the shoot in hair and makeup already. You hugged David bye and he asked to text him when you got home safe.

---

You pulled in your driveway and sat in the car silently. Thinking about tonight. You felt crazy that you liked David after only meeting him twice. Every hug made your heart skip, every time he looked at you, you shifted in your seat. He made you so uncomfortable yet comfortable at the same time. But you had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who was perfectly nice. Perfectly funny. Perfect. You walked in your door to your empty home and wished someone, anyone was there. You set your keys down, kicked off your shoes and pulled out your phone.  

‘hey David, ended up not getting murdered. Maybe next time. Fingers crossed. Good night’

‘fuck the guy I hired wasn’t there?’

‘no sign of him, let me check the bathr--’

‘shit I'm gonna get so many views for the podcast going up on Thursday’

‘” SHE DIED FROM WHAT?” it'll be great’

‘haha. Goodnight y/n. Your hair looked great tonight’

‘thank you, but wrong timing. It was an audio podcast Lol goodnight’

What a dork.

[mariahmaru]

You Shall Be Bound Heart and Soul

For Day Six of Ansem’s Apprentice Week!

Theme: AU/Restoration

Shipping: King Ansem x Evën

Author’s Note: Sequel to this. And if you’re interested this is what Evën’s suit and ring looks like. This is what Ansem’s suit and ring looks like. And the song Roxas and Ventus sings is Simple Thing (Called Love) by Jesse McCartney because... of obvious reasons. lol.

@apprenticeweek

I hope you enjoy!

The people of Radiant Garden was a bit excited today. There were booths open in town square, flower decorations, and banners saying ‘congratulations’, but for what exactly? For the King of Radiant Garden’s wedding of course. The king was finally going to marry his fiance, Evën. It’s been ten years since King Ansem proposed to his partner and now they’re finally going to get married.

Evën nervously fixed his black tie while looking at the mirror. He wore a baby blue suit with a buttoned coat and a white dress shirt under. His long blond hair was put up in a bun and he still had his reading glasses on. The man started to get really sweaty and kept untying and adjusting his tie, he just didn’t look perfect. Ienzo sighed annoyed, watching his guardian fiddle with his tie, “You look fine Evën. We’re going to start soon.”

The blond flushed, “Okay. Okay. I’m calm. I’m calm…” He then looked at his reflection again, “Maybe I need a different color?”

“NO.” Ienzo stated making the older man flinch, that was rather loud of the teen. He then walked over and straightened Evën’s suit up, “You’re fine.”

“No I am not fine!” Evën mumbled and started to pace around the room, “It’s been merely three months since I was restored to my human form! Ansem and I haven’t seen each other in ten years! Surely his feelings have changed for me! I betrayed him, sure I helped save him from Xehanort’s plan, but that doesn’t heal ten years of hurt! What to do? Is it really too late to call this off? What if we reschedule? Yes! Surely Ansem would understa--” 

He stopped when Ienzo hugged him. Evën relaxed and wrapped his arms around his son. That calmed him down a bit as his muscles loosened up a bit.

“Everything will be okay.” Ienzo reassured and loosened the embrace, “What does your heart say?”

Evën’s eyes looked down to the side, “To… go on with the wedding.”

“Then listen to it. Sometimes your heart knows more than your head and your head talks too much.” Ienzo stated before chuckling.

The groom smiled, “I suppose you’re right… Thank you Ienzo. You’re the best son anyone could ask for.”

They gave each other one last hug before Aeleus knocked on the door and peeked in, “Evën. It’s time.”

The blond flinched from those words and got nervous again.

Ienzo let go of him and patted his back, “You’ll be fine.”

Evën swallowed hard and nodded, walking out. Aeleus and Ienzo followed close behind him till he stopped, seeing Ansem at the door entrance with Dilan by his side waiting for him. Evën’s fiance wore a nice beige suit, coat open to show off the vest from the inside, very different from the usual attire he wore.

The king smiled, “You look beautiful.”

The blond flushed before Aeleus started nudging him towards the king. When they were face to face, Evën was shaking a bit.

“Nervous?” The king asked.

“Nonsense!” Evën stated, with Ienzo nodding his head in the background.

Ansem chuckled and held his arm out, “Do not worry. I am as well.” Evën nodded and nervously wrapped his arm around his fiance. 

Aeleus, Dilan, and Ienzo crept through the door’s entrance and shut it behind them, leaving the two men alone. The scientist’s heart felt like it was beating out of his chest and kept shaking. They were really going through with this.

Oh he didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve him. Of all the bad things he had done to Ansem, the love of his life, it was unforgivable. He couldn’t atone for his sins, he wasn’t worthy of this.

“Evën…” Ansem said, making the other man tear away from his thoughts, “Why are you so nervous?”

The older man looked at the ground, “I… I can’t do this Lord Ansem… I don’t deserve you… Not one bit.”

“Again you say this, but I do not understand why. Evën, do you doubt me when I say that I love you?”

Evën looked at him, “Of course not.”

“Do you doubt me when I said that I have forgiven you?”

“No…”

“Then why is there doubt in your heart?”

“No, not my heart… My head. My heart wants me to walk down this isle with you but my head… My head just tells me bad things.”

Ansem then touched Evën’s cheek with his warm hand. The older man’s emerald eyes locked onto the king’s amber eyes.

“Your head does not have all the answers Evën. Listen to me instead. You are worthy, you are amazing, and I love you very much. I cannot imagine doing this with someone else so please my love, cheer up.” He gave him a small kiss on the lips, “It’s our wedding day.”

Evën blushed as the doors opened and music started playing. The scientist quickly straightened himself to see the aisle leading down the room with all of their friends standing up and looking at them. The two began to walk as Roxas’ band played the music. Ven was playing a guitar, Lea played the bass, Isa played the drums, and Roxas was the lead vocalist.

“Everything's a fight, everyday's a struggle.

Seems like fear is the guide that they want us to use.

Scared to raise our voice.

Afraid to make a choice.

But your powers inside.

No one can take that away from you.”

Ven then joined in the singing, “If you wanna change the world.

You gotta change your world.

It's a simple thing that connects you and me.

Everything's so complicated.

Everyone seems so frustrated.

Can we get back to the basics?

It's a simple thing called, lalalalala love.

A simple thing called, lalalalala love.

We can't keep livin' in confusion.

And we're runnin' out of excuses.

I know it doesn't seem that easy.

But, please, believe me.

All we need is love.”

When the song ended the two grooms were at the end of the aisle, greeted by the all powerful wizard Yen Sid.

The wizard then spoke, “Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today for the union of Ansem the Wise and Evën the Academic, in matrimony. You may exchange your vows.” Ansem nodded before he spoke, “Evën.” He held both of his groom’s hands into his, “I have loved you for many years ever since I was a young boy. You and I have been blessed with children who I adore, Ienzo, Roxas, Xion, and Namine, and I can only hope for more in the future. We might be opposites but we complete each other, making each other whole, and I cannot see myself with anyone else.”

Yen Sid nodded and looked at Evën, “Your vows.”

“Ansem I…” Evën said and cleared his throat, “Ansem I always woke up early in the morning to make sure you’re eating and doing your work. You have been my friend for years, whether I liked it or not. You were alway kind to everyone who approached you and very generous. We fought but…” Tears rolled down his face, “And somehow you always had the heart to forgive me. You always included me to anything you do from eating ice cream to adopting a son. Never in my life--” He sobbed and Ansem touched his cheek, “Never in my life I thought I would be blessed with a family but I’m glad it’s with you. Ansem, I love you with all of my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you!”

Ansem took out a handkerchief and helped wipe away Evën’s tears.

Yen Sid nodded and looked at Ienzo, “May you please bring the rings?”

Ienzo nodded and walked up with a silk pillow that held two platinum rings. One with rubies and one with sapphires. Ansem took the sapphire while Evën took the ruby.

“With the exchanging of rings, you shall be bound heart and soul, together forever with many stories to be told.”

Ansem then took Evën’s left hand and slipped on the sapphire ring on his finger, afterwards Evën took Ansem’s left hand and slipped the ruby ring onto his love’s finger.

“With the power vested in me and of the Kingdom of Radiant Garden, I pronounce you wed. You may kiss your partner.”

Ansem gently placed his hands on Evën’s face and pulled him into a kiss. Evën flushed as he touched his now husband’s cheek and kissed back. Everyone in the room applauded as the husbands broke the kiss and hugged each other. Ienzo, Xion, Namine, and Roxas hurried to the newlyweds and joined in the hug. The king laughed happily as his family gathered and kissed Evën again.

Above them in the rafters, a cloaked man sat and clapped, “Way to go Evën… I was worried you were going to be an old maid forever.” He then got up, “Congratulations, I’m happy for the both of you.” He then raised his arm and made a black portal and left.

May your hearts be your guiding key.

[scarlettlawyer]

Part 10 of my reaction/commentary to the Phantoms & Mirages fanfic series by @renegadewangs

(Chasing Phantoms): Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

(Haunted Specters): Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

(Vanquishing Mirages): Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

So moving forward, as I continued to read on, there was a backdrop of salt, apathy & hurt overshadowing everything as established in the previous post. But I was still reading on because “might as well see what happens I guess”. Starting Vanquishing Mirages chapter 20, I was also nervous & intrigued. Nervous about how the narrative was going to go about this and what the result was going to be… So I read on kind of with bated breath.

And it just remains in that interesting stage for a little while, the uncertainty stage where I don’t really know where it’s gonna go, for those first few paragraphs, as I’m waiting and reading on to see how it turns out… and then it takes a downturn when the negative emotions just start POURING in tsunami style and everything just starts crashing down horribly. I go quickly from nervous/intrigued to kind of horrified as it strikes me just. How. Traumatic and overwhelming the entire experience would be for someone who has never really had to deal with emotions of much severity their entire life. I’m just oh no… oh no…….. oh nooooo….. I didn’t foresee this at all, so distracted by so many things up until this point, and yet it makes perfect sense. But it was a real punch huh. This was awful, what a disaster. This was not good… Which is basically what Simon says:

What a mess. What a complete, total and utter mess. […] Perhaps this was punishment for playing god. Perhaps they’d flown too close to the sun. Perhaps they were Frankenstein, responsible for giving birth to a failed creation.

Me:

[hides away in a corner because I think we broke him lads]

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 21

The Phantom blinked, shedding a few more tears as he did so. Perhaps he hadn’t quite processed Simon’s words. Perhaps he hadn’t quite processed the situation in general. He swallowed and sniffed, then tilted his head backwards.

Am I meant to be picturing this in anything less than stunningly beautiful and fluid animation? Because I am not picturing this in anything less than gorgeously rendered animation.

Whatever it was that’d held Bobby back from touching the Phantom before, it was gone now. He placed a hand atop the Phantom’s clenched fist, hoping it might soothe him. “Whoah, it’s okay. It’s fine.” “It’s not fine! How dare you claim that it’s fine?! YOU did this to me!”

AAAAAAND WE’RE BACK LADIESANDGENTLEMAN HELLO THERE NARRATIVE FRAMING OF HIM AS A CHILD: ACTIVATE

HELLO! this is exciting and new!

“Calm yourself.” “I can’t! I CAN’T!”

He really wouldn’t know how to or be able to!

AND THEN AT THIS POINT IT JUST HIT ME

THIS MAKES PERFECT SENSE

HE ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE THE EMOTIONAL MATURITY OF A CHILD BECAUSE HE’S NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MATURE EMOTIONALLY, DUH, CAUSE HE LACKED EMOTIONS SO MUCH, THIS IS BRAND NEW TO HIM H

Narrative framing of him as a child during Haunted Specters REALLY paying off even more right now! We’ve already reaped so much from those seeds. But now! Oh boy!

“We would not honor such a request even if it were within our capabilities. Congratulations, Phantom. You are now free to tussle with emotions just like every other human.”

MY FEELINGS/REACTION TOWARDS THIS WHOLE SITUATION CHANGED SO FAST IT WAS LIKE:

“Oh noooo… this is so awful and terrible for him this is too much I can’t handle th… W-wait. Phphhw. Heh. Hah. HahahaHAHAHA MUAHAHA YEEEES ONE OF US ONE OF US DEEEEEEEAL WITH IT HAHAHA SUCKERRRRRRRR!”

The Phantom’s wide eyes followed Fulbright out the room. Apparently, his departure served to rile the man up even further. “Get back here! Bobby Fulbright! You get back here and end my suffering RIGHT NOW!”

This is just so good this is just so good hohoooh!

The Phantom sniffed and huffed. Flinched and scrunched his eyes shut, his breathing turning to more helpless sobs. Tears continued to run down the side of his face, disappearing into locks of hair just above his ears.

Hey yeah just saying it again. This is nothing but pure unadulterated animation mode for me. With REALLY GOOD animation. A really gorgeous 2D anime style.

Simon hesitated for a moment, then placed a careful hand atop the Phantom’s closed eyes. They felt soggy and unpleasant to touch. “Focus on the sound of my voice and nothing else. Focus on my voice and breathe.”

IT’S WEIRD CAUSE LIKE. I HAD VERY FRESH PHANTOMQUILL WOUNDS AT THIS POINT OF READING BUT. Right up until The Kiss prior to the surgery I had been very firmly in the parental-child dynamic mindset camp and thoroughly enjoying myself. It was the kiss and stuff that I found jarring at first BECAUSE of that before getting up and moving over to phantomquill mode, only for it to turn out to be fake phantomquill. You’d think it might actually be hard for me to go back to “Oh the phantom is a child and Bobby and Simon are his parents” after the phantomquill fiasco but in terms of mindset, it really wasn’t difficult because I’d only been in Phantomquill mode comparatively VERY briefly before it got destroyed. I was already thoroughly versed in the ways of the parent-child dynamic heh and had spent waaaay longer enjoying that lens. Being so used to it, it was easy enough to switch back over to it.

Do NOT get me wrong, I was still VERY upset over it, yet somehow I could still deeply enjoy the familial dynamic between Simon and the phantom in this moment.

So I basically was still grumbling angrily about phantomquill under my breath while somehow simultaneously excitedly going “OMG SUPPORTIVE DAD SIMON!!!”

Me: yeah. Yeah. You’re really just Piling On that family dynamic after that huge mess with the kiss and the baiting??? Just showing me blatantly to my face how wrong I was to ever read romance into anything? You have the gall to?

Also me: …I still love the parent-child dynamics from this series so FIIINE I do appreciate this scene. I appreciate it a lot, actually. HMPH

Talk about being of a conflicted mind. But there’ll be more mention of that to come.

…Oh, and yeah, I have still been referring to him as the phantom, haven’t I? Well that’s simple: it’s what the narrative is still calling him, so I continue to call him by that title until it is dropped by the narrative itself

Besiiides, for all intents and purposes, during this small gap of time until it changes, he is NOT quite Lex yet, because he has not yet accepted the name and nor has the narrative itself.

So we get this awesome little window which is just, he’s still “the phantom” if that’s the only title we have before “Lex” is accepted and taken on. Pure, unfiltered “Phantom” + Emotion and it’s sooo special. Which… yes… Phantom + Emotions = becomes Lex but… argh, it gets confusing very quickly for me. :P

The question seemed to startle the Phantom for some reason. … No, not the Phantom. It was Lex, now. That notion still felt foreign. Perhaps Alexander would be more suitable. More formal. Less personal.

I WAS SOOO THANKFUL FOR THIS ON FIRST READTHROUGH. I was thankful for how jarring Simon was finding it too (because in that respect he certainly wasn’t alone lol – I wasn’t alone). I was thankful that the narrative hadn’t immediately switched over to saying “Lex” after he woke up from surgery. Oh, and I’d even been thankful waaay back when his name being Alexander Luster Jr was first revealed that the narrative switch hadn’t been made then either. I mean, it wasn’t for OBVIOUS reasons but like… Technically that’s his name. So the narrative could have tried making an attempt at it and I was just glad he was still always “the Phantom” even when we knew what his name was when he was born. Cause he sure as hell didn’t accept the name back then.

But I was SUPER thankful for Simon deciding to call him “Alexander” too. It was kind of a real godsend BECAUSE LIKE. The name “Lex” was so heavily entrenched and still attached in my mind to that super mean bald dude that got killed off. It was a name that therefore felt “ugly” that had been attached to a man with an “ugly” personality. And whoever this man was that woke up from the surgery, it sure as HELL didn’t feel like his name. I was kinda like “buddy. If you want me to start calling this character “Lex” you’ve got another thing coming.” So having “Alexander” instead was a relief that helped A LOT at the time lol. It was sooo much easier to switch to. And Simon going for the more formal variant is such a Simon thing to do anyway. XD

Also???? Alexander… Alexander Luster… felt like such a pretty name actually???? BUT I MEAN. I am the first to admit that I am probably extremely biased on that front. And that I’d probably just. End up thinking just about any name applied to him was “pretty”. LOL.

But yeaaahhh although I kinda had a hard time with the “Lex” business at first, after a little bit of time it became easy to accept, as it usually goes with these things. Now I’ve got 0 problems with it. Lex is Lex!

“That makes you nothing more than an ungrateful child,” Simon grumbled, finally stepping away from the window to take his own seat.

Every time the narrative makes a DIRECT reference or draws a DIRECT parallel to him being a child it feels like it adds another 3 years to my lifespan.

“Ahahahah! I-I c-can’t! Hahahahah! Ahahahahah! Irony!~”

…

MEOWZY. YOU. YOU. DID THIS. YOU MADE THE CONSCIOUS DECISION TO PUT A TILDE THERE. H.

I.

TH

You did that. You did that on purpose. What did you doooooo. What’s HAPPENING

I can’t… I… just needed to point this out and take you to task over it. GOSH

The i-intent… the intent of this in the narrative

As if to say,

Look… Look at how… endearing

As if to say,

“Yes, you not only can, but SHOULD find this endearing”…………

Ohooooh it’s too much IT’S.

It’s death by tilde is what it is. You didn’t. Need to. You could have just left the words and such as it was. But you threw it in, intentionally showing off how we’re supposed to take this just in case there’s any mistake.

You’re under arrest.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 22: Epilogue

Still, as he raised the headphones to his ear, he heard enough. It was indeed playing music- and what horrid music it was. “-When skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” “Where the devil did you get this?” he demanded, virtually throwing it into Alexander’s lap.

