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alwaysshallow · 1 year ago

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— gorgeous, chapter 3

Simon "Ghost" Riley x f!reader

Third visit, and complications. Not only with your car. (3,4k)

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When it was your third time to see him, two weeks later again in your clinic, it wasn't the best day for you, to be honest.

Everything seemed to be against you. Not only your dearest coffee machine broke, but you didn't bring your umbrella on the walk back to the clinic since your car didn't work. And, of course, it rained cats and dogs, so you were pretty much pissed.

Another two weeks you spent on testing your luck with your car because once you could perfectly ride with it, and once it wouldn't just work because engine wouldn't even start. So, you continued with your little tradition of walking back home with hope that no one would murder you in the bushes. Or kidnap you.

You thought Simon would have a great laugh of this if it would happen, considering that he told you that's better to not test your luck and just go with it to mechanic. Celia's contact in your phone looked almost embarrassing every time you thought about it, so, you just weren't looking. You fought over a stupid thing months ago, and now you were too prideful to just admit she was right.

Shit happened, but you had your pride, and that occurred in being a fucking dumbass with car that wasn't exactly in the right condition, so you had to walk sometimes.

You had to eventually speak to Celia, you knew that, but you were extending that time for the longest.

Day in work was the usual; probably the calmest possible, good for you, considering that you've already had enough when you walked to the clinic. People were nice, talkative a bit, but you didn't mind that at all – if so, you liked people's stories. Older lady, named Madelyn, told you about struggles with her grandson that apparently was a big animal lover, but "violent" one. Four year old wasn't aware he was supposed to be delicate with his grandma's dog, so before she knew, he sat on him.

If her dog was a big one, like German Shepherd, it wouldn't be a problem. But, it was just a Jack Russell terrier, which caused you to chuckle a bit, when she told you that because they had luck nothing serious happened. To help old lady a bit, you gave her a special book for kids, how to communicate with animals.

She was in heaven when you handed her that, so it was a win.

Your work day quickly came to almost an end – almost, because you had one patient that you've waited for, and that was Simon's cat. For some reason, he always wanted to be the last in the line with Sparkles, so you respected that. It was supposed to be another routine visit after another two weeks.

And, for some reason, the thought of meeting him was tingly. It was a bit cheesy and sounded like a phrase picked up from fanfiction, but he was different. Different than people you usually met, different in the way that was just interesting for you to explore. Hell, you wanted to make him talk some more, like this time when you were walking in the same direction until he took another road. His voice was addictive, low, and the British accent was just fitting him so much that you could cry over it easily, you wanted more.

Simon seemed to loosen up the second visit, so you had hopes about the third one, after all. It was supposed to be the last one, another one in a month, so you wanted to melt that ice a little bit more before that break.

Fuck, you seemed like a teenager all over again when you thought about it.

"Someone's waiting for you." Bernie said, snapping you back to reality from your thoughts. She looked… mixed, out of sudden. "You want to pick that up, though."

"What? Can't they talk with me here?" you raised an eyebrow. If that certain someone was a client, you could take them here since you've been already waiting for Simon and had a small gap. It wouldn't hurt you.

"I figured out it would be better if you'd meet him outside." your assistant said, which came out a bit in a mumble; with a frown, you walked out of the room.

Bernie was never so mysterious about your visitors – yet, gears processing in your head told you it was someone you would rather avoid. Like, your day was already pretty fucked up, so you assumed the worst.

And, of course, you assumed right.

"Oh, fucking great" you scoffed under your breath, as you crossed your gaze with a stranger that was under your clinic's door.

Or, at least, you wanted for him to be a stranger, because he was your ex. Lousy one, where you wanted nothing from him, but to punch him in the face. You were together for three years straight, broke up about five months ago, just because he found someone else to bug.

Honestly, you were a little bit relieved when he broke up with you – still sad, but also relieved, considering that son of a bitch was… suffocating. Trying to cut your contacts with all of your friends, including Rosalie, including everyone that could be a "potential threat". Toxic partner as it finest, but you felt he would fuck up your life even more if you would try and break up with him. So, you stayed, praying for a miracle, which was cheating, in his case. It felt like a huge favor when he told you that, well, he doesn't love you anymore and he thinks a breakup is the best option.

He was silent after that – until now, of course, and you could only imagine what he wanted from you.

"Hey, pretty thing." he smiled widely, looking at you. "Looking marvelous, as always. Still in shape after the breakup, I see?"

"You thought I'm gonna cry after you?" you raised an eyebrow. "Cut the crap and compliments, Vince. What do you want?"

Your ex chuckled.

"Well, ain't that the attiude I love, bird. Haven't you missed me? Because I did, and I thought we could do a little date."

Oh, he wasn't fucking serious, was he?

