#I gloss his sign as ASL
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I saw a thing going around from the @linked-maze server (which I am not in atm) but thought it'd be cute to do with my poor Ocarina of Time Link. The hand-gesture is from the ASL sign for "No."
"How old are you?" indeed.
(He quite frankly has no fucking clue.)
(....he also can't do math to figure it out.)
#my art#That Broken Promise AU#TBP Kokiri#Ocarina of Time Link#I gloss his sign as ASL#but the others have different languages I use
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Steve Harrington needed hearing aids.
He wasn't born needing them. In fact, he was just about as healthy as a young man in his social class could be. But numerous head injuries eventually led to gradually worsening hearing loss, leading him to needing mostly useless hearing aids.
His damage was so severe he actually needed cochlear implants but his parents kicked him out of their house and off of their insurance plan when he got caught kissing his teammate back in high school. With his minimum wage job and splitting rent with his roommate Robin, he currently did not make enough money for such a luxury.
So he did the next best thing: he learned ASL.
It was free, other than his time invested, and Robin was the one to suggest it. After all, she was already fluent in five languages and had been in band for twelve years. If anyone could teach herself and a hard of hearing person to sign, it was Robin Buckley.
The only bad part was, they were the only two who seemed to know the damn language, leaving Steve to strain to hear or read lips lest he get (mostly) silently yelled at by some deranged customer.
So when he spotted a guy around his age with long, dark curly hair and perfectly round black glasses with side shields, he knew he had to act.
He knew what it was like to have people gloss over the fact that you exist, or even berate you for it; so he took a page out of Robin's book.
He learned braille.
Sure, technically Steve could still speak to the boy, but wouldn't it be more special if he could read what Steve wanted to say?
So he practiced and practiced until he was happy, bringing the card to work where his crush appeared to be a regular.
As Steve sees him walk in, he knows today's the day.
â â â â â â â â â §â â â â â â œ â â â â â â â â â șâ â â â â â „â â â â „â â â șâ â â â â â â â â â œ â œâ â „ â â â â â â â â â œ â â „â â â â â â â șâ â „â â â â â
â â â â â â
â œâ â „ â â „â â â â â â â â
Hi I am Steve sorry if this is weird but I just wanted to say you are really cute and I would like to ask you out on a date
Steve is giddy when he wanders over to the boy in dark clothes. He had on black jeans that are ripped at the knees, a Metallica band tee, a leather jacket, and a denim battle vest. He's perfect. He's hot.
Steve's footsteps must be louder than he expects because the object of his affection immediately turns in his direction.
"Hi," Steve greets as he presses the thick stock paper into his hands.
The boy angles his head down with a frown as he traces an index finger over the raised dots, before looking right at Steve behind those dark frames.
He takes them off, and Steve learns after so long that his eyes are brown.
"I'm sorry," his crush says, Steve recognizing those syllables easy enough, "But I can't read this. What is it you're trying to say?"
But now that response is too much, Steve can't keep up. All he knows is the card he worked so carefully punching little holes in with a special tool he had to buy was now being pushed back into his hands.
Steve doesn't try to answer, he just wants to get the hell away before his tears spill over, but a hand on his shoulder stops him in his tracks.
He tenses, squeezes his eyes shut and braces for impact, but when a familiar hit doesn't land on his face, he cautiously opens his teary eyes to find him staring right at Steve.
"Are you okay?" He asks, but Steve can't be quite sure if he's checking on him or asking if he's gay.
Steve's own frown appears on his face as he points to his ears.
"Can't hear too good."
His mouth drops open, rushing to spiel something Steve doesn't catch. He must realize this because he's taking Steve's card back from him now as he mimics writing something with raised eyebrows.
Steve nods his head, more confused that the guy he thought was blind seemed to be understanding him perfectly.
He fishes out the little pad of paper and pen he keeps with him for moments not quite like this, passing the two items over.
He scribbles for a moment before letting Steve read what he's written in big loopy letters.
Hi, I'm Eddie. Sorry, I can't read braille. What did you say?
Steve furrows his brows.
I thought you might know it. Aren't you blind?
Eddie shakes his head with a little smile.
The glasses? I have killer migraines. Never go anywhere without them.
Steve smacks himself in the face. He's been such a fool!
Eddie taps him to gain his attention once more before handing him the notepad and pen.
What did you say? I'd like to know :)
Steve worries his bottom lip.
Hi I'm Steve. Sorry if this is weird but I just wanted to say you're really cute and I would like to ask you out on a date
He's nervous as he hands it back, but Eddie's wide grin and eager nod does wonders to knock back those worries.
I thought you'd never ask, Steve.
#Some steddie au to soothe soul#canon typical violence for Steve tho#eddie's migraine wear inspired by my migraine wear#we wear sunglasses inside bitch#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddie#steddie ficlet#hard of hearing steve harrington#steddie au
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Heart And Soul Asunder: Whumptober 2023 Director's Cuts
A collection of fun facts, directorâs comments, and deleted scenes.
Day 1
Fun fact! Most sign languages incorporate a completely separate grammar system to their âspokenâ forms (English to BSL, ASL and Auslan, for example). For fluency purposes, I (and most other people for that matter) write the signed text as âEnglish translationsâ, just like you would any other foreign language.
The alternative, âglossingâ, is writing the words as they are signed, and is generally considered a poor written representation of sign language because it âreadsâ as very simplistic, without the associated body language, facial expression, gestures, and emotional indicators that are purely visual.
Italics is in fact not the preferred method for indicating signing in prose, as the Deaf community rightly regards it as just speaking and needs no other punctuation than ââ. However Iâm still trying to figure out a visual and storytelling balance when non-Deaf individuals are switching back and forth between speaking methods.
Day 2
Fun fact! Every line of Skyâs âdreamingâ dialogue is shit I have said in my sleep, to the general horror and consternation of my sister. She was mildly displeased to be asked for âthe creepiest things youâve ever heard me say while unconsciousâ.
Skyâs inaudible blood comment would have been either âItâs said that only those plants that are fed on blood will bloom redâ or âUnder the blood, what do you have left?â
Day 3
This one wanted to be much longer, but didnât have any material to fill it, and I didnât have time to let things grow organically. I feel like the pacing suffered for that.
Day 4
Fun fact! I had over 1000 words of âscrapâ material by the time I was done with this fill.
Iâve had difficult works before, but this one took it to a whole new level. It got to the point where I was writing individual sentences as their own separate entities and then frankensteining them together with joining words or sentences or pieces of another pre-written sentence. I was deeply impressed it turned out as coherent as it did.
Day 5
Due to deadlines and me attempting to keep a handle on my plot pacing, this one had several minor plot points cut from the original. I was very disappointed but also it was long enough as it wasâŠ
Hereâs an excerpt from the most complete of those cuts.
Blue wakes to pain searing through his torso. He tries to jolt upright; canât, the cord of pain through his ribs binding him in an agonised hunch. Heâs winded, he recognises â Blue scrabbles away â The man lunges â Then trips and falls seemingly through the floor. Blue canât get up immediately. Pain still lashes through him with every gasping breath. He knows straightening out will help. Canât make himself do it, not with a red ribbon of agony tying his lungs to something in his core. Instead he curls in a little more and uses his feet to shuffle away from the spot the guy had vanished. Heâd thought heâd seen â a flash, except the opposite; a sudden moment of night-sky darkness â but now the grass just looks⊠normal. Slowly springing up again after his weight had squished it down, a few broken blades sticking up at awkward angles. Blueâs tempted to poke it with his stick. He refrains â he doesnât want to lose his best tool, if whatever ate the guy decided wood is tasty too â and after marking the closest tree, he limps towards the river. Heâs never touching that patch of grass again.
Day 6
*buries face in hands*
Feel like I owe everyone an apology for this one â there was so much screaming in my inbox. And itâs still trying to develop itself into a long, involved torture fic. I had a whole fucking outline written before realising it was way too long and involved for a daily prompt, and mercilessly cut it back. But the outline exists⊠and could be usedâŠ
*head on desk*
Day 7
The reason Warriors was so grumpy was that heâd already taken a keese to the face from an earlier vire. He thought Legend had seen and was teasing him.
Wind was annoyed with Twilight for chasing Legend off. âHe was going to TEACH ME SHIT, you asshole!â
An incomplete alternative scene, scrapped because the Vibes were wrong:
Legend takes time over the next few days to really watch the people around him interacting. Usually he doesnât bother. People are baffling, and watching them is somewhere between aggravating, confusing, and anxiety-inducing. He has no idea why itâs considered an actual hobby. Everyone keeps him at arms-length. And Legend prefers it that way, he doesnât like people in his personal space, it just makes him jumpy â but Wild is like that too. Flinchy when people get too close. And Twilight is always reaching out to him, verbally if not physically. [Example conversation.] And when he does move in physically, itâs always at Wildâs pace. Patient, gentle, even when roughhousing. The only time any one of them touches Legend is to shove him, or pinch his ears. And itâs always because Legend had gotten too close to them. The only exception is Hyrule. He comes closer than the othersâŠ
A lot of people resonated with this one. I donât want to say Iâm glad I made you all cry, but I AM glad I was able to pull such a strong emotional response from you. I love you guys. <3
Day 8
Fun fact! This was originally supposed to be a one-and-done, except I hit 3000 words and realised I wasnât even CLOSE to finishing and couldnât just cut plot points because this one has STRUCTURE, dammit. Fortunately, the one remaining day I had yet to generate an idea for had a perfect prompt for the second half, and all was well. (Except not really.)
This section was part of the first draft, but didnât suit the Vibe, but I still like it:
âYou should keep an eye on the veteran. Heâs not dealing half as well as you think he is. And the chosen hero, for that matter. For heroes of legend and lore, youâre not a very well-adjusted bunch.â Legend makes an outraged noise. âWhy donât you do something about it, then?â âAnd do what?â Fourâs dead brother shoots back. âIâm not real. Iâm not even close to being real. I may as well have never existed, for all history remembers of me.â
Day 9
âYou liar.â
Legend wasnât talking about what Four was saying â he was calling the smile, and every one that had come before it, a lie.
Day 10
Fun fact! In medieval Europe (which LoZ is loosely set in), multiple births were considered VERY bad omens â adultery, demonic influence, witchesâ spells, changelings, etc, to the point that multiples were very often killed or abandoned soon after birth, and sometimes their parents were, too. Combining this with the fact that several Links have dealt with evil clones of themselves was obviously going to be hilarious, but I didnât get to explore it to its fullest potential. Maybe in the followupâŠ
Day 11
Fun fact! Sometimes sprained ankles hurt worse than broken ankles. Ainât bodies grand?
Day 12
A few snippets from a plot point that didnât wind up eventuating:
âThings are very scary for you at the moment,â Sky murmurs, âand even though youâre being very brave, it doesnât make them less scary. Itâs okay to be afraid.â
âBecause just like you come after me, there are other heroes who come after you. And they know your story. They know that you win.â
Day 13
There was originally going to be a second half of this to go in Day 30: Bridal Carry, but then I had a really good idea for an alternative. Thereâs more notes for this one but theyâre a major spoiler for the second part, so youâll have to wait for the followup for more info!
Day 14
This just fucking came to me when I first saw the prompt but was in no way suitable for Whumptober:
Four contemplates the lettuce Wild had handed him. Itâs a little comical from the outside: the vegetable is larger than his head, as Wars all too gleefully points out. Four doesnât respond to his teasing. Just rolls the lettuce around in his hands, considering every leafy angle. Then he takes a bite from it as if it were an apple. Wars inhales the mouthful heâd just taken from his waterskin. Wind slaps him on the back, howling with laughter, while Wars splutters and chokes and leaks water from his nose in a very undignified fashion. Hyrule and Sky both watch, fascinated, as Four makes his way through the entire lettuce. âWhy,â is all Twilight says. Four can only shrug. âIt looked good.â
Day 15
That Yiga member decides that the life choices that led them to stab a frightened (apparent) eight-year-old were bad ones and repents, abandoning the clan and moving to Hateno to help teach children to make up for it. Sometimes they wonder if the child managed to escape, but mostly they try not to think about it, because how could they have made it when the Plateau is laced with spies and theyâd injured them so badly?
Now I want to write a followup where the Chain runs into this specific Yiga member and they have a breakdown when they see Four.
Day 16
Fun fact! Before you even begin exercising, there is whatâs called an âanticipatory riseâ in heart rate, which preps your body to do work! In this fic there is a similar anticipatory rise in magic, which is why Legend has an easier time transforming when heâs expecting it. :)
Day 17
For some reason these guys wanted to act out a Monty Python skit where Tiny!Legend asked every one of them in turn if they were a knight, which for obvious reasons did not pass the vibe test, but some of the excerpts were hilarious:
Tiny!Legend squints at him suspiciously. âYouâre not a knight?â âNope,â says Time breezily. âThe armourâs useful, is all.â âDidnât stop that moblin from running you right through, old man,â says Four. âTâbe fair, it was our first experience with black-bloods,â says Twilight, and Tiny!Legendâs eyes go wide as he considers just how much power it would have taken to drive a weapon through steel plate.
âAre you a knight?â âOnly technically,â says Sky, appearing very focused on his wood carving. âWhere I come from, a knightâs main duties involve catching people who fall off sky islands more than dealing with monsters or politics.â
Wars grimaces. âI couldnât talk Artemis out of it, okay? Itâs supposed to be an honour, but mostly itâs just paperwork.â
âDoes it count if I donât remember it?â asks Wild, completely guileless.
âFuck that,â says Four, âI told Dad he could go kick rocks. Iâm a blacksmith, dammit.â
âIâm a pirate!â Wind says indignantly, and Tiny!Legend relaxes the rest of the way, giggling.
Day 18
You have no idea how bad my brain wanted to make the Minish evil and leading him into a cult-related trap. I had to have a serious debate with myself over clear story beats and Minish physiology as a fae race before it could be laid to rest. Also, it would have screwed up my pacing, because this was supposed to be the last part, dammit!
On further consideration â this concept could make for an amazing angst fic, because itâs set in the Downfall Hyrule â what if the Minish became corrupted as the land did, so that evil deeds were what sustained them instead of gratitude?
The experiment with making the Minishâs communication purely described by Four was partly to show that they use a completely different language to Hylians, and partly to highlight that Fourâs not in the clearest mental state right now. I definitely enjoyed everyone freaking out and creating theories around this particular design choice â Iâm really happy it came out how it did and that everyone found it a) intelligible and b) distinctive.
This ruined the flow but I liked how it came out:
âYou know me?â he says. All Minish know him, they say. There are stories passed down, of the Hero who was helped by the Minish â and who helped them in return, the way so few others did.
A follow-up excerpt:
Four frowns. âI donât have a concussion.â âFour, half your face is covered in blood and I can see the knot from here. If you donât have a concussion I will be very surprised.â Spoiler alert! Four has a massive concussion.
Fun fact! If you have a concussion, you are not going to be a reliable judge of whether or not you have a concussion. Thatâs also why Four canât hear the Colours; in fact all four of them are there, just muddled together and in too much pain to realise theyâre all in control, or even just how much pain theyâre in. He got a hell of a whack on the head.
Day 19
This section ruined the flow but was fun to write:
The tight control he kept his temper under â always trying so hard not to respond in anger, to think through his words and actions before making them real. The only time Legend had ever seen him lose it â Wild had taken a stupid, dangerous risk in blowing up part of a mountain, burying half their enemies in a rockslide â but because he hadnât warned them first, Sky and Wind nearly got caught up in it too. And Four had been furious on their behalf. Heâd bellowed about communication and being aware of your teammates the whole time Hyrule was fixing up the bruises and Windâs broken wrist and not repeated himself once. Wild was not the only one to look at Four with more respect after that.
Day 20
This line was needlessly dramatic so I took it out, but I still like it (plus context):
Thereâs a rustle of movement as several people start digging through their packs. Sky hadnât realised â everyoneâs gathered around the doorway. Unable to help, unable to look away, as Hyrule fought death itself for Fourâs soul, and won.
There are followups coming for this âverse, focusing more on the healing. :)
Day 21
The first half of this was entirely whump-free, for reasons unknown to me. Listen man I do not have any control over these guys, I just work here.
Okay thatâs slightly a lie, I did consider scrapping it or cutting it back, but it made for a nice counterpart to the actual whump, so I kept it. :)
âWhat do you even want with us?â he demands, all too aware of the two behind him. Just as trapped, just as helpless. Heâs the oldest, here, the veteran hero; itâs up to him to find a way out.
Yeah, Legend completely forgot that Time is the oldest of all of them. Tbf heâs spent the last two-three days being a complete gremlin as well as being tiny, so I think we can forgive Legend the lapse.
Baby!Time shrugs. âWe negotiated.â
I do not remember what this line referenced so I had to take it out but I remember it was hilarious.
âThus proving that Time is in fact the Hero of Time,â says Four dryly, looking at Legend significantly. Legend casts about for something to throw at him while Wars tries to focus on whether or not Time can walk a straight line without puking.
Written by my beta while I was struggling with flow issues. It didnât make it into the final draft but it made me laugh. Three cheers for my sister Sunshine, folks, who checks my shit for flow and consistency while knowing fuckall about Legend of Zelda and Linked Universe in particular. She never even questioned me over the weird names! I love her so much.
Day 22
This one fought me more than was entirely necessary, and has also decided to exist within a universe known as âyour body is not a cordial bottleâ.
When the Four Swords Links turned back into one Link, all their feelings and experiences went with them â but they donât spread out as if over four people. Everything is felt exactly as intensely as if it was the original Link having that experience, because it was. So Four has just as strong a reaction to ice and cold as Blue, not one-quarter of a reaction; similarly, they all feel the same grief over Shadowâs death. Itâs not diluted out just because thereâs four people experiencing it.
(âYour body is not a cordial bottleâ has medical origins â essentially, taking two drugs with opposing effects is NOT necessarily going to just cancel each other out, stop doing that shit and talk to your doctor! Also, drinking lots of water is not going to dilute the effects unless itâs alcohol, and thatâs for a different reason.)
In hindsight, Wild has a very Valleygirl-esque voice in this, and I have no idea why.
An alternative scene, now with added nudity!