BRO THIS IS SO UNREAL.

The sheer image of the (former) phantom listening to music was so wild and then it jUST

Alexander’s fingers began to play with the headphones, twirling them around in his hands as he spoke. “You know, it’s funny. I’ve listened to music before, but it’s like I’ve never really heard it. …Does that make sense?”

OH MY GOOOOOSH. THIS REALISATION HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK. THIS HAD NOT OCCURRED TO ME… AT ALL! BUT IT’S SO…! :D HE CAN LISTEN TO AND ENJOY MUSIC NOW. Get immersed in it. That was the most fantastic realisation to me. No, you don’t understaaaand, you see, as a child, getting immersed in listening to music was so central to me that as a kid I’d come up with a bunch of story ideas involving things like other planets/alien creatures that would revolve their entire society around music, or alien creatures that have no concept of music and get introduced to it and subsequently immersed in it for the first time. This just hit so close to hoooome, oh my goodness, I hadn’t remembered or thought about those memories/story ideas that kid me had for maybe a good ten years, and this fic suddenly reminded me with the headphones business. It’s really not related to the fic to mention but I’d looong forgotten about all those scenarios I’d thought about and it was so cool to be reminded. :’D

BUT ANYWAY BACK TO THE FIC-

Me like three chapters ago: WAAAAH, NOTHING THIS SERIES COULD EVER DO COULD EVER MAKE ME HAPPY AGAIN!

Me reading this chapter not too long afterwards: HMMM OKAY I AM KIND OF VERY HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

Oh and it just occurred to me: my guess is the person who “overslept her own execution” was Cammy Meele!

And now, I’m gonna start talking about Lifting Spirits! But at least just for this post, I’m gonna change things up a little and not segment my comments chapter-wise or comment on little things, but rather talk about stuff pertaining to the earlier parts of the fic as a whole. This is necessary because my thoughts were an unbelievable mess and were so terribly bunched together – that is, thanks to reading through it relatively fast, I guess everything got kind of mixed together, so individual reactions to individual parts of it are a little less well-“defined” than was the case with the prior fics at the point of reading.

...I don't know if I could ever do Lifting Spirits justice. I CERTAINLY don't do it justice in this post. Believe me, I want nothing more than to just sit down and gush endlessly about it because that's what it warrants, but for the time being this post seems to be too busy trying to outline just how much my own disposition threatened to botch and ruin it for myself. XD 

But it will get better in future review posts, I promise!

Yeah, my thoughts were a contradictory, convoluted, conflicting mess. There was SO much going on at once for me with regards to how I was responding to the text on first readthrough. It’s hard to know even where to begin. So let’s try and tackle some things in Lifting Spirits:

1 - The Transition from The Phantom to Lex

…It does such a number on my brain on multiple levels. XD. IT MESSES WITH ME SO MUCH, it’s a straightforward concept enough in theory but my brain overloads and threatens to shut down when I try to wrap my head around it. XD

I love the phantom, so my instinctive bias at first was to try and cling to the label of “the phantom” as long as I could until it’s finally surrendered.

So, I’ve said already that I was kinda nervous about how this transition was gonna be pulled off. There’s always SORT OF a risk involved when going ahead and giving the phantom an identity and making them no longer the phantom – it kind of wanders straight into the Original Character zone. This New Character who used to be the phantom, in such cases, does get a bit of a complimentary “boost” of my investment in them by virtue of having been the phantom, but beyond that, the new character in the phantom’s place must learn to pull their own weight in the story. They cannot purely rely on having been the phantom – they must develop on their own and give the audience due reason to be invested in the new character. And/or, they must still have some ties connecting them back to having been the phantom too, even with their new characterisation and personality.

So yeah, I had literally no reason to be even remotely nervous. Lex is fantastic. And can very VERY easily stand up in the narrative on his own accord. Not only that, but it’s just… genius… the extremity of his emotions is, ironically, the very thing that connects him back to having been the emotionless phantom…! Because it drives home repeatedly that he really has had NO experience with this level of feeling due to his past. It’s a total pendulum swing to the other end of the spectrum and I love it SO damn much.

Regardless of whether he’s Lex or the phantom, he’s still my favourite character.

1.1 – The phantom as Lex/the phantom becoming Lex

Man, this fic.

I swear to god.

I keep trying to type out my thoughts and it’s so hard to be coherent about it.

Lex is… “the (former) phantom”. So I’ll use this phrasing to really drive the point home. Because such a huge amount of what happens, of what’s going on… derives its impact from this very important fact. From the unbelievable contrast. The seeming absurdity of EVERYTHING given who he was.

The former phantom laughs at stupid jokes, gets given a stash of sweets and a Jokes & Riddles book thanks to Bobby, gets goofily absorbed in a phone game………… The list just goes on.

You are doing this. You are making me read all this stuff involving the former phantom with my own two eyes, I… I…… This flippin’ portrayal. Almost feels like it should be illegal xDDDD

1.1a - YOU ARE WHAT IS KNOWN AS AN ENABLER

I have been… a fan of the character known as the phantom for many years now… I started playing through the Ace Attorney games in December 2014, and played Dual Destinies in the first half of 2015. I’ve had years to jokingly talk about the phantom ironically in an “awwww just look at them, awwww how innocent/”cute”” way, obviously knowing damn well they’re not.

And I basically went into Chasing Phantoms with, on some level, an attitude of “haha you can TRY to make me hate the phantom, I know you will, but I won’t let you”

Big mistake, to head into this series stubbornly guarding a totally opposite area of phantom perception compared to what I SHOULD have been guarding against.

And then you just

Came along and took the character

And did this.

It was fine at first in like, Haunted Specters and then Vanquishing Mirages. It was a big joke that everyone was in on. It was a joke and it was funny and I was laughing along with it. Albeit. An evolving joke.

And then Lifting Spirits just

It jUST

All of a sudden I had to be like wait a minute. I was just like whoa, whoa. Hold up. You can’t – WAIT a minute. No WAIT

I walked into this trap with no defences prepared. I’d walked into this series going “I’d like to see you try and make me truly hate this man, but it won’t work, I’ll make sure it doesn’t work out of spite” and now all of a sudden this was all happening at once and I had to suddenly try and backpedal dramatically out of the trap and be like wait wait wait no this is, this is, he was?? A bad guy was he not? Wait what are we-

The scales were tipping too far for my liking – too far in a direction I was ALREADY biased and predisposed towards and I wanted to stop it but what defence did I haaave

It’s like the narrative was poking me and going “Hey. So. Your favourite character. He’s pretty great, right? Right?” and I’d shake my head and try my best to go, “No… No! He isn’t – this isn’t right! What! There has to be some kind of mistake! This is a thirty-seven year old man who has killed people WHAT IS GOING ON”

And this is also, at the same time, set against a backdrop of me still stubbornly trying to cling to a mindset of not wanting this man to be able to cheat death or the finality of execution.

So here’s the first of many contradictory feelings I was having at once:

“This man must be punished and therefore I can’t abide by such a lighthearted portrayal” vs “I love this man so much and every single moment of this lighthearted portrayal is GOLD and I love it sooo much”

2- The Phantom VS Lex

The portrayal of my favourite character was making me rather pleased, but it felt way too good to be true on three different fronts. Firstly, the amusing absurdity in and of itself made it hard to process this was Really Happening, the levels of it feeling “unreal” were so much and I was so stunned and I was sincerely struggling to process it at first. Secondly, it just felt so catered to me (LOL) and “too good to be true” that I felt like. Like. The narrative surely couldn’t be doing something so great. A similar kind of inability to believe this was “really happening” which had cropped up during Haunted Specters. And this was heavily fuelled by, THREE… My pesky little reactions to our old friend, Fake Phantomquill.

The hurt that I was feeling over the phantomquill unfortunately seeped into and tainted my perception of other parts of the story and caused me to get irrationally defensive in many respects at the time. See, as I’ve implied, part of what was so very appealing to me about Legit one-sided phantomquill coming to fruition just before the surgery is that it felt like the final step in taking the phantom further down from his pedestal and that much closer to “joining the ranks of humanity” just in time for surgery that would have “the phantom” cease to be altogether and allow him to make the full transformation. It wasn’t so much about phantomquill itself as it was about the notion of the phantom being attracted to someone and causing such a big, stupid mess as a result, of being a fundamentally flawed human being but flawed in a vulnerable-

who claimed to be made of nothing but pure logic only to, in his final moments as the phantom act in the most illogical-

It’s silly, I know. First of all, if anything, it can be kind of arophobic, depending on how it’s done, to use “attraction to another person” as a proof or demonstration of a character’s core humanity. It’s just… That’s what I’d tricked myself into thinking the set-up was for, I guess. So when the set-up got so thoroughly negated and didn’t come to fruition, it felt like it had intentionally done the opposite with a bait and switch, and that instead of showing that even the phantom can fall from his pedestal in his final moments before “the phantom” ceases to be, it then seemed the goal was to demonstrate with a great sense of finality that actually, he is despicable and will never be anything but despicable and that we never should have expected anything more up until the very end.

Except… it was silly of me to feel like this first of all seeing as the phantom had already demonstrated during the narrative plenty that he very much does have the capacity to care about other people in his own very odd way. He DID go through character development. Just because none of the feelings he demonstrated were based on attraction doesn’t diminish what he did demonstrate. The Fake Phantomquill Kiss in and of itself is proof of caring because he was ultimately trying to protect Bobby.

But at the time it was hard for me to see that through my hurt. It’s an irrational perspective to take but I wasn’t being rational because of that hurt, and I was distrusting as a result. So, strangely enough, the phantom “dying” as the “filthy criminal he is” after the little show he put on, and then becoming Lex and waking up from the surgery with all these emotions kinda felt to me almost like it was throwing “the phantom” and all the progress as a character he’d made under the bus – of all the potential he’d shown prior to surgical interference.

There was just so much emphasis in the narrative on separating “the phantom” from “Lex” which was fair enough, but it felt to my irrational wounded self like “the phantom” was suddenly being characterised as “Pure Evil” in order to further the ends to which Lex could then be set up as “good”, when we’d previously spent around 2 fics delving into how, while the phantom is very much a villain and none of his crimes can be negated, there is more to him, and he’s, at the very least, not Evil 24/7. Almost like “the phantom” and “Lex” were being pitted against each other which I realise is stupid because c’mon, how can Lex as a character throw the phantom under the bus when Lex was the phantom? When he is merely another huge step – leap – in the character’s evolution? The transformation into Lex can’t negate any of the character development HE made prior to that point, prior to the surgery.

Another important thing to note, which I am extremely grateful to the narrative for, is that Bobby cared about the phantom not only before the surgery, but before the bone sliver was even discovered in the first place. And Simon had also been slipping back then, although he was not nearly as far-gone as Bobby was. But such a thing really helps acknowledge the phantom as a character… and does help reiterate that he wasn’t completely worthless and/or “not worthy of anything” prior to becoming Lex.

I did come to realise that I was, in fact, just needlessly worrying over pure semantics and that there was no point in doing such a thing. Regardless of how one might construe it, this man, Lex, was the same person in the sense that he has all the same memories. There is still a continuity of existence. The "death" of the phantom was only the death of the label itself, the mindset, but the man who had carried the title had still lived on. It allowed, helped that man to shed the worst of what had been part of him before and opened up so much for him.

It's just, the notion of a character actively striving to be good and overcoming themselves vs a sudden fix that gets externally applied, and it felt like any previous striving, however miniscule, threatened to be rendered obsolete by it.

But this was a misplaced notion of mine if there ever was one because not only does it not override previous character development, but the previous character development was necessary for not only making the surgery and its outcome possible, but also a crucial part of the character's arc that can't be overlooked narratively speaking. It is not Lex that characters like Bobby and Athena abruptly start believing in. They'd already believed in him before he was Lex, and they are who campaign for the surgery in the first place. And it is the phantom himself to give the final push and the go-ahead to make it happen through his consent, a vital component to it being made possible. It wasn't erasure, it was never about erasure. It was about continuity and expanding and developing on what was already there. (And I know as well as anyone that the extent of the outcome, and this progress wouldn't have been possible without some form of external interference. It was necessary.)

Whenever I did manage to reconcile it, it was just about the best thing in the world haha.

So yeah, most of this was basically me outlining my distortion of the text and then debunking myself…

I swear my opinions/thoughts/feelings had just about splintered in a million different directions mostly thanks to the shadow cast by my stupid phantomquill pain. XD. My mindset almost threatened to regress to harbouring that foolish unfounded sense that the author didn’t truly care about “the phantom”, and only cared about the person who woke up after that surgery instead. Which is nonsense because Haunted Specters & Vanquishing Mirages clearly indicate otherwise. Why bother spending two entire fics focusing on the phantom so much if the author didn’t care about the phantom? If they wanted to just do away with the phantom and replace him with someone new that they did care about, there were way shorter ways to go about it. I mean, I knew that it was the dumbest concern and that it was incorrect to even consider at this point, but that didn’t stop me from foolishly wasting time on it. It was so hard to believe & trust the story was so attuned to me after being “betrayed” that I semi-adopted/saw the more “hurtful” interpretation as the more “realistic” one.

But reading Lifting Spirits over again so far only reiterates what I realise was the case back then: I only had myself to blame, I was the one vastly exaggerating the perceived distinctions that were being made between Lex and the phantom in the text not only because of my own latent concerns but because of how personally mindboggling I was finding it.

And all the while, I’m SIMULTANEOUSLY borderline scolding the text for how seemingly soft it’s being on the (former) phantom and thinking that the author’s phantom bias is showing. Talk about doublethink!

I had been thinking this entire series that I was perfectly safe to “gush” over this man, because at least the author knew what was what, at least the author still had her senses about her and wouldn’t let it go too astray or let it get out of hand. IF THE AUTHOR IS TREATING HIM LIKE THIS AND I’M TREATING HIM LIKE THIS… THEN WHO’S DRIVING THE PLANE?!

And keep in mind too that I read through Lifting Spirits… Rather quickly. So I’ve got all of these tangled thoughts I’m trying to process at once meanwhile I’m just breezing through the chapters, not really giving myself any real chance to sort through my thoughts and untangle the messes that had formed.

I was somehow managing to feel overwhelmingly thrilled and yet hurt by the narrative at the same time. AAAAALLL the contradictory thoughts and feelings. Contrarian mode was on, it seemed, as I tried to juggle so many opinionated stances and arguments at once that cancelled each other out:

“The phantom was a human being too, with his own issues and he ALSO had (limited) feelings DON’T IGNORE THIS” vs “how dare you portray someone who used to be the phantom, a remorseless killer unworthy of a second thought, in such an endearing manner” vs “ohhhh I love this endearing portrayal so much it’s pure SUSTENANCE to me it’s so entertaining & amazing & makes me so happy” vs stubborn attempts to still cling to “make sure that execution goes ahead, this man still isn’t allowed to escape death” with a slight backdrop of that phantomquill salt-fueled apathy & denial. I was somehow now on the defensive and trying to argue that the phantom hadn’t been 100% despicable and yet also trying to retain the stance that the man in his place still needed to die because the phantom had been 100% despicable. YEP. Walking contradiction. Absolutely wild.

Oh also I just loved Lex in his own right too on top of all this, not just because he used to be the phantom. But because he’s LEX.

It’s all very confusing, I hope I didn’t confuse you too much. XD

Oh, also:

When it came to me feeling that the phantom – or rather, the person who used to be him – was being portrayed too lightly by the narrative given his history – Chasing Phantoms renders completely obsolete any possible argument about the series “skewering one’s perception of the phantom too far off-base”. It renders completely obsolete any possibility that the author was not “aware” of the true depths of his despicableness when going for this angle.

Chasing Phantoms’ existence, to me, makes Lifting Spirits all the more awesome, and strengthens its power. “The Phantom that Lex used to be was ruthless and terrible and awful and caused so much damage and destruction” is not just an offhand acknowledgement that gets referenced back to – it was portrayed firsthand in the first fic, in the series itself. It’s like it goes out of its way to drive home that undeniable fact that the phantom REALLY sucks, and yet Lifting Spirits exists anyway, even with FULL acknowledgement of that. I love that sooo much. It just straight up embraces it and doesn’t try to hide a damn thing. This was who he used to be. This is who he is now. That’s just how it is.

As already established, Chasing Phantoms felt like another universe when I read Lifting Spirits – way before then, even. It was SO hard for me to remember that, he was in fact, actually portrayed in a negative light. It’s actually really great to me that the series didn’t start with Haunted Specters – it did not seek to make the phantom sympathetic or whatnot from the start. He gets to clown around as the villain he truly is for an entire fic before any transition over to protagonist even begins to take place. The story doesn’t briefly go “yeah so we all know the phantom is bad and all obviously but…” and moves straight on, it spends a LONG time elaborating on HOW bad the phantom is back at the very start before proceeding on to anything else.

By the way, I’m aware it would be stupid to make arguments about “not knowing the full extent of how sucky the phantom is” purely on the basis of it not being demonstrated firsthand if that was the case, because like, everyone already knows, so we don’t need to be shown. But I’m merely pointing out how cool I find it that this series does demonstrate it firsthand anyway, because it just further crushes such potential arguments.

If Chasing Phantoms did not exist it would be almost easy to trick oneself into thinking that the full extent of the phantom’s villainy was not truly being acknowledged by the story, given Lex’s portrayal by the narrative (despite him being a “new person”, the fact remains that he was the phantom.) The Phantom is – was - very much a villain, and we know very clearly that the current portrayal of that man who used to be him doesn’t minimise that.

There was another big thing I wanted to talk about connected to much I’ve discussed in this post, but I’ll have to leave it for the next one! I had to cut sooo much from this I’m sorry, I actually did have a bunch of small comments from the beginning of Lifting Spirits. Well, until the next post, which will also get to the middle of the fic too. ^_^

[eriseas]

tag game!

20 Questions

Rules: answer 20 questions and tag 20 people you want to get to know better.

*

i was tagged by a bunch of friends for this -- thank you @filliteapot @lonefaith @kiridork​ @mobolanz​ @mistergrass​ and @gayamesohma​ !! I hope I got everyone! Thanks pals for the tags, I love how furuba fandom is so tight knit like this ahah -- onto the questions!

