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libraryofvenus · 4 years ago

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The Waste Land - T.S. Eliot

I. The Burial of the Dead

April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour. Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch. And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s, My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled, And I was frightened. He said, Marie, Marie, hold on tight. And down we went. In the mountains, there you feel free. I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, You cannot say, or guess, for you know only A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water. Only There is shadow under this red rock, (Come in under the shadow of this red rock), And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust. Frisch weht der Wind Der Heimat zu Mein Irisch Kind, Wo weilest du? “You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; “They called me the hyacinth girl.” —Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither Living nor dead, and I knew nothing, Looking into the heart of light, the silence. Oed’ und leer das Meer.

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold, nevertheless Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe, With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she, Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor, (Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, The lady of situations. Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel, And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card, Which is blank, is something he carries on his back, Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find The Hanged Man. Fear death by water. I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring. Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone, Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: One must be so careful these days.

Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine. There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying: “Stetson! “You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! “That corpse you planted last year in your garden, “Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? “Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? “Oh keep the Dog far hence, that’s friend to men, “Or with his nails he’ll dig it up again! “You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!”

II. A Game of Chess

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne, Glowed on the marble, where the glass Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines From which a golden Cupidon peeped out (Another hid his eyes behind his wing) Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra Reflecting light upon the table as The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it, From satin cases poured in rich profusion; In vials of ivory and coloured glass Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes, Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air That freshened from the window, these ascended In fattening the prolonged candle-flames, Flung their smoke into the laquearia, Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling. Huge sea-wood fed with copper Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone, In which sad light a carvéd dolphin swam. Above the antique mantel was displayed As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale Filled all the desert with inviolable voice And still she cried, and still the world pursues, “Jug Jug” to dirty ears. And other withered stumps of time Were told upon the walls; staring forms Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed. Footsteps shuffled on the stair. Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair Spread out in fiery points Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

“My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me. “Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak. “What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? “I never know what you are thinking. Think.”

I think we are in rats’ alley Where the dead men lost their bones.

“What is that noise?” The wind under the door. “What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?” Nothing again nothing. “Do “You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember “Nothing?”

I remember Those are pearls that were his eyes. “Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?”

But O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag— It’s so elegant So intelligent “What shall I do now? What shall I do?” “I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street “With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow? “What shall we ever do?” The hot water at ten. And if it rains, a closed car at four. And we shall play a game of chess, Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said— I didn’t mince my words, I said to her myself, HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart. He’ll want to know what you done with that money he gave you To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there. You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set, He said, I swear, I can’t bear to look at you. And no more can’t I, I said, and think of poor Albert, He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time, And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said. Oh is there, she said. Something o’ that, I said. Then I’ll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look. HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME If you don’t like it you can get on with it, I said. Others can pick and choose if you can’t. But if Albert makes off, it won’t be for lack of telling. You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique. (And her only thirty-one.) I can’t help it, she said, pulling a long face, It’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said. (She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.) The chemist said it would be all right, but I’ve never been the same. You are a proper fool, I said. Well, if Albert won’t leave you alone, there it is, I said, What you get married for if you don’t want children? HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon, And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot— HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight. Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight. Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

III. The Fire Sermon

The river’s tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers, Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed. And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors; Departed, have left no addresses. By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept . . . Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song, Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long. But at my back in a cold blast I hear The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.

A rat crept softly through the vegetation Dragging its slimy belly on the bank While I was fishing in the dull canal On a winter evening round behind the gashouse Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck And on the king my father’s death before him. White bodies naked on the low damp ground And bones cast in a little low dry garret, Rattled by the rat’s foot only, year to year. But at my back from time to time I hear The sound of horns and motors, which shall bring Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring. O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter And on her daughter They wash their feet in soda water Et O ces voix d’enfants, chantant dans la coupole!

Twit twit twit Jug jug jug jug jug jug So rudely forc’d. Tereu

Unreal City Under the brown fog of a winter noon Mr. Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant Unshaven, with a pocket full of currants C.i.f. London: documents at sight, Asked me in demotic French To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel Followed by a weekend at the Metropole.

At the violet hour, when the eyes and back Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits Like a taxi throbbing waiting, I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives, Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea, The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights Her stove, and lays out food in tins. Out of the window perilously spread Her drying combinations touched by the sun’s last rays, On the divan are piled (at night her bed) Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays. I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest— I too awaited the expected guest. He, the young man carbuncular, arrives, A small house agent’s clerk, with one bold stare, One of the low on whom assurance sits As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire. The time is now propitious, as he guesses, The meal is ended, she is bored and tired, Endeavours to engage her in caresses Which still are unreproved, if undesired. Flushed and decided, he assaults at once; Exploring hands encounter no defence; His vanity requires no response, And makes a welcome of indifference. (And I Tiresias have foresuffered all Enacted on this same divan or bed; I who have sat by Thebes below the wall And walked among the lowest of the dead.) Bestows one final patronising kiss, And gropes his way, finding the stairs unlit . . .

She turns and looks a moment in the glass, Hardly aware of her departed lover; Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass: “Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.” When lovely woman stoops to folly and Paces about her room again, alone, She smoothes her hair with automatic hand, And puts a record on the gramophone.

“This music crept by me upon the waters” And along the Strand, up Queen Victoria Street. O City city, I can sometimes hear Beside a public bar in Lower Thames Street, The pleasant whining of a mandoline And a clatter and a chatter from within Where fishmen lounge at noon: where the walls Of Magnus Martyr hold Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.

The river sweats Oil and tar The barges drift With the turning tide Red sails Wide To leeward, swing on the heavy spar. The barges wash Drifting logs Down Greenwich reach Past the Isle of Dogs. Weialala leia Wallala leialala

Elizabeth and Leicester Beating oars The stern was formed A gilded shell Red and gold The brisk swell Rippled both shores Southwest wind Carried down stream The peal of bells White towers Weialala leia Wallala leialala

“Trams and dusty trees. Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew Undid me. By Richmond I raised my knees Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.”

“My feet are at Moorgate, and my heart Under my feet. After the event He wept. He promised a ‘new start.’ I made no comment. What should I resent?”

“On Margate Sands. I can connect Nothing with nothing. The broken fingernails of dirty hands. My people humble people who expect Nothing.” la la

To Carthage then I came

Burning burning burning burning O Lord Thou pluckest me out O Lord Thou pluckest

burning

IV. Death by Water

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss. A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool. Gentile or Jew O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

V. What the Thunder Said

After the torchlight red on sweaty faces After the frosty silence in the gardens After the agony in stony places The shouting and the crying Prison and palace and reverberation Of thunder of spring over distant mountains He who was living is now dead We who were living are now dying With a little patience

Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above among the mountains Which are mountains of rock without water If there were water we should stop and drink Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand If there were only water amongst the rock Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit There is not even silence in the mountains But dry sterile thunder without rain There is not even solitude in the mountains But red sullen faces sneer and snarl From doors of mudcracked houses If there were water And no rock If there were rock And also water And water A spring A pool among the rock If there were the sound of water only Not the cicada And dry grass singing But sound of water over a rock Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop But there is no water

Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded I do not know whether a man or a woman —But who is that on the other side of you?

What is that sound high in the air Murmur of maternal lamentation Who are those hooded hordes swarming Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth Ringed by the flat horizon only What is the city over the mountains Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air Falling towers Jerusalem Athens Alexandria Vienna London Unreal

A woman drew her long black hair out tight And fiddled whisper music on those strings And bats with baby faces in the violet light Whistled, and beat their wings And crawled head downward down a blackened wall And upside down in air were towers Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.

In this decayed hole among the mountains In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel There is the empty chapel, only the wind’s home. It has no windows, and the door swings, Dry bones can harm no one. Only a cock stood on the rooftree Co co rico co co rico In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust Bringing rain

Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves Waited for rain, while the black clouds Gathered far distant, over Himavant. The jungle crouched, humped in silence. Then spoke the thunder DA Datta: what have we given? My friend, blood shaking my heart The awful daring of a moment’s surrender Which an age of prudence can never retract By this, and this only, we have existed Which is not to be found in our obituaries Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor In our empty rooms DA Dayadhvam: I have heard the key Turn in the door once and turn once only We think of the key, each in his prison Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus DA Damyata: The boat responded Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar The sea was calm, your heart would have responded Gaily, when invited, beating obedient To controlling hands

I sat upon the shore Fishing, with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order? London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down Poi s’ascose nel foco che gli affina Quando fiam uti chelidon—O swallow swallow Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie These fragments I have shored against my ruins Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo’s mad againe. Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantih shantih shantih

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writemarcus · 3 years ago

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Lin-Manuel Miranda, Annaleigh Ashford, Neil Patrick Harris, Telly Leung, Ruthie Ann Miles and More The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Virtual Benefit I’m Still Here at 90

On June 23, 2021 at 8:00 PM, an unprecedented, one-time-only virtual benefit, I’m Still Here, will stream on Broadway On Demand to benefit The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Billy Rose Theatre Division.

The exciting evening is a celebration of the division’s 90th Anniversary, and the 50th Anniversary of its beloved Theatre on Film and Tape Archive and will honor Harold Prince and George C. Wolfe.

Tickets to the fundraiser will be donate-what-you-can, with a recommendation of at least $19.31 in honor of the year the division was founded. To purchase tickets, visit stillhereat90.com

I’m Still Here will feature never before publicly shown archival content of Broadway productions from the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, shown exclusively for this occasion, including Savion Glover, Jimmy Tate, Choclattjared and Raymond King in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden and Larry Pine in The Seagull, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Robin de Jesús, Christopher Jackson, Karen Olivo, Andréa Burns, Janet Dacal, Eliseo Román, Seth Stewart in In The Heights, Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard, and even more to be announced. The program will also feature interviews with Broadway legends and emerging creatives and reconceived performances of classic musical theatre songs, including “A Trip to the Library,” “Wheels of a Dream,” “Another Hundred People,” “Love Will Find a Way,” “I’m Still Here,” and more.

I’m Still Here features artists and figures from the theatre community including Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Alexander Bello (Caroline, or Change), Laura Benanti (She Loves Me), Malik Bilbrew, Alexandra Billings (Wicked), Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam), Shay Bland, Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show), Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice), Matthew Broderick (Plaza Suite), Krystal Joy Brown (Hamilton), David Burtka (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”), Sammi Cannold(Endlings), Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic), Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza), Max Clayton (Moulin Rouge!), Calvin L. Cooper (Mrs. Doubtfire), DeMarius Copes(Mean Girls), Trip Cullman (Choir Boy), Taeler Elyse Cyrus (Hello, Dolly!), Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on This Island), Robin de Jesús (In the Heights), André De Shields (Hadestown), Frank DiLella (NY1), Derek Ege, Amina Faye, Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles), Leslie Donna Flesner (Tootsie), Chelsea P. Freeman, Joel Grey (Cabaret), Ryan J. Haddad (“The Politician”), Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), James Harkness (Ain’t Too Proud), Marcy Harriell (Company), Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Mark Harris (“Mike Nichols: A Life”), David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), Cassondra James (Once on This Island), Marcus Paul James (Rent), Taylor Iman Jones (Hamilton), Maya Kazzaz, Tom Kirdahy (The Inheritance), Hilary Knight, Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party), Norman Lear (Good Times), Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line), Sondra Lee (Hello, Dolly!), Telly Leung (Aladdin), Ashley Loren (Moulin Rouge!), Allen René Louis (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”), Brittney Mack (Six), Taylor Mac (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus), Morgan Marcell, Aaron Marcellus (“American Idol”), Joan Marcus, Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), Sarah Meahl, Joanna Merlin (Fiddler on the Roof), Ruthie Ann Miles (Sunday in the Park with George), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Leilani Patao (Garden Girl), Nova Payton (Dreamgirls), Joel Perez (Kiss My Aztec), Bernadette Peters (Into the Woods), Tonya Pinkins (Jelly’s Last Jam), Jacoby Pruitt, Sam Quinn, Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin in the Sun), Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice), George Salazar (Be More Chill), Marilyn Saunders (Company), Marcus Scott (Fidelio), Rashidra Scott (Company), Rona Siddiqui (Tales of a Halfghan), Ahmad Simmons, Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), Bobby Conte Thornton (Company), Sergio Trujillo (On Your Feet), Kei Tsuruharatani (Jagged Little Pill), Ben Vereen(Pippin), Jack Viertel, Christopher Vo, Paula Vogel (Indecent), Nik Walker (Ain’t Too Proud), Shannon Fiona Weir, Helen Marla White (Ain’t Misbehavin’), Natasha Yvette Williams (“Orange is the New Black”) and Ricardo Zayas (Hamilton).

“From the Great Depression of the 1930s to the COVID crisis, the Billy Rose Theatre Division perseveres and preserves the greatest treasures of theatrical history,” said Doug Reside, the Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. “As I look back on the last 90 years of our history, I’m struck by how our division has managed to document almost every aspect of the creative process and the people who bring theatre to life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate our first 90 years in such spectacular fashion, and to the theatre community for its support. As we plan for the next 90 years and beyond, my hope is that the collection continues to grow and flourish and reflect the diversity of voices that have shaped the theatre as we know it and are shaping its future.”

“The Billy Rose Theatre Division has served as the collective memory for our community by capturing the ephemeral nature of our unique art form. Until we can all experience the joy of live theater again, we are thrilled to look back into the archives to highlight theatrical masterpieces from their vast collection,” said producers Julie Boardman and Nolan Doran. “Our hope is to raise funds to ensure the archives remain accessible to future theatre makers for generations to come.”

The virtual benefit is produced and conceived by co-founder of the upcoming Museum of Broadway and four-time Tony nominee Julie Boardman (Company) and Co-Executive Producer of Broadway For Biden Nolan Doran (Head Over Heels), featuring direction by Steve Broadnax (Thoughts Of A Colored Man), Sammi Cannold(Endlings), Nick Corley (Plaza Suite), Grammy Award Winner Ty Defoe (Straight White Men), Drama Desk winner Lorin Latarro (Waitress), Mia Walker (Jagged Little Pill) and Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb (Choir Boy), choreography by Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic), Lorin Latarro and Ray Mercer (The Lion King), with new music arranged by ASCAP Award winner Rachel Dean (Medusa) and Annastasia Victory (A Wonderful World), with arrangements and orchestrations by Brian Usifer(Frozen). Casting is by Peter Van Dam at Tara Rubin Casting.

Tony Marx is the president of The New York Public Library, William Kelly is the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries, Jennifer Schantz is the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the Library for the Performing Arts, and Doug Reside is the Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. Patrick Hoffman is the curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive. Henry Tisch serves as Associate Producer and Travis Waldschmidt is Associate Choreographer. Animation and Motion Graphics by Kate Freer, Graphic Design by Caitlin Whittington, Sean MacLaughlin is Director of Photography and Ian Johnston is B Camera Operator. Dylan Tashjian is Onsite Coordinator with COVID compliance by Lauren Class Schneider.

HOST COMMITTEE: Ted & Mary Jo Shen, Barbara Fleischman, Lizzie & Jon Tisch, Kate Cannova, Joan Marcus, Daisy Prince, Gayfryd Steinberg, Van Horn Group

LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE COMMITTEE: Emily Altman, Margot Astrachan, Ken Billington, Julie Boardman, Ted Chapin, Bonnie Comley, Van Dean, Kurt Deutsch, Scott Farthing, Barbara Fleischman, Freddie Gershon, Louise Hirschfeld, Joan Marcus, Elliott Masie, Arthur Pober, Ed Schloss, Morwin Schmookler, Jenna Segal, Ted Shen, Kara Unterberg, Abbie Van Nostrand, Kumiko Yoshii

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DOROTHY AND LEWIS B. CULLMAN CENTER houses one of the world’s most extensive combinations of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in the field of dance, theatre, music and recorded sound. These materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts — whether professional or amateur — the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters and photographs. The Library is part of The New York Public Library system, which has locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and is a lead provider of free education for all.

#NYPL #new york public library #New York Public Library for the Performing Arts #THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DOROTHY AND LEWIS B. CULLMAN CENTER #Marcus Scott #MarcusScott #WriteMarcus #Write Marcus #George C. Wolfe #Harold Prince #Billy Rose Theatre Division #TOFT #Theater #Theatre

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rjzimmerman · 4 years ago

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Excerpt from this story from Deutsche Welle/EcoWatch:

Proven technologies for a net-zero energy system already largely exist today, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The report predicts that renewable power, green hydrogen and modern bioenergy will shape the way we power the world in 2050.

Adopting such solutions would set world leaders on track to meet their target of keeping the planet from heating by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels this century, according to the World Energy Transitions Outlook report. The UN had warned in November that pledges to meet this goal were so far "woefully inadequate."

"The window of opportunity to achieve the 1.5 C Paris Agreement goal is closing fast," said Francesco La Camera, the director-general of IRENA. "The gap between where we are and where we should be is not decreasing, but widening. We are heading in the wrong direction."

Instead, IRENA — an intergovernmental organization based in Abu Dhabi made up of 162 countries and the European Union — calls for a change in direction and a dramatic acceleration of the energy transition as countries walk the "narrow tightrope" toward the 1.5 C target.

To meet the growing need for electricity in heating and transport and to make green hydrogen, the report projects that global electricity demand will triple by 2050.

That would make it the main energy source in the world, powering more than 80% of all vehicles. Heating would mainly be provided by heat pumps, whose number is set to rise 20-fold by 2050 to around 400 million.

To stay in line with climate targets, coal-fired power plants would have to be shut down and no new ones built. Ninety percent of electricity would have to come from renewable sources, mainly sun and wind, with a global installed capacity of photovoltaics almost 30 times greater than in 2018. There would have to be 14 times the wind power, and hydropower would have to double.

Fossil gas and nuclear energy, meanwhile, would make up 4% and 6% of electricity generated, respectively.

But, even with such an expansion of renewables and a drop in fossil fuels, the report relies on removing CO2 from the atmosphere to meet climate goals. This includes reforesting areas in which trees have been hacked down or burned, taking CO2 out of the atmosphere by growing plants, and capturing it from industrial sites and injecting it underground. The technology to capture carbon and store it is expensive, and exists only at a small scale.

#IRENA #renewable energy #International Renewable Energy Agency

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amrselim · 2 years ago

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تاكد انك مشترك في القناة 💯 ومفعل الجرس عشان يوصلك كل جديد 🔔 وما تنساش تعمل لايك للفيديو 👍 نشرك للمقطع هو اكبر دعم ممكن تقدمه لي ... أتمنى أن ينال الشرح أعجابكم https://ift.tt/SpQ4dUb ...................................................................... https://ift.tt/0E2CdSx https://ift.tt/7WqR2rX شير مشاركة #BIMarabia اشترك في القناة لمتابعة الشروحات الجديدة videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZYaOLTtPmOQX1fgtDFW52Q?sub_confirmation=1 بيم ارابيا http://bimarabia.com/ ❤️ رابط الاشتراك في القناة https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZYaOLTtPmOQX1fgtDFW52Q?sub_confirmation=1 ❤️ روابط التواصل ✅ انستجرام https://ift.tt/XaMqK16 ✅ الفيسبوك https://ift.tt/gtfGMZz ✅ تويتر https://twitter.com/bimarabia ✅ لينكد ان https://ift.tt/k8FYKdf ✅ قناة التلجرام https://t.me/bimarabia1 ✅ الموقع الالكتروني الشخصي https://ift.tt/0E2CdSx https://ift.tt/GDHcpu9 https://ift.tt/N2l0chE augmented reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9c5h0X-Kqw&list=PLNMim060_nUKpt2st91YUPa7BqWd0U2eb open source مفتوحة المصدر https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNYyejjLa-s&list=PLNMim060_nUK6qoVzrpjLucG_aBNaz_Ny revit workshop ورشة عمل ريفيت https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FIZBNN7CLk&list=PLNMim060_nULOxkcpmsGdaRXRnEj7rmGC OPEN STREET MAP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHnpu5birw&list=PLNMim060_nUJBibv97w-SfqGMjQCDc6xT المدن الذكية https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nGsbGafZ6c&list=PLNMim060_nUKxO8GJj5c-9POTgiCfOdmE الاستدامة https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_dma-4wOJU&list=PLNMim060_nUKIQ9OEPA5xGjQ471AQyp3F forum tag 3d 3D Jump to navigationJump to search PurgeHelp 3D - Other languages Deutsch English español français polski русский 日本語 Other languagesTranslate OSM can convey information that can then be rendered in 3D. This page lists applications that show 3D data and and information on how to map 3D data in OSM. To find tools developed that can process and show 3D OSM data, see 3D development. Contents 1 Applications that show 3D data 1.1 Websites 1.2 Websites that show isometric maps 1.3 Desktop apps 1.4 Desktop video games 2 Mapping 3 See also 4 Notable dead projects Applications that show 3D data Websites Screenshot Name Map link Description License Source code 3D navigation controls Pan Zoom Rotate F4 3d Screenshot.png F4 Map [1] WebGL realtime render - with fountains, trees, meteo, shadows based on real sun/moon position Proprietary - terms at the bottom of their site in French Closed-source left-click + drag or ↑ / ↓ / Ctrl+← / Ctrl+→ scroll right-click + drag or ← / → / Ctrl+↑ / Ctrl+↓ OSMB-Manhattan.png OSMBuildings [2] WebGL viewer for just buildings. Free - composed of parts with different free licenses [3] left-click + drag scroll right-click + drag Scene layers.jpg Esri OpenStreetMap 3D Scene Layers [4] These 3D scene layers feature global buildings and trees, with trees presented in two styles (realistic and thematic). These scene layers can be used in Scene Viewer, ArcGIS Pro, and other ArcGIS apps that support 3D visualization. Proprietary Closed-source left-click + drag or ↑ / ↓ / ← / → scroll right-click + drag MapboxOutdoors.jpg MapLibre [5] 3D buildings map visualization example on the MapLibre and Mapbox sites. left-click + drag scroll right-click + drag Mapbox [6] left-click + drag scroll right-click + drag OpenIndoor.png OpenIndoor [7] Shows an example 3D rendering of indoor-modeled OSM elements. [8] left-click + drag or ↑ / ↓ / ← / → scroll right-click + drag or ⇧ Shift+↑ / ⇧ Shift+↓ / ⇧ Shift+← / ⇧ Shift+→ OSMgoScreenshot.png OSM go [9] Map explorer that allows you to select viewing specific cities in various viewing applications or the 3D OSM Go viewer. Shows 3D buildings, road signs, bridges, and trees. [10] left-click + drag or ↑ / ↓ / ← / → scroll right-click + drag or ⇧ Shift+↑ / ⇧ Shift+↓ / ⇧ Shift+← / ⇧ Shift+→ Note: The rotate action changes the direction the camera is pointing, rather than rotating it around the center of the map Cesium OSM Buildings [11] Updated monthly. Websites that show isometric maps Screenshot Name Map link D acy policyAbout OpenStreetMap WikiDisclaimersMobile viewCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licensePowered by MediaWiki الذكاء الاصطناعي https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWmW84ZBrbg&list=PLNMim060_nUJs5lSTwbFK8Pe1BCUPT_EB by Tesla

#IFTTT #YouTube

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elandirthor · 3 years ago

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Die Bahn bringt Rose zum Tesla-Turm. Nicht nur sie wollte dorthin, denn die Leichenstapel häufen sich an den Toren. Während Tesla nach ihrer Hilfe fragt, will Aubrey sie unbedingt von dort fernhalten. Dazu werden ihr einige Hindernisse in den Weg gelegt. Wird sie dort oben endlich Erkenntnisse gewinnen?

#Close to the Sun #Close to the Sun deutsch #Close to the Sun blind #Close to the Sun Elandirthor #Close to the Sun Adventure #Close to the Sun Adventure deutsch #Close to the Sun Adventure blind #Close to the Sun Adventure Elandirthor #Elandirthor

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likesomekindofcheese · 5 years ago

Note

Tutoring the Beatles in a foreign language Hc, blurb, anything you want;))

Ofc!!! Let me do German as the language since that is the non-English language I am the most familiar with.

cw: swearing

Paul would be the most studious one. He would pay close attention to you and want to get every one right.

One day he brings over flashcards of all of the various articles in German: die, das, der, and when to use which one. You are so impressed you consider having him teach the others and he said it would be worth it to be by your side with a wink.

