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typewritingyip · 15 days ago

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The Arcturus Missions

Part Thirty Eight - Rubble and Stone

Part Thirty Seven

———

Audio Recording from September the 26th, 1984:

“Hello? Are you able to hear me in the newsroom?” There was a light delay in the recording, “Yes we can hear you fine Andrea, how are things on the ground looking?” The pauses were long and painful, “Things are looking, well, their looking.” Her voice wavered, “They are looking pretty terrible here Martin.”

The man sucked in a breath, sighing it out shakily, “How do you mean?” Now the man’s voice was stressed, an anxiety to it, “Well Martin, the entire island is being evacuated as we speak by what remains of the naval ships in the area.” A pregnant pause followed again, as Andrea started crying,”So many of the building have collapsed, first responders are trying to get to any survivors.”

All the recording skipped for a moment, or it seemed to with the rush of noise, and then it was followed by her screaming.

End of recording:

There were dozens of recordings like this, from the first days of the war, videos as well, where Quintessons were seen for the first time.

They became a part of regular curriculum in public education across the world, based on region and connections to certain attacks. Wanting to ensure the education equally to the children of the war, to prepare them for a future that they know is inevitable.

Every child knew the sounds and appearance of the enemy, whether they wanted to or not.

—

The sun was bright, always bright on the sunbaked town at the end of summer turning to fall, and the desk was far too small for his growing frame. Though he knew a lot like his father, hell, his mother, he’d stop growing far too young. Not catching up to the ball players he idolized.

”Mr. Jackson, are you listening?” Looking up, Harold couldn’t help but frown, glancing at the blackboard for a moment before looking back to his teacher, “Uh, no.” To be fair, he had tried to listen, he really did.

Sighing, she shook her head before walking over to the desk and picking up the pink booklet. Rolling his eyes, he stood and gathered his bag along with his books, making his wavy to the front, “Harold, this is an important lesson. It’s the same thing as their teaching in detention.” She passed him the slip on his way out the door.

Every footstep made the classroom shake, the portable classroom the shining new thing that was sweeping the California school system. Cheap and somewhat earthquake resistant meant that they were everywhere.

Does not require water hookups most of the time and it makes students miserable with each footstep, it was perfect to their eyes.

It was hot, still well into the eighties if not the nineties when standing on the asphalt. The trek over to the detention room was always a bore. Nothing but asphalt and squared off rooms around the space.

The ramp up to the classroom shook while he walked, this place was just shy of a death trap, opening the door he was relieved by the light bit of air conditioning. Music was playing in the background as a few familiar faces leaned back in their chairs.

A television on a rolling cart was playing the all too familiar footage of the attack of Los Angeles, 1985. First US attack that had Mech suit assistance, “Have a seat, write a page on the effects the battle of LA had on you and your family please.” The teacher who sat over detention didn’t look up from his magazine.

Slowly sitting down, Harold sat back, kicking his feet onto the desk and closing his eyes.

It was stupid, writing the same report every year, no matter what school he was at or where in the world, it was always unbearable. Having to dredge up different perspectives and recall details he was barely alive for. Back when he was younger and his parents had to help out with it, he always saw the heartbreak in his fathers eyes.

His heart broke for his father, who wanted to be a pilot so badly, fifty one percent, he was a stinking fifty one percent compatible. Nowhere near close enough. But that isn’t what these teachers wanted to hear about, a zero on the paper that was hung in their hall.

No, they wanted to hear about how they preserved through tragedy. Like anyone was, glancing up to the TV, he watched as the room of one of the terminals at old LAX was collapsed by a thrown kaiju. A term that had been picked up from Japan, since no one knew what these things were or where they came from.

Tilting back in his head, he closed his eyes again, all he wanted was to take the failing grade and move past this stupid day. He’d rather be home where he was needed than here.

Helping his mom with the house, pulling his weight while his dad was at work, that was what he’d rather be doing. Or better yet, just the three of them up in the mountains, acting like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. That would be perfect.

But that wasn’t where he was needed.

He was only ten and knew his parents needed him more than he needed to write a stupid paper.

—

They lived in a small apartment towards the city center, it wasn’t much but it certainly was home. With his parents and brothers, how could it be anything else?

He was the second oldest of the five of them and tried to shield his brothers from what happened outside these walls. However he possibly could, including keeping the radio painfully quiet or insisting that they spend more time away from the apartment or school.

His father had been in the military when he was young, though now was just a steel worker while his mother was a secretary down at the hospital. They weren’t terribly well off, but what they lacked in funds they had abundance of love. Seven of them in their small apartment, poor and happy.

Even on a September day like this one, when the menace was on everyone’s lips and no matter how he and his older brother might try to cover their ears, even the little ones spoke of it.

Sitting around the living room, their small radio was bleating out the familiar story, the heartbreaking truth of their past, present, and future. Mykola, being the oldest, was in charge and watching them all while their parents were out. This day is not tragic enough to be deemed a national holiday by the government.

The only thing it was, was a day full of guaranteed propaganda for the USSR’s anti-alien robotic defense program through the Soviet Armed Forces.

Oleksknder wasn’t sure when he knew his brother wanted to be a pilot, but looking at him now he knew that is exactly what he’d go after when he went into mandatory service. His heart clenched painfully.

So many good people lived for those suits and died in them, he didn’t want his brother to join that list.

But as the radio squawked he could see the look in his brother's eye, the one full of determination and pride, the one he wore any time one of them achieved anything. If one of them did, it was like they all did, just he was the most proud of it. Always.

The little radio was droning on about the program, listing the current pilots, suits, and positions. To be honest, the USSR had not faced many attacks and their program was strong, stronger than others, mostly because of their focus on Tanker class suits.

Well, if his brother was going to become a pilot someday, then so was he. He couldn’t just let Mykola go out there alone, he might be a few years behind him but he’d get there soon enough.

When the propaganda ended, the list of soviet casualties was read.

That would go on for hours.

Standing, Oleksknder brushes off his shorts, helping his brothers up and towards the door. It was better to be outside than strain to recognize the names of the dead. Mykola didn’t move at first, still staring at the radio before standing and following them out.

No words needed to be exchanged, just one look for them to share a brief smile as they’d started down the warn concrete stares. They’d be pilots alright, some of the best pilots that they could be.

Even at fourteen and sixteen, those two knew what they wanted from this life, even the shitty parts of it.

—

Being a twin had a lot of perks, though a lot of them were only there if you were identical.

For Simon and Sonny, the best perk was always having your best friend right there, whenever you needed them.

Especially during kaiju-alien attacks, being with your best friend during the attacks brought enough peace of mind. It was just another attack, on a random school day, like any other of the thousand attacks that had hit Florida and the hundreds that had hit Miami.

Hiding under their desks while the room shook, it wasn’t any more terrifying than it had been in any of the previous attacks, but it was still never fun. This life, living in a place that was frequently attacked was just a way of life for a lot of people.

You don’t idolize the pilots like everyone else in the world seemed to when you saw them all the time, when their feet crushed your families car or when the building you lived in was collapsed. Of course you couldn’t locate them, but cursing their name was not entirely uncommon.

Sonny had his hands folded over his neck, head down and almost pressed to the floor. Legs pulled up under him and tucked as much under the desk as he could possibly be, chair turned to cover his right side and the left pressed against Simon.

Simon was sitting up under his desk, back pressed to his brother's side and chair pulled against his front. His legs were crossed and he was gripping the chair lightly. Every time the roof shook, parts of the ceiling tiles would crumble down on top of the desks and onto the floor.

Taking slow and deep breaths, it was just the waiting game, for the attack to be over or return back out to sea at least. The ground shook again. Sonny whimpered quietly behind him and he turned to his brother, resting his hands over Sonny’s.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re okay.” Several other students shushed him but he kept talking, keeping his voice low, “It’s going to be okay Sonny, I promise, we’re together. No matter what happens, alright? It’s better for us to be together then apart and something happened.” He rubbed Sonny’s back slowly, glancing around.

The classroom was small, there wasn’t much to it and there were only a few students in today. Probably only around six of them of the twenty student class, some people were able to evacuate further inland regularly but the ones who weren’t still went to the school.

It was the safest place for them.

Glass shattered as the school shook on it’s foundations and Simon covered Sonny the best he could, wrapping his arms around his brother and holding him close as ceiling tiles fell onto their desks, as the hall blew open.

They were just kids, so screaming was inevitable, especially as part of their wall comes down from the impact of a suit, pilots trained to try and avoid landing on buildings but it couldn’t always be helped.

This time, it was different, as a hand reached in and a panicked voice called out, “You kids have to evacuate, now.” Simon barely had to share a look with Sonny to remember their plan, both bailed from under their desk and ran at the suits.

Though it was his enemy, it wasn’t the enemy so grabbing hold of the suit was their lifeline in that moment. Something screeched in the distance, Sonny was up under his arm as they were surrounded by the suits hand.

He knew that right now he was comforting his brother, but the next time there was attack it could be his brother comforting him. Holding him close, he breathed slowly and deep as his class piled in around him.

None of them were going to die today, but clearly, it had been close.

Sticking to each other, the twins knew so long as they were together, anything could happen and it would be fine. They both understood this by the time they were eight.

—

To be fair, Detroit had stayed stable for the first chunk of the war and for that he’d always be grateful. The old industrial district was back in use for the first time, properly, in decades and life there was just shy of thriving.

His mom worked in the military suit program factory, was paid well enough for the three of them and that was enough. The three of them against the world.

September 17th was one of the few days during the year that his mother could take off easily, but there was rarely a reason to, today was an exception as Joshua was running a temperature and Rico had been throwing up for the better part of the morning.

So they were getting to spend the morning together, but because of that, their mother wouldn’t let them neglect their education.

Sat on their futon, the small TV was turned onto the history channel, running the typical September 17th special. Going through video footage and interviews throughout the whole day.

He was almost happy to be sick, it was easier to sit at home and watch the interviews with his family than his wise-cracking classmates. Sharing a look with Rico, Joshua sat back into the blanket, tugging it around himself before sneezing.

The TV rumbled on, “Can you explain to us what you’ve seen?” The reporter's voice was strong and not shaking like those who’d seen the attacks, Rico sighed a bit, frowning, “Do you think this is why people become pilots? By watching these videos?”

Joshua chuckled a bit and shook his head, “No, they probably become pilots by seeing this stuff, the numbers on the suits don’t change much.” Nodding, Rico tilted his head slightly, “Oh.”

Their mom moves over, setting up the dinner trays with a light smile, the smell of soup coming in from the kitchen.

Even though they were sick, the boys wore matching smiles.

“Alright, soup will be ready soon, then we can switch to HBO. Sounds like a plan?” Rico grinned and nodded, Joshua shifts a bit, “Are you going to sit with us?” She smiled and brushed a hand over his curls, “Of course.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen again.

Sighing slowly, he sat back and looked back to the TV, watching as the footage on screen showed a pilot well and truly bodying one of the freaks of nature that wanted their world. Smiling a bit, he sits forward and watches the suit's movement with wide eyes, “Wow.” His heart was racing.

Rico shoved his shoulder, “It’s just old footage of eleven.” Joshua smiled, “Being a pilot looks so cool.” But they both got quiet when their mom came back in, holding two soup mugs.

She settles in between them while flipping to HBO, Rico diving into his food while Joshua mixes the ice cube into his soup.

There could be an attack happening anywhere right now, but they could keep it far from their minds at least for today. That was enough, had to be enough.

He was glad that they could be together on the anniversary, it was never easy and being able to stay together meant everything to him. Even at eleven, he preferred to be tucked up on the futon with his mom to watch a movie than nearly anywhere else, his little brother on her other side.

—

Hound woke up in the rubble, his head was spinning and ears were ringing, groaning as he tried to get his suit to respond. Having to adjust his connection, he winced as it snapped into place with a shock through his implants. It took another minute for him to be able to pull himself up.

It was the first time in months where the suit felt like a suit, instead of the familiar extension of himself and in a way he was grateful for it. Desperately trying to bring his systems back online so it wouldn’t overheat or worse, he got the suit to its knees. It blue screened for another moment before finally coming back online.

His mind melding with the machine again as he cleared the worst of the issues in the system. Now was the hard part. Trying to get out of the rubble, leaving chuckles of plating and the suit behind, it was hard to balance the damned thing.

Gasping lightly, he straightens as everything comes back into focus, getting on comms as fast as he can; rubbing at his head weakly, “Arcturus, sound off. Now.” It was a long moment, it seemed to drag on for an eternity, before there were groans on the other end of the line along with a weak voice or two.

Looking around, the area was unrecognizable and Hound swore.

”Whose alive, damnit.” He stumbled over a chunk of concrete, swearing again while part of the plating on his foot tore away.

The building had blown apart like it wasn’t made of steel and other metal, like it was a timber house hit by a tornado. Glancing around, Hound tried to clear his vision of the dust which was sticking like glue. Stumbling over another chunk of building, he almost crashes into the ground.

Sideswipe was the first to come into view, he was holding up Sunstreaker who was missing one of his bracers as the lower half of his arm was laying in the rubble, “Well, shit.” Hound didn’t know what else to say really, scrambling over, resting a hand on Sunny’s shoulder, “Are you alright? Manage to cut your lines?”

It was obvious that he’d cut his lines, but he couldn’t keep the question down. It was standard procedure, but few pilots had ever needed to follow it.

Nodding a bit, Sunny was holding his arm to his chest, “Yeah, I’m okay. I did, I panicked when the building fell.” Nodding too, Hound sighs with relief, “I’m glad that you did.” Patting his shoulder, he sighs again and turns to Sideswipe who was almost in a worse state.

His suits had evidence of crush, then again all their suits probably did but the crack down on his visor was slightly stressful along with the separation in the front of his suit. His plating was scratched to hell and most of the red was gone too, it looked like he’d been dragged through the rubble.

”Easy on your feet, Sideswipe.” Sides nodded slightly before bending at the waist, coughing roughly, and likely getting sick. Hound for the moment was glad he couldn’t see the poor guy.

Jazz was the next to appear, his armor scratched but without any other major complications, but his voice was pained, “Prowl’s stuck.” Hound nodded and looked to the twins, “Try to find Breakdown, and,” There was a moment of pause, “The others.” They nodded before he followed Jazz through the debris field.

Glancing up, he honestly wanted to swear, and swear loudly but the ship above would have to wait till he knew everyone was safe. A nearby speaker attempted to squeak out something that sounded vaguely like Huntington Beach, but his foot collided with it before it could squeak another name.

He swore again when they stepped into a bit of a hole, just barely avoiding hitting Prowl.

There was energon everywhere, one of his doorwings was pinned under a beam and one of his legs was stuck up under a collapsed wall. Jazz slid down and gently held Prowl’s face, “Hey, we’re going to get you out of here.” Prowl groaned and leaned into his touch, “I thought my days of having buildings collapse on me was over.” He tried to smile, but it was pained.

Taking a breath, Hound moves over and looks to Jazz, “Lets get his door wing free,” He nodded and the pair moved to get Prowl free.

—

Sideswipe had pinged Elita three times since the building collapsed, his head was spinning and his body ached, but he was up out of the piloting chair for an easier movement. Sunstreaker kept a hand on his back, trying to keep him upright as they stumbled through the rubble.

The blast had done more than collapse the building, because of course it did, but right now they did not have the time to survey the damage. There was still at least five mecha still missing, maybe six.

He swore when his foot got caught in a hole, wincing when someone under him swore louder, “This is a shit show.” But Sunny was already down, shoving him away and clearing the debris from Bluestreak, he looked up for only a second, “Help me!” And Sideswipe froze.

It was hot, because of course it was hot in Florida, but this was not what he expected to come home to. They didn’t live in a large apartment building, just a few stories, but this was still horrible.

“Help me! Simon!” He wasn’t sure if Sonny was yelling now or in the past, but he fell to his knees and started digging. Just as he had done then while a backpack slung over his back, to now digging out the mech he hardly tolerated.

Bluestreak groaned, pulling his arm out from under the rubble, “Damn, that hurt.” Neither pilot spoke though, just digging him out from under the rubble. This was an all too familiar hell.

It was only when he was able to sit up did Sunny say anything, throwing his arms around, “Thank god you’re okay, oh my god.” And Sideswipe knew that tone, had heard it a handful of times in his life and it made his heart ache every time, “I’m okay Sunny, are you?” Bluestreak pulled back to hold Sunny’s face, frowning, thankfully not yet noticing his missing limb, “Fine, I’m fine. Let’s get you up.” Sideswipe quickly went back to clearing the rubble from Blue’s legs, not looking at Sunny, just getting the work done.

He didn’t realize how heavy he was breathing, till a hand landed on his shoulder, “Sideswipe, it’s okay.” He glanced up, staring at Bluestreak and then his hand for only a second before going back to shifting the rubble. Sunstreaker fell back in next to him, shifting the larger pieces the best he could, “You’re missing an arm?!” Sideswipe tried not to smile, glancing at his brother, “No. It’s just over there.”

If the situation wasn’t so horrible, he’d probably laugh. He pinged Elita again.

—

Hound slid back down the side of the rubble, the familiar sound of seekers above almost brought his eyes up but that wasn’t the priority yet. He glances back at Jazz, who was helping Prowl along, one of his door wings was hanging at an awkward angle that honestly looked incredibly painful.

Glancing around, the only ones in view now were all the pilots but Breakdown, then Prowl and Bluestreak. The Prime, Protector, Mirage, and Knockout were still missing along with Breakdown. Swearing again, Hound finally comes to a somewhat level area, “Arcturus, round up. We have five people missing in the rubble, fan out to find them, now.” He looked around at them all.