*

1. Nicknames: eri, cob, “e”... i have many! i have tons more depending on my username but they are secret LOL

2. Zodiac Sign: i am a fierce lion rabbit 

3. Height: 5’3!

4. Hogwarts House: puffhuffle

5. The Last Thing I Googled:  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13305021/1/Divine-Longings

6. Favorite Musicians: so many but rn... arcade fire, the killers, and mitski!

7. Song Stuck in My Head: out like a light 2 by the honeysticks

8. Followers On This Blog: 855 on this acc!

9. Following: 886 (BUT IT USED TO BE LIKE 5000 SO PLEASE BE PROUD OF ME)

10. Do I Get Asks: I WANT THEM but just a bit! usually nice comments i reply to in private, though sometimes i post them so i can go back and feel warm fuzzies! i get very innocent asks but i sometimes suspect they are also the shady anons who send my friends intensely nsfw asks LOL (i get more on the art blog)

11. Amount of Sleep: usually 8-9, recently it has been less due to puppy waking up at 5AM every day!!!!!

12. Lucky Number: 11 and 7

13. What Are You Wearing: hufflepuff shirt and blue polar bear pj pants!

14. Dream Job: not to be dramatic but my absolute FANTASY is to have a hobby farm where folks can come and interact w the animals in a calming environment, particularly kids who might be helped by interacting closely w animals! my own little school that’s intertwined with this would be a HUGE dream too. i have so many fantasies about having a variety of cute little shops in PEI LOL. but more realistically, i’d like to work as a teacher or an ECE of sorts? 

15. Dream Vacation: a tour around europe perhaps!!!!! 

16. Instruments: i used to play the flute and the clarinet and the piano but now i play NOTHINg but myself (insert congratulations u played yourself meme)

17. Languages: english and really broken latin lmao

18. Favorite Song: RN??? gosh i dont know! probably nobody by mitski!

19. Random Fact: i am up past my bedtime,,,

20. Aesthetic: uhhh hh h h h h i dont really have one LOL!!!! but i like simple warm fuzzy things, it is easy to please me if it includes tea or english cottages. i like yellows and soft purple tones!

thank you all for tagging me!!!! I was tagged by so many folks and still missing some I think that I will just tag a few folks, furuba folks in particular bc i was tagged by mostly furubas LOL -- @mearbar @derpdiaz and @machi-kuragi perhaps!!

[pinkcaseotakadl]

Diabolik lovers Versus IV - Vol.1: Ayato VS Kino VS Shin [CD drama] ~translation|traducción~

STORY:

''This is a story to the time when a boy named Kino appeared. Due to the tricks of Kino, you end up imprisoned together with two more vampires. Testing the vampires, and playing with you... ... Kino's trap is gradually stimulating them to drink your blood.''

''A place with no exit. You are trapped by the two fangs of the vampires ''

''It doesn't matter whose hand you take, what wait for you is pain and pleasure--''

HISTORIA:

‘'Esta es una historia cuando un chico llamado Kino apareció. Debido a el engaño de Kino quedas presa juntos con dos vampiros más. Probar a los vampiros, y jugando contigo... ... La trampa de Kino esta gradualmente estimulándolos a beber tu sangre.''

''Un lugar del cual no puedes huir. Estas atrapada por los dos colmillos de los vampiros''

''No importa la mano que tomes, lo único que te esperará es dolor y placer--''

TRACK 1:

*Bells are ringing*

Ayato: ?? Where am I...? *He turns around and spots Yui, then he begins to panic* Hey! *shakes her* Hey! *shakes her again* HEY!!

*Yui wakes up*

Ayato: Haa, damn it... you were just sleeping. Fuck, you're really cheeky for waking up later than me.Usually, I would’ve punished you for this.

*Yui gets dizzy*

Ayato: Oh, *holds her* Hey, are you okay? You're getting dizzy. You‘re hopeless, support on me. Can you get up? *he helps her stand up* Ayato: But, where are we? It seems to be a mansion, but it isn’t ours. We were in the city, how did we end up here? Ayato: Ugh, my head hurts, I can't remember well, but it looks like someone brought us here. ???: Ugh... agh... Ayato: !? Who is it!? Shin: Don't speak so loud, even I got a headache. Ayato: Shin!? What are you doing here? Don't tell me this was also your doing!? I haven’t forgotten what you’ve done, just so you know. What are you plotting this time!? Shin: Don't ask me! Just like the two of you, I found myself here when I woke up. I was so relaxed at the Demon world, and suddenly someone... damn it. Shin: Besides, who would like to see you!? You’ve obtained the power of your father, that's why you believe you’re the best thing on the world.

Ayato: What did you just say...!? Anyways, if it wasn't you then who brought us here!? Shin: I'm telling you I don't know!

*Door opens*

Kino: Ohh, you finally wake up. Good morning Princess. Oh, and the extras. Ayato: Ahh!? Are you looking for a fight, you bitch? Shin: By the way, who the fuck are you? You came out from nowhere and you didn't even present yourself. Do you wanna die? Kino: Ahh, Now that I think about it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. Nice to meet you, my name is Kino. I am the... illegitimate/secret son of KarlHeinz. Or at least, that's what I remember, lol. Ayato: What-!? Secret son? I've never heard of something like that! Kino: I was in ''secret'', that’s why I'm a ''secret'' son, duh. Even though you inherited the power of our father, it seems you didn’t get his intelligence; poor thing. Ayato: You bastard. I'm gonna kick your ass! Shin: Well, it's true that his brain doesn't work well; but tell us a little more about this. So, why are we here? By the way you act, it means you’re the kidnapper, aren’t you? Kino: How cruel of you to point me as a kidnapper. I just invited you three to this place so we could be able to start the game. Ayato: A game...!? Kino: Correct. I’ve closed all the doors of this mansion for it [the game]. And to make it more fun I’ve also installed several traps~ Hey, aren't you feeling anything weird? Ayato: Stop acting like an idiot and say what it is! Shin: Ugh! Uhg... ...! Ayato: Hey... ... What's wrong? Shin: Haa, ugh... ... agh, I don't know... but... somehow, my throat...! Haa, haa... Kino: Just in time~! And it must be time for the same thing happening to you, Ayato.

Ayato: Haa?- Ugh!? ...What is it... my throat... is getting dry... agh...! *To Yui* Tch, don't touch me! Just stay still. Hey bastard, what the hell did you do to me? Kino: Hehe. I gave both of you a drug while you were sleeping. One that makes Ayato's and Shin's thirst increase. And the princess over there is the one who has the antidote. Kino: There's only one way to stop the impulse; drink the antidote within her blood. Ayato: Tch...! Don't fuck with me! Doing whatever you want..! What does this crap has to do with a game! I'll end this right now by taking down this mansion with you in it!

*Ayato uses his power but nope*

Ayato: ... ...!? The magic... disappeared? Shin: Haa? Don't tell me you can't master your power!? That's why I always say that my Nii-san, a first blood, is the one who should’ve obtained that power! Ayato: You're wrong! There's something here that keeps me off from using it! Kino: *Laughs* You seem to be troubled~ Bad luck for you.. (*Kino speaks formally to make fun of Ayato) Kino: This mansion has been given a magical seal granted by the church. Even father's power doesn't work in this place. Ayato: What- The church!? What does that mean! Shin: Probably the church requested you to kidnap us, maybe? Kino: Congratulations. As expected from a Founder. But~, what would your brother say if he knew you were trapped by something made by humans~ Shin: Ugh...! It seems you really want to die. *Shin tries to hit Kino* Kino: Ops. *Dodges it* Looks like you can't move well. Could it be because of the drug? You know~, if you move unnecessarily it will make you thirstier. Shin: Ugh...! Haa, haa... *breathing heavily* Kino: Hahahaha! Ayato: Bastard...! What's your objective!? Kino: I told you, this is a game. Could you not make me repeat the same thing countless times?

Ayato: There's no way I can accept it! What’s wrong with you!? If you’re the son of the old man, then it means you’re a vampire. So why are you allied with the church!? Kino: Do I need to answer? But, more importantly, wouldn’t you rather keep an eye on him? Shin: *He's getting close to Yui* Ugh, haa, ahg... ... My throat is-... agh, give me your blood! *Tries to catch Yui* Ayato: !? Ch, careful! *Grabs Yui* Are you okay!? Hide behind me- ugh...!? ...Fuck, my throat...

*Yui tells him to suck her blood*

Ayato: Haa? Stop speaking nonsense, Chichinashi. If I were to drink your blood on this state... ... Shin: Agh... haa... If you do, you will end up drinking everything. We can’t help it, the thirst has reached to that point. Ayato: Ch...! So what should we do? Shin: Easy. Her blood is the antidote, then we just have to take it. If you don't drink it then give it to me, come on! Hurry up and give it to me! Ayato: I won't leave you... She belongs to me! Shin: You're wrong... She belongs to us; the Founders! Ayato: Damn it. Hey, we're gonna escape from here. Kino: Ha, try if you can. *Kino uses his smartphone and activates the traps*

*Chains' sound*

Ayato: What are these chain!? I can't move...! Kino: Smartphones are very practical, huh~ With just a touch I can activate that trap. You will stay there for a while. Ayato: Fuck...! *To Yui* Hey, run away from here!

*Yui doesn't want to*

Ayato: What are you waiting for!? Hurry up!

*Yui runs away*

Shin: Ugh, wait! Kino: Alright then, I'll go see the show~ Fufu... Kino: The game... starts✧

TRACK 2:

*Yui is running quickly*

*There is a loud sound*

*Shin captures Yui*

Shin: Ugh, haa, haa… Today isn’t your lucky day, looks like this room is a dead end.

*Yui tries to escape*

Shin: Haa… …*He’s walking towards her slowly due to the drug effects*, this is really annoying. I would’ve already caught you if it wasn’t for the drug… Just like this! *He grabs her, but Yui starts struggling*

Shin: You stupid little…! Stop fighting! Haa, haa… hahaha, did you think that you could win against me? I don’ mind playing hide and seek for a while, but… my throat… it’s getting thirstier… Shin: You heard it too, didn’t you? “To be able to cease this thirst, your blood is necessary”... You're always being vampire’s bait anyways… At this point you’re already used of getting your blood sucked, right? Shin: Moreover, your real owner was Nii-san: a Founder. So it makes sense for you to give us your blood.

*Yui opposes*

Shin: Haa? You haven’t understood your position yet? *Shin falls over Yui* Haa, haa… Agh… My throat.. Haa, haa. Obviously I’m not okay! Stop asking senseless things and give me- Ugh…! Aggh, haa… Shin: Haa!? Haa, he… So you finally wanna give in… Haa? What are you asking? Of course I’m going to be rough with you. You didn’t give me your blood when I told you to do it, I have to punish you for it. Shin: *He gets closer to her ear* I’ll suck you until you’re dry. *Yui resists* Ugh! It upsets me that you’re still squirming! *He grabs her arms* Even though you gave your blood to those vampires… Shin: Oh, that’s right. If I do cruel things to you, what kind of face will Ayato make when he sees you? Hahaha, this is going to be very fun. Shin: Let’s see… From where will I drink now…? *Sniffs her* Mmh, such a slim neck… It might break apart if I put too much strength on it… I’ll suck from here. *Kisses her neck* Shin: *Laughs* You’re quivering. You want me to hurry up and bit you, right? *On her other ear*... Hey, If I were to bite you right here with my fangs… Do you imagine how much it’ll hurt? Shin: No; actually, you already know it, huh… You’re so happy being vampire’s food, huh… Your blood will taste awful since it was exposed to them, but… Right now it can't be helped. I’ll make you endure it.

*Bites her*

Shin: Mn. nh… haa, haa… That’s strange… Your blood doesn’t taste bad, could it be because of the drug? I don’t like being drugged, but I like this flavor. I’ll leave marks through your whole body. To the point Ayato becomes desperate! Shin: Haa? It has nothing to do with the fact he’s a vampire, it’s just… I can’t forgive him. Ayato obtained a great deal of power; and right now he has influence, it could disturb the whole Demon word.

Shin: But Nii-san was supposed to be the one who would’ve obtained it [the power]! If that person was going to give it away to a simple vampire, then I should’ve just stolen it. Shin: That’s right… I did have the chance to obtain it. And if I had only gained it back then…! … … Shit, I spoke too much. Is it because I’m dizzy? Shin: Shut up! *grabs her arms* don’t you dare say another thing. *Bites her* Mgn… mgn…! Yes, that’s right, I wanted power. I can't beat Nii-san, I know very well! But even so I wanted to beat him, that’s why I wished for power. Shin: A power enough to fight against everything. But… Someone like that bastard has stolen it from me…! Ugh, I don’t want you feel pity towards me. Shin: Even you chose Ayato, that’s why you’re always besides him, isn’t it!? You’re gonna back him up, right?! Shin: I never get to obtain what I wish for! …Haa, ugh, haaa… … I can’t hold it any longer, my thirst is so hard to the point it hurts…! …*On her ear* More, haa, haa…! More, let me drink more!

*Yui tries to resists but Shin immobilizes her*

Shin: Heh, if you move a lot your skirt is gonna lift up. Well, even if I look at it, your body isn’t a turn on for me at all. However… I don’t hate this taste. Shin: Hahaha, why are you trembling? Or could it be… that you’re waiting for it to happen? Don’t worry, I’ll leave plenty of marks in your skin! *Bites her* [I think it’s the legs where he’s biting] Shin: This is really bad, it doesn’t matter how much I drink, my thirst won’t stop…! Haa, haa… I even feel like I want more of it… haa, haa…! Now I’ll drink from another place- ?! Shin: …Why are you crying? Make a face filled with more pleasure! [He refers he wants her to enjoy it]

Shin: You submit yourself entirely to that man [Ayato]… Then why don't you do the same with me!? … …Haa? So those are your preferences, huh. Humans are really idiots… *Shin grabs Yui’s hand* Shin: Are you okay like this? If I bite your finger will the pain cease? Hee, if that’s the case then… *Bites her* Mn… nnm… haa, heh. You’re making a delighted face, do you like this? Shin: I like your tears as well, but this is the face I wanted to see… When I see that face, I want to do so many things to you… *Shin begins to kiss Yui’s body* [wait, kiss marks?!] Shin: *In her ear* Haa, haa… Hey, I’m still thirsty. I desire you, not only your blood… I want you all. If I can’t obtain the power, at least I want you to be mine. That way… Even if I can’t win against Nii- san, I’ll get to beat Ayato. Shin: *Grabs Yui’s face* If I were to kiss your mouth, would Ayato get jealous? … …You know it, don’t you? Tell me. *Leans over to kiss her*

TRACK 3:

*Ayato enters hurriedly into the room* Ayato: !! Stop it!! *He runs and corners Shin* You bastard…! Shin: Ugh?! Kh… Ayato!

*Ayato helps Yui*

Ayato: Don’t let yourself get caught so easily…! We’re escaping! And don’t tell me you can’t run. Ayato: Yeah, let’s go!

*Both of them run away*

Shin: !? Wait… Dammit…!

*... …*

Ayato: Haa, haa, haa… It looks like Shin didn’t follow us… haa, haa, wow; you really suck Chichinashi. Letting that son of a bitch get you, something like that is… Ayato: ?? You have bite marks, did you let him suck blood from you? Ayato: *He gets angry* Don’t go showing off yourself to that bastard! Don’t you get by now who do you belong to!? …Ugh, haa, haa… Don’t touch me, it’s nothing. Ayato: This isn’t good, I can smell the blood… …Fuck, let’s search for a way out of here! Follow me.

*... …*

*Door knob sound*

Ayato: This one doesn’t open either, huh. The entrance doesn’t work, neither do all the windows on the mansion. There’s no way out. Ayato: What the hell am I supposed to do!? …If I could use my magic I would’ve easily broken that door… SHIT!

*Punches the door*

Ayato: OW… it hur-... Ughh!

*Yui gets worried about his injury*

Ayato: It’s no big deal. When I got caught by those chains, I couldn’t do anymore than resist, and my arm started to hurt a bit since then.

*Yui tries to touch him but Ayato pulls out his hand*

Ayato: Don’t touch me! haa, haa… Haven’t you noticed yet? You’ve been leaving a trail of you blood scent for a while now… If you tried to get closer to me, I wouldn’t be able to contain myself. Ayato: Right now I’m angry about a lot of things, if I were to drink your blood like that… Ayato: You’re wrong! As if I were to worry about you. I’m just angry because that Kino guy is doing whatever he pleases. I definitely won’t forgive him! Ayato: When we get out of here I’ll beat the shit out of him! That magic seal or whatever it is; there must be some place where it doesn’t reach [referring to the seal]. Ayato: Hey, let’s walk around some more *They both leave*.

*… …*

Ayato: So these stairs led to the basement; here the seal shouldn’t have effect. Okay *He tries to use his magic but nope* Ayato: Dammit! It’s useless! I thought the magic could work even if we were inside the mansion. It can't be helped but we’ll have to go upstairs and look for another place- Ugh… Ayato: The blood’s scent is stronger here, is it because there is less air in here? Ayato: It’s nothing, we’ll go from separate ways from here. It would be bad if we stayed together. Ayato: Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Ayato: Haa? What did you just say? *Yui tells him to drink from her blood because it contains the antidote* Tch, are you an idiot? Even if your blood has the antidote, with just one taste I might suck you dry. That’s the severity of my situation right now! Ayato: If you get it then stop saying all this nonsense! *Yui insists* Listen to me! *She runs towards him and embraces him* Ayato: !? Idiot… If you hug me that way… Agh, FUCK! *He licks her*

Ayato: I can smell your blood… It’s so sweet I could become insane. You were the one who seduced me, I won't be responsible for what happens… Idiot…! *Ayato corners Yui and gets on top of her*

Ayato: Keep facing me up just like that… Now I will drink, just as you wished. Move your hair… I’ll suck from the place where you like it the most *kisses her neck*. Ayato: What’s wrong? Are you feeling weak? Don’t worry [I didn't got what he says here] Ayato: *Bites her* Mgn… mn… haa, it’s irresistible… To the point where one could go mad. Ayato: Ahh, does it hurt? But you’re waiting for the pleasure that comes right after the pain, aren’t ya? Since I’ve already shown it to you countless times. C'mon… Be obedient until everything is over *Bites her* *Sexy gasping* Ayato: Mn… So sweet… Are you holding in your voice? Let me hear it. Ayato: Tch, what a stubborn girl. So, how about if I do this? *Gently licking her ear* Mhn...nng…*laughs* As I thought, you have sensitive ears. Ayato: I know everything about you. I know how to make you weak, and I know how to make your voice come out. And I also know how much you truly desire this. Ayato: Beg me for more. Tell me who do you belong to and what is what you wish for. Ayato: Fuck, this is really bad… I want more of you, to the point where breaking you apart wouldn’t be enough. Ayato: I want to take it all from you… *BItes her* Haa, dammit… What’s this? I should’ve already drank the antidote… besides… somehow… *Falls asleep*.