John would be the naughty one always getting in trouble. He would stick pencils up his nose to get the others to laugh but as soon as your head it turned he’s normal. “I’m jus’ takin’ notes, Y/N!”

Though he would be that bastard in class who barely studies yet somehow retains information. So when you ask him to have a conversation with you in German about the weather, he says “Meine Schoenheit, die Sonne ist hell, mag deinen Augen” (My beauty, the sun is as bright as your eyes”), hitting on you in German which make you smile and bite the inside of your cheek.

George would get into the beauty of the language. He would spend hours looking up words to see what they mean but when it comes to having to try to order something in a restaurant blank out.

“Uhhhhm, ich mag...chocolate?” he would say, so then when you correct him and he gets it right, he has a big smile on his face (you bet he has all the food names memorized).

Ringo would be the most stressed about it and worry in class, so when he manages to hold a conversation very well he cries a little bit. “Ringo, don’t fret! You’re doing well and it’s fine if you make a mistake!”

He enjoys writing in German a lot and sometimes writes you sweet little notes. “Danke Schoen fuer die Klasse I'm Deutsch, Liebling!” with a cute doodle of all of them (thank you very much for the German classes, darling!). He likes the causal little phrases because it’s the real deal for the people.

So you teach him to swear in German, like Scheiss (shit) and Arschkalt (ass cold) and he loves to use them.

#carrie writes #the beatles #beatles fanficion #beatles headcanons #beatles x reader #beatles x you #beatles x y/n #paul mccarntye #john lennon #ringo sta #ringo #ringo star #george harrison

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my-brothers-corrupted · 5 years ago

Text

My Brothers, Corrupted

Chapter 1 : Section 1 : The Newcomer

This is how our story begins. From here, everything there is to be found out is found out through your questions.

Trigger warnings: (not necessarily a complete list! Please tell me if you need others added up here because I’m just trying to remember what’s in here) blood, torture, kidnapping, extreme distress, and abuse.

See this chapter’s masterlist here.

Part One of Chapter One: The Newcomer

Cold light drifts in through the window of Trickshot’s nest.

He sits with a blanket drawn loosely across his shoulders, his hand on his sniper but the gun down, down on his lap instead of hoisted onto the sill as usual. Clear blue eyes are fixed on the pine tree view outside his window, watching with an intensity that has only been his characteristic since the early days.

The early days of what he remembers, anyway.

At his side you can make out the shape of another man, asleep under piles of blankets, his face hidden close to Trickshot’s thigh. A soft fuzz of brown hair sticks out from under the blankets. You can hear him breathing. Trickshot plays with the barrel of his gun, staring, waiting, at watch, as always.

Once the sun dawns, perhaps he will sleep, but perhaps not. Today, after all, may well be the long-awaited day.

Eventually, the man at Trickshot’s side stirs and awakens, pushing up out of the blankets with a groan and slumping wearily against Trick’s back. His brother doesn’t respond, fixated on the window. Doktor reaches around to find broken glasses on the floor and puts them on, glancing around the house. There is no static in the air, no flickering lights, not even the soft hum of electricity.

“When is he coming home?” he whimpers, rubbing sleepily at his face.

“Stop whining,” hisses Trick. “Soon enough.”

But he too is beginning to look worn.

Anonymous asked: Hello? Hi? Are you guys okay?

Trickshot starts and glances over at the camera. Doktor grins and goes to pick it up, holding it up so you can see the both of them and the view through the window. “Hello,” he says. He reaches up to itch at a scratch on his face, but Trick smacks his hand away with a pointed “stop picking at that!”

“We’re okay,” says Doktor. “Just bored. We’re waiting for our brothers to come back home.”

Anonymous asked: Oh? Who's missing?

“Red and Anti,” grumbles Trickshot. “And they’re supposed to be bringing someone else home with them.”

A loud thud sounds through the ceiling and Trick and Dok both jolt hard, glancing up.

“He’s probably wearing out,” comments Doktor.

“Who gives a fuck?” growls Trick.

“You should, if he passes out it means something went wrong. Red and Anti only get as many chances as he gives them.”

optimistic-violinist asked: So pumped about this blog!! One thing I've always wondered, who got corrupted first and what was the order after that? Thanks so much!!

The boys exchange glances and laugh. “Corrupted!” snorts Trick.

“I like that, ‘corrupted,’” giggles Doktor. “It is not like this, my friend, it is more like - coming around to something that was always true. Becoming more fully what you always should have been.”

Trick nods solemnly.

“Trick and I came here together. Red and Dapper were already with Anti by the time we did. They were, after all, the ones that brought us home. That is what I remember. What little I remember…”

He pauses, frowning out the window. Trick reaches out to touch the back of his head, just for a second, and Doktor nods, a confirmation of a question they often ask each other.

“You okay?”

“I’m okay.”

Wordlessly.

Anonymous asked: Was that dapper??

“Yeah, he’s upstairs,” sighs Trick. “It’s a working night for him. But if he does his goddamn job right, we won’t have a problem. Dok, maybe you better check he didn’t faint again. He - ”

“Hey,” says Doktor, cutting him off. “Thought I saw something move on the path.”

They both jolt to attention, sitting up like dogs alerted by a squirrel and looking out the window.

Anonymous asked: what's outside?

“Holy shit,” whispers Trick, sinking down against the windowsill. “Holy shit.”

Doktor, for his part, leaps to his feet and hurries toward the door, calling a hurried “is everyone okay?”

The path from their house leads through the forest and out towards the cold fall ocean. Coming along the dirt path is two men in black hoods. Across Red’s shoulders is slung Marvin the Magnificent.

Unconscious.

Bleeding.

Found at last.

“Hey, puppies,” calls Anti, drawing back his hood.

His eyes are green and black. Blood coats his throat and his hands. He is, at last, victorious, and for a moment, your view looking out from the window, you could swear that it is you he is smiling at.

“Look what the cat dragged in!”

Anonymous asked: Oh?? A stranger? A new, old brother? Who's Anti and Red brought?

“They really found him,” mumbles Trick, huddled up in his blankets, gripping the gun frailly. “The magician. We’ve been searching for him for a really long time.”

Doktor grins and runs to meet them on the path, where he is promptly scooped into Anti’s arms and lifted up into a hug. Anti presses a kiss into his hair and slings an arm around his shoulder, turning him towards Red, who stands, panting and pale, with Marvin across his shoulders.

“Look, Dok-Dok, I brought you a new patient,” says Anti. His voice glitches only a little and his form is quite opaque; he seems very stable. He allows Doktor to run anxious hands over his stomach and neck, but there is no wound despite the blood.

“You did it,” purrs Doktor, pushing up against his shoulder. “Finally, we’re all here. Now we’re complete, yes, Anti?”

“Yes, now you’re all complete. Pretty matching set. Red, get him inside, downstairs. Want him chained up before he comes to. He’s still not himself. Has to be broken in. But soon we’ll all be together, just like we were meant to be.”

Trickshot has come to stand in the doorway. He watches, white-mouthed, as Red moves past him with Marvin in tow.

“Hey, Anti.” Trick dares to speak up. “Wh - what’s his name?”

For a moment, Marvin’s eyes flicker over, ever-so-slightly, though only Trick sees. He is stopped short by the look in them - a sudden and painful desperation, complete with agony, turning the warm ocean color of his irises to a terrible despair. Despite his weakness, still there is something in his eyes - his eyes, his eyes, deeper blue than the night sky - that is not quite human.

“This is Red’s twin, as Doktor is yours,” says Anti. He moves to Trickshot and runs a fond hand through his hair. Trick relaxes against his hands, sighing wearily.

“This is Blue.”

With the soft cry of a thing in its death throes, Blue lets his eyes slide shut once more.

Anonymous asked: How bloody is Red?

As Anti moves on, speaking with Trick, Doktor turns his attention to Red and Blue and follows them down the stairs. He no longer needs to be ordered to take care of his brothers - this has been his duty since even before he became Anti’s.

The basement is dark and smells strongly of iron. Doktor shivers as he reaches the bottom of the creaking wood stairs, where flecks of carpet remain affixed to the concrete floor. You can hear Red panting hard as he sets Marvin down in the corner and fetches chain from the closet. There is plenty of it in there.

“Are you well?” asks Doktor, tilting his head.

Red pushes down his hood, revealing a dark stain of blood bloomed like a flower in his hair. He turns, exhausted, to Doktor, and mumbles something incomprehensible. With a soft dripping sound, your attention is turned to his bleeding wrists. They are blackened with deep, weeping burns. Red’s eyes flicker.

Anonymous asked: Is he gonna be okay?

Doktor glances at you and makes an uncertain face. He knows he should move in to help him, but that’s not always easy with Red.

“What happened to your risks?” he asks.

“Wrists, Deutsch,” grumbles Red. “What do you think?”

“The cat can burn like that?”

“He’s powerful,” admits Red. For a second, he shakes off the weariness and straightens up. “And I caught him, so! Anyway, he’ll be a good asset, you know. Anti will be pleased with me.” He grins proudly.

“So sure?” asks Doktor. A grim smile flashes across his face. “Sounded like Dapper wasn’t doing so well upstairs. Maybe you messed it up a few times?”

Red pales. “D - did he faint?”

“Didn’t check.”

Red turns away from him, hiding his fear, panting. He groans through a wave of dizziness and clutches his bleeding wrists.

“Here.” Doktor is suddenly at his side, reaching out to take his hands. “Let’s get these bandaged up. I have some burn stuff.”

“Ugh,” mumbles Red. He wants to pull away, but suddenly it’s difficult to stand. Shaking, he tumbles against Doktor’s chest, and can’t seem to get back up. His head is bleeding rapidly. Doktor swears and sinks to the ground with him, putting pressure to the - oh, shit, his skull is fractured.

“Not doing so hot, are you, Reddy?”

“Fuck you,” groans Red.

“You’ll be okay, but may be a couple painful days. Best hope your concussion doesn’t damage anything permanent. Let’s get you bandaged up, yes?”

Anonymous asked: Did Red get those injuries when Blue tried to defend himself?

“Yes,” grumbles Red, slurring over his own tongue. “I tried… I tried to talk him down… Anti said we were brothers once, and I told him we could be again. But he wouldn’t come with us. I think he was afraid. He kept calling a name, so I guess he expected someone to come help him, but no one answered. I came after him when he ran and he grabbed me. Threw me against the wall too, with this… blue light. He might have beat me, but Anti stepped in.”

Anonymous asked: Is Red gonna be allowed time to recover, Dok? Is there anything more you can do for him?

“I’ll do my best. I’m the best doctor.” Doktor grins slightly strangely, one side of his mouth still frowning. “Come on, Red, let’s go.”

He checks that Blue is chained securely to the wall and heaves Red back up to his feet, pulling him up the stairs and bringing him to the corner on the other side of the room from Trick’s nest, where what was once a kitchen island provides a bit of privacy for a small green sleeping bag. He lies Red down on it and brushes the hair out of his face, grabbing a first aid kit from nearby - always nearby - and beginning to disinfect the cuts and burns. He wraps his head up tight, thinking about all the different things he would do if he were in a real hospital - if he had heavy sutures and oxygen and ointment for the burns…

“I do my best,” he says, to you, to the house, to no one. “I do my best.”

Red writhes in silence on the sleeping bag, gripping the fabric, his teeth tightly pressed together in his mouth. It’s just pain. It’s just pain.

Doktor is the only one allowed to see him in it.

spicydanhowell asked: red, do you think maybe the kitty was happier on his own? if you were brothers once before, do you know why you left him? (also doc, i hope you make him rest. a skull fracture could mean fainting, vomiting, blurred vision, and confusion :( it could take weeks to heal and he seems like he's in a fragile state)

“Happier on his own.” Red laughs breathily, sweating against his sleeping bag. His eyes crack open and he stares at you, blood welling slowly in the white bandages around his head. “Happier… he was miserable! You should have seen him! Curled up on his cardboard, clutching those old pictures to his chest! Crying the moment he saw me, pathetic! And so… so fucking alone.”

He glances up at Doktor and finds him distracted. Quietly, he continues.

“I would never want to be that alone. He’ll be with us now. We’re meant to be together. Don’t you think so? Now he’s here, my twin. Now we’re together, like we should be. Why would he be happier alone? No, no… he’ll be happy soon. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to look out for him. And I’m not - I’m not fragile.”

“He is fragile,” interrupts Doktor immediately.

“I’m not fragile.”

“He is fragile.”

“Deutsch, I am about to - ”

Doktor tightens the bandages and Red yelps, falling dizzily against his bag.

“Fucker,” he groans, and Doktor laughs.

“He won’t get weeks,” admits Dok. “But maybe a little time off… unless Anti’s mad at him, for exhausting his little puppy.”

Red snickers and then groans, covering his face with his hands.

Anonymous asked: oh! if blue and red are twins, and doktor and trickshot are twins, would that make dapper anti's twin?

Trickshot is curled up in his nest, cleaning his gun, looking white. “In a sense,” he sighs, and spares you a smile, because you’re not wrong and he likes having someone to talk to. “That’s a good enough guess. Functionally, I suppose. Twins sleep in the same bed and Dapper sleeps up there with Anti, when Anti sleeps. Twins look after each other and Anti and Dapper watch each other’s back, unless Anti is angry with him. But twins are equals too, or close enough, and Dapper, no matter how fucking spoiled he is - ” His voice cracks and he scowls, gripping his gun too tight. “ - Dapper is not that.”

Trick pauses, glancing up at the light from his window.

“Anyway, Doktor and I are usually together. And Dapper - Dapper spends his days alone.”

Anonymous asked: can you guys even see Dapper? When was the last time any of you interacted with him?

“We aren’t allowed to go upstairs when Anti is home,” says Trick, pushing overgrown hair out of his eyes. “I suppose Dapper is just too… fucking pretentious to…”

His voice shakes and he stops, sinking down tighter in his hiding space. “I used to see him a lot. Not any more. Doktor checks on him sometimes, when Anti’s not home.”

“Did you check on him while we were gone?” asks Anti suddenly.

Trick jolts and looks up. You cannot see Anti off camera, but Trick certainly hadn’t seen him only a moment before.

“N-no,” he stammers, clutching his gun tight.

“Hm,” says Anti, and turns away, heading for the stairs.

Trick relaxes as Anti’s focus moves away from him, breathing out a low, shaky breath.

musical-in-theory asked: Dapper, are you okay up there?

“Good question,” says Anti, grabbing the camera as he moves up the stairs. The screen flickers and glitches violently, but when he reaches a room in the attic and sets you down on the bed, it stops again.

You see, in one corner of the room, a young man in a yellow jumper slumped frailly against the wall, looking white. He blinks open tired eyes and reaches out his hands at the sight of Anti.

“How you doing, little one?” purrs Anti, moving over to him and scooping him up on his arms, hauling him onto the bed. He sits down at Dapper’s side and begins brushing his hair out of his eyes, humming.

“Fine,” sign Dapper’s shaking hands.

“Tired?”

“Not so bad, Anti.”

“How many times did you have to redo last night?”

“Just four, Anti.”

Anti sits back and breathes deep, pausing in thought. Dapper shakes quietly at his side.

“Okay,” says Anti finally. “Okay.”

And he disappears in a scattering of static.

Dapper’s hands grip at the empty place where his brother used to be for just a moment, but there is nothing there. Finally he turns to you, frowning wearily, curling his hands in his big yellow jumper.

He blinks uncertainly at you, and then, calming, repeats, “fine, fine. I’m fine. I’m fine. Tired. I’m fine.”

He sighs and rubs at his head, his mouth blueish.

Anonymous asked: so uh, what now? Anti finally has the full set, so what's next?

“Well,” says Trick, sitting up straight. “First of all, Blue has to be turned into - ”

The room explodes into static.

Trick does not even scream, only throws himself to the floor, curling tightly into a ball, gripping at his ears. Your screen has turned a dozen different colors, but the midday sun has failed you entirely; the room is cloaked in darkness. In the other corner, you see Doktor leap to his feet and take off towards Trick, only to crumple to his feet halfway through the room, as a huge black dog appears in the center of everything.

A low growl lives in its throat. Doktor pants at its feet, shaking hard, averting his eyes.

The dog turns away from him.

Doktor scrambles across the room and throws himself over Trickshot’s body, hiding too. Upstairs, sobbing through the floorboards.

“How many times?” shudders Anti’s terrible voice, from nowhere, from everywhere, a shaking, dozen-toned layer of sound. “How many times does the little one have to clean up your messes?”

“Please, please,” screams Red. He is not visible, hidden behind his island, alone in the corner. “I brought him back to you, please! I did it, I did it!”

“On the fourth round,” snarls the dog, barely audible through the awful shrieking, barely visible through the spasming glitches. “Four times, he redoes the night. You’re supposed to be the little hero. Do you want to be thrown out, broken toy?”

“No, please! I don’t even know what went wrong! I don’t know what I did! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The dog lunges out of your view and a scream echoes through the room. For a second, the screen cuts out.

“Next time,” you hear Anti’s voice say. “Do it right the first time.”

So now - what now? - now they try to survive this.

Anti has things to do. Anti has things he needs them for. That is why they are still alive, and the story is not over yet.

hollenka99 asked: In all fairness, none of you (except Dapper of course) know which attempt you're on. Don't you always assume it's the first go? If Dapper didn't have his watch, you probably wouldn't get a 2nd try anyway.

“Yes,” whispers Doktor. “We never know if something goes wrong, and he must change it back.”

Trick shakes beneath him. They hide against the blankets. Red is moaning in his corner, soft choking gasps cutting through the aching noise.

“So we must just hope - we must just hope that nothing goes wrong. There is no knowing. There is no knowing.”

Anonymous asked: Can you tell us more about Dapper? Or can we talk to him? Thaaanks :) ((and why is his nickname Carver??))

Dapper wipes slowly at tears in his eyes. He is hiding beneath the bed, leaving the camera out in front of him.

“Hi,” he signs, with a fragile, flickering smile, snuffling. “Yes, please, you can talk to me anytime… no one ever talks to me up here.

“Carver’s my nickname because I’m good with a knife. Like Anti. It’s a compliment - I’m like him in many ways.” His mouth trembles and he closes his eyes, sighing deep. “It’s a good thing. It’s - it’s good.”

musical-in-theory asked: Marvin? Hang in there! Your brothers need you to stay strong!

The ocean eyes flicker open, and in the darkness, seem to shiver.

“My brothers,” whispers Marvin.

There is blood on him. You do not know whose it is.

“Look what Jackie did to me… oh, oh, fuck, please, I don’t want to be a slave!” He yanks against his chains, suddenly frantic, panting hard. “No, no, no, not like this, not like fucking this! Jackie! Jackie! Please! Where are my little brothers, where are you? I don’t want to be a slave! I don’t want to be a slave!”

He screams so loud his voice breaks and slumps down in his chains, shaking, shaking like a shot dog.

“Supposed to save them,” he whispers, staring at his shackled wrists. “Not like this, not like this…”

Anonymous asked: Aw, Marv. :( That's rough, buddy. We're rooting for you, though! Do you have a plan for escaping, or resisting Anti? You might not have much time to figure it out.

“Might not have much time.” Marvin laughs breathily, straining off the wall, tugging on the chains. “You’re right about that, my friend. Fuck, resist him - he gets close and I’ll burn him to ash and bone - but then - ” His voice cracks and trembles. “I couldn’t stop him to save Chaser and Schneep, I don’t know that I can stop him for myself. But I - I have to, I will!”

He looks up with teeth gritted, blue eyes flashing.

“I can do this. I am Magnificent. I’ll be the one to kill him. And my brothers… whoever’s left alive… we’ll all go home together. We’ll all…” Tears well in his eyes, he drops his head. “All go home together…”

juju-on-that-yeet asked: you: oh poor sweet marv, who did this to him?? (I had made a comment in the tags of a post asking who could do this to Marvin) also you: *did this to him* (i'm not complaining tho ^^)

Marvin laughs and then groans, reaching up to touch at the dried blood of a thick cut across his cheek. He is bent awkwardly over on himself, breathing thin.

oasisofgalaxies asked: Hey Marvin, all is not lost! I believe in you, I believe you can make it out, you aren't done yet. Keep fighting Marvin, we have you're back!

He bites hard on his lip, looking at you.

“I’ve been feeling like all is lost for weeks now,” he coughs. “Thank you, I’ll try. I think if I - ”

Footsteps on the stairs. He starts and stiffens, teeth snarling back in his mouth, glaring up at the light that falls towards him from the room above, piercing the darkness.

Anonymous asked: Good luck, Marvin! Remember your strengths and your enemies' weaknesses. You can make it! Stay resolute!

“Weaknesses,” whispers Marvin. “Weaknesses, his haste, his fury, I - ”

“Heya, puppet.”

Marvin breathes deep and looks up.

A flash of light, and Anti is before him, his eyes black and green.

“Kitty Cat, you have been a hard little animal to track down, do you know that? I’m so proud of you, what good little sneak you are. What a good little thief you’ll be. Such a clever pet.”

“Fuck off, Anti,” whispers Marvin.

“Not feeling friendly, but that’s okay. Street cats rarely do. We’ll give you some time. We can go easy. Just takes some time, and then you’re mine.”

Marvin kicks out uselessly, trying to strike Anti’s shins, but he can’t reach.

Anti sighs. “Well. Maybe I’ll go easy after I’ve taught you a lesson.”

A glitch and he is kneeling across from Marvin, gripping his face so hard his cheeks will bruise. Marvin yelps, trying to bite.

“Because I’m going to be honest, Magnificence,” hisses Anti. “I have lain next to your darling brothers for weeks and weeks and weeks now. And the only thing I have dreamt of, for as long as I can remember, is making you howl for mercy.”

Marvin spits at him and Anti snarls, turning away to wipe it off his face.

“Kinky!” Marv quips, summoning a ball of fire in his hand.

Anti puts a blade through his palm before he can move. Marvin screams, crumpling in on himself. Blood, blood down his wrist.

florenceisfalling asked: red, are you okay? why do you and doktor not get along?

Red is shuddering on his side of the room, trying not to choke on vomit. His arm bleeds heavily into his sleeping bag. Dog’s teeth, dog’s teeth wounds in his wrist.

“He’s not okay,” whispers Trick.

“I’m not going close to him while Anti’s angry with him,” replies Doktor, shaking. “I’m not. He’ll hit me or Anti will. Do I have to? I won’t. I won’t.”

They are huddled side-by-side in their blankets, waiting for the smell of fury to recede from the house.

“Red’s angry all the time,” says Trick. “Always trying to prove something. Guess who gets smacked around when there’s no one else for him to snap at?”

“I think we used to get along,” mumbles Doktor, his eyes slightly glazed. “Didn’t we? I can’t remember. Anyway, we’re not allowed to talk to each other except in emergencies. Is just me and Trick, most of the time. But now…”

Red lets out a hollow scream. You can hear his head striking against the wood floor as he writhes.

Anonymous asked: Wait, there are actual dog teeth in Red's arm? Anti can transform like that? That must be scary!

Anti whirls on you, grinning. “Scary! Don’t you like a pretty dog?”

He is a dog again, huge and darker than fur should be, his head down, his eyes wicked in the darkness. Marvin screams, throwing himself back against the wall.

“I can be many things,” says Anti, in a voice low, low, growling, aching. He is a man again, faceless. He is a shadow, with a reddened eye. He is a child holding a knife. He is a hyena. A man, horned in a halo. “I can be anything. I can be love, I can be hatred. That is why I have won, time and time again.”

He turns back to Marvin.

“Gods like me make pets of men.”

And then - and then, he is just Jack again, a blue-eyed boy, messy beard and tied back hair, not tall, not strongly built. Just a man in a t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans.

“Wasn’t that spooky!” he says, mimicking the voice Jack used for goofing around. “Oh no, is a demon!”

He bursts into laughter and sits down at Marvin’s side. Marvin is shaking hard, his teeth gritting furiously.

“Fucking monster,” he hisses.

“Hey, man, come on,” protests Anti, smiling gently at him. His voice is no longer high-pitched or glitching. He just sounds human. “Don’t have to be a dick about it. Look, I’m sorry I stabbed you. I have a shitty temper. Still working on it. But, listen, Blue, it’s time for us to bury the hatchet instead of the body. I’m not so bad. I’ll prove it to you. What do you think?”