His heart sank a bit. Sunstreaker had one hand which was currently being held by Bluestreak, who looked worse for wear himself with crushed and scratched plating, along with an optic dark. Sideswipe was standing in the typical shell shock position of a pilot, the suit stiff with his head angled down, his red plating reduced to the familiar military style metal. Turning a bit, Jazz’s skuffed plating came into view and the slightly energon soaked Prowl with his damaged door wing. And honestly, Hound didn’t want to know what he looked like.

Taking a slow and shaky breath, he tries to compose himself, “We have to find the Prime and Lord High Protector, whoever else we find we let them know the standing situation. We’ll deal with the Quints once we know they are safe, Iacon has safety guards in place for this reason. They’ll stay up there so long as we’re scrambling down here.” He shifts his feet a bit, “Remember the Battle of Savannah, alright?” Sunny shifted a bit.

“Almost ten thousand people died that day, Hound.” Sighing and nodding, Hound looks around, “Today isn’t exactly going to be a clean slate either.” Turning away, he steps back towards an area with splattered energon, “We don’t stop looking till we have the Prime’s order.”

Slowly they all fanned out across the destruction.

Hound was glad to be the first to find people, but not enthused by the sight. He fumbled slightly sending out the ping for an alert as he slipped down the crumbling surface.

Knockout was crying, sobbing honestly and hadn’t been blown away from Breakdown like the rest of them had from each other. Then again, Breakdown’s suit was one of the heaviest available for a tanker. No, he had his arms wrapped around Breakdown’s middle, arms over his cockpit.

The rest of him was in a bad state. His head was barely hanging on, with the visor dark and it likely had disconnected the majority of his cameras.

To the Cybertronians, he’d probably look dead with how much of his paint had come away. Except for the fact that he was desperately trying to shrug Knockout off of him, “I am fine, let me up.” Hound smiled a bit, trying to get over to them without falling again or losing any more of his own plating, “You’re hurt! You’re worse than hurt! Your kind is cruel to make you think that you can keep going in this state.” Breakdown groaned and finally stood, stumbling as the head of his suit pulled on its few remaining connections.

Hurrying forward Hound grabbed Breakdown’s shoulders, “Steady, hold still.” He made quick work of getting the head back up at least, doing the most rudemarty repair of bending metal to hold it in place. Knockout made strangled noises of pain, probably. Hound holds the sides of Breakdown’s head for a moment, “Bring your lower cameras online if you haven’t, we’ve gotta find a few more people.” Breakdown’s hands covered his for a moment, fingers twitching as he likely went through his settings, “Damned thing.” He couldn’t help but crack a smile, patting Breakdown’s head very lightly.

What he didn’t expect next was Knockout pulling him away, knife pressed firmly to the cabling at his neck, “Your butcher surgery is pathetic,” his own reaction surprised him, hand coming up and grabbing then breaking the knife.

Gritting his teeth, his visor darkened to the glare they’d taken to, hand grabbing the front of Knockout’s plating, “You threaten me again and I’ll send you to the after-Spark the most painful way I can.” His voice was deep in the threat, the hold denting Knockout’s plating. Keeping him there, Hound took a slow breath, watching as his suit started to recognize the medic as a threat; “This is in fact your only warning Doctor.” Looking back over to Breakdown, he let go and turned away.

“We’re still looking for Megatron, Prime, and Mirage. The Lord Protector and Prime are priority,” he got a ping from Sunstreaker and swears, “Alright, try to clear this area, you steady?” Breakdown looks over and gives a thumbs up, adapting to avoid nodding his head already.

Sighing deeply, Hound hurried off.

—

The entire place was in shambles at best and Sunstreaker was trying not to panic, panicking would get him nowhere other than The Crash. He wouldn’t have thought so if the edges of his vision weren’t red.

Now he was kneeling on the ground with Sideswipe, pulling up rebar from the rubble, trying to get to whatever was tapping the surface from in the pile. Both were working with a practiced ease, even if this was a more typical rescue class job, “Who do you think would be tapping?” He glances as Sides but pauses.

Sideswipe was staring very intently at the ground, digging and pulling away the remains of the bar.

Carefully, Sunny reaches over and rests his hand on his shoulder, “Hey, we’re all alive. The cybertronians are a bit harder to kill.” Nodding slowly, Sideswipe finally looks at him, “You screamed the same way you did for dad.” He stared for a long moment before looking to Bluestreak, who was with Prowl as they dug in a different spot, “Yeah, I guess I did.” He shuddered a bit.

After another moment, Hound nearly fell into their hole they were digging, his equilibrium thrown off just a bit from the whole building landing on them all. It would be a miracle if any of them walked away without a concussion, “What are you hearing?” Then returned the tapping sound, Hound only had to listen for a second before moving to help.

They all were pulling up chunks of metal, broken off and sheared off pieces that would cut the lines of their friends, large sections that would take more than one of them to bring out.

None of them even knew who was stuck, but it was at least one of three. That had to be answer enough.

———

A/N

So this was not where I planned to end the chapter. However the chapter is about twenty words shy of 5k. So… Yeah, more to come on Tuesday!

Also, the beginning is what they are all seeing while unconscious. :)

TAGS

@lunarlei68 @whirlywhirlygig @loop-hole-319 @pixillandjester @alek-the-witch @not-a-moose-in-disguise @goddessofwind8water @neurologicalglitch @dersereblogger @pixel-transformers @mrcrayonofdoom @wireplaces @twilightfreefaller @original-blog-name-2 @devilangel657 @robbin-u @miniartistme @starwold @tea-enthusiasm @valeexpris606 @celticdoggo @bird599 @agentsquirrelsgotrobots @aquaioart @thatwandercat @artdagz @seisha974 @halenhusky309 @leethepiper @cat-cassette @sirassban @cosmique-oddity @garbageenthusiast @xervias @azulabutterfly @fryseem @spring-mc @echo-circuit @aghostsnail @wooblewooble @ask-glory-haddock-and-others @nonsscrapheap @magichats @iminahole247 @omgflyingderpywhale @thetrexartist @naaaafam @elegantmantaray @emichusai @waterlilykitty @diabolichare @ham4ponyo @osqindaxend @sunnyvibesanddoodles @ratatatata248 @ijustneedausernaneplease4444444 @sprook-children @fooolisher

And once again thank you to @Keferon for this amazing AU

#transformers #maccadam #the arcturus missions #tf mecha universe #tf mecha au #mecha pilot jazz au #mech pilot jazz au #hound #breakdown #sunstreaker #sideswipe #knockout #prowl #bluestreak

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cheshireliam · 1 month ago

Text

"The Past Records: Liam Evans & Harrison Gray" Party Event: Chapter 2

Beyond The Red Herring

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting

Ellis: “There’s no need to get along”... I can’t imagine you two ever saying that to each other right now.

Roger: So how did you end up getting along?

Liam: I think our first mission together acted as a major turning point in our friendship. Do you still remember it, Harry?

Harrison: Yeah, of course.

Harrison: We were completely out of sync back then, compared to now…

Harrison’s lips twitched like he just swallowed something bitter, and then he began recounting the events of that mission—

<< Harrison’s POV >>

Our first mission was to investigate a corrupt police officer who aided in a criminal's escape in exchange for monetary gain.

But the target realised someone was watching him, and set up a trap for us instead—.

…

While hiding ourselves behind a shipping container, we struggled to catch our breaths.

Liam: *pant*, *pant*... Harry, you alive…?

Harrison: … I am. Also… don’t call me by any nicknames.

Liam: Ahaha… if you still have the energy to complain about nicknames, I guess your condition isn't too bad…

Superficial wounds caused by bullets grazing our skin marked our arms and legs.

They weren’t life threatening, but our situation was far from ideal.

Liam: … I can’t believe we walked right into a fake deal and almost got killed by mercenaries hired by the target.

A certain phrase suddenly came to my mind, “Red Herring”.

It was a classic misdirection tactic seen in mystery novels, used to lead the reader away from the truth by diverting their attention onto something false.

We had taken the bait and failed to notice the mercenaries sneaking up behind us.

Liam: At a glance, I’d say we have about 10 of them surrounding the warehouse.

Harrison: Sitting here won’t solve anything. They’ll discover us sooner or later. We’ll make a move at the same time.

Harrison: They don’t seem very skilled. With two of us striking together, we might be able to create an opening.

Liam: Okay, counting down. 3…

Harrison: 2…

Liam: 1!

Liam jumped out of hiding first.

Liam: Eh!? Why didn’t you move on “1”!?

Harrison: I thought we were counting down as in “3, 2, 1, go”...!

Liam: You should’ve said so earlier!

That was no time to be squabbling about our differences in countdown methods—

Male Mercenary: They’re over there! Kill them!!

— Several guns pointed at us.

…

Alfons: What would your way of counting down be, Lord Elbie?

Elbert: Ready, go?

Liam: Lord Elbie’s so cute!

Ellis: What about Jude?

Jude: Use yer brain to figure it out.

Liam: Jude’s harsh!

Jude: If ya really need one, I’d say “ready set go”.

Liam: Oh, that’s exactly what Harry said later on!

Harrison: That’s because no one in their right mind would get confused with that simple three-step countdown.

Harrison: Anyway… we really were completely out of sync back then.

Ellis: But since you two are still alive, that means the mission was a success, right?

Harrison: Kinda. Honestly, it was sheer luck.

— And so, the Lying Fox recounted the past once more.

…

Liam: … Good work, Harry.

Harrison: … You too.

The men we took down laid unconsciousness around us.

Liam: Still… ahahahaha!!

Liam: Messing up a countdown…! I… I’ve never been in a near death situation over something so stupid before…!

Harrison: Haha… it really is stupid.

Free from the crushing tension of a life-or-death situation, we felt an odd sense of camaraderie.

Liam: Your shooting was amazing, Harry! Every bullet fired was bullseye!

Harrison: You’re exaggerating. It wasn’t that perfect.

Harrison: Besides… I was only able to aim well because you kept disappearing and throwing them off.

Liam: Ahaha… then I guess this win belongs to both of us

While still lying on the ground, Liam extended a hand toward me.

The day we first met, I saw through his lie about us possibly “getting along” and refused to shake his hand.

(But I guess it’s fine now.) .

Acknowledging that we survived because of both our efforts, I reached out and shook Liam’s hand.

Harrison: … But I do have a complaint about the way you fight.

Liam: Whaa? A complaint?

Harrison: You kept running right into my line of fire. What if I shot you by mistaken

Harrison: The way you move, it’s as if…

I couldn't bring myself to say it was as if he “had a death wish”.

Liam: Ahaha… I just like the thrill.

Harrison: Have you already forgotten what my curse’s ability is?

I hinted to Liam that I knew he was lying.

He responded with an awkward laugh.

Liam: Right. You can tell when I’m lying, huh.

Liam: The reason why I never hesitate to put myself in danger…

Liam’s lips were moving, like he wanted to say something, but the words never left his mouth.

Liam: Huh? That’s strange, sorry… I can’t seem to put it into words.

Harrison: … You don't have to.

Harrison: Like I’ve told you before, we’re only colleagues.

Harrison: The only things we need to be telling each other about are the signals for making a move during missions, and details of our abilities…

Harrison: How fast we can run, how well we can swim… that sort of stuff.

Harrison: As for the things buried deep within your heart… there’s no need for me to know about them.

Harrison: Just as long as I know you’re the kind of guy who willingly throws himself into danger’s way, that’s enough for me.

Liam: … You’re kind, Harry.

Liam’s soft voice melted away into the night air.

At that moment, I thought of the term “Red Herring” again.

Just like how a mystery novel misled its readers, diverting their attention from the truth…

Perhaps, I was also being misled by lies and thus unable to see the real Liam.

#ikemen villains #ikemen series #ikevil translations #cybird ikemen #cybird otome #otome #liam evans #harrison gray #ikevil collection event

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mostroloungeofficial · 1 month ago

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Blazing Jewel event - Octavinelle dorm practice story

Please note I may make mistakes but I wanted to try a translation of the story of this part.

Ep 1

🐙 Today we start preparing for the music concert "Blazing Jewels"! Have you heard our dorm song, "Entanglement"?

🦈 Yeah. It's a cool song, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to singing it!

🐬 Me too. I like the jazzy melody and the mature atmosphere. But we have to come up with the choreography for some parts, right?

🐙Yeah. We have to think about what kind of choreography to use with the song... it's a part that tests our sense of style. Well, with us three, singing won't be an issue. We'll have plenty of time to come up with the choreography. I already knew our singing ability back in middle school. It saves us the trouble of improving our singing skills, so we can focus on coming up with choreography and expressing each part.

🦈 Even if you're good at singing, are you and Jade okay with dancing? It took you two twice as long as me to be able to stand and walk. You can't dance if you're bad at using your feet. I don't have any problem.

🐙 I can't say that there's no problem yet. But I'll definitely get it done. There's still plenty of time until the announcement. I can practice as much as I want.

🐬 Yes, I'll do my best too. I'm also interested in the act of "carving handprints".

🐙 Oh. I'm surprised you're interested in handprints.

🐬 When I looked up how to make handprints, it seems that you press your hand into cement made from a mixture of limestone and clay to leave a mark... As the representative of the Mountain Lovers Association, I thought I should experience art that makes use of natural materials.

🦈 Jade still likes weird stuff. I just want to beat the other dorms at singing and dancing.

🐙 Hehe... Although our reasons are different, all three of us seem to have the same desire to liven things up more than any other dorm. Let's get pumped up and practice for the live show!

🐬/🦈 Understood. / Ok.

–

Ep 2

🐙 I want to practice the dance especially carefully. Today, let's think about the choreography for the arranged parts. What kind of performance would be well received by the audience...? But it's hard work trying to appeal to the masses. The scope of the research is too broad... It would have been better if it were a competition that was evaluated by judges. If they had done that, I could have researched the preferences of all the judges and their past evaluation trends, and come up with a performance that would suit that... Well, there must have been some intention behind them asking Night Raven College students to perform. What do they want from us, the students… Let's analyze carefully and think about our performance!

–

Ep 3

🐙 ♪Now, let us hear your wish~ ...Yes. My voice is in perfect condition today too. But if I put a little more vibrato into this part, the expression of the song might have more depth. To make the vibrato resonate beautifully, it is essential to practice long tones. I should incorporate this into my daily singing practice plan... But in fact, wouldn't it be better to add a fall rather than a vibrato...? To improve the accuracy of our performance, I should try out all the ideas I can think of. Let's compare several patterns on a recording and consider which expression resonates best with the audience.

–

ep 4

🐬 In middle school, I formed a band with Azul and Floyd... but I never thought the day would come when we would all work on music together again. When we first formed, we each had different ideas about the direction of music we wanted to play, and we often clashed. Even after we decided on the songs, we just couldn't get along... it was a really hard time. I wonder what will happen this time. Hehe... I'm looking forward to it.

–

ep 5

🐬 Singing won't be a problem with our group, but I'm worried about the dancing. Land dancing is different from sea dancing, which uses tail fins. I haven't danced with human feet very often. Before I can match the rhythm and learn the movements, I have to wonder if I can move my feet the way I want to... I'm worried, but it's exciting to try something new. Let's do our best to leave our handprints in the "Groovy Arena."

–

ep 6

🦈 I've been listening to "Entanglement" a lot lately. It fits my mood right now. The eerie feel of it, like jumping out of a dark place to scare someone, is interesting so I never get bored of it.Ah, wouldn't it be cool if we incorporated that kind of feel into the choreography too? I think Azul came up with the choreography for my arranged part. Oh well. I'll work on with my thoughts in mind too.

–

ep 7

🦈 ♪ Dance, your swaying heart left and right, an illusion seen through closed eyes - Ah, maybe I sang pretty well just now. "Maybe I should do it like this?" I thought and came out of the classroom right away and it was the right decision. I think I'll sing it a few more times before I forget how it felt. When I stood up during class, Red Squid-sensei just gaped at me like a mackerel and then looked angry for some reason. The next time we meet, he'll probably give me another long lecture. Well, I'll ignore him. I'm still not tired of practicing our performance... I'll make sure I don't get caught.

–

ep 8

🦈 I want to practice dancing while looking at a big mirror, is there a good place? Come to think of it, I heard before that there is a room in Pomefiore where all the walls are mirrors... Shall I go there now? But it's a pain to go all the way there... ... Hmm? Hey, maybe this window in the hallway could serve as a mirror? Let me try stepping. ... Ah, I can see my feet clearly after all! Oh, I don't have to go to another dorm. I found a good place. Let's practice here.

–

ep 9

🐬 (Cough, cough... )

🐙 Jade... Did you just cough?

🐬 Yes. Sorry, was I too loud?

🐙 No, it's not that! We have a live show coming up. We need to keep our throats in top condition. Take these throat lozenges, they're great for moisturizing the throat. And put on a mask right now! That's right. I'll turn on the humidifier too. We need to make sure that Floyd and I keep our throats in good condition too.

🐬 This is, the best I can ask for.

🐙 If you can't sing properly during the live show, all our practice will be for nothing. Of course you need to take care of your throat, but you need to make sure you're in good physical condition too!

🐬 That's great. (Cough) Oh dear, that cough just now was just from inhaling dust while I was cleaning...

–

ep10

🐬 ♪Future disappearing like bubbles - it all depends on you - Phew... Just as I thought, it feels good to sing in the clear early morning air. It was worth getting up early. Now that I think about it, I once heard that it felt good to shout "Yaho!" from the top of a mountain, so I tried to do it... Then, just like now, I felt a sense of excitement in my heart. So it might feel good to sing from the top of a mountain. I'll try it next time.