Not knowing how to react, you laughed, trying to see what his reaction would be – and in simple words, he switched attiudes fast. From charming and "appealing", Vince's face became a bit stern, dark, like he didn't like the answer you just gave him.

Immediately it gave you flashbacks from your relationship, where your every reaction was calculated since he liked to be rough. Since he loved irritating the shit out of you, just to see you're not gonna do shit about it.

Because he was stronger. Because he could easily overpower you, trap you into thinking that you were the wrong one, not him. Because he always apologized with flowers and crocodile tears in his eyes, when you stood your ground.

He was a motherfucking manipulator.

"You broke up with me just five months ago, and you want to be back together, suddenly?"

"I'm not talking about getting back together. Simple fucking. She's not it, you know?" he raised his eyebrow, mimicking you from earlier. "I do not like that reaction, though. Gotta work on that, baby."

"Mhm, no way. You can go fuck yourself." you shook your head, turning back from him, to go straight to your clinic.

There wasn't a point for you to talk to your ex especially when he was nothing but a douche, you thought it would be the best to leave him behind and ignore. He, in the other hand, didn't – and you were painfully reminded that when he grabbed your wrist, preventing you from going or pushing him. It was a hard grip.

"Be a little nicer, will you? I'm trying to be a gentleman, baby." he murmured, and you almost felt how everything is just rising in you.

That little "nickname" especially furiated you.

"Let me go, Vince."

"I could just take you, you know? Anywhere, even in your little clinic, and yet, I'm asking nicely. So, stop acting like a little bitch and–"

"–Good morning."

Your eyes immediately went to the stranger's voice – even if you didn't see him, you knew who it was. That sharp tone, cold, brown eyes, transporter with his cat in it; hell, it looked almost hilarious. Height difference between him and your ex wasn't big, yet, if you'd be talking about muscle…

All in all, Simon probably could eat him alive if he wanted to.

"Morning. I'll take you and Sparkles in a minute." you smiled weakly, trying to at least act okay, like nothing was happening. He didn't need any of this shit, you thought you could play it perfectly on your own.

"I'll take you?" your ex laughed, shaking his head to himself. His grip tightened on your wrist, and that made Simon put transporter on the ground immediately. "Seriously? He's your new toy or something, Addison?"

"He's a client and even if he were, it's none of your business. I already told you no."

"Barely five months, and you're acting like a whore" he laughed bitterlessly, looking at you with pure venom. "I wonder, how many dudes–"

Your ex wasn't even capable of finishing that sentence. His comments were like a breaking point for Simon, as he grabbed his two wrists, freeing you from him and bent Vince's arms under… really, really weird and uncomfortable angle.

It was almost unbelieveable how easy he did it, and it all looked like he wasn't putting any effort in it, even if you knew he had to.

"When a lady" he started, his voice low "tells you no, I think she does mean it, hm?"

"Oh, fucking let go of me, dude, you don't even–"

"–I believe she told you the same, and you didn't let her go."

How Simon looked right now, surprised even you – it's not like he was visibly mad or anything, because he had a motherfucking poker face. Yet, he looked terrifying, and if you would be in Vince's place, you'd run as fast as you could, trying to just get out of his sight.

Probably your ex thought the same since he looked at him furiously, mumbled some "sorry" that didn't sound convincing at all and walked away, when blonde let him go.

It made you feel lighter when you saw him stepping into his car and driving off.

"Thank you." you said, looking up in your 'savior's' eyes, who now eyed you up and down, trying to… find something? You didn't know until he pointed at your wrist, a bit concerned? It was really hard to read him or what he was thinking.

"How's your wrist?"

Oh.

"Been better." you shrugged, looking at your wrist too. Maybe it wasn't the worst, but you still felt like Vince's hands were there. "You didn't have to."

He rolled his eyes.

"Bullshit. Everyone who has some common sense should do this" he sighed, his eyes going up to meet yours.

For a few second, you both were silent, just two people looking at each other and you couldn't find the right words. Even if you thanked him, it seemed like too little considering he made Vince go away.

Even if it was for a moment and he could come back. It was… thoughtful.

"Not everyone would." you commented, but he was silent on that, as his brows furrowed. "Come on in, we have an appointment to do."

Simon followed you, without any word of course – he was being all mysterious again, or just simply in his thoughts, but you didn't mind. Not when you had a cat to take a good look at and Sparkles was absolutely looking gorgeous, even more healthier and even more… lively? Well, you could say that, especially the moment she practically jumped out of the transporter and you barely catched her, laughing at her behavior. Bernie was mesmerized too.

After a second or two of petting (Sparkles was irrestible, just that) you started examining her again, and when you really thought she doesn't need another x-ray, you did one, just in case your sixth sense was wrong. She seemed more than okay though; as you allowed her to inspect some places in your room and walk around, there was no hesitation in her moves.