A gasp. âFour, your clothes!â A louder gasp. âMY clothes!â There had been no time, no thinking or deliberating. They were left with just the thing they clung to the hardest. For most of them, it seemed, that was their drawers, the last layer of clothing between them and open air. That Sky had refused to let go of the Master Sword, even as all his layers fell away - well, thatâs not all that surprising. For Four to abandon his dignity -? And it wasnât even his weapon. The only thing left on him is the worn leather cord of a necklace. Whatever it is, Fourâs got it clutched in one hand like heâs scared to lose it. A pendant, of some kind? Four sees him looking, and instead of embarrassment - instead of covering himself up with a laugh or a wince - he looks afraid. Both hands go to the pendanty and he backs away, breathing hard, until he hits the wall and jolts like heâd forgotten it was there. âFour, itâs okay -â Four cringes away, curled in on himself to hide. Sky automatically reaches for his sailcloth to cover him, and annoyance flashes when he remembers.
Rough, but it amused me. (á” á” á”)
Another alternative scene divergent from the original, cut because it was interfering with flow:
Fourâs hand tightens. Hot blood starts to seep into the spaces between his fingers, something sharp like panic coiling around his heart. âSteady, Four,â says Sky. âDeep breaths. Shit, youâre bleeding again â Wild!â âIâm sorry! I was just curious!â Four wants out of this conversation, but thereâs nowhere to go. The air in here is thin and stale. Itâs not enough. His skin is hot, a volcanoâs breath looming, and his core is so cold it hurts to breathe â âAaand down you go,â says Sky, firm hands helping him to the sand. Four gasps for air. His ears are ringing again, a high-pitched screech that mostly drowns out the hissed argument happening over his head. He canât make out the words but he knows what theyâre saying, whatâs wrong with him and donât upset him and donât you know heâs delicate â Four hates it with the depth of a bottomless sea. The words come out so deep a navy theyâre almost black. âJust fucking get it over with!â The argument stops. âFour, you donât have to say anything,â Sky starts. Four shakes his head, hard enough that it nearly dislodges Skyâs hands. âIf youâre just going to dance around it, and â and talk behind my back, then â just get it over with!â The shadows in his mind flitter and murmur protest; he ignores them, ignores the chill panic on his skin and the ice in his gut to shove onwards. âAsk, damn you!â âHey!â Warriors barks, softening his voice when it makes Four flinch, âwe are not going to force you to talk about something youâre not comfortable with!â âLike talking about it behind my back and making up your own damn theories is any better,â Four snaps back. âYouâre not going to like my answers anyway!â âOkay, okay, weâll have the conversation, but you need to breathe!â
Four was very determined to have that panic attackâŠ
Can you tell I really loved this fill? I need to write a followup someday.
Day 23
Jumping down an entire flight of stairs LOOKS cool, but thereâs a high risk of falling on your face, not to mention the stress it puts on your joints, my knees hurt just thinking about it
Fun fact! I HAVE jumped down an entire flight of stairs before! Except it wasnât on purpose â I slipped on a patch of ice and fell, but somehow never made contact with the stairs themselves, and landed on my feet at the bottom in a gymnastics crouch, shellshocked but apparently none the worse for wear.
(This was a lie. My left knee has NEVER forgiven me for it. It hurts in cold/wet weather and will dump me on my ass with no warning if I donât keep up my physio.)
Another fun fact! The Yigaâs base in BotW is BULLSHIT. Who the fuck puts prisoners right at the entrance??? This pissed me off so much I did a rough redesign placing the cell closer to the heart of it. I also made other cosmetic changes in making it more assassin-y. Did you spot any?
Day 24
This one - and to a certain extent the followup - actually had a very specific inspiration! If anyone successfully guesses what it is I will be very impressed, though. It's not the most obvious connection.
Day 25
I TAKE BACK EVERY COMPLAINT I EVER HAD ABOUT MOORHAUNT, THIS FIC WAS HELL TO WRITE.
Because I canât write in a straight line, I wound up having to scrap what was possibly my favourite exchange of the entire fic. This section is CANON to the continuity it just didnât make it in somehow!
He says nothing more as they walk away. As soon as theyâre out of earshot, Legend says, âOkay, I get why he wonât touch the Master Sword now.â âIâm surprised he can even touch his own sword,â says Wind. âFuck, the thing killed his brothers, how can he stand it ââ âAnd he would have been right there when it happened,â Warriors murmurs. âYou donât think⊠it hurt?â Sky thinks of Four â quiet, steady, helpful Four â having his last memory of his siblings being them screaming in pain, and nearly throws up on the spot.
Seriously. This fic was such a pain in my ass. TWICE I wrote myself into a time loop, no one wanted to say the hard stuff, and Vio kept being cryptic and offputting and scaring everyone off.
(Again. Ocarina was supposed to be about 3k max and a single instalment. Instead itâs 14k over two chapters, with at least one followup in the works because Sky felt guilty.)
Day 26
An alternative scene, inspired by this art: https://www.tumblr.com/undertheopensky/731132480379338752
For a minute Time thinks Four has fallen asleep at the table. It wouldnât be the first time someoneâs fallen asleep in a position they regretted the next morning, and heâs considering whether to wake him or let him experience the consequences of his actions when a muffled whimper makes him pause. Nightmares. That decides it, then. He lays a gentle hand on the boyâs shoulder. âFour?â Four doesnât jerk with consciousness, just curls in tighter, and Time realises he wasnât asleep. Just â weeping into his kitchen table at two in the morning. Now he feels awkward. Itâs one thing to stir a friend from nightmares; entirely another to offer comfort where it may not be wanted. Four shakes with a muffled sob - but doesnât shake him off.
Day 27
Unfortunately this exchange didnât suit the Vibe:
âDo people really fall off Skyloft that much?â âOften enough,â says Sky, too honestly if the way Wind pales is any guide.
This one was originally intended to just be the first half, but then Something got hold of my brain and I remembered how much I love With His Own Wings, and it kind of grew legs from there and I was no longer in control. It was fun, though, and I love the way it turned out!
Day 28
Fun fact! Though this is the followup to Day 24, it was in fact conceptualised and half-written first!
It was a lot of fun describing Shadowâs form here - because heâs not Hylian, he just chooses to sometimes look like one, and heâs actually shadow - which gave me a lot of leeway in what he COULD look like, what forms he could take, and how those forms would actually appear. Conservation of mass says thereâs a limits to how large he could make himself; exceeding that would result in a less solid form, and how to describe that? The fluidity of having no internal structure that you had to adhere to; how do you describe such a being when you're used to things having a concrete foundation to work from?
Day 29
Fun fact! This is the only fill with no dialogue!
Itâs one of the shortest fills but I really love the concept. Iâve seen a few fics where Four taught Legend some blacksmithing tricks, but I donât know of any where he took him on as a full apprentice. (IF ANYONE ELSE DOES PLEASE TELL ME, I WOULD READ THE SHIT OUT OF THAT.)
Thereâs no followup planned for this one, but a summary of the events that follow:
The book becomes one of Legendâs most prized possessions
Ravio eventually talks him into getting it restored by a professional to better protect it
The bookbinder teaches him about how to handle the book so as to preserve it as long as possible
Itâs by no means a complete fix, but Legend stops focusing on his depression and turns some of his energy to hunting down other mentions of the previous heroes. Maybe most of them were in other timelines, but - Four. Sky. Time. He knows they lived through his timeline, and maybe there are still traces of them left.
When he explores the Lost Woods with this goal in mind (remembering that Time had said he grew up there), he always winds up at the same old tree stump; gnarled and moss-eaten and rotting. The clearing it sits in is nothing special, not really, but after the fourth time he winds up there without trying, Legend just - sits. Listens to the forest, and feels a strange kind of peace steal over him.
He visits often, after that. Just for the quiet, the feeling of being close to something he doesnât quite understand. Sometimes the woods gift him things: small flowers or pretty seeds that appear in the belly of the rotted-out trunk, placed by unseen hands. It feels wrong to take without giving back, so Legend starts to leave feathers and coloured stones in return.
Flowers die. Seeds rot. And the single metal scale he finds is rusted almost black.
Theyâre precious all the same.
Sky is harder, so far back in history even the stories of him have been lost. Almost everything related to him had to have disintegrated by now, lost to the ravages of time. Legend canât keep himself from looking, though. From exploring old ruins, and investigating their origins; connecting them to old tales and using those threads to find new places to search. There are monsters, there are always monsters, but somehow it doesnât feel as hopeless as trying to keep the road between Kakariko and Castle Town clear when he knows itâll be overrun again in a week.
He has a goal.
(And it will be years later that heâs finally rewarded for his diligence. That in checking the newly formed sinkhole he discovers a crack in the cliff rock through which he can see a faint and tarnished gleam.
Itâs simple work to chip a hole large enough to fit a hand; a little more to widen it enough to pull out the plain silver box, small enough to fit in his palm.
Thereâs no story or legend that led him here; thereâs no inscription on the box or identifying markings in the cavern he pulled it from.
But he opens the lid to find ruby-red hoops of stone fairly radiating blessed magic, and he knows.)
âŠthis basically turned into a mini-followup didnât it XD
Day 30
THE ALTERNATIVE THAT OVERTOOK DAY 13âS SECOND HALF.
Fun fact! I am also allergic to feathers! And cats, and horses, and lanolin (and therefore sheep).
I work with all of these animals.
(Look, no one ever said I was smart.)
I had a lot of fun with this one.
Aren is the name of the on-site healer in the on-site academy infirmary, because you canât have an entire building of hormonal teenagers whacking each other with sticks and NOT have somewhere to fix broken bones in close proximity. I spent twenty minutes on the SkSw wiki to determine that this person didnât exist in-universe, and two minutes making them up.
The title is an unapologetic multi-level pun. First thereâs the obvious - struggling to catch your breath in the middle of an allergic asthma attack. Then thereâs Sky catching Legend as he falls. And finally, it evokes the phrase âcatch your deathâ, meaning to become suddenly ill from an environmental change. :) I love puns. This made me so happy.
I was originally considering Trust Fall, but itâs so overdone, and didnât really suit the plot or the vibe, so I was super happy to come up with this as an alternative!
Day 31
Fun fact! This fill was the first one I completed, and the ONLY one I 100% finished before October started. (I wrote it in four hours while supervising undergrads.)
Sometimes, friends can say really mean things to each other, and itâs all in good fun â unless someoneâs not speaking the same language as you, and no one even realises.
The Chain isnât being deliberately mean. Theyâre just too rough with Legend, thinking he understands theyâre playing, while Legend thinks theyâre pushing him away. Lots of people picked up in the first instalment that Legend is very autistic-coded; I hope that the continuation felt true to this fact, and was also cathartic!
#whumptober 2023#skies writes#feel free to ask about followups :)#linked universe#lu fic#lu four#lu sky#lu time#lu wind#lu wild#lu twilight#lu legend#lu hyrule#lu warriors
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The Moonlight Chicken Sign Language Index (aka signs that are the same or similar between Thai Sign Language and American Sign Language)
I asked, literally one person answered, and I kind of already had this assembled because of a conversation with @respectthepetty but that's enough for me at this point so...I'm basically just gonna copy and paste what I already had from that one reply in to it's own post.
DISCLAIMER: I am a hearing person with a minuscule (self-taught) knowledge of ASL and no knowledge of MTSL. My intention in making this post is not to teach anyone ASL, that is not my job and I should not be doing it because I am not Deaf. I am simply identifying signs I recognize. ASL is a beautiful language that I do hope to one day be able to learn properly because it is, personally, a very important language to me. I invite any Deaf or CODA people who may be reading this post to give me any critiques, or if anyone with actual knowledge of ASL, not my self-taught knowledge, identifies any more signs from the MTSL in Moonlight Chicken to ASL I would be incredibly interested to see them!
I am making this index partially because I really enjoy seeing where and how MTSL and ASL are identical or at least similar. Sorry they are not in alphabetical order.
The first couple are from @respectthepetty who also did a write up in the original post of this about finger spelling MTSL versus ASL.
So without further ado and in whatever order I feel like...The Signs:
TODAY/NOW
NOW
Tell me why when I google TODAY sign asl gif I get signs for literally every holiday "st patricks day, labor day" but not DAY on it's own. It's essentially the same in ASL although in ASL instead of a flat palm moving down it's can also be the letter D in sign language
DAY
SAY/NAME
NAME
Side note, this is the sign for HEARING in ASL but in Moonlight Chicken the same/similar sign seems to mean SAY:
DEAF
DEAF
(i don't) UNDERSTAND
UNDERSTAND is the first part of this gif where he sticks his finger up next to his ear, it's essentially the same in ASL.
UNDERSTAND
To say I DON'T UNDERSTAND in ASL you would use the same finger motion but also shake your head no.
Double side note, sorry all of these ASL gifs are of white men, the Google Images market is absolutely overflowing with gifs of these two in particular.
DIFFICULT
DIFFICULT
WORK
WORK
HOME
HOME
If memory serves, Heart does not slide his hand from his lip to his cheek, just taps his cheek.
BEFORE:
BEFORE:
STUDY:
LEARN:
YEAR
YEAR
Clapping in MTSL:
Clapping in ASL:
And that is all I have so far. I linked it above, but please click through to the finger spelling write up that respectthepetty did because it also discusses Gloss and comments on Black Sign Language which is it's own sign language form in the US and is not ASL. I will update this post again if I find other signs that seem to correlate. There are a couple of more signs I discuss in the previous post about this, but I didn't include those in this index because they are far more speculative sign comparisons than these ones are and I don't want this index to have potentially incorrect information on it
Edit: Okay I know I literally just said above that I didn't want the index to have potentially incorrect information on it, and this bit of signing is not translated through caption or through Li Ming saying the words so I cannot be 100% certain that this is correct. However, I am posting this one because given the context of the scene (this is when Li Ming goes to Heart's house after his big fight with Uncle Jim and Heart sprays Li Ming with the hose) and how similar the sign is, I think it means the same thing. I will only put the word down for the ASL just in case I am wrong, I don't want to attribute the wrong word to the MTSL sign but...
PLAY in ASL
#moonlight chicken#moonlight chicken the series#mlcts#mlc#modern thai sign language#mtsl#american sign language#asl#heart x liming#heartliming#heart x li ming#gemini fourth#fourth gemini#fourth nattawat#fourthgemini#geminifourth#gemini norawit#the midnight series#gmmtv#p'aof#aof noppharnach
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What are your thoughts on a written Sign language?
It's not really possible to write in a signed language because signed language is signedâthe entire language is designed to be done manually with your hands. To be a visual-spatial language, it isn't linear in any way. Grammar and emphasis depend on facial expressions and body language; there's really no way to perfectly translate that onto a page.
Now, for ASL specifically, we do have something called Gloss, which is not the same thing as writing ASL. Rather, it's a simplification of ASL to help teach people the patterns of grammar, but it's not really something that would be an effective way to communicate except when teaching people ASL.
See, Gloss is a way to convey the grammatical structure of ASL, but it really doesn't have any meaning outside of an educational context and ultimately isn't an effective way to communicate. The whole point of signed languages is that they are signed - signing is the most effective way for Deaf people to communicate. It's better than written language for our needs, and that's why any attempt to write ASL ultimately is more useful for hearing people trying to learn it than for anyone Deaf to actually communicate.
If you want to write a character who signs, like for a story, then there are a couple of things you can do, depending on the POV and your experience with ASL. The easiest thing to do would just be to replace "he said" with "he signed" and keep the actual content of the conversation in English or whatever language the story is being written in. As a Deaf person who is fluent in ASL, I did write some fanfiction involving a Deaf character and her interpreter, and here is an example of how I conveyed ASL in writing:
He realized Joey and her interpreter, Kenny, were entering the bullpen. Joey waved and Josh with a friendly smile and signed something at him, eyebrows furrowed as she pointed at the television. âHowâs she doing?â Kenny interpreted â âsheâ was clearly C.J. âItâs getting away from her a little bit,â Josh said as Kenny stood next to him, Joey across from him. He saw Kennyâs hands moving in his periphery. Joey nodded, and her hands flew in response. Kenny interpreted, âTheyâre making her the story.â âYeah,â Josh agreed, straightening up from where he was slumped against the doorway. âHey, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.â He didnât need to hear Kenny give a response for Joey. He knew what it meant when she nodded, raised her eyebrows, and waved a fist with an outstretched pinkie and thumb. He explained, âThe Justice Department wants another thirty million to fund its suit against the tobacco companies, and we want them to have it. The Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice, State, and Commerce handles that money, and they wonât bring it to a vote.â She fingerspelled K-A-L-M-B-A-C-H. âIs the chairman?â âYeah. Now, I wanted to turn up the heat and issue a release.â âIncendiary?â âYeah. It calls them âwell-fed members lining their campaign war chests and being complicit in hundreds of thousands of negligent homicide.ââ Joey scoffed and slid her hands together, âNice.â Josh continued, âWe didnât send the release out yesterday because of the M.S. announcement and Missus Landingham. But in a day or two, I wanna leak it. What do you think?â âYeah, thatâs really stupid,â Joey signed, and Kenny spoke. âWhy?â Josh asked, a burst of confusion rippling through him. âBecause offense makes people play defense.â âIâm raising the profile to bring public opinion down on him. Play defense with that.â
I think when writing a major character who uses sign language, you really do need some understanding of ASL and Deaf culture to write a signing Deaf character. The positioning of the interpreter and the Deaf person, the fact that the POV character knows a little bit of ASL, so they understand some of the signs being used like the fingerspelling, describing the character's facial expression and body language as they sign (and having it make sense with the grammar/tone the character is trying to convey), and then providing a translation/interpretation in English.
Anyway, I hope that answers your question?
#writing reference#writing#deaf character#sign language#american sign language#yes this is from my west wing fic i love u joey lucas/marlee matlin for existing
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The Bear ch 5
Pairings: Wanda x R
Word count: 3.9K
Summary: You join your uncle tony in the avengers, it wasnât your original plan but you never planned for your powers either so here you are. Now your at the avengers tower and falling for the girl of your dreams. With a haunting past and interesting abilities can you navigate your way through the challenges of being a hero? After a mission gone wrong and a cruel twist of fate the team starts digging for answers. Can tony keep them from finding out the truth?
TW: none really, canon typical violence (I guess?)
A/n Sorry this took so long im already working on chapters 6 and 7
PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 4 || PART 5 || PART 6 || PART 7
You stood with Nat and Wanda at the front of the meeting room. Eyes downcast you fidgeted with your fingers only stopping when nat took your hand to hold it in order to stop you. Nat begun to explain squeezing your hand as your eyes were trained on your shoes. Wanda and nat carefully studied the face around the table. Taking note of the different reactions for later.