–

ep 11

🦈 Hmmm, hmmm… ♪Let's turn here...

🐙 Floyd? Why are you practicing your dance in the middle of this hallway?

🦈 Oh, it's Azul. This window reflects your whole body, so it's good as a mirror.

🐙 I see. It certainly is a good place to practice... No, we should avoid dancing here after all.

🦈 What about it? Why? You're not going to say something lame like we'll get in the way of the dorm students passing by?

🐙 What I'm worried about is if there's a spy from another dorm. If we practice in such a conspicuous place, it's the same as making the performance public.

🦈 It doesn't matter if people see us. We're performing different songs for each dorm, so there's no way they're going to copy us. If you're really worried, Azul, prepare a different place to practice. It's tiring to move around to practice.

🐙 Let's ban the common room from entering for a few hours a day, except for the members who will be performing in the live show. Just for that time, we'll prepare several full-length mirrors in the common room. What do you think?

🦈 That's fine. Well, get it ready.

–

ep 12

🐙 We've decided on the choreography over the past few days, so today we'll try to work the dance together as a trio.

🐬/🦈 Yes. / Ok.

🦈 Haha! What was that dance of yours just now? It was so bad!!

🐙 Be quiet, Floyd! I think everyone is like this when they first start.

🐬 As I thought, the way you dance with your fins and your feet is very different. When I was turning, it was hard to keep my balance and I thought I might fall.

🦈 It's funny to see you two dancing I'll record it on my phone.

🐙 Hey... Don't take pictures without permission!

🐬 Azul, calm down. Isn't it more likely that Floyd, who doesn't take pictures even when I ask, is recording us? If you watch the recording, you can look back on which moves you're not doing well.

🦈 Right. I'll share this hilarious data with you later, so you can watch and realize how bad you guys are.

🐙 Damn it! I can't stand being left in such a shameful state, but this is all for the sake of improving my dancing... If that's the case, then let's improve as quickly as possible!

–

ep 13

🐙 It's been a week since I felt saddened by the poor performance of my dance and Jade’s... We have been working hard every day to improve our dancing. Today, let's dance smartly!

😺 What's up Azul. Were you bad at dancing? I'll laugh at your bad dancing!

🦈 Oh, it's the seal and the shrimp. Did you come to see how we were doing?

-Sorry to bother you

-Please let me have a look

🐬 Please feel free to watch as much as you like.

🦈 Have you and Azul really improved in a week? If you haven't changed, I'll squeeze you.

🐙 Oh, so scary. But I don't think you'll be disappointed.

🐬 Of course, me too.

🦈 Wow, you two look so confident.

🐬 Hehe... I studied a lot about how to dance with your feet, not your fins. I promise you that I won't show you a pathetic side by focusing too much on dancing and neglect my singing.

🐙 Let's start practicing. I'll show you how much I've improved... the results of my efforts!

–

ep 14

😺 I thought I'd laugh at Azul and Jade's dancing, but... they weren't bad at all!

-I was fascinated

-They were also good singers

🐙 Hehe, isn't that right? This is the result of our efforts!

🦈 Both of them were hilariously bad at dancing until recently... Your legs seem to be moving pretty smoothly today. Did you use some kind of magic?

🐙 No. I just spent all my free time practicing dance.

🐬 I also watched the recordings of my dancing over and over again, striving to improve my movements.

🐙 Hehehe... I've improved so much in such a short amount of time. If you keep practicing like this, the crowd will definitely go wild! If I do that, in the future, my name will be widely known to the world!

🦈 You don't really need to make a name at the live show... If I uploaded a recording of that crappy dance to the internet wouldn't it be a quick way to become famous?

🐬 Certainly, I found it interesting when I watched it myself, and it may actually create a buzz.

🐙 I see. Nowadays, there are ways to earn money from videos through ad revenue and support from viewers, so maybe it's actually possible...? ...No! I really don't want to make a name for myself with such an embarrassing video.

🐙 Honor must come from having your name engraved in the music hall!

😺 Hey, henchman. There's a video of their terrible dance moves. Let's get it secretly!

-Let's stop it.

-I'm a bit curious...

🐙 Come on, you two! Let's practice to perfect our performance!

🐬/🦈Let's do our best. / Ok!

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst spoilers #event translation #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech

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slcmml · 3 months ago

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ted & reader. fluff.

★ ted insists on finding a night with clear skies. he’ll excitedly show you the weather app, pointing out the ideal stargazing conditions.

★ he knows a secluded hill just outside the city, free from light pollution, where the stars shine their brightest. he’s so happy to take you.

“i can’t wait for you to see this, babe. it’s so fuckin’ pretty.”

★ ted brings along a thick blanket for you both to lie on, ensuring comfort as you gaze upwards.

★ a thin blanket as well in case you get cold, but that’s what he’s for so you don’t really use it anyway.

“how are you always so warm, theo?”

★ he packs your favorite snacks and a thermos of hot cocoa, knowing that a warm drink enhances the experience. at the moment, he doesn’t think he’ll want any hot cocoa, so you definitely end up sharing a cup.

“can i have another sip, please, baby?” “y’know, you don’t have to ask, theo, go ahead.”

★ ted enthusiastically identifies constellations, sharing interesting facts and myths associated with them. (he only knows about this stuff because when recording for a video he went down a huge fucking rabbit hole about astrology and astronomy).

★ lying side by side, you both delve into meaningful conversations about life, dreams, and the vastness of the universe.

“do you think we’re together in every universe, theo?” “why wouldn’t we be?”

★ ted brings his camera, trying to capture the beauty of the night sky (and you). even if the photos don't turn out perfect, the effort and shared laughter make it worthwhile.

“theo, get my good side.” “you don’t have any bad sides, baby. jus’ lemme take sum photos of you, ‘kay? wanna capture your pretty face under these pretty stars.”

★ noticing you shiver, ted drapes his jacket over your shoulders, his arm lingering around you to share warmth. oh, god, does he share it because he is a human heater.

★ he definitely pulls you up from the blanket at some point to dance with you. either plays music from his phone or sings it himself. either one is cute though.

★ whenever a shooting star streaks across the sky, ted nudges you gently, reminding you to make a wish.

“whaddya wish for, hon?” “i can’t tell you, theo, or it won’t come true!” (you wished you could spend the rest of your life with him).

#slcmml posts #is this cute #i think it is #not proofread btw #didn’t feel like it #i love theo #he’s my babygirl #ted nivision x reader #ted nivison #take it easy podcast #take it easy #chuckle sandwich

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cringearenachamp · 19 days ago

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The Trial By Fire Debacle, Part I

(this party sucks... i'm bout 2 ditch)

If Steve didn't want to come back to Journey after Street Talk, he EXTREMELY didn't want to come back to Journey after For the Love of Strange Medicine. Both of his solo albums were about making steps forward on his own and trying to find his own independence, and each of those experiences were cut short for various reasons, many of which were outside of his control.

In this circumstance, though, it's at least partially Steve's fault: not leaving the band cleanly the first time around meant that he was still tied to them and to their label, and thus both still had a certain amount of leverage over him. He wasn't fully free-- that sword of damocles was always dangling over his head. The first time he tried to release a solo album in 1988 or 89-- Against The Wall-- was shelved because of that leverage (honestly though FTLOSM is SO much better). Why didn't he just leave the band? Pride, for one obvious reason. Maybe a little bit of denial, too-- he wasn't in the best head state at the time, and he might've been thinking in far more short-term ways without thinking of any long-term ramifications, simply because he was in panic mode. Avoidance, shame. There might have been financial reasons to remain tied to the band, too, though: he had to take care of his dying mother while working on the Raised on Radio album, and then other relatives of his passed away as well. There might have been various things in his life, including that, that made having some kind of income more desirable despite the money he already made with the band. Who knows really, though!

Anyway(~~~), as mentioned, the record label Steve had a contract with was the same record label that Journey was signed to. That label knew they'd make more money with a Journey album and a reunion-- band reunions were popular at the time, and the Eagles one was perfect boomer bait (my parents went to one of those shows lol)-- than they would with a Steve Perry solo album. In the end, he was able to release that album, but all promotion of it was tied to agreeing to do a Journey album next. (A mutual also mentioned that the song Anyway off of FTLOSM, his sort of apology song to the band, might have been a label ~requested~ addition, which makes things even spicier... still seemed pretty honest and introspective in execution, though, regardless of how much he was made to write it)

Steve had been able to start to figure himself out and grow at the cost of avoiding all his past stuff with Journey. Now he had to face all of it. To make matters worse, he had performed through a bout of walking pneumonia on what would turn out to be the final dates of his solo tour that seemed to noticeably weaken his voice. Or, at least, it hadn't fully recovered by the time he had to get in the studio with Journey. The last time he had to perform with the band when his voice wasn't in prime condition was 1991, during a memorial concert for tour promoter Bill Graham. In a 2018 interview he called it (paraphrased) one of the worst experiences in his career.

Apparently this was something of an impulsive decision on his part-- a lot of his appearances with the band have been like that (his first exit from the band also seemed impulsive, at least in execution). His voice was definitely rougher than usual-- at times it was a bit reminiscent of Rod Stewart-- and he forgot the lyrics to one of the verses of Faithfully (and all the lyrics were taped on Jon's keyboard). It was also tuned down, and this is apparently something Neal hates to do. He was also kinda trying to hype everybody up but it was a memorial concert and everybody was probably blazed out of their minds anyway because the Grateful Dead had played before them, lol. The body language between everybody seemed really awkward and stiff. Steve used to really enjoy connecting musically with Neal: that was probably something that didn't happen here. And that seemed to hurt a lot. To outside ears and eyes this didn't seem *that* bad, even if it wasn't ideal. But Steve was already a perfectionist, so he probably saw this as multiple kinds of disaster-- made worse by having to do it all in front of Herbie and Pat Morrow (friend of Herbie's and road crew bigwig), his Nemeses within the band basically-- so it wouldn't be a surprise if he was catastrophizing a bit. Fast forward to the Trial By Fire sessions, and all that shit was probably in the back of Steve's mind.

His voice was noticeably weaker and raspier even than on his last solo album, but I don't think it detracts from anything. He's always been good with working with what he has, even if he himself is highly critical of it. The music was... well, in my opinion, it was a mix. There was a TON of songs, though. I'd argue a bit bloated, but at the same time, I understand the context: it was the first album by them in ten years, and they wanted to give the fans (and the label...) as much as they could. Message of Love has that darkness motif again: "I walk alone in the dark/without you/and deep in the shadows I run/without you". The very next part, too: "And here I stand/the king of fools/now love's here/where are you?" That, to me, is like, "yeah, I'm a fucking idiot for how I handled all this and I feel like an idiot. But I missed you, did you miss me?" Even if this was something forced by label bullshit and his own mistakes, he still missed Neal, at least, and he wanted to make it work for him.

(he probably had this shit taped up to his various engineering console doohickeys)

A lot of the songs on the album, including Message of Love but also Forever in Blue and If He Should Break Your Heart, deal with unrequited yearning for someone already in a relationship. Can't Tame The Lion references both Don't Stop Believing ("one night in Detroit, I swear I saw you, standing there") and Stone in Love ("one summer of dreams, down by the river"). There's also a part where he sings about "the embers of reckless years", and, well, Steve feels a certain way about a certain guitarist's recklessness. This song in and of itself is something of a love song to Neal's playing, and it ends, appropriately, on a solo from him.

One More is an interesting, sort of abstract one. Lots of religious imagery but it doesn't necessarily seem happily-religious-- it's an angry song, and the imagery sort of apocalyptic (which matches the album cover, a bit). There's a demo Steve sung on before FTLOSM called 'Lost Angels', which also has religious motifs but in a similar sort of uneasy or even critical vein that hints at a belief in god but a distrust in or outright dislike of religious authority (in later interviews, he says he considers himself agnostic, basically). At first I wondered if this added extra layers to his dislike/distrust of Jon Cain, but Cain wasn't actually super religious at this point, so I think it was more like both of them were working through some things and eventually arrived at VERY different conclusions (Lost Angels is a VERY important text in itself, though, so that'll be its own post...!).

Then there's the big hit.... When You Love A Woman. Yawn. It smells like Jon Cain in here all of a sudden. Not my thing! So of course this is the one that exploded and was nominated for a Grammy and all that. There's a sad irony to it, as well, if so much of Steve's life in the early 90s was about self-actualization and exploring himself and there he is, stuck back in the place that had stifled that self-actualization, singing ballads about women (not that he hasn't loved women in his life-- more that a particular expression of it is there as a harder-set expectation again). Then again... something for the lesbians! Ha.

So musically it isn't perfect or at least isn't 100% my thing, but I still found a lot interesting on here, and it's very clear from the lyrics that Steve really wanted to make Neal happy and felt a lot of angst over being good enough for him/the band (and even more than that, he really wanted Neal to see him). The fact that Neal agreed to move on without Herbie must have given Steve a lot of hope that things could work out and that Neal would understand his side of things; he definitely thought Herbie was *THE* problem. And he was one *of* the problem*s*! Of course... things are never as simple as you'd like.

And of course this couldn't be a single post! There's so much drama around this time, and some of that will be talked about later...!

*UPDATE*

-i have to keep it 100 with the 'it smells like jon cain' joke for the ballad: steve can be JUST as much of a sappy cornball lmao

-the steve-trying/exploring-christianity-again angle was something i didn't know when i first wrote this and the other TBF essay and that makes certain lyrics extra ambiguous because if there's one thing i know about christian rock dorks it's that they love singing about jesus like he's their boyfriend. like having it be about neal is cute but it could just as well be about the literal jesus fucking christ. lol

#Serious Yakking #now will i talk about ALL the drama... probably not omg because there's so many different sides and angles to it #but i will figure something out lol

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telvess · 2 years ago

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Record of Ragnarok Hermes (headcanons) 🔞

It came out a little chaotic... I got lost in halfway. If I'm making any significant mistakes, feel free to tell me.

SFW That guy is like a walking enigma. He behaves elegantly and kindly, always has excellent manners, not to mention his perfect tact, but something in your gut tells you it's not entirely sincere. Don’t get me wrong, you aren’t that perceptive: Hermes letting his perfect image… loosen up a bit. It’s funny. He always says something almost innocent as if he learnt what innocence means yesterday. He likes playing these kind of sweet games where you both know he isn’t honest and you try your best to expose him. If you manage to succeed, forget about praises or any other reward. Hermes would just smile or pretend innocently how unexpected that was, eh… I believe Hermes doesn’t have his type. The only condition that really matters is if a person can intrigue him. He likes challenges or being the challenge. Get his attention and keep fuel curiosity. Doesn’t matter if you are goddess or human, he would be genuinely impressed if anyone surprise him with something. That doesn’t happen often. If he catches some sort of feelings towards someone, nobody would knows. Yes, Hermes is nosy, always knows what’s happening in others’ lives, but he’s way too clever to give even the slightest hint that something is going on in his love life. For Hermes falling in love is a game but whoever falls first - loses. So romance with him is slow burn kind. I allow the possibility of enemies-to-lovers trope. If, hypothetically, some minor pantheon feuded with Zeus and Hermes would be sent to deliver the threat so that they know their place-… I meant message with some kind of advice, he might come face to face with s/o. The conversation may not be spicy, but it won’t be nice either. Full of subtexts, small provocations and fake smiles, everything on the verge of politeness. Hermes would come back without a scratch, but it definitely didn't go as expected. If at the end both sides find some reasonable compromise, Hermes and s/o most likely would end up seeing each other more often. Maybe because of their duties, maybe because they happen to be in the right place and time. Half the time, they'll have their small banters. Usually Ares is part of them because he overheard something - in his opinion - disrespectful and he tries to backup his brother, but he’s so incompetent that even he realizes it himself. At that point it’s usually too late for prideful man as Ares to call it off so Hermes has to come in a clutch and safe his butt. And no - Ares never learns from his mistakes. The next day he would fall into the same trap again… Sometimes it even leads to situation where everyone is against everyone. Hermes won’t be playing on violin just for s/o, but if she joins him during the play, he won’t mind her presence. In fact, he would like to talk about it afterwards. It works both ways - he won't be pushy either, but he would be kindly interested if she mentions her hobbies and is willing to share. The tension between them builds slowly over time. They both know that the other feels the same, but they don't act on it. I think it would go from like zero to hundred in a moment. Single spark and suddenly they kiss and touch each other without hesitation. It's hard to tell if they would become an official couple. They might as well be in open relationship or just friends with benefit.

NSFW I see him as a switch. He is used to serve Zeus and others so probably feels a need to be in charge and take care of a lover. On other hand, if you insist to be top and just tell him to relax, he’ll accept the offer. He secretly likes being care of but would never admit it. It’s new to him - be able to just empty the mind like that. I think he has a thing for long neat legs. I don’t know why. It’s nice addition, like the icing on the cake. He loves having them around his waist or placed on his arms when he basically fold you in half. Hermes likes to talk during act. He’s one playful guy. Telling you what he’s about to do, a bit of dirty talk here and then, definitely some praises. He has really good voice for that and knows how to use it against you. He’s pretty creative and open to suggestions. As long as you aren’t in pain, Hermes is up to anything. He doesn’t have his routine, just goes with the flow. Sex with him is rare, he’s busy man, that’s why he wants to make the best use of that precious time just between you two. Top notch in aftercare, hands down. That’s like his natural environment. He always makes sure you’re comfortable. Massage, bath, breakfast or any other form of tenderness you can think of.