TRACK 4:

Kino: Ahh, is it over already? *he is getting closer* It was so entertaining~! I was watching you all the time with this *shows off his ultra smartphone* Kino: You all were excellent, you know? Shin and yourself as well; that moment when you decided to run away with Ayato was great. I recorded everything so later I'll watch it again more in detail~! Kino: Mm? But of course I’ve been watching this whole time: with this smartphone. Otherwise I wouldn’t have enjoyed the game. *Kino gets closer to Yui*

Kino: Tell me, how did it feel having offered your blood by your own will? Did you find it alluring to know a man was looking at you? Or maybe, did you get turned on when Shin cornered you? You can return there if you wish, that man is unexpectedly interested on you. Kino: That’s right, this is a game. One where a butterfly and two spiders are trapped in a narrow cage. It doesn’t matter where the butterfly flies, since the hungry spiders will catch her anyways. The real doubt is for which of the two spiders will the butterfly become a prey; how amusing. Kino: Obviously it’s fun, that’s why I’m doing it; and I knew it would be exciting having a group made up by the three of you. Shin has brother [inferiority] complex, so he was seeking the power [to beat him]; once he met with Ayato, who has a great amount of power right now, it was clear things were going to get interesting. Kino: And the result was just as I expected: he became jealous and easily fell under the impulse of drinking your blood. But actually I wanted to see them destroy one another. Kino: I will stop the moment I get to look at your wretched appearance, and after that, I will obtain the power of KarlHeinz Kino: Hee? So even you can make that face, and here I thought all the expressions you knew were of fear and sadness, This is getting even more interesting. Kino: Well, I should join the game too now that we’re here. I’ll be your partner on the last stage [of the game], Princess.

Yui asks him why does he calls her ‘Princess’

Kino: Because having to take your hand like this gives me the impression that you are a princess. Nevertheless… Even when the prince has taken your hand… He will not kiss you tenderly. Because, after all…* Music changes* we are not humans. Kino: *Chuckle* Does it hurt? But your face is completely reckless at the same time. As I thought, you like this. You know, there aren’t a lot of humans who can entertain me, but… You might become a good toy of mine. Kino: Hey, you’re still okay, right? *Gets closer* Good, where do you want it now? The neck from which Ayato bit? Or maybe *touches her leg* From your leg where Shin did it? Kino: None? Well, I’m not looking forward biting a place where they have already left fang marks. Besides, it would be dull if I just drank your blood; I want to see a more compelling reaction: one where you’re fully engaging in pleasure.

Kino: I know, let’s do this. There is conveniently a warehouse here. This is a scarf, maybe? Well, it doesn’t matter what it is as long as I can use it. Tries to tie Yui Come on, don’t move, if you do my hand may slip and I could accidentally kill you. Kino: Hahaha, you’re trembling, that’s good. You can’t see anything, right? Isn’t this called a “bondage”? By covering your eyes you won’t know neither where I am nor where I plan to drink from. Don’t you think it is a lot funnier if we play the game in “Hard Mode” like now? Kino: Although I think you’ve already experienced this, you where in the house of those vampires after all. Kino starts to walk around Yui Now, from where will I drink?

*Soundtrack changes*

Kino: Ah, this place looks appetizing. Mmm, *keeps walking* but… As I thought, is it better from here? Each part of you smells so delicious, so I can't decide. Then how about from here? *licks her* Kino: Wearing clothes that clearly show off your collarbone, as I thought, you’re hoping for it. *Sniffs her* You smells incredibly sweet… Oh? You stopped trembling. Or could it be that… are you getting aroused? Fufufu, as expected from you; you have been a long time surrounded by vampires, huh. Kino: Ugh, It's boring that you use that method of resistance. If you want to escape so badly, then let’s do this. Try to guess out my favorite place to suck blood from, if you guess it then I'll let you out of this mansion. Kino: Hee? You give up already? Although I don't care, but if you don't do it then we'll continue playing like this. Kino: Mm, the neck? Fufu, baaad luck. The correct answer is… *on her ear* Here. There are a bundle of nerves concentrated here, so it hurts a lot when you’re bitten. However, sucking from here gradually becomes irresistible. Kino: You should know what it is like getting bitten from this place, don’t you? Oh, you can’t bear it anymore? It’s alright, I will bite you as much as you want. Kino: Mn… Mnn…. Your voice tone changed, what kind of face are you making right now? *takes off the scarf* Ah~ah, look at you, you don't care who does it as long as they suck your blood, right?

*Yui denies it*

Kino: It’s not very convenient for you to deny it in this situation. Even your body disagrees, see? *Touches her* Haha, what’s wrong? I just touched with one finger and you’re already making that kind voice. Kino: As I thought, are you enjoying this? [Didn’t understood what he says here] You must be wishing for me to make a mess out of you already, aren’t you? Kino: C’mon, these fangs are waiting for you. I’ll bite you whenever you want if you wish it. Good, now ask it with your own mouth. Kino: What’s wrong? If you don’t say it we’ll be here forever. Or is it that you like getting impatient? What a naughty princess you are. Kino: But, as expected; aren’t you already reaching your limit? You want it, don’t you? You can’t stand it anymore, can you? You’re dying for it, right? Kino: Then you have to say it. Or you can just nod with your head. If you do it, then I will bite you once more with my fangs, this time deeper than before. Kino: Now, become mine Princess.

*Yui still refuses*

Kino: Hee? You’re still holding on, interesting. What is making you resist so much in this kind of situation?

*She says it’s because she has the ‘antidote’*

Kino: The antidote? Pf… Hahahahaha!! Fufu, I see now. That’s why you were holding it so hard. Kino: Ayato drank your blood and therefore the antidote… He’ll surely get better when he wakes up… But, baad luck~ Kino: What I made you drink before wasn’t an antidote, but a drug that makes their thirst increase even more. They were totally deceived, and moreover you thought you could’ve saved Ayato. Kino: Right now I hope he’s falling apart and warping himself into despair. Haha! This is so much fun, it’s the best game ever!

Kino: This is the calm before the storm, you know? In just a few moments, they won't outstand their thirst; and it will begin the bonus stage! Kino: Ha… Hahahahaha!!

TRACK 5:

*Ayato is awaking*

Kino: Ah~, so you finally wake up. Ayato: Dammit… This thirst… I can’t… I want blood… Your blood… Kino: Ah~ah, he’s serious about that. And now is just left that the other one

*Shin is slowly walking closer*

Kino: Oh, speaking of the Devil. Shin: Agh… Where is she? Haa, there you are. Hurry up and give me your blood, or we won’t be able to get out of here otherwise. Kino: Fufu, wow. And now, the game where the butterfly gets eaten by the spiders ends, it’s game over.

*Yui grabs onto Kino’s sleeve*

Kino: Mmh? What?

*She begs him to help them*

Kino: Hee? Will you sacrifice yourself for their sake? You’re really strange.

Kino: Sure. I accept your offer. Instead of drinking your blood I will give you a real antidote for them to have. However, you can’t fight against them or make any sounds: a new game. Kino: So, what do you want to do?

*Yui accepts*

Kino: That’s the spirit! In that case, let the game start! *Kino thunder his fingers*

*Ayato is still walking towards Yui*

Ayato: Don’t touch her you bastards. She’s mine! *Gets over to Yui*

Ayato: I’m begging you… Give me your blood. Give me your everything *Bites her* Mn… gh… agh… So sweet… No matter how many times I drink your blood, I never get tired of it.

Ayato: Hey, why are you quiet? Let me hear your voice... you like me doing this, right?... ... This is the proof of it *Bites her* Ayato: See? You’re thrilling with just one bite. Deep within your heart you want me to drink your blood until you’re overwhelmed by it, right? Ayato: If it feels good then let your voice out, say I'm the best. Ayato: C’mon, say it!

*Yui stays quiet*

Ayato: Tch, if that’s the case then I’ll force you to say it. *Bites her* Shin: Ugh… Don’t decide things all by yourself. *Grabs Yui*

Shin: You… Are you provoking me? Displaying the way Ayato drinks your blood, ch! I feel like I’m on verge of becoming insane! Why did I had to meet you?! Fuck! Shin: Kh… Say something! No, rather… I’ll make you speak it out! Just in this way *Bites her* Mn… ngm…! I’ll drink all your blood, to the point where even this taste belongs to me as well! *Bites* Kino: Ah~ah, they’re both completely dazed by it. Furthermore, you really are something, even with all this you’re able to endure it. Kino: So, *gets closer* I’ll be the next… *Bites her* Mn… ng… How’s that? It's irresistible, isn’t it? Kino: Even though I'm bitting the same place as before. But you like the ear, right? And it seems you are more sensitive than average people. Kino: I also drank your blood, so I must be bewildering myself as well. Kino: Let’s have a good time. *Bites her* Kino: Hee? Even so you’re not screaming. If that’s the case, shall I begin to strangle you? *He starts strangling her* It will become more difficult for you to breathe as time passes. Your blood will leave your body… And your vision will become blurry. Kino: See? You want to fight right now, don’t you? Then you shouldn’t hold yourself back. It’s better for us to go insane with the drug than for you to die here, right? Shin, Ayato, and ourselves.

*Soundtrack changes*

Ayato: I won’t let that happen, you… You belong to me alone! Look over here! *Kiss her* Mnn… mn… Kino: Hahahaha! Ah~ah, so you finally moaned. As I suspected, Princess likes to be kissed. It’s game over! Kino: Let’s enjoy ourselves: the three of us. Shin: I’ll make you mine… Even if I have to steal you away… You’ll become mine. Ayato: As if I were to give you to someone else… No matter what, I’ll never let you go. Kino: Fufu… haha… Hahahaha!

~The End~

~The End~

~ESPAÑOL~

TRACK 1:

*Campanas*

Ayato: ¿? ¿Donde estoy...? *Se da vuelta ve a Yui, comienza a entrar en pánico* Oye! *La sacude* Oye! *La vuelve a sacudir* OYE!!

*Yui despierta*

Ayato: Haa, joder... sólo estabas dormida. Maldición, tienes muchas agallas para despertarte después de mí. Por lo general te castigaría.

*Yui se marea*

Ayato: Oh *la sostiene* Oye, ¿estas bien? Te estas mareando. No se puede evitar, sostente de mí. ¿Puedes pararte? *la ayuda a pararse* Ayato: Pero, ¿donde estamos? Parece ser una mansión, pero no la nuestra. Nosotros estabamos en la cuidad, ¿como es que aparecimos aquí? Ayato: Ugh, mi cabeza duele, no puedo recordar. Pero parece que alguien nos trajo aquí. Shin: Ugh... agh... Ayato: !? ¿¡Quien es!? Shin: No hables tan fuerte, incluso a mí me duele la cabeza. Ayato: ¿¡Shin!? ¿Qué haces en este lugar? No me digas que esto también es obra tuya. No me he olvidado de lo que hiciste, sabes. ¿Qué estas planeando esta vez!? Shin: ¡No me preguntes! Al igual que ustedes, al despertar aparecí aquí. Estaba muy tranquilo en el Inframundo y de repente alguien... maldición. Shin: Más bien, ¿a quien le gustaría verte a tí? Obtuviste el poder de tu padre, y por eso te crees el mejor del mundo. Ayato: ¿¡Qué has dicho...!? Por cierto, si no fuiste tú entonces quien nos trajo aquí!? Shin: Te estoy diciendo que no sé!

*Hola perras, estoy aquí* Digo *Alguien entra*

Kino: Ohh, al fin despiertan. Buenos días Princesa, y los dos sobrantes. Ayato: Ahh!? ¿Buscas pelea perra? Shin: Por cierto, quien mierda eres? Apareciste de repente y ni siquiera te presentaste. ¿Quieres ser asesinado? Kino: Ahh, ahora que lo pienso todavía no me presento. Mucho gusto, mi nombre es Kino. Soy el... hijo ilegitimo/secreto de KarlHeinz. O al menos eso es lo que recuerdo, jaja.   Ayato: ¿Qu-!? ¿Hijo secreto? Nunca he escuchado algo así! Kino: Estaba en ''secreto'' por eso soy un hijo ''secreto'', dah. Parece que heredaste la fuerza de padre pero no su inteligencia, pobrecito. Ayato: Tú perra. Te voy a partir el culo! Shin: Bueno, es verdad que su cerebro no funciona, pero cuentanos un poco más sobre esto. Bien, ¿por qué estamos aquí? Por la forma en la que actúas significa que tu eres el secuestrador, ¿no es así? Kino: Que cruel eres diciendome secuestrador. Yo sólo invité a ustedes tres a este lugar para poder comenzar con el juego. Ayato: ¿¡Un juego...!? Kino: Correcto. He cerrado todas las puertas de esta mansión para ello. Y para que sea más divertido puse instalé varias trampas~ Oigan, ¿no sienten nada raro? Ayato: ¡No seas idiota y di que es! Shin: Ugh! Uhg... ...! Ayato: Oye... ... ¿Qué sucede? Shin: Haa, ugh... ... agh, no lo sé... pero... de alguna manera mi garganta...! Haa, haa... Kino: Justo a tiempo~! Y ya debe ser hora de que te pase lo mismo a ti, Ayato. Ayato: Haa?- Ugh!? ...Qué es esto... mi garganta... se reseca... agh...! Tch, no me toques! Sólo quedate quieta. Oye bastardo, ¿¡Qué demonios hiciste!? Kino: Hehe. Les puse una droga mientras ustedes estaban durmiendo. Una droga que hace que la sed de Ayato y Shin aumente. Y la princesa de allí es la que tiene el antídoto. Kino: Hay una única manera de detener el impulso; beber su sangre la cual tiene el antídoto. Ayato: Tch...! ¡No me jodas! Haciendo lo que se te dé la gana...! Qué demonios es eso de un juego! ¡Haré que termine justo ahora derribando esta mansión junto contigo!

*Ayato usa su poder pero no funciona*

Ayato: ... ...!? La magia... ¿desapareció? Shin: ¿Haa? Acaso no puedes controlar tu poder!? Es por eso que siepre digo que mi Nii-san, un primera sangre, es el que debbió haber obtenido ese poder! Ayato: ¡Te equipvocas! Hay algo aquí que impidió que la usara! Kino: *Riendo* Pareces tener problemas~ Que mal por usted. (*Kino habla en forma formal para burlarse de las personas) Kino: Esta mansión un sello mágico que que ha sido otorgado por la iglesia. Aunque sea el poder de padre no funciona en este lugar. Ayato: Qu- ¿la iglesia!? Que significa eso! Shin: Podría ser que la iglesia te pidió que nos secuestraras. Kino: Felicidades. Tal como era de esperarse de un Fundador. Pero~, qué es lo que diría tu hermano si supiera que fuiste atrapado por algo hecho por humanos~ Shin: Ugh...! Parece que realmente quieres morir. *Shin intenta golpear a Kino pero no puede por la droga* Kino: Ops. *Lo esquiva* Parece que no puedes moverte bien. ¿Será culpa de la droga? Sabes~, si te mueves innecesariamente te dará más sed. Shin: Ugh...! Haa, haa... *respirando pesadamente* Kino: Hahahaha! Ayato: Bastardo...! ¿¡Cual es tu objetivo!? Kino: Te dije que esto era un juego. ¿Podrías no hacerme decir lo miso tantas veces? Ayato: No hay forma de que pueda aceptarlo! Qué demonios contigo!? Si eres el hijo del viejo significa que eres vampiro. Entonces por qué estas de lado de la iglesia!? Kino: ¿Es necesario que responda? Pero más importante, ¿estará bien que lo dejes? (Se refiere a Shin) Shin: *Se esta acercando a Yui* Ugh, haa, ahg... ... Mi garganta esta-... agh, ¡dame tu sangre! *Corre tras Yui* Ayato: !? Ch, ¡cuidado! *Agarra a Yui* Estas bien!? Escondete detrás de mí- ugh...!? ...Maldición, mi garganta... Ayato: ¿Haa? No digas cosas sin sentido Chichinashi. Si llegara a beber tu sangre en este estado... ... Shin: Agh... haa... Si lo haces, terminarás bebiendo todo. No se puede evitar, la sed llega hasta ese punto. Ayato: ¡Ch...! Entonces que deberíamos hacer Shin: Muy fácil. Su sangre es el antídoto, entonces sólo deberíamos tomarlo. Si tú no lo bebes entonces dámelo a mí, ¡vamos! ¡Date prisa y dámela! Ayato: No te dejaré... ¡Ella es mía! Shin: Te equivocas... Ella pertenece a nosotros; los Fundadores! Ayato: Maldición. Oye, vamos a escapar de aquí. Kino: Ha, intentalo si puedes. *Kino usa su celular y activa las trampas*

*Cadenas suenan*

Ayato: Qué son estas cadenas!? No puedo moverme...! Kino: Los Smarthphones son muy prácticos, eh~ Con sólo un toque puedo activar esa trampa. Te quedarás ahí por un tiempo Ayato: Maldición...! *A Yui* Oye, ¡huye!

*Yui no quiere huir sin Ayato*

Ayato: ¿¡Qué estas esperando!? ¡Date prisa!

*Yui huye*

Shin: Ugh, ¡espera! Kino: Bien, entonce yo iré a ver el show~ Fufu... que comience el juego.

TRACK 2:

*Yui esta corriendo muy rápidamente*

*Sonido fuerte*

*Shin atrapa a Yui*

Shin: Ugh, haa, haa... mala suerte, parece que esta habitación es un callejón sin salida.