Steve just looked confused. Clint looked happy that he had someone else to sign with. Tony looked proud. Sam looked unbothered. Bruce looked excited about something new to study. Thor looked busy with his pop tarts. Peter smiled at you softly which you didnât see. He was kind and understanding. Bucky looked sympathetic knowing how it felt to not be able to talk due to his own past with hydra torture. Wanda looked protective and nat just looked slightly exhausted.
After she finished explaining there was a brief silence in which peter shot you a thumbs up which you responded with the same thing still not wanting to talk.
âSo is she nonverbal right now?â Steve asked not fully understanding and you nodded. âSo how does she communicate then?â He asked and you signed a quick joke about Steve being old and confused to Clint who laughed. âOh she does the hand thing too?â Steve said having seen Natasha and Clint signing before in the past.
âYes the âhand thingââ Nat said âor sign language is what she uses when she doesnât want to talkâ
âSo she doesnât want to or cant talk?â Steve said.
âDepends.â Nat shrugged.
There were a few more questions mainly from Steve and some from Bruce as he wanted to make sure he had all the medical or mental accomodations he could have there for you if you needed them. Peter was eager to learn sign language now and had already started to bother tony into getting him a tutor. Bucky was now explaining it again to Steve who was still confused and tony and Bruce were now discussing alternate methods for coms now it was more than just Clint that needed a new method. While the team was engaged in their own little conversations about you and the new topic, Wanda noticed you starting to struggle under all the attention. It wasnât bad but you simply hadnât expected such a kind reaction and acceptance to come so easily.
When she saw tears gathering in your eyes she assumed the worst. Unable to know how grateful you were. Gently she took your hand and motioned for nat to follow as she broke off her ASL conversation with Clint. Carefully Wanda led you from the room with nat in tow. The two women led you back to the room and Wanda grabbed you sketchbook while you sat on the bed. They knew what you needed and you drew while snuggled in Wandaâs arms. Wanda lifted your chin gently to look at her.
âAre you ok my love? Was that too much?â She asked concerned at the tears still glossing your eyes. Without responding you held up the drawing. It was the team in the meeting room. But instead of seeing anything bad Wanda saw the looked of love on the faces you had drawn.
âNever expected them to be so kind about it.â You whispered and Wanda pulled you into her.
âAlways my love. Always. We are your family and we love you.â She kissed the top of your head as she felt your small tears dot her sleeves.
the rest of the day you stayed in your room with Wanda. nat went to go brainstorm with tony how to tell the team about your past.
You were sat on your bed cuddling with Wanda and watching some sit com, but you werenât really paying much attention. You were curling Wandaâs red hair around your finger and fiddling with the strands, she didnât mind she quite liked it really. You were laid against Wanda side with your head resting on her chest.
âI love you Wanda.â You said. After a moment you realised what you said. âShit sorry that just kinda slipped out. I get its a bit early and I-â you started rambling but Wanda quietened you with a chaste kiss to the lips. She placed a hand on the back of your head and pulled the rest of your body so you were now laid on top of her looking into her eyes with your chin resting in her middle chest.
âI love you too Y/n/nâ she said and placed another kiss on your nose which responded with a twitch that was like a bunny. Wanda grinned at the cuteness and proceeded to pepper your face with small kisses. You squealed and buried your face in her neck feeling her chest vibrate with her laughter. Playfully you lightly slapped her arm which one encouraged her laughter you were bright red now when Wanda peeled you away from her neck and cooed at the redness in your cheeks.
âI love you pumpkin.â She said and you squealed when she flipped you over and began tickling your sides.
âI y-yield. I-I yield.â You said through a fit of laughter. Wanda pulled you in and kissed your forehead.
Once more you found yourself in the crook of her arm after you formed a truce and you were dozing lightly in her arms when there was a knock on the door. Wanda frowned as she saw you rub your eyes with your fist.
âCome in.â You said. The door opened and Nat walked in. âHi Natty.â You smiled and Nat greeted you and Wanda.
âSo i spoke to tony.â She said and you groaned.
âNothing good ever follows the words âI spoke to tonyââ you whined and Wanda giggled. Nat rolled her eyes.
âWell he wants you to stay in the compound or with someone at all times. Heâs worried now hydra knows your alive theyâll attack and try to get you back.â Wanda felt you stiffen against her when Nat said hydra and she hugged you tighter to ground you.
âT-thank you Nat.â You said neither of them missed your nervous stutter. Nat placed a soothing hand on your thigh and used her thumb to rub up and down to calm you.
âItâll be ok Y/n/n Wanda or I will be with you at all times. Your safe here.â Nat said and you gave them a weak watery smile. âAlright enough sadness who wants to train with me?â Nat asked standing.
âI could use some training.â You said.
âMe too.â Wanda echoed the sentiment.
âAlright Iâll meet you both down there in fifteen.â Nat said smiling and closing the door behind her as she left.
âAre you sure your up for training?â Wanda asked.
âI need to use my powers itâs been a while and I hate not using them regularly especially the shifting. Itâs comforting to be able to hide in small places as small animals or feel safe being a bigger thing like a bear.â You admitted and Wanda nodded.
âYou know you can take whatever form you want around me or the team we donât mind.â She said.
âReally?â You asked perking up.
âOf course. Is that why you havenât been using your powers more? You though we wouldnât accept you?â Wanda asked mildly concerned.
âA little yeah. Its also force of habit. You know, trying not to draw attention to yourself and all that. Lately Iâve been teleporting more than shifting.â
âIm curious can you teleport while shifted?â Wanda asked.
âYeah but it takes a lot of concentration to stay as an animal when i teleport. I often end up human again mid jump.â
âWe can work on that.â Wanda said. âRight we should probably get up and dressed.â
After changing into active gear you stood by Wanda.
âHey wands wanna try something?â You grinned.
âOh god Iâm scared. What?â She asked eyeing you.
âTake my hand and find out.â You said extending an arm palm up.
âYou better not kill me.â She said and once her hand was in yours you grinned and teleported you both down to the training room surprising Nat.
Wanda stumbled and you held her upright.
âThat was cool and all but next time a little warning would be nice.â Wanda said and you shrugged.
âWheres the fun in that.â
âNice to see you two made it. Neat trick Y/n/n I imagine you can play some pretty great pranks with that.â Nat smiled and you grinned.
âCould. Have. Same thing.â You said and winked at Wanda.
âRight lets start. First I wanna spar with Y/n to see where your at before we get into some drills.â Nat said stepping into the ring. Wanda stretched and sat on the bench to watch she was also curious of how well you could fight especially against Nat.
âY/n before we start i want to say this isnât like hydra training. You can tap out at any time if somethings triggering or too much for you. No maiming or grievous injuries. Iâve seen you fight in Tonyâs tapes of your earlier missions.â
âHe showed you those?â You asked.
âHe did.â Nat nodded.
Wanda stayed silent she also knew about your time doing missions with Tony pre avengers and you had shared your history with her and Nat plus Tony already knew.
After your fight with nat you had impressed both her and Wanda with you. Abilities. You were an avid fighter with good technique and pose. You didnât rely on your powers to fight but when you used them they bled seamlessly into your tactics.
After a hour of so of training the three of you were hot and sweaty and exhausted. You had been using your powers with Wanda, mainly teleporting which could be draining if used too much. As the three of you left the gym and got in the elevator yo steadied yourself against the wall. Nat shot you a worried look.
âYou ok there L/n?â She asked.
âPeachy.â You responded.
âAnd how are you really?â She asked again.
âFine just a bit dizzy, sometimes if i use my powers too much this happens. But Iâm fine.â You waved off her concern and once the three of you reached you shared floor Wanda steadied you and walked you back to your room.
After a quick shower to get rid of the sweat you and Wanda went back down to the kitchen where you ran into nat who was going through the cupboards like a raccoon.
âDammit. Friday add peanut butter to the shopping list.â She said sighing and running a hand through her hair.
âI can make you something if you want?â Wanda said and nat spun around looking sheepish.
âThanks wands.â She said.
âYou and Y/n/n go sit at the counter and Iâll whip something up.â Nat and you did as you were told taking seats next to each-other at the bar on the island kitchen counter.
âSo Y/n earlier you said you like being shifted and you havenât had much chance to.â Wanda said as she pulled out some pans. You squirmed in your seat glancing at nat and relaxing as she looked unbothered.
âYeah.â You said a bit flatly.
âIf you want its just us. And Iâll tell you a secret Nattyâs a big softy for animals.â She said and nat glared at her with no real heat behind it.
âReally now?â You asked and nat turned to glare at you. A second later you turned into a small black and white ferret and crawled into her lap taking her by surprise. Nat looked down at you in shock before relaxing and cautiously lifting a hand to scratch behind your little ears. You made a happy squeaking noise and nuzzled into her stomach and nat couldnât hold back her grin. Wanda watched amused and excited to cuddle with you later. Turning back to her cooking nat began to play with your little paws as you curled up and began to doze in her lap. She cooed at how cute you were and tony walked into the kitchen.
âUm have you guys seen Y/n Friday said she was here?â He said looking around and Wanda wordlessly pointed to Natâs lap. Tony broke out into a grin.
âI love when she does that.â He said and went over to scratch by your ears as you stayed half asleep. You let out a tiny yawn and nat tried hard not to squeal at how cute you were being. Tony chuckled at Natâs expression and patted your head softly.
âJust tell her for me that me and the team have to go on a mission for a few days. We leave tomorrow. You, her and Wanda are staying here.â Tony said and nat nodded watching him retreat back to his lab.
âShe really is adorable like that.â Wanda said and you stretched yawning again. You lifted your paws and placed them on Natâs chest so you were almost upright and squeaked.
âWhat do you want y/n/n?â Nat asked and Wanda chuckled.
âI think she wants you to pick her up.â Wanda said before turning and flipping the pancakes.
nat carefully placed each hand under your front legs and lifted you at arms length from her. You cocked you head and she wiggled you side to side chuckling at how your limp body wiggled like it had no bones. After a second your tiny nose twitched and you let out a small sneeze. Wanda cooed and you squirmed and crawled up Natâs arm and curled around her shoulders and began to doze again. When Wanda finished the pancakes you jumped back to your seat and shifted back.
âYou make a very cute ferret like that.â Nat said and you smiled at her.
âIts fun and relaxing.â You said.
âGood you should do it more often Iâm sure Nat and I would love to have cuddles with more soft tint creatures.â Wanda said and you blushed slightly and ducked your head to keep eating.
Nat chuckled and the three of you ate together. When you were done Wanda used her magic to clean the kitchen and nat posed the idea of watching a movie together. You hopped up.
âRace you guys.â You said before seamlessly shifting into a wolf cub and bounding around the corner and out of the kitchen. Wanda chuckled.
âThat was too cute.â She said and followed you with nat trailing behind. When she entered the lounge she couldnât see you until her eyes fell on a small prickly ball curled up on a pillow.
âIs that what I think it is?â Nat asked.
âYep. Y/n/ns a hedgehog.â Wanda laughed. And Nat pouted.
âI wanted something fury.â She said and you squeaked and shifted into a ferret again knowing it was Natâs favourite based on her reaction earlier. You ran up and down the length of the couch before settling on the pillow. Nat and Wanda came and sat next to you and you got up and crawled over into Wandaâs lap chittering and walking in circles on her thighs before settling into a small puddle.
Wanda ran a hand through your soft fur as nat scrolled through Netflix to find something to watch. You started to doze again and Wanda chuckled.
âShe sure does sleep a lot when sheâs a ferret.â Wanda said.
âYeah but its cute though so iâll allow it.â Nat said and Wanda laughed again.
After picking something and settling down the three of you curled up together and you moved between the two of them over the course of the movie so they could both have turns to pat you. You knew it was therapeutic for them both as much as it was calming to have their hands running through your fur. When the movie finished Wanda picked you up carefully as you were sleeping and told nat she was going to go to be bed so you could take a nap while she read. Nat nodded and began looking for something else to watch. After Wanda left she got into bed and set you down on her chest as she picked up her book and started to read.
It had been maybe half an hour when she began to feel you twitch on her chest. Looking down she felt your breathing speed up as you began panting against her. She carefully ran a hand through your fur and you seemed to still before relaxing. After a moment you settled and sent back to a calm sleep.
Another fifteen minutes later you woke up a and Wanda smiled down at you. You crawled off her and shifted before burning your face in her arm and wrapping your arms around her. She scratched your head and smiled.
âHey sleepy head how was you nap.â She asked and you yawned making her chuckle. âThat good huh?â She grinned and you nodded against her arm.
âWell if youâd like to join me i was about to start making dinner soon my love.â She said and you nodded again. After she helped you off the bed you sleepily followed her to the kitchen where nat was sat drinking hot chocolate. Sensing something off with her Wanda started to cook and you shifted and crawled into her lap. Nat stroked your fur and looked at you with misty eyes and soon you were breathing was slow and rhythmic as you slept again. Nat chuckled.
âYour right wands i think being a ferret makes the little thing tired.â She said and Wanda laughed.
âYeah she could use the sleep. I think it calms her down to be small and on top of someone it makes her feel safe and protected helps her sleep.â Wanda explained and nat smiled.
âIm glad she feels safe around us.â Nat said Wanda hummed an agreement.
âShe loves you very much nat. You make her feel safe.â Wanda said and nat nodded. you let out a small squeaked of agreement in your sleepy state that made nat chuckle and scratch behind your tiny ears.
The next morning you woke and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. you were in a bad mood. you hadnât slept much and everything was either to bright or too loud. the sound of the coffee machine made you dig your nails into your palms to ground yourself. the lights seemed to bright over head and you desperately wanted to go back to bed but you knew it wouldnât do anything. you couldnât sleep. nightmares plagued every minute you werenât awake and the only thing that seemed to stop them was being with either Nat or Wanda but you didnât want to both them when you woke around three to a cold sweat and fast breathing. you only really slept for about two hours and now it was half past four and you needed some coffee.
when it finally was done you drank it quickly needing the kick to wake up. after a small breakfast of cereal it was now fifteen past five and nat wandered into the kitchen looking surprised. she was dressed in active wear obviously heading to the gym.
âY/n? what are you doing awake?â she asked and began making her workout shake. you grunted and waved a hand dismissively already feeling annoyed without any real reason to be. Nat frowned and went to say something but you stood and left the kitchen. electing not to follow you nat headed off to the gym.
You needed some time alone. desperately. your social battery could only withstand so much and you had been living with the team for almost a week now. Your room seemed to easy, Wanda or Nat would come find you later and coax you out but that wasnât what you needed right now. You had and idea and grabbed a hoodie from the drawer in your room. throwing it on and shoving your sketchbook and pencils plus some snacks and your phone in the black backpack you had by your desk you slipped down the hall almost silently. Once in the lift you asked Friday your burning question.
âFriday?â
âyes Ms L/nâ
âis the treehouse still around?â you asked praying it would be.
âTony Stark and Ms Y/n L/nâs tree house is still intact. Mr Stark his made improvements over the last few months in anticipation of your return.â Friday said and you grinned. Tony and you had built the tree house deep in the woods near the compound a long time ago and it had since become your safe haven. A place you could hide if you needed some space to yourself.
âwhat kind of improvements Fri?â you asked.
âMr Stark has installed Myself into the house as well as a new Tv, Wifi, more snacks, updated lighting and a microwave.â
âum Fri?â
âyes Ms L/n?â
âcan you hide my location from Wanda and nat please?â you asked, you wanted to keep this space a secret for as long as possible.
âyes Ms L/n however i cannot hide your location from Mr Stark.â
âthats ok Fri just Wanda and nat are fine for now.â
âok Ms L/nâ
you walked through the foyer and out the back door. Sure Tony had said not to leave without an escort because of HYDRA but this was different he would understand and the treehouse had almost as much if not more security measures as the compound, it was built by tony after all.
after the long walk you climbed the ladder up into the mossy tree. It was old and beautiful with the branches hiding the treehouse nicely. it was large to say the least as the tree was huge. tucked deep into the woods off the beaten path if you werenât looking for it you would not find it by chance. climbing up into it you typed in a small code and pushed open the trap door and crawled into the space. the lights flickered on and it had defiantly been upgraded. it was a single room with a door to a small bathroom on one side. how tony had managed to get plumbing this far into the woods you didnât know but you thanked him none the less. the room had a beanbag chair in the corner with a blanket and a pillow. on one wall was a flatscreen Tv. there was a counter that turned into a desk with three shelves above it for storage. a microwave was set into the wall and a cupboard was above it that supposedly held the snacks. the lights in the roof could be dimmed and the colour changed. large glass windows lines the walls looking through the branches into the surrounding woods. large curtains could be drawn and there was a small deck you could sit on with just enough room for about three people to sit on with their legs hanging off the edge.
throwing your backpack on the desk you started by investigating the snacks. tony had bought all your favourites and you mentally thanked him. pulling out some chocolate you dragged your backpack over to the beanbag and clicked on the TV. you put on your comfort show and threw the fluffy blanket over yourself and pulled out your sketchbook and pencils. this was what you needed. exactly what you needed. some off-grid time alone to recharge. A few hours passed and you had watched the sunrise through the windows.
MASTERLIST
#the bear#marvel#the avengers#wanda maximoff#wandanat#natasha romanov#sicfic#wanda marvel#natasha romaoff#wandanat comfort#wandanat x reader#wanda x reader#wanda x r#teleporting#shifting#shape shifter#tony stark#steve rogers#clint barton#jarvis#hydra#avengers#nick fury#reader#fanfic#mcu#fluff#no angst#comfort#natasha marvel
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Hey Bo!
Can I ask what sign language Dario uses again? I think youâve mentioned before that heâs mute in your Wish!AU. Is it Russian or German? I canât remember unfortunately, sorry đ
(Also, is there a reference you use when drawing characters who use sign language? Sorry if this sounds dumb.)
Hi Flicker! No problem, I donât think I clarified this earlierâ this doesnât sound dumb at all!
I found this ask in my drafts hidden in the dump but here is what I wrote before:
So. I didnât exactly put too much thought behind Darioâs sign. He is mute (as is Dopey), and I originally drew him using BSL or ASL. But this ask got me thinking, and I explored a few different sign language options and narrowed them down to these two:
1. Thereâs obviously ASL. Disney is an American brand, so it would make sense that their character would use American Sign. (Wait. In other countries, do they just reanimate everything?)