He turns back to you and winks. “Huh? Whatcha think?”

musical-in-theory asked: Marvin don’t listen to him! Fight, magic man! Fight for your brothers!!

Marvin drives his elbow up towards Anti’s face, but Anti grabs his arm before any blow falls, and then he snatches the other wrist too, and shoves Marvin up against the wall. He’s stronger than he should be. “Now, now, Blue,” he soothes. “Calmer, calmer.”

“Get off me!” screams Marvin, thrashing. Anti pins him tighter, pressing gently on his throat.

“Sh, sh,” he whispers, trying to meet Marvin’s eyes, squeezed tightly shut. “Let’s be okay. It’s okay. Here, look at me, come on. How about a calmative, huh? Come on, open your eyes. It’s okay. Poor thing, all bloody. All alone on the streets, poor stray thing, so scared. Open your eyes.”

He pricks at Marvin’s eyes with his nails, trying to pull up the eyelid. Marvin fights. Anti glitches bright and colorful, spasming with light, and the visual stimulus is enough to make Marvin blink, and then -

Anti’s fucking eyes.

“There you go, there you go,” whispers Anti. “Poor thing, it’s okay. Sh, sh.”

Deeper than oceans, moving faintly through a myriad of colors, and Marvin feels sick, and then well, and then warm, and then cold. He cannot move. You see his arms slacken and fall to the ground. Anti touches his face.

“We’ll just start with a little,” says Anti. “Just to calm down, right? It’s okay. I know new cats need some space. So you promise me that you won’t go running anywhere, and I promise I’ll let you out of those awful chains. Okay?”

Blue gapes dumbly, staring at him, following his eyes like he’s enchanted.

“Okay?” Anti prompts again, softly.

“Okay,” whispers Blue.

“Good boy,” says Anti. “Good job.”

He lets go of Blue’s face and rises to his feet. He turns away and returns a moment later with a key in hand.

“Hey,” gasps Marvin, shaking his head. “Hey! I know what the fuck you’re doing, bastard, no, I won’t let you into my head like this, I won’t - ”

Anti crouches down and takes his hands in his own. Once again, Blue is immediately hooked on his eyes, staring, panting, drowning.

“Haven’t you wondered, Blue, how it is I turned your brothers against you?”

Marvin groans and shakes his head. Fighting, he has to keep fighting.

“There are two things I used. Power - my own, you see, and isn’t it nice? And love. That’s yours and your brothers’. And I’m really looking forward to seeing it destroy you, like it destroyed the others.”

He unlocks Marvin’s wrists and the chains fall away. Marvin stares up at him, glaring.

“That spell won’t hold,” he hisses. “You can’t stop me from running.”

“If it was just power alone, maybe it wouldn’t be able to,” shrugs Anti. “But it’s not. Leave if you can. You’d be the first one to be able to. Good luck.”

His form flickers and disappears.

And it is Marvin left alone, sitting in the basement, unchained.

“What the fuck?” he whispers.

snow-lavender asked: Wait, so what happened to Jack in this timeline?? ...Do we want to know?

“Who?” ask Trick and Dok in sync, tilting their heads in opposite directions at you.

Anonymous asked: What are you gonna do now... Blue?

His eyes flicker irritably over to the camera. “Oh, someone thinks they’re clever, do they? Ugh, I feel like shit, what the fuck?”

There had been a minute there when the pain receded… when it was just him and that power, and he was floating in nothing, floating on the Dead Sea, easy, weightless, drifting…

“Fuck!” he hisses, gripping at his head. “I have to keep it fucking together! What am I going to do now? I’m going to go get my brothers and go!”

He drags himself to his feet, only momentarily blinded by the pain, and pants his way to the bottom of the stairs, determined, ferocious -

Hesitating.

“Are they all… alive?” he asks, shakily. “All they all just… just puppets? Robots, dead-faced, slumped in corners, waiting to be used? Do they still look like themselves? Do they know me? Are my little brothers even alive?”

loganandoli asked: Doktor, Trick, do you know if Anti can hear or see our messages? Asking for a friend.

“Umm,” says Trick. “Probably?”

“He sees lots of e - of elle - of - ,”

“Ee-leck-trick-ull,” pronounces Trick politely. Doktor nods.

“Electrical signals. Messages and such. But things come and go from these cameras, from the town, from the mountains, from the boats on the sea, bouncing off the satellites in the sky and bouncing around. Some things he will only glance at. Some things, though, will catch his attention. But, hey, no need to be worrying! Anti doesn’t seem to mind us having chats, yes?”

Trick hums, leaning back against the wall. “He just keeps us safe, so unless you’re trying to hurt us, why would he care? Right?”

They exchange glances, declare each other’s logic sound, and nod in sync.

“Can we get some lunch?” asks Dok.

“How are we going to do that while Red’s over there by the cupboards?”

Dok sighs and leans back, resigned to wait.

Anonymous asked: I have, uh. Bad news? Your brothers are alive, but.. not well. Mentally and physically. They aren’t too fond of each other anymore. I think. Their memories seem to be gone also...

“Aren’t too fond of each other?” Marvin stares up at the doorway above him. “What do you mean? They loved each other so much. That’s not something even Anti can strip away. Even - even with memories g-gone.”

He turns to look at you, more afraid than he was with Anti standing above him. “Right?”

loganandoli asked: They don’t even know their own names anymore, Marvin. Anti is turning them against each other. We all believe in you!! You can do it!! You can save them!!

“Their names, fuck,” whispers Marvin, tears squeezing out of his eyes. “I called for Jackie so many times but it was like he didn’t even recognize his own name. It’s like he just stripped them away from themselves. I’m so scared of what they’ll be like, I… but you’re right, I need to get them and get out. I need to save them. I can, I can, I can. Jackie, Schneep, Chaser, James…”

Anonymous asked: I'll be straight with you, Marv, it's not good. Jackie attacked you and brought you here in the first place, with Dapper's help; they're obviously not okay. But you just got puppeted by Anti too, and you came back almost immediately. Don't let their current state discourage you. There has to be a way to save them. And even if you can't get them all out now, anywhere's better than here!

Marvin nods, setting foot on the stairs. “Okay, okay. You’re right. Not good. But anywhere’s better than here. Anywhere’s better than here.

“And at least I get to see them again. I get to see my brothers again. Oh, I…”

Anonymous asked: Oh god Marv, yah.. their love has been stripped away and thrown in the scrap pit. Some get alone better than others... but their memories are gone. They’ve started another life in the fearful shadow of Anti.

“Fearful shadow of Anti, fearful…” He wipes at his forehead. “Maybe I can still convince them to go. Does he really treat them so well, that they stay? Haven’t they ever tried to come back to me? That’s… that’s how I got caught, you know.”

He laughs frailly, making his way to the top of the stairs. “Trying to send a signal to Chase and Schneep. They were with me, and then… stolen. I kept hoping… but they never came home to me…”

spicydanhowell asked: hey doc, why won't anti let you near red when he's angry with him? you can't even go grab some food? he'd let you stop red from bleeding out, right?

“I should,” whimpers Dok, sinking down closer at Trick’s side. Trick plays anxiously with his gun, surveying the room and the window, vigilant as ever. He hasn’t slept in a while - he rarely does on Anti’s bad days - and it’s making them both nervous. “But often when Anti lashes out at Red, next thing Red does is lash out at me when I am meant to help.”

A brief fury flashes through his eyes. Trick makes a low rumbling noise and Dok sighs, trying to stay calm, resting his head on Trick’s knee.

“We do need food soon,” he adds wearily. “Kill a rabbit for me, Trick.”

Trick smiles fondly down at him, just for a moment, and turns back to his sight.

musical-in-theory asked: Anti was telling the truth in a way. He’s using their love for each other against them. The same love they had for each other has now been turned to love for Anti, thus pitting then against one another. Be careful Marv. They’re a bit territorial of the glitch.

“Pitting my brothers against each other,” hisses Marvin, gripping the handle of the door. “My brothers, my brothers. No, we need to go. We’re going, we’re going, I’ll - ”

He opens the door.

The red point of a laser scope sits in the middle of his chest.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move.”

spicydanhowell asked: careful marv! they don't trust you now! but they won't hurt you, they wouldn't risk making anti angry

Trick cocks his gun, sliding forward on his knees, so Doktor is behind him. “You fucking sure about that?”

Marvin stares at him, frozen solid.

It’s been three months since he saw him. The last time they spoke was over the phone, and Chase was crying for him to come back, there was someone outside, someone coming for him and Henrik, where did you go, Marvin, please, I don’t want to be Anti’s -

Anonymous asked: Trick, careful! Anti wants the full set, remember? You can't hurt Blue too badly.

“They’re right, don’t do anything crazy,” mumbles Doktor at his side.

“Why are you out of the basement?” snaps Trick.

“Anti let me out,” Marvin manages finally, lifting up his hands. “It’s me, love. It’s okay. Are you two okay?”

“You better fucking pray that’s true,” hisses Trick. “You make one wrong move and don’t think I won’t - ”

He is interrupted by a low whine from the corner of the room closest to Marv.

Trick glances at Red’s island, his mouth tightening uncertainly.

“Who’s that?” asks Marvin, moving towards him.

florenceisfalling asked: please don't hurt marv, blue, whatever- he's trying to help. cant you see that?

“If he looks after Red,” whispers Doktor. “We don’t have to.”

“Right, right.” Trick’s eyes are wide and frantic. He clutches the gun too tightly. Can’t seem to make himself move. Fuck, he can’t remember the last time a threat was actually inside the house, and not outside the window. And there’s so many of those shaky old half-memories he sometimes gets buzzing inside his head, like a swarm of bees you can hear but not see. “Right, I… I’ll just keep an eye on him. I’ll just - it’s fine. Anti let him out. It’s okay.”

Marvin nods slowly, reassuringly, and at last takes his eyes off Trick’s, moving slowly towards the island. “I’m just going to check on this, okay? I’m just going to sit down over here, how’s that?”

“Fine,” rasps Trick. “Fine. Fine. Okay.”

musical-in-theory asked: Marvin, I’m not sure you want to know...

“Oh, fuck, Jackie!” cries Marvin. “Oh, no, no, no, oh, it’s okay, brother, it’s okay!”

He falls to his knees at Red’s side, out of view of Chase’s scope behind the island. His brother - or what was once his brother, he doesn’t know anymore - is lying white-faced as a dead thing on a stained sleeping bag, breathing thin and fast. Blood slicks his bandaged head and his torn up right arm, where teeth have torn apart gauze. His eyes roll wildly in his head; he moans.

Anonymous asked: Oh, Marv, please steel yourself if you go over there. Jackie's not doing too well and he tends to lash out.

“Jackie, Jackie,” whispers Marvin, touching his cheek. “Buddy, hey, are you with me?”

Blue eyes slide open, and so does his mouth, revealing white teeth. Marvin only has a second to register the animal look in his eyes before Red has reached up with his good hand to grab him, tightly, by the throat. Marvin screams raggedly, trying to yank himself away, scrambling at Red’s hands.

“Look what you did to,” chokes Red. “You and Dapper, you and Dapper, you, you - ”

“You were trying to kidnap me!” gasps Marvin, striking at his chest, and then, when that does not free him, reaching out to grab Red’s other wrist. Red screams, dropping him, and they both recoil from each other, slamming against the wall on one side, and the cupboards of the island on the other.

“Okay,” whispers Marvin, panting. “Tends to lash out. Noted.”

Red groans and slackens against the wall, tears running down his face. Ashamed, he turns his head away, mumbling incoherently, delirious with pain. He wraps his good arm around himself and rubs his shoulder.

spicydanhowell asked: doc, red is literally going to die if you don't do anything. who cares if anti gets mad at you for helping him?? isn't red's life worth taking a beating for??

“That’s a good fucking point,” snaps Marvin, watching Red struggle. He puts his head up above the island, frowning. “He could be dying. Why haven’t you done anything, Henrik?”

A shot explodes through the air and a bullet buries itself in the wall a centimeter away from Marvin’s head. Shocked breathless, Marvin falls to the ground as though he has in fact been shot, completely deafened by the shot, loud enough to split eardrums.

“That was your one and only warning!” screams Trick, his voice hoarse. “Next time, I kill you, no fucking joke, do you understand me? Do you understand me? We don’t say that name. If I ever hear it again, I’ll blow your brains all over that wall.”

As though struck down by the effort of these words, he crumples backwards, gripping frailly at his gun, and sits panting hard. Doktor tries to pull his face towards him, but Trick just groans and stares at the floor, shaking frailly.

“Okay,” whispers Marvin. “Okay. I guess I’ll, uh. I guess I’ll take care of this myself.”

Shaking so hard he can barely breathe, he starts pulling open cupboards, looking for the first aid kit.

“Farthest on the right,” comes Doktor’s small voice.

Marvin finds the kit. “Thanks, H - brother.”

musical-in-theory asked: Marvin please get out of there! There’s not much you can do for them while you’re someplace that Anti has influence over

“You’re right,” mumbles Marvin, pulling gauze and a sewing needle and sutures out of his kit. “But I can’t move him like this. He’s lost a lot of blood and I think his head’s… bad. He needs to rest.”

He turns to Red, holding the needle. Red stares back, eyes slitted.

“This is going to be really fun,” whispers Marvin. He clears his throat. “Red. You need to let me help you.”

Anonymous asked: Anti definitely does not treat them well... but you still probably can't count on their help. Literally all they know is Anti, and they just want his love and approval. Maybe be careful about interacting with any of them? Chase and Henrik still seem close, so you might be able to use that if you have to. I think all of them are scared of Jackie.

“Those two do seem close,” mumbles Marv, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t expect any parts of any of them to still be intact, but… they still protect each other. You’re right, I need to be careful. Fuck, I wish any of them were themselves…”

He swallows hard and returns his attention to Red.

“Everybody’s scared of you?” asks Marvin, frowning. “Is that why nobody helped?”

Red stares back at him, sinking down against the wall. His eyes flicker and close.

“It’s okay. I’m here now.”

And, fuck, Marvin can’t help it, he’s crying. It’s been months since he saw him. He spent a long time thinking he was dead, killed when he went to try and save Jameson, and never came home.

“I’m here now,” repeats Marvin, and he slides forward on the floor, and tumbles against Red’s good shoulder, pulling him into one-half of a hug.

Anonymous asked: Red, I think you should let Blue does what he needs to. Anti trusted him enough to let him upstairs, right? And if Anti's unhappy about it, he can take it out on Blue later. But if you let Blue help you now, you'll be able to get back to helping Anti sooner. You've got to interact with your new twin sooner or later.

Red glances over at you, some of the aggression fading from his eyes. He blinks, reviewing your reasoning, and finds it sound. He does want to get better. Then he can make up for failing Anti. And, yes, maybe even help him bring his twin to heel.

He glances down at Marvin, drawing away from the little hug. In an act that surprises even himself, he reaches out and touches Marvin’s back, rubbing gently down his shoulder, just once. Marvin jumps and then relaxes, beaming.

“There you go,” chokes Marvin. “It’s me, do you remember me?”

Red lies back against the wall, staring at him. Marvin touches the side of his face and Red breathes out, letting his eyes slide shut. Strange, Doktor is never so gentle with him. Strange, he can’t seem to remember the last time anyone at all was gentle with him.

“Can I stitch that arm up for you?” asks Marvin evenly, stroking his thumb down his beard.

Red glances over at you one more time, and then nods.

loganandoli asked: Hey Carver! Are you doing ok? You said you liked people talking to you so, where did you get that jumper? Is yellow your favorite color?

Carver stands at the top of the attic stairs, his head poking out from behind the wall. He blinks and slides away again, unable to get a glimpse of the boys downstairs, and not allowed to join them. He sinks to the floor and stares dead-eyed at the floor.

“I’m okay,” he signs, without emotion. “Suppose I should be used to the gunshots by now. I do like people talking to me… No one ever talks to me… Who would want to, I just spend all day up here, alone, alone, alone, while the others are together… Bored, bored, bored…”

This last sign is just a tapping of the chin, and he does it again and again, flatly, more like stimming than signing. One of the sleeves of his sweater tumbles down his arm and he glances at it, eyes brightening slightly as he remembers the other half of your question.

“Anti got me the jumper,” he signs reverently, curling up in the big soft fabric. “He said my old clothes were silly. I don’t remember them, but they must have been. And I love my jumper. I love yellow. He says I’m the only light in the house.”

Anonymous asked: Where does Anti go when he's not with any of you, Carver? Does he leave you unattended often? I imagine it must get lonely.

“Oh, I’m alone often, but don’t - ” Carver shivers and glances around the hallway. “Don’t say lonely, Anti doesn’t like it. When he’s gone, I don’t know where he goes. He never tells me, just says ‘stay put, be good boy.’ So I do. I think he becomes…” Carver struggles to find the right signs, frowning. “Like the internet. In the computers. Lightning, color, screech, glitch.”

spicydanhowell asked: carver, what does anti do when he spends time with you? does he take care of you? does he ever do anything to hurt you?

“Anti,” signs Carver, getting to his feet. You watch as he begins pacing back and forth across the hallway, and then just turning in circles, back and forth, back and forth. “I wish he was here now! We tussle sometimes or I lie on his lap and read if he brings me a book, and sometimes we even watch something on the computer! Old movies, I love them, I love it when he’s home! And then sometimes we go out, of course, and sometimes he wears me and sometimes I wear me, but one way or another we’re together, and we do things that he says are important.”

Apparently dizzy from the circling, Dapper flops unceremoniously to the ground and crosses his legs, peering forward at you. A certain light in his eyes wars with a glazed sort of joy.

“Of course he takes care of me, that’s my big brother and I’m his favorite toy. We eat together and sleep together and he got me my clothes and my charcoal. I love, love, love my Anti. He hurts me when he’s bored. I love, love, love… of course he takes care of me, that’s my big brother and I’m his favorite toy. We eat together and sleep together and he got me my clothes and my charcoal. I love, love, love…”

His hands falter and fall. He stares blankly at the wall.

“I wish someone would come see me,” he sighs. “I wish Poe would come back.”

Anonymous asked: Do you have a window up there, or something to keep you entertained? Maybe we could play a game while we're here!

Dapper claps his hands together and leaps to his feet. “Can we play a game? Can we? Or tell me a story, or anything, anything. Look, come here, I’ll show you my window.”

He picks up the camera and carries you back to the big room in the attic, where a small but comfy bed is still mussed from a nap. He gets on the bed, on his knees, and carries you over to a small circular window. He pushes back the glass and breathes in deep, setting his chin on the sill and closing his eyes. For a second, all his frantic movements and twitching are gone, and he sits at peace, his eyes clear.

Outside the window, pine trees and the rocking ocean. Bird cry and washing waves. Carver whistles a sad little song to himself, breathing, breathing, breathing.

optimistic-violinist asked (similar questions copied and added by musical-in-theory and anon: ((You're probably gonna get a lot of these, but)) Who's Poe? Also, your jumper is lovely Carver. Yellow's my favorite color :)

“It is lovely!” cheers Dapper, beaming at you. “I love the yellow! I am sunny, sun, star, yellow.”

He draws you back slightly so you can get a better view of the pine trees. “Poe is my friend, she comes sometimes when I have food. Clever, clever girl, I love my Poe. But she hasn’t come in some days. Maybe I don’t have anything shiny or tasty enough. I wish she would come see me, even if she pecked my fingers again. Silly. My pretty girl. I need to find something to get her to come again.”

Anonymous asked: So Anti, nice little dollhouse you've got here. I know you've still got a "toy" to break in, but uh what's the plan after your full set is in place? You throwing a house party? Will you invite Jack? Or is he... not in the picture?

Static consumes your screen and then disappears again, revealing Anti now, summoned by his name. He is smiling at you, cool and self-satisfied.

“It is a nice little dollhouse,” he purrs, stepping closer to the camera.

You can’t tell where he is. Nowhere in the house.

“But don’t worry, we won’t be here long. We’ll have to have a house party somewhere else. I still have things to do, hearts to eat… You know how it is. But as for that last idea…”

Anti’s eyes are momentarily distant, he looks away from you.

“I’m… happy with what I have,” he says, drawing away.

He plays with the knife in his hands, shaking his head. “I’m fine like this. Don’t need anything else. I have them to keep me company. I don’t need him. That’s what I told him, that’s what I… he can’t find me. We’re safe.”

He looks back up at you and moves closer again. With surprising gentleness, he picks you up. “It’s just us and the boys,” he says, smiling. “It’s okay. We’re okay. And don’t worry, okay? Don’t have to be so skeptical. I do need to break Blue in, but I’ll be gentle, alright? Just because I like to have my fun doesn’t mean I want the poor thing shattered. I worry I took some of the others too far, you know… my shaky little puppies…”

Anonymous asked: Oh! Is poe a raven?

Dapper waves his hands in silent applause, grinning. “She’s huge and beautiful! I love her! When do you think she’ll come see me again?”

Anonymous asked: I was thinking of I Spy! There's a lot more to look for outside a window than in just the attic. Do you want to try spying for things, Carver?

“Oh, yes, please.” Carver sets his chin on the sill again, looking seriously out the window. “Should I go first? I spy, with my little eye… something. . . I’m colorblind. Uh, something flying! It’s probably orange. Ah! I wish it would come up here!”

Anon asked: Could it be a little bird? And if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of colorblind are you? Spicydanhowell commented: butterfly??? Ari-trash commented: a bird? Snow-lavender commented: Flying orange… Oh! Is someone throwing fruit at the window?

(Reblog) “Throwing fruit at the window!” That makes him laugh, bouncing on his knees on the bed. “No, but good guess, all good guesses! But only one right. It’s a butterfly! Good job! You’re all good at this game.

“And I’m about as colorblind as I can be. The whole world is black, white, and grey to me. But I wouldn’t know any different. Colors are just words to me.”

He puts his hand on his chin and sighs. “Tell you what,” he says, smiling at you. “Come back in a few hours and ask me again, and I’ll spy something really beautiful for you if Anti’s not with me. It’s my favorite thing about living up here.”

snow-lavender asked: Hey Trick, I'm a little confused, maybe you could clear this up. Is there a reason Dok's old name is super-bad-no-no-territory, but Red's isn't?

“Fuck,” hisses Trick. “Did he say his name? When? Did you hear it, Dok?”

“Probably,” shrugs Dok, peeking up from the nest. “But I can’t remember what it was.”

“I need to pay more attention.”

“You did your best.”

“I can’t remember what Red used to be called by the bad man. If you hear it, please tell me. Actually, don’t! I shouldn’t remember it! But - oh, I don’t know.”

His face is white with exhaustion. His stomach is snarling.

“It’s okay,” says Dok, but when he reaches out to touch his shoulder, Trick pushes his hand away.

florenceisfalling asked: what do you mean "[you're] safe," anti? would jack even present a threat at this point? and i also feel like you don't really understand the definition of gentle

Anti snarls and turns away from you. “Jack’s nothing now. They belong to me now and he’s not stealing them away. He can’t do anything. Of course he’s not a threat. As if anything could be…”

He straightens up again and breathes in deep.

“Nothing threatens me. Time itself belongs to me now. Without mortality, what is there to present a threat?”

cutiepotato777 asked: Anti. Who is your favorite puppet and why? :P

“There’s a real question.” He pulls you closer. “Favorite? I try not to have favorites, they all just need to be treated in different ways. Some of them are more timid than others. Some of them need more affection, some of them need more punishment. Obviously little Dapper, so powerful, so erratic - he has to stay close to me. But Trick and Doktor have learned to keep each other in line, and Red works best when he feels like he’s failing. So you see they all get what they need, and I still love them all despite their differences.”

He smiles into the distance. It’s growing closer to evening and he’s outside, cool fall sunlight drifting over his brown hair and turning it red. His eyes are full of clear lovely light.

“My puppets. My family. I still love them all.”

florenceisfalling asked: dapper, if you're /completely/ colorblind, how do you love yellow so much?