*Yui intenta huir*

Shin: Haa... ...*shin camina lento hacía ella por culpa de la droga*  esto es realmente molesto. Si no fuera por la droga ya te habría atrapado... ... justo de esta forma! *La agarra pero ella comienza a resistir* Shin: Tú maldita...! ¡No resistas! Haa, haa... hahaha, ¿creiste que podrías ganarme? No me molesta jugar a las atrapadas pero... ya mi garganta... esta muy sedienta... Shin: Tú también lo escuchaste, ¿no es así? ''Para frenar esta sed de sangre tu sangre es necesaria''...Después de todo siempre estas siendo comida por los vampiros... a estas alturas ya estas acostumbrada a que beban tu sangre, ¿verdad? Shin: Más importante, tu verdadero dueño era Nii-san; un Fundador. Así que es algo normal que nos des tu sangre. *Yui se niega* Shin: Haa? ¿Aún no sabes cual es tu posición? *Shin cae sobre Yui* Haa, haa... agh... mi garganta... haa, haa, por supuesto que no estoy bien. No preguntes cosas sin sentido y dame- ugh...! Aggh, haa... Shin: ¡¿Haa? Haa, hee... al fin te dieron ganas de ceder... ¿Haa? ¿Qué estas preguntando? Por supuesto que voy a ser áspero. No me diste tu sangre cuando te lo pedí, tengo que castigarte por ello. *Se acerca a su oido* Shin: Beberé toda tu sangre hasta secarte. *Yui resiste* Ugh! Me molesta que no te quedes quieta! *Agarra sus brazos* Incluso le diste tu sangre a aquellos vampiros... Shin: Ahh, es cierto. Si llego a ser cruel contigo, ¿qué clase de cara hará Ayato cuando te vea? Hahaha, eso va a ser divertido. Shin: Veamos... desde donde beberé...? *La huele* Mm, que cuello tan delgado... parece que fuera a romperse si pongo mucha fuerza en él... beberé desde aquí. *Besa su cuello* Shin: *Risa* Estas temblando. Quieres que me dé prisa y beba, ¿no? *En su otro oido* ...Oye, si te mordiera aquí con mis colmillos... ¿sabes cuando te dolará? Shin: No, ya lo sabes en realidad, eh... Eres muy feliz siendo la comida de los vampiros, eh... Tu sangre la cual fue tocada por ellos sabe mal pero... en este momento no queda de otra. Haré que lo soportes *la muerde* Shin: Mn, nh... haa, haa... que extraño... tu sangre no sabe mal, ¿podría ser debido a la droga? No me gusta ser drogado, pero me gusta este sabor. Dejaré marcas por todo tu cuerpo. Al punto que Ayato se desespere! Shin: Haa? No tiene nada que ver que él sea un vampiro, solamente... no puedo perdonarlo. Ayato obtuvo un poder muy grande, y en este momento tiene una influencia tan grande como para sadir todo el Inframundo. Shin: Pero Nii-san tendría que haber sido el que la consiga![A el poder] Si se la iba a dar a un simple vampiro, entonces yo sólo debería haberla robado. Shin: Es cierto, yo tenía la oportunidad de obtenerla. Y si lo hubiera conseguido entonces...! ... ...Maldición, hablé demasiado. ¿Será porque estoy mareado? Shin: Silecio! *agarra sus brazos* no digas más que eso. *La muerde* Mgn... mng...! Si, así es; yo buscaba poder. No puedo ganarle a Nii-san, ya lo sé muy bien! Pero aún así yo quería vencerlo, es por eso que deseaba poder. Shin: Una fuerza tan grande para poder luchar contra todo. Pero... algo como que aquel bastardo me lo haya robado...! Ugh, no quiero que tengas compación por mí! Shin: Incluso tú elegiste a Ayato, es por eso que estas siempre a su lado, ¿¡no!? Lo vas a defender, ¿¡verdad!? Shin: ¡Yo nunca puedo obtener nada de lo que deseo! ...Haa, ugh, haaa... ... no puedo más, tengo tanta sed que duele... ... *en el oido* Más, haa, haa...! Más, ¡déjame beber más!

*Yui resiste pero Shin la inmoviliza*

Shin: Hah, si te mueves tanto tu falda se va a levantar. Bueno, pero aunque te mire no me excitas en lo absoluto. Sin embargo... no odio este sabor Shin: Hahaha, ¿por qué estás temblando? O tal vez... ¿lo estás esperando [con ansias]? No te preocupes, dejaré muchas más marcas en tu piel! *la muerde* [Creo que esta mordiendo sus piernas] Shin: Esto es malo, no importa cuanto beba mi sed no desaparece...! Haa, haa... incluso siento que quiero más... haa, haa...! Ahora beberé desde otro lugar diferente- !? Shin: ...¿Por qué estás llorando? Has una cara más placentera! [se refiere a que no quiere que llore, si no que lo disfrute] Shin: Tú te entregas felizmente a ese hombre... [Ayato] ¿pero por qué no haces lo mismo conmigo!? ... ...¿Haa? *Rie* Así que esas son tus preferencias, eh. Los humanos si que son idiotas... *Shin agarra la mano de Yui* Shin: ¿Esta bien de esta forma? Si muerdo tu dedo el dolor se aliviará? Hee, en ese caso... *muerde* Mn... nnm... haa, he. Estás haciendo una expresión placentera, ¿te gusta esto? Shin: Tus lagrimas también me gustan, pero esa es la cara que quería ver. Al verla me dan ganas de hacer muchas cosas más... *Shin comienza a besar el cuerpo de Yui* [Y a dejar marcas!?] Shin: *En el oido* Haa, haa... oye, realmente sigo teniendo sed. Te deseo, no sólo tu sangre... quiero todo de ti. Si no puedo obtener el poder, aunque sea te quiero a ti para mí. Entonces... aunque no pueda ganarle a Nii-san, al menos le ganaré a Ayato Shin: *agarra la cara de Yui* Si besara tu boca, ¿Ayato se pondría celoso? ... ...Tú lo sabes, ¿no es así? Dimelo *Se acerca para besarla*

TRACK 3:

*Ayato entra a toda prisa*

Ayato: !! ¡¡Detente!! *Corre y empuja a Shin* Tú bastardo...! Shin: Ugh!? Kh... ¡Ayato!

*Ayato ayuda a Yui*

Ayato: No dejes que te atrapen tan fácilmente...! ¡Vamos a correr! Y no me digas que no puedes correr Ayato: Si, vamos!

*ambos corren*

Shin: !? ¡Espera! ...Maldición...!

*... ...*

Ayato: Haa, haa, haa... Parece que Shin no nos persiguió... haa, haa, caray, realmente apestas Chichinashi. Algo como dejar que aquel bastardo te atrape... Ayato: ?? Tienes marcas de colmillos, ¿dejaste que él bebiera? Ayato: *Se enoja* No le muestres nada tuyo a aquel bastardo! ¿Aún no sabes a quien le perteneces!? ...ugh, haa, haa... no me toques, no es nada Ayato: Esto es malo, puedo oler la sangre... ... Maldición, busquemos la salida de este lugar! Sigueme

*... ...*

*Sonido de perilla*

Ayato: Esta tampoco habre, eh. La entrada no funciona, y todas las ventanas tampoco. No se puede salir por ningún lugar. Ayato: ¿¡Qué demmonios debería hacer!? ...Si podría usar mi magia podría romper esta puerta fácilmente... MALDICIÓN! *Golpea la puerta* Ayato: OW... duel... ughh!

*Yui se preocupa por su brazo*

Ayato: No es nada grave. Cuando quedé atrapado en esas cadenas no pude hacer más que resistir, y mi brazo empezó a doler un poco desde ese momento

*Yui quiere tocarlo pero Ayato corre su mano*

Ayato: ¡No me toques! Haa, haa... ¿no lo has notado? Hace desde un rato que largas olor a sangre...  Si te llegaras a acercar a mí no podría contenerme Ayato: En este momento estoy enojado por muchas cosas, si llegara a beber tu sangre... Ayato: Te equivocas! Como si me fuera a preocupar por ti. Solamente estoy enojado debido que aquel Kino hace lo que se le da la gana. ¡Definitivamente no lo perdonaré! Ayato: Cuando consigamos salir de aquí patearé su trasero! Un sello mágico o lo que sea, debe haber algún lugar a donde no llegue[la magia del sello] Ayato: Oye, vamos a caminar un poco más *ambos se van*

*... ...*

Ayato: Así que esas escaleras se dirigían al sótano. En este lugar el sello no debería llegar. Bien *Ayato intenta usar su magia pero no funciona* Ayato: ¡Maldición! Fue inútil! Pensé que la magia funcionaría aunque estemos en la mansión. No se puede evitar, tendremos que ir arriba y buscar otro lugar- ugh... Ayato: El olor de la sangre es más fuerte, ¿es porque hay poco aire aquí? Ayato: No es nada, no separaremos aquí. Sería malo si siguemos juntos. Ayato: Oye, ¿qué estas haciendo? Ayato: ¿Haa? ¿Qué acabas de decir...? *Yui le dice que beba su sangre porque tiene el antidoto* Ch, ¿eres idiota? Aunque tu sangre tenga el antidoto con sólo probarla una vez podría llgar a beber toda tu sangre. Mi situación es así de grave! Ayato: Si lo entiendes entonces no digas cosas sin sentido! *Yui insiste* Escuchame! *Yui corre hacía él y lo abraza* Ayato: !? Idiota... si me abrazas de esa forma... agh, ¡maldición! *la lame* Ayato: Puedo oler tu sangre... es tan dulce que podría volverme loco. Tú fuiste la que me sedujo, no me hago resposable de lo que pase... idiota...!

*Ayato acorrala a Yui y se sube arriba de ella*

Ayato: Quedate boca arriba justo de esa manera... ya que beberé tal como lo deseas. Mueve tu cabello... beberé del lugar que tanto te gusta *besa su cuello* Ayato: ¿Qué sucede? ¿Te sientes débil? No te preocupes, [No entendí lo que dijo en esta parte] Ayato: *la muerde* Mng... mn... haa, es irresistible... a tal punto que podría enloqueserme. Ayato: Ahh, ¿duele? Pero estas esperando el placer que viene después del dolor, ¿no es así? Ya que te lo he enseñado muchas veces. Vamos... quédate quiera hasta que esto termine *la muerde* *jadeos sexys* Ayato: Mn... que dulce... ¿estas aguantando tu voz? Déjame escucharla. Ayato: Ch, que terca. Entonces, ¿qué tal si hago esto? *lame gentilmente su oido* Mn... ng... *risa* como lo pensé, eres débil en los oidos. Ayato: Sé todo sobre ti. Sé como ponerte débil, y sé como hacer que tu voz salga. Y también sé que en realidad estas deseando esto. Ayato: Pideme más. Di a quien perteneces y qué es lo que quieres. Ayato: Maldición, esto es realmente malo... te deseo más, al punto que hacerte un desastre no es suficiente Ayato: Quiero tomar todo de ti... *la muerde* Haa, maldición... no desaparece... ¿qué es esto? Ya debería haber bebido  el antídoto... y además... de alguna forma... *se duerme*

TRACK 4:

*Sonido de puerta abriendose*

Kino: Ahh, ¿ya termina? *Se acerca* Fue muy entretenido~! Estuve todo el tiempo mirandolos con esto *le muestra su super celular* Estuvieron excelente, ¿sabes? Shin al atacarte y tú también. Y también en el momento que huiste con Ayato. Grabe todo así que después lo volveré a ver más detenidamente~! ¿Mm? Claro que estuve observandolos todo el tiempo; con este smarthphone. De otra forma no podría haber disfrutado el juego. *Kino se acerca al Yui* Oye, ¿como se sintió haber ofrecido tu sangre por ti misma? ¿Te resultó placentero que un hombre te estuviera mirando? O tal vez, ¿te excitaste cuando Shin te acorraló? Si quieres puedes volver allí, inesperadamente parece que él esta muy interesado en ti. Así es, esto es un juego. Uno  donde una mariposa y dos arañas están encerrados en una estrecha jaula. No importa a donde huya la mariposa, las hambrientas arañas la atraparán. La pregunta es de quien se volverá la presa, que divertido. Por supuesto que es divertido, por eso lo estoy haciendo. Y sabía que sería muy emocionante un grupo con ustedes. Shin tiene un complejo de hermano, así que estaba buscando poder[para ganarle]. Una vez que se viera con Ayato, el cual tiene un enorme poder, era obvio se volvería muy interesante. Y el resultado fue justo como lo esperaba. Se puso celoso y facilmente cayó en el impulso de beber tu sangre. Pero la verdad es que yo quería que se aplastaran entre ellos. Me detendré en el momento que vea su miserable apariencia, y entonces,  obtendré el poder de KarlHeinz. ¿Hee? Así que incluso tú puedes hacer una cara así. Pensé que no podrías hacer otro expresión que no sea de tristesa o de miedo. Se esta volviendo cada vez más interesante. Ya que estamos tal vez yo también debería unirme al juego. Seré tu compañero de la última etapa[del juego], Princesa.

*Yui le pregunta por qué le dice ''princesa''*

Kino: Porque al tomar nuestras manos de esta menera me da la sensación de que eres una princesa. Sin embargo... aunque el princime haya tomado tu mano... no te besará suavemente. Porque después de todo... *música cambia* todos nosotros no somos humanos. *Risa* ¿Duele? Pero al mismo tiempo tu rostro esta completamente descuidada. Como lo pensé, esto te gusta. Sabes, no hay muchos humanos que puedan divertirme... pero tú podrías ser un buen juguete. Oye, aún estas bien, ¿verdad? *Se acerca* Bien, ¿donde lo quiere ahora? ¿Desde el cuello que bebió Ayato? O tal vez *le toca la pierna* ¿desde tu pierna donde lo hizo Shin? ¿No quieres? Bueno, no me despierta el tener que beber desde un lugar donde hay marcas de colmillos. Además, sería aburrido si sólo bebo tu sangre, quiero ver una reacción tuya mucho más interesante: una donde estes disfrutando plenamente. Ya sé, hagamos esto. Convenientemente hay un almacén aquí. Esto es una bufanda, ¿tal vez? Bueno, aunque no me importa lo que sea mientras lo pueda usar. *intenta amarrar a Yui* Vamos, no te muevas. Si lo haces tal vez mi mano se deslice y te mate por accidente. Haha, estas temblando, que bien. Bien, hecho. No puedes ver nada, ¿verdad? Acaso esto no se llama ''bondage''? Cubriendo tus ojos no sabrás donde estoy o de donde voy a beber. No crees que es más divertido jugar en ''hard mode'' justo como ahora? [Pff, jajaja!] Bueno, aunque supongo que ya lo habrás experimentado. Después de todo estuviste en la casa de aquellos vampiros. *Kino comienza a caminar al rededor de Yui* Bien, ¿desde donde beberé?

*Música cambia*

Kino: Ah, este lugar luce delicioso. Mmm, *sigue caminando* pero... como lo pensé, ¿mejor desde aquí? Cada parte de ti huele deliciosa, así que no puedo decidir. ¿Qué tal desde aquí? *la lame* Vistiendo esta ropa la cual claramente se ve tu clavicula, como lo pensé lo estás esperando. *la huele* huele muy dulce... ¿oh? Paraste de temblar. O tal vez... ¿te estás excitando? Fufufu, como era de esperarse de ti, has estado con muchos vampiros, eh. Ug, es aburrido que uses esa forma de resistir [Dejar de temblar para que el violador pierda el interés cfdijcfd] Si tanto quieres escapar hagamos esto. Trata de adivinar cual es mi lugar favorito para beber sangre. Si lo adivinas te dejaré salir de esta mansión. ¿Hee? ¿Te rindes? Aunque no importa, si no lo haces entonces seguiremos jugando. Mm, ¿el cuello? Fufu, que lástima. La respuesta correcta es... *en el oido* Este lugar. Pasan muchos nervios por aquí, y duele un montón cuando te muerden. Pero al beber desde aquí gradualmente se vuelve irresistible. Tú debes saber lo que se siente que beban desde este lugar, ¿no es así? Oh, ¿ya no puedes soportarlo? Esta bien, te morderé todo lo que quieras *la muerde* Mn.... mnn... el tono de tu voz cambió, ¿qué clase de cara estás haciendo ahora? *le saca la bufanta* Ah~ah, mira, no te importa quien sea mientras beban tu sangre, ¿no?

*Yui lo niega*

Kino: No te es muy conveniente negarlo en esta situación. Incluso tu cuerpo también, ¿ves? *la toca* Haha, ¿qué sucede? Sólo te he tocado con un dedo y haces esa clase de voz. Como lo pensé, ¿lo estás disfrutando? [No entendí lo que dice acá] Ya debes desear que te haga un desastre, ¿no es así? Vamos, los colmillos te están esperando. Te morderé cuanto quieras si tú lo deseas. Bien, ahora pidemelo con tu boca. ¿Qué sucede? Si no lo dices estaremos así por siempre. ¿O tal vez te gusta hacer que te impacienten? Que princesa más atrevida. Pero, como era de esperarse, ¿que acaso ya no estás en tu limite? Lo quieres, ¿no es así? Ya no lo soportas, ¿verdad? Ya estás muy impaciente, ¿verdad? Si es así entonces tienes que decirlo. O simplemente puedes asentir con tu cabeza. Si lo haces entonces volveré a moriderte una vez más con mis colmillos, mucho más profundo que antes. Bien, vuelvete mía Princesa.

*Yui sigue negando*

Kino: ¿Hee? Aún sigues resistiendo, que interesante. ¿Pero qué es lo que en esta situación[de calentura cof] te hará seguir resistiendo tanto?

*Yui dice que es por el ''antidoto''*

Kino: ¿El antídoto? Ha... hahahhaha!! Fufu, ya veo. Es por eso que estabas aguantando tan duro. Ayato bebió tu sangre con el antídoto... cuando se despierte seguramente tiene que estar mejor... Perop, mala suerte~ Lo que te hice beber a ti no fue un antídoto, si no una droga que hace que su sed aumente aún más. Ellos fueron completamente engañados, y encima de eso tú crees que salvarás a Ayato. Y en este momento esa esperanza se esta desmoronando y esta transformandose en desesperación. Haha! Es demasiado divertido, es el mejor juego de todos! Esta es la calma antes de la tormenta, ¿sabes? En breves momentos ellos no podrán soportar su sed, y entonces comenzará el ''bonus stage''! [''La etapa bonus''] Ha..hahahahahah!