2. Thereâs also SSL, as Rosas is a Spanish country.
I really wasnât sure what to draw Dario using, but as this is a visual comic over Tumblr. But I think Iâm going with American Sign.
Now, however, as Iâm now (like five months late đ) in Sign-101, Iâll probably be using ASL as thatâs what Iâm learning. I would love to do SSL if possible, but since I'm not familiar with the language, I won't be drawing SSL most of the time. I don't want to make an error as they're very easy to do in sign.
As for references, itâs mainly just what Iâm learning from my professors. ASL Gloss is the grammar structure used for word arrangement in sign, but I want to figure out a way to incorporate gifs in my comics if I ever need Dario to fingerspell anything. Heâd probably give sign names to his friends (and the king and queen probably have one, Asha too) so I might figure that out. But I am not deaf, and only deaf people should give out sign names, so Iâll have to do some more research.
For words I donât know itâs mainly Google đ
I try to cross-reference multiple sources to make sure what Iâm drawing is generally correct
So sorry for the late response!
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So Much Better
Summary: Kurt is very excited to make his Broadway debut in Deaf Westâs production of Legally Blonde. He plays the Voice of Emmett and he has to work with Blaine, a Deaf actor whoâs been part of the show since the very beginning. They grow closer through the process.
Notes: This is my @klainesecretsanta2022 gift to Terra (@klainedreams34â)! The original prompt was: Kurt and Blaine are both making their Broadway debut in the same production, however, one of them is deaf. If youâd like a reference, you can look up deaf west spring awakening on YouTube! I am a huge fan of Deaf Westâs Spring Awakening, so I immediately selected that prompt.
(Also, while weâre at it, please read Terraâs fic Wild Child! I am obsessed with it.)
For this fic, all the spoken language is âwritten like this, between quotation marksâ, including simcom or when someone speaks through an interpreter. All the written language is written like this in italics. All the signed language is WRITTEN LIKE THIS, IN ALL CAPS. I chose all caps for the ASL since ASL gloss is written in all caps. That being said, I wrote all the ASL in English, so I did not follow the ASL and glossing rules.
Enjoy!
Read the fic on S&C | Read the fic on AO3 | Or read the fic here under the cut:
--
âI am here because I want to be challenged.â
Everyone claps politely and Rachel sits down with a satisfied grin on her face. Sheâs basking in the praise and Kurt envies her confidence. Itâs almost his time to introduce himself and heâs incredibly nervous.
This is his first role on Broadway.
This is a show that tries to break boundaries.
This is a show he wants to be proud of.
Yet, he canât help but be anxious. What if he is terribly miscast? After all, if you had told Kurt a year ago that heâd play the Voice of Emmett in Deaf Westâs production of Legally Blonde, he wouldnât have believed you.
Kurt, of all people, as the straight romantic male lead?
Well, of course, that is partially true. Heâs technically voicing the role. A Deaf actor will embody Emmett, but they will play the role together and Kurtâs high-pitched gay voice will be heard by the hearing audience.
When itâs finally time for Kurt to speak, he gets up. All eyes are on him for now.
âUh, hello, my name is Kurt Hummel,â he says and signs. He canât sign at all, but he did teach himself how to introduce himself in ASL. He looked up some things, since itâs important. Luckily the interpreter takes over for the rest. âI will be playing the Voice of Emmett and I am here because I want to challenge others. Thanks.â
He sits down again and the round continues.
When itâs time for Blaine Anderson to do his talk, Kurt sits up.
âHello, my name is Blaine Anderson,â the interpreter speaks for Blaine. Blaine is signing and itâs captivating. âI play the role of Emmett and I am very happy to be here. I am here because I want to show the audience how Deafness can enhance an existing story. Thank you.â
Kurt and the others wave their hands as applause. When Blaine sits he looks at Kurt and smiles. Kurt nods back. He knows that the two of them will be playing the role together, so theyâll be seeing each other a lot.
He noticed Blaine from the beginning. This is the first time that the entire cast is officially meeting, but the moment Blaine stepped into the room, Kurt saw him. Kurtâs done his research on Deaf West Legally Blonde so he knew that heâs going to be sharing the role with Blaine. Still, seeing him in real life is different.
The roll call finishes and the group disbands for a small break. Most of the cast is familiar with each other. Deaf West Legally Blonde had a run in Los Angeles before it transferred to Broadway, but some people, including Kurt, have joined the cast. Rachel playing Elle Woods was a huge deal, since sheâs the lead. So far the new hearing cast members and the new Deaf cast members hang out separately, since there is a language barrier. Only April Rhodes, who plays Paulette, is a hearing member who can sign.
But Rachel was right: theyâre also here to get challenged, so Kurt steps towards Blaine who is rapidly signing to Quinn Fabray, the Deaf actress who plays Brooke.
âHi,â Kurt says. Quinn and Blaine share a look, and Blaine smiles.
HI, he signs back. Kurt recognises that one. K-U-R-T, RIGHT?
Kurt nods.
Blaine quickly signs something to Quinn, who nods and walks off to Santana, the hearing actress who plays Brooke with Quinn. Â
YOU SIGN? Blaine asks.
NO, Kurt shakes his head. He takes his phone out of his pocket and points towards it. Blaine nods. They can also ask one of the interpreters to help, but this works as well.
Kurt hands his phone to Blaine so that Blaine put in his number. He quickly sends a text.
KH: Hello!
The screen of Blaineâs phone lights up.
BA: Hello, it works!
I think this might be the easiest right now
KH: Yeah sorry I donât know how to sign
BA: Thatâs fine. Youâll learn
I can teach you
Although you wonât be fluent. It takes years
KH: I looked up some signs but it is difficult
BA: Itâs fine
So, how did you become part of the show?
Kurt knows that Blaine Anderson has been part of this show since the workshopping days. Kurt only joined for this production and this spot was opened up because the actor who did the role in Los Angeles joined another Broadway show.
KH: I just auditioned. I love the original and I saw the casting call and I took a chance.
Kurt still thinks itâs a miracle that he got the role. Rachel as Elle was a given in Kurtâs mind, but Kurt still canât believe this is real.
BA: I think youâre great
That message surprises Kurt.
KH: Oh?
BA: Yeah Iâve looked you up
Kurt has some Off-Broadway and regional credits. Theyâre not big roles like this, but heâs proud of his work, so he smiles when he sees that message.
KH: I also looked up your stuff with Deaf West
Kurt wants to write some more, but the small break is over. Everyoneâs called back. Blaine sends him one quick final message.
BA: Weâll talk more, yeah?
Kurt sees that Blaineâs looking at him so he gives him a thumbs up.
--
Rehearsal is heavy, especially for the newer cast members. Kurt plays a Voice, so he doesnât have to sign in the show. As a result he spends most of the rehearsal with the other Voices. He also has music rehearsal, which is something the Deaf cast isnât part of, expect for when theyâre also rehearing the signing. There are some music rehearsals where everyone signs instead of sings, in order to get the timing right. This show is all about working together. He goes through staging, tech and blocking with the entire company. All the Voices are constantly next to the actors who embody the roles.
In the first week he hasnât really gotten the time to sit down with Blaine to talk about Emmett. Everyoneâs just busy getting the basics together, although he and Blaine have texted a little bit over the week. They know they will be seen a lot together, since they play the same role.
This production is truly something heâs never done before. Heâs never had to share a role like this. Sure, Kurtâs been an understudy for one of his Off-Broadway roles, so he technically shared that role with someone else and that led to cooperation, but they werenât on stage simultaneously.
When Kurt and Blaine finally have time to sit down with an interpreter, they go over the script together to go through every line Emmett has. Theyâre in their dressing room and they flip through the pages. They both approach the role in a different way. Theyâre going through their big number, Chip On My Shoulder, which is the song where Emmett and Elle really grow together.
âHello KittyâŠâ Kurt reads out loud with a smile, âI always loved how Christian Borle said it in the MTV proshot.â
Blaine has a questioning look on his face.
âOh, uh, he said it in a really deadpan voice and he draws out the words,â Kurt explains, âAnd he put a pause between Hello and Kitty for humorous effect.â
Blaine squints his eyes slightly. Right, of course. How do you explain sound and speech to someone whoâs never heard it?
âCan you do that?â Blaine asks.
Kurt watches Blaineâs signs as he listens to the interpreter. Heâs already realised that it makes it easier to recognise the signs.
YES, Kurt signs back, I THINK.
And Kurt in turn signs when heâs able to in order to practise.
âIn my opinion, Chip On My Shoulder is probably one of the most important moments in the show,â Blaine continues, âMaybe I am biased, since I play Emmett, but I think it is more monumental than So Much Better.â
âWell, yes, we get to hear Emmettâs point of view,â Kurt agrees, âHis life. His motivation. We already know about Elle. This is the moment she starts to share the spotlight.â
Blaine nods eagerly.
âExactly!â
âWhat do you think Emmettâs main motivations are?â Kurt asks. After all, theyâre here to do a deep dive on their character. âFor helping, Elle, I mean. I always thought it was a mix of pity and kindness. Heâs a kind guy, so when he feels bad for someone, he wants to help.â
âOh, I have an idea.â
TELL ME, Kurt signs.
âFor starters, in our production, Emmett is Deaf,â Blaine points towards himself and he winks, which makes Kurt laugh, âI think that his initial annoyance with Elle only gets exacerbated because of this. Elle is this very privileged hearing rich girl who walks in thinking she can just own the place, whereas he had to work very hard to even get into Harvard. And I know we make Harvard a more Deaf friendly school, since Emmett isnât the only Deaf or hard of hearing person in this university, but it is still harder for them.â
âLook, they laughed at me, like they're laughing at you/We can't win if we don't follow through,â Kurt sings.
Blaine nods.
âYes, people donât always take us seriously, so that line stood out in particular.â
âHuh,â Kurt says. Heâs been a fan of Legally Blonde the musical ever since he watched the proshot on MTV. Heâs known the lyrics by heart, even before he auditioned. Yet, heâd never thought of it like that.
âPlus,â Blaine continues, âHeâs also different from other Deaf characters in our show since heâs from a poorer background. That is why he also stands out in the group of Deaf Harvard students like Vivienne and the Deaf Delta Nu ladies.â
YOUâRE RIGHT, Kurt signs.
I KNOW, Blaine signs with a smile.
âSo itâs not out of pity or kindness, but out of recognition?â Kurt says and Blaine nods.
âWell, also out of recognition,â Blaine clarifies, âI agree with you that Emmett is too good for this world so heâd help Elle even if he didnât have that recognition.â
âLike in the original.â
Blaine nods again.
âYou said on the very first day that you were excited to show a Deaf perspective and how it can enhance the show.â
Blaineâs eyes widen in surprise.
âYou remember that!â
âOf course I did,â Kurt says with an âisnât it obviousâ tone.
âYeah, well, it isnât much,â Blaine shrugs, âBut itâs something and even though itâs small, I think it already adds a lot. Kind of like how they added the ban on signing in class in Spring Awakening. Did you see that show?â
Kurt nods. It was one of the best Broadway experiences ever and itâs one of the reasons he auditioned for this show, despite his own reservations and doubt.
âItâs great that, like in Spring Awakening, the original script isnât changed. It just adds new meaning to the existing text,â Kurt says.
YES! Blaine signs excitedly. His movements become more eccentric and the signs take up more place when heâs really excited and Kurt loves it. He loves to learn about communication in a new way.
The two of them share a smile. Glad to hear theyâre on the same page. Heâs already overheard Kitty, another new cast member and who plays the Voice of Vivienne, talk about how itâs quite difficult to connect to Mercedes.
Kurt was afraid that he and Blaine also wouldnât click, since Blaine has shared this role with another person, but itâs going well.
Kurt gets pulled out of his thoughts when Blaine taps the table.
âHm?â Kurt gives him a questioning look.
âAnd what about you?â Blaine asks.
WHAT? Kurt asks back.
âYou said that you wanted to challenge others.â
âOh, right,â Kurt says.
Now, Blaine has a questioning look on his face.
âIt doesnât really have anything to do with the text,â Kurt motions towards the script, âI donât think itâs super relevant for how we want to characterise Emmett.â
Or at least Kurt hadnât thought about it like that.
He tries to talk around it, since he hasnât shared his doubts about his casting with anyone, not even Rachel. Rachel probably wouldnât get it. Sheâs too caught up in her own excitement and Kurtâs a bit jealous of it.
He wants to be exuberant as well, but he just worries about what the audience will think.
âOkay. I still want to know,â Blaine says when he realises that Kurt isnât saying it outright, âOut of interest. You mustâve had a reason for it.â
Kurt sighs. Well, if they are going to work together then they will definitely get to know each other better. No matter what, Blaine will find out at one point down the line. Maybe itâs best to tell him so early in the process.
âI want to challenge the audience⊠with my voice,â he answers.
Blaine frowns. He doesnât get it.
âWhen I auditioned for this role, I took it with a grain of salt. I was certain Finn would get the role of Voice of Emmett, but Finn encouraged me to try it anyway.â
âWait, sorry, Finn who voices Kyle?â
Kurt nods.
âYup, heâs my brother.â
Blaine looks impressed but then he realises heâs interrupted Kurt and he motions towards him to proceed.
âWhen I got the callback, I thought they were joking. But they werenât. They wanted me as Emmett, and after a couple of audition rounds⊠here I am!â
âHere you are,â Blaine agrees.
âAnd I couldnât imagine them casting me, a gay guy, to be the male romantic lead in Legally Blonde. So I am afraid that I am miscast and that the audience will hate it.â
âWait, wait,â Blaine looks confused, âGay guys play straight roles all the time and vice versa. If youâre a good actor, and I know you are, then it shouldnât be a problem. I am gay too, and Iâm not too worried.â
Kurtâs momentarily thrown off by Blaine saying heâs gay that heâs lost for words.
Blaine is gay too?
Two gay guys are playing Emmett?
Blaine tilts his head when Kurt remains silent and Kurt realises heâs waiting for Kurt to say more. Kurt tries not to blush and he pushes the gay revelation away for now. There is still a major difference between the two of them.
âYes, but itâs my gay voice,â Kurt says, âMy high-pitched gay voice. When I pick up the phone, a lot of people think itâs my mom. Acting will be fine, especially since youâre doing all the blocking and the big romantic scenes are between you and Rachel, but everyone will hear my voice and realise that something feels wrong.â
âCorrection. Not everyone will hear your voice,â Blaine quickly points out.
âRight. Of course.â
âBut I guess I donât really understand,â Blaine looks apologetic, âI didnât know there was a thing like a gay voice.â
âThere is,â Kurt affirms, âOf course not every gay man sounds like me, but my tone and the way I speak might be seen as gay. I used to get bullied for it at school. Kids would just mock me by mimicking my voice when I walked past them.â
Blaine nods.
âAnd I love my gay voice. I always have,â Kurt quickly adds. Thatâs very important. Kurt loves being gay and heâs always been unabashedly himself. âBut it has closed doors for me, especially in the entertainment world, so I am not sure if the audience will appreciate it.â
âBut you want to make them appreciate it,â Blaine points out, âYou want to challenge people.â
Kurt nods.
He really does. He wants to show the audience that he can play this role of Voice of Emmett. He is confident that he can do it, but it doesnât take away the fear that others wonât see it. A miscast can doom an entire show and Kurt has a big role.
Blaine raises his hands and heâs about to say something when someone knocks on the door. Kurt and the interpreter instinctively look towards the door. Blaine sees it and he understands what is going on when Kurt gets up to open the door.
âHey Kurt,â Santana says and then her eyes widen when she looks over his shoulder.
âWhat?â
SORRY, Santana signs to Blaine. Then she nods towards the interpreter to indicate that she needs help. âI didnât know you were here as well. I wouldnât have knocked if I knew.â
ITâS FINE, Blaine signs back. He gets up as well. I WILL GO.
WAIT, Kurt signs.
Blaine shakes his head.
âWe can continue later,â he shrugs and he and the interpreter leave Kurt and Santana alone.
Santana watches them go.
âYou two seem to be getting along,â she says.
âYeah.â
âGood. Itâs an adjustment for newer people,â Santana says. Sheâs played the Voice of Brooke since the beginning and she has a strong bond with Quinn.
âIs there something you needed?â Kurt asks.
In the end, Santana only needed his opinion on her outfit. He appreciates that heâs being seen as the fashion guru in the cast, but he wishes he had stayed with Blaine just a bit longer.
--
And just like that, the first week of rehearsal is over. It was one of the busiest weeks of Kurtâs life. He knows it isnât going to be less busy, but heâs gotten used to his new routine. He, Finn and Rachel travel to the theatre together. They have lunch in the city together with some others. Then itâs more rehearsal and when he gets home he goes over all the new signs that heâs learnt.
But for some reason he canât get the hang of the TRUE BIZ sign. It doesnât help that this is a sign with no English translation. Kurtâs embarrassed to say that he didnât know that ASL and English arenât analogous. ASL isnât âEnglish with your handsâ, but it has its own words, structure and grammar. Saying that it is English also feels wrong, because there are differences between the sign languages in other English speaking countries.
Basically, Kurtâs struggling.
Heâd love to ask Rachel for an opinion, but she isnât home. She is out with Finn. Besides, maybe it is better to ask an expert.
Kurt knows who to ask. He grabs his phone to text Blaine.
KH: Hey can I ask you a question about signs?
BA: Â Yes sure
KH: Â How do you use true biz again? I know how to sign it, just not how to use it
BA: Â You can use it as a synonym for actually, definitely, totally
As in
true biz I am playing Emmett
so like, I am totally playing Emmett
Kurt quickly films a video of himself signing it and he sends it to Blaine. Blaine sends some thumbs up emojis back and Kurt smiles.
--
âBroadway!â someone yells and the interpreter signs it as well. As a result, the crowd goes mad. Itâs their first day in the theatre! In that first week they were stuck in a rehearsal space with tape on the floor, but now the setâs been built and itâs time to move to the stage.
People are smiling and crying and filming. Itâs one big bundle of joy.
COME ON! Blaine signs before grabbing Kurt by the shoulders and leading him towards the stage door.
WE ARE HERE, Kurt signs back and Blaine nods.
Together they walk in. Itâs an amazing feeling and both canât stop grinning. After exploring the theatre a bit more, itâs time to find their dressing room. They share a big dressing room with Finn and Dustin Goolsby, who play Kyle, Will Schuester who plays Professor Callahan and Sebastian Smythe who plays Warner.