I was woken up by intense smell and strange, omnipresent wetness. I opened my puffy eyes and once I realized I’m in the water, guided by instincts and fear, rapidly tried to get up. — Shh, calm down — I heard right next to my ear. Someone’s slender hands surrounded me in waist, forcing me to stay in sitting position. I let out a surprised sigh but didn’t oppose. I looked over my shoulder to see Hermes’s calm face. Leaning against his chest, I could feel the warmth radiating from him. — Where-re we… how… — I mumbled not fully awake yet. — You passed out — Hermes explained. Memories of our last ,conversation’ flashed back to me, and then my face exploded with heat. An egg could have been fried on my cheek. I was hoping that Hermes didn’t notice my embarrassment. Pathetic daydream… He knows everything about everyone before others. — Oh… I didn’t have to turn around to see his smile. — Judging by your body language, you didn’t seem bored with our experience. That’s why I took it as a complement. — Hermes pretend to be lost in thoughts, his voice was on the verge of innocence he imitated so well. — Whatever you like. — I gave up. He had upper hand here. — Do I interpret it correctly? Am I sensing submissiveness? — No… — Sulky mood then? — I don’t have strength for that… — That’s not very alike you. — I felt his chin on the top of my head. — Perhaps I should’ve thanked you for all these sweet gifts you gave me. I sighed. Something in his voice awaken me completely. — How much I hate… — I turned to face him. — Yes? — Hermes enticed me. I could see sparkles of joy in his eyes. — … how unbearably witty you are. — I finished angry. The corners of his lips lifted a bit. — Thank you — he said calmly. I just shook my head and came back to old position. We sat in silence. My mind went to previous events that leads me to this situation. I may have started our little tête-à-tête, but he was the one who dragged it to breaking point. I remembered his nimble fingers, smooth voice as he whispers to my ears, gentle and tender gestures, the patience, and finally his steady, firm thrusts as he filled me over and over. I lost track of time, at some point everything stopped when Hermes was playing with my body in so many different ways - from the most ordinary, to extravagant, to promiscuous positions. Being at his mercy was… pleasant. — That was very nice — I whispered. — Yes — he admitted silently, next to my ear. Whether he really thought so, or whether his impeccable manners spoke through him, I will probably never know. Still, I felt absolutely no need to worry about how I fared compared to his other lovers. I was just enjoying the moment.

#record of ragnarok #shuumatsu no valkyrie #shuumatsu no valkyrie x reader #ror x reader #record of ragnarok x reader #snv x reader #ror hermes #snv hermes #ror hermes x reader #snv hermes x reader #udj

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daisyaiha · 5 months ago

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Cosmos | Chapter 2

Pairing: Felix x Bang Chan x Hyunjin x Seungmin, Lee know x Han, Changbin x I.N

Genre: Sci-fi, historical, boys love, fantasy, action, mystery

Content warning: angst, fluff, oral violence, neglecting, trauma, hyunchan moment, Seungmin is a trigger

w'c: 2.3k

~ In a universe that encompasses everything that exists, Yongbok stands in between the space and the being that controls the reality of living.

The ample act of breathing had become hard, as every breath he took hurt. The freezing atmosphere had seemed to petrify his whole body, like he had gone to space without proper clothing, and his eyes, though open, could not discern anything in the pitch-black darkness that enveloped him.

Parting his trembling lips, he tried to speak, but his voice wouldn’t come out, an echo of desperation trapped within him. Each syllable he desperately attempted to form only ignited the silence around him, a soundless universe that felt both vast and suffocating. He called out to no one, to somebody, to anybody—hoping that his unvoiced cries would somehow break through the invisible barrier surrounding him. His mind conjured vague shapes, familiar yet distant, faces that seemed to blur at the edges, flickering like a forgotten film reel.

Suddenly, an overwhelming sensation washed over him, and the floor beneath him vanished. He felt himself falling, an uncontrolled descent into an abyss that threatened to swallow him whole. Desperation clawed at his stomach as he threw his hands against his chest, hoping to relieve the increasing pain there—a gnawing pressure that felt like a thousand tiny knives embedding themselves deeper with each heartbeat. He was drowning, suffocating in invisible water, the weight of it all pulling him deeper into darkness. Patches of blurry images flashes across his eyes. The vision of his encounter from the early mornings of today being played like a tape record.

Yongbok woke up at a time different than he was used to as he fell asleep too early from reading a book that had strongly caught his interest. For the first time in a quite a long time, he decided to step outside his bed chambers, finding himself agreeing to the thought of gracing the halls another glance. Voices from afar could be heard which was such a curious thing for an ungodly hour like this. People are not to be awake at such time, do they? Or is Yongbok far too copped up into his own that he has failed to notice such changes in his people's behaviors?

"Do not utter such words!" He heard a familiar voice slip out of one of the doors, one which was slightly ajar. "He must be removed from this manor, your grace!" A very daring man raised his voice in front of his father. "He is my son, you do not make decisions for him. I do!" His father's voice starts to sound more like the noises Yongbok heared just before his mother had died. "The emperor has demanded, your grace! We cannot afford to displease him! We must take this opportunity to better our reputation and send that thing to Levantyr!" A lot more voices started to deepen the sword being stabbed at his father. He cannot please himself and everyone in this circumstance. He must choose. And Yongbok just knew too well what he would do.

"Isn't that the emperor has already crowned a star to be queen?" Curious tones volumed out. "That is a fact. But I believe that the person in position does not have the ability to bare a heir, the concubine is of similar condition too. Therefore, our young master would be the perfect choice for his majesty." The nameless advisor explained, it is very much obvious that he wanted Yongbok out of this family immediately. "But he is far too young, your grace." He heard Minho's voice. Why was she there? She cannot argue with these unreasonable men. "It does not matter. The emperor fancies pretty faces, I believe that is enough." The advisor replied instead, he really was hell bent in kicking Yongbok out. "Such lowly servant dare speak?" Some other men began to whisper among themselves.

Having too heard too much already, Yongbok runs back to his room. Failing to notice how he had made such a huge sound that gathered the attention of everyone inside the meeting room. Taking another step he heard Minho’s voice, but the floor below him started to crumble. As he plummeted, panic gave way to clarity. The walls of his mind began to peel away, revealing the raw, jagged edges of his fears and hopes. He found himself surrounded by shadows, figures shrouded in uncertainty, each one a manifestation of his regrets and desires, their faces obscured yet hauntingly familiar. They beckoned to him, urging him to let go of the burdens he had carried for too long.

“Can you hear me?” he mentally shouted, his frantic thoughts cascading into the darkness around him. “I'm begging you, please. Somebody, help me.” But the void remained indifferent, each cry swallowed by the chasms that rippled through the expansive emptiness.

Just as despair began to overwhelm him, he felt a shift—a gentle push from behind. An impulse, a glimmer of hope rippled through his chest, as though something deep inside him stirred awake. Gasp. He opened his eyes, though he hadn’t realized they had been closed, and wondered if perhaps he could reshape this silence.

"My dear, you're awake."

The voice was soothing. Like a river's water gently following down the path created. Yongbok dragged his eyes open, a haze lifting from his mind as he took in the space around him. The room was dimly lit, with soft shadows dancing along the walls, the scent of blooming jasmine wafting through the open window. A slender hand came to his face, its touch gentle and tender, brushing a wayward strand of hair away from his forehead and tucking it behind his ear.

Yongbok's heart fluttered at this unexpected intimacy. He shifted slightly, trying to gather his thoughts as he focused on the figure beside him. The man was beautiful—his features sharp yet elegant, with curly dark hair framing his face, reminiscent of the way his mother used to describe the stars. She would say they glimmered like countless little jewels against the deep backdrop of the night sky, and now he understood her words in a way he had never appreciated before.

"Who are you?" Yongbok managed to croak, his voice hoarse.

The man smiled softly, revealing a row of perfect teeth that seemed to shine even in the dim light. "My name is Hyunjin." He paused, smiling at Yongbok with his gaze piercing yet warm before looking back towards someone at the door. "You there, get him some water."

Yongbok's pulse quickened as he pushed himself up on one elbow, the memories flooding back like a storm. The argument with his father, the desperate need for escape, and the moment he’d stumbled harmlessly into the river, which had swiftly turned violent. Fear washed over him again, but Hyunjin's calming presence steadied his racing heart.

“What happened?” Yongbok asked, anxiety creeping into his voice. “I thought I was… I thought I was drowning.”

Hyunjin’s expression shifted slightly, the gentleness remaining but tinted with a hint of sadness. “You were dreaming, dear. But you're awake now. Here, drink some water.”

Yongbok blinked, still processing Hyunjin’s words. There was something ethereal about him, like he existed between realities, part of both dreams and memories. “Where...where am I now?” he asked before drinking the water, not only seeking the answer about his whereabouts but about the turmoil that lay deeper in his soul.

Hyunjin looked down for a moment, gathering his thoughts. However, before he could say something, someone knocked at the door. "You're highness? His majesty has asked for your presence." Hyunjin dragged his eyes up to meet Yongbok's ocean ones.

Yongbok felt exposed, as if Hyunjin could glimpse into the very core of his being. “I’m just… lost,” Yongbok admitted, his vulnerability slipping through his defenses. “Tell his majesty that I am on my way.” He stroked Yongbok's cheek before standing up. "That is fine my dear. I had hoped that our time together be much longer, but I'm afraid I would have to leave you with your thoughts for a while. I promise to make it back as soon as his majesty lets me." His voice a soothing balm.

Yongbok could feel the weight of every word settling into the depths of his heart. He looked out the window, taking in the sprawling landscape that surrounded them—a tapestry of lush greens and colors, vibrant and alive. A new world began to blossom in his heart.

“Is this Levantyr?” he questioned as he took in the beautiful scenery.

Hyunjin nodded, his smile returning. “It is. If you need anything, you can just tell the maids outside.” Yongbok considered the offer.

In the heart of the grand castle, where the air was thick with the scent of burning incense and the distant sound of laughter, a tension lingered just beneath the surface. The lavish tapestries that adorned the walls, rich with stories of battles won and feasts celebrated, seemed almost inconsequential in the dimly lit chamber where Hyunjin stood. Every step of his reverberated with a sense of foreboding; the Emperor's aura was palpable even before he entered.

“Your majesty, you called for me?” Hyunjin bowed deeply, the ornate floor cool under his fingertips. Across the massive mahogany table, the figure of the Emperor loomed, a powerful silhouette carved from the finest stone. His broad shoulders cast a shadow like a protective canopy, masking the vulnerability beneath.

He set down the ink-stained quill, the parchment filled with proclamations and orders. He folded his arms, muscles rippling beneath his finely woven tunic, each movement deliberate. “How was he?” His voice rumbled through the chamber, a thunderous echo that sent shivers down Hyunjin’s spine.

“He has woken up, Your majesty,” Hyunjin replied, voice steady yet strained. He kept his gaze downcast, unwilling to meet the intense stare of the Emperor who had captured his heart yet broken it ever so slightly.

With a heavy sigh, the man rose from his seat. His towering form moved effortlessly toward Hyunjin, the heat of his presence seeping into the space between them. Hyunjin’s heart raced; this man was both his greatest love and his deepest wound. For a fleeting moment, he wished to melt into the very stones of the castle, to avoid the inevitable collision of emotions.

“Are you still angry at me, princess?” his voice softened, almost a purr as he hooked his finger under Hyunjin's chin, lifting it gently. Their eyes locked, and for a heartbeat, everything else faded.

“I do not dare feel such things towards your majesty,” Hyunjin asserted, though his tone lacked conviction. He felt the truth behind his words crumble.

A smirk curled on the man’s lips, a bold challenge dancing in his dark eyes. “Why the ‘your majesty’ then? Am I not your husband?”

With a tenderness that ignited memories of their sun-drenched mornings and whispered dreams, he cupped Hyunjin's face, drawing them closer. The kiss that followed was feather-light yet electrifying, a balm for the wounds wrought by royal duties and unspoken expectations. Hyunjin’s resolve shattered, and he fell into the embrace, gripping the Emperor’s arm as tears betrayed his stoic facade.

As they broke apart, the man wiped at his eyes, trying to reclaim the semblance of composure. "I hate you, Christopher," Hyunjin whispered, each word laced with the weight of their shared history—of secrets kept, promises broken, and the harrowing battles fought in silence.

Christopher's expression softened, his gaze filled with a tenderness that made Hyunjin feel cherished despite the rift between them. “I love you too, princess,” he murmured, wrapping Hyunjin in a tight embrace that felt like home.

Time seemed to stand still as Hyunjin melted into him, surrendering to the warmth, the rhythm of their hearts in sync once again. The moonlight spilled through the tall windows, casting a silver glow across the chamber, illuminating the troubled expressions etched on Hyunjin's face. He had hoped their stolen moments could shield them from the chaos of the world outside, but reality clung to them like a heavy fog.

"The child seemed scared. I do not know what I should tell him. He has many questions, Christopher." Hyunjin's voice quavered, and he looked up at the Emperor, desperation mirroring in his eyes. He could envision the innocent gaze of the child they had brought into their lives, a fragile soul lost in confusion and fear.

Christopher, regal and steadfast, traced a gentle finger along the curve of Hyunjin's jaw. "Then, we must tell him the truth."

Hyunjin's breath hitched, and panic flashed across his features. "That we had taken him away from his family? I cannot tell him that!" The thought of breaking that child's heart felt unbearable. "You do not need to, if you do not want to." Christopher murmured, his voice steady and calming, as he tucked a few strands of Hyunjin's hair behind his ear.

In a moment that felt like a fragile promise, Christopher pressed his lips against Hyunjin's once more, seeking to soothe the storm brewing in his lover's heart. But the moment was cut short as the sound of loud footsteps echoed outside their sanctuary.

The door swung open with a crash, revealing a flustered guard. "Your majesty, your highness. His highness Seungmin had forcefully entered the young master’s room. He would not allow us entry."

Hyunjin's heart dropped. His worst fear had come. Seungmin, with his mischievous grin and chaotic energy, was unpredictable at the best of times, but now, with Yongbok in question, Hyunjin felt a chill of dread wash over him.

"I have to go," Hyunjin said, a sense of urgency propelling him forward, brushing past the startled guards as he made his way down the hallway.

"Hyunjin, wait–!" Christopher called after him, but he was already barreling through the opulent corridors, heart racing. Each step echoed in his mind: the child’s frightened face, the countless unanswered questions swirling like a tempest inside him.

#stray kids #seungchan #skz #skz smut #scifi #alternate universe #hyunlix #hyunchan #seunglix #chanlix #straykids fanfic #magic #historical #outer space #fluff #light angst #obssesive #crazy

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venomvalley · 9 months ago

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Hi Ro! I was reading your post on the American Appalachia and I'M REALLY CURIOUS, outside of (or as well as if they are connected, I can assume they might be) the mining issues how's climate (in general) and climate change there? What are the major issues regarding it, if it is a concern, and how does it impact local politics?

Or is it something not discussed or is it not even a problem out there much at all? THANKS!!

thank u SO much for this cause i wanted to discuss this way more in the original post but its a very big (and very important) topic to cover, and i HOPE that all this jabbering actually answers ur questions!!

this is probably gonna get long… once again

edit: it did

to get straight to the point, central appalachia’s environment has been absolutely destroyed by both strip mining and mountaintop removal (which is just strip mining to the most destructive degree imaginable aka they blow the mountains up), and has been a “ground zero” area for clear effects of climate change.

here’s an article that details the process of mountaintop removal. the pictures are devastating.

“With 95% accuracy, analysis shows that nearly 1.2 million acres (10% of Central Appalachia) have been surface-mined for coal. It also revealed that more than 500 mountains have been severely impacted or destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining.”

^ that study was published in 2009 btw.

this website showcases 21 studies that reveal just how severe the effects of MTR have been on our health and economy. a very very good resource.

A 1,000 YEAR EVENT

the most devastating event that happened as a result of climate change from destructive coal mining techniques is the 2022 eastern kentucky flooding. i’m gonna rant about this a bit because i was actually there, so bear with me. but it’s a perfect example to use because of so many factors that play into why and how it happened, and how the victims were treated because of the stereotypes our region faces. a good event to tie every topic together, if u will.

the thing is, central appalachia is no stranger to flooding. heavy rainfall regularly causes runoff from the mountains to fill up water sources and flood holler roads. it happens quite often and has been since i can remember.

but why does it happen?

one factor is lack of vegetation and packed soil. the mountains are still steep, but losing valuable plants and trees—and thus their roots—means that the water is unable to soak into the ground on the way down, resulting in more water pooling into flat areas (where we live).

another factor is the rising heat from climate change. higher temperatures correlate to more intense rain storms.

to get back to the 2022 flooding… between july 25th and july 30th, parts of eastern kentucky (and to a lesser extent, other parts of central appalachia) experienced near-constant heavy rainfall that resulted in flash flooding. in the most affected areas, almost 16 inches of rain were recorded, while other areas received between 6-10 inches (for context, thats over 600% of normal rainfall; the chances of an event like this were 1 in 1,000 years). it was a complete weather anomaly.

here’s a half-hour documentary made by the center for rural strategies (an organization that centers around improving economic and social conditions for rural communities) about the flooding. i really recommend it if you have the time because it puts human stories to the tragedy.

13 counties were declared federal disaster areas, 45 people died, thousands of people lost their homes, and it took weeks to get the final death toll number because of all the devastation. everybody sat around their tvs waiting for the daily updates from the governor, where he counted the new death toll and gave speeches of strength and resilience to his fellow kentuckians, as well as his talks with the federal government regarding a plan moving forward.