TRACK 5:

*Ayato esta despertando*

Kino: Ah~, al fin despiertas. Ayato: Maldición... no puedo... soportar esta sed... quiero sangre... tu sangre... Kino: Ah~ah, esta hablando enserio. Y ahora falta el otro-

*Shin esta caminando lentamente hacía ahí*

Kino: Oh, hablando de roma. Shin: Agh... ¿donde esta ella? Haa, ahí. Date prisa y dame tu sangre, o de otra forma de verdad no podremos irnos. Kino: Fufu, wow. Y ahora, termina el juego donde la mariposa es comida por las arañas, es game over. Es el final.

*Yui se aferra a Kino*

Kino: ¿Mm? ¿Qué?

*Yui le pide que los ayude*

Kino: ¿Hee? Te sacrificarias por el bien de ellos dos? Tú realmente eres extraña. Seguro, aceptaré tu propuesta. En lugar de beber tu sangre te daré un verdadero antidoto para ellos. Sin embargo no tendrás que luchar ni hacer sonidos; un nuevo juego. Bien, ¿que harás?

*Yui acepta*

Kino: ¡Ese es el espiritu! En ese caso, que comience el juego! *Kino truena los dedos*

*Ayato sigue caminando hacia Yui*

Ayato: No la toquen bastardos. ¡Ella es mia! *Llega hacía Yui* Te lo pido, dame tu sangre. Dame tu todo. *la muerde* Mn... gh... agh... que dulce... no importa cuando beba no me canso de hacerlo... Oye, ¿por qué estás callada? Déjame escuchar tu voz, te gusta que haga esto, ¿no es así? ... ...Esta es la prueba de ello *la muerde* ¿Ves? Con solo morderte comienzas a temblar. Dentro de tu corazón quieres que beba tu sangre hasta el punto de no soportarlo, ¿verdad? Si se siente bien entonces deja salir tu voz, di que soy el mejor. Vamos, de prisa!

*Yui sigue en silencio*

Ayato: Ch, si es el caso te forzaré a que lo digas. *la muerde* Shin: Ugh... no hagas cosas por tu cuenta *atrapa a Yui* Shin: Tú... ¿quieres hacerme enojar? Me muestras como Ayato bebe tu sangre, ch! Siento que realmente me voy a volver loco! ¿¡por qué tuve que conocerte!? Demonios! Kh... ¡di algo! No... haré que lo digas! Justo de esta forma *la muerde* Mn... ngm...! Beberé toda tu sangre, incluso hasta que este sabor se vuelva una pertenencia! *muerde*

Kino: Ah~ah, ambos están completamente confundidos. Pero a parte de eso, eres increible. Aún con esto puedes seguir aguantando. Entonces *se acerca* yo seré el siguente... *la muerde* Mn... ng... ¿qué tal? Es irresistible, ¿verdad? Aunque mordí el mismo lugar donde antes bebí. Pero te gusta en tu oido, ¿verdad? Y parece que tú eres mucho más sencible que otras personas. Yo también bebí tu sangre así que debo estar también confundido. Divirtamonos más, mucho más *la muerde* ¿Hee? Incluso así no gritas. Entonces, ¿tal vez debería empezar a estrangularte? *comienza a estrangularla* Cada vez se volverá más dificil respirar. Tu sangre dejará tu cuepo... y tu visión se volverá borrosa ¿Ves? Te dieron ganas de luchar, ¿verdad? Entonces no deberías aguantarte. Es mejor que nos volvamos locos con la droga a que muerdas, ¿verdad? Shin, Ayato y nosotros dos.

*Música cambia*

Ayato: No dejaré que eso pase, tú... tu me perteneces solo a mí! Mira hacía aquí! *La besa* Mnn... mn... Kino: Hahahah! Ah~ah, finalmente gimes. Como lo pensé, a la Princesa le gustan los besos. ¡Es gave over! Divirtamonos ahora: los tres juntos. Shin: Haré que seas mía... aunque tenga que robarte... serás mia Ayato: Como si fuera a entregarte a alguien... pase lo que pase nunca te dejaré ir. Kino: Fu... haha... hahahahahah!

~Fin~

[curiousdelights]

Safe Places

Pairing: ZEN / Hyun Ryu x MC (Yejin Jung)

Plot: Evening talks and cuddling. Thoughts are shared and reassurances are given. Love is ever-present. Pure fluff. Enjoy their conversation. 💕

Song rec: Jessica Jung - “Starry Night”

Super late entry for @lovelyzenweek lol I hope it’s okay Day 06: Late nights / Stars

A/N: I hope it’s not a bother to use a name for MC. That’s legit the name I used when I played ZEN’s route, haha. 💕

The sound of keys fumbling with each other against the door lock resounded through the hallway. Metal against metal had never sounded more inviting like tonight, and Yejin knew why.

Hyun had been working more and later than usual these days. It surely was a blessing that he had been cast in a two-month long production of a new musical, yet it did pose problems with regards to their time together. Of course, Yejin couldn’t complain. Hyun had been extremely excited about this lead role: a young man who traveled the country in search for his lost love, slowly documenting to himself the lives in the places he had gone to. He found the role interesting and challenging in the sense that the lead must experience the changing emotions of man, the rage, the heartbreak, and the ultimate acceptance of loss.

It was truly a good musical. Yejin had been there for the first showing—VIP seats at that, too—and brought flowers for Hyun as congratulations and treating him to a very nice meal afterwards. She was proud of him and still is. However, even she herself had work to tend to and thus couldn’t accompany her love for every show, no matter how much Hyun would persuade her. She didn’t mind going, but she would remind him teasingly that he wasn’t the only one making a living. That, and Yejin knew she would have an overdose of the musical itself. She liked theater enough but to see the same show every week could prove taxing. She promised herself, however, that she would be there for the final night.

Due to the busy weeks on Hyun’s side, he tended to come home late from rehearsals and full shows. Yejin would be asleep and Hyun never wanted to wake her, but for a few times she caught him sometimes pressing kisses on her cheeks and shoulders.

She missed more of that.

So for this night that she’s hearing the door opening, her surprise was growing pleasant. Was Hyun really home early?

Yejin had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after her dinner and had to peek through towards the entranceway to see.

“… Hyun?” She called out, but she wasn’t so sure if it was loud enough.

And surely, there he was! Decked out still in a light grey coat and black outfit (he loved that simple style, by the way), Hyun was in the progress of removing his shoes when his head shot up at the sound of his dearest’s voice. He knew Yejin to be louder than usual, but when she spoke in that soft tone, he might as well just melt right then and there.

With a wave of his hand, a wide grin, and a wink, he finally greeted her. “Honey, I’m home.”

Yejin snickered. “Let me guess: you always wanted to try saying that?”

“Okay, you got me there. So?” He held out his arms wide open. “Welcome home kiss and hug?”

“What a cheeseball.” She told herself, but despite that, she knew she was weak when it came to such invitations. Yejin shook her head and walked down to the entranceway, bursting into a jog when she neared Hyun to jump into the embrace and savor the warmth he emanated when his arms rounded her body.

“I missed this.” She told him as she turned her head up to look at him and plant a big one on Hyun’s lips.

He laughed through the contact, squeezing the other tighter in his hold and teasing her as he moved his lips to kiss more of her face then down to her neck where he knew it tickled her. Her giggles were melodies to his ears.

“What do you mean you missed this? I kiss you all the time and everything!”

“I meant I missed it when we’re both awake. I feel bad enough that you have to catch me asleep most of the time.”

“Well we still wake up to each other, right?” His eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief and his arms pulled her a little closer towards him. “Do you want to wake up in our more intimate way? I can do that often if you want, you know.”

“So can I.”

He instigated the teasing but he ended up becoming flustered himself at her knowing look. How could he forget that he also fell in love with her boldness like that? Yejin never showed it much in front of the others. It was only for Hyun and he preferred it that way.

“Hey, hey. Don’t tease me too much. The night’s still young but I can make it last longer than—“

Yejin cut him off with a laugh and finally pulled herself off from the embrace. “I know. But we can wait, right? I just ate a pretty heavy meal tonight since I skipped lunch earlier.”

“And why’d you do that?” He asked, his voice almost stern. He pulled his coat off and hung it on the rack. “You know I hate it when you skip meals.”

“Yeah, but I had to finish off a lot of work for the week. I don’t want to go back on Tuesday with leftover projects.” She explained. “How about you? Did you have dinner?”

“Mhm. We had an early meal this time with the cast. Do we still have any beer?”

“The fridge never runs out of it.” Yejin turned to him before entering the kitchen again. “I’ll bring you a can. Go and rest first.”

“Thanks, babe—hm?” Hyun looked towards the couch. It was truly inviting to sit back down and turn on the television, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to just laze around like that, especially now that he and Yejin finally found some time together.

He chuckled then called out. Maybe a good moment at a good place would be a better choice.

“Babe, I’ll see you at the rooftop.”

She wasn’t sure if she heard him right, but once Yejin got back to the living room and found it empty, she just shook her head and smiled.

“Guess I’ll need a couple more cans.”

Yejin made her way up towards the rooftop. Since summer was nearing the end of its reign, her choice of a light sweater proved to be helpful. She opened the heavy, gray door to be greeted by a nice breeze and the view of her love leaning casually against the concrete edge of the place.

Always and always, he took her breath away even without doing anything. His figure against the dark night sky and the soft yellow lights of the roof’s lamps gave him an almost ethereal look.

It took her a while to regain her senses from that.

Hearing the hinges creaking stirred the actor up, and he turned to see Yejin with the beers in hand. His guilt on making her carry all that rose up fast and he almost ran towards her to take the beverages himself.

“Sorry, babe!” He laughed, almost a bit nervously, and kissed her forehead to make up for it. “I thought you were only gonna bring one.”

Yejin simply scrunched he face up at him in a funny way, making sure he doesn’t even blame himself for the smallest of things. Hyun really liked treating her like a princess after all but she sometimes had to remind him that even the prince himself is allowed to relax.

“I decided to drink, too.” She said as they made their way to the corner of the area, taking their seat on the bench available. “And since we’re up here, I know one serving won’t be enough for either of us.”

“You know the best as always. C’mere.” Hyun pulled Yejin close to him, lifting her legs up to drape them over his lap. That was their position there all the time and it hardly changed unless truly necessary.

He opened a can for her first then one for himself, motioning for a toast.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers indeed.” She watched Hyun as he gulped down a quarter of the contents. His eyes seemed to have trouble looking at her directly now and it made her worry. The very fact that he wanted to be up at the rooftop already made her think, anyway.

“Hyun?”

“Yeah?”

“Look at me. What’s wrong?” Yejin already lifted her hand to touch Zen’s face but he followed her request soon afterwards anyway, realizing that he couldn’t really hide much from her. He was too expressive.

He still tried, though.

“It’s nothing.”

“Is something wrong at work?”

“No, no. Nothing’s wrong with that!”

She was almost pouting and whatever mood Hyun was in, he couldn’t ignore how cute she looked that way. He laughed a little but her concern only grew worse.

Finally, Hyun gave a nod towards her, a signal that he was going to talk now.

“I was just thinking about how much I must have neglected you these past days.”

That caught her off-guard and she turned confused. “What?”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “Someone at work sort of had that problem. It ate at him so much that I had to tell him to get a grip… in the nicest way possible, that is. He was still feeling pretty messed up but his act was coming in next. We couldn’t afford to let the audience see that. The director would’ve also been pissed.”

“What happened to him?”

“Well. His girlfriend actually broke up with him at the theater because he focused too much on work. You know how those stories go.”

Yejin nodded. She did hear about those things, more so than ever when she got familiar with Hyun’s industry.

She decided to be frank with him to clear the air fast. It was easy to see there was something running through his mind and God knows the reason why they had the alcohol was to ease up, too.

“Did you think that was going to happen to us?”

Yejin actually felt him stop all movement and his stare at her could have gone past what he could see.

“It’s not that…” He was trailing off almost unconsciously but he tried to explain his thoughts the best he could after another helping of beer.

Hyun sighed. “I’m not thinking of that but it did shake me a little, I guess. The way that guy was affected got to me but I have faith in you, Yejin. I remembered that and calmed myself down.”

She nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t doubt it.”

“I’d never! That’s why I don’t want you to feel bad about all my time away.”

“We actually already fought about that one time.”

“Yes. Yes, we did. It was silly, wasn’t it?”

The memory made the two of them laugh, surprising themselves at how easy they flipped the atmosphere with it. They didn’t meet halfway earlier on in the relationship. Hyun had gotten more roles since his rise to fame and had grown fond of each opportunity he was given. It meant more work on his side while Yejin focused on her own, but she had more free time compared to the other. He proved how much of a workaholic he was. Despite his knowledge about women, his lack of a relationship for a time prior to meeting his fated coordinator was a factor in the resulting fight. Hyun expected to be understood with his work and Yejin simply wanted a little more attention.

“How did we resolve that?” He asked as he put his arm around Yejin’s waist, pulling her closer to him to be able to give a small kiss on her cheek. She smelled of soft jasmine and he loved it. He could drown in that scent forever.

“Mm.” Yejin thought for a while, swirling the can in her hand. She looked at Hyun. “We went up here.”

There was a nod. “Right. It seems like everything happening to us goes back to the rooftop. We… shouted a little back then, huh?”

“Yeah, but we made up fast, I remember.” She said. “I didn’t want to fight in the first place.”

“Neither did I.” He put his now-empty can beside him and breathed deeply. “I shouldn’t be thinking of negative stuff when I have you beside me.”

“That’s okay. That’s why we talk and why we go up here.” She offered him a smile, ultimately to calm him down from the thoughts.

“You’re right.” Hyun smiled back at her before looking up at the sky. It was a beautiful and clear night without a speck of a cloud in sight. “Even the stars are witnesses to our relationship now. I’m sure we’re getting better at this. The god of fate is helping.”

She followed his gaze. “You mean the god you wanted to punch?”

“No. Not anymore. I said I’ll apologize to that god ‘cause he made us meet, right?”

Yejin laughed. “You remember that.”

“I remember a lot of things when we first met.” He told her. “I have no intentions of forgetting them.”

“Same here.” She replied as she slowly shifted her position on the bench to move closer and be able to rest her head on Hyun’s shoulder. “I really liked it when you showed me this place when I first came here.”

“I trusted you enough to show you one of my safe places.” He noticed that Yejin started playing around with his ponytail, his strands of silver hair dancing between her delicate fingers. It was cute. “I wanted to share it with you.”

“Thank you. I love it.”

“So do I.” He opened his other can and started to drink again while it was still cold. “You’re happy here, right?”

Yejin nodded. “Of course.”

“And you’re happy with me, right?”

“Yes. I love you.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. Yejin just blurted it out so easily and lovingly and he adored it every single time she did it. He moved to turn to her then, holding her face in his hands to plant a ton of kisses all over. “I love you just as much, and more.”

“Is that a challenge?” She teased, reciprocating his actions until they were sharing a mess of beer-laced kisses. “I’m so up for it.”

“Are you also up for my offer earlier?” His brow rose up flirtily. “About making the night last long for you and me?”

“Don’t you have rehearsals to do tomorrow, mister? I don’t think getting you exhausted tonight will help.”

“Oh? Didn’t I tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Hyun winked at her. “That I’ve got tomorrow off and until Monday afternoon. I was thinking of spending all that time with a certain special someone.”

She grinned. “Do you think that certain special someone is looking forward to it?”

“I hope she is. I’ve got a lot planned starting tonight.”

Yejin drank the rest of the contents of her can. “She’ll probably need a few more of these then.”

“Okay, you must be picking that habit up from me. Come on.” He laughed and carried her up in his arms, appreciating how she automatically held on to him. The squeal she made upon being lifted only made him all the more excited, too.

Suffice to say, that night definitely made up for the missed affections.

So there it is! I hope you guys liked and enjoyed it.

Tell me what you think lol I wanna know if it was okay. 💕

[ryukoishida]

Arslan Senki Fic: In which Arslan is Estelle’s Secret Santa. [idol/musician AU]

Title: Secret Codes and Paper Stars Author: ryukoishida Fandom: Arslan Senki | The Heroic Legend of Arslan Genre: Fluff, romance Rating: PG Character(s)/Pairing(s): Arslan/Estelle; featuring Isfan/Gieve For: @chatmant A/N: Remember that self-indulgent idol/musician AU? Yeah, it’s back. Sorry. Song that inspired this fic will be in reblog. It also looks like this will be the last fic I’m posting in 2017 (also I was looking at AO3 and apparently the last thing I posted in 2016 is also this AU lol), so I’ll wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Writing Commissions | Translation & Editing Services

-

“What have you got there, Arslan?”

Gieve, one of the top-selling pop artists in the country and known for his flirtatious ways in the industry circle — casually slips into the hideous plastic orange chair adjacent to the young idol who’s so focused on his task — pen tip tapping against the smooth surface of a card scrawled with neat handwriting and brows knitted in a deep frown — that he doesn’t notice the presence of the other man until Gieve clears his throat again.

“Oh, Gieve!” Arslan exclaims with a weak smile, the bruised shadows under his eyes much more prominent even with a layer of make-up on under the white fluorescent light of the television network station’s dressing room. He places his pen down at last and takes a tentative sip of his coffee, but winces when the lukewarm bitterness spreads across his tongue. He quickly pushes the mug away, narrowly missing the make-up kit set on the side of the counter.

“Working on a new song?” Gieve asks, an eyebrow quirked up in curiosity.

Arslan rarely drinks caffeine because he knows it’d wreck his voice, so for the young man to be consuming coffee willingly is a rare sight in and of itself.

“This?” Arslan glances down at the paper set on the table with a helpless little laugh, “No, it’s for the Secret Santa tomorrow.”

Gieve gives an exaggerated gasp. “Do you mean to tell me that you still haven’t gotten your Secret Santa partner a gift yet?”

“I have! But I thought it’d be nice to add a greeting card as well…” Arslan lowers his head, cheeks tinted a light blush before he continues in an uncertain tone, “… don’t you think?”

Before Gieve can give him any advice — for when would be the best time to help out a fellow idol if not now? — the door swings open and a staff calls for the younger singer, “Arslan, please head over to Studio B for stand-by. They’ll be ready for you soon.”

“Thanks,” Arslan nods with a quiet smile that has the power to cause thousands of female fans all over the country to coo and swear to protect him at all costs. Facing Gieve once more, he says with a more relaxed grin, “I’ll see you tomorrow at the gathering, then.”