Finn and Dustin are already inside when Kurt and Blaine get there and Finn gives them both a thumbs up.
Itâs as if everythingâs slowly falling into place. Theyâre in their still bare dressing room. They are in the theatre! The sets are finished. The costumes are basically done. Itâs all going uphill from here, Kurtâs certain of it.
Blaine and Dustin immediately start signing to each other and Kurt and Finn also talk about taking it all in. Will and Sebastian also arrive and they all bask in the glory of Broadway.
Theyâre all called to the stage for more formal information and Kurt and Blaine go together. Theyâre still grinning.
I , Blaine signs and then he adds another sign that Kurt doesnât know, so Kurt copies it with a questioning look.
D-R-E-A-M, Blaine fingerspells, DREAM.
It takes a couple of times for Kurt to get it, since he can fingerspell well, but reading it is still difficult. When he gets it, he smiles and signs SAME.
TOGETHER, Blaine signs.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Kurt signs back.
US TOGETHER. BROADWAY!
âFuck yeah,â Kurt automatically says, but Blaine mustâve understood because his grin widens. Theyâre going to do it. Together. Kurt canât say that the anxiety about his potential miscast is gone, but Blaine really encourages him by being so enthusiastic. Sure, Blaine canât hear him sing, but it shows that he likes Kurtâs work for other reasons as well.
Heâs really happy that he got paired together with Blaine.
--
Of course, it isnât all work and business. The cast loves to play around behind the scenes. They all need it in order to stay sane during the long rehearsal days.
And most days they immediately go home to fall to their beds.
Other days, they go out.
The entire cast is at an arcade. It is incredibly loud. The noises of many arcades is overwhelming.
Kurt and Blaine are playing Mario Kart and there must be something off with the machine because the tones are so high, it is grating and probably not supposed to be like this. Blaine, of course, doesnât care.
LOUD, Kurt signs and points to the machine.
Blaine laughs.
REALLY?
YES!
And Blaine just laughs more. Kurt likes his laugh. Itâs nice.
--
Kurt and Blaine are at Blaineâs apartment, once again going over the script. They revise their work every now and then, even outside of work. Thatâs because theyâre very dedicated to it.
Theyâre doing it through text this time, since they didnât ask one of the interpreters to come along. Itâs fine. Communicating through texting and writing is obviously more demanding than signing or speaking, but they both agreed itâs okay.
They want to do this right with the role.
After all, the Voice of Emmett is basically Emmett internally. Something he does not want to share with the outside world. They have already worked on how Kurt is going to deliver those lines and how Blaine will sign along, but they also want to show the relationship between Emmett and his voice in their blocking.
What does Emmettâs Voice represent? In Spring Awakening, the Voices would represent a characterâs inner thoughts, or a characterâs innocence, or a true self.
What is Emmettâs true self?
BA: I think Emmett has a lot of thoughts that he cannot express easily.
KH: As in?
BA: Well, I think that in Take It Like A Man, we can play around and show Emmettâs true feelings towards Elle.
KH: We might have to discuss it with the director if we want to make big changes.
Luckily, the Artie is very open to input from others.
BA: True
But I think itâd be nice if you might move more closer to Rachel, while I am in the changing booth. To show Emmett trying to reach out.
And then when Rachel is done paying and moves back to me, you quickly turn away.
KH: Thatâs brilliant!
BA: Yeah?
KH: Yeah! Like, he is letting himself long for Elle, but he doesnât know how to tell her. He is so close in Take It Like A Man. Heâs starting to realise his feelings, but he canât admit it yet!
BA: And yes, you, his Voice, understand it more than me. Since you embody his thoughts.
Kurt and Blaine give each other a high five. They are a great time. Other Voice actors are also closely working together with their counterparts. Even Kitty and Mercedes have found a middle ground. Still, itâs clear to everyone that he and Blaine are probably the closest.
The two of them hang out all the time.
The two of them have lunch outside the theatre.
The two of them text a lot.
The two of them also visit each other on their days off, even for non-work related things.
The two of them are true friends.
Kurt knew he was going to grow close with the cast, since the collaborative nature of the show practically demands it, but he didnât know he was going to get an actual best friend out of it. He canât imagine doing the show without Blaine at his side.
They go over more moments that has a potential. Blaine moves closer, since they use Kurtâs copy of the script. Itâs easier to annotate it all in one place.
Kurt writes something down during the iconic and I donât have to hit on interns, professor line. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see Blaine watching him intently and when Blaine notices, he looks a bit alarmed, but Kurt just smiles.
Theyâre doing this together.
--
Legally Blonde is a highly anticipated show, so of course there is a lot of press. The cast performs some numbers in the rehearsal space for the press and afterwards they get bombarded by interviews.
Kurt and Blaine are paired together, which was to be expected, so they actually met up the day before to go over possible answers for possible questions.
âSo, what is it like to play this character together,â the interviewer asks. The interpreter is stood next to them.
Kurt turns to Blaine to see if he wants to answer first. Blaine notices and raises his hands.
âItâs really fun,â he answers and Kurt canât help.
SAME, he signs, which in turn makes Blaine smile.
âIt is a unique experience and a collaborative project,â Blaine continues, âI have been with this show since the workshopping days, and Kurt is new to our Broadway run, and we both have our own history with the show and our own interpretation. And of course, I had a different Emmett with the previous guy who played his Voice, but it is really cool to learn Kurtâs perspective as well. Itâs clashed sometimes, but itâs great to actually be able to have a conversation about Emmett. We both really care for him.â
âYes,â Kurt cuts in when he realises Blaineâs done, âWeâve jokingly referred to Emmett as our son.â Kurt also signs SON when he says that.
The interviewer laughs at that. Kurt and Blaine do too. Blaineâs laugh is nice to hear. Itâs quiet.
âBut yes, Iâve had thoughts about Emmett, as a fan of the show. Blaine has had thoughts about him, since heâs been playing Emmett for longer than I have. I was a bit nervous coming in, because I am new, but Blaine and the entire company has been very welcoming.â
âNow of course youâre both making your Broadway debuts!â the interviewer says and Blaine waves his hands as a cheer. Kurt nods. âAlthough, Kurt, you have some other credits in the city as well.â
This actually surprises Kurt. He didnât expect the interviewer to know this. Itâs a huge cast, so itâs impressive if they did a thorough review of every member and Kurt respects them for it.
âTrue,â he says, still sounding impressed.
âThis is definitely a step away from your usual stuff,â the interviewer continues, âWhat spurred you to audition for this role? A role like Emmett isnât something people would think about when thinking about you.â
The interviewer looks genuinely interested, so Kurt doesnât assume there is a malicious intent on their part, but heâd be lying if he didnât say that his stomach just dropped a little bit. They didnât outright say why this role might be ill-fitted for Kurt, but they donât have to.
Maybe they arenât even talking about Kurtâs voice, or his sexuality. Maybe they donât even mean ill-fitted. But thatâs what Kurtâs mind latches on to.
Next to Kurt, Blaine moves a little bit closer. He knows that it is a sensitive question. Kurt composes himself and he puts on a hopefully dazzling smile.
âWell, as I said, I am a fan of the original,â Kurt says and he focuses on not sounding nervous, âAnd I am also a fan of Deaf Westâs previous Broadway musical Spring Awakening. So I saw an opportunity to do something I am really invested in and I took it.â
âBesides- I mean, if I may,â Blaine gives Kurt a questioning look and Kurt nods.
GO ON, he signs quickly.
âBesides, our show is all about new ways of showing a well-known story,â Blaine points out, âAnd the beauty of it is that the creatives did not change a single line in the script or a single lyric. As this guy once said-â Blaine puts one hand on Kurtâs shoulder and uses the other one to point at him for extra emphasis â-we want to challenge our audience.â
âYes, I donât want to take away from the work as a company of a whole,â Kurt quickly says, âBut I also love the opportunity to show audiences what I can do.â
YES! Blaine signs. He still has the other hand on Kurtâs shoulder.
Luckily, the interviewer then moves to Blaine by asking him about his theatrical background and Kurt feels relieved. He hopes it isnât super obvious.
Since Blaine is giving bigger answers, he uses both hands to sign and Kurt admits he misses the touch. It was very comforting. Kurtâs a bit lost in his own thoughts, so he admittedly misses some of Blaineâs replies, but when he starts talking about family, Kurtâs interest gets piqued.
â- supportive, but it wasnât always rosy. It was a bit hard to tell my parents I wanted to study acting,â he lets out a sigh, âThey knew that being Deaf would bring obstacles. Iâd have to work twice as hard for anything, which is something we allude to in the show, and a creative career is already tough for hearing people. But I am glad I am here. I am glad to prove them wrong.â
The interviewer laughs.
âI understand they wanted what they thought was best for me, but I also wish they had been supportive from the beginning.â
âAre they supportive now?â the interviewer asks.
âOh, absolutely. So is my brother. Heâs also an actor.â
âYour parents mustâve been bewildered to have two acting sons.â
âDefinitely. But Cooper is hearing, so it was different for him, or so they thought. It wasnât until I told them about the Broadway transfer that they started to realise that this is working out. Theyâve been supportive enough to at least come to all my other shows, but now they see that it is the real deal. So I also hope that when people see a show filled with a lot of Deaf people, they see it is possible. Spring Awakening and Big River paved the way for a musical like this, and we will keep going.â
âWell, weâre glad youâre here!â the interviewer says.
âSame,â Kurt says and signs.
The interviewer thanks Kurt and Blaine before moving on to more people. The interpreter follows. Kurt and Blaine take a breather. That was a more in-depth interview than they expected.
YOU OKAY? Kurt asks.
IâM FINE, Blaine answers, I NEED A BREAK.
Kurt looks around. There is so much press, so they canât really afford to leave. This is a huge day for their show. Still, he agrees.
LETâS GO, Kurt signs and he nods towards a door that leads out of the rehearsal space.
WE CANâT, Blaine looks alarmed.
Kurt doesnât know how to sign âjust for a small minuteâ, so he signs SECRET, SMALL, FAST and luckily Blaine gets it. The two slip out of the room unnoticed.
Once theyâre in a hallway, Kurt leans against the wall and he lets out a deep breath. He knew press was going to be part of it, but he expected that he would be asked very basic questions.
His phone buzzes in his pocket. He looks over to Blaine, who has a phone in his hand.
BA: Â So that was a lot, wasnât it?
Kurt smiles.
KH: Â I did not expect to semi-admit to my anxieties like that
BA: Â Me neither
KH: Â Are you still anxious about your parents? What you said sounds kinda rough
After all, Kurt canât imagine his dad not being supportive. Yes, his dad has also had doubts and concerns, but he still fought for Kurt. Kurt still gets a warm feeling when he thinks about his dad going to McKinley, demanding that Kurt should be allowed to try out for Defying Gravity. He didnât understand it, but he knew Kurt wanted it.
By the time Kurtâs out of his thoughts, he sees that Blaine has sent a long answer.
BA: It was, but it couldâve been worse. My parents at least sign. 80% of hearing parents do not sign. They didnât have this view in their head that Deafness is something that needs to be fixed. My family learnt ASL for me, they let me to go a Deaf school, and they did a lot for me in that regards. Thanks to them I am the confident person I am today and I had a language and a culture and a community. So I suppose I was a bit nervous about this career, because it felt a bit ungrateful. They did so much to help me excel, and then I choose acting? But in the end, what they did is called good parenting, and with good parenting, I shouldnât feel like I owe it to them to give up on my dreams just because they donât agree with me.
How are your parents?
I never really asked.
KH: We never really talked about it.
BA: True
KH: Â My mom died when I was young, but she always encouraged the creative side. My dad and stepmom as well.
I told you Finnâs my brother, right?
My stepmom is his mom.
Our parents couldnât be more proud of us.
BA: Sorry to hear about your mom
But glad to hear your stepmom is lovely
KH: Well I am glad to hear itâs all okay with your family now.
BA: Yeah better late than never
The two of them share a small smile. Their moment gets interrupted when the door opens and Lauren, the Deaf actress who plays Enid, pokes her head around the corner. She looks relieved when she finds them.
THERE YOU ARE, she signs.
SORRY, Kurt and Blaine both sign immediately.
WE NEEDED A BREAK, Blaine signs.
Lauren looks at Blaine, then to Kurt, then back to Blaine. A smile forms on her face and she has an amused look on her face. Kurt tries to see if Blaine gets why Lauren is looking at them like that, but Blaine looks slightly confused as well.
Lauren signs something but itâs too advanced for Kurt to keep up, but Blaine notices and quickly texts it to him.
BA: They were looking for us, so we should probably head inside. Someone wants to do an interview with some of the Voice actors and another person wants to interview me, Mercedes, Quinn and Lauren.
OKAY, Kurt signs, I UNDERSTAND.
Together they follow Lauren back inside.
--
Everyone is rehearsing the final number. Itâs huge, since every member of the cast is on stage. Kurt and the other Voice actors are on the higher level pedestal in the back and they sing. In front of them, all the others dance and sing as well.
Honestly, it looks pretty cool.
âOh, and if you could give one second before we all go,â Rachel sings and signs. Then she moves to Blaine who is standing to the side with others. She takes his hand and leads him to the middle before signing and singing: âEmmett Forrest, please make me the happiest woman I know.â
Rachel goes down on one knee, which is Kurtâs cue to sing: âOmi, omi, omigod!â
Everyone else joins in and Blaine and Rachel kiss while the other actors dance, sing and sign around them. Kurt isnât singing during that part, since obviously Emmett is busy. He always feels a bit weird during this moment. Blaine and Rachel know itâs just a rehearsal, but theyâre going all out.
Finn, who stands next to Kurt for this number, looks at him while he sings. Then he looks back to Rachel and Blaine kissing.
Luckily, Rachel and Blaine break apart to resume their parts.
âAnd now I found my love,â Kurt and Rachelâs voices blend together, âI found my way to love/I finally found my prize!â
Once the song is over, Artie gives some notes and they take a small break. Kurt and Finn walk back to the wings and Finn lets out a laugh.
âItâs still kinda weird,â he says.
âHm?â Kurt raises an eyebrow.
âWatching my girlfriend kiss another guy,â Finn answers.
âThatâs acting,â Kurt shrugs.
Finn gives him a look, as if he waits for Kurt to say more about it. But Kurt just frowns.
âWhat?â he asks.
âNothing,â Finn says quickly. Too quickly. Then he turns on his heel and awkwardly walks away.
What just happened?
--
The show is finished.
They have their final dress rehearsal, in front of an audience. A free audience. Kurtâs friends are in the audience as well. Itâs basically a preview of the upcoming previews.
The actual previews are nerve-wracking. Legally Blonde has ten previews in a row and the first preview is the first show for a paying audience.
The show goes almost flawlessly, in Kurtâs opinion. There were some slight technical problems with the big screen that sometimes shows whatâs being said or sung in writing, for example during Whip Into Shape, when the actors need both hands for the jump rope section, or when Elle yells from the supply closet.
But apart from that, itâs going great. Everyoneâs amazing and on their marks. No one is flubbing lines. People laugh at the delivery of lines of the hearing cast, which makes Kurt happy. He and Blaine worked very hard on trying to nail the comedic bits, in both English and ASL, and Kurtâs happy to report that the audience laughed at the Hello Kitty part, among other moments.
After the show, the cast and crew is ecstatic. They all want to go out into town. Not for too long, though, since they have nine more shows to go through.
Kurt waits outside for some others when he overhears some audience members talking about the show.
He smiles when he hears the happy comments.
But thenâŠ
âI only didnât really get the right vibe from the guy voicing Emmett, though,â one person says and Kurt tenses up.
Kurt hears the sound of papers being turned.
âHis name is Kurt Hummel,â someone else says.
âDoes anyone know him?â a third person asks.
Kurt hears disagreeing sounds.
âHe can sing nicely,â one of the three says, âBut I donât know, I just wasnât feeling it. If it hadnât been for the other guy playing Emmet, uhâŠâ
âBlaine Anderson.â
âYeah, him! If it hadnât been for him, I donât know if I wouldâve liked the Elle and Emmett storyline as much.â
The stage door opens and Blaine appears with Brittany, the hard of hearing actress who plays Margot. When Brittany sees Kurt, she immediately looks back to Blaine, as if sheâs wondering if she should leave Kurt and Blaine alone.
Blaine raises his hands, but Kurt puts a finger to his lips.
Both Blaine and Brittany frown.
PEOPLE ARE TALKING, Kurt signs. He signs close to his body to indicate that heâs practically whispering.
WHAT IS IT? Brittany asks.
Kurt once again puts his finger to his lips and he focuses on the three audience members again. Heâs missed some part of the conversation.
â⊠saying he isnât talented!â one of them says, âHe is. He can clearly sing, but I donât know, Iâm just not feeling it.â
âI think that maybe itâs because I didnât expect Emmett to sound like that,â the other person says back and Kurt, well⊠his shoulders slump.
???? Blaine signs with a frown.
WAIT, Kurt signs back.
âLike, not to sound like an ass, but it just didnât feel like a convincing Emmett,â the third person says in agreement, âBlaineâs back must be hurting from carrying that role.â
The three of them laugh and Kurt purses his lips and he looks down. He listens to the three audience members criticising his work and he knows itâs only three people, but it hurts. It hurts right where it hits the hardest. Kurt hears how they walk away, still talking about the show, and Kurt tries not to cry.
Itâs just three people.
But if they already feel this way, then they wonât be the last.
Suddenly thereâs a hand on his shoulder and Kurtâs head jerks up. Blaineâs staring at him with a concerned look.
YOU OKAY?
IâM FINE, Kurt signs back.
DONâT LIE, Blaine signs and he sighs. Then he quickly looks back to Brittany and he signs something to her. She nods and she leaves them alone.
I DONâT KNOW THE SIGNS, Kurt admits. Heâs gotten so much better at ASL in the past weeks, but this is too advanced and also his mind is all over the place.
T-E-X-T ME, Blaine signs back.
So Kurt takes out his phone and he does. Itâs a long read and Blaine also takes his time reading it.
IâM SORRY, he signs when heâs finished, THEY ARE WRONG.
HOW DO YOU KNOW? Kurt signs back in annoyance, signing sharply with quick movements, YOU DONâT UNDERSTAND. YOU NEVER WILL.
Blaineâs eyes widen and Kurt feels like shit.
BLAINE⊠Kurt trails off.
But Blaine turns away.