(theres a reason why he’s one of the most popular governors in the country)

it’s been over two years now, and the area is nowhere near healed. people are still homeless. there’s still millions of dollars worth of damage that will probably never be fixed. every time it rains, the region holds its breath.

i won’t talk much about how people across the country mocked central appalachians with “thoughts and prayers”, laughed at us, blamed us for being poor, and celebrated the deaths of so-called “bigots” (multiple drowned children amongst them). but it happened. i probably still have the dozens of screenshots somewhere. i cried a lot during those few weeks.

i say all of this because the effects of environmental destruction and climate change has very real victims, a vast majority of which live in impoverished areas with a lack of resources to rebuild, and scientists expect things to only get worse around here.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

there’s been both progress and regression made in terms of laws and regulations surrounding strip mining in appalachia that goes back decades.

in 1977, president jimmy carter passed the surface mining control and regulation act after advocacy groups lobbied for almost a decade, which was a law designed to regulate the use of strip mining. the fact that it was even passed is a fucking miracle considering the pushback from coal companies and multiple rewrites that had to be made which watered down regulations (this is what allowed mountaintop removal).

in the final days of bush’s presidency, he passed a regulation that allowed mining companies to dump their waste into our waterways, and it was later tossed out by federal courts with the help of the national parks conservation association.

in 2014, the house of representatives passed a bill that made it easier for coal companies to poison our water supply with mining waste from mountaintop removal sites. it reinforces bush’s 2008 regulation.

but things aren’t all bad.

the appalachian citizens’ law center is an advocacy group started in 2001 whose cornerstone is environmental justice, the rights of appalachian people, and client representation in the court of law. amongst other things, they fight to give us safe drinking water, hold coal companies accountable for fracking waste, and restore rights to landowners.

many appalachian advocacy groups (as well as others) are fighting to pass the environmental justice for all act, which does… a lot of amazing things for many communities across the country that are disproportionately affected by pollution, namely communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous communities.

here you can find a cumulative list of many laws and regulations passed in the name of environmental justice, as well as more advocacy groups than i can name here.

“THE WAR ON COAL”

unfortunately, not every appalachian believes in the environmental devastation. older folks around here are much more prone to be pro-coal and anti-climate change, while people around my age are more radicalized about the damage that’s been done. (it’s why older people vote in favor of every politician—always a republican—who seeks to bring back the glory days of coal country, and is one of the biggest reasons why trump became so popular around here after his “war on coal” angle).

like every community, individuals carry different beliefs, but the generational gap has never been made more clear than when looking through the lens of coal.

and it’s not entirely due to stupidity or a rabid fetish for self-destruction. our elders wear rose-tinted glasses when the men talk about their mining days confined to a couch or bed because of their oxygen machine, their quality of life destroyed by black lung. the women remember getting up at 4 am every morning to prepare their husbands’ lunches for their days underground, with the kids wearing brand new clothes and the space under the christmas tree filled to bursting with presents and food always on the table.

my generation only remembers the devastation. the far-off blasts that seemed to shake the mountains. looking up at the sky on your way to school to see a wasteland where the trees used to be. all the flooding. parents fighting over bills after mass layoffs from the industry. seeing your daddy succumb to the evil of lung disease.

and therein lies the grey-lined dichotomy of appalachia. the pervasive ignorance that plagues us, driven by the “good times” where families had a good source of income even if daddy died in a mine shaft collapse, or he broke three vertebrae in his back and fell victim to opioid-pushing doctors, or he picked up the bottle one day and started abusing his family but mama had no choice but to stay.

the problem is that appalachians are desperate for a solution, and coal is the only money-maker they’ve ever known. we desperately need a new industry as a driving force for the region’s prosperity, but the federal government is perfectly fine to leave us in the past while the rest of the country moves on. it’s not a black-and-white issue like the rest of the country makes it out to be. they just didn’t experience the rise and fall firsthand, of having everything and then having nothing in the blink of an eye, so it’s easy to mock a group of shunned people while they’re already at rock bottom.

appalachia is a region of rose-tinted nostalgia. of forgotten people. of resilience in the face of tragedy.

#i think this explains very nicely why i never stfu about appalachia #i will always advocate for my home #i will not let people forget about us #appalachia 101 #asks #onlyasimp4-2dbitches

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beoljibentertainment · 14 days ago

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Live 2015.06.12

Pairings: Nara (OC) x Super Junior (all platonic)

Warnings: use of the word fuck one time

w.c: 1,9k

English isn't my first language, so it'll probably have some mistakes — I'm also trying to use quotation marks, but in Brasil we usually write dialogues with dashes, that's why it'll probably look so off

*the Kims are Heechul's staff

The members were exhausted from practice. Even if they were excited for the 10th group anniversary and the fact that Devil had a more laid back choreography – compared to the ones they had presented in the last decade –, it was undeniably exhausting.

They wanted it to be perfect.

They also needed to train the other choreographies. When Sorry Sorry started to play, they would all grumble, not even one of them could stand dancing it anymore. However, being it the song that made Super Junior one of the 2nd generation most famous bands, they were really grateful – and there were still people who hadn't seen it live yet. They couldn’t let the ELFs down.

The members would record videos to catch who was making mistakes and who was off beat. Sometimes, if it was already dawn and they wanted to go home, they would do the butt spank thing to those who made mistakes, in a Pavlov way of conditioning. If someone slept, they would throw water at them and they had to say “Thanks! It's refreshing”.

In some ways, they were still the same people from 10 years ago, with a lot of anxiety to debut…

Nara knew she would perform old songs like U in Hangeng’s place – sometimes in Kibum and Sungmin place too – and, although she liked to have lines and a good dancing spot, she always thought how it would be better if the ex members were there, all of them together. She doesn’t know if it was because of her age or the anniversary thing, but all of that was making her really emotional.

On the other side of the room, Leeteuk opened a live video on Super Junior’s official Instagram account, to answer questions and show how hard they were training for the comeback. Heechul was beside him, talking with the fans and reading the comments, almost too entertained being the star to let Yesung answer some other questions.

Every chance he got from Heechul was instantly blocked by Eunhyuk’s voice mimicking him, never letting Yesung finish a sentence. It started funny, with some eye rolling and forced laughter from an already exhausted Yesung, but it progressed to a stressing movement that would end up in another fight in the group. Every time his mouth opened, the younger one would start imitating him and Ryeowook could only laugh as Jerry was tortured by them again and again. Oh, poor boy.

In a swift movement, Heechul grabbed the phone from Leeteuk’s hand and brought it with him when he moved closer to the sofas, where the other group was gathered in their rest time. He didn’t care about how unprofessional the angle he was holding the camera was or how the headlines would appear the next day when he accidentally recorded Nara hugging Siwon by his waist, while his arm pulled her close by the line of her shoulder.

The fans went crazy in the chat.

Some hated it. Of course. They loved Siwon and wanted him for themselves. Nara had already kissed Eunhyuk the year before, had some really sensual dances in music shows and wasn’t she engaged to G-Dragon? They didn’t like the way they were holding each other, but maybe they couldn’t see that they were just friends.

The ones that could were mesmerized. They loved it! Their friendship was iconic, the royalty of physical touch – and they had been around for enough time to know how the two of them would just casually do this to any member. If it was Siwon with Heechul, they would love it. Why couldn’t they accept she was a plain Super Junior member as well? And that she was going to be friends with the boys?

Well, they didn’t know that, a few minutes before, he was comforting her because of the sadness of not having Hangeng, Kibum and Sungmin there – but they didn’t need to know this.

“Nara, question for you~”, Heechul said, and Nara turned to look at him, quickly moving away from Siwon. He framed both of them on the screen, and she ran a hand through her hair to try and settle the frizz. She cared a lot about her appearance. After all, even though she had been an idol for 10 years, she still felt the brunt of comments from haters who called her ugly and fat.

She waved her hand and bowed her head to show respect for the fans, quickly introducing herself.

“They are asking what’s going to be the next movie or drama you’re going to film”, Heechul said, also running a hand through his hair and posing to the camera angle, because he needed to be prettier than her in the video – and he didn’t need to do much, he still had that angelic face.

“I’m just getting back into acting if it has a story really worth telling” she answered sincerely. She didn't want to give a boring explanation like this, maybe do a little mystery about her career, but as she was more and more certain about the hiatus, maybe she wasn't going to have any more movies at all in her filmography.

“Are you traumatized? Is Im Siwan that bad of a kisser?” Heechul scoffed, not caring about the line of fire that had left her. They were, again, talking about her sexual life, in a live video, about another idol – but she didn’t expect anything different from him, because he would pick on her at every possible opportunity just to see her blush.

But she didn’t blush, no. In the heat of the moment, she just said “Fuck off”.

Heechul’s eyes widened. He definitely didn't expect this reaction from her, not when they were live. In the back of his mind, he was already hearing Leeteuk yell at him because of the joke and the taunting against Nara.

Siwon hugged her, trying to cover her mouth and move her away from the screen, with a nervous smile on his lips. They were live and this could not be edited out or beeped.

Kyuhyun’s voice could be heard, as he yelled “TEUK-HYUNG, NARA IS SWEARING”.

Trying to bring back some high-spirited atmosphere, for people to forget about her swearing, he got back to taunting her. Heechul shook his head and said “You’re hanging out with Yesung too much” in a disapproving tone.

“Aish, it’s impossible to get along with Heechul, send up prayers” she said with a straight face but a smart ass tone. Siwon let her go from his arms and Heechul got her back into the camera frame; Kyuhyun and Kangin could be seen in the back, chatting while seated on the sofas. She continued to joke, “Actually, I’ve never liked him, but they pay me well for us to pretend to be friends”.

Heechul laughed hard and screamed “YA, PUNK!” giving her a light slap with the back of his hand for her to ‘watch her words’, before staring at the screen again to talk to the audience, “she says that, but she cried her eyes out when I enlisted”.

“I didn’t cry at all!” Nara tried to defend herself, rolling her eyes. She took a step back from the camera and pointed at him, before rotating her finger beside her head in a way of saying he was ‘crazy’.

“They told me something else,” he said in a cocky tone.

“WHO TOLD YOU?” her eyebrows furrowed, and she took a step forward so she would be beside him. He didn’t answer, and she grumbled, nodding her head one time in an aggressive manner, her eyebrows now arched.

Heechul ignored her question again and continued to look at the screen, seeing the comments from fans asking about it. Then, he answered the viewers, as if she wasn’t even there, “Yeah. She knew I was going to make fun of her, so she just cried when she got back to the dorm… but the Kims* know everything”

Nara's jaw dropped, in an exaggerated reaction to what she had just heard, “I can’t believe they betrayed me like that”.

People in the chat were going crazy. Some wanted her to do more acting jobs; some haters were happy she would stop; one or two ZE:A fans were trying to pick a fight with other fans, thinking they were serious about the joke with Im Siwan; others were still dying of laughter because of the swear word; but mostly of them were just happy to see the real friendship Heechul and Nara had cultivated for years.

After some time, they continued to argue in front of the camera, always pointing out things they hated about each other and telling embarrassing stories – all in a joking tone, knowing they would never really say anything bad about the other, especially in front of the camera. Kyuhyun appeared again, this time taking the camera away to promote At Gwanghwamun, his solo debut album that was launched the year before.

Surprising no one, Nara and Heechul continued their bickering and, in the background, viewers could hear Nara yelling “JONGHOON OPPA COME KICK HEECHUL FOR ME”.

In the end, it turned out to be a nice live. Nobody picked on her because of what Heechul said and none of them were scolded for their behavior – and, in Nara’s case, swearing.

#kpop oc #sm entertainment #super junior #super junior 14th member au #super junior 16th member au #super junior imagine #super junior reactions #super junior imagines #super junior x reader #heechul #yesung #ryeowook #siwon #kangin #leeteuk #eunhyuk #donghae #kyuhyun

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chiskz · 2 years ago

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I'm not going anywhere.

𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: April 2023

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1k

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: hybe's offer was real. what did chichi say about it?

𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗜 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗞𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗬𝗕𝗘?

♡𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @alyszaen , @smh-anon , @neohyxn , @stealanity , @alixnsuperstxr , @juliawritingblog , @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs , @qtnoaly , @elizalabs3

《 ♡ 》

Chichi opened her eyes slowly. The sound that woke her up, however, was not the melody of the alarm, but a song indicating an incoming call. She hastily wiped her sleepy eyes with hand to regain at least some visibility and picked up the phone. The conversation was brief; it was their manager. He asked her to come to a coffee shop streets away. He didn't want to say anything else which, all in all, only further encouraged Ichi to quickly get dressed and head there.

She sat down at a table where the manager and two cups of coffee were already waiting for her. Ichi, however, had no intention of drinking until she knew what was going on. The man looked around briefly and took a quiet breath.

"Hybe people contacted me directly, probably hoping that JYPe wouldn't find out about anything." He began speaking quietly. "They didn't give me any details, they just said they wanted to talk to you, but both you and I know very well what they might be after."

Chichi embraced the warm cup with her hands so she would have something to do with stressed hands.

"Does it matter at all?" She finally spoke up. "I'll turn down any offer anyway."

"I know, but you were supposed to go to them today anyway to meet Yoongi."

She bit her lower lip, then finally decided to drink some coffee.

"So I guess a meeting with them is inevitable. I'll listen to them, but only out of curiosity."

The manager nodded briefly and sipped his coffee.

Chichi actually went to Hybe's building later. She recorded a video with Yoongi, but also discussed an upcoming joint project with him as well. She also recorded videos with Eunchae and Sakura for "Unforgiven" and a video for "Super" from Seventeen - those songs hadn't even come out yet, but everyone really wanted her to perform with them, and it's unclear if there would be an opportunity later, so TikToks were recorded for backup (although Ichi had to sign a confidentiality document when it came to choreography or song excerpts). And with this clever method, she had to meet Hybe people anyway....

She returned to the dorm in the late afternoon. She only had time to take off her jacket and shoes when Jeongin appeared over her head.

"Where were you again?"

Ichi sighed quietly, reflexively massaging the back of her neck. The manager had asked her to tell no one about the matter for safety's sake, but after all, her friend wasn’t no one, right?

"Hybe made me an offer to move to them." She said.

"What?!"

Jeongin's surprised exclamation was also accompanied by shouts from Minho, Felix and Seungmin. That is, surprisingly they were all here....

The youngest grabbed her wrist and led her to a table, where he seated her in a chair.

"Once again and slowly."

Now it was too late to back out anyway, they would drone on about the subject forever...

"Hybe wanted me to move to them. They offered a really cosmic amount of money and... frankly perfect conditions. I was to become a choreographer for NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM. Not an idol..."

Minho glared at her while playing with the straw of his takeaway drink.

"Where's the catch?"

"I don't know." She replied honestly. "I didn't read anything they suggested to me. My answer was No from the very beginning."

A silence fell, which only after a long moment was broken by Felix.

"I think you would handle it… You would work on your own..."

"Do you want to get rid of me?" She laughed, pouring herself a glass of water from the pitcher.

"You know that's not what I meant..."

"I know, I was joking." She took a sip, then looked into the glass. "When I started college I didn't think so much about being an idol. I used to dream about it, but inadvertently that dream got blurred somewhere as I focused more on dancing. Being with you all… I felt that this is what I want to do. Choreographing alone probably wouldn't give me as much pleasure anymore... And that's it." She raised her gaze, which she involuntarily directed at Seungmin, who was sitting just across from her. "You are my family, no money can replace that for me. It's not even a question."

"For us, it's just another reason to be proud." Jeongin spoke up, "We have a choreographer people fight for!"

Ichi poked him in the ribs with her elbow, laughing.

●●●

Ichi didn't think about the matter any more after that. She was sitting in her room reading a book before going to bed when she heard a quiet, irregular knocking, which was the signal she and Felix had established. She immediately closed the book, and her friend entered a second later.

"Can we talk?"

"Anytime."

Felix sat down on the edge of her bed, and Ichi rose from a semi-reclining position to a sitting position.

"It never crossed my mind that I would like you to leave." He said.

"Are you still thinking about it? It's really nothing, I understood what you meant..."

"I know, but it doesn't give me a break... I just always want the best for you. If you have even for a moment considered this offer then you should not hold back for our sake."

"Felix, I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to go anywhere. I have the best time in the world with you guys. I really appreciate that you think this could be an opportunity for me, but I would be terribly unhappy without you guys, no matter how good the offer is. I love being a part of Stray Kids, and doing all this for you fulfills me the most."

Felix listened to her carefully, then smiled slightly disheveled.

"However, I don't want to close myself off to others. I told them that if they get along with my label then I am always open to temporary collaborations. You guys, however, will always be my priority and they have to accept that."

Felix answered nothing more to this but laughed and put his head on her knee.

"I'm glad you declined!"

《 ♡ 》

#stray kids 9th member #kpop addition #kpop added member #kpop oc #stray kids oc #idol oc #stray kids female oc #stray kids added member #stray kids addition #stray kids extra member #kpop extra member #kpop au #skz imagines

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leemurcats · 2 months ago

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First Observation

Short story under the cut

August 17, XXXX

1 week after landing

The following is a transcript of an interview between Dr. Zedaph Plays, Lead Scientist of the Research Department aboard the Hermit, and Cub Fan, the Head of the Records Department.

The interview was initially conducted as a debrief for Dr. Plays after a brief reconnaissance mission of the area on planet 4546b known as the Crater.