“Sure,” Gieve waves goodbye with his usual charming smile and watches the silver-haired musician leave the room.

Tucking a piece of bright purple hair behind the curve of his ear, Gieve’s gaze rests again on the greeting card that Arslan has been grueling over for what seems to be a long while. From Arslan’s reaction just a few minutes ago, Gieve has a fairly good guess of who the recipient of the card is, and because he’s always been a curious person who knows no fear or bounds, he delicately picks up the card and reads the content inside.

“Oh, Arslan you precious boy,” Gieve sighs, resting his chin in the cradle of his palm as his eyes roam over the genuine nature of Arslan’s words, “how do you expect her to understand your affections if you don’t make it more obvious? Women need to be praised and worshipped, and this simply will not do.”

With a determined gleam to his eyes, Gieve picks up the pen that Arslan had been using just minutes ago and begins to write.    

“There you are, Gieve! Farangis has been looking all over for you!” Isfan pauses when he sees the envelope in his boyfriend’s hand and the guilty shift of his eyes. “What is that?”

“Hello darling, good to see you too,” Gieve greets him, eyes half-lidded to accentuate the kohl eyeliner and the bright turquoise of his irises while his lips, tinted slightly with lip-gloss, curved up into a playful grin.

“Don’t give me that look…” Isfan groans as he walks over, “that’s your ‘I did something bad and I’m trying to get out of trouble by seducing you’-look; it won’t work on me, not this time.”

“Oh, is that right?” Gieve saunters up to his lover, hips swaying purposefully as he places his arm on Isfan’s shoulder and head tilted just so that the slender line of his neck is displayed directly in Isfan’s view.

“Whatever you’re thinking of doing with that envelope, you better put it down before you cause some serious damage,” Isfan warns, taking a step back and peels Gieve’s arm off of his shoulder.  

“But don’t you want to help Arslan get the girl of his dreams?” Gieve pouts, but obeys regardless, putting the card back down on the table.

“Is that what this is about? Gieve, you know better than to poke your nose into other people’s business — especially when it involves someone’s romantic affairs.”

“You’re heartless, Isfan, simply heartless.”

“Come on, you little demon, Farangis will have your head if you’re late for your interview.”

-

“Estelle, congratulations again on your success with the single ‘I Only Have Feelings for You’,” the host grins with bright enthusiasm at the youngest member of the all-girls unit, L.E.A.P., “it sounds like the track will have a big chance to win Parsian Music Award’s Best Duet of the Year.”

“Thank you,” Estelle nods with a stiff but polite smile, blond curls resting over her shoulder in a simple yet elegant side-ponytail. It looks like the host is waiting for her to elaborate, but if the host has done any preparation at all before the interview, he’d have known that out of the four members of L.E.A.P., Estelle is the quietest and most reserved, and it will take more than just the normal amount of prompting to get the girl talking.

The host continues after a slight pause. “You were collaborating with the up-and-coming idol Arslan on this single, and there were rumors while you two were recording in the studio as well as filming the music video. How did you like working with Arslan? Did you two hit it off right away?”

The polite smile Estelle has been trained to work on and almost perfected is turning shaky at this moment, and sitting beside her quietly, Parizad, the eldest of the four women and leader of the unit, quickly squeezes Estelle’s hand, half in warning and half in support.

“We had different stances regarding the direction of the song we wanted to take at first,” Estelle starts after exhaling slowly, her topaz eyes sharp and unforgiving, “but Arslan is a pleasant and respectable artist to work with, and I hope everyone will focus on the song we’ve worked so hard on instead of unfounded rumors about something that doesn’t exist in the first place.”

“Alfreed, can you please turn that off? It’s bad enough that I had to sit through that bullshit of an interview. I really don’t need to watch myself being disgraced on national television.” With an exhausted sigh, Estelle pleads with her teammate as she finishes the final touches of wrapping up her gift for the Secret Santa event.  

“I don’t get what you’re so upset about,” Layla chirps from the other side of the living-room as she adjusts her dress in front of the full-length mirror near the front door of their shared apartment unit. “Rumors are just more opportunities for you to advertise your song, isn’t it?”

“Estelle, it’s wonderful that you always speak so honestly — it’s part of your charm and fans love it when you put that part of yourself into your music — but in this industry, you’ll need to learn how to carefully handle questions like the ones you got asked in that interview,” Parizad finishes the last drags of her tea, and on her way to the kitchen to put the mug away, she affectionately pats Estelle on the head like an older sister would to her younger sibling. “We all hate those kinds of nosy questions, and it’ll take time to get used to the fact that as public figures, we have very little privacy, but it’s an issue we have to get accustomed to.”  

“I know I still have tons to improve on,” Estelle mumbles, lowering her head.

“Your socializing skills, especially,” Alfreed teases, and narrowly misses the cushion thrown at her direction.

“You’re already doing so well, Estelle,” Parizad shoots Alfreed a look before she sends Estelle a kind smile, “don’t put too much pressure on yourself, all right? We’re all in this together.”

Estelle nods, her heart swelling at Parizad’s sincere words.

“Girls, it’s almost time. We should head out.”

-

The Secret Santa is a success, Gieve applauds himself inwardly. As the organizer of the event, he’s proud to see his friends and acquaintances gather in the penthouse that he and Isfan share, laughing and chatting while nursing drinks in their hands.

Isfan’s two Kugsha dogs, Bahram and Kayvan, are strutting around the unit, earning friendly pets and occasionally food scraps from the guests who can’t resist the fluffy canines.

Making friends for Gieve is as easy as bewitching his fans with his sultry looks and attractive voice, but there are few he considers close acquaintances. Among those who have been invited to his holiday gathering, many of them have become his intimate friends over the years he spent in the entertainment industry: Arslan, his overly-protective manager Daryun, and the young idol’s talented make-up artist best friend Elam are talking quietly in the corner of the living-room; Nasrin and Kishward, who are managers of Ecbatana’s rising talents L.E.A.P. and the Knights of Survival, respectively, are talking to Narsus, who is infamous for his outrageous yet popular costume designs; the members of L.E.A.P. are chatting with the sister trio, Patna, Kura, and Yulin; and the men of the pop-rock band, the Knights of Survival, are drinking merrily and noisily discussing ideas for their upcoming live concert.  

“Okay, okay, who’s next?” Someone’s shouting excitedly over the chatter.

Most of the gifts have been distributed and opened; a lot of them are joke gifts that either make the recipients choke in laughter or roll their eyes, but there are a few thoughtful presents thrown in as well.  

Gieve retrieves a random gift from the cardboard box placed beneath the Christmas tree, and reading the tag, he announces with a smirk, “Estelle, this one’s for you!”

A series of cheering and clapping explode as Estelle makes her way to the center of the circle and receive her gift.

Estelle puts the card aside, and then carefully unwraps the paper, revealing an elegant, tall glass bottle filled with paper stars in shades of dark harvest gold to light champagne gold. There must be at least 200 tiny stars in the bottle; the colours are reminiscent of the hues of Estelle’s eyes, and she can’t help but think that the person who folded the stars must have kept this in mind.

Or it could have just been a coincidence, Estelle shakes her head slightly to clear her thoughts.

“Wow, whoever gave you this must have spent hours folding those stars,” Layla whistles from the side, pulling Estelle out of her trance. “Does the card say who it’s from?”

There had been no specific rules set about revealing the identity of the Secret Santa, so some of them have chosen to write their names on cards while others have to venture guesses after they’ve received their presents.

With shivering fingers, Estelle tears the envelop open with less grace than she has with the gift-wrap. The front of the card contains typical holiday greetings with a pleasant watercolour painting of a winter scene — nothing special or offensive — yet as her eyes follow the trail of words written inside the card, the colour of her cheeks grows more and more red with each second passing.

The crowd hushes until all they can hear is the fine clinking of glass against wood as someone places their drink on the table.

“Estelle… Estelle, what’s wrong?” Parizad is the first to notice something strange about the young idol’s reaction.

“Arslan,” Estelle’s eyes turn sharply to meet the man’s startled, midnight blue gaze.

“Y-Yes?” Despite the eerily cold tone of her voice, Arslan seems impeccably calm.

“Come with me.” Estelle stomps over to where Arslan is standing, the glass bottle of stars and card still in one hand, and briskly grabs hold of Arslan’s wrist, pulling him away from the crowd who has begun to make teasing comments and catcalling sounds.

They ignore the jeering, push through the crowd, and manage to find some privacy on the massive balcony that acts as an outdoor playground for the dogs after slamming the sliding glass door shut behind them, to the disappointment of the on-looking audience.

“Now, now, just let those lovebirds be,” Gieve consoles his friends and cleverly avoids the pointed glare that Isfan is giving him.

Even in the depth of winter, the city’s temperature rarely drops below 18 degrees Celsius, but in the evening with moisture heavy in the air, the breeze is chilling to the bone. It’s hard for Estelle to pretend otherwise, for the black cocktail dress she’s chosen to wear tonight is a sleeveless one that reaches just above her knees, the pale gold bow tied around her neck is almost suffocating when she realizes that Arslan, bewildered as he is, is still staring at her, waiting patiently for her to speak.  

“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Estelle waves the card in front of Arslan’s face, her voice shaking in a mixture of anger and bewilderment. “Is this a joke to you?”

“W-what do you mean?” He asks, utterly confused. Sure, he’s written the card and has hastily stuffed it in the envelop yesterday without double-checking for mistakes. Had he made some sort of grammatical or spelling errors so unforgiveable that Estelle is getting mad at him?

“Read it yourself!” Estelle, cheeks still tinted with heat despite the cold, thrusts the card into Arslan’s hands.

Five words into the poem that is obviously not written in his own handwriting, Arslan immediately understands why Estelle is acting this way. His only explanation: “Gieve…”

“What does this have to do with Gieve?”

“I think he was trying to help me out,” Arslan chuckles, closing the card and tucking it into his back pocket, “but as usual, the more he tries to extinguish the fire, the more likely he triggers a flood instead.”

“Excuse me?”

“It looks like Gieve rewrote the contents of my card to help me convey my feelings across to you, and he’s done so in a rather… non-subtle way. But he’s got one thing right in that poem,” Arslan laughs, the sound echoing like shimmering sunlight around them, warm and heady.

“If you can even call that poetry,” Estelle smirks, her shoulders much more relaxed now that she knows what’s going on.

“When I was folding those stars,” Arslan nods at the bottle in Estelle’s hand, the paper inside gleaming slightly under the moonlight, “I was thinking about how the colour of your eyes is also quite similar, only yours shifts depending on the light of the day and your mood.”  

“What… are you saying?” Estelle can feel herself stiffening up again when Arslan walks closer, her back rod-straight, but Arslan merely shrugs off his suit jacket and gently lays it over her shoulders to shield her from the night’s chilling breeze.

“I’m sorry,” Arslan apologizes, laughter low and smoky and his eyes are dark and endless when Estelle glances up to face him properly. “I should make my intentions clearer to avoid any more misunderstandings, shouldn’t I?”

He lightly pries the bottle of stars out of Estelle’s hand and places it on the floor, and then holding her hands tenderly in his, Arslan smiles softly and asks, “Estelle, will you do me the honor of going out with me?”

---

Extra Notes:

L.E.A.P. (Manager: Nasrin) - Estelle (was a Gospel singer before she was recruited; joined unit because she needed the money for her family) - Alfreed (Merlane is a bassist in a successful band, and she wants to exceed him with her own talent) - Parizad (dancer; charismatic leader) - Layla (all-rounder; can easily befriend anyone she talks to)

The Knights of Survival (Manager: Kishward) [Do you see the irony in the name? Please forgive me.] - Jimsa (guitar, vocals) - Jaswant (keyboard) - Merlane (bass) - Zaravant (guitar) - Tus (drums)

[ohthathurt]

Time Will Explain

apparently i write fanfiction now? lol its my first fic ever pls go easy Read on AO3

Summary: In the year 2020, Liam Payne, sits down for an exclusive interview with Ellen on The Ellen Show, to promote One Direction's reunion album and to reveal a secret about his personal life.

He bounced on his feet, rubbing his palms together, trying to settle his nerves. This was the most difficult part before any interview but he was looking forward to this one. And there was a special reason why.

A frazzled looking technician edged forward from the curtain and gave him a jerky nod, trepidation and awe in his eyes. That was his cue; with a skip, he moved forward through the curtain and a door and out into the blinding studio lights. A deafening applause was the only thing that filled his ears, followed by a shrill cacophony of screams of ‘Liam!’ and ‘We love you’.

Still humbled by the positive response of his fans, he made his way to the couch and met Ellen with a warm hug and a hello. After a lot of waving and grinning at the audience, he sat down on the white couch, screams and shouts still echoing in the studio. Ellen only continued grinning at him and looking back and forth at the audience, laughing slightly at their response.

“Well, I’m not saying I’m surprised, but it’s still a shock. I mean, I don’t think any of my guests, except for you boys, have ever received such a response,” she stated, turning to Liam who hadn’t stopped smiling the entire time.

He nodded proudly and looked out at the audience, “Honestly, I’m still quite surprised that I-we’ve still got such a devoted fan base and I mean I tell the boys all the time, I tell them, “Man, how lucky are we?” We really lucked out that we have such amazing fans who are so, so dedicated even after all these years.”

“I keep saying the only reason we’re coming back is because of you guys,” he finished, pointing out at the audience, receiving yet another round of applause and shouts and screams. He shakes his head at them, giggling quietly at some of the cute signs the fans are holding.

Ellen smiled at him,” So, you boys are coming back, you’re actually coming back after a really long hiatus right?” She directed her question at Liam who was momentarily distracted by the picture pulled up on the giant screen behind the couches. There they were: the five of them, piled onto a settee with the words ‘Coming Home’ printed on top of the picture.

But that was not what caught his attention.

It was their expressions; Niall’s head (still brunet though, bless him) was thrown back, his mouth open in laughter at something Louis whispered in his ear. Speaking of the menace, he was leaned towards Niall whispering god-knows-what Liam doesn’t know, his other arm wrapped around a lanky lad. This certain lad who was sporting a beautiful, dimpled smile directed at the camera was the sweetheart of said band, Mr. Styles, now proudly known as Mr. Tomlinson (the other one, as Louis once smugly stated). On the other corner of the settee, sat Liam with an embarrassing but endearing expression of adoration leveled towards the most beautiful man on Earth. (Or, so he liked to claim from time to time just too see Zayn blush to the tip of his toes and shove him playfully.)

Zayn himself, was snuggled in between Harry and Liam, though leaning more towards Liam, laughing at something off camera, his tongue pressed up against his teeth, his cheeks full and healthy, sporting a scruffy beard and a very prominent eyebrow slit. (“But, Liam, c’mon that’s our thing; I’ve got to do it!”).

He smiled at the picture one last time before finally turning to Ellen, almost missing her question.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, “Yeah, we still fit onto a couch now even after all these years, I guess” Liam reveals, giggling a bit.

Ellen gave the picture a cursory glance before fixing Liam with a knowing look, “Well you all look very comfortable there, all up in each other’s personal space.”

The audience laughed at the implications but Liam was quick enough,” Well, no reason hiding it anymore, is there?” He tilted his head towards her, eyes mischievous.

She caught on,” Of course, pass on my congratulations to the newlywed Tomlinsons, please let them know that I’m so proud of them and what they’ve achieved so far,” Ellen ended on a serious note. Everyone knew what she was talking about, the coming out of Louis and Harry Tomlinson was not what anyone would call an easy feat. It was messy, drawn out and uncomfortable for everyone involved, not away from lawsuits and scandals, but eventually when everything had settled, they could be themselves again. In love and free.

A respectable applause broke out in the studio and Liam would be lying if he wasn’t misty eyed himself, so happy and proud of his friends and the hardships they had overcome throughout the years.

The moment ended and Ellen grabbed at the opportunity to direct their conversation towards the actual subject of the show. “Um, so, Liam I’ve heard, you have news too?” she questioned with a lilting voice.

This was it. This was the reason he came here. Well that and the opportunity to promote their new album. But primarily, this was the reason that he called up his manager after a heavy, long talk with Zayn and asked to be on The Ellen Show for an exclusive interview. He chose Ellen because he knew her studio and show was a safe space and that it was the best place for the world to know: Liam was not in fact single and free, he was very happily committed and settled and married to the enigma better known as Zayn.

He smiled nervously at her and received a warm and comforting one in return. Okay, Liam here goes, he thought to himself. Revved up by a mental pep talk, he opened his mouth, “Yeah, actually. Um-well, the thing is…” Don’t fuck this up, c’mon man, Zayn is depending on you for this one, his thoughts echoed.

Ellen put him out of his misery, piping up with, “Here, let me ask you about this selfie of yours I found the other day?”

A picture displayed on the giant screen of the studio and a hush settled in the audience. It was breathtaking and shocking and endearing, and no one knew how to react. It was a simple selfie, Liam reclined on the numerous pillows on his and Zayn’s shared bed, hair messed up and ruffled in sleep, scruff growing out of control, eyes heavy with sleep and a content smile on his face. But what drew everyone’s attention was the face of another person in the picture.

Head resting on Liam’s chest, eye lashes long and fluttery against his cheeks, his face calm and beautiful in sleep, was the very only Zayn Malik.

Wrapped in a fuzzy hoodie of Liam’s and handing rest on Liam’s chest, Zayn was lost to the world of dreams, oblivious that his husband had taken a sneak selfie of the two of them in bed on a lazy Sunday, rays of sun just beginning to creep through the blinds. Liam could coo at him all day (“Stop it, Leeyum, I’m not adorable, I’m hot, babe”).

It had been this exact selfie, that he later showed to Zayn, just to tease him and enjoy all the pretend scowling that followed which was only a facade to hide his actual blush, that roused an idea in him. Zayn had stared at him a long time, after he shared his idea, and with doe-like hazel eyes fixed on him, he only murmured a "I trust you, babe". And Liam knew with that sentence, he could climb Mount bloody Everest.

Back in the studio, Liam sighed contently, the picture and memory settling something in him, something that threatened to light him on fire, something that was sitting heavy in his stomach, running through his veins like lead. Altogether, like a switch being turned off, everything quieted in him.