FORGET IT, he signs and he walks off.
âBlaine,â Kurt yells out, proving himself to be even more of an idiot. He realises what heâs doing and instead he runs after him and grabs Blaine by the elbow.
BLAINE, Kurt signs again, DONâT. TELL ME.
Blaine hesitates for a while, but then he holds up his phone.
Kurt nods. By the time heâs opened his message app, he already has a message.
BA: Youâre right, Kurt, I donât understand it fully, because I donât understand how voices can sound weird when hearing people speak.
But I can understand feeling insecure about a voice.
I donât speak for a reason and that is fine.
And I can also understand the nerves. Do you think everyone will be open minded about Deaf people in a musical? Maybe it wonât be outright ridicule, but people will think weirdly about it.
Kurt remembers when Spring Awakening hit the Broadway scene. There were indeed some people who couldnât stop talking about deaf people in a musical, as if it was something weird. And as Blaine said, people didnât outright think it was a bad idea, but it just confused people and Kurt knows of people who didnât see it, because the confusion bled over to scepticism.
Deaf people in a musical? How can that even work?
BA: We are here to challenge people, remember?
You said it yourself.
It sucks what they said, but it also shows that they donât get the show. Legally Blonde in itself is about challenging peopleâs views. Elle proved people wrong. We will prove people wrong.
YOUâRE RIGHT, Kurt signs, SORRY.
IâM NOT MAD, Blaine signs and Kurt raises an eyebrow and Blaine relents, MAYBE A LITTLE.
Kurt now sends a message.
KH: Â I didnât want to imply that you donât know what itâs like to be judged
BA: I know
KH: Iâm just really upset
BA: And you can be. But tomorrow is a new show. A new chance.
Kurt wants to reply when another message pops up. Itâs in the groupschat of the cast and crew and itâs Marley, who voices Margot, asking whoâs coming along for some drinks. Both Kurt and Blaine see it.
But Kurt sends back that heâs tired.
He was going to go out, but now heâs just too upset.
He switches back to the conversation with Blaine and writes:
KH: You should get going, the others are waiting
BA: Yeah
KH: But I will see you tomorrow.
BA: See you tomorrow.
Kurt looks up from his screen and he gives Blaine a small smile. Blaine steps forwards, but then he changes his mind on whatever he was considering. Instead, he steps back and waves and they part ways.
--
There were three people giving Kurt shit.
And then two more after the next preview.
And then a whole group of people after the third.
By the time the fourth preview has happened, heâs losing it. Kurt canât go outside anymore in the fear of overhearing more people talk shit.
Kurtâs sitting in the dressing room with his head in his hand. The fifth preview is about to start in an hour. Will and Finn are doing vocal warm-up. Dustin and Blaine obviously donât care, but Kurt does. Does he have to hear them sing so well?
And yes, Kurt can also sing well.
Or⊠maybe he canât. He did get a note from the Artie on his singing. He wasnât doing great during the fourth preview, since the nerves just overtook him. He missed a line as well. Fuck. When he got home with Finn and Rachel, they already asked him if he needed anything or what they could do. But what can he do? He will only mess up more.
He wants to call his dad, but his dad keeps talking about how excited he is to be there at opening night and Kurt doesnât want to let him down.
Oh no.
This is going to go downhill from here.
He will be nervous and the nerves will make him mess up, which will lead to more shit comments, which in turn will make him more nervous, and then he will mess up even more-
Thereâs a hand on his shoulder, pulling him out of his panic spiral, grounding him back to reality.
Blaine sits down next to him.
Itâs silent, so Kurt looks around and he realises that the others have left them alone. His phone lights up.
BA: I asked the others to leave.
THANKS, Kurt signs.
WHAT IS WRONG? Blaine asks.
Kurt holds up his phone to indicate that heâs going to type.
KH: I canât go on
BA: Why?
KH: I canât do it. I am not fit for this.
BA: Everyone has pre-show jitters.
Kurt shakes his head. This is different from pre-show jitters. Heâs had pre-show jitters before, but heâs never felt like this. He is Kurt Hummel. He usually has the confidence to overcome things like this. Heâs usually not this beat down.
Well, Kurt supposes that every creative person has a breaking point. Unfortunately for him, his is during his first Broadway run.
Kurt texts all of this. He also tells Blaine about how the criticism is hitting and about how itâs been happening after every show.
KH: I canât go on. I want to quit. Iâve never wanted to quit before, Blaine. Do you think I can quit?
NO, Blaine signs quickly, sharply and he uses a lot of space to do so.
But Kurt lets out a teary sigh.
KH: I canât do this, Blaine. I might have to talk to the director. If this keeps happening, then itâs clear that this isnât the place for me. Maybe itâs the best that I leave before the opening, so that Roderick has time to step in.
Swings and understudies usually donât start rehearsal until after previews, but if Kurt quits, then Roderick will get promoted. And he has a gorgeous voice. Maybe this is meant to me. Maybe this was never Kurtâs role.
BA: Whatever youâre thinking, stop
Kurt looks from his screen. Blaine looks at him with an intense look on his face. Heâs silently pleading. Kurt shakes his head and shakingly writes
KH: What do I have to offer? If I canât do my work properly, itâll make it worse for everyone. Why should I stay?
Kurt waits for Blaine to answer, but he doesnât. He sighs and gets up to leave. He must look for Artie. But when Kurt leaves, Blaine stops him.
Blaine starts signing something and Kurt doesnât get it, but it looks familiar.
I DONâT UNDERSTAND, he signs sadly.
Blaineâs face falls.
Normally, Kurt would sit down and try to understand, but he is in a hurry now. The show is about to start.
I MUST GO, Kurt then signs and leaves. Blaine doesnât stop him.
--
A Broadway theatre is huge, so it takes some time until Kurt finds Artie. Heâs asked everyone heâs passed and it turns out that he is on stage. Kurtâs behind the curtain and he walks to the wings when he hears his name.
âKurt is not doing so great,â Artie says.
Kurt stops in his tracks.
âDo you know what to do?â Mike, the choreographer, asks.
âI donât know. How can we support him?â Artie asks the others, âHeâs clearly struggling with something, which is a shame. His roommates have already asked me for help.â
âBut what could be bothering him?â someone says through an interpreter. Kurt canât peek through the curtains, so he doesnât know who else is there.
âI donât know,â Artie says, âWe need to see if heâs open to talking about it. Itâs a shame.â
âHe was doing well up until previews,â Mike notes and Kurt nods. Mike is right. That feels like ages ago.
âWhatâs changed? He did a stellar job and the audience loved him!â the interpreter says. Kurt tries not to snort, because he knows itâll lead to tears.
âI donât know,â Artie says again, âShelby, do you think we can ask Blaine? He and Kurt work together the most, theyâre perfect together. Maybe Blaine knows.â
Shelby is one of the ASL masters for the show. Blaine likes her.
âAnd go behind Kurtâs back?â Shelby sounds a bit affronted.
âI agree with Shelby,â Mike says, âWe should first talk to Kurt. What can it be? Heâs doing great and the audience indeed seems to like him.â
Kurt frowns. First Shelby, now Mike?
âYes, yes, I too have heard all the praise,â Artie says, âI particularly liked the comment of one audience member who loved how he sings the end of Chip On My Shoulder. He and Blaine really care for that number.â
âI overheard some people saying that he is a breakout star of the show,â Mike says.
âYes, and some of my friends said that he is great too,â Shelby adds, âEven when they cannot hear him, his subtle stage acting is wonderful and people appreciate it.â
Kurtâs still standing behind the thick curtain and he listens to how Artie, Mike and Shelby talk about his great work.
Is this⊠true?
Well, why would they lie? They donât know heâs here.
Kurt turns around.
Maybe Roderick will have to wait a bit longer until he makes his Broadway debut. Kurt is still not fully convinced. It feels like a huge relief to hear that there are people who like him, but he also knows that people do not like him. He canât say all of his doubt has disappeared as snow before the sun, but if people think he is doing great work then the least he can do is try to keep it up. And thatâs not whatâs happening right now.
Artie said it. He did great, but he got worse.
Kurt goes back to the dressing room to only find Dustin there. Blaine is gone. Well, they will see each other on stage. One more preview cannot hurt, right?
--
Emmett isnât on stage for the first twenty minutes or so. Usually, Kurt and Blaine watch the show together from the dressing room while getting ready. Every dressing room with a Deaf or hard of hearing member has a nice TV with a view of the stage and with text on the screen.
Kurt watches how everyone acts their hearts out.
He needs to do the same. He cannot let this cast down. Yes, heâs struggling, but he doesnât want to drag everyone down. He doesnât want to drag Blaine down. If this show still goes horribly wrong, then heâll talk to Artie about what to do.
On screen, Rachel does her big dance number at Harvard. Itâs almost time to go on. Kurt checks his hair and make-up one last time before going down to the wings.
Blaine is waiting there.
He gives Kurt a quick nod. Kurt feels like he has to say something, but before he knows it, theyâre cued to go on stage.
The entire show goes well. Blaine is a wonderful actor and Kurtâs happy to shadow him. They get laughs at their comedic bits.
âSo Iâll give you ladies a moment then!â Kurt says and Blaine signs it. The audience laughs and they only laugh more when Blaine turns to him and they act that Emmett and his Voice cannot get out here soon enough, with Blaine shooing Kurt to the side.
The get more laughs at the Hello Kitty line and afterwards Kurt tells Blaine people liked it.
GREAT, he signs.
Honestly, itâs going great. Kurtâs turned off his thoughts and he tries to focus on the show. He does flub a line, but he quickly recovers and improvises. Luckily, Rachel can hear it so she waits a few more seconds before she does her line.
The second act has a lot more Emmett and Elle, but there is one moment where they can take a break. Emmett isnât on stage during the big Elle and professor Callahan scene. Itâs a nice break, because the song Legally Blonde comes next, which is a big emotional one, so Kurt and Blaine need to get into the mindset.
Rachel starts the song and does her blocking. The prop door slides to the centre of the stage and Kurt and Blaine follow along. Once itâs ready, they lean against it and Rachel walks up to them.
âThere she is, intern of the year!â Kurt says. Blaine also looks radiant while signing it to Rachel.
âThanks for your help and for all youâve done,â Rachel sings and signs while she walks to Blaine. Kurt steps to the side, so that the focus shifts on Rachel and Blaine. âThank you for treating me decently.â
âWhatâs wrong?â Kurt asks.
âMaybe someday you can visit me/Give me a call/Say hello.â
Rachel reaches for the doorknob but Blaine puts his hand on it and uses one hand to sign.
âWait/Where are you going?â Kurt sings.
âSorry Iâm letting down everyone,â Rachel walks away and Kurt and Blaine trail behind her.
âWhat brought on this?â
âYou did your best with a hopeless case.â
âThatâs ludicrous!â
âYou were the best thing about this place!â Kurt and Rachel sing together.
âElle you should know-â
âCallahan hit on me!â Rachel says and signs.
âHe what?â Kurt always makes sure to sounds super affronted here.
âHe kissed me, then he fired me, and he made it very clear I donât belong here,â Rachel turns away from Blaine to walk to the door.
Blaine grabs her arm to make him look at her.
HEâS WRONG, Blaine signs angrily. Kurt was so caught up in Blaineâs small acting that he forgot the first part.
âHey, weâll fix it!â Kurt joins in, sounding angry and upset, âWeâll fight it.â He stands on the other side of Rachel.
âEmmett, please,â Rachel sounds teary and she touches Blaineâs cheek, âThereâs no reason for me to stay.â
Then she goes through the prop door and itâs time for Emmettâs big love declaration. Blaine moves away from the door so that he can turn to the audience, so that his signs are clear to see. Kurt stays at the door and he knows that he needs to turn towards it, to Rachel as Elle, but when he starts to sing, he realises something.
âWhat about love?â Kurt signs and he slowly looks to Blaine instead, who has his back turned to him, âI never mentioned love/The timingâs bad, I know.â
And Kurt cannot see Blaineâs signs, but he knows what heâs signing. Kurt remembers.
This is what Blaine was signing to him in the dressing room. Back then it didnât click, since Kurt as a Voice actor, doesnât know the ASL gloss of the script by heart. But now he remember this part.
âBut perhaps if Iâd made it more clear,â Kurt continues to sing as he keeps looking at Blaine, âThat you belong right here/You wouldnât have to go/Cause youâd know that I am so much in love-â
âBack to the sun/Back to the shore!â Rachelâs voice joins from the other side of the door while Kurtâs doing his long note, âBack to what I was before.â
Blaine quickly moves back to the door for the next line.
âPlease, will you open the door!â Kurt sings while Blaine is so close to him, he almost bumps into Kurt.
âLie on the beach/Dream within reach/Donât stray beyond!â
âWe both know youâre worth so much more!â Kurt sings. Blaine was signing this to him earlier.
âSome girls fight hard/Some face the trail/Some girls were just meant to smile.â
âIf you can hear/Can I just say/How much I want you to stay,â Kurt sings and since his eyes are still on Blaine, he sees that Blaine quickly looks at Kurt out of the corner of his eyes. It almost throws Kurt off.
âItâs not up to me/Just let me be/Legally Blonde.â
âI need you to stay!â Kurt sings and again, Blaine shoots him a look. Does he realise that Kurtâs seeing him?
Rachel finishes the song.
âItâs not up to me/Just let me be/Legally Blonde.â
The lights go down and the applause is massive. The door gets slid off stage and Kurt, Blaine and Rachel leave.
WE DID IT, Rachel dries her tears.
PAH! Blaine signs too.
Kurt wants to say more, but his mind is a mess. He canât stop looking at Blaine.
When Blaine and Rachel realise Kurt isnât going to say much, they leave together to discuss the song a bit more. Blaine does look over his shoulder, back to Kurt, but Kurt just nods. What else can he do?
Did Blaine confess his love to Kurt in the dressing room?
Since there is another big break for Kurt and Blaine, he has the time to think about it. Emmett will be back for the finale, so Kurt goes back to the dressing room. Only Will is here, which makes sense since Callahan will also be absent until the finale, but where is Blaine?
âHave you seen Blaine?â he asks Will.
âNo, sorry,â Will answers, âArenât you the one whoâs with Blaine all the time?â
âUsually, yes.â
Kurt scours the theatre but to no avail. By the time heâs seen everything, itâs almost time for him to go back to stage. Of course that means Blaine has to be on stage as well. Blaine arrives behind the prop doors of the court room. Rachel has just gone in.
WHERE WERE YOU? Kurt asks, I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU.
OUTSIDE, Blaine answers, I NEEDED A BREAK.
A BREAK?
But then Kurt hears Willâs line and he signs to Blaine that itâs time to go on. Theyâll hopefully talk later.
--
Blaine and Rachel kiss on stage. All the others dance around them. Kurt and the other Voice actors watch from their pedestal.
It is awkward to see. It was always awkward to see. Blaine and Rachel are really going for it.
Kurt remembers what Finn had said about watching the kiss. It made him weirdly jealous. Is Kurt feeling the same? Heâs so deep in thoughts that Finn has to poke him.
âAnd now I found my love!â he sings quickly. Right on time, thanks to his brother.
âMy god!â
âI found my way to love!â
âYou guys!â
âI finally found my prize!â
And Blaine and Rachel kiss again and Kurt feels uneasy.
--
After the bows, Kurt immediately wants to talk to Blaine, but Artie wheels to him.
âKurt, a word?â
âI-â Kurt looks around and his eyes find Blaine. Blaineâs staring back.
Artie coughs.
âKurt, please.â
âRight,â Kurt turns back to Artie. Hopefully Blaine doesnât think that Kurt is the one initiating. Heâs not going to tell Artie heâs quitting.
Kurt follows Artie to a more private place. Mike, Shelby and an interpreter are waiting inside. They tell him everything that has been discussed earlier, but obviously they do not know that Kurt has overheard them.
âSo yes,â Artie concludes, âWhat can we do to help? Do you need resources? Maybe we can hire someone to talk to-â
Kurt holds up his hands. He appreciates it, he really does, especially since he knows that Broadway is still brutal, but his mind is elsewhere. The longer he stays here, the longer he has to wait before he can find Blaine.
âGuys, thank you,â Kurt says genuinely, âIt is true that I am struggling and that is impacting my performance, but today something happened that has lifted my spirits and I want to see where itâs heading now.â
âGood to hear that,â Mike says, sounding relieved.
âBut you will come to us if things are going downhill again, right?â Shelby asks.
TRUE BIZ! Kurt signs, which makes Shelby smile.
â⊠Can I go?â Kurt asks awkwardly and the moment Artie nods, he turns on his heel and bolts towards the dressing room.
âWoah there,â Sebastian says when Kurt basically runs into him.
âHave you seen Blaine?â Kurt asks.
âHe just left,â Sebastian answered, âHe and Dustin said something about the Deaf cast going somewhere specific? His signing was a bit too fastâŠâ
âOh.â
Thatâs too bad, then. And maybe itâs a good thing. Maybe Kurt shouldnât rush into whatever he was rushing into. He says his goodbyes to Sebastian and he declines Rachelâs invitation to go somewhere with some cast members. He goes home and he needs a good night of rest, since today was a lot.
Once heâs draped on his couch, everythingâs falling into place in his head.
BlaineâŠ
Blaine loves him?
Not only that, but does Kurt love him back?
Because Kurt thinks he does. Heâs loved Blaine for a while, and he just didnât realise, but now that heâs had this epiphany, itâs all crashing down. They became friends through their work. They help each other out. Thatâs how it started, but it became something more. They started to like each other as a person and they hung out more, even outside of work.
Fuck.
Just like Elle and Emmett.
Kurt laughs at that.
He wonders if others know. He remembers the look on Laurenâs face when she found the two of them outside, alone. Brittany looked intrigued as well that day. And of course Finn mentioned that itâs weird to watch Blaine and Rachel kiss because heâs in love with Rachel. Itâs also weird for Kurt.
Heâs not in love with Rachel. Far from it. Heâs in love with Blaine!
A surprised, but happy laugh escapes his throat. Heâs in love with Blaine and it honestly feels great. Now Kurt understands why he always felt warm and fuzzy around him. Now Kurt gets why he always wanted to go to the theatre early to see him.
Fuck.
What now?
Kurt is still Kurt, so his planning mode overtakes his brain. He needs to do something. He wants to do something. He grabs his phone and looks up the nearest flower shop.
--
The next day, Kurtâs running a bit late. Itâs because he had to make a detour. Finn and Rachel left without him.