“I mean this- this is incredible. None of the other workers here have reported anything like this! Even in the most perfect conditions, very few species of this variety have naturally evolved. And even on planets with such a diverse ecosystem, even on planets like this, the kind of conditions needed for the parasites involved to adapt- It’s amazing. The implications of this alone-”

“Please outline your mission objectives before continuing the report.”

“Aww, boo. You’re no fun.”

“Sorry, but it’s protocol.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a dumb protocol.”

“Yep. Mission summary?”

“Alright, alright, fine. I am Doctor Zedaph plays, part of the Research Department aboard the Hermit- actually. I think I’m the lead now, right? I’m the only real member of the research department. Everyone else joined unofficially after-”

“Zed.”

“Right! We serve under Captain Xisuma. We came to planet 4546b to investigate the local ecosystem after reports from Alterra workers were leaked. And because we timed our plans badly. Mainly that second one. Don’t look at me like that Cub, I don’t have to keep this so professional. You’re the only one seeing these.”

“And Xisuma.”

“Exactly. It’ll give him something to laugh about. He needs that these days.”

“…”

“…Ah, that one was in… poor taste. But why do I have to do this. Why can’t you since you made the dumb policy?”

“Because it’s your report. You’re the one who set up this interview and you’re the one who saw the creature-”

“They’re not a creature! They’re a person, just like us.”

“We don’t even know if they’re sentient-”

“Anyway! We were supposed to observe the planet with minimal disturbances. We chose to start settling in one of the shallow- well, relatively shallow- areas of the Crater. We had started building around a week ago, and we were progressing quick enough that X thought some of us could break off for other smaller missions. Is that good, is that enough? Can I get to the fun stuff now?”

“Yes, Zed. You can get to the fun stuff.”

“Great. We were supposed to stay close to the ship, in case anything happened, so Beef and I decided to shadow a Stalker in the nearby kelp forest. Side note, they are really bitey. We split up at some point for some reason and I hid inside one of those giant coral tube things, right? I lost track of the Stalker, but I saw what I thought was one of the local ray species. The one with the ear things?”

“The Rabbit Ray?”

“Yeah, that one! I thought it was one of those. At the time, I noted the odd proportions of the body and how big it was compared to others, but I didn’t really make the connection at first. Just thought it was weird.”

“We’re these observations noted on your audio device.”

“Um, no. I forgot to turn it on before going out. And before you ask my camera was on, but it didn’t really catch them because of how I was laying in the tube. I think it caught a bit of them when I swam out to try and see them better, but they swam into the kelp just after. I think I startled them.”

“We can go through the footage together later and compare it to your initial report. Worse comes to worse, we’ll have to make a few addendums if there are contradicting stories. Annoying, but nothing major. Can you describe what they looked like? To the best of your recollection, of course.”

“Sure, yeah, sure. I couldn’t see many details, but she seemed fairly muscular from what I could tell. Makes sense since mers who live in warm, shallow regions move around much more than those who live deeper down. They were rather pale, too. I know it doesn’t really mean anything, but it could mean mers lean more nocturnal than other creatures of this planet. At least, this specific one might.”

“That’s entirely possible. You and Beef aren’t exactly the quietest and the Seaglide is pretty loud if your not careful. Maybe you guys accidentally woke them up while chasing the Stalker. Might be something worth paying attention to later.”

“Yes! Yes, exactly! Another thing I noticed was that they had a decent number of scars. I couldn’t see what they really were, but it makes sense. They probably came from fights with the local fauna or even other mers if the ones here are on the more territorial side. Depending on what the scars are, it could be evidence that these mers develop the same biological quirks as their host species. It’s not uncommon, but there are some that don’t keep certain adaptations after… fish puberty? I guess? I think the rays here have poisonous flesh, right? A lack of bite scars could mean that they have that same adaptation.”

“That’s a pretty big leap, Zed.”

“I know, but it’s fun to speculate. Let me have this. Pleeeeeease, Cub?”

“Alright, fine. You can have this. Just try and stay on topic. The faster we finish the interview, the faster we can wrap this up.”

“Okay, fine. Spoilsport. Uhm, another thing I saw was that they had that hair stuff that isn’t really hair. Y’know, the tentacle things Earth jellyfish have. It was kinda long and also blonde, if that matters. Hey that rhymed! She had those rabbit ears on her head, and I think some elongated ones near her tail? Not sure if they have any special purpose.”

“Rabbit Rays use their ears to sense vibrations in the water. That’s probably what they’re for, but we shouldn’t assume. They could develop a more specialized purpose for mers as they grow.”

“Who’s making assumptions now?”

“Hush. Do as I say, not as I do.”

“Rea-”

“Anyway! Did they have any odd markings? Most mers develop patterns not observed on the original species. If this one doesn’t have them, we might be dealing with an adolescent.”

“Does it matter if we are?”

“We’d just have to be more careful when observing them. Wouldn’t want to anger mom and dad.”

“Ha ha. You’re so funny.”

“I know.”

“I think they had some orange spots on the back. And blue rings around them. It was hard to see from where I was.”

“They make any noise? Was there any attempt to communicate?”

“No. They swam away as soon as they saw me. Didn’t hear any noise from them.”

“Hm. Unfortunate. What direction did you say she swam in?”

“The kelp forest. The southern one. Beef should’ve been near there. Maybe he saw something?”

“I was gonna interview him later either way. It’s unlikely that he saw the one you did specifically, the kelp is too dense, but he might’ve seen a different mer.”

“Are we gonna tell Xisuma about this?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“We kept a lot of stuff from our old captain. Excuse me if I’m not exactly sure what the procedure here is.”

“My plan is to interview everyone involved, work on a cohesive report with you guys, give it to Xisuma and not leave till he reads it. Simple.”

“Simple usually works.”

“Exactly. I know it’s tedious, but it has to be done this way, for my personal sanity, if nothing else.”

“Fine, but I make no promises that I won’t drag my feet. I hate writing reports.”

“Who doesn’t? Do you know where Beef is? It’ll be easier if I interview him now. He still in the kelp forest?”

“I thought he went into the habitat ahead of me.”

“What?”

“Yeah? I didn’t see him swimming out of the forest.”

“…”

“Cub?”

“… Beef’s not-”

Interview was cut short by an emergency regarding the safety of one of the crew members. Follow up interview has been delayed indefinitely. Incident report will be filed shortly.

#hermitcraft #zedaph #false symmetry #hermitcraft au #subnautica #I like how this turned out #there's some changes imma make next time I draw backgrounds #but all in all I think I did good #also I just love the floater rock in the back idk why but its cute #critiques are welcome just be polite #in the depths below au #subnautica x hermitcraft

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jjmaiam · 1 year ago

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for anybody that needed this I translated this video of Chuck's voice actor in English.

https://youtu.be/QmsFazwIViA?si=TH7nKvGCdXYMY-Nt

i didn't write everything they said and i didn't translate it literally! I'm not English so it's not gonna be perfect!

it was summarized a bit to not make it too long.

@itsmalachitenow

Ferre (the youtuber): welcome guys to the video, today we're back with brawl stars. We're here with someone you would never expect. First of all, can I ask your name? Nicola(Chuck's voice actor): Nicola F: Nicola, can you make us understand why you're here with a quote? Nicola: Eccomi, il maestro! (here I am, the maestro) F: I'm really excited Nicola: me too, me too F: it's the first time I ever talked with a brawler's voice actor! Nicola Because it's the first brawler to be Italian, so they chose a native Italian and here I am! F: You also did some English voice lines. N: exactly. Some of the members of the brawl stars production love Italy so they've wanted for a long time to add a Italian character. Our national pride! It's the first time this has happened! F: you basically explained to me that you had a friend that played brawl? N: I have a friend that plays a lot of brawl stars, not like me that I had it installed on my phone for some years but… F: so you know brawl stars N: yes, I know some things, sometimes I played it some years ago. But I didn't know what I dubbed! F: I'll leave you some time to introduce yourself N: Well, I've been a professional voice actor for five years now, in home studio. I tried to, let's say "knock on doors" to get into this job. But then Covid started and all of those "doors" closed. 30yo, with a little kid, I had to start with home studio. Obviously you can't do everything because you need people physically and on the studio at home you do everything and it becomes more difficult. Soon I'm gonna be 36 and I started at 30 to continue this passion that I had since I was a kid. When I was little I always played with the recorders or sometimes I took apart pc's, and thanks to that I have some manual skill. In chuck's case it was my first experience with a live direction with a person that was kilometers away from me. F: I'll leave everything Nicola does in the description! N: I particularly remember chuck's dubbing experience because I did that the 15 of august in the morning. F: other than having an iconic voice, you also need a crazy voice control to do all those different tones! N: and I have a cold! well, when you have to do certain things you need to be able to do them in any physical conditions. I also did for many years theater, when I was 20 I started voice acting thanks to a man that did documentaries. He made me record this and I remember he payed me so I understood that this was a job, what I did as a game, for passion, was actually a job! Well one day one of my friends told me that I was in your video and made me watch. there I understood what I actually dubbed! most of the times I don't know what I'm dubbing! F: if any of you guys recognize his voice in a game or anything tell us N: yes! it would also help me making a more public portfolio. F: your voice changes from character to character, it wouldn't be easy to recognize you N: oh it wouldn't be easy, they're all different. In chuck's case there was a mass selection of speaker and Italian voice actors, 70 people answered. there was a mini description of who was chuck, basically there was written that he is an Italian train conductor and ex orchestra "maestro" and there was this project called" voice character Chuck" I didn't have any other information, the only other information other than the script and the name was a YouTube video of Alex Brightman, he's an American actor that also did the musical of Beetlejuice, and he explained how he did his vocal characterization. doing chuck was pretty fast and the director told me how much he liked Italy

i just realized that half of it is gone.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Basically at the end of the video he makes some voice lines and takes lines of other brawlers (Bull Carl and Mortis) so if you want to hear him go at the minute 17:25 of the video.

he also makes a joke that trains in italy are slow.

#chuck brawl stars #brawl stars #brawl stars chuck

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inventors-fair · 2 years ago

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It's a Bird, It's a Plane - Commentary

Surprise! I actually did something on time (or at all) for once! Let's get zany and plane-y!

@wolkemesser — Shard of the Twelve Worlds Okay, so flavorfully I really like this. For those that don't know, the Shard of the Twelve Worlds was a byproduct of the Sylex blast that created a barrier around Dominaria and a few other planes that restricted planeswalking. However, restricting the planar die this heavily seems to me like taking all the fun out of the format. In addition, I'm not entirely sure why it has you sacrifice creatures to roll the die.

@aethernalstars — Rifts Unseamed So, here's where I have to come clean. With planechase, there are two main ways to play it. The first way is with each player having a planar deck that they own. The second way is a variant way, where there is a central planar deck. Admittedly, I've only played the latter, and I'm aware that the variant version is how most planechase players play. Because of that, and the fact I didn't take time to post a warning about the variant rule, I'm going to treat this card as if it said "your planar deck" or "the planar controller's planar deck," and apologize profusely. But anyways, I really like this card, as well as the flavor. Yeah, the second recorded instance of the MtG equivalent of a nuke would probably re-open some of the rifts that the first blast had. I love the way that this kind of nullifies some of the effects of planes, while amplifying others.

@salamileg — Vriox, Omenpath Ravager I really like the flavor of this, a rollicking satyr that was formerly a follower of Xenagos, acting upon an opportunity to follow in his footsteps. I think one thing to be wary of is that there's an impetus here to stack your deck with as many chaos abilities that tell you to planeswalk afterwards, so that a planeswalk puts up to 5 or more counters on Vriox. In addition, I think reminder text would really help on that first ability, just to make sure players understand when the chaos ability occurs.

@greensunzenith — Portable Beacon This is a wonderful design. Flavorful, well executed, and simple. I especially like how the loyalty ability is only rolling the die, while sacrificing the beacon is a definite planeswalk. The only thing I would maybe change is resticting the latter ability to sorcery speed, since there seems to be precedence in making sure planechase actions are all sorcery speed (without the help of outside cards at least.)

@little-red-rabbit — Cliffs of Ot For those wondering why this says "Plane Land," it's just because of limitations with MTG.Design. I love this, it's clear that you had a design motivation you wanted to follow, and I think having the telepathy ability goes well with the preestablished lore. A few things to note, I believe that the plane should be Alara, just because that's what the Bant, Esper, etc. planes have as a subtype. In addition, adding the cards in each player's hands is a lot to track. I would probably still play this though, just to steal my opponent's sol ring.

@flowrot — Hellrider's Canyon Hooooooooooooooooooo-wheeeeeee, this is playing on my biases so hard, and I love it for that. I'm super excited for Thunction, and I think that this plane making blood tokens is a perfect way to encapsulate a dangerous ride that could really help or really hurt. The one thing I would change is I would add a condition that gives each player Blood tokens, given that this card in a vacuum assumes you're the one that will be rolling chaos, and only does something on planeswalking to it.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path — Fractal Reality As someone who was ecstatic when The Master, Multiplied was revealed, this phenomenon excites me. In addition to any shenanigannery you can pull with this, it also plays on the multiplayer aspect of Planechase in a fun way. I really like the use of Chaotic Aether's wording too. The only issue that I see, is that this could just be a plane on its own? It would make more sense, and you would be able to add a chaos ability and maybe some planar flavor for Karsus or Xerex or maybe even Arcavios.

@grornt — Golos, Omenpath Explorer This is an amazing use of a character we've already seen, and it encourages playing into Planechase mechanics. A part of me worries that straight WUBRG without tap is a bit too cheap for a plane tutor, and I'd like to see that as a sorcery since instant Planechase-ing seems to be resticted to two-card combos.

@spooky-bard — Errant Arrester Oh Garleth, we're really in it now. This is super flavorful, and I think that it's good enough that it would even see play outside of Planechase. The ability makes you think twice about rolling, but the fact that it only hits a single target balances it out enough that I could see this in whatever the next planechase product will be (fingers crossed).

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Chaos Engulfes All I'm slightly torn on this one. Technically, this breaks the trend of single cards only doing Planechase things, which I'm against. But, it does it in such an orderly way that I'm not sure it matters? The bigger issue I have with this card it the second part, which would make it the third card that cares about next main phase without it specifying "this turn" or being an attack trigger. It's not something we see often, for good reason.

@lanabutnotdelray — Foraline, Royal Pilgrim I like this. It's not too exploratory, but it's nice and simple, perfect for newer players to explore Planechase with. Nice work.

@batatafilosofal — Planar Binding I like the idea of this card. An O-ring effect that's tied to Planechase mechanics. Love it. Not sure whether or not the "a permanent" is intentional, as that means it can exile those with hexproof. I'd also like to see a nonland clause in that, just because I can see a scenario where someone ramps into planeswalking to this phenomenon, and restricts other players from planeswalking away from it.

@genericaura — Deghir, Omenpath Rampager I think that this is really good. Technically not sorcery speed on the Planechase actions, but given it's tied to combat damage, I'm not worried about it. The body is really good, and the upside makes me think this should maybe just be a 5/5, but what do I know.

@just--a--penguin — Planar Scrying Interesting. Six mana is about where drawing four cards gets you, so that's alright. I also like the not-really-scrying of the top four of your planar deck. It helps you plan for the future, while also leaving room for something to go wrong (5/6 sides of the planar die are specifically not planeswalk, so).

@fractured-infinity — Omenpath Investigator//Interplanar Adventurer Alright, so I'm not so hot on the instant speed Planar die. I like the once per turn clause, but doing that on an opponent's turn is kind of iffy given how precence has been set. I like the methodical nature of this though. You're pretty much ensured to switch faces along with planeswalking and chaos ensueing. The growth spiral on the front is nice too, letting you ramp into more rolling.

@deg99 — Runestone Omenpath This is interesting, with the first and last abilities affecting the entire table. A very group-hug card, but with the added benefit of letting you planeswalk. I like it! Not sure why it's a legend though.

@snugz — Dack, Destiny Deviant Okay, so technically this doesn't meet the standards of the contest, since there's nothing on it that interacts with Planechase specifically. I still think that this is a really good card to put in a Planechase deck though, since it doubles up your dice abilities, and helps out with making sure you get either Chaos or Planeswalk when you need it. The grouphug +1 is also a nice touch, playing off the multiplayer nature of the format.

@nine-effing-hells — Pandemonium Cantor This is interesting. I'm not entirely sure what the point of this card is, but it certainly is chaotic. I think that the first ability needs reminder text that tells players whether or not the chaos ability of the former or latter plane triggers, and the second ability is chaos just for the sake of chaos. I think if this was at my table I might just kill it to make sure I can keep my chaos abilities.

@mmmmmin — Bottled Plane This is really cool, I super like the idea of taking a plane card coming up and either keeping it for later, or just shelving it cause it's not useful. I have a few minor corrections in terms of syntax. I would have it reveal cards, because I'm not entirely sure you can draw cards from the planar deck. I also would make the exile clause be like, "when this card leaves the battlefield, put all cards exiled with Bottled Plane on top of your planar deck in any order," and the sacrifice thing be the planeswalk. That way it's still functionally the same, but uses some updated wording to make it run a tad better.

@coolcoolcooltighttightight — Quintorius, Avid Explorer This is a really cool Quintorius card, and I love the inclusion of blue to represent his stepping in for Rootha during the Phyrexian Invasion. I also think the last clause is super nice, cause who doesn't want an Elephant lad as a commander? I do kind of think that the abilities are a bit much though. Like, there's the Planechase mechanics, surveil, and investigate all on one card. All of these together are a lot to take in. Technically all of these are deciduous (apart from the Planechase but shhh), but it kind of explodes in my face. Big ups on making the -3 abillity give incentive to rolling the planar die, as well as the "chaos ability" and +2 play off of Lorehold's whole schtick.