On autopilot, he started with,” I think I should introduce myself again. My name is Liam Malik formerly Payne, I’m a pop artist and famously in the One Direction band, I have great friends and am married to the best man in this entire world.” He finished his statement, directing it to the audience and the cameras trained on him.

Liam fixed a smile on his face, not wanting to come across as intense and worrying, but he found himself biting his lip in apprehension.

Then it happened, like an explosion, there was a gasp from the audience and what followed could only be described as thunder, as applause ripped throughout the studio, people standing up and directing their grins and watery smiles at him. Even Ellen stood up from her seat on the couch and gave a round of cursory applause, leaning in to hug him and whisper a ‘told you so’.

He sat there in shock, jaw slack and eyes wide. He couldn’t believe it, this applause, these people standing up and clapping, was for him? Him and his husband? Liam teared up at the sight, sniffling quietly to hold back his tears; it wouldn’t do to be a blubbering mess on national television. Oh how he wished Zayn was with him in that moment. His cellphone sat heavy in his pocket, the urge to head backstage and call him was itching in him. But he eased himself and broke out into a blinding grin.

He could hear himself repeating ‘thank you’ and ‘unbelievable’ and ‘oh my god’ over and over until everyone in the studio had their wits about them. The audience settled once again as did Ellen and Liam couldn’t stop smiling widely.

Wild horses could rip through the studio and he’d still be sat there with a dazed expression.

Zayn would laugh his arse off at some of my thoughts, Liam thought.

“Thank you all so much for such a positive response, you have no idea how much this means to me and Zayn, like honestly, I can’t tell you how nervous I was, how nervous he was yesterday. But seeing you all here today, I know I can’t be worried about a thing as long as we have you guys behind us.” Liam revealed, sincerity colouring his voice.

Ellen looked at him like a proud parent, smiling comfortingly then turned to her table to pick up their album.

“Coming Home is out now, please give it a listen, go support the boys, One Direction is officially back and dare I say ‘out’!” Ellen finished with a flourish, waving the album around.

“Thank you so much to Liam Malik for joining us and talking to us, please stay tuned, I have a lovely little girl who wants to show you all something!”

The lights dimmed as the audience continued with their screams, this time shouting words of love and comfort to Liam. He turned and waved at the audience, ready to leave back through the door, but stopped to point at an enthusiastic fan with the best sign he had seen all day.

“Love Wins!”

[yuanfenbd-blog]

YUANFEN FEST ROUND 1: REVEALS + FINAL NOTES

The Baeksoo party has finally come to an end but don't you worry, the fun is not yet over because there are still lovely fics for you to catch up with and come back to :> That being said, we want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for supporting us and participating in this fest, may you be a prompter, writer, or reader! This fest wouldn't have been possible in the first place if not for you. We would give the spotlight now to our writers as we unveil who they are but before anything else, here are some words from our mods:

MOD MOCHI

Somehow, It only feels like yesterday when two of my fellow Baeksooies came into my DMs and told me about the apparent lack of Baeksoo fics in the EXO ficdom. I vividly all the times we complained because we’re craving for more until finally, we decided to simply take a leap of faith and create our own Baeksoo-centric fic ourselves. It was the epitome of a “Fuck, I’ll do it myself” situation because we knew our complaints would reach nothing if we don’t do our part in helping resolve the situation.

A week after, we decided to meet up and discuss this concept further in person. Believe it or not, I actually made a presentation/pitch deck about the fest, featuring a complete list of our objectives, content execution, and promotional strategy. We wanted to treat it as a passion project, as our little baby we would nurture months later on because aside from bringing new Baeksoo fanworks, we wanted to help bring the ‘community’ together.

Fast-forward to six months later and here we are now. It hasn’t been an easy journey for anyone, but it’s what makes this whole thing worth it because despite the difficulties that came along the way, you guys stuck by our side ‘til the end. And for that, we couldn’t be any more thankful.

To our prompters: thank you for your creativity and enthusiasm in participating in this fest. You all gave our writers gems to work with; this fest wouldn’t have been able to move forward if not for your participation.

To our very talented writers: thank you so, so much for sharing your talents with all of us. We know writing fic isn’t that easy especially when you’re bounded by deadlines (+ real life responsibilities) but you guys pulled through and made it! I hope you are all as proud of your works as much as we are. It is very interesting to see Baeksoo and the extension of their dynamics through a different set of eyes in every fic that was submitted to this fest, but the feeling of joy that each one gives is all the same. Thank you for making us fall in love with this pairing a hundred times and more, all over again.

To our beta readers: thank you for your hard work too. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a second set of eyes that could review your work for feedback. Thank you for working closely with our writers and holding their hand; I want you to know that you guys also play a very important role in the creative process of making a fic.

To our readers: may you spend the rest of the year getting good grades, having a fun time at work, and achieving all your personal goals because, at the end of the day, there’s more Baeksoo fics for you to enjoy and drown yourself with! Thank you for supporting us from the beginning ‘til the end, we hope you’d give our writers the love they deserve too by giving them feedback on their fics.

And lastly, to my co-mods: girlies, we did it! No tea, no shade, no pink lemonade — but you guys worked just as hard in making this fest possible! I want you both to know that I’m very proud and thankful for you two. Thank you for being so patient, friendly, and hardworking. I consider this fest as my passion project and it was a pleasure to be able to share this journey with you both.

MOD BREAD

Wow! Until now I am still amazed. We've been thirsty for almost two years for a new wave of Baeksoo-centric fics in our fandom so I am very happy that Yuanfen has been the answer to our pleas to end this drought. And now, we're almost drowning with great gems to read. Haha

To the readers,  you know we all living the good life and eating well. I hope you enjoyed all the fics you've read and gave them love. Thank you so much for  reading, giving kudos and comments to the fics and recommending them on your SNS. To the writers, the real mvps of this fest, You are fricking fantastic. This will never be a success without you guys who took their precious time making these wonderful fics to life! Istg I want to hug all of you, one by one. Thank you for sharing your talents in making the readers drown in feels. To my forever understanding co-mods (who almost did all the work), I sincerely apologize for not being that active in terms of  emailing and other stuff. I am so thankful that because of you guys, this fest has been a success and organized. Thank you so much and congratulations for a job well done! /hugs you both/ And to the banes of this fic fest's existence aka BAEKSOO (joke!), we did this all for you so we have many fics to reread again once you feel like  giving us another long term drought. But for now, we're eating good with all the interactions and feels you gave this 2017 .

MOD PEACH

Hi everyone!!! Finally we’re on the last phase of this round and I couldn’t express how grateful I am to all of you (prompters, writers, beta readers, readers) who participated in our fest *sobs*

Okay so, first off, I would like to thank the writers!! You guys are amazing. I remember the moment we received the first ever submitted fic (I’m usually in charge of email-ing you guys so haha) I teared up cos omg it’s happening and also it’s our first time mod-ing a fest so we’re really thrilled about it haha. Thank you so so so much for your dedication and effort in making this fest possible and we hope you guys will continue your passion in writing cos yall are really talented ;;

Next, the readers!! Thank you very much for hyping the fics and giving all the love it deserved and we hope you guys will read them all cos I swear they’re all so good I’ve already read most of them lol

And lastly, to my co-mods!! I’m sorry I keep on bugging you guys about everything I’m just so nervous I might have mistakes (which I already did fml) and thank you very much for all your hard works despite your crazy workloads!!! You guys are the best I hope we can still continue this in the future haha

We would also like to apologize for any confusion that we’ve made e.g., changing of deadlines without prior notice, and others. We have previously addressed this matter on our CC so we hope you guys understand it and we’ll try to meet all your expectations once we’ve decided to push our round 2 *winks*

So, anyway, that’s it!!! Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart to all of you who made this fest successful and we hope you guys will continue loving Baeksoo as much as we love them!!

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STATS

For this round, we garnered a total of  353 prompts (self-prompts excluded) and 44 fics written by 42 writers. Our average word count is 14, 762 words; meanwhile, our total word count is 645,556 words!

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that most of our writers wrote long fics. A special shout-out goes to UNCONQU3R3D and encoru for writing two fics each respectively; and to Bbaegi for submitting 76k worth of fic! Thank you so much!

And now, without further ado, here is our master list!

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♡ DAY 1 ♡

Red Sunset Glow by sehnsvcht

T | 35.7k

If someone had told Kyungsoo that all it takes to shut Baekhyun up—and, maybe, get over his fears—is one simple, one scary kiss, maybe he would have tried it sooner. Maybe.

Hop in, I can take you there (Follow the path to my heart) by kumo_is_kumo

E | 12.2k

Baekhyun, who doesn’t believe in love at the first sight, meets a cute guy called Kyungsoo while visiting his grandmother on the countryside and he thinks that Kyungsoo might be the one. The only obstacle is that Kyungsoo is a cucumber farmer.

Let Me Care, You Deserve So Much Better by Agrippa

M | 8.4k

What Kyungsoo sees in the newly acquainted Baekhyun is someone who deserves a lot more. Baekhyun doesn't see it himself, but Kyungsoo is about to change everything he's ever known.

(Oh!) I Can't Stop by X_yehet_pcy

E | 4.9k

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are roommates, Baekhyun’s had a big secret crush on Kyungsoo since forever, Chanyeol and Jongdae are questionable friends. Well.

♡ DAY 2 ♡

I Could Be The One To Set You Free by vavole

M | 20.8k

(fake dating!au) Actor Do Kyungsoo thinks that he is too good at leaving love, but Idol Byun Baekhyun teaches him otherwise because loving someone can be simple.

a cataclysm of minor proportions by lady-serendipity (jezz)

M | 6.6k

Roommates!AU. Kyungsoo finds a kitty on the streets on his way home and brings it to their apartment to take care of it, but apparently Baekhyun is afraid of cats?

If You Like Me, Say You Like Me by fadetotomorrow

M | 3k

It shouldn't be so difficult for Baekhyun to figure out his Kyungsoo problem, not that he has one.

it don't run in our blood by marcel

M | 14k

When crown prince Kyungsoo learns he's been betrothed to someone since before he was born, he has a hard time trying to adjust to the idea before his fiancé arrives at the palace. It doesn't help that his husband-to-be defies all his expectations - but in the worst or best way?

♡ DAY 3 ♡

Revisions by Daphnean

E | 11.3k

It wasn’t as if liking Kyungsoo was a big secret; like it’d be out of character or weird for him. He was out and Professor Do was a fairly liked, and lusted after, instructor on campus. Still there was something unsettling to Baekhyun about making it concrete, even for a moment.

Limes and Coastlines by Yifanning (bambitae)

M | 28.3k

Answers submerge when you've faced the eye of the storm—thus, Kyungsoo stood on his toes, nearing the ledge, gazing into the dark, deep end. Close to pulling back, closer to falling in.

Love is Forever (Your Forever is All That I Need) by Bbaegi

T | 76.8k

"I’ve never felt forever when I kissed someone. Have you?" Baekhyun heard himself whisper, voice as gentle as the first notes of a lullaby meant to tame a child’s fear and lure them into a gentle slumber filled with nothing but sweet melodies to dance around with instead.

Winter Heat by UNCONQU3R3D

E | 23.5k

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun somehow, conveniently, get trapped together in a snowstorm and are forced to survive. Easier said than done since they can't stand each other.

♡ DAY 4 ♡

Engraved in Your Heart by UNCONQU3R3D

E | 28.2k

Highschool!AU where Baekhyun, high school bad boy and leader of a street gang, falls in love with a social outcast, the blind kid, Kyungsoo.

Be Careful What You Wish For by quebaek

M | 7.3k

Baekhyun didn't expect Yixing to suddenly go out of town and ask him to house sit. He also wasn't expecting to find and break a cool looking crystal orb in his attic. He especially wasn't expecting a man named Do Kyungsoo to appear of it and give him a hard time. That's for sure.

redamancy by anon_nim

M | 4.5k

Oddly, he feels like he’s on a ‘time out’, the kind that children get from their parents when they do something bad and have to reflect about it in the corner. Except, Baekhyun is a grown up man and Kyungsoo is supposed to be his bandmate-cum-boyfriend.

Pen Me Down by dosmilkshake

M | 7.7k

“I would rather kill a panda.” “You’re terrible. They are endangered!” “That should tell you much I hate the idea of kissing him then.”

♡ DAY 5 ♡

Penny for your Socks by crownjules

M | 5.2k

Baekhyun didn't expect his soulmate to be so unfashionable; Kyungsoo knew his was an asshole.

Another Dream Away by foxxlight

T | 15.9k

For years Baekhyun has dreamed of a dragon prince, living out his everyday life within the confines of the dragon realm. What he hadn't realized was that the dragon prince dreamed of him too.

he says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives by london9calling

M | 10k

Who would have thought summoning a fifth level demon to win a singing contest could have such interesting consequences? Certainly not Byun Baekhyun.

Simmer, Sizzle, Savour by taegyungie

M | 8.7k

Kyungsoo just doesn't know what to do about his student from hell.

♡ DAY 6 ♡

Sick and Sweet by subduedblue

M | 2.3k

Kyungsoo gets sick on a Sunday and Baekhyun’s there to help him get well.

On top of the world, we are together by sunsethue

Not Rated | 5.9k

Everything is going right in Kyungsoo’s life. He never thought it can get even better, until Byun Baekhyun came along.

My One and Only by endboss

E | 19.8k

Hybrid!Baekhyun just loves his human so much, which is why he tries to be happy for Kyungsoo's relationships, even if they make his poor heart hurt so mysteriously much.

You and Me (Equals World War 3) by Junchenny

G | 14.3k

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are rival singers, until their labels decide to debut them as a duo for a project. Cue pranks, awkward meetings and bickering galore. But in the end, could their shared passion for music and the fact that they may have more in common than they thought, be enough to overcome their rivalry?

♡ DAY 7 ♡

true blue by zannen

E | 25k

With things going sharply downhill at the newspaper, Kyungsoo has two options. One: He could lose his job and say goodbye to his journalistic career entirely. Two: He could do his best to ruin Byun Baekhyun's reputation. The choice, in his opinion, is obvious. Or he thought it was, at least.

Trouble at the Sandbox by SmilingTeresa

G | 23.7k

Kyungsoo didn't plan on going to the park. He also didn't plan on meeting Baekhyun.

The Janitor's Closet by kissmebaek

M | 3.2k

“Hey fat ass, do you really have to block the hall?”

“I’m not sure if that’s my problem when there’s enough to go around.”

“Pfft! Says the guy who can’t even hit a basic falsetto note!”

“That literally has nothing to do with this conversation and at least I can sing!”

Jongdae sighs as he closes his locker. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun throwing argument after argument at each other.

“They have to be fucking.” He says. “There’s no way two people that are always this irritated with each other but always together aren’t fucking.”

Chanyeol let’s out a laugh. “No way.” He looks down at Jongdae who looks up at seriously. His face falls. “No way!”

Soul Ink by jkl-401

M | 26.6k

Baekhyun’s favourite past time is to pretend to work whilst day dreaming about the new tattoo artist.

♡ DAY 8 ♡

The power of a crush by lispkid

M | 2k

Kyungsoo gets crushed.

Stay By My Side by heartshapedlips

Baekhyun didn't want a bodyguard but Kyungsoo showed up to work anyway. Maybe he doesn't mind it as much as he thinks.

hear my story, set me free by wisteries

M | 9.4k

Kyungsoo just wants to get the job done and go home to his dog, but Baekhyun has other plans. Alternatively, where Baekhyun and Kyungsoo pry open each others' hearts and lay their stories out for display.

Drifting Lights by baekdsooshi

M | 10.6k

Librarian Do Kyungsoo and intern Yixing have gotten quite a number of complaints of damaged books. After a bit of detective work, they found one common clue - they’re all missing page 241.

♡ DAY 9 ♡

Breath of the Forest by cabbages

G | 12.3k

Baekhyun wants to explore the forbidden forest on the edge of town. He leaves Kyungsoo and enters the woods by himself, forcing Kyungsoo to run after him before he gets hurt or in trouble. The only problem: Kyungsoo has asthma.

Tug of War by yibaek

E | 30.2k

Baekhyun feeds off of affection... literally. Without affection and love, he will wither away. Enter Kyungsoo, the last man Baekhyun should fall for, the man that drains the life from everyone he touches.

Words of Fate by babychocosoo

G | 3.5k

How is Kyungsoo supposed to find his soulmate when his only clue to lead him to them is the word written on his wrist that no one could understand?

say you won't let go by encoru

E | 3.4k

“What’s the safety word?” Kyungsoo asks. “Dracarys,” Baekhyun replies.

♡ DAY 10 ♡

As Easy as Breathing (In, Out, In, Out, In Out) by reihino

M | 39.9k

Falling in love with Baekhyun was just like breathing - easy, natural. It was everything else that was hard. (A Howl's Moving Castle AU)

Did someone say cute? by mochified

M | 2.4k

Baekhyun is crazy for cute things, and Kyungsoo is super cute. He falls head over heels, low-key obsessed and melting inside whenever Kyungsoo does something especially adorable. Kyungsoo refuses to believe he's cute though.

leave me breathless by encoru

M | 8.4k

If Baekhyun had the chance to call the police on someone so handsome he knocks the air out of his lungs, the perfect time would be now.

kissing the devil by taeyeons

M | 10.1k

A cry rings in his ears and all Baekhyun's struck by is the familiarity.

♡ DAY 11 ♡

Count On Me by ambrosiaplease

M | 8k

Kyungsoo happened to discover not the El Dorado but a key to deepen his connection with Baekhyun through the latter's secret tumblr dashboard.

under the same sky by kynqso

G | 21.9k

It's what Baekhyun liked to call their story: a love that transcended the summer. Includes but is not limited to: lunchboxes, Thursdays, a wall painting, postcards, and sunrises and sunsets.

Kiss Me, Tell Me by cheesenim

T | 9.2k

Kyungsoo never expected to have his ass dragged on a challenge. He had no idea what to do next.

good to love by kozens

E | 24.8k

Between Beijing and Tokyo, Kyungsoo finds a stranger, and perhaps so much more.

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Thank you once again for making this first round successful! We sincerely hope you enjoyed this journey as much as we did. Now go ahead and smother your favorite writers with love, make friends with them, and spazz about favorite fics as much as you please! Don't forget to leave a kudos and comment on their fic! May you all continue supporting our dear writers and love Baeksoo along with them. See you next time!