âWhere are you going?â Rachel had asked at breakfast.
âI need to arrange something,â Kurt had answered, âSee you two at work!â
Now, heâs climbing up the stairs to his dressing room with a small bouquet of roses in his hands. He passes other cast and crew members who gawk at him. Some look confused. Others look surprised. But some also give Kurt a knowing smile.
âGet your man!â Madison, who plays Pilar, hoots when he passes the one of the girlsâ main dressing room. This leads to others cheering and hooting as well.
Kurtâs beet red by the time heâs at his own dressing room.
Of course, Blaine (and Dustin) did not hear the commotion, but Sebastian, Will and Finn did and when they see Kurt standing in the door opening with the bouquet, they can put the puzzle pieces together.
Will taps Blaineâs shoulder, so that he turns around, and when he does his entire face morphs into a look of surprise. And hope. Thereâs a bit of hope there.
WE MUST GO, Dustin signs and all the other guys quickly agree.
âFinally,â Sebastian mutters when he passes Kurt. Finn also gives him a tap on the back. Dustin and Will smile and Dustin signs something really quickly to Blaine. Kurt canât really see it, but Blaine barks out a laugh.
Dustin closes the door behind him.
THIS IS FOR YOU, Kurt holds out the bouquet with one hand and he uses the others so sign.
THANK YOU, Blaine signs with a smile. He accepts it but then puts the flowers on the table so he can sign. I LOVE THEM.
Kurt has so much he can say. The thoughts are still swirling in his head, but he doesnât know the signs and he doesnât want to text, so he signs the one thing he knows for sure. The one thing that matters.
I LOVE YOU.
Blaineâs smile widens.
I LOVE YOU TOO, Blaine signs back and Kurtâs pretty sure he has a matching smile on his face.
WHEN WE MET, I LIKED YOU, Kurt signs slowly, AND THEN I FELL IN LOVE. YESTERDAY, I UNDERSTOOD. HERE WE ARE.
Itâs not the most eloquent and romantic speech, but itâs all he can do and judging by the smitten look on Blaineâs face, the point has still come across.
CAN I KISS YOU? Blaine asks and Kurtâs nodding before Blaineâs even finished the sentence.
Yes, yes he can. Why arenât they kissing yet? Kurt puts his hands on Blaineâs face and he kisses him. Blaine kisses back. Itâs wonderful. Itâs only the first kiss and Kurt already canât get enough of it. Blaine puts his hands over Kurtâs and he deepens the kiss.
Kurt canât believe he didnât realise that this was right in front of him, but better late than never.
--
The applause is enormous, even when half of the audience isnât making noise. Kurt watches from the wings how everyone takes their first Broadway bow. The ensemble moves aside for all the other characters.
Emmett is the second to last, so once April has moved aside, Kurt and Blaine run on stage. Blaine was on the other side of the theatre but they meet in the middle. Blaine holds out his hand and Kurt takes it. Together they run to the front of the stage to take their bows.
Itâs opening night.
Theyâre making their Broadway debut.
Rachel takes her bow and then the entire company comes on stage, including swings and understudies and crew members, so that they can take their last bow of the evening.
Once all of that is done, they run off stage and the energy is off the charts. People are yelling, in English and ASL. People are weeping. Itâs a commotion, but a good one. Everyone runs back to the dressing rooms in order to get changed into their opening night outfits.
Blaine looks absolutely stunning in a navy check patterned suit. Kurt ties the matching pink bowtie around Blaineâs neck and when heâs done, he gives Blaine a small kiss.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, he signs, MY BEAUTIFUL BOYFRIEND.
YOU ARE MY BEAUTIFUL BOYFRIEND, Blaine signs back.
Kurt is wearing a fancy suit jacket with flowers on top of a pair of black slacks. The jacket is dark pink, which felt appropriate since this is Legally Blonde. Everyone wears at least a little bit pink.
Someone coughs.
Kurt looks at the direction of the sound and Blaine follows.
âYou guys done flirting?â Finn says and he tries to sign along, âWe have an opening night to attend!â
YOU AND RACHEL FLIRT ALL THE TIME, Blaine retorts.
COME ON, Kurt signs.
Once theyâre in the lobby of the theatre, Kurt and Finn are immediately approached by their parents. They flew out to be here, since they wouldnât miss it for the world.
âOh, dad, this isâŠâ Kurt reaches for Blaine, âThis is Blaine.â
BLAINE, Burt signs, NICE TO MEET YOU. KURT TALK A LOT.
ABOUT YOU! Kurt adds.
WHERE YOUR PARENTS? Carole asks.
Theyâre here somewhere. Blaine was already looking for them before Kurt and Finnâs parents basically jumped on them.
Blaine excuses himself so that he can see his family and he kisses Kurtâs cheek before leaving. Carole swoons.
âOh, shut it,â Kurt says and he feels red in the face. Heâs not a teen anymore, yet he still feels like that when heâs being kissed in front of his parents.
âIâm happy for you, kid,â Burt says. He indeed sounds happy. âYou were great on stage and Blaine seems lovely.â
Kurt is happy. He has a boyfriend and heâs part of a show heâs proud of. Heâs still anxious for the upcoming reviews, but his cast and crew has his back, and he also tries to listen for positive feedback instead of focusing on the negative.
Kurt chats with his family for a bit longer until heâs called for press with Blaine. He and Blaine give a lot of small interviews about how they feel and what they achieved and if some of the interviewers notice how close they are, then they donât comment on it.
After that, Blaine also introduces him to his family. Blaine signs differently when heâs with his family. Heâs looser. Faster. He also signs with this when heâs just with the Deaf cast. Kurt canât really follow it, but Blaineâs family is happy to help, especially Blaineâs loud brother Cooper.
Kurtâs working hard on learning more sign, so that communication will be easier, and Blaineâs mom also compliments him on the signing.
âThanks, Iâm still learning,â Kurt says and signs. His signing also becomes more English when he speaks at the same time.
âWell, not everyone does, so I am happy that Blaine has met you,â she says and signs back.
âYeah, weâre really proud of Blaine,â Blaineâs dad says and signs and next to Kurt, Blaine beams.
âWe didnât fully understand it in the beginning, but itâs clear that you love what youâre doing,â Blaineâs mom signs to Blaine, but she speaks for Kurt, âAnd youâre doing a great job. The audience loves you as much as we do.â
Blaine looks like heâs about to cry from joy. Kurt steps away so that the Andersons can hug each other.
Kurtâs parents find them and both families meet each other and it feels right. Everyone hits it off right away. Kurt and Blaine have only been together for a few days, but itâs so good.
After all the serious stuff, itâs time to head to the afterparty. The parents went back to the hotels and Kurt and Blaine donât mind since thereâs a lot of partying, dancing and kissing and they end up going to Blaineâs place around 2am. They have to be in good shape for the next show, so they canât get hammered.
If they thought being friends was great, then this is the next step. It is so much better than before.
â Â Â
End notes: And thatâs a wrap. I really hope you liked it, Terra. When I saw the prompt, my mind immediately latched on Legally Blonde. I got the idea from Amelia Hensley, the actress who played Thea in Deaf Westâs Spring Awakening. The Deaf and HoH cast was asked in the Vlog of Purple Summer which show theyâd like to see in ASL and she answered this one and I agree. I was so happy to hear that Legally Blonde is also one of your favourite shows.
I watched a lot of extra stuff for this fic (like the aforementioned Vlog) and I made a post here with links and some extra comments on how it impacted the fic. If you liked this and want to know more about ASL and ASL Theatre, you can find some information there.
Thank you all for reading!
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Hi! I read your post about writing deaf characters. I'm writing fanfiction where the main character is deaf and hoped maybe you could help with a really specific question.
If someone who were signing had a flat affect, or otherwise their face could not be seen, is there another way to convey the information typically conveyed through facial expressions? How much information would be lost without the communication through facial expressions?
In addition, I was doing research on the best ways to convey sign language through writing and someone suggested GLOSS. What are your opinions on people who convey sign language through GLOSS?
Importance of the face in sign language & using GLOSS to convey signed dialogue.
Hi! Thank you for this question â I'm always excited to talk about the nifty ways that sign language conveys tone :D I'm just sorry it took me a while to answer, because I needed time to find some old resources that were way back in the depths of my blog.
TL;DR Summaries:
The face/facial expression is an integral part of sign language because it conveys meaning similar to tone of voice.
That meaning can be conveyed in other ways, like body language and signing space. From a hearing POV, signing might get louder in high-emotion contexts.
Gloss has its uses in academic and non-fiction writing, but it isn't always suitable for dialogue in fiction.
How the face conveys tone (and what happens when it can't):
Where the face is most important is in the idea of "facial punctuation": In BSL, for example, an o-shape with the mouth is like an exclamation mark and a raised eyebrow is a question mark. Those are two basic, yet integral, examples of how facial expression is part of the sign language syntax. Another example is how fluent or "native" ASL speakers can omit signs in favour of facial expression indicators â instead of the "YOU NAME WHAT?" combination that textbooks teach, signers will ask "YOU NAME?" and use furrowed eyebrows to convey the concept of "what". (In other words, facial expressions as tone indicators!)
The face is also important because it adds necessary context, such as mouthing words that have the same sign so clarify their meaning in that moment. This is why there was a lot of difficulty when COVID hit: not only do a lot of us deafies need to lip-read, but for sign-speakers, it would've been like trying to talk to someone who constantly muffles their mouth with their hand or someone who talks while chewing their sleeve. Sure, you can technically hear what that person is saying, but the meaning easily gets confused and information lost.
[Other ways to convey tone in sign language and using gloss for dialogue under the cut]
Other way to convey tone in sign language
But! The face isn't the only part that conveys tone. Sign language is cool because although it's thought of as a language that's spoken with hands, it actually uses the entire body. This includes the concept of "signing space":
Signing space is ... the three-dimensional space in front of the signer, from the waist to the forehead and from one side of the body to the other, where signs can be realized. Signers use this space to represent physical space and to represent conceptual structure. ... It's used to convey abstract information like time and order. The signer also uses this space to position the entities that are evoked in the sentence (e.g. people, objects, buildings and places) and to demonstrate their semantic relationships. â from the Wikipedia page on signing space
So, what does that mean for describing sign language?
A d/Deaf POV character would take note of how someone else uses sign space. "Non-native" sign speakers (those who learn it later in life, like me, as opposed to speaking only SL), tend to use a slightly larger than necessary sign space, similar to how you sometimes over-enunciate/over-emphasise or raise your voice when speaking an unfamiliar second language. People who've grown up only speaking a SL would find the use of sign space more intuitive, and so use the space more naturally.
Just like verbal speakers raise their voice, trip over words, muddle up word order and stutter when influenced by emotion, so do sign speakers. Describing the way someone uses sign space is a good way to do this, and something I haven't seen utilised all that often. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant and the The Shape of Water novel both do this well; they never explicitly use the technical language, but they take time to describe how the characters sign.
How you describe this would be a bit different depending on the POV's character's fluency in sign language. I will forever love the bit in TSoW where Elisa is getting really upset, and Giles can't parse what she's saying because she's muddling her words and signing too fast for him to keep up with.
She's past him, all but ricocheting off the walls, signing recklessly enough to send columns of old paintings swaying. ... Her right hand wiggles â "fish", he thinks â and she pulls inwards from both shoulders â "fireplace" he thinks; no, "skeleton"; no, "creature" â and then a similar motion, but rounded â "trap," he thinks, or something like it, though he's probably wrong. She's talking far too rapidly. â The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus.
Giles isn't wholly fluent in sign language, or knowledgeable about the technicalities. Someone who is might've had a better time of understanding what Elisa was saying; to me, this reads as Elisa being too upset to properly "enunciate" her signs, and she's signing so fast she's doing the equivalent of tripping over her own tongue. The bit where she is "signing recklessly enough to send columns of old paintings swaying" shows that she's careless with her sign space, essentially shouting. (It is also such a lovely description, so evocative of both how sign language inhabits the speaker's space, and also of Giles' shoebox flat).
If you're writing from the POV of a hearing character, there are also noises to consider. Someone who's speaking quietly in sign language would sign quietly, i.e., controlled movements and careful, noiseless skin contact; someone who's shouting in sign language would sign loudly, with less controlled movements depending on emotion and the slap of skin on skin for some signs. Other noises are breaths, perhaps instinctive grunts, or the sounds of jewellery if the speaker is wearing any.
Conveying sign language with GLOSS
For those who don't know, "'Glossing' is what you call it when you write one language in another. The written information is known as 'gloss.'" (explanation from this page about Glossing ASL, which is also where you'll find more information about the facial expression for "what" that I mentioned above). It's sometimes styled in all caps because sign language Gloss is written in capitals and small caps. This PDF gives a simple but comprehensive explanation of Gloss in ASL, if anyone would like to read more about how it works.
I've had discussions about glossing in fiction before on this blog, and although it's had a mixed result, I personally come down on the side of "Gloss is incredibly useful as a method of transcribing sign language, but I don't think it has a place in fiction". In the context of dialogue in fiction, you can convey sign language better by translating it than you can by transcribing it through gloss.
To expand a bit, here's an example of what gloss looks like, taken from the previously-mentioned page about ASL gloss:
YESTERDAY PRO-1 INDEX-[at] WORK HAPPEN SOMEONE! MAN CL:1-"walked_past_quickly" I NEVER SEE PRO-3 BEFORE.
Which roughly translates to: "Yesterday at work a stranger (some guy I've never seen before) rushed past me".
... Not really the easiest thing in the world to read if you're unfamiliar with it.
I've read sign language dialogue that uses a simplified gloss before, in which case the "glossed" dialogue is pared down to the words only, and the other gloss elements are added to the description. To return to the earlier "What's your name?" example, the dialogue could then look like this:
"YOU NAME?" she signed, furrowing her eyebrows into the question.
Which is easier to understand, but an entire text full of dialogue in capital letters, with words usually appearing in the "wrong" order, still presents an accessibility issue. It's more effective to translate the sign language and then describe what the speaker is doing in the surrounding description. This isn't a perfect way of writing signed dialogue, but you're not going to find a perfect way, because sign language is distinctly different from spoken or written language.
(In Into the Drowning Deep, there's an author's note at the start telling readers that all ASL has been "rendered as if it were SEE (Signing Exact English)" â i.e., translated â for ease of reading, which I really appreciated!)
There's also the fact that glossed or literally transcribed signed dialogue can be read as childish, which ... uh. Well. The way we treat speech as a sign of intellectual ability, and how intellectual ability is used to measure a person's worth, is a thorny topic for another time. But in summary, infantilisation of anyone who doesn't speak verbally is an issue, and the "simple" way that glossed SLs are written reads similarly to the way kids talk, which feeds into harmful stereotypes that all d/Deaf people are inherently stupid or infantile.
I hope this helps, and please ask if you have any more questions! <3
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what are your atsv hcs??? :D
YAY!!!! someone asked !!!!
hi ollie :]]]]
ok so the aranchkids r all datin each other (except for gwen n miles) like miles - pav margo n hobie hobie - pav miles margo n gayatri pav - gayatri miles n hobie i thought a bf for gwen heâs pretty cool đ(miles n hobie have the tism while gwen pav n margo have adhd, theyâre also all polyamorous)
iâmma do like individual hcs now :))
first gotta start w my boy, miles !
heâs transmasc genderfluid n bisexual(with a male preference)
pronouns r he/she/they(just like me ^^)
him n gwen r queerplatonic
he blasts selena every chance he gets(thank mama rio for that <3)
heâs catholic(not really a headcanon but not really canon either)
gets the munchies real bad, he cannot go anywhere without a couple of snacks
was definitely that kid that couldnât have too sugar
ipad kid
mamaâs boy(not really a headcanon but câmon)
has wanted grills but his parents instantly dissed the idea
carries around all sorts of lip glosses n chapsticks, no chapped lips on his watch
talks in solely spanish when heâs angry or real excited
has freckles(itâs canon but whatevs)
next is my girlie, gwen !
sheâs trans n bisexual(the trans part is basically canon but đ€·đŸââïž)
pronouns - she/they
she loves punk rock(what her n hobie bond over)
she plays the guitar but drums is more her choice
has the best fashion sense besides hobs n pav
is the certified weird girl of the group /aff
loves 2000âs fashion
her music taste is generically white
once thought she was lesbian until she saw miles
loves no doubt n bikini kill
had a puppy crush on miles
her n penni r besties (canon 2 me)
onto hobie đ
he doesnât care about labels
pronouns - any
possess a certain gender most want
looks so cool but once you getta know him heâs such a loser /aff
the troublemaker of the group
since he doesnât believe in consistency, his style changes but it mostly returns back to punk
uses a bunch of british slang intentionally to confuse the others
is definitely one of those âkiss your homies goodnightâ kinda guy(so is miles but donât feel like addin it)
when heâs overstimulated/goes nonverbal, he talks through his guitar or signs(all the gang know bsl n asl so itâs all good đđŸ)
my all time fav, pav !!
heâs transmasc n pansexual
his pronouns - he/she/xe/they
has tons of energy
needs all 10 hours of beauty sleep
rants in hindi(iâm assuming thatâs what language he speaks but someone correct me if itâs somethin different)
talks way too fast, hobs sometimes translates
has random urges to scream
the mom friend of the group(miles is too again too lazy to add)
sometimes he hangs on the ceiling, says it helps him think
finally, my girl margo !!!
sheâs transfem n bisexual(with no particular preference)
pronouns - all
prefers virtual reality to humans
very awkward
had a hello kitty phase from ages 6 to 11(it comes back sometimes)
loves beyoncĂ© n 90âs r&b
can hold her breath for a long period of time
has social anxiety
used to wear glasses but thought they were tacky so she switched to contacts
has worn puff puffs since she was 4, her signature look
#asks#mutualsđ#miles morales#gwen stacy#pavitr prabhakar#hobie brown#atsv headcanons#itsv headcanons#across the spiderverse
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Hi! Iâm here with questions about your potential T7S/Switched at Birth AU đ (love the idea btw!!)
-Who was switched?
- Do you have character -> character ideas? (Like Jackie -> Bay?)
-Would you use ASL gloss (writing which signs they are using) or just write the ASL as regular dialogue (or maybe italicized đ€)?
Thatâs all I can think of right now!
who was switched? There's two possibly scenarios. One of them being Jackie/Donna. The other I'm gonna keep that a secret for now.