“Anti tells me it’s nice! He says I’m the only light in the house. Did I tell you that already? I love yellow. Anti likes it. And my jumper is yellow, and I love my jumper. Happy color. We’re happy here.”

spicydanhowell asked: marv... i hate to say it but maybe you should just look for a way to slip out now. come back for them when your strong enough, yeah?

“Okay, yeah, yeah.” He’s finishing bandaging up Red’s wrist and his brother is slack against his shoulder, his face still taut with pain. “Yeah, I’ll just… go. Maybe I could, um…” He glances at Red, and then at you, and mimics falling asleep. Glancing back at the med kit, he searches for something to stop his pain and let him sleep.

“Doktor, do we have any morphine?” he asks.

“Is Red… calmer?”

“Yeah, he just seems exhausted, and he’s in a lot of pain.”

There’s a long pause. He hears a creaking noise, some heated whispering from the other side of the room, and then, a moment later, Doktor appears in the camera’s view, standing behind Blue.

“I might,” he says. “Or something for the pain, anyway.”

Marvin chokes on a sudden wave of emotion, staring up at him. “Okay,” he manages. “Um, I’ll just - I’ll just let you handle that.”

“No, wait a moment,” protests Doktor, sitting down beside him. “Let me see hand.”

“Look, bud, I have to go.”

“Hand,” demands Doktor, adjusting his broken glasses.

Marvin glances at you, but holds out his hand, slicked in both Red’s blood and his own.

“I must stitch this up for you, is all the way through.”

Not waiting for an answer, Doktor picks up the needle and thread. Both Red and Doktor hold onto Marvin. Trick, anxious without his twin, sits pointing his gun at the island. Marvin’s eyes flicker frantically back and forth as he considers.

Anonymous asked: hey carver... do you feel well? in your head and in your body? are you safe? fed? you can tell us if you're not okay

For a second, Carver just stares out the window.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he signs after a moment, not looking at you. “Some days, I think I’m losing my mind. I’m scared. I don’t know what’s happening to me anymore. It’s like my brain knows something I don’t. I’m supposed to be happy. Usually I am… but it’s so much happiness… it’s so much happiness at once, and I sometimes faint I’m so happy, with my heart going so fast and everything so white and then… it’s darkness again…”

musical-in-theory asked: Dapper, are you sure that’s happiness?

“I feel wonderful when it happens. I don’t know what else it could be. I just wish it wasn’t so painful afterwards. It just - ”

The camera screen glitches hard. Anti appears in the doorway, looking a little worn, wearing Jack’s form. Dapper turns quickly, his heart jumping, and his face lights up with relief when he sees him. “Anti!”

“Hi, baby.” Anti comes up to him and plants a kiss in his hair, sitting down on the bed and then pulling him to lie down beside him. Dapper goes willingly, curling up on Anti’s chest, and Anti closes his eyes, sighing deep.

“Feeling better?” he asks. Dapper nods against him.

“M’kay. Good.” He opens his eyes up again to look down at him, smiling faintly at his big blue eyes. “They talking to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Being nice?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, they better.” He covers Carver’s eyes with a gentle hand and turns his head to you, smiling coldly. For a second, his eye is vividly red. “And not ask any stupid questions if they want to keep talking to you.”

Anonymous asked: Marvin, for the moment at least, I suggest sitting your ass right down. All eyes are on you, tensions are high. They're expecting you to pull something and they're not having it. As much as I want to see you escape, I want you to escape with as few bullet holes as possible. In the meantime, build up a somewhat stable level of trust, yeah?

“But this might be my only chance to - ow!” He winces as Doktor pricks his skin, beginning to sew up both sides of the wound Anti gave him. Red, only partially conscious, growls out a warning, and it’s Doktor turn to flinch - but they all fall silent, and nothing happens. In short order, Doktor cleans Marvin up, bandaging his hand and even his bruised ribs, looking him over with hands just as warm and as careful as they were the last time they were together, on the run, whispering reassurances to each other in the darkness, we’ll be safe, it’s okay, we’ll get Jackie and Jameson back, don’t give up on them, don’t give up on yourself…

Marvin blinks away tears, staring at him. “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispers.

Doktor cannot meet his eyes. “I don’t remember you,” he says. “And I’m not the person you used to know.”

“Aren’t you?” asks Marvin.

Doktor ignores him. He gives Red a mild sedative and together they lie him down inside his sleeping bag, mostly out now, and still clinging to Marvin’s hand.

“Is he out?” asks Trick warily.

“Yes,” calls Doktor, wiping his bloodied hands on his jeans.

“So we can get something to eat?”

Doktor bites his lip and glances at Marvin, closer to the cupboards than he is. “Um… Could we have something to eat, Blue?”

Marvin blinks. “Fuck, why would you need me to decide that?”

“Red usually keeps track of the food… We’re not to take things without permission.”

Marvin turns to the cupboard and begins pulling things out. “Okay, guys,” he sighs, glancing back at Doktor’s hollowed face. “What do you want to eat?”

musical-in-theory asked: Well, Anti? You have your little kitten down there making friends, yanking on your strings. How pompous do you have to be to expect him to not have an impact on your stupid manipulations, you glitch bitch?

“Oh, no,” moans Anti, frowning at you. “Oh no, whatever will I do?”

He pulls Dapper closer to his chest, grinning slowly as he runs his hands down his back, kissing gently at his hair. “What would I possibly do if something went wrong? If only I had cameras all over the house and a time traveler and a sniper and could turn into a hunting dog and hadn’t enchanted him or cut a liter or two of blood out of his hand and wasn’t right upstairs and…. I’m boring myself. Leave me alone, will you, it’s time for bed.” He grips Dapper’s cheek and pinches it hard enough to make his little brother grimace. “Isn’t it, baby? Get under the covers, you must be tired. Let’s get some sleep. Let Blue have his few days of resistance. He’ll falter fast. All’s well.”

Anonymous asked: how much food does red manage to get? do you all get to eat every day?

“That’s a good question,” says Marvin, digging through the cupboards. “How much do you all get? Where does Red get it?”

“From in town,” shrugs Doktor. “What do you figure?”

“Anti gives him money.”

“Yeah, or someone steals it.”

Marvin grimaces, but Trick and Dok are just watching his hands as he pulls out granola bars, apples, some wheat cereal, canned fruit, blueberry bagels, a little tin of tomatoes, uncooked noodles, beans - “Protein,” Trick mumbles, reaching out to take them from him.

“Tell me this isn’t it,” sighs Marvin.

“Well, usually we have more,” grumbles Trick, picking the can open with nail-cracked fingers. “And I’m pretty sure Red hides a lot of other stuff, for in case we get hungry, or if Anti decides… But, well, lately everybody’s been focused on catching you.”

“Do you get enough to eat?”

Trick and Dok exchange glances.

“In your medical opinion?” suggests Marvin, turning irritably to the older of the two.

“Mhhh,” Doktor hums. He opens his mouth after a second, but a quick shove from Trick shuts him up again, and the two sit in silence, avoiding Marvin’s eyes.

Marvin sighs and slides two cans of peaches and the whole box of wheat cereal over to them. He is rewarded, to his surprise, with bright smiles from the both of them, and they scoot a little closer, shoulder-to-shoulder.

“I’ve got to find more food,” mumbles Marvin, rubbing his head. “This isn’t enough to run away on, and you’re looking like some hungry little motherfuckers, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Well, then, you better be good,” suggests Dok, nodding practically. “That’s how you earn more to eat.”

“Maybe Anti’ll even let us go into town instead of Red,” sighs Trick. “And we could get real food, cooked stuff…”

He sighs. He is hungry. He’s not always hungry, but… he is hungry.

At least the newcomer seems pretty cool. For now, anyway. Inevitably, Trick has found, at the end of the day there is no one who can be trusted not to turn against him and Doktor.

He does what he has to to keep them alive.

Anonymous asked: Marvin... psst... hey Anti’s asleep and he thinks he’s got you pinned. Now would be a great time to pull a trick and get away.

Marvin glances at his little brothers, eating, and at Red, asleep beside him. Extricating himself from Red’s grip on his arm - Red moans, reaching out for him - he brings himself to his feet, still wincing from his injured ribs.

“Um, I’m just going to glance outside,” he tells the boys. Trick glares narrowly at him, but Doktor doesn’t even bother looking up, and Marvin makes his way to the door of the little cabin where they live, putting a hand on the doorframe and stepping over the -

Stepping over the -

“What the fuck?” chokes Blue, shaking in the doorway. “Why can’t I move?”

No, no, nope. He’s not getting stuck like this. He’s not going to be a prisoner of his own head. He can do this. Focus! he tells himself. Focus!

“Hey,” growls Trick, turning his attention to him.

“Best not to strain yourself,” warns Doktor.

No, no. Block them out. Focus. He’s not a slave, not a pet, not a pawn. He’s Marvin the fucking Magnificent, and he -

He sets his foot over the doorstep.

“Holy shit!” he cheers, panting hard, his hands on his heart. Relief floods up his chest and he balances himself against the side of the house, gasping. Okay, he wasn’t actually sure he could do that. But he could! It was just -

Flick. Flick. Flick.

Marvin turns his head.

Anti is sitting on a log in the front of the property, flipping a silver knife over and over and over in his hand, staring out at the sea.

Terrified, Marvin swallows hard and creeps back into the house, falling shakily to his knees and bending in on himself, trying to breathe.

“I thought he was asleep upstairs,” he gasps.

It’s kind of starting to hit him that this is real.

Anti caught him. Anti caught him. After all this time, Anti caught him, and he’s here, and he’s very, very, very scared of what’s going to happen to him and his family.

He begins to cry.

Doktor and Trick watch him.

“He’s always watching,” mumbles Doktor.

And upstairs, curled against his little brother’s body, Anti turns over in his sleep, smiling.

Anonymous asked: Dapper, you mentioned anti gave you charcoal. Do you draw? Can you show me what you use it for?

Morning breaks cold over the house, and Marvin wakes up ashamed of having slept.

Trick and Doktor, after a heated debate in the corner, eventually gave up one of their blankets so that he could lie down beside Red, and then retreated to their nest. You saw Trick spend the night curled up, but Doktor sits awake, watching out the window. A few hours ago, Trick was whimpering, but Doktor shook him a few times and he quieted again.

Red wakes up and sees Marvin a couple feet away. He moves away, watching him suspiciously, but he’s too tired to get up. He eats a granola bar, carefully taking stock of everything they have, and looks carefully over his own injuries.

And Dapper?

“Oh, my charcoals!” he signs, leaping to his feet and grabbing the camera off the windowsill. “Silly, silly, should have showed you right away, look, look.”

He turns you to the walls, once painted white, now chipped and coated in black chalk. Dapper whistles and spins you slowly around the room, showing off proudly.

They’re stunningly intricate and very lovely, except for that some of them appear to have been hastily drawn over, like the big deer in the corner - gorgeously depicted in careful, curving lines, only to be marred by huge dark streaks of charcoal drawn haphazardly across its face. On another wall is a pair of wings curling around a human body, and on another, Anti, or one of his brothers, anyway, low to the ground, turned away from him, holding a knife. The fourth wall is just the same pattern, a tiny swooping curve, over and over and over again, until the whole wall seems to shift with movement as you watch. This piece does not seem to have been done entirely in chalk, as parts of it shine darkly in the morning light.

“Good?” he asks, turning your view back to him. Suddenly he is shyer, brushing unkempt hair out of his face and watching you carefully, his cheeks slightly flushed. “I have more in the hallway, do you want to see?”

loganandoli asked: Of course we want to see more Carver!! Those drawings are beautiful! Did you use references or did you just draw most of them from your imagination?

He smiles brightly at you and all but skips into the hallway besides the stairs, showing the wall. This is a huge drawing of a raven’s head from the side. Sharp eyes stare darkly at you; the bird is shaded and coated in shadow, and as you watch, Dapper reaches out a careful hand and smooths a stroke of its feather with hands deeply scarred.

He turns you back to him for just a second. “Need to fix this,” he says.

He disappears and you see the wall behind him - a cracked mess of charcoal in a shattered wall that looks like it’s been stabbed a time or two. You think there used to be a landscape there, but it’s been smeared and destroyed past recognition.

Dapper reappears with a short stick of charcoal in one hand. He smiles at you and leans down to pick you up, a little shakily, with one hand, and turns you back to the drawing. The camera sways and Dapper gives a little gasp, reaching out to steady it before he drops it.

There is a quick thunk of something hitting the floor, and then rolling. Seeing that he’s dropped his charcoal, Dapper sets you down hastily and scrambles after it, reaching -

Too late. It goes thunk, thunk, thunk down the stairs.

He stands with empty hands, staring after it, despair written all over his face. His hands reach up to sign, but he can’t manage to say anything at all. He slides back into the darkness, staring down from the attic, torn between one of his only sources of entertainment - one of his only sources of expression - and the order Anti gave him.

Stay in the fucking attic.

He sinks to his knees, covering his mouth with blackened hands.

Anonymous asked: Are you allowed out in the hallway, Dapper? Do you ever get to go downstairs? But yes, I like your art very much and would like to see more!

“I’m allowed in the hallway but not downstairs,” he signs frantically, squeezing back tears. “Thank you, though, at least… at least I have the pictures still… even if I lost my…” He sniffles and wipes at his eyes, bitter. “No, I never go downstairs. And no one ever comes up. The other ones hate me, did you know… I think we used to be friends, but not anymore. You should see how they look at me… nobody wants me but Anti… They’re not going to get me my charcoal, even if they wanted to, Anti doesn’t allow them up here with me.”

Anonymous asked: 'Morning, Red. How are you feeling?

Red swallows dryly and glances at you. “Um, better,” he says, trying to muster a smile. “It’s just pain… I slept better than I usually do. I hope I’ll be able to walk around. I need to go into town and make sure the boys have enough food. Blue, too now, oh… I need to get him a sleeping bag and some clothes and things. Fuck, and Dapper’s meds!” He runs a shaky hand through his hair, looking stressed. “I don’t have hardly anything saved, I don’t know if we’ll have enough this week.”

He glances up at Marvin, who’s closed his eyes and laid back down on his blanket. Watching him, Red’s face softens slightly.

loganandoli asked: Hey Marvin.. did you hear that thumping noise by the stairs? If you did, you should check it out.

The thud of the charcoal falling down interrupts them all.

Doktor tenses over Trick’s sleeping body, curving a hand around his shoulder and grabbing his brother’s gun, just in case. The younger of the two is the better shot, but Deutsch has steady surgeon’s hands and he knows how to use the sniper. One of them is always keeping watch.

Alarmed, Red tries to rise, but he can’t get himself up on the first try, and Marvin reaches out to push him back down. Red jolts away from his touch, snarling.

“Chill out, man!” snaps Marvin. “Goddamn! If I was going to hurt you I would have done it already! Here, stay there, I’ll go see what that was.”

“It might be dangerous!”

Marvin rolls his eyes and points at you. “They said I should check it out, didn’t they? Try to calm down, man. I’ll go look.”

He gets up and steps around the island. The little chunk of chalk sits by his feet. Frowning, he reaches down to pick it up, and earns a soft gasp from the top of the stairs.

He can see no one above him in the dark attic. Holding still, Marvin squints up, and waits, in the tense silence that follows, for anything, for Anti.

A small movement in the darkness, nervous, shy.

“Hey,” whispers Marvin. “Is that… you? Jameson?”

There’s a low hiss from Red and Doktor, and he turns to see them moving away from him, shaking their heads, real fear in their eyes. Ugh, they’re so fucking paranoid about names. Marvin puts a foot on the bottom of the stairs, trying to smile up at Dapper, and this is enough to elicit a full cry of warning from Red, peeping his head up over the island.

“Blue, don’t go up there!”

“My name’s Marvin,” he snaps, and moves towards his little brother.

Anonymous asked: what is anti going to do with marvin now? he's trapped, but he's still totally himself

Your screen fizzles and words play across the image of Marvin moving up the stairs in glitching zalgo font.

“I don’t punish til the rules are broken,” reads Anti’s message.

Marvin is not yet in the attic. Dapper is not yet on the stairs.

“But once they are…”

A black shadow flashes over your vision. “Blue,” warns Red, louder. He cannot drag himself to his feet. “Blue, come back, don’t go up there!”

“That is when the learning happens.”

musical-in-theory asked: Anti, you mf!! Don’t you dare lay a hand on him!!! If I wasn’t trapped via the laws of fictionality I’d come beat your ass into next week myself!!

Laughter in the back of your audio.

“Hey, hey,” Marvin is soothing, making his way up the stairs. He can make out Dapper’s body now, huddled against the back wall, his knees drawn up to his chest. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Did you drop this?”

Dapper’s fingers twitch. He hides his face.

Marvin rises, a step away from the attic floor, and stops, waiting, trying to give him time to uncurl. He stares down at his youngest brother.

He remembers a man as sharp as the blade of a knife but infinitely kinder. Talented, passionate, clever gentle Jamie, picking up violin one week and art the next, making suet for the birds and spending hours digging up weeds in the garden before darting off to whatever job he’d found for the week. He was unpredictable until you needed him, at which point he could, with an emotional astuteness Marvin had never seen anywhere else, appear like a little ghost to check on you.

Marvin doesn’t believe that a man like that could ever just be erased. This is still his Jameson.

He hasn’t seen him in more than a year.

Long curls fall into his silver eyes. Shifting a little closer, Marvin reaches out and brushes them away, revealing tears and a dangerous sort of wariness.

“Here,” murmurs Marvin, holding up the chalk. “Here, it’s okay.”

With shaking hands, Dapper reaches out to take it from him.

“There you go!” gasps Marvin, tears building in his eyes. “There, it’s okay! It’s me, it’s Marvin. Fuck, I - I’ve missed you so much!”

He reaches out to grip Dapper’s hand. Dapper jumps, and then his mouth splits into a huge and joyful smile, uncurling slightly, letting his knees drop and reaching out for some affection, touching Marvin’s cheek. Relieved to find one brother apparently cognizant of who he is, Marvin grabs his little brother’s hand to kiss it and steps up besides him, murmuring, “Jamie, Jamie, I’ve missed you-”

There is barely time for the fear to return to Dapper’s eyes before Anti appears.

Marvin gives a choking cry, staggering back as something slices hard against his neck. Anti flashes into existence in front of Dapper, reaching out to grab Marvin by the bleeding throat.

“Touch my baby!” he screeches, shaking him hard. Marvin tries desperately to scramble away. “Touch my little one! You are not allowed up here! No one is allowed to be up here with him! How dare you lay your fucking hands on him!”

There is a slam as Marvin is slammed against the side of the stairs, and then Anti spots Dapper scrambling away out of the corner of his eyes. “Oh, think you’re off the hook? As if you didn’t smile at him? As if you didn’t - ”

Marvin yanks himself from his grip and tumbles backwards, falling down the stairs a lot harder than a chunk of charcoal.

spicydanhowell asked: fuck, doktor, go get marvin he's hurt really badly!!

“Aww, is he hurt really badly, is he hurt?” Anti mimics viciously, grabbing Dapper’s wrist and dragging him after him as he makes his way down the stairs. “He’s not fucking hurt yet, is that what you think the worst of it is?”

“Anti, he didn’t know, he didn’t know,” cries Red.

“He knows because you told him!” snarls Anti. “You did what you were supposed to. Doktor and Trick know that what you say goes. But our little cat needs to learn his lesson. Then he’ll know.”

Marvin is splayed out on the bottom of the stairs, screaming. His wrist is completely shattered and the rest of the pain is not something he can pinpoint - just a terrible agony through his whole body. Anti grabs him by the back of the hair and drags him up, up, but he can’t make himself stand.

“You’ll get up,” snarls Anti. “Or you can go down these stairs the same way.”

Dapper is yanking against Anti’s grip, weeping. “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” he signs, over and over again, shaking his hand up near his head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Anti, so sorry, please, please!”

Anti shoves him towards the basement and drags Marvin up after him, opening the terrible door to the basement.

It falls shut behind the three of them with a terrible finality.

Red lies slumped against his bag, too numb to cry. Trick and Doktor sit next to each other shaking, staring at the crushed piece of charcoal lying at the bottom of the stairs.

Anonymous asked: What are you guys going to do with blue now?

“Well,” says Anti, setting you on a shelf in the basement. Marvin is writhing on the floor, while Dapper backs towards the corner. “First we string the puppet up-”

His body glitches out of existence and something flashes like a shadow across Dapper’s body, you see him jerk backwards, still begging with his hands “no, no, please, please!”

His body spasms and he tumbles to his knees. Colors pass over him in sharp bursts of light, making him shake his head and cover his eyes. You see, for a second, a face that is not his own, and then -

Then he is rising to his feet, eyes pitch, and he reaches down to drag Marvin to the wall, chaining his wrists again, the one broken, the other bandaged from the knife wound.

“Then we carve the puppet,” signs Anti, pressing Marvin against the wall and pulling out a knife. Marvin begins to scream, slamming his head against the chains in his desperation to get free.

“It’s a process, you see,” signs Anti, pausing between slashes. “It’s a shattering, and then a rebuilding. A stripping away of everything, an offer of all he never knew he wanted. It’s affection one second and blood the next. It’s… an art.”

Dapper’s hands are still smudged in charcoal. Anti leaves it all over Marvin’s chest and arms. Marvin screams for a long time.

The feed stays up the whole time, but, eventually, you turn your eyes away.

End Section 1 of Chapter 1: The Newcomer

Find this chapter’s masterlist here.

#in writing #section 1 chapter 1 #the newcomer #blood tw #abuse tw #major abuse tw #kidnapping tw #torture tw #writers of jack

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christophcalledbingo · 5 years ago

Text

The Guessing Game (Dr. King Schultz fic)

I’m not a native speaker of English (I am in fact Spanish), but I do try my best, so forgive me if there is any mistake. I’m also learning German because procrastinating by doing other things rather than college stuff is my jam. I think I’m going to do a second part of this, so I hope you like the first one!

Dr. King Schultz x original female character.

Warnings: hints of depression, some verbal abuse and attempt of physical abuse and a lot of swearing.

Translations:

Gute Nacht Fraulein - Good night darling

Sprichst du Deutsch? - Do you speak German?

Bitte - Please

Ja - Yes

Danke - Thank you

Dr. King Schultz is not mine (I wish, duh!)

Another night of pouring drinks for a living. I could not imagine that my life would turn out like this when first I arrived to America with my parents when I was a child. Now I’m completely alone and in a very urgent need of money, so I thought I could handle two jobs… I’m not going to lie, it’s actually pretty difficult being a teacher by day and bartender by night. You might be wondering how I ended up being a bartender, me, a woman. Well, nobody else wanted to do it so there was no objection for me take the part. It is very tiring job and most customers behave like pigs. Some nights I can handle it, other nights I just cry myself to sleep. It’s ok though, I do it for the kids.

It is a lively Friday night, everybody is out. Being the only tavern open in such a small town is both convenient and a mess. A few bottles are thrown, many spits are being missed and a few tables are being turned in angry poker disputes. Being surrounded by so much uncontrolled testosterone gives me massive headaches, I wish I could go out for a smoke, but today there is nobody than can cover me at the bar. Suddenly someone catches my eye, a stranger enters through the door. I remember every face in this town and no many outsiders come here, but he is in fact a stranger, and quite handsome if I say so myself. He catches me looking at him and I blush slightly. He gets closer to the bar and I can see him clearly now. He looks physically mature but in his eyes look very young, and with a hint of trouble. Blue, brown and green. As if his eyes were a cup of green tea that had been sweetened with brown sugar, and in their reflection I could see a very blue and beautiful sky. He has a very well trimmed greyish beard and mustache, which actually frames his face in a very nice way. I think he is not American and when he opens his mouth my doubts are solved.

“Gute Nacht, Fraulein.” German, huh. It’s been years since I’ve talked to another European, this is going to be interesting.

“Good evening to you too, what can I get you?” I say, trying to make him notice that I understood him.

“Oh! Sprichst du Deutsch?”

“A bit, I can understand it better than I can speak it though.” I feel like I just made a fool of myself, but at least it was a nice icebreaker.

“So, you are not German, but I can tell than you are not American either.” He is very charming...

“What gave it away?”

“Not many Americans know German, I just took a wild guess.” He is very charming indeed. “From where in Europe are you from?”