----

HOLY CRAP. This was a lot. I loved seeing all of your cards, and I hope that y'all are proud of what you made. In addition, I really hope that y'all enjoy the next contest, which was posted while I was typing this out. Seems like y'all aren't done planeswalking anytime soon!

Cheers! -@gollumni

#mtg #magic the gathering #inventor's fair #custom magic card #it's a bird it's a plane #commentary

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aaronpaceluvbot · 2 years ago

Text

song lyrics (aaron x reader)

summary: in which you have a slight fight with Drum over your favorite practice room. you need it to practice your music and he needs it to practice whatever it is he does, but Aaron finds out and comes to your rescue.

before you read: this is probably the most self indulgent fic i’ve ever written, forgive any inaccuracies. i'm assuming aaron can play piano because my school only lets you play percussion if you can play piano, school starts at 6:45 for me so it does in this fic as well, LOWKEY OOC AARON…, voice teachers are scary af , READER IS FEM, written in honor of me having a recital in a week and i am in fact losing my voice, DRUM APPEARS AND LIKE THE THING IS IS THAT I DONT REMEMBER WHO’S WHO SO HE’S JUST REFERRED TO AS DRUM , this flows so weirdly sorry yall i promise i had an outline , this is like the 20th fic that reader cries in (reader is so me.), i didn’t wince as much while writing the affection (PROGRESS!!!), THIS IS NOT PROOFREADDD reader is implied to be in choir and not in play an instrument anymore, SOME MUSICAL TERMS?? if you’re confused about them I Will Add Explanations.

WC: 6.2k words. holy moly.

songs referenced that are good to listen to:

sebben crudele

ah! tardai troppo

—

You always tried to get to school early to make use of the practice rooms especially since everyone seemed to want to use them at that time. You especially needed to practice considering the fact that you had a rehearsal today with your accompanist and you hadn’t practiced at all for it. You found that arguably the best practice room was open so you placed your stuff in there and tried to quickly get your binder and your anthology book for lessons. You noticed a person standing in front of the room. He notices you as well. “Are you using it?” He asks, looking at you expectantly.

“Yeah? My stuff is already in there,” you tell him, clutching your binder. If he really wanted to fight about a practice room at 6 in the morning, he could if he wanted to. You would gladly give it up if he was going to keep it going, but you’d make practicing absolute hell for him.

“Well I need to use it to record something for an assignment,” he says, clearly expecting you to give up the practice room. You roll your eyes at him. He really couldn’t have used one of the other open practice rooms? Sure their acoustics were horrible in comparison to this one, but your stuff was already in there!

“I needed to use it to practice something for voice lessons,” you respond, raising your binder and book up. He looks at it, confused.

“Can’t you do that somewhere else?” He asks, giving you a look of disdain. You roll your eyes and decide to end the conversation. When you said you’d make practicing hell for him, you weren’t joking. You enter the practice room next to his and you pull out your sheet music. After doing some light hums and lip trills, you pull out a couple arias from your book. Quickly taking a sip of water, you sing a couple scales. Your voice seemed to be in good condition today. Perfect. You decide on the easier of the two arias to avoid straining your voice - Sebben Crudele. You sing through it to see if you had it memorized and thankfully you did! This would help you avoid the wrath of your voice teacher. You were going through the rough patches of the song when you heard a knock on the door. You look through the window and see the guy from earlier.

You open the door and give him a confused look. He clears his throat. “Do you mind keeping it down? Everytime I record my part check, I hear more of you than I hear myself!” He’s cut off by the sound of yelling down the hall.

“DRUM. DRUM. DRUM I SWEAR TO GOD.” You both look to see where the voice is coming from and you see the source coming this way. It was a brunette boy who looked outraged at the guy who knocked on your door. You both look at him confused. Why was he calling out for a drum???

“Aaron what’s wrong???” The guy asked, looking confused.

“Tell me why I found your crumpled up sheet music on the floor covered in spit,” Aaron says, clearly pissed. He gives you a look and then Drum?? one as well. “Is he bothering you?” He asks. You sigh and nod.

“She was bothering me! She kept like making all these high pitched noises!” Drum?? says, looking at you as if you committed a war crime.

“This is what happens when you make the wrong person mad,” you mutter, rolling your eyes at the dude in front of you. Aaron sighs at the exchange.

“Do you mean singing?” He asks him, giving him a dirty look.

“Yeah! That thing!! Can’t you do that anywhere?? So she doesn’t really need the practice room!” Drum tried arguing.

“You can also play your little instruments anywhere, but I’m not complaining about that,” you retort.

“Aaron!! Do Something!!” He says. The boy rolls his eyes.

“Just leave her alone. She has a point. What’s your name?” Aaron asks, turning to you. You tell him your name and he nods. “If he keeps bothering you, or if any of the drumline bothers you, come to me and I’ll set things straight.” You nod at his comment, amused that he’d even say something like that. He was probably a section leader, you thought, judging by the way he commanded that guy to leave you alone. He reminded you of one of your old section leaders. You leave it at that and shut the door and continue practicing.

Aaron sighed as he dragged Drum away from the practice rooms and into the band room. He gave him the dirtiest of looks. “Why would you embarrass us like that?” He asks, rubbing his temples as Drum struggled to come up with an explanation. “You know what Wiley said, to leave the vocalists alone if they’re practicing. They need the practice rooms just as much as we do.”

“Yeah but she was so loud! She was louder than me trying to play the part check!” He whines. Aaron does the thing that you do to dogs to get them to calm down. He pokes his neck with two fingers.

“If she’s louder than your playing, then that’s your issue. An instrument playing at forte will always be louder than someone singing forte,” he grumbles, obviously fed up with his antics. This wasn’t the first time that a spat between Drum and a vocalist occurred. “Just practice elsewhere. Practice here for god’s sake.” Aaron decides to walk out of the room, but stay nearby to see if he actually practices. He does not. He let out a loud exhale as he tried to come up with a prank to use to get Drum to practice productively. The bell rang and interrupted his thinking.

You let out a sigh as the bell rang. You didn’t want to go to class and would much rather practice your music. Instead of putting your belongings back into the choir room, you decided to just put them in your backpack. As you exited, he called out your name. You turn to face him and greet him with a smile. “Thanks for earlier,” you say, fidgeting with your hands.

He nods. “It was nothing.” The two of you walk in awkward silence until you exit the music hallway.

“So what class are you headed to?” You ask him as you both go the same way.

“Poetry.” “Do you like it?” You ask. He didn’t seem like the type to take poetry in the first place, but we all have our interests.

“I think it’s a good outlet for me, even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of it when I took the class. I only took it because my counselor said I couldn’t take a different class.” You nod at his words. You had beef with your counselor so you understand why he felt that way. “What class are you going to?” He asks, looking you straight in the eye. You only realized this now, but he was really attractive. You brush it off and continue the conversation. You can talk about him to your friends later.

“English,” you say, shuddering. He gives you a confused look.

“Who do you have?”

“Williams.” He makes a face that could only be described as pure loathing.

“Well I’m sorry for your loss. I hated her when I had her.”

“I always feel horrible for the classes near us whenever she goes on one of her rants,” you murmur, thinking back to the time that she got really pissed about a kid’s essay and threw a heavy metal water bottle.

“No yeah, my poetry class is right next door and every time she starts going on a tangent, my teacher just tells us to brace ourselves and he plays music,” he says, almost amused. You nod and let out a laugh. The two of you walk in silence to the English wing and separate once you two get to your respective classes. But before the two of you enter your respective classes he stops you. You give him a confused look.

“Is something wrong?” You ask, tilting your head. He shakes his head with a smile. “No, just hand me your phone,” he says, sticking his hand out.

“Didn’t think you’d be the type to ask for my number so soon,” you joke, obviously keeping your phone away from him. He laughs as you try to keep him from getting it.

“Well then, if you don’t want my number, then I guess you’ll have to fall victim to all the band kids who are gonna bother you in the practice rooms,” he says, shrugging and getting ready to leave.

“Wait! Aaron, no!” You say, grabbing his hand and placing your phone in it. He lets out a chuckle at how you caved. He puts his number into your phone and sends himself a text. He pulls out his phone and checks to see if it sent. It did.

“If any band kids pester you again, just text me and I’ll gladly come to your rescue,” he says, smirking at you.

“Thanks for the offer Prince Charming, but I don’t think you’ll have to.”

“Oh so you think I’m charming?” He asks, raising his eyebrows at you. You shake your head and try to hide your laughter as you head to class, but he stops you again. “What class do you have after this?”

“Math…”

“With who?”

“Miller…”

“We’re in the same class.”

“What? How have I not noticed you?” You ask him, trying to recall if he ever was in your class.

“I don’t know, but I knew you looked familiar earlier. Let’s walk to math together afterwards?” You nod and finally get into your classroom just before the bell rang.

—

You wait for Aaron outside of your classroom. The door to his class is still closed, but right as you’re about to leave, the door swings open. He comes out of class, eyes scanning the area, looking for you. He smiles when he sees that you waited for him. “Glad that you didn’t forget about our little plan,” he says, walking next to you.

“How could I? It’s not everyday that you talk to Mr. Prince Charming himself,” you say, laughing at your own joke.

“If anything, Peter’s Prince Charming. I think I’m more of a Derek Charming,” he says shrugging.

“Like from Ever After High?” You ask, looking amused.

“Yeah, that one.”

“What do you know about Ever After High?” You tease.

“I’ll have you know that I watch it with my little sister,” he says, sticking his hands up in defense. A thought pops into your head.

“Wait, so where do you sit in math? I still don’t know how I didn't notice that you were in my class.”

“I’m like all the way in the back corner by the door.” You nod.

“That’s a really good seat. I got stuck sitting by her desk. But looking out the windows is really nice, if she actually leaves the blinds open.” You both snicker at your comment. Your teacher was infamous for having an insanely dark classroom that everyone fell asleep in. Her blinds were always closed and her lights would always be off and instead, she would only have fairy lights on. You both entered the class and you both chatted at his spot until the bell rang. You wandered off to your desk and sat there, getting your things out.

“Ok class! I have a bad headache right now, so you guys can just do these practice problems with a partner and just check them with the answer key by the end of class,” she said, handing out sheets of paper. You turn to look for a partner and realize that your friend was absent today. You sigh and figure that you’ll just work alone on it. When you get ready to start the first problem, you notice a figure standing by your desk. You look up and see Aaron.

“Wanna be my partner?” He asks and you nod. You follow him to his seat and pull up a chair. He’s actually pretty good at math which is nice since math is definitely one of your weak spots. The two of you make small talk until he asks an interesting question. “Would you want to hypothetically help me pull a prank?” You raise an eyebrow.

“On who?” “The guy from earlier. He’s in my section and he’s been causing some trouble lately and I need to keep him in line somehow.” You nod at his reasoning. It makes sense, but you’ve never heard of anyone pulling pranks to keep anyone in line. The worst thing a section leader has done in choir was probably just throw a stand with someone’s binder and music in it but that was different from a prank.

“I’ll think about it. I just need more details, you know?” He nods. “What would you even do?” He says something regarding his drum. “But how would I be involved?”

“I just need you to do your thing and sing your little heart out. That shouldn’t be too difficult right?” You let out a small laugh at his question.

“It shouldn’t be. Any suggestions on what I should be singing?” You ask jokingly. But he seems to take it seriously.

“Do you have your music on you?” You nod and pull out your anthology book and hand it to him. He reads the title.

“Coloratura arias for soprano. Neat.” He flips through the book, examining the music. He places the book between the two of you so you both can get a look. You already knew the contents of the book, so you chose to observe him. He grimaced as he looked at a page.

“What’s wrong?” You ask, trying to see what page he was on. It was a page from the aria “Ah! Tardai Troppo”. All the melismas must’ve been what he was referencing. “Nothing. Your music just looks intimidating. But I think you should sing this one.” He gently shuts the book and hands it to you. Your hands brush for a split second. You’re definitely going to tell your friends about him. You put your book away in your bag and continue on with the math problems.

—

Later in the day, you walk to the music hallway with a skip in your step after your interactions with Aaron. He’s really sweet and funny and just… he’s amazing. You go to find your voice teacher in the choir room, but you see her speaking to Garth. Garth was one of your closest friends as you often kept him company when he wasn’t busy accompanying any of the choirs. Both of them looked concerned and only looked even more worried when they both saw you. “Did someone die?” You ask, looking around. No one else was there except for the three of you.

“No, it’s not that. I’m afraid I won’t be able to accompany you during solo/ensemble night. Something personal came up,” Garth says. You nod in understanding. Whatever it was, you hope that he’s ok. “It’s ok Garth! I just need to find someone else to accompany me right?” You ask, looking between the two of them. Your voice teacher nods and Garth clears his throat.

“Yep! And in fact, I think I have the perfect person for you. Do you know Aaron? Aaron Pace?” Garth asks. You nod. “I’m sure he’d be willing to accompany you. In fact, I think he has lunch this hour so you could ask him right now and you could give him my music as well.” He hands you the sheet music.

“I’ll go hunt him down!” You say, giving a mock salute to the two of them. You exit the choir room and head into the practice rooms. You send Aaron a quick text.

where are you?

He responds just as fast.

practice rooms, why?

You sigh

i need to meet with you, it’s important.

meet me in the big piano practice room. i’m already there.

You circle around the practice rooms and find the one he was talking about. He was sitting on the piano bench on his phone and looking up. His eyes brightened when he saw you and he let out a chuckle when you tried to pull open the heavy door. “What’s up?” He asks, looking concerned after seeing the look on your face.

“I kind of have a favor to ask you. It’s fine if you don’t want to, but basically I need an accompanist for solo ensemble night and mine kind of bailed and he told me to ask you if you could be my accompanist,” you sputter out. He nods, deep in thought.

“I mean sure, why not? Solo ensemble night is like, a month away right?” You nod. “That should be enough time for me to learn the music. Do you have it with you?” You murmur something that seemed like a response and you handed him the sheet music. “Oh nice. This is the song we were looking at earlier, and most of it looks easy enough to learn in like 30 minutes or so. Tell you what, since we’re both a little occupied with our little prank today, when I get home I’ll learn it and if I can learn it pretty quickly, I’ll send you a text and you can come over. If not, we can just run it tomorrow during lunch.” “Yep! That sounds good. Thank you so much for agreeing to this even though I kinda just sprang it onto you,” you say sheepishly.

“Well I’ll be off now. Good luck with whatever his name is.” He laughs at your comment and you walk out. Little did you know, he only agreed to it because it was you.

—

Later in the day, you get a text from Aaron.

i finished learning it. there were only a couple tricky spots, so you can come over now. here’s my address - xxxx

You read through the text and type out a response

would you mind picking me up? It’s totally fine if you can’t, my car’s just getting an oil change right now

You hear the chime of a notification

what's your address? i’ll be omw

You send him your address. After 15 minutes or so you hear the doorbell ring. You grab your things and then head downstairs to look through the peephole. You see him standing there. You open the door. “Hi,” you say, feeling immediately awkward after saying it.

“Hi,” he says back. It takes 5 seconds of awkward silence before the two of you burst out in laughter. “So are you ready to go?” He asks, fiddling with his hands.

“Mhm!! Let me just lock the door real quick and then we can go.” You exit the house and try to lock the door. You stand there, trying to hold all your things while trying to put the key into the lock and Aaron takes your music from you when he notices you struggling. You thank him and you both get into his car, with him opening the door for you. You two both sit in comfortable silence as he drives to his house. You both get out and he uses his house keys to get inside. He gives you a slight tour and leads you to the room where his piano is. He grabs a stand nearby and hands it to you. You decide to break the silence.

“How was it?” You ask, and he hums in response as he’s setting up his music. He freezes like a deer in headlights.

“How was what?”

“Learning the music,” you say, deciding to copy him and set up your music as well. He nods at your response. You notice that he hasn’t responded and has what seems to be a thinking face.

“It wasn’t horrible,” Aaron says, shrugging. You laugh at his response. “What? It wasn’t!”

“I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing at how long it took for you to come up with a response,” you say, covering your mouth before your laughter turned into a fit of giggles.

“You are the absolute worst,” he says jokingly, making an exaggerated sighing noise and marking something in his music.

“But you love me for it!” You say, mimicking his actions. He rolls his eyes at you and clears his throat.

“Is there anything that you do that isn’t written in the music?” He asks, picking his pencil up.

“There’s a few ritardandos and other things, but we could just go through the piece and fix it as we go,” you say, flipping through your music. A question lies on the tip of your tongue, but you decide not to ask. Aaron can tell that you were thinking about something though based off of your facial expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was just curious about why you asked that,” you admit.

“Because I’m accompanying you… It’s not my first time doing this,” he says, laughing at your dumbfounded expression. “You’re the soloist, not me. I’ll always be sure to watch you and follow you.”

“How? Are you gonna practice or something?” You tease, laughing at your own joke.

“I wouldn’t mind doing so if it was you,” he retorts. “But if that’s all, then that should be fine. We should be able to get started.”

You nod and you take a swig of water from your water bottle. He plays the intro to the piece. It goes shockingly well considering that he just learnt the piece and that you hadn’t practiced much, but you eventually get to the end of whatever good luck the two of you had. You got to a very painful melisma with way too many accidentals to count which made it hard to stay in key.