Do you have character -> character ideas? (Like Jackie -> Bay?) There will be similarities, but the T7S characters will still be themselves.
Would you use ASL gloss? No. I'm not gonna go with that. I don't my story to a carbon copy of Switched at Birth. So, expect to see something different.
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BOOK - WORMS
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/viWTSzy by Eccentric_Grace ââŠMistress Cassandra,â Alfred cleared his throat. She looked back at him with wide, innocent eyes. âI know youâre aware of the importance this libraryâs organization has to Master Jason,â Alfred said succinctly. âSo I do believe your intentions here are pure, yes?â Cassandra smiled at him, and nodded. She put a finger to her lips. âShhh.â  (or: cass gets the batfamily back together through the power of jason's library organization method) Words: 9250, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 4 of batfam integration 2 electric boogaloo Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain & Alfred Pennyworth, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: everyone GET OUT OF THE WAY this is the cass and jay show, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Good Sibling Cassandra Cain, Selectively Mute Cassandra Cain, Cassandra Cain Uses Sign Language, Good Older Sibling Cassandra Cain, Cassandra Cain and Jason Todd are Siblings, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Domestic Fluff, Humor, Cassandra Cain is a Menace, Fluff, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Nerd Jason Todd, jason todd's insanely specific library organization system, Good Grandparent Alfred Pennyworth, ASL GLOSS, Banter, an excessive amount of dinner scenes read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/viWTSzy
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The Alpha's Boy - Chapter 1 - Part 2
Book Two In : The Alpha's Trilogy
*Warning - Adult Content*
Alistair 'Star' Claymore-Phoenix
Ivan was my rock, my sunshine on a cloudy day.
When I'm down, he was there to make me feel better.
I've spiralled out of control, more than once and when everyone thought I was at my breaking point, Ivan was there, to show me things could get better.
I watched as Silas took a knife and started slicing the cake, putting the first and biggest slice in front of me, then handed all the other slices to the crowd around us.
We didn't have an overly big family but the Autumn Falls' pack was large, one of the largest actually.
I'm sure it would be bigger had my uncle been here but he's been missing for years and if anyone had so much as said his name, Dad was likely to get emotional and the mood to the party would die.
Ivan bounced over to me, putting an arm around my shoulder and planting a kiss on my cheek.
I groaned, rubbing the feel of their cherry lip gloss off my face.
"How dare you rub off my kiss," Ivan said, a mock disappointment in their tone.
I looked up at him, he was flawless.
His eyes were a calming hazel mixed green, that always looked like they could see into your soul and his face was his 'best feature' as he liked to say.
Back when we were in junior high Ivan got into makeup and honestly, he killed it, his fake eyelashes were the perfect length.
He could go on for hours telling me about blush, contour, eye gunk and all that stuff.
I didn't really care about it but I sat there and listened as he went on and on.
I've spent more hours waiting for him to put his face on, then I have been waiting years, for words to come out of my mouth.
"Happy Birthday you mother-fucking Star-boy," Ivan said, with a laugh.
I glared at him.
'You're not funny,' I signed.
Over the last few years, everybody that I had contact with, went out of their way to learn ASL, which should have made me feel special but really all it did was make me feel awkward and embarrassed.
Sure it was cool that people knew what I was saying but I couldn't help the feeling of it being a burden on everyone.
It was fun teaching my Papa how to sign as Darren always made jokes while we did it and signed the easiest things wrong.
Silas already knew ASL when I had met him, so together we taught Darren, he also helped me teach Ivan.
Some people thought of me as special, that I had my own language.
They thought it was so cool but really, it was far from it.
I longed to laugh with my friends, swear at them, joke with them in a loud group.
I wanted to join in on the screaming contests my little brothers held.
I didn't want everyone to stop and pay attention when I wanted to speak, I just wanted to go with the flow.
I wanted to be like everybody else, so why didn't I wish for that?
Why did I wish to find my mate?
Because I'm fucking realistic that's why.
Darren and Silas had taken me to as many doctors as they could find to try and see if 'anyone' could fix my vocal cords but it was useless.
They were shot, scar tissue was built up, they were healed in the wrong place, fused to another part of my throat.
It would be more damaging to me to go in and try to fix them and the odds of them actually working again were slim to none.
So no, I wasn't making a wish for my voice, besides, when I was phased in my wolf form it was there.
That little voice in my head, it joined into the many other voices around us, a good reason to spend most of my time in my wolf form actually.
Hence why I went for runs most nights, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends because I wanted others to hear me.
I wanted to howl at the moon like the animal I was, I wanted to chew the head off my Father and Dad for embarrassing me and during those moments, I could.
"Now, how about we go for a little drink after this lame gig and get the real party started," my friend Liam said, putting a hand on both Ivan and my shoulder and leaning his head in between us, trying to lower his voice enough to not be heard by my nearby parents or Grandfather but honestly, Liam was a dumb-ass if he thought he could keep a secret around here.
Just as the words passed his lips, my Father and Pack Alpha, Silas glanced over at the three of us with a brow raised, while Dad let off a low chuckle shaking his head.
Ivan lets out a loud laugh as well, just as my Father was about to walk over.
"No way Lee. My big boy and I have plans to crash at my place after this and he's going to see if he can beat my high score in classic Pac-Man. Which is going to take all night because he can't."
With Liam saying that, I watched as my father turned back to Papa and start talking again about Malachi's upcoming therapy session.
'Be outside my place at 10:30' Ivan signed, with a smirk checking around to make sure nobody was actually watching us.
I wanted to snicker along with him, laugh with my friends but I just had to nod and smile, hating the feeling at turned inside me.
I look over, as my eyes met Rudy's who's stood across the room with our friend Declan.
I nodded my head to the right, indicating that I wanted to see him outside.
I got out from my place at the table, telling Ivan and Liam, I would be right back, before sneaking out the back door, with Rudy following not far behind me.
Rudy and I didn't always get along, he had Ivan had gotten close once upon a time and it had admittedly made me jealous.
It was during one of my bad spots, Rudy and I had learnt to work together, on some parts of our relationship.
I walked out of the back-yard of my house, enjoying the cold night air.
It was only eight-thirty but the sun still fell behind the skyline.
The wind was chilly but it was to be expected for January.
"How much did you need?" Rudy asked, digging into his back pocket and pulling out a small baggy.
'Two should hold me over, until I can get to Taylor tomorrow.'
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I really wish people would do more research when it comes to Hearth and his language because ASL is not a form of English, it has been studied and decided itâs own language. Thereâs this thing called Glossing in ASL it is easy to research and learn how to properly use it to quote hearth or do something else to make it clear in some way that he is not speaking but using American Sign Language.
I kinda hate when I read mcga incorrect quotes and hearthstone is like talking because i mean...he only signs in the books soooooo lets listen to source material yall :))
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Tender Ch. 1 - Loki x Mute! Reader
Summary: Even though Loki doesnât understand why the new member of the Avengers should be kind to him of all people, he doesnât want you to stop either.
Warnings: Loki being depressed, the Avengers being kinda mean, mentions of Torture and Death
Words: ~2100
[Story Masterlist]Â [All of my Works]
All eyes were on him again.
As soon as Loki would step inside, the previously lively room would fall completely silent. Well, itâs not like he wasnât used to being the involuntary kill-joy...
Usually, the God of Mischief craved attention, may it be positive or negative -Â most of the time being the latter. But lately, after months of having all those distrustful and hostile glares piercing holes into him, heâd rather wish for the ground to swallow him whole.
âUmm, so...I gotta go.â Natasha was the first one to flee the unpleasant atmosphere, not even putting the energy into mutter anything else than a cheap excuse on her way out. Clint wordlessly followed her close after, but not without shooting the Odinson one last, spiteful look.
Loki on the other hand was picking on his hands, a nervous habit he had inherited from his mother. As much as he tried to avoid meeting their eyes, the tensioned aura they were emitting making him feel close to breaking down completely - but he would never give them the satisfaction to witness this, he swore to himself.
And yet: Maybe he should just leave. Disappear, forever.
Although heâd never admit, Loki had grown very tired of his life following this stirr path, unable to diverge into a new direction. Everything he did would ultimately bring death and destruction upon mankind, inflicting fear in the hearts of all people.
His whole existence was based on being condemned to fail - just for others to reach their âglorius purposeâ.
âGreatâ Tony scoffed. âNow theyâre gone. Well done, prince of nothing.â Steve cut his friend off, clearing his throat very exaggeratedly.
The god still hadnât moved from the doorframe of the conference room, while all others were already sitting on the oval-shaped table. He didnât got what all that fuss was about. If Steve didnât insist him to attend this emergency meeting, heâd just have gone about his usual business and avoided everyone as good as he could.
âCâmon, brotherâ Thor sighed, well knowing that if his brother was to stay in the team, it would ultimatively drive a wedge between them. All that pressure in the air was straining for everyone, including himself.Â
Tony on the other hand was pretty chill about everything, aside of being passive-aggressive. This was probably due to their similar coping styles.
Even though his near-death-experience back when he stopped the Chitauri was still eating on his mental health, heâd prefer glossing over it with stupid jokes and overly confident behaviour. âNo sassy remark today, Reindeer Games?â
Stark was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed as he rose an eyebrow on the god, who only muttered a hoarse âNo...not today.â
Yeah, it was kind of his style to break the unsettling silence through puny comments or self-glorifying speeches, to distract from his own insecurity.
But right now, he was just so damn tired.
Of this planet and itâs people, as well as the humiliating circumstances he had to dwell in. The fact that he was a prisoner at the Stark Tower, amongst his worst enemies. Being forced by his brother to keep up this meaningless act, as if heâd ever be seen as a team member or ally - when in reality, he was but a slave to the people he once ought to reign.
Just like back on Asgard: Never one of them, never belonging. No way to break free - for his true self was something to be loathed.
However, first and foremost the one thing he was especially tired of was himself, for he couldnât get out of his own skin. Not only could he never be considered a hero, let alone be redeemed.
After all the atrocities he had commited due to Thanosâ torture and the tesseractâs influence, now that he woke up from that naive dream of power stilling the emptiness in his dark heart, there was nothing left for him - other than to be haunted by his crimes until the mercy of death would overcome him.
âWellâ Steve began, slamming his palms on the desk to attract everyoneâs attention. âAs you all know, we are welcoming a new team member today.â
âThey all know?â Of course they wouldnât let him in on such sensitive information. Not that he minded either way - one Avenger more or less, it didnât matter how many people hated him in here.
âPlease, come on in.â
Loki cleared the entrance when he heared Tonyâs words, turning around in anticipation of another dull creature like the Hulk to torment him - but his calm demeanour dropped completely at this unusual sight:
âY-You?!â
That was simply not possible! The last time he had seen you was almost a year ago, and you were on the brink of death at that!
âFor everyone that doesnât know yet: Her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She is one of the victims HYDRA experimented on, and they succeeded in forming an artificial mutant.â
Steve went on and on explaining about your powers, but Lokiâs head had already turned on autopilot, the only thing he could concentrate on being how the hell you of all people ended up here.
All these months, he was desperately trying to get any information about you, all of his hints ultimately leading him to dead ends - and in the end, tragically believing in your imminent death.
The memories were still painfully vivid in his mind: It was his first mission together with the Avengers, at a HYDRA hideout with most likely no civil survivors.
Actually, he had planned to make his escape right when the others engaged in a fight, wandering the hallways of what resembled a torture chamber rather than a laboratory.
On the walls were several instructions, about a serum that might cause a human to mutate if they were exposed to unbearable stress - pain being the most effective method, apparently.
Yet instead of finding anything useful for his personal gain, he found you: AÂ beautiful woman, yet emaciated and lying in a puddle of her own blood. At first he thought you to be dead just like the others - but as soon as your faint whimpers drang to his ears, he burst the cell you were trapped in open, rushing to your side immediately.
âShh...â the god scooped you up from the cold stone floor, wrapping his cloak around your broken body. âEverything is alright now. Your savior is here.â
Loki gasped as he felt your hand stroking his cheekbone, even through all your pain and weakness wanting to bid your hero this due respect.
âHel...you humans are such fragile creatures...â Loki muttered under his breath, cursing his own lack of talent when it came to casting healing spells. âHang in there, look at me!â
Your eyes were teary and bloodshot, yet not less fit to bring across a message no words ever could: Incredible gratitude, and admiration.
He could tell you were close to passing out when your hand left his face, falling limp to the side. But he held you firmly in his arms, not once stopping to utter sweet words of encouragement as he made his way to the ship, leading you into safety.
âYour world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?â
Those were the words he once directed at Black Widow - but only now he understood her attempts.
Saving one person could never make up for all the lives he had destroyed - and yet he knew that for you, it would mean the world none the less.
In one way or another, with your life at his mercy, he began to finally grasp the preciousness of life, and doing everything in oneâs might to protect it.
âReindeer Gamesâ Tony tapped on his shoulders, making Loki wake from his pondering. âIâd appreciate if you didnât scare her away on the first day already.â
Oh.
Just now he was noticing his own grim expression, having towered over your much smaller form this whole time with furrowed brows.
âMy apologiesâ was his firm response, but you only shook your head, trying to tell him it was not a big deal.
So this was what you looked like when youâre not imprisoned, he realized when he took in your physique.
Much to his pleasure, all of your wounds had seemingly healed, and you finally gained some much needed weight. Like this, you looked so much more healthier - and most definetly even more bewitching than he remembered you.
If people had let him know, would he have visited your sickbed, aiding you towards health again? Who knows...
Yet somehow, he dwelled in the thought of you being able to lead a happy life now that you were free - which made your decision to seek out the Avengers in wish for more battles even harder for him to accept.
âYou are incredibly strong, Lady Y/Nâ Loki spoke firmly, everyone else rolling their eyes at his usual exaggeration - but you knew he meant every word. âBe sure of my eternal respect.âÂ
The God of Liesâ eyes widened in excitement when you directed a warm smile at him, knowing for sure that this one was genuine. It wasnât like those fake smirks the other Avengers gave him out of politeness, or the mocking laughs when they were making fun of or excluding him.
No - that one was just pure affection. And it left him in awe.
âThank you for saving me back thenâ you signed, just for Loki shooting you a puzzled look.
âWhat, I thought the all-tongue knows every language?â Tony yelled, as inconsiderate as always. Thor was quick to explain on his brotherâs stead, him still being deeply invested with you. âEvery spoken one, yes. ASL is not one of our fortes.â
Usually, Loki had always been a quick thinker. But right now he was to bewildered by your appearance that thinking straight was out of the question. Â
What language were they speaking of? And why have you not been saying anything up until now? Maybe his presence was making you uncomfortable, after all? Should he leave on your behalf?
To make it easier for him to understand, you rolled down your turtleneck, revealing the unsighty scar that covered your whole throat.
There were not many people bold enough to come close to the God of Mischief without warning, yet suddenly you simply took his hand and slowly led it to your neck.
How could you be so naive and offer someone like him such a vital spot?! Heâll never get the human philosophy...
And yet, the flabbergasted god hesistantly let his hand run over the scar, while you opened your mouth to no avail - for 11 months already, no tone would leave your vocal cords.
âIâm incredibly sorry...â Loki whispered with a sorrowful tone, while the others just stared in disbelief. âIf only I was able to heal this wound back then...â
What a puny god he was...and an even more pathetic wanna-be-hero at that...
He would try to take a few steps back, but you took a hold of his hand, squeezing it with both of yours, that cheerful smile not faltering in the slightest.
âPlease, donât be sad. Iâm only alive thanks to you!â Bucky, whose cousin was mute as well, translated what you were signing for Loki. His tone sounded quite irritated, not fitting those meaningful words. âI only wanted to join the Avengers because I want to be just like you. Youâre my idol!â
Those words touched him deeply, igniting a flame inside of him he thought long to be defunct. Was it hope?
Of course it was not nearly enough to pull him out of that deep, dark hole he felt trapped in for as long as he could remember - yet somehow, he now felt that it was not impossible to escape.
While the others were cringing at your declaration, making jokes about âchoosing wrong idolsâ or would plainly not believe Loki to have a positive effect on anyone, the two of you would just stare at each other in silent admiration.
Shyly, you signed yet another word for him - and this time, Loki would know what you mean from pure intuition.Â
He smiled.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Loki was able to smile again, just thanks to your heartwarming welcome. And he was still blissfully unaware about what effect you could have on him, if he was brave enough to let you close.
One thing was sure: You literally had him wrapped around his finger from the very start.
#Loki#Loki x Reader#Loki x You#Loki Odinson#Loki Laufeyson#Loki Friggason#Oneshot#Self Insert#Marvel#Disney#Fluff#Fem! Reader#God of Mischief#Loki / Reader
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I've seen a few posts here and there headcanoning characters as being deaf, and while I haven't seen this issue in this fandom yet I still feel like it's important to say: Don't infantilize deaf people!!!!
This tends to be a case of ingroance over malice, so if you are planning to make headcanons or write a character as deaf or hard of hearing PLEASE do research on Deaf culture!!! Especially if you are headcanoning a character as being born deaf! There is more to being deaf then speaking sign language ( which don't get me a wrong is a huge part of their culture and has a lot of intricacies that need to be researched as well, like classifiers and glossing! )
I'm not deaf myself but I took ASL all throughout High school and was lucky to have a teacher who was a hard of hearing man himself and a part of the Big D community. In his class we were taught not just the language but so much about the culture and history surrounding it. So please when making headcanons do your research and please don't infantilize deaf people!!!!! I've seen it in other fandoms where people make deaf people out to be pathetic or make deafness out to be such a 'cutesy wholesome' thing, don't do that!!! I know they don't mean to be ableist but it is, that weird babying stuff is not okay.
I'm not saying you need to become 100% fluent in Sign ( learning languages is tough, sign is no exception ) but at least do some thorough research on the language, the culture, and the history if you're planning on headcanoning and especially if you plan of writing deaf characters! Also be sure to research according to nationality because that does matter a lot too, ASL and BSL are not interchangeable and I'd imagine that applies to their culture as well.
#dream smp#mcyt#dsmp#( I remembered seeing a post that really ticked me off from a different fandom )#( its just gross when people treat disabled characters like babies )#( especially when I know those people fucking loathe being patronized like that )#( I might be able to help you find some websites and stuff if you want to learn more )#( but its been like 4 years since I took any classes so im very rusty sadly )#( you're probably better off contacting actual members of the D community if you are really curious about it all )
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