“Try to guess” I say with a grin in my face, trying not to laugh. “Oh, wait…”

“Yes?” He says, looking directly at my eyes.

“You didn’t tell me what do you wanted to drink, let me fix it up for you while you guess.” He smiles warmly.

“Pale ale, bitte.” That hint of German in the end makes my legs shake.

“Right up!” I say, trying to hide the fact that I’m actually shaking.

“So, you don’t have an American accent, that’s for sure. You are more like from the south, from the Mediterranean?”

“Ja!”

“You’re way of moving is quite rhythmical, not like an Italian though…”

“Nein.” As I say this, a drunk guy comes right at me, right when I’m in the middle of serving the ale, and grabs my hand from the other side of the counter.

“DaMN! YoU are BEautifuL!” He is grabbing tighter, fingernails and all. I drop the glass, half full of bear, due to the pain.

“Please, let me go…” I say, trying to hold back my tears from the pain, my wrist is starting to bleed.

Before I can say anything else, the handsome stranger grabs the drunk from the neck, but the latter is not letting me go, in fact he is grabbing tighter, and the wound gets deeper.

“Let her go.” Says the stranger with a very deep voice.

“HeY HoN, Do YOu WanT to Go TO thE BAck aNd SuCk mY-”

Before he finishes that sentence, the stranger grabs the arm that was around my wrist and twists it, I hear a pop and then I’m free.

“MOTHERFUCKER! YOU BROKE MY ARM!” The pain must have made him sober all of a sudden.

“Next it’s going to be your nose if you don’t shut your mouth. I don’t tolerate the rude, even less when it involves hurting others.” He looks at me while I’m trying to stop the bleeding from my wrist.

Everybody in the tavern is looking at us, not as if they want to start a fight, but as if they were amazed by the stranger, myself included.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!” My boss shouts as he appears from the other side of the room.

“Sir, she has been hurt, I’m taking her to her home.” The stranger said, while helping me to get up.

“No way, I don’t have-” He shuts in an instant when he sees the other guy’s arm.

“What did you do to him?! Are you insane?! He is a client!”

“And she is your employee.”

“I’m going to call the sheriff!”

“Do it, call him…” I don’t know why, but the stranger is smiling.

“Tom, go tell Sheriff Cooper that we need him, immediately.” And there goes Tom.

“I just got one question for you.” Says the stranger.

“Huh? The fuck are you saying?”

“Are you Mr. Frank Last?” Why is he-

“Yes, I am. Why are you asking, old man?” Then, the handsome stranger looks at me, smiling.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Dr. King Schultz, travelling dentist and bounty hunter. And you, my friend, have a price for your head: for breaking, entering and stealing on multiple houses, north of the river.”

“Wait, how the fu-” He cannot finish his sentence. The strange- the doctor is so quick that I didn’t even notice that he had his gun out. He puts a bullet on my boss's right leg, making him fall to his knees.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! SON OF A BITCH! YOU FUCKING SHOT ME!” There is blood all over the floor.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE!!!!!” Sheriff Cooper is at the door, looking at all the mess. The doctor helps me to get to the sheriff, but he looks very calmed, which is a very huge contrast if we take into consideration the ambiance of the bar: tense as fuck.

“Ah! You must be Sheriff Cooper. My name is King Schultz and I’m here to recover the bounty for Mr. Frank Last, a delinquent that has 500$ on his head.”

“What?!” The sheriff looks genuinely puzzled.

“He is a criminal.” He hands a wanted poster of my boss’s face to the sheriff. “And also, that guy over there was trying to hurt this lovely lady.” With tears still in my eyes I look at the sheriff and nod. The sheriff sighs.

“Ok people, this establishment is closed until further notice.” Everybody shouts and screams, but there is nothing they can do about it.

...

The handsome doctor asks me where I live, and I just tell him, no doubts or hesitations, I just want to get home. We enter my cold and tiny home and he asks me for a first aid kit or any supplies that may help to cure my wounds. I tell him that everything he might need is in the bathroom, and so he leaves me alone in my kitchen.

“Got it!” He shouts in the distance after a couple of minutes.

As he examines my wound, I look at his face, which is truly focused on my hand. I see his eyes flickering with excited concentration.

“That detestable man had dirt on his nails and now the wound is infected.” Of course it is, all the bad stuff happens to me.

“You said you were a dentist, right?”

“Ja”

“Isn’t curing wounds more of a ‘doctor doctor’ thing?” He bursts into laughter.

“Of course, but you do not start working in the bounty hunter business if you don’t know how to cure a basic wound.” I just made a fool of myself, again. “And also, dentists also need to know how to cure wounds. If you saw the kind of mouths I’ve seen, truly disgusting.” As he says this, he starts to disinfect, and I try my best to hold the pain.

“...Spanish”

“Huh?”

“I’m from Spain, but I moved here with my family when I was very young.”

“How interesting, I’ve never been to Spain… Is it nice there?”

“I don’t remember much, but I do remember the nature, the sun and the breeze. Much more steady than here, that’s for sure.”

“It sounds lovely.” He has finished to cure my wound and has putted a bandage on my wrist to protect it from further infection.

“By the way, the name is Clara, Clara Valle. However, everybody is so funny around here that they call me ‘Claire of the Valley’.”

“But… we are on a mountain?”

“It makes no sense, I know. It’s just the literal translation of my surname”

“Well, Clara, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He grabs the hand that is not injured and kisses my palm, I blush a lot. No one has never been such a gentleman to me, I quite like it.

“The pleasure is mine. How should I call you? Is Dr. Schultz ok?”

“Just call me King, if you want of course.”

“Danke, King.” He turns away as if is looking for something, when in truth he is hiding the fact that he is blushing. I can see it in his ears, they are completely red.

“For what?”

“Saving me? Curing the wound? I don’t know, you name it. Most of the times working at the tavern is bearable, but it’s nice to know that someone has your back.” I say, looking at the ground. Half ashamed that I needed help today, half happy that it was him who came to the rescue.

“You don’t have to thank me, it was the least I could do. They were behaving like neanderthals, absolutely detestable.”

“I couldn’t even serve you your drink!”

“That is the least of your worries. Being completely honest, I just wanted an excuse to talk to you.” Oh my Lord, is he flirting with me? I just stay in silence, I don’t know what to say… If I open my mouth it would be to press it against his, but that is a very bold move. I just met him! I don’t know if he finds me attractive enough, no one ever does... “Well, I should get going then.”

“Wait! You could sleep here if you don’t have anywhere to do it. My sofa is quite comfortable. I could sleep in it and you could sleep in my bed. It’s the least I can do…” I stop talking when I realise that he is smiling, a very wide smile, and that he is looking at me in the eyes. “I’m so sorry if that was inappropriate! I was raised that way, I’m very direct!” I’m practically shouting because of the embarrassment.

“I can see that, but don’t worry. I will go to the inn and stay there for a few nights, preparing for my next travel.”

“Oh…” It was obvious, but somewhere inside of me hoped that he would stay.

“Well, if there is nothing else you need help with-”

“Actually, I cannot move my hand very well as you can imagine. Could you help me untie my corset?” I say, while I grab my hair and show him my back.

He says nothing, he just gets close to me and starts to undo the knots of the corset. It is convenient that I’m no facing him, because my face is red once again. I can feel his breath in my neck. I also feel like fingers brushing my back intentionally, but I’m a bit scared of my own feelings, so I just ignore it. I do everything I can to hide my face and my intentions until he finishes.

“There you go, glad that I was able to provide some further assistance. Goodbye then, dear Clara.” He says, while looking at the floor.

“King, could we meet before you leave town?” He raises his head and he looks at me while I hold my loose corset to my chest.

“Of course. In fact, I can look for you tomorrow. We could go for a cup of coffee, if you want.”

“That would be truly delightful.”

#dr king schultz #christoph waltz #django unchained #fanfic

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writemarcus · 3 years ago

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Jun. 23: Jason Robert Brown, Savion Glover, Priscilla López, Susan Stroman, Marisha Wallace, and Christopher Wheeldon Join I’M STILL HERE: A Virtual Benefit for the Billy Rose Theatre Division Honoring George C. Wolfe and the Late Harold Prince and Celebrating 90 Years of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; Tickets for the In-Person Viewing Party are Available Now

Jason Robert Brown, Savion Glover, Priscilla López, Susan Stroman, Marisha Wallace, and Christopher Wheeldon join the cavalcade of stars participating in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ I’m Still Here: A Virtual Benefit for the Billy Rose Theatre Division, airing June 23, 2021 on Broadway On Demand at 8pm EST and 8pm PST. The fundraiser will help raise critical funds for the Library for the Performing Arts’ beloved Theatre Division as it celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.

Tickets to the online fundraiser will be donate-what-you-can, with a recommendation of at least $19.31 in honor of the year the division was founded. To purchase tickets to the one-time-only virtual event, visit StillHereAt90.com.

An in-person viewing party at the Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center for donors has also just been announced, including a pre-screening reception and performance featuring Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), and GRAMMY and two-time Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening). For details and ticket prices for this limited capacity in- person event, please contact [email protected].

An incredibly special aspect of I’m Still Here is that it will feature clips of Broadway productions from the Theatre Division’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT), shown especially for this occasion with special permission from The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds and the respective talent, creative teams and rights holders of each production. These archival recordings are typically only available to view onsite at the Library for the Performing Arts. The recordings shown will include the original Broadway cast of In the Heights; Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop; Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime; Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard; Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot in South Pacific; Craig Bierko and Rebecca Luker in The Music Man; Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden and Larry Pine in The Seagull; Savion Glover, Jimmy Tate, Choclattjared and Raymond King in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk; Bette Midler in I’ll Eat You Last; Christian Borle and Tim Curry in Spamalot; and more.

I’m Still Here will also include interviews with Broadway legends and emerging creatives; and reconceived performances of musical theatre songs, including Stephanie J. Block performing “A Trip to the Library,” André De Shields performing “I’m Still Here,” original Company cast members from 1970-to-present performing “Another Hundred People,” “Wheels of a Dream,” “Love Will Find a Way,” and more. The evening’s honorees are Harold Prince and George C. Wolfe.

Featuring new performances and appearances by Troy Anthony (The River Is Me), Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Major Attaway (Aladdin), Alexander Bello (Caroline, or Change), Laura Benanti (She Loves Me), Malik Bilbrew, Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam), Shay Bland, Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show), Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice), Matthew Broderick (Plaza Suite), Jason Robert Brown (The Last 5 Years), Krystal Joy Brown (Hamilton), David Burtka (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”), Sammi Cannold (Endlings), Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic), Kirsten Childs (Bella), Antonio Cipriano (Mean Girls), Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza), Max Clayton (Moulin Rouge!), Calvin L. Cooper (Mrs. Doubtfire), Trip Cullman (Choir Boy), Taeler Elyse Cyrus (Hello, Dolly!), Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on This Island), André De Shields (Hadestown), Frank DiLella (NY1), Derek Ege, Amina Faye, Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles), Leslie Donna Flesner (Tootsie), Chelsea P. Freeman, Savion Glover (Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk), Joel Grey (Cabaret), Ryan J. Haddad (“The Politician”),James Harkness (Ain’t Too Proud), Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Marcy Harriell (Company), Mark Harris (“Mike Nichols: A Life”), Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), Arica Jackson (Caroline, or Change), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Cassondra James (Once on This Island), Marcus Paul James (Rent), Taylor Iman Jones (Hamilton), Maya Kazzaz, Tom Kirdahy (The Inheritance), Leslie Kritzer (Beetlejuice), Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party), Norman Lear (Good Times), Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line), L. Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop), Robert Lee (Takeaway), Sondra Lee (Hello, Dolly!), Telly Leung (Aladdin), Priscilla Lopez (A Chorus Line),Ashley Loren (Moulin Rouge!), Allen René Louis (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”), Brittney Mack (Six), Morgan Marcell (Hamilton), Aaron Marcellus (“American Idol”), Joan Marcus, Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), Annie McGreevey (Company), Sarah Meahl (Kiss Me, Kate), Joanna Merlin (Fiddler on the Roof), Ruthie Ann Miles (Sunday in the Park with George), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Madeline Myers (Double Helix), Pamela Myers (Company),Leilani Patao (Garden Girl), Nova Payton (Dreamgirls), Joel Perez (Kiss My Aztec), Bernadette Peters (Into the Woods), Tonya Pinkins (Jelly’s Last Jam), Jacoby Pruitt, Sam Quinn, Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin in the Sun), Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud), George Salazar (Be More Chill), Marilyn Saunders (Company), Marcus Scott (Fidelio), Rashidra Scott (Company), Rona Siddiqui (Tales of a Halfghan), Ahmad Simmons (West Side Story), Susan Stroman (The Producers), Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), Bobby Conte Thornton (Company), Sergio Trujillo (On Your Feet), Kei Tsuruharatani (Jagged Little Pill), Ben Vereen (Pippin), Jack Viertel, Christopher Vo (The Cher Show), Nik Walker (Ain’t Too Proud), Marisha Wallace (Dreamgirls), Shannon Fiona Weir, Christopher Wheeldon (MJ: The Musical),Helen Marla White (Ain’t Misbehavin’), Natasha Yvette Williams (“Orange is the New Black”), and Kumiko Yoshii (Prince of Broadway).

Click here to watch New York Public Library’s Doug Reside on Backstage LIVE with Richard Ridge.

The virtual benefit is produced and conceived by co-founder of the upcoming Museum of Broadway and four-time Tony nominee Julie Boardman (Company) and Co-Executive Producer of Broadway For Biden Nolan Doran (Head Over Heels), featuring direction by Steve Broadnax (Thoughts Of A Colored Man), Sammi Cannold (Endlings), Nick Corley (Plaza Suite), GRAMMY Award Winner Ty Defoe (Straight White Men), Drama Desk winner Lorin Latarro (Waitress), Mia Walker (Jagged Little Pill) and Tony Award winnerJason Michael Webb (Choir Boy), choreography by Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic),Lorin Latarro and Ray Mercer (The Lion King), with new music arranged by ASCAP Award winner Rachel Dean (Medusa) and Annastasia Victory (A Wonderful World), with arrangements and orchestrations by Brian Usifer (Frozen). Casting is by Peter Van Dam at Tara Rubin Casting.

Tony Marx is the president of The New York Public Library, William Kelly is the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries,Jennifer Schantz is the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the Library for the Performing Arts, and Doug Reside is the Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. Patrick Hoffman is the curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive. Henry Tisch serves as Associate Producer and Travis Waldschmidt is Associate Choreographer. Animation and Motion Graphics by Kate Freer, Graphic Design by Caitlin Whittington, Sean MacLaughlin is Director of Photography and Ian Johnston is B Camera Operator. Dylan Tashjian is Onsite Coordinator with COVID compliance by Lauren Class Schneider.

HOST COMMITTEE: Ted & Mary Jo Shen, Barbara Fleischman, Agnes Gund, Fiona & Eric Rudin, Lizzie & Jon Tisch, Kate Cannova, Joan Marcus, Daisy Prince, Gayfryd Steinberg, Van Horn Group

BROADWAY ON DEMAND is the industry-leading livestream platform housing performance & theatre education programming, & the preferred choice of top Broadway artists, producers, educators & professionals. Broadway On Demand has streamed 2,500 events & live productions—from Broadway shows to concert series, performance venues to individual artists, & original content—in 82 countries to over 300,000 viewers. Thanks to a unique licensing interface, ShowShare, approved middle school, high school, college, community & professional theatre productions utilize the platform to stream to their audiences. Broadway on Demand is available on the web, mobile, Apple and Android app store, AppleTV, Roku, Chromecast, and Amazon Fire TV. For access to the complete and ever-expanding Broadway on Demand library, subscribe at BroadwayOnDemand.com.

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#NYPL #new york public library #New York Public Library for the Performing Arts #Billy Rose Theatre Division #Marcus Scott #MarcusScott #WriteMarcus #Write Marcus #THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DOROTHY AND LEWIS B. CULLMAN CENTER #George C. Wolfe #Harold Prince #theatre #theater #musical theater #musical theatre

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countryshitposts · 5 years ago

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You’re Shooting Your Bullet The Wrong Way

I Have No Good Title For Chapter 7

Trigger Warnings: mentions of rape and prostitution

AO3 Link

Chapter 1

Name Guide:

Koku Nippon- Japan

Teikoku Nippon- Japan Empire

Ost- East Germany

Nabi- KE’s wife, belongs to @redffeather

Daehan Jeguk- Korean Empire

Daehan Imsi- Korean Provisional Government

Daehan Minguk- South Korea

Choson Inmin- North Korea

She and Koku were once again in his lair in the gardens; America was staring at the greenery once again, her eyes doing somersaults as she finds herself staring at the wonderful and colourful butterflies that had escaped through the door. Koku, meanwhile, was busily answering a worksheet Teikoku forced him to answer. For the past twenty minutes, his grey eyes were pinned to the worksheet in front of him, muttering a few hypothetical words and solving a little before answering.

America would crane her neck to peek at what Koku was answering, before furrowing her brow at how complicated the questions are to the point even her brain cannot answer the items immediately, so she let him be.

They were both quiet, not one of them talking to one another, which was fine; they’d just be as serene and as quiet as the butterflies around the gardens.

Japan sighs as he flips his paper once again, his eyes back to the words written on the worksheet, biting his thumb, but his grey eyes would escape to America, time and time again. He thinks he was being discreet, but America can clearly see the way he looks at her: like he had just found a person who’d keep him and his secrets company until he has to be taken by death itself and his old dreams and secrets are relinquished to be with the stars.

America merely scoffs; she was not his ‘company’, and she will only be with him for a short matter of time until she must go.

But America’s mind wasn’t on him.

It was on her mother- Netherlands.

A long time ago, America had given up on asking her father who her mother was; only for this curiosity and fear to come crashing to her in the future, like she was being swept by the current of a river towards a rumbling waterfall, its liquid gushing and churning and wishing she collides with the rocks as she desperately tries to swim back but the currents were like a person; pushing her closer and closer to the edge until her scream was drowned out by the waters.

America felt sick to her stomach as her memories pushes her back to her encounters with Netherlands… the time when the woman had kidnapped her when she was a child… when she had slipped drugs into her drink… when the woman threatened to hunt her down like a dog… when Netherlands tied a noose around America’s neck with a smile…

She chokes, like the noose was still on her neck and it tightens on her windpipe. She clutches at her throat, subconsciously trying to take the damned rope off before Netherlands kicked the chair from underneath her feet and her body dangling.

“Amerika!”, someone from the other side of her nightmares calls out to her, but all she can feel was the rope around her neck, trying to suffocate her entire being, as if it was real, and that nothing else was true except the rope burning around her neck.

Then she feels hands on her shoulders, shaking her slightly but all she can comprehend is the shaking and quaking of the chair, Netherlands clearly teasing her with her hazy grey eyes and lips curling into a smile.

The hands were wrapping into her now, but the hazy voice she supposed was Netherland’s was replaced by a newer, much more worried voice, calling out to her again and again, as the arms around her tighten and now she feels skin against her uniform and not the noose around her neck, as if her reality that had been distorted is now reconnecting to the same reality once again.

“Amerika!”, like she had emerged from the depths of the water, the voice near her ear becoming clear as the waters in the pools.

She turns her head, seeing Koku’s worried face, striking grey eyes staring back at her, his brows furrowed as his hair makes contact with the nape of her neck.

Koku continues, “Are you alright? You were choking for a minute there.”

America blinks, not having the tongue to answer him, then looking down at the arms around her waist.

She then realises in what position they were in.

Face turning red, she forcibly breaks from Koku’s grip, with the other still staring back at her worriedly.

She regains her composure, glaring back at Koku with her ‘professional’ look. “Go back to solving your math problems. I’ll be here, guarding you.”

Koku scoffs, sitting back down and picking up his pen, then he turns his eyes back to the worksheets.

Meanwhile, America misses Koku’s arms around her, wanting that warmth once again, a flame saying to the winds to find something missing; dying colder and colder as Koku’s glances towards her strain as he focuses more on his work at hand and not at her.

“Sorry about scaring you there”, America sighs exhaustively, still facing the other way from Japan, “something in my personal life happened.”

She hears the placing of a pen back on the table, and grey eyes staring at her back. “Well, I’m sorry for also scaring you. And it’s fine, I forgive you.”

America turns back to stare at Koku, whose grey eyes were boring at her with such intensity and magnitude to the point she was afraid he’d set her on fire with his own mind. But there was something else in there now; curiosity to why she had overreacted, questions in his eyes like fragile glass waiting to be shattered. Crystals waiting to be dug up by miners and those who seek their treasures. Both of their eyes were full of stars, both of them unaware they were each other’s galaxy.

Koku clears his throat, blinking a little like he was out of tune, before turning back to his worksheet, leaving America staring at him answering the items like it was nothing, fast as lightning but not at all.

(She admits that she misses the way he looks at her, like he had all the time in the world.)

“You’re thinking of something again.” Koku states, lifting a hand up to inspect if there would be any chance of a downpour, as the clouds conquer and divide the light that the sun has given the world to entirely different entities, thunder sounding from the sky like it was preparing themselves for war. America keeps her eyes focused on the ground, cosying herself into her coat when a gust of cold wind blows her way.

(They were walking towards the Deutsche Towers, since Teikoku had told Koku to meet and greet Ost once again, but Koku demanded America come with him, much to Teikoku’s irritation.)

“And I should tell you my thoughts why?”, America asks Koku acidly, whose eyes were still focused on the dark grey clouds, marching to bring and harbour rain towards their city and dampening their entire city from ground up. “These are my thoughts, Japan. Not yours.”

Koku sighs, looking at America with an unamused expression, “Meri, I was just stating the obvious. No need to get over defensive about it.”

America was taken aback- not from what he said, but the nickname. The way Koku had said it, like it was nothing, the way the syllables roll on his tongue like he was the ocean’s waves crashing onto the sandy shoals with such impact it leaves the beach weak and vulnerable for days. The way he gave her a nickname sounded natural, like it was nothing more than a simple drop of rain in a dry desert waiting for a life-saving gift to come to them, an oasis, a paradise.

Something simple in one’s tongue is complex in another’s mind, and she just stares at Koku, mouth gaping like she had something to say.

Then a drop of rain falls down towards the sidewalk.

“It really is gonna rain”, Koku mutters as he takes out his umbrella from his pocket, once the rain drops start multiplying like viruses climbing and growing in infected numbers. America buries herself in her coat even more, preparing for the downpour (especially since her dim-witted ass forgot to bring an umbrella).

She then feels an arm wrap around her shoulder, and without a thought she is pulled into Koku’s umbrella, Koku holding the handle, looking everywhere except the girl underneath his arms.

“I didn’t know the downpour would be this bad”, Koku huffs a little, carefully strolling through the damp sidewalks, puddles dampening the insides of his shoe, and he tries to kick his shoe to release the liquid inside it.

Meanwhile, America was still linking arms with Japan, face hidden underneath Koku’s scarf (he’d insisted she was cold and let her wear it), staring at the rain pouring over them as she and Japan were being shielded by his umbrella.

“Are we there yet?”, America complains, mindlessly kicking on a puddle, which flies to Koku’s direction, making his pants wetter and colder than they were before. He glares at her and she smiles apologetically.

“No”, Koku replies, “just a block away. We haven’t encountered any butterflies yet.”

America blinks, confused to why they’d need to see butterflies in this sordid and desolate weather; they’re most likely in their own place, in their paradise somewhere in some gardens, frolicking and being their own thing and person, since that is what they are, dainty looking creatures that will seek shelter in the darkest of weathers.

So they keep walking, shoes sloshing on puddles and rain pouring down.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she spots a butterfly with emerald green wings; the patterns on its wing looking like an eye.

She raises a brow at it, but the insect didn’t look the slightest bit hindered at the fact that it is raining and it is cold. It was just there, staring at them with its wings-looking eye. She turns to Koku, who was staring at it with a face of knowing.

“We’re close”, he states, as he picks up his pace, following the green-winged butterfly. America, not being one to get caught in the rain, picks up her pace to match with Koku.

America was no stranger to the Deutsche Towers; its long and winding spiral staircases embedded in diamonds and spires… its transparent glass windows that dim once the sunlight becomes too much… the fountain in the middle of the hallway, which was also the centre of all surveillance… the grey rooms looked as if it was more of a mental ward than people actually living in the Towers… and of course, the basement, where America had only been in once and that was when Weimar’s father Deutsches Reich surrendered.