[a melisma is basically a riff - it’s singing multiple notes on one syllable].

Aaron makes a face and stops playing when your voice trails off. “What happened?” He asks, looking genuinely concerned.

“Nothing! I’m fine, I just psyched myself out a little bit with that part. I think I just need to review it really slowly really quickly,” you say, shuddering at the fact. Normally you could sing it in front of literally anyone, but why were you scared to sing it in front of Aaron? He wasn’t going to blow up at you or anything for not being able to sing it.

“No yeah, I get that,” he says, nodding at your comment.

“It’s just embarrassing that I messed up,” you say sheepishly, choosing to fiddle with a corner of your sheet music.

“Don’t worry about it, you sounded great,” he says, turning to face you and giving you what seems to be a genuine smile. You nod and murmur a quick thank you. “So do you want me to play your part for you, or do you want to play it?”

“I can play it.” With that, he scoots over on the piano bench and gives you space to sit. You play your starting note and hum it. You try to make your way through the melisma, but it’s been a while since you had to play an instrument. Aaron notices you struggling after a few rough attempts.

“Here, let me,” he says, so quietly that it was almost a whisper. He gently removes your hands from the keys and instead places his on the keys. With his free hand, he places your hands on top of his and slowly breaks it down for you, letting you control the tempo. After doing this a few times, he looks at you expectantly. “Do you feel better?” He asks, turning to face you.

He looks you straight in the eye. You nod and quickly get up from the bench, trying to hide the flustered look on your face. You think he doesn’t and the rest of the rehearsal goes smoothly. Afterwards, you both make arrangements to meet up again and rehearse before solo ensemble night.

—

After a few more rehearsals, you became much more comfortable performing with Aaron. In fact, you became so comfortable that instead of having productive rehearsals, you’d spend the time mostly talking. You both leaned towards each other to listen to what the other would say. The two of you would talk about small things, like new music that you got or just about your day. But this rehearsal was different. You had been on the brink of losing your voice due to the fact that you’d been overusing it lately, but you tried not to let that get the best of you. You kept running through the piece with him over and over again, but it kept getting harder and harder to get up there. Eventually it got to a point where nothing would come out. When he couldn’t hear your voice, he turned to look at you, but all he saw was you taking deep breaths with teary eyes.

Aaron didn’t know what possessed him, but he immediately got up and went to you. As he got closer, he realized that you started crying harder and started sniffling as well. He starts trying to calm you down, but you decide to wrap your arms around him. He holds you and tries to soothe you as your tears keep coming and eventually they come to a stop. “Are you alright? What happened?” He asks as you pull away from him and just stare. He’s surprised when your voice comes out hoarse and raspy.

“Nothing. I just needed to shut up for a little bit, go on vocal rest, you know? And I was stupid and I chose to ignore it and it just-” You say, trailing off. He nods and opens his arms towards you, giving you a silent offer for a hug. You accept it and he rubs your back as you try to keep calm.

“You don’t need to push yourself. Solo ensemble night is going to go well, don’t worry about it,” he murmurs as you choose to bury your head in his shoulder. He pats your head and is eventually able to coax all the negative feelings out of you. That night, you realized one thing. You absolutely and positively have a thing for Mr. Aaron Pace.

—

That night you decided that you needed to tell someone about what happened and what you should do. You were in absolute shambles. You didn’t know what to do. If you told him about your feelings and destroyed the friendship the two of you had, you didn’t know what you’d do. You decided to call Cadence since she’d probably know the most about him in the first place.

Your phone rang a few times until Cadence answered. You had science with her and the two of you became friends due to the fact that you two both came to class when there were no other seats open, so you both just ended up sitting next to each other. “Hi!! What’s up?” Cadence asks, angling her camera until you could only see her forehead and her eyes. You laugh at her and take a screenshot to annoy her with later. “Why’d you screenshot it?” She asks, zooming out to give you a dirty look.

“No reason,” you say, smirking. “But seriously I wanna ask you about something.” “I’m all ears,” she says, placing her phone on her bed and staring directly into the camera.

“Ew… Don’t do that…” You say, covering your eyes and exaggeratedly shuddering at her actions. “Fine, but what is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“I think I have a crush on someone-” “Who? Is it Aaron?” She asks, wiggling her eyebrows. Your jaw drops. Was it that obvious? “It wasn’t… Actually it kinda was, but if he hasn’t said anything about it yet, then I’d say that he thinks highly of you at least. If he didn’t, he probably would’ve told you to drop it or to stop talking to him.”

“I said that out loud?” You ask, looking confused. She nods.

“Mhm. But seriously, I think you have a chance. Maybe all you need to do is tell him!” “But what if I ruin our friendship by doing that?”

“Well, do the benefits outweigh the risks? Because if you’re really worried about ruining the friendship or something, just ask yourself that before doing so. Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you.” You proceed to tell her about the incident and what happened and she gives the same insight. “He’s blunt. He’s not gonna act like that just because. In fact, I’m surprised he even agreed to being your accompanist in the first place. But there’s a first for everything, so I say you should just go for it.” With that, your conversation with Cadence ends. You let out a loud exhale as you let yourself fall onto your bed. You truly didn’t know what to do.

—

You decided the best way to deal with this was to distance yourself from him. Cadence was right, you needed to be able to weigh both the pros and cons before confessing. You needed to clear your head, and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to do that if you kept talking to him. Your walk to class felt lonely without him and you felt your heart ache when you passed him in the hallway. He tried to wave to you, but you flat-out ignored him. After English, you made sure to take a different route to your shared math class. This routine continued until solo ensemble night.

—

When the night came, you paced anxiously backstage. You were ready to get this over with and be free from your thoughts of Aaron. However, he didn’t make it easy. You were busy watching someone’s performance on stage and didn’t notice him walking over and standing next to you. Someone clearing their throat catches your attention. “You know, you shouldn’t be doing that. It messes with your voice,” you say, not realizing who you were speaking to.

“But I’m not singing,” he says. You turn and finally notice who’s next to you.

“Aaron?” You ask, mouth open in shock. You didn’t think he’d willingly talk to you after you tried distancing yourself from him.

“Did I do something to you? Did I cross a line during that one rehearsal? If I did something, please tell me. I can’t have you ignoring me like this, especially not when I feel- nevermind,” he murmurs, all of it coming out at once.

“You didn’t do anything. It was just me being stupid,” you mutter, rubbing your temples in embarrassment.

“Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t stupid. I’m sure you had a good reason,” he says, trying to get through to you. You shake your head, but you can’t. He takes your face in his hands and looks you in the eye.

“It was stupid. It was so so stupid. I thought that distancing myself from you would help me figure out whether or not I should confess to you and it didn’t work at all and now I’m just left with all these feelings for you and I don’t know what to do,” you blurt out, immediately covering your mouth. You’re shocked that all these words exit your mouth, especially since you were so terrified of confessing to him in the first place. Aaron lets out a deep breath and hugs you tightly.

“You know, you could’ve just told me. I don’t just act this way with anyone. I really do care for you. I have feelings for you as well,” he whispers into your ear. “Can I kiss you?” He asks, pulling away from the hug. You nod and wrap your arms around his neck and he places his hands on your waist. The two of you pull away from each other just before you’re called to the stage. “Good luck out there. Not that you’ll need it,” he says, smirking at you. He pats your head and quickly fixes your hair before the two of you walk out.

“I could say the same to you,” you whisper to him in the wings. He smiles at you and then takes his seat on the piano bench and you take yours by the microphone. The performance goes well.

—

The two of you have a fit of laughter as you both make your way to the parking lot. “I hate these heels,” you say, giggling as you take them off and go barefoot on the concrete. You let out a shriek when Aaron picks you up.

“What? You said you hate your heels, so I just gave you a solution. I can’t have my pretty little girlfriend walking barefoot in the school parking lot. Who knows what you’ll get from walking here?” He jokes, and you let more giggles escape.

“So that’s what I am, huh? Your girlfriend? And you think I’m pretty?” You ask, laughing as he pretends to think.

“Mhm, and I think you’re very pretty,” he says, chuckling at you. He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, and pecks you on the forehead, causing you to fake swoon.

“You are the absolute worst, you know that right?” You say, mimicking his words from a while ago.

“You love me for it though,” he says, smiling at you. He puts you down when the two of you reach his car, only to open the door for you and let you in. “Where do you wanna eat?” You shrug and tell him that it didn’t matter and that he could just go through any drive-thru. After getting some fast food, the two of you headed to his house. The drive was shrouded in comfortable silence since both of you guys decided to eat in the parking lot and then drive home. The two of you agreed on having a sleepover after solo ensemble night beforehand so you two could talk about it afterwards and get food together.

Once the two of you got to his house and went through your nighttime routines, the two of you sat on his bed. “So are you sure about the whole having feelings for me too thing or…” You ask, trying to break the silence. He playfully rolls his eyes at you. “No, I just invited you to my house to spend the night because I actually hate you and want to punt you out the window while you sleep,” he says sarcastically. You laugh at his joke and embrace him. “But seriously, I do care for you. In fact, I have something to show for it.” He gets up from his spot on the bed and you follow as well, just now noticing his too short Star Wars pajama pants. He goes to his desk and you stand there awkwardly before he places a box in your hands. He notices you looking between him and the box.

“What is it?” You ask, examining the outside of the box. It was just a plain, small, shipping box - the kind you’d use for jewelry.

“Just open it,” he says, grinning and giving you his hand. You take it and let him lead you back to your spots on the bed. You open the box and find it filled with small strips of paper stapled to a larger piece.

“What is this?” You ask, smiling as you read the paper. You feel your face heat up and you feel flustered when you read the bottom panel of the box. It read: ‘songs that remind me of you and why”. “Shut up,” you say, covering your mouth with your hand. “You did not.”

“I did,” he says, laughing at your reaction. “Go through the songs.” You do, and you notice that they’re all songs that would play during the time the two of you spent together. From discussions about Laufey to trying to get him to scream Taylor swift to arguing about composers, they were all there. You gently shut the box and wrap him in the tightest hug that you could. You quickly break away to give him a peck on the lips, and he decides to deepen it. You finally pull away from him, slightly out of breath and trying to get air back into your lungs.

“When did you make this?” You ask him.

“Around when you were keeping your distance. We had this poetry assignment and I was inspired by it,” he says. “I wanted to preserve all our memories together. After all, I know that music means just as much to you as it does to me and I wanted something that would remind me of that.” You nod at his words.

“I’m glad we’re able to share that then,” you murmur. You wish that you were able to hear the rest of his words, but sleep was catching up to you and you quickly knocked out. He didn’t mind though. The two of you had so much more time to discuss these things in the future.

#aaron pace x reader #aaron pace #bcb #bandcamp boyfriend #band camp boyfriend otome #band camp boyfriend

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obey-me-disaster · 2 years ago

Text

Memories of a better time

Summary: After locking Belphegor in the attic, Lucifer starts thinking about a time where his relationship with his younger brother was still good.

A/N:This is a piece for Lucifer's 2023 collab ^_^

And what better way to celebrate the old man's brithday if not through a bit of angst?

Marching angrily back to his study room, still in demon form, Lucifer kept on replaying in his mind his fight with Belphegor and how it went. From his younger brother coming into his room to confront him about the exchange program to his own decision of locking Belphegor in the attic.

He still hadn't come up with an excuse to tell the others about Belphegor's sudden disappearance and he didn't have the energy to think about it at that moment. All he wanted to do was sit back, open up a bottle of demonus and think about how he even ended up in that situation. When did his relationship with his younger brother got so bad, when did his hatred for humanity got so deep? Everything was too much, even for him, the avatar of pride. He couldn't allow himself to show any sings of weakness. Not when his brothers still needed him, not when he had to take care of this new program Diavolo came up with.

He had to keep the secret about Lilith for thousands of years, surely hiding Belphegor wouldn't be as hard. He'll figure out something, he won't let his brothers suffer if he can do anything about it.

Between the countless glasses of demonus, and the melancholic cursed record that was playing in the background, Lucifer started to think about the past, both good and bad memories. Amidst the countless of bittersweet memories, a certain one kept popping up on his mind. Despite happening so long ago, in a time where everything was uncertain and too many things were happening at the same time, this memory remained crystal clear, or maybe he remembered so well because of the recent fight. It didn't matter, his mind kept focusing on this particular one.

It was after the fall. When everyone was still hurt and recovering from the war. Barely a month had passed since their battle and everyone was still recovering, both mentally and physically. He had ordered everyone to remain at the castle since demons across the Devildom still saw them as enemies, but of course his brothers rarely listened to him. Especially his new brother, who kept on bringing destruction everywhere he went.

On that occasion it was Belphie who ran off who knows where. He barely managed to get everyone else back at the castle when he disappeared. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to ignore his upcoming headache and go search for his younger brother.

Since coming to Devildom, Belphegor's habit of falling asleep in random places started to happen more often, which worried Lucifer. If he were to fall asleep in the wrong place he would leave himself vulnerable to other demons.

After flying around the city for a while, he spotted his Belphegor on a cliff. The weird thing was that he wasn't asleep, but looking up at the sky. Landing right next to him, he expected his younger brother to at least turn towards him, but all he did was stare off in the space.

"Belphegor, I am sure you're aware that you're not supposed to leave the palace. We are still seen as war traitors by the others, it's not safe." Lucifer stated as a matter of fact. He had to say that to his brothers more often than he would like to admit. Despite all of that Belphegor was still ignoring him.

Looking in the direction Belphegor was watching, Lucifer saw that the sky was in perfect condition to star gaze. "Did you really sneak off just to look at the stars?" Sighing, the avatar of pride sat down on the grass next to his brother.

Only after he made himself comfortable next to the sloth demon did Belphegor acknowledge his presence. "Even if I told you, it's not like you would let me come here." Belphie said annoyed. "Since the war we have been locked up in that place, and every time we leave we get reprimanded. It honestly starts to feel more like a prison than a place of refuge." After finishing his rant silence fell between the two demons.

Lucifer wanted to argue with Belphegor, that he was wrong, that he would have found a solution, but deep down he knew he was right, which annoyed Lucifer to no end. Deciding to let his younger brother 'win' the argument by remaining silent on that matter, he changed the subject. "You've really picked the best day to star gaze. Duos Senes Daemonium can only be fully seen during this week." Pointing towards the sky, Lucifer starts to speak more about various stars.

"How...how do you know so much about stars?? Especially the Devildom ones, I didn't peg you as the type to be into such things..." Belphegor looked dumbfounded at his older brother. Sighing Lucifer started to explain why he even knows such things. "You see, every time I would go down to Devildom, Michael would ask me to take notes of the night sky for a second planetarium."

Belphegor still looked like he had questions but decided to keep his mouth shut. Awkward silence fell once again, the only difference was that this time Belphegor decided to hug his knees close to his chest. "Do you she would have liked it in here?" He didn't need to specify who he was talking about. Even if he needed to, Lucifer was sure that Belphie wasn't quite ready yet to freely talk about her.

"It's hard for me to say exactly. She would have had a lot more freedom than in the Celestial Realm at the very least, and she would have had a lot to explore, which she loved." Belphegor merely acknowledge what Lucifer said with a hum.

"We often used to go to the human world to star gaze. I still remember how I used to point out constellations to her but now...even if she was still here, with us, I would be useless." Hugging his knees even closer to his body, he took a moment to collect himself.

Lucifer didn't rush him, it was clear to him that they would be staying there for a while. He had already sent a quick text to Mammon to take care of the others while he is gone.

"I kept staring at this sky and I couldn't recognize anything, it's all so foreign to me. The stars, the always dark sky, the forests, the cities, everything. I am useless now and I was useless back then too." His voice started to tremble but Lucifer didn't comment on it.

"If only I didn't encourage her to go to the human world maybe she would have still been alive. If we just kept watching the stars in the planetarium that Michael made we would all still be back in the Celestial Realm." Feeling a hand being gently placed on his head made Belphie stop in his tracks.

"Don't you think this is enough self blaming on your behalf?" Belphegor wanted to ask what he meant by that but stopped when he saw the tired expression on Lucifer's face. "It's not your fault that Lilith ended up falling in love with the human realm. It's not your fault that the war happened. Things were already bad back there, a fight would have happened either way."

Belphegor wanted to argue against everything that Lucifer said but was too tired to do so. Maybe it was the look that Lucifer gave him, that the topic was over for the moment, or maybe it was the fact that he felt safe for the first time in a long time. With a sigh he decided to just change the subject to something more light hearted. "You said you took note of the constellations in here, didn't you?" Lucifer just gave him a nod.

"Then since we are here and you know so much, why not tell me some of the constellations you know?" Belphegor stared at him, waiting for the oldest to refuse and tell him to get back at the castle, but to his surprises, Lucifer just made himself more comfortable and started to point at the sky. "You see those stars over there? They are meant to represent the sword of that constellations."

Both of them stayed there for a while, Lucifer pointing out what he could still remember and Belphegor trying to stay awake but the as time passed he found himself falling prey to his own sin.

When Lucifer saw that Belphegor fell asleep he picked him up and flew back towards the castle, back to everyone. Unknown to the his knowledge, Belphegor wasn't asleep the whole flight home. There was a point when he barely woke up and looked up at Lucifer. Somehow the image reminded him of when he was younger and Lucifer would carry him in the Celestial Realm. It didn't help that the stars surrounding them seemed to form a halo above his head, just like when he was a seraphin. Of course, this was something that Belphegor never shared. All that Lucifer ever remembered from the flight was carrying a sleeping Belphegor in him arms.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #obey me Lucifer 2023 birthday

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