America frowns at her new surroundings- it had just been a month since Deutsches Reich had announced his bankruptcy for all to see and laugh, but he is nowhere to be found.

Then she remembered what Australia and New Zealand said.

Deutsches Reich is dead.

Weimar hadn’t even notified the police forces of such a murder, let alone looked like he cared about him.

She narrows her eyes at the looming Deutsche Towers above her, its glass windows watching her with caution and mockery.

If the man in Australia and New Zealand’s story is Weimar.

Koku skids to a stop in front of the entrance to America’s supposed nightmare. She could see what was on the inside; two guards in complete uniform reaching for the doors, opening them.

A rush of air flies out of the Tower’s entrance and into the couple’s faces, and combined with the cold rainwater dripping from their clothes, America shakes from the cold, as if the frozen winter tries to hurl a blizzard right in her warmth, but she dodges it to an extent, but the marks of cold are still there.

On the base of the stairs, it seems that someone was already waiting for them. The green butterfly that Koku had followed earlier flutters towards a man with a white trench coat, sown with butterflies, light locks brushed aside, his emerald green eyes glinting like emeralds under the ground, his lips curled into a small smile, as the butterflies around him flutter and play around him like he was in a paradise where everything was fine.

Or he was in the cemetery playing with people’s dead souls, as his laughs grow wilder and wilder and he claims to have seen death itself.

“Guten Abend, Japan”, Weimar greets in a slow, pleasant voice, his tone fake but civil, as if he was playing his part as Koku’s ‘father-in-law’ (America blanches at the thought; the thought that Koku is going to marry a fifteen year-old) but he will crush him after he becomes triumphant in his own plan. His eyes turn to America, and his pleasant grin becomes slightly cracked, eyes twitching as his emerald green eyes burn with hate.

America takes a deep breath- of course this man knows her name, of course she recognises her face, of course she doesn’t stand a chance against the truth and lies she committed. She was being cornered to a wall, as Weimar had always known her since the beginning of time, since she has intervened in all this mafia mob nonsense with a gun on her hand, poised to kill any of those who needed to be killed.

She could see it in his eyes; flaring like sparks as the emeralds grow out of control, not controlling their own fiery heart’s desire as they try to become the trees surrounding the mountain side.

Koku, unaware of the tension but knowing that Weimar’s eyes are pinned on America, looks back at the man before them. “This is my bodyguard: America.”

Weimar’s smile returns to its normal and less unsettling grin, turning back to Koku, his hands on his back, his body cool and composed. “Now then; shall we have some tea? I’ll get my children of course.”

Koku smiles a little, but it was fake and empty, his grey eyes wary of Weimar, and it has the slightest tinge of fear. “That would be lovely, gifu.”

Weimar’s eyes lit up, but there was still a blazing wildfire in his flaring eyes. “Good! Now then, let us go to the gardens, shall we?”

“It’s raining outside”, America deadpans, pointing at the open windows, the sound of raindrops over head.

Instead of Koku agreeing however, he goes mum, as he looks at both Weimar with wide and scared eyes, then back at America with an apprehensive expression, like she had just disrespected a king in his own castle. Weimar’s eye twitches, his neck tilting to an odd angle, making America feel something new around this brand new ‘Weimar’.

Fear.

“I know it is raining outside, you little minx”, he spits out, words of fire mixing in with an eerie calm around him. “We are going to go to the indoor gardens. Say if you were a cop, searching for a criminal in the most obvious spots, where would you find the bastard, then? Would you go looking around for circles even though he is right in front of you, waiting for you to catch him?”

America goes bright pink, and Weimar seems to feel her embarrassment, as he smiles triumphantly.

Silence fills the entire hallway, only the sound of the downpour being heard.

Then Koku’s voice breaks through it like a sonic boom. He turns to Weimar, glaring at him. “Do not talk to her like that. She made a mistake, that’s all.”

Weimar stares at Koku for a while, his grin ear-splitting and becoming uncomfortable and unbearable to look at before blinking, but Koku stays strong, even if his grey eyes show his greatest nightmares.

Weimar clicks his tongue, “Shall we go to the gardens now?”

Koku immediately follows Weimar, who was strutting so confidently and so surely, and America lags behind them.

“Hallo, Japan!”, a young girl holding a school notebook greets Koku while he was observing the rosebushes (who also immediately backs up in shock once a butterfly takes a special seat there, much to America’s confusion).

America turns towards the twins- both sporting big and naive smiles, able to light up the entire world with just them. She notices how only their eyes differ: Ost has her father’s emerald eyes, except kinder and much more free-spirited, while West has dark blue eyes. America furrows her brow as she sees parts of ginger in West’s hair, but none in Ost’s, who sports freckles instead.

West was reading a trivia book about History and how it was told, before accidentally bumping into America. She wasn’t that hindered though; West is as thin as a stick America had picked up from one of her community service efforts. West looks up at America with big, apologetic eyes.

“Es tut mir leid, Miss”, West says, awkwardly looking down to his shoes.

America shakes her head, smiling, “It’s fine, it’s just an accident.”

Her eyes pivot to Koku and Ost, in an awkward conversation, beads of sweat rolling down their faces despite the cold weather, as if they were being watched. As if someone is monitoring the couple’s moves and is simply waiting for them to say the wrong thing before they are fed to the wolves. Ost was holding her phone a little too tightly, looking the opposite direction from Koku but occasionally glancing at her phone’s screen for messages. Meanwhile, Koku was studying a peony bush, trying to carry on their dead conversation with his own hands, but he glances at America.

No, not at her.

He glances at West, who was giving the couple - mostly Koku though - a dirty glare, before fixing himself back at his book.

America could understand why West seemingly doesn’t like or is not fond of Koku; Ost is fifteen and she is going to marry a complete stranger who not only is older than her by almost a decade, he also doesn’t seem to be too stoked to this marriage idea. And that Koku’s brother is literally one of the most cruel mafia mob bosses everyone has ever seen, so that must mean there was a brutal killing streak inside of Koku as well.

Koku and Ost’s conversation goes dim, as if they have nothing in common and they do not wish to make an effort to communicate with each other, beau or not. They glance the other way, with Ost texting someone on her phone, and Koku staring right at America, who was only tuning out every single thing, distorting reality and replacing it with empty static in her head to entertain herself. She can hear West’s muttering of Egypt and its pyramid, but there is a blockade in her brain.

She feels someone’s hand on her arm, and she looks up to find Koku staring at her with a small smile on his face. “You wanna see those shiroi bara in the back of the gardens?”

America blinks up at his smile, already putting the sun to shame, and she grins. “Alright.”

“I have no idea why we’re doing this”, America says in an exhausted expression, as she feels Koku’s - comforting - fingers threading through her smooth and soft hair, humming to himself.

America has to confess to herself; the fingers around her hair making her relax, as tendrils of exhaustion are being snipped short as he softly runs through her hair in a delicate manner, an animal being calmed down like it was nothing. Her guilty pleasure was letting someone run through her hair so softly and slowly, like they had time in the entire world, a hand planting seeds deep into the ground, so that after a few days it can emerge into something far more great and glorious.

She sighs softly, relieving herself of pent up stress, leaning onto Koku’s chest for support, slowly letting him have control of her blonde locks, his fingers starting to do their work. She smells the absolute fragrance of the entire garden, flowers’ scents mixing and mingling with each other, as if they were talking, as if they were live and sentient beings that can talk about their feeling without the humans noticing them. They were hypnotizing her just by their scent alone, driving her to the wall, all letting her smell them without having the punishment of pollen allergies and coughing and hacking.

“Aren’t you supposed to be ‘courting’ Ost?”, America asks, still in bliss, jolting slightly as Koku accidentally touches a sensitive spot on her neck. “Why are you here- with me?”

Koku rolls his eyes, as if he had answered this question a fair amount of times. “Me and Ost aren’t exactly… ‘couple’ material.”

America snorts, “It’s obvious.

Koku continues, “And I like your company. A lot.”

The girl below him goes red. “Uh… thanks.”

Koku smiles a little, a small idea in his head, before he completely dismisses it in fear of rejection and awkwardness. “Watashi wa honkidesu.”

America feels light objects on her head, not weighing her down, but the fragrance they were emitting is. She inhales, smelling the blooming flowers that were seated on top of her head like a crown. Like she was a queen and she was on a throne.

“Alright, finished!”, Koku says from above America enthusiastically, and he offers her a hand mirror to gaze on her reflection.

Koku was a good hairstylist, as it turns out; the braid was so neatly done and clean, no stray hair strands, the crown perfectly in place. She smiles into her reflection as she leans into Koku more, admiring and loving his warmth like he was the sun beating down on the crops and helping them grow. She feels arms wrap around her, and she feels the summer breeze and spring air billowing in her hair. America smiles serenely, like nothing is wrong and that she has a perfect life right here and right now.

Then her mind comes back to her mother and that noose on her hand, her lips curved into a malicious smile.

She stiffens at the memory and jumps out of Koku’s arms, much to the latter’s shock. Grey eyes stab at her with worry, but all she can feel once again are the hands that had tried to come for her all those years ago, leading to here now. She was breathing harshly, trying to remember that this is the reality, and Netherlands holding the noose was a long time ago, a blurb in her fading memories, but her mind is sentient and refuses to listen.

“America?”, Koku bounds towards her, but America takes a step back, still seemingly shaken from the memory, especially trying to differentiate Koku’s grey eyes with Netherlands’. “Is everything all right?”

America stares at Koku with scared and vulnerable eyes, fearing luring in the apex predator that will rip her to shreds, but she catches the twins watching them from a far as well. She can feel embarrassment creeping on her back like it was nothing. Her frustration was wrapping into her like a crown of thorns, tearing her limbs apart like she was a delicate flower with beautiful petals. So, as a normal and human adult frustrated with everything, she turns her frustration to someone else.

“I’m not a friend, Koku”, she hisses coolly, glaring right up at his grey eyes, trying to muster the coldest expression she ever has, a tundra in the side of the mountains, “I’m your bodyguard, simple as that. I’m not supposed to act buddy-buddy with you, I’m supposed to protect you from harm’s way; I’m not able to do that if you keep playing dress-up with me.”

Koku opens his mouth to respond, but he closes them instead, eyes glaring at America, the calm before the storm. He stands from his place, pulling on his coat, before turning his back on America.

“Fine then”, he says, marching towards the garden’s exit, refusing to face his bodyguard, who was still glaring daggers at him, but there was regret in her eyes, feeling horrible that she pushed someone out of her life just like that. “I’m leaving, I’ve had enough. Sayonara, West and Ost.”

“Hold on!”, America says, covering herself from the rain using her coat and the scarf Japan gave her earlier, the rain and mist covering her vision, warping it into something else, but Koku’s back is still visible despite the foggy rain trying to blind her, umbrella in hand, dark hair billowing against the gusts of wind. He did not break a step, his shoes landing on puddle after puddle, now indifferent at the fact he is making himself wet.

America, meanwhile, was holding the coat over her head, trying to stop the rain from coming down on her, which was futile, and that most of her clothes are wet and damp by now. She almost slips on the rain-covered sidewalk, before stabilising herself with one of the lamp posts. America stares at Koku’s back, who stops just a short distance away, but he still doesn’t face her.

Perhaps it was time for her to swallow her pride… again.

“Look”, she starts, her voice being drowned out by the rain, continuously pouring down on the both of them, “I’m sorry about my outburst earlier. I just feel like shit this past few days, especially yesterday when my brothers told me something. And, uh, I now feel self-conscious that I’m not being a good bodyguard for you.” She lowers her head; what was now a fake apology now feeling real, as if she was virtual, as if they live in a world where everything is fine and alright and nothing happened. She had actually regretted snapping at Koku, regretted everything she did to him today because, in reality, he’s been treating her nicely. Like she was a friend of his. Like he had all the time in the world for her.

She feels an arm on her shoulder, and her eyes look up to find Koku staring at her with a sheepish look on his face, as if he was the one in the wrong and not her. The rain was noticeably not dripping down on her, and she looks up to find Koku’s umbrella covering the both of them (although Koku had to inch closer to save himself from the rain).

He smiles at her guiltily, “I’m sorry too, for leaving you in the rain like this.”

America laughs pleasantly, “I kinda deserve it, though.”

Another cold breeze targets America, and she shivers; her clothes were now damp from the rain, and Koku sighs sheepishly before taking off America’s coat from her shoulders and giving her his drier and larger one.

“Uh”, America raises a questioning brow at Koku, who was now putting on her coat, “what are you doing?”

“Put mine on”, he says with a small smile, “and we’ll go home.

America complies, putting on Koku’s coat; the sleeves were loose on her arms. “This barely fits me”, she deadpans, but there was a small grin on her face.

“To protect yourself more from the rain”, Koku snorts as they both turn back to their destination, the rain not bothering them anymore as America leans into Koku once again.

“So you’re also basically a tutor?”, America asks, as Koku closes his umbrella, and puts it on the door frame, knocking on the door softly but surely. “I thought the Nippon family are rich.”

Koku chuckles, the sun’s rays dripping down on everything it touches, the flowers facing towards it, “I’m not doing this for money; I’m doing this to help others.”

America raises a brow, smirking all the while as they wait for someone to tell them to come in or for someone to open the door.

“Who are you tutoring this desolate and rainy afternoon?”, America asks, impatiently tapping her foot, soaked by the rain and dreaming about the warm, running water on her body, caressing her gently, letting her through a land where warmth ruled over the cold climates, where she was in the seas’ shores herself.

Once America asks Koku the question, his smile immediately falters, his grey eyes lacing with irritation as he sighs exhaustedly; whoever he was tutoring must be quite a handful if even one of the most patient and relaxed people would sigh before entering their humble abode.

“Coming!”, an all too familiar voice rings from the inside, as feet thud from the stairs and the door knob twisting and turning.

America then comes face-to-face with Daehan Imsi, whose warm smile immediately falters at the sight of Koku, as if he was the death of all the flowers and seeds in his garden, the annoying little weed to all plants, the parasite thriving in his body. His dark blue eyes turn an icy cold, calculating the dark-haired boy in front of him with such intensity, to the point that even Koku’s forehead was forming beads of sweat. Then he turns to face America with a raised brow, and America puts a finger to her lips, to which Imsi understood, and turns back to Koku with an unreadable look.

“Konnichiwa, Imsi-wa”, Koku says, bowing as he says it. “I believe it’s time for Minguk’s lesson?”

If Koku was aware of Imsi’s apparent distaste for him, he was not showing it; Imsi did not say anything for a full minute, lips curling as he looks everywhere but Koku, before forcing a smile on his face, once he glances at America again. “Yes, it’s time for Minguk’s lesson… unsu nappeuge.”

Imsi leads Koku inside his home first, and once America follows him inside, Imsi stops her with a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing with him?”, Imsi asks in a hushed tone, his eyes pinned on Koku, who takes off - America’s - his coat and puts it on the coat rack neatly. “Do you and your brothers have a plan to stop Teikoku?”

America bites her lower lip, whether telling Imsi would be a good call or not.

“Look, can we talk in a much…”, she glances at Koku who was busily studying the table for any crumbs of food before he dumps the pens and pencils he keeps on his pockets, “safer setting?”

Imsi stares at America for a moment, before nodding.

“Why, if it isn’t my favourite babo!”, Minguk exclaims cheerily, making his way to the living room with a few books and pencils for what seems like Calculus. He sits on one of the chairs eagerly, but there was an intense hatred in his eyes at the boy right in front of him, his smile hiding malice and torrents of loathing towards him. “So, what’re you going to teach me today?”

There clearly was an unadulterated loathing for Koku.

“We’re going to answer a few exercises first”, Koku says calmly and professionally, as if he was more of a teacher and not a home schooled boy being puppeteered around by his father.

Then, a woman whom America had never seen before (but although looks vaguely familiar) exits from one of the rooms carrying a couple of books and a tray of tea walks to the dining room, “Thank you for the company Imsi; your company comforts me every time-” She freezes suddenly, her eyes now locked on Koku, her hands shaking as she drops everything she’s holding down to the floor. The rigid silence is only broken by the sound of shattering tea cups, screaming a tune of horror as they plummet down to their deaths in the cold hard floor, spilling tea everywhere, but it doesn’t seem like the woman is concerned by its boiling properties, her eyes still pinned on Koku with a hint of panic, fear, and horror mixing in her eyes. Her body starts to shake, eyes brimming with tears.

“T-Teikoku?”, she stammers, shaking a little, her breathing becoming ragged and desperate, like she had no air left in her. “Please don’t… make me come back…” She was choking now, sobbing and giving out a few gasps for air, clearly having a panic attack.

Koku looks confused, clearly concerned at the woman who is now trying to breathe hard, as if his mere presence is taking away her oxygen. “You must be mistaken; I’m Koku. My brother’s Teikoku.”

The woman gives out another choked gasp as she runs back to her room, locking it.

No one even dared break the tense silence, Imsi and Minguk’s eyes pinned on Koku, who was staring at the room that was locked, concerned, worried and confused at why her reaction to seeing him was like that. Imsi and Minguk glare at Koku with a burning intensity, lips curling in utter abhorring for someone. The flames in their eyes rival Japan’s morning glow, as he stands awkwardly, still waiting for the proper time to excuse himself from them both.

“... Sit down, Ilbon”, Imsi says with a tone of detesting, and he turns to look at America, “Ije, gaja.”

America touches Koku’s shoulder, giving him a comforting look, saying, “It’s alright, it’s not your fault”, before following Imsi to the woman’s room.

“Who is she?”, America whisper-asks at Imsi, who was still glaring daggers at Koku, who in turn was biting his lip, gazing down at the floors.

“Her name’s Shanghai”, Imsi replies, focusing on the closed door, “I found her roaming the streets all scared and afraid two days ago.”

“Have you ever asked her where she lived before coming here?”, America asks, skeptic of the newcomer. “Have you ever thought of consolidating with us? The police department before you let her stay with you?”

Imsi gives her a testing glare, “Shanghai doesn’t seem to like the police.”

“But still”, America retorts, glaring back at the man in front of her, “you should’ve talked to us about her first.”

They hear sniffling from inside the room, and Imsi’s glare turns more to a worried look, as he softly raps on the door. “Shanghai? Gwaenchanh euseyo? Mwoga munje ya?”

There was no reply from the other side of the door, just incoherent whispers and whimpers at the other side of the door.

Imsi knocks on the door once again, still quite concerned for the woman who was whimpering softly, “Please talk to me, Shanghai. You seemed to have a history with Teikoku.”

They hear the door clicking, and Shanghai peeks her head from the slightly ajar door, her terrified eyes staring at Koku, who was now teaching Minguk.

(The both of them did not look in the mood though, with Koku droning on and on about more quadratic and algebraic functions while Minguk was glaring at his tutor, wanting to put a bullet on his head.)

“He’s going to drag me away”, Shanghai murmurs shakily, her face stained with tears, her lip quivering as she looks back at Koku. “H-he’s going to put me back-”

“No he won’t”, America interjects, her gaze hardening, intent to play the hero once again. “I won’t let him take you away.”

Shanghai stares at America, her eyes shaking, before going back to staring at Imsi, petrified.

“Can we come inside though?”, Imsi asks softly, looking into Shanghai’s eyes.

Shanghai widens the entrance of her door, and America and Imsi walk in.

All Koku has to say about this situation is that it was the most awkward meeting he has had with the Korean family; even much awkward than him meeting Minguk and Imsi which was, as he put it, a disaster.

(He is clearly aware of their distasteful looks - and attitude - they radiate towards him, but he does not call him out on their behavior.)

But when that woman came in, she had looked into Koku’s eyes, it wasn’t hatred or anger that overtook her; it was pure fear, as if he had done many faults to her family but she is the one to have paid the price, from her hollow and haunted eyes and the way she seemed to recognize him more as his brother than himself- as always, most of the time.

Sometimes it exhausts Koku; the fact that most recognize him as ‘Teikoku’s brother’ and not his own self gives him issues if he would be following in his brother’s footsteps- his ruinous and destructive footsteps to the future. Sometimes Koku’s mind will plague and hypothesize if he will become just like his brother in the near future, evil clutching beneath his palms, forfeiting lives like it was nothing, revelling in people’s pain like it was nothing.

Koku bites his lip, remembering how his mother had looked at him in her final moments.

He tries to make sure he doesn’t look and act like Teikoku.

Which is futile, as his physical appearance reminds everyone more of Teikoku than his actual self, and he is getting sick of this whole thing.

So what if his brother had done a lifetime worth of crimes?

He feels everyone’s eyes on him, always, calculating and cold, as icy as the most isolated tundras in the Poles, calculating, as if one wrong move they were going to feed him to the wolves and watch his corpse then be fed to the butterflies, crunching on his bones, forever and ever. They had rights to hate him, of course; they just think they were being discreet with the way their eyes flare up with loathing once he enters one room, discreet with the way they were lowkey trying to insult him and his family, perhaps taking jabs at how his mother is dead.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling himself suffocate despite the glaring contest being over; Japan doesn’t want anything to do with Teikoku, if he has to be honest.

He sighs, energy drained from his meeting with Weimar and the teenager next to him, who can’t even conclude the difference between each solution unless Koku grabs his pencil and starts to graph out the solutions and formulas that he had given this dense boy two pages ago. How is it when he visits Minguk for a session, Minguk’s ruler doesn’t end up on his hands and rather, on his nose like the incomprehensive dimwit he was.

They have been going on about quadratic formulas for a week by now, but it seems that Minguk’s brain couldn’t wrap around such a simple equation, always asking questions he supposedly knows the answer and solution to.

Sometimes Koku’s brain supplies that Minguk is doing this to spite him- indeed, he hadn’t been fond of Koku ever since he volunteered to be his tutor.

(Don’t tell Minguk that Koku has seen his report card and all of his subjects were straight A’s, so something must clearly be afoot.)

He shoves a few worksheets Koku has solved himself earlier today, and while Minguk is busy pretending he is unaware of graphing the domain and range, Koku’s mind reverts to America.

He can’t wrap the idea of what his brain wants from her; sometimes she’s in his thoughts like a sweet memory, a morning star to rival the moon arising from the tides for the small waves to rack the shores… sometimes she was like an annoying little weed he has difficulty removing from his vast garden of literal death.

There was something in her that made his mind do a complete 180 from what he was doing, focusing back to her, always her, now and forever.

America makes him feel… like he is complete, like he has nothing to hide from the woman as she cosies up to him, and with cheeks pink he opens his mouth and tells her a secret, one at a time, in random, unravelling the knot growing inside his stomach, because talking to America had made the entire air around them feel natural, like his entire life did not revolve around the man who ruined his life from the start of his fate cutting in half.

He feels something with America, something peculiar and twisted because his heart goes haywire for the way she looks at him, even if she looks annoyed or panicked or suspicious, a look is a look.

Koku always immediately goes warm whenever he thinks of her, so flawless with her looks but flawed with her attitude and personality, lips always curled into a thin line and her eyes serious, but when she smiles or laughs, it brings him complete and utter joy, a flower blooming in spring as dew touches its stem, the bright and warm sun behind it, guiding the flower to the right path.

He can feel butterflies in his stomach every time he looks at her, like it was the end of the world but she’d be his saviour.

It’s honestly panicking how a simple smile and touch is enough to make him melt.

Why does she make him feel like that?

“Koku?”, an irritating voice snaps Koku out from his thoughts, and he goes back to giving Minguk an undermining look. He was looking up at Japan with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and he opens his mouth, but before he opens his mouth he stops him right there,

“Don’t bother”, Japan sighs as he inspects the item Minguk is ‘stuck’ on, feeling Minguk grin beside him. “I can do your homework myself.”

Meanwhile, America was pacing Shanghai’s room, muttering a few phrases to herself as Imsi calms a still shaken Shanghai down, who was saying that Koku was going to drag her away. Which is puzzling- did this woman have a history with the Nippon family? Because it seems quite obvious that she has, since the first emotion she reacted outwards to Koku was pure, unadulterated fear.

Then an idea lights up: maybe Shanghai had ran afoul of Teikoku once; maybe she was held captive by the bastard for something.

From Shanghai’s wild eyes and shaking body, perhaps she actually had an encounter with the bastard.

Not a good one, though.

America’s brain comes back to the woman’s name: Shanghai.

The name sounds familiar, like a pearl falling to the waters and its owner desperately trying to differentiate each and every single one of the artefacts, trying to find which is which in the vast sea of pearls being offered out to them. Shanghai was calming down now, Imsi soothing her while giving her hushed whispers of comfort. America studies the woman’s face, trying to put a finger to where she had seen it before, once again putting one real face over another printed one, in those damned Wanted and Missing posters that are littered around her office, and she still couldn’t be bothered to study each one of them.

America thinks the woman’s name was familiar, from a bunch of documents she had studied years ago, knowing that she was one of Minguo’s mob members.

Zhonghua Minguo, who disappeared from the face of the earth a decade ago, leaving all his territories and old members at the mercy of other mafia mobs.

Imsi rubs Shanghai’s back soothingly, as she buries her face into her hands, curling to a fetal position as the only man in the room glances at America.

“So, what’re you doing following that bastard?”, Imsi asks, a poisonous tone in his voice, hatred in his eyes as he glares at the door. “Do you have a plan to get Teikoku arrested and my sister-in-law out of wherever she is?”

“Canada’s doing the spying in the brothels”, America explains, her eyes on the door, “I’m trying to get answers on the inside.”

Imsi’s glare hardens through the door, a black hole to Koku’s galaxy, “Do you have any evidence that Teikoku’s doing something more than a normal mafia crime here and there?”

“Some compelling evidence, but not compelling enough”, America replies, her eyes on a shaking Shanghai.

“Why are you with Koku, then?”

“Canada told me to play bodyguard with the guy’s brother.”

“And? Did you extract any secrets from him if Teikoku is hard to get through?”

America shrugs, “I mean, he’s only talking about his life, but not to Teikoku’s schemes. And from one of Australia and New Zealand’s statements, he wasn’t really stoked on his marriage to Ost.”

Imsi rolls his eyes, crossing his arms, “Just because he isn’t shown to be ‘aware’ of his brother’s deeds doesn’t deem him innocent! Give me one good reason to take pity on Teikoku’s family, aside from that bastard being their brother and father.”

America purses her lips, her mind going back to Koku’s warm summer smile and ruffly dark hair, his grey eyes piercing her with thunder and lighting, stormy grey clouds giving her solace as she takes shelter from the rain; frankly, she has no idea why her mind is acting like this around Koku- perhaps it was just because he was one of the only people who looked at her without wanting something from her.

She meets Imsi’s eyes, still firm and filled with hatred for the Nippon family that ruined his life all those years ago.

“Look, I don’t like Teikoku too”, America responds, “but I gotta say, his family is quite pleasant to be around with-”

“Yes yes, ‘pleasant’”, Imsi spits acidly, “but that doesn’t mean ttong to me. Teikoku has my gajog, and he’s torturing her as we speak.”

America’s eyes hover back to Shanghai, something clicking inside of her to why her reaction to Koku being in the same room as her was explosive. She stretches, hands back on her head, staring right back at Imsi.

“Meanwhile, you have one of Teikoku’s properties”, America deadpans, gazing at the woman, who stiffens at America’s statement, then goes back to shaking once again, muttering and whimpering, as Imsi’s glare hardens, daggers staring at guns.

“How dare you address her like that!”, Imsi berates, more like an offended father supporting his child than a man who was trying to tell someone they were incorrect. “She is not one of Teikoku’s ‘properties’, and even if she is there’s a reason why she left hell.”

“She’s the woman Canada saved”, America states, unhindered from Imsi’s outburst like he was a petulant child in need of discipline, “she’s a prostitute, Imsi.”

“How dare you!”, Imsi shoots back, “how dare you call her that! You think you know better?! You think that just because she is a prostitute means that you have full right to shame her of her shortcomings?! Shame on you, Migug!”

“N-no”, comes Shanghai’s croaked voice, looking up at America, her face wet with tears, her make-up ruined from drenching it whole. She was staring at America with large eyes, full of insecurity and secrets, her entire body still shaking with a magnitude that will rival an earthquake that Poseidon would wreck upon humanity. “S-she’s right, Imsi- I came from Teikoku.”

America did not look proud or held herself in a prideful disposition, keeping a straight face as she let Shanghai continue.

Imsi shakes his head, eyes shining with worry and sadness. “N-no, there has to be some mistake-”

“No mistake”, Shanghai breathes, trying to level her breathing, lungs cracking underneath the pressure. “I was one of Teikoku’s… toys.”

Imsi repeatedly shakes his head, still possessing the sad look on his eyes. “No. even if you are, you don’t deserve to call yourself that.”

Shanghai gives Imsi a glassy-eyed look, “You say that but that won’t help me overcome the truth, Imsi.” She escapes from Imsi’s grasp, who was still denying the truth despite the fact it is hanging right in front of him, telling him of a great wide truth that has been accepted by the two girls in the room. Shanghai’s back hunches, body shaking as she starts to crackle into nerve-wracking sobs. “I don’t deserve your kindness. I’m just a whore a cop saved since I couldn’t even save myself.”

The room lapses into another awkward and rigid silence, complete with Imsi staring at Shanghai, face clouding with sadness, trying to think of ways to help the woman. Her shaking body was like the land shaking as another earthquake hits the place involuntarily, a hardy and sturdy resolve within her, her tears are the rain flowing down to kiss the ground with the daintiest and softest of lips.

Slowly but surely, Imsi parts his lips to speak, low, soft, and all the more fatherly, “You deserve my kindness, Shanghai. I don’t care if you were held captive by Teikoku, you are still a person. Don’t you ever forget that, jinju gat-eun i ttawi.”

The statement causes Shanghai to sob slightly quieter, but her mourning and shame was still evident. Imsi does his best to comfort her once again, more like a patronising and selfless father than a caretaker.

But there is no more time left to mourn.

America composes herself, “Shanghai, do you know this man’s sister-in-law?”

The sobbing woman in front of her tries controlling her sobs to comprehend the question. “W-what’s her name?” She glances at Imsi, who was biting his lip, before standing to search the entire room.

Imsi comes back later with a photo of a bright young woman, looking more like the twins’ sister rather than a mother with her smiling, youthful face, golden eyes staring into America’s soul, pearly white teeth directed towards her husband (a man who resembled Imsi’s look too much it was haunting that a dead man can live within someone’s looks), who was wrapping an arm around her, not looking into the camera and rather at his wife. Imsi offers the photo to Shanghai, who gasps softly of familiarity, eyes on the young woman.

“Do you know her?”, Imsi asks softly, gazing down at the picture with Shanghai, but his eyes were pinned on her husband, the other half of his soul, which had been rudely taken away by someone much crueller than death.

Shanghai traces the woman’s image, trying to get a vision in the past that she was real and not rather a digital adaptation. “Nabi… is your wife?”

Imsi’s eyes visibly go wide, before awkwardly chuckling and shaking his head, his dark eyes pinned on his twin once again. “No- she was my brother’s wife, Jeguk.” His reassuring stare morphs into a sad look. “He died a long time ago.”

She meets Imsi’s sad stare, “I’m sorry.”

He recollects himself, “It’s fine. It’s just… I haven’t seen my sister-in-law for ages. Is she with you?”

Shanghai nods, averting her gaze, “Y-yes… Nabi’s condition in our place is complicated, to say the least.”

“What did Teikoku do to her?”, Imsi asks, a fire flaring in his voice, trying to signal a blaze, “if I get my hands on him I’ll-”

“She was his… favourite”, Shanghai badgers on, lips quivering, either from terror or disgust. “Many other clients seem to think so.”

Imsi’s face changes, his arms going slack, his dark eyes full of defiance against a regime becoming empty with realisation. He slowly turns to Shanghai, a look of horror in his face.

“I… I should’ve saved her from Teikoku, all those years ago”, Imsi responds, shaking his head, biting his lip, trying not to let the tears in his eyes spill and destroy his facade of calmness. “It’d be better if I was dead but at least the twins would still have their mother.” He caresses his left shoulder, as if a long lasting wound was there.

“No, don’t say that”, Shanghai reassures, “Nabi told us about her family. About you and her twin sons. About her dead husband, too much to the point she would become heart sick. If you died, it’d be another heartbreak for Nabi… and what about her children? She wouldn’t have picked a better caretaker than you.”

Imsi’s eyes cross with Shanghai’s much livelier one; as if talking about Nabi had gained her spirit, as if she is once again independent.

“And I was good at keeping her sons together”, Imsi replies, eyes on the floor, but America knows who he was talking about.

Inmin.

The girl and the boy were walking side-by-side, shielding themselves from the rain underneath an umbrella, the girl’s arm linking with the boy, both of them at peace, both of them looking as if they are enlightened from many of what they’ve just endured this day. The rain didn’t seem to bother the both of them anymore, something in their touch halting their chance at caring at everything that nature seemed to throw at them, their touches becoming one and the same, warmth surrounding the both of them, no coat and all.

“How’s your day?”, America asks, looking up at Koku, a serene smile and face being lit up by the lamp posts around the sidewalk, stepping on a puddle.

“My day’s great, thank you very much”, comes a chipper reply, his grey eyes stuck on America’s face once again, loving her smile. “Anata ga soko ni itakara.”

America blinks, trying to make sense of Koku’s statement, “Eh?”

Koku just chuckles, handling the umbrella tightly, smiling brighter at America. “Nanimonai.”

Guten Abend- good afternoon Gifu- father-in-law Es tut mir leid- I’m sorry Shiroi bara- white roses unsu nappeuge- unfortunately Ije gaja- let’s go now Gwaenchanh euseyo- are you okay Mwoga munje ya- what’s wrong Gajog- family Jinju gat-eun i ttawi- pearl Anata ga soko ni itakara- because you were there Nanimonai- nothing

#mine #writing #you're shooting your bullet the wrong way #countryhumans #countryhumans america #countryhumans japan #countryhumans east germany #countryhumans germany #countryhumans weimar republic #countryhumans kpg #countryhumans south korea #cityhumans shanghai #ameripan

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thewordcollector2 · 4 years ago

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71+ Unforgettably Priceless Friendship Quotes, Proverbs, and Messages in Different Languages

Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم… In the name of Allah (God), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Assalaamu 'alaikum السّلام عليكم… Peace be with you

Hi, Readers :). When you think about the word "friend", what comes to mind? I bet you think of someone who is near to your heart. But how does someone achieve that status of being dear to you? This is usually accomplished with an acquaintance who remains unswervingly* devoted, sincere, loyal, and trustworthy with you over a period of time. The kind of person I'm referring to is an individual who is there for you under all circumstances, no matter how difficult. A gem like that is rare nowadays, so be grateful if you've found someone who TRULY knows what it means to be a friend! Having given my definition of "friend", I'll give you some dictionary definitions of this word in the next paragraph, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله (God willing).

*unswervingly adverb = in a constant and steadfast manner; "an unswervingly loyal man" (The Free Dictionary)

The following are some of the meanings of the noun "friend" from four online dictionaries:

"A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

"A person whom one knows; an acquaintance." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

"One attached to another by affection or esteem." (Merriam-Webster)

"A person you know well and regard with affection and trust." (RhymeZone)

"A person with whom you are acquainted." (RhymeZone)

"One closely attached to another by affection and esteem." (Wordsmyth)

Here are some synonyms of the noun, "friend": "alter ego", "amigo", "buddy", "chum", "crony", "familiar", "intimate", "pal", "sidekick", etc. Two of its antonyms are "enemy", and "foe". (Wordsmyth)

Seeing that we've established the meaning of "friend", let's examine some meanings of its derivative "friendship":

"A friendship is a relationship between two or more friends." (Collins COBUILD Dictionary)

"You use friendship to refer in a general way to the state of being friends, or the feelings that friends have for each other." (Collins COBUILD Dictionary)

"If you have someone's friendship, they are your friend." (Collins COBUILD Dictionary)

"The emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends." (Oxford Dictionaries)

Etymology:

friendship (n.)

Old English freondscipe "friendship, mutual liking and regard," also "conjugal love;" see friend (n.) + -ship. Similar formation in Dutch vriendschap, German Freundschaft, Swedish frändskap. (Etymonline)

Okey doke. Let's dive into some memorably precious friendship quotes, proverbs and messages in different languages, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله. Happy reading! :) ;)

Side note:

Please feel free to share, and reblog this post if you appreciate it, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله. Thanks heaps (a lot)! :)

Abbreviation key:

masc. sing. = masculine singular

fem. sing. = feminine singular

(ms.) = masculine singular

(fs.) = feminine singular

(m) = masculine

(f) = feminine

Arabic Quotes and Proverbs about Friendship

Sadeeq al-jamee' laisa sadeeqan li-ahad صديقُ الجميعِ ليس صديقاً لأحدٍ.* ~‎Aristu أرسطو

aw أَو / or...

"Sadeeq al-kull laisa sadeeqan li-ahad صديقُ الكلِّ ليس صديقًا لأحدٍ." ~‎Aristu أرسطو

"A friend to all is a friend to none." ~Aristotle

*Literal meaning: "The friend of all isn't a friend to anyone."

"As-sadeeq al-mukhlis kanz kabeer الصّديقُ المخلصُ كنزٌ كبيرٌ." / "The faithful friend is a great treasure."

"As-sadiiq al-haqiiqiyy ni'mat min-Allah الصّديقُ الحقيقيُّ نعمةٌ من اللهِ." / "A true friend is a blessing from Allah الله [God]."

"As-sadaaqah bilaa thiqah hiya zahrah bilaa raa'ihah tayyibah الصّداقةُ بلا ثقةٍ هي زهرةٌ بلا رائحةٍ طيّبةٍ." ~Laure Conan لور كونان

Friendship without trust is a flower without perfume.* ~Laure Conan

*perfume noun = a pleasant smell (Oxford Dictionaries)

"As-sadeeq huwa ash-shakhs al-ladhee yamnahu-ka kaamil al-hurriyyah li-takoon 'alaa tabee'ati-ka الصّديقُ هو الشّخصُ الّذي يمنحكَ كاملَ الحرّيّةِ لِتكونَ على طبيعتِكَ." ~Jim Morrison جيم موريسون

"A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself." ~Jim Morrison

"As-sadaaqah tabda'u 'inda-maa tash'uru anna-ka saadiq ma'a al-aakhar wa bidoon aqni'ah الصّداقةُ تبدأ عندما تشعر أنّك صادِق مع الآخرِ وبدونِ أقنعةٍ." ~Zakaria Yassine زكرياء ياسين

"Friendship begins when you feel that you are genuine with someone else [another] and without masks." ~Zakaria Yassine

Important:

Google Translate was used for translating some French, German and Spanish friendship quotes and messages into English.

French Quotes and Proverbs about Friendship

"L'amitié sans confiance, c'est une fleur sans parfum." ~Laure Conan

"Friendship without trust is a flower without perfume." ~Laure Conan

"Au besoin on connaît l'ami." / "When need comes one knows one's friend." ~Proverbe français (French proverb)

"Ami de tous; ami de personne." / "Everybody's friend is nobody's friend." ~Proverbe français (French proverb)

"Mes amis sont ma richesse." ~Emily Dickinson

"My friends are my estate [wealth]." ~Emily Dickinson

"Même les meilleurs amis doivent se séparer." / "Even the best of friends must part." ~Proverbe (Proverb)

"C'est dans le besoin qu'on reconnaît ses vrais amis." / "It is when in need that one recognizes his real friends." / "A friend in need is a friend indeed." ~Proverbe français (French proverb)

"Qui se ressemble s'assemble." / "Those who resemble each other will get together." / "Birds of a feather [flock together]." ~Proverbe français (French proverb)

"Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné." / "Better to be alone than accompanied badly." / "Better be alone than in bad company." ~Proverbe français (French proverb) / Pierre Gringoire

"La vie est plus douce quand on est entouré de vrais amis." / "La vie est plus douce quand on est entouré par de vrais amis." / "Life is sweeter when you are surrounded by true [real] friends."

German Quotes and Proverbs about Friendship

"Gehe nicht hinter mir; ich werde vielleicht nicht führen. Gehe nicht vor mir; ich werde vielleicht nicht folgen. Gehe einfach neben mir und sei ein Freund." ~Albert Camus

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." ~Albert Camus

"Mein bester Freund ist der, der das Beste in mir herausbringt." ~Henry Ford

"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me." ~Henry Ford

"Es gibt nichts Wertvolleres auf der Welt als wahre Freundschaft." ~Thomas Aquinas

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." ~Thomas Aquinas

"Ein Freund ist jemand, der dir die totale Freiheit lässt, du selbst zu sein." ~Jim Morrison

"A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself." ~Jim Morrison

"Guter Freund kommt ungeladen." / "A good friend comes uninvited." ~deutsches Sprichwort (German proverb)

"In der Not erkennt man die Freunde." / "Freunde erkennt man in der Not." / "Friends are recognized in need." / "A friend in need is a friend indeed." ~deutsches Sprichwort (German proverb)

"Wenn ein Freund bittet, so gilt nicht morgen." / "When a friend asks, tomorrow does not count." ~deutsches Sprichwort (German proverb)

Miscellaneous Friendship Quotes and Proverbs in English

Hadith* on friendship: The parable (lesson) of a good friend and bad friend

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Verily, the parable of a good friend and a bad friend is only that of a seller of musk and a blacksmith. The seller of musk will give you some perfume, you will buy some, or you will notice a good smell. As for the blacksmith, he will burn your clothes or you will notice a bad smell."

*Hadith حديث = saying of the Prophet Muhammad مُحمّد (PBUH)

Source:

Saheeh al-Bukhaaree 1995, Saheeh Muslim 2628

"Being alone is better than having an evil companion; and having a sincere companion is better than being alone." ~Unknown

"Having just one good friend is better than having a million fake friends who pretend to like you." ~Unknown

"A friendship is like a ship on the sea; it needs to stay afloat. If a friendship is one-sided, it will most likely sink in the sea of friendships." ~Unknown

"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood." ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~Bernard Meltzer

"Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends." ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"It seems they had always been, and would always be, friends. Time could change much, but not that." ~Winnie the Pooh

"Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'" ~C.S. Lewis

"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." ~Oprah Winfrey

"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." ~Ally Condie

"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." ~Muhammad Ali

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends." ~John Churton Collins

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." ~Walter Winchell

"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." ~David Tyson

"Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart." ~Washington Irving

"Anybody can sympathise* with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success." ~Oscar Wilde

*sympathize (also sympathise)

verb

To understand and care about someone's problems.

To support and agree with someone or something.

(Cambridge English Dictionary)

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." ~Aristotle

"A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." ~Lois Wyse

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." ~Arnold H. Glasgow

"The real test of friendship is can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?" ~Eugene Kennedy

"A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad." ~Arnold H. Glasgow

"One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention." ~Clifton Fadiman

"You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job." ~Laurence J. Peter

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~Alice Walker

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." ~Woodrow T. Wilson

"There comes a point in your life when you realize who really matters, who never did, and who always will." ~Unknown

"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be." ~Douglas Pagels

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same." ~Elbert Hubbard

"A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." ~Grace Pulpit

"One true friend adds more to our happiness than a thousand enemies add to our unhappiness." ~Marie Dubsky

"Most of us don't need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with." ~Robert Brault

"Friendship isn't a big thing — it's a million little things." ~Author Unknown

"Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty." ~Sicilian Proverb

"A good friend is cheaper than therapy." ~Author Unknown

"If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." ~Edgar Watson Howe

"The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend." ~Henry David Thoreau

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~Elisabeth Foley

"There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship." ~Author Unknown

"The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had." ~Author Unknown

"I like friends who, when you tell them you need a moment alone, know enough not to stray too far." ~Robert Brault

"The language of friendship is not words but meanings." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth, wanting ten times more to tell you a loving lie." ~Robert Brault

"Our most difficult task as a friend is to offer understanding when we don't understand." ~Robert Brault

"As a friend, you first give your understanding, then you try to understand." ~Robert Brault

"A true friend is forever a friend." ~George MacDonald

"Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need most." ~American Proverb

"The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"A bosom friend — an intimate friend, you know — a really kindred spirit* to whom I can confide my inmost soul." ~L.M. Montgomery

*kindred spirit noun = A person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one's own. (Oxford Dictionaries)

or...

a kindred spirit/soul phrase = someone who likes or cares about the same things as you do (Macmillan Dictionary)

"Hold a true friend with both your hands." ~Nigerian Proverb

"Yes'm, old friends is always best, 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of." ~Sarah Orne Jewett

"Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough." ~African proverb

"The recipe of friendship: 1 cup of sharing. 2 cups of caring. 3 cups of forgiveness and hugs. Mix all of these together to make friends forever." ~Unknown

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow."

"Tell people how it is, be real and be honest. If you see something wrong make sure you speak up. Being this way will naturally eliminate the snakes and fakes." ~John Maiorana (Giovanni)

"A friend will fight for the truth, not distort it for their personal gain." ~Shannon L. Alder

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly." ~Proverb

"Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends." ~Aesop

"The rich knows not who is his friend." ~Proverb

Spanish Quotes and Proverbs about Friendship

"Tener buenos amigos es una bendición de Dios." / "To have good friends is a blessing from God." / "Having good friends is a blessing from God."

"Una amistad sin confianza es una flor sin perfume." ~Laure Conan

"A friendship without trust is a flower without perfume." ~Laure Conan

"Amigo en la adversidad, es amigo de verdad." / "A friend in adversity is a true friend." ~Proverbio español (Spanish proverb)

"Cada quien con su cada cual." / "Everyone with his own." / "Birds of a feather flock together." ~Proverbio español (Spanish proverb)

"Amistad fuerte, llega más allá de la muerte." / "Strong friendship transcends death." ~Refrán (Proverb)

"Amigo sin dinero, eso quiero; que dinero sin amigo no vale un higo." / "A friend without money, that I love; money without a friend is not worth a fig." / "Friendship is worth more than money." ~Proverbio español (Spanish proverb)

"Amigo de muchos, amigo de ninguno." ~Aristotle

"A friend to all is a friend to none." ~Aristotle

"La verdadera amistad es inmortal." / "True friendship is immortal." ~Proverbio (Proverb)

"Al amigo su vicio." / "Love your friend with his fault." / "Your friend with his vice* [bad habit]." ~Proverbio español (Spanish proverb)

*Synonyms of "vice": "shortcoming", "failing", "flaw", "fault", "defect", "weakness", "weak point", "deficiency", "limitation", "imperfection", "blemish", "foible", "fallibility", "frailty", "infirmity", etc. (Oxford Dictionaries)

"Cultivar una amistad verdadera requiere mucha paciencia, mucho tiempo, mucha dedicación y mucho esfuerzo." / "Cultivar una verdadera amistad requiere mucha paciencia, mucho tiempo, mucha dedicación y mucho esfuerzo." / "Cultivating a true friendship requires a great deal of patience, time, dedication and effort."

o / or...

"Cultivar una amistad verdadera requiere mucho tiempo, paciencia, dedicación y esfuerzo." / "Cultivar una verdadera amistad requiere mucho tiempo, paciencia, dedicación y esfuerzo." / "Cultivating a true friendship requires a great deal of time, patience, dedication and effort."

"Ten muchos conocidos y pocos amigos." ~Anónimo

"Have but few friends, though many acquaintances." ~Anonymous

"La alegría se multiplica cuando se comparte entre amigos pero el dolor disminuye con cada división. Eso es vida." ~R.A. Salvatore

"Joy multiplies when it is shared among friends, but grief diminishes with every division. That is life." ~R.A. Salvatore

"Sal de la vida es la amistad." ~Juan Luis Vives

"The salt of life is friendship." ~Juan Luis Vives

"Los amigos de verdad son familia sin certificado de nacimiento." / "Real friends are family without a birth certificate."

"Un amigo en la vida es mucho. Dos son demasiado. Tres son imposibles." ~Henry Brooks Adams

"One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible." ~Henry Brooks Adams

"La vida es mejor con amigos de verdad." / "La vida es mejor con amigos verdaderos." / "Life is better with true friends."

"La verdadera amistad resiste el tiempo, la distancia y el silencio." ~Isabel Allende

"True friendship resists time, distance, and silence." ~Isabel Allende

"La amistad verdadera perdura para siempre." / "True friendship lasts forever."

"La verdadera amistad es como tinta imborrable." / "True friendship is like indelible ink."

Note:

indelible ink noun - ink that cannot be erased or washed away (TheFreeDictionary)

Arabic Friendship Messages

"Shukran 'alaa sadaaqati-k[a] شكراً على صداقتكَ. Anta raa'i' أنتَ رائع!" / "Thank you for your friendship. You rock!"

Note:

"If you're talking to a female, the pronunciation differs a little. It'd be 'Shukran 'alaa sadaaqati-k[i] شكراً على صداقتكِ. Anti raa'i'ah أنتِ رائعة'." (Quora)

"Sadeeqee shukran li-wujoodi-k[a] fii hayaatee صديقي شكراً لوجودِكَ في حياتي." / "My friend [masc. sing.], thanks for your existence in my life." / "My friend, thanks for being in my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Sadeeqatee shukran li-wujoodi-k[i] fii hayaatee صديقتي شكراً لوجودِكِ في حياتي." / "My friend [fem. sing.], thanks for your existence in my life." / "My friend, thanks for being in my life."

"Sadaaqatu-k[a] min naw' fareed ‎صداقتُكَ من نوعٍ فريدٍ." / "Your [ms.] friendship is of a unique kind [type]."

aw أَو / or...

"Sadaaqatu-k[i] min naw' fareed ‎صداقتُكِ من نوعٍ فريدٍ." / "Your [fs.] friendship is of a unique kind [type]."

aw أَو / or...

"Sadaaqatu-k[a] hiya shai' fareed صداقتُكَ هي شيءٌ فريدٌ." / "Your [ms.] friendship is something unique* [extraordinary, one of a kind]."

*something unique = a unique thing

aw أَو / or...

"Sadaaqatu-k[i] hiya shai' fareed صداقتُكِ هي شيءٌ فريدٌ." / "Your [fs.] friendship is something unique [extraordinary, one of a kind]."

"Yaa sadeeqee, anta sham'ah tuneeru hayaatee يا صديقي، أنتَ شمعةٌ تنيرُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [ms.] are a candle illuminating [lighting up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqee, anta sham'ah tudhee'u hayaatee يا صديقي، أنتَ شمعةٌ تضيءُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [ms.] are a candle illuminating [lighting up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqatee, anti sham'ah tuneeru hayaatee يا صديقتي، أنتِ شمعةٌ تنيرُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [fs.] are a candle illuminating [lighting up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqatee, anti sham'ah tudhee'u hayaatee يا صديقتي، أنتِ شمعةٌ تضيءُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [fs.] are a candle illuminating [lighting up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqee, anta ash-sham'ah allatee tuneeru hayaatee ‎يا صديقي، أنتَ الشّمعةُ الّتي تنيرُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [ms.] are the candle that illuminates [lights up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqee, anta ash-sham'ah allatee tudhee'u hayaatee ‎يا صديقي، أنتَ الشّمعةُ الّتي تضيءُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [ms.] are the candle that illuminates [lights up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqatee, anti ash-sham'ah allatee tuneeru hayaatee يا صديقتي، أنتِ الشّمعةُ الّتي تنيرُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [fs.] are the candle that illuminates [lights up] my life."

aw أَو / or...

"Yaa sadeeqatee, anti ash-sham'ah allatee tudhee'u hayaatee يا صديقتي، أنتِ الشّمعةُ الّتي تضيءُ حياتي." / "O my friend, you [fs.] are the candle that illuminates [lights up] my life."

"Uhibbu-k[a] fillaah[i], yaa sadeeqee أحبّكَ في اللهِ، يا صديقي." / "I love you for the sake of Allah الله [God], O my friend [ms.]."

aw أَو / or...

"Uhibbu-k[i] fillaah[i], yaa sadeeqatee أحبّكِ في اللهِ، يا صديقتي." / "I love you for the sake of Allah الله [God], O my friend [fs.]."

Asdiqaa' hattaa an-nihaayah أصدقاءُ حتّى النّهايةِ / Friends until the end (m) / Friends to the end (m)

aw أَو / or...

Sadeeqaat hattaa an-nihaayah صديقاتٌ حتّى النّهايةِ / Friends until the end (f) / Friends to the end (f)

Asdiqaa' ilaa al-abad(i) أصدقاءُ إلى الأبدِ / Friends forever (m) / Friends always (m)

aw أَو / or...

‎Sadeeqaat ilaa al-abad(i) صديقاتٌ إلى الأبدِ / Friends forever (f) / Friends always (f)

English Friendship Messages

"True F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Fight for you.

Respect you.

Include you.

Encourage you.

Need you.

Deserve you.

Stand by you."

Prayer for a Friend

Stores don't sell,

I must confess,

the joys of life

that cheer and bless,

but friends and prayers

are priceless treasures

beyond all monetary measures –

and so, my friend,

I say a prayer

that God will keep you

in His care.

Helen Steiner Rice

"In life there are friends. Good friends, great friends, best friends. But you are my forever friend, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله. Thank you for being you."

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever." ~A.A. Milne

"Forever friends"

"My friend, thanks for tolerating my idiosyncrasies* and crazy habits. You might not know this, but you helped me find happiness in being the person who I really am."

*idiosyncrasy / idiosyncrasies noun = A mode of behaviour or way of thought peculiar to an individual.

'one of his little idiosyncrasies was always preferring to be in the car first'

Synonyms: "peculiarity", "quirk", "eccentricity", "oddity", "foible", "whim", "whimsy", "caprice", "vagary", "twist", "crotchet", "mannerism", "fad", etc.

(Oxford Dictionaries)

"You, my friend, are one of a kind."

"Thank you for your friendship. You brighten up my life!"

"With you, I can be honest and lay bare my heart.* Nothing else can come close to the beautiful friendship we share."

*lay bare idiom = to reveal or uncover private information or feelings (Merriam-Webster)

"You blur the lines between family and friends because you are both for me."

"I would rather thank you regularly for being a wonderful friend in every way, than belittle our friendship by saying thanks only once a year on Friendship Day. Thank you."

"Thank you for being a FRIEND."

"Thank you for making me laugh when I'd almost forgotten how to." ~Pam Brown

"Thank you so much for being a part of my life. Without you, life wouldn't be so wonderful."

French Friendship Messages

"Merci pour ce cadeau que tu m'offres chaque jour : ton amitié." / "Thank you for this gift that you offer me every day: your friendship."

Note:

"Generally, colons, semicolons, exclamation points, and question marks are all preceded by a space." (Yabla French)

"Être ami avec toi est l'une des choses qui me rend les plus heureux dans la vie." / "Being friends with you is one of the things that makes me happiest in life."

"Une véritable amitié est rare. Je suis tellement chanceux de t'avoir comme ami !" / "True friendship is rare. I'm so lucky to have you as a friend!"

"Les fleurs de l'amitié ne se fanent jamais. Merci d'être mon ami." / "The flowers of friendship never fade. Thank you for being my friend."

"Je n'arrive plus à définir ce qu'est l'amitié et la famille parce que pour moi tu es à la fois ma sœur et ma meilleure amie." / "I can not define friendship and family anymore because for me you are both my sister and my best friend."

German Friendship Messages

"Danke für deine Freundschaft. Du bist klasse!" / "Thank you for your friendship. You rock!"

"Vertrauen ist Mut, und Treue ist Kraft." / "Trust is courage, and faith is strength." ~Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

"Die Erde kann vergehen, die Sonne kann verblassen, doch wahre Freundschaft, soll uns nie verlassen." / "The earth can pass away, the sun can fade, but true friendship, should never leave us."

"Manche Menschen sind wie ein Spiegel, der uns hilft, in die verborgenen Winkel unserer Seele zu schauen. Schön, dass es dich gibt!" / "Some people are like a mirror that helps us to look into the hidden corners of our soul. It's great that you're there!"

"Manche Menschen machen die Welt besonders, indem sie einfach da sind. Du bist so einer." / "Some people make the world special by simply being there. You are one of those."

"Freundschaft, das ist eine Seele in zwei Körpern." / "Friendship is one soul in two bodies." ~Aristoteles (Aristotle)

"Freunde sind wie Sterne in der Nacht! Auch wenn man sie nicht sieht, weiß man doch, dass sie da sind!" / "Friends are like stars in the night! Even if you do not see them, you know that they are there!"

"Schön, dass es dich gibt." / "It's great that you're there." / "It's nice that you are there." / "I am glad that you are there."

"Schön, dass es dich gibt. Danke für deine Freundschaft." / "It's great that you're there. Thank you for your friendship."

Spanish Friendship Messages

"Gracias por tu amistad. ¡Eres genial!" / "Thank you for your friendship. You rock!"

"¡Gracias a Dios, soy bendecido/a y afortunado/a por tener un amigo como tú!" / "Thank God, I'm blessed and fortunate [lucky] to have a friend [m] like you!"

o / or...

"¡Gracias a Dios, soy bendecido/a y afortunado/a por tener una amiga como tú!" / "Thank God, I'm blessed and fortunate [lucky] to have a friend [f] like you!"

"Tener amigos como tú es una bendición. Gracias por tu amistad." / "Having friends like you is a blessing. Thanks for your friendship."

"Como las estrellas, tu amistad nunca deja de brillar." / "Like the stars, your friendship never stops shining."

"Cree siempre en ti. Cree siempre en mí. Cree siempre en nuestra amistad." / "Always believe in yourself. Always believe in me. Always believe in our friendship."

"Tu amistad es algo único." / "Your friendship is something unique [extraordinary, one of a kind]."

"Te quiero* mucho. Eres mi mejor amigo/a." / "I love you very much. You are my best friend."

*"Literally translated to, 'I want you', 'te quiero' is most appropriate for expressing love to family, close friends, or significant others."

(English to Spanish Raleigh)

"Te quiero así de mucho." / "I love you this much."

Amigos hasta la muerte y más allá (m) / Amigas hasta la muerte y más allá (f) / Friends until (till, 'til) death and beyond

"¡Qué alegría saber que existes!" / "What a joy to know that you exist!"

Amigos por siempre (m) / Amigas por siempre (f) / Friends forever / Friends for ever

o / or...

Amigos x* siempre (m) / Amigas x siempre (f) / Friends forever / Friends for ever

*x = por

o / or...

Amigos para siempre (m) / Amigas para siempre (f) / Friends forever / Friends for ever

Extras

Spanish Pronunciation Notes:

a = ah e.g. amigo/a

e = eh e.g. caliente

i = ee e.g. pimienta

o = oh e.g. frío/a

u = pronounced like the "oo" as in "soon" e.g. universidad

"G" is pronounced as an English "h" when followed by "e" or "i". Examples: gente = hehn-teh, gato = gaht-oh

"H" is always silent and never pronounced when it appears alone. Examples: hecho = echo, hora = oh-ra

In Spanish, the letter "h" has no sound. The digraph "ch" is pronounced like the "ch" in the word "chair".

"J" is always pronounced as an English "h". Example: jugar = hoo-gahr

"Qu" is pronounced as an English "k" when followed by "e" or "i" (pronounce the 'u' otherwise). Examples: que = keh, quotar = quoh-tahr

"Ñ" or "ñ" is pronounced as "enye". Example: baño = bahn-yoh

"Ll" or "ll" is pronounced as the letter "y". Examples: llenar = yeh-nahr, olla = oh-yah

The Spanish "z" is pronounced differently in Spain than in Latin America. In Spain, it is pronounced like the "th" in the English word "think". In Latin America, it is pronounced like the letter "s". Example: zanahoria = sa-na-oh-ree-ah

Sources of Pronunciation Notes:

2 Simple Rules to Help You Pronounce Spanish Words | TakeLessons

Spanish pronunciation of "h" and "ch" | 123TeachMe

Consonant: z - Study Spanish

7 Ways to Be a Genuine Friend

"You have to be a friend to have them."

― J.M. Richards

"The only way to have a friend is to be one."

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let's get the facts straight, in order to be someone's friend you need to know how to be a true amigo/a. Here are seven ways to be a genuine* friend, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله:

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

― Oscar Wilde

1. Always try to be yourself. Let your friends see you for who you really are. Don't be a phony (fake). Show them your true personality. Don't act one way in front of them, and another way behind their backs. If they can accept the real you, then you'll be able to have more meaningful and lasting friendships.

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say."

― Bryant H. McGill

"There is as much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking--and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones."

― Daniel Dae Kim

2. Be an active, caring and responsive listener. Try to listen to your friends carefully, interestedly and understandingly. And, always make an effort to give them constructive feedback and sound advice.

"Perfection is a goal that will forever remain impossible for any human being to achieve. Therefore, the only achievable goal is to only strive to become the best that you can possibly be."

― Edmond Mbiaka

"I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect."

― Spike Lee

3. No one is perfect. This is earth! We all have faults. Know that you have faults, and that your friends have faults too. And, learn to live with them. Some of them can be fixed and some of them can't be fixed. C'est la vie! ('That's life'; 'Such is life' in French) If you do something wrong, take the blame. Say your sorries, and try your best to learn from your mistakes.

"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it all into words is all that is necessary."

― Margaret Cousins

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

― Marcel Proust

4. Appreciate your friends. Show them your appreciation. Let them know that you value them. Here are some simple ways of doing this:

Write them a kind note, letter, or email.

Give them a surprise call to let them know you haven't forgotten them.

Make something special for them.

Compliment them about their successes. But please don't flatter them, as flattery is insincere.

Show them signs of care and affection.

Do something sweet and thoughtful for them.

Give them a small gift to let them know that they mean something to you. You can be creative in this area, as it's the thought that counts most!

Verbalize it! Let your friends know how grateful you are for them. Tell them how much you prize (appreciate) their friendship.

"Tell people how it is, be real and be honest. If you see something wrong make sure you speak up. Being this way will naturally eliminate the snakes and fakes."

― John Maiorana

"Honesty is the best policy."

― Benjamin Franklin

5. Be honest and frank (direct) with your friends, but please remember to be polite too. If your friends ask for your opinion on a matter, give them a sincere one. Don't lie to them. Tell them the truth that they need to hear, but say it tactfully (politely).

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."

― John Holmes

6. Be caring and helpful to others. Use your God-given abilities to do something good for your friends. Be genuinely thoughtful towards them, and look for ways that you can help them. When you help others it makes you healthier and happier.

"To keep the Golden Rule we must put ourselves in other people's places, but to do that consists in and depends upon picturing ourselves in their places."

― Harry Emerson Fosdick

"Treat others how you want to be treated."

7. Treat your friends as you'd like to be treated. That's the Golden Rule! If you follow this principle religiously (regularly, constantly), you're bound to have successful long-term friendships.

*genuine adjective = (of a person, emotion, or action) sincere.

Synonyms: "sincere", "honest", "truthful", "unhypocritical", "meaning what one says", "straightforward", "direct", "frank", "candid", "open"; "artless", "natural", "unaffected", "guileless", "ingenuous"; informal "straight", "upfront", "on the level"; informal "on the up and up"; informal "dinkum"

(Oxford Dictionaries)

Did this post enthral (captivate, intrigue) you? If so, you may also want to read, "Arabic Word: Saadaqa", InshaaAllah إن شاء الله. Here you go, buddies:

https://thewordcollector2.tumblr.com/post/19550376816/arabic-word-saadaqa

Sources and Further Reading:

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unswervingly

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unswervingly

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=friend

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friend

http://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=Friend

https://www.wordsmyth.net/?ent=friend

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/friend

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/friendship

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/friendship

https://www.etymonline.com/word/friendship#etymonline_v_29856

https://www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-spanish/30877-proverbs-and-sayings-on-friendship-in-spanish/

https://www.superprof.us/blog/the-best-ten-quotes-from-the-iberian-peninsula/#4-isabel-allende

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/433323-la-verdadera-amistad-resiste-el-tiempo-la-distancia-y-el

https://www.enkiquotes.com/friendship-quotes-in-spanish.html

https://mjcodez.tumblr.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/536038

https://books.google.tt/books?id=wTwQDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT340&lpg=PT340&dq=Amigo+sin+dinero,+eso+quiero,+que+dinero..+in+English&source=bl&ots=9kDxY1IM0S&sig=4SqduB-HImS8HlvoxIxIR37vXiI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizla_rmsPfAhUNuVkKHcAiAi8Q6AEwBnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Amigo%20sin%20dinero%2C%20eso%20quiero%2C%20que%20dinero..%20in%20English&f=false

https://www.ailmalaga.com/top-5-spanish-proverbs-friendship/

https://books.google.tt/books?id=P_GkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT117&lpg=PT117&dq=Quien+tiene+un+amigo+tiene+un+tesoro+(A+man+that+has+a+friend+has+a+treasure)&source=bl&ots=0iiTHRFeeS&sig=vU_I9lVa1SDVYTvAEY_V6KSRyMM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjglPmj58ffAhXKxlkKHQgOBYoQ6AEwDnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Quien%20tiene%20un%20amigo%20tiene%20un%20tesoro%20(A%20man%20that%20has%20a%20friend%20has%20a%20treasure)&f=false

https://books.google.tt/books?id=9LcGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=Al+amigo,+con+su+vicio,+meaning&source=bl&ots=gRU6lzEimZ&sig=WWRkl3OdqvVMECp-OBlc8ZYDFc4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhs9mC2PLfAhWQtlkKHZI9BWIQ6AEwF3oECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Al%20amigo%2C%20con%20su%20vicio%2C%20meaning&f=false

https://www.spanishplayground.net/spanish-quotes-friendship/

https://www.euroresidentes.com/entretenimiento/frases-citas-imagenes/20-refranes-cortos-sobre-las-amistades

https://www.keepinspiring.me/quotes-on-friendship/

http://sourcesofinsight.com/friendship-quotes/

http://www.quotegarden.com/friendship.html

https://www.frasess.net/frases-cortas-para-amigos-y-amigas-3.html

https://www.serenataflowers.com/pollennation/friendship-messages/

http://www.orkugifs.com/es/amistad.html

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-french/rock

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-german/linguistics/573351-sophia-you-rock-you-re-my-best-friend.html

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-say-Thank-you-for-your-friendship-You-rock-in-German-Is-Danke-f%C3%BCr-deine-Freundschaft-Du-bist-klasse-the-correct-way-of-saying-it

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-say-Thank-you-for-your-friendship-You-rock-in-Spanish-Is-Gracias-por-tu-amistad-Eres-genial-the-correct-way-of-saying-it

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-say-Thank-you-for-your-friendship-You-rock-in-Arabic-Is-Shukran-alaa-sadaaqatik-a-%D8%B4%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%83-Anta-raai-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%AA?

https://www.italki.com/question/457675

https://m.facebook.com/MadinahArabicTuition/photos/a.10151510339920659/10156188349980659/?type=3&source=48&_ft_=mf_story_key.10156188351830659%3Atop_level_post_id.10156188351830659%3Atl_objid.10156188351830659%3Acontent_owner_id_new.286005100658%3Athrowback_story_fbid.10156188351830659%3Acall_to_action_type.MESSAGE_PAGE%3Apage_id.286005100658%3Aphoto_id.10156188349980659%3Astory_location.4%3Astory_attachment_style.photo%3Apage_insights.%7B%22286005100658%22%3A%7B%22role%22%3A1%2C%22page_id%22%3A286005100658%2C%22post_context%22%3A%7B%22story_fbid%22%3A10156188351830659%2C%22publish_time%22%3A1528107966%2C%22story_name%22%3A%22EntStatusCreationStory%22%2C%22object_fbtype%22%3A266%7D%2C%22actor_id%22%3A286005100658%2C%22psn%22%3A%22EntStatusCreationStory%22%2C%22sl%22%3A4%2C%22dm%22%3A%7B%22isShare%22%3A0%2C%22originalPostOwnerID%22%3A0%7D%2C%22targets%22%3A%5B%7B%22page_id%22%3A286005100658%2C%22actor_id%22%3A286005100658%2C%22role%22%3A1%2C%22post_id%22%3A10156188351830659%2C%22share_id%22%3A0%7D%5D%7D%7D&__tn__=EH-R

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/624481

https://xn--sgb8bg.net/

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-translate-the-French-quote-Lamiti%C3%A9-sans-confiance-cest-une-fleur-sans-parfum-in-English-Is-Friendship-without-trust-is-a-flower-without-perfume-a-correct-translation

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-translate-the-Spanish-quote-Una-amistad-sin-confianza-es-una-flor-sin-perfume-in-English-Is-A-friendship-without-trust-is-a-flower-without-perfume-a-correct-translation

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20190109131711AA3IreM

https://www.italki.com/question/458926

https://www.englishspanishlink.com/learn-spanish/games/congratulations.htm

https://quotabulary.com/famous-french-quotes-about-family-friendship

https://termbank.com/en/french-english/ami%20de%20tous;%20ami%20de%20personne

https://www.elearningfrench.com/french-friendship-proverbs.html

https://abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2010/10/26/the-parable-of-a-good-friend-and-a-bad-friend/

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/indelible+ink

http://www.modele-texte.fr/message-amitie.php

https://termbank.com/en/spanish-english/cada%20quien%20con%20su%20cada%20cual

https://study.com/academy/lesson/german-proverbs-about-family-friendship.html

https://www.dict.cc/german-english/erkennt.html

https://www.smsmich.de/sprueche/Freundschaft/index.shtml

https://french.yabla.com/lesson-Punctuation-in-French-390

https://thewondrous.com/best-thank-you-quotes/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/real-friends

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-translate-this-Arabic-quote-As-sadaaqah-tabdau-inda-maa-tashuru-anna-ka-saadiq-maa-al-aakhar-wa-bidoon-aqniah-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%91%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%A9%D9%8F-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A3

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/life-is-better-with-true-friends.3539549/#post-17989952

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/life-is-better-with-true-friends.3539554/

https://www.italki.com/question/459753

https://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Sayings/Quizzes/Money_2/The_rich_knows_not_who_is_his_friend_887.php

https://www.lexico.com/definition/hadith

https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewUnsolvedquery.php?idThread=1051541&lp=ende&lang=en&idForum=1

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sympathize

https://www.lexico.com/definition/perfume

https://www.lexico.com/definition/vice

https://ponbee.com/you-make-me-happy-quotes/

https://www.lexico.com/definition/idiosyncrasy

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lay%20bare

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/thank-god-im-blessed-and-fortunate-to-have-a-friend-like-you.3544560/

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20190204205952AA6VAJO

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/o-my-friend-youre-the-candle-in-my-life.3545851/

https://www.wordreference.com/enar/reverse/forever

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/te%20quiero%20asi%20de%20mucho

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/te%20quiero%20mucho

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/mejor%20amigo

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/mejor%20amiga

https://www.englishtospanishraleigh.com/blog/te-amo-vs-te-quiero-differences-in-i-love-you-in-spanish

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/cultivating-a-true-friendship.3549548/

https://www.italki.com/question/462815

https://www.exitoysuperacionpersonal.com/frases-de-alegria/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/59699-joy-multiplies-when-it-is-shared-among-friends-but-grief

https://takelessons.com/blog/how-to-pronounce-Spanish-words

https://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/pronunciation_h_ch

https://studyspanish.com/pronunciation/listen-and-repeat/letter_z

https://www.lexico.com/definition/genuine

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/19884-be-yourself-everyone-else-is-already-taken

https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-care-and-maintenance-of-friendship/

https://lifestyle.allwomenstalk.com/effortless-ways-to-show-someone-you-appreciate-them/

https://onlinecounsellingcollege.tumblr.com/post/182944809256/how-to-be-genuine-in-relationships

https://www.lexico.com/definition/kindred_spirit

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/a-kindred-spirit-soul

Guys, this is where I leave you for today. I hope that you relished reading this entry, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله! Many thanks for reading it. I appreciate it. Take care, so long. Wassalaam 'alaikum والسّلام عليكم (and peace be with you)! :) :-h

Cherish your time with your family and friends,

Sam سام.

Post Script:

Thank you to all the people who genuinely help and support me! :) You matter and you make a difference. Please make sure you remember that, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله.

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