That ginger cat even jumped over a few counters, causing Simon to have a heart attack and order her around to get down while Bernie was reaching her hands to her. You barely held back a laughter while you waited for x-ray results, because 6'4 man was practically begging his cat to come down, and she didn't give a shit about this. What's more funny, she licked her paw, not bothering to look at her owner.

You thought that he was more fitting for a dog owner, though – at least, the first time you looked at him. Back then, you could see how good his cat was for him especially considering the reputation they had and the attitude they had. Pretty much, the cats were Simon, and Simon was a cat. Black one.

Stepping their own path, choosing carefully who they want to trust, and who they want to simply avoid. It was the first vibe he gave off, and you didn't know about any other specific thing since he wasn't chatty, but it was a gut feeling.

And your gut feelings, mostly, weren't wrong.

X-ray came quickly; just as you thought, everything was healing up pretty well and Sparkles could just be fine with walking around apartment or really any other area, without her owner lurking at her all the time. What's more to it, a big satisfaction for you, she was looking even better, which you obviously said to him, like a praise.

Everything was fine, so why you were feeling a little sad? It was uncanny to feel this way, especially about something so normal, like a client and their owner. It was never something deeper, he never told you anything to feel attached to. Bernie wasn't feeling this way, she even left before results came in because it was late.

So why were you?

"You'll get a text when your visit will be scheduled. If something would be bothering you, I'm always over the phone" you smiled a bit, giving Sparkles a last bump in her tiny nose, before closing the gabinet behind you.

Once again, Simon was the last client. What a coincidence, huh?

"Right." he mused.

He looked like he was about to say something else, but didn't – at least, not until when you moved past your car, even if your keys were dingling in your hand. Simon even raised his eyebrow which was odd enough since mostly he had this perfect poker face.

"Can't believe it."

"Listen, listen" you squealed, one of your hand going through your hair. "I have a point in not giving my car to my mechanic. It would be rude."

Simon huffed, his eyes glistening with amusement.

"Rude. Giving car to mechanic, whose job is, simplest words given, repairing cars."

You rolled your eyes, laughing.

"Well, okay, it's not only that. She's my best friend, Celia. And we haven't spoken in… eight, nine months because we had a fight."

He was silent; awfully silent, so you took it as a sign to bring him into the details, if he wanted it or not.

"You know, she told me to break up with Vince. Called me a few names, I called her a shitty best friend, we were even. She was right though" you sighed. "But since then… well, it is just bad to reach out to her because my car is in shitty condition. It's not right." you babbled.

"And he ain't even worth a fight." he mumbled, more than himself than to you; your gazes crossed once again. "Just talk to her. It's just a man, your friendship is more valuable. And, your car is more valuable than this."

"Smart, coming from just a man" you teased him with a smile, nudging his side with your elbow.

You knew he was right though; Vince wasn't even worth it in the first place. To fight over someone like him.

Which was ironic, after fight with Celia, you two were together for only a few months. Theoretically, you could reach out after the breakup, but in practice, a wave of shame and guilt going through you was damn big that time. She was your friend, even best friend just trying to give you advice. Maybe too harshly, but it was her way of doing things – after saying something out of place, she was realizing that it might appear bad.

A sagittarius, what's more to explain?

"See, I'm the famous exception." he looked at you; he didn't nudged you back or anything, but seeing the corner of his lips twitching a bit was good enough for you. Cocky, challenging. He was confident.

You wanted to even dig in deeper, make some comments about this little smile to rile him up a bit, but you forgot what was on your mind in seconds when you realized that he was still walking with you.

He was supposed to turn right at crossroad.

"Taking a shortcut?" you asked him, even if in your mind was another question. It was better to play dumb than making assumptions, you thought.

"Walking you home."

You raised an eyebrow – surprised that you were right. You tried to tell yourself that maybe it wasn't big. He was in military after all, maybe it was a feeling of responsibility talking, work responsibility, to take care of everyone.

Yet, a feeling in your chest was a warm one. He was practically a stranger with absolutely cute cat, adorable eyes and a face that practically begged to be studied better. Still, you were a bit too shy to look, as you didn't want to appear as rude.

"May I ask why?" you glanced at transporter in his hand with Sparkles in it.

"You may, always. The thing is, I might not answer" he hummed, his eyes on the road straight, although you could see that his attention is on the high alert. A simple noise, and his eyes darted to the place.

"I know it anyway. Why are you doing this, I mean."

"Do you?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Then?"

"Well, I might not tell you that."

Simon snorted with laughter.

"Alright."

You lasted maybe a minute of quiet.

"I think that's because of that situation with Vince. And because I don't have this shitty car, so you thought it would be better to, like, walk me home. Even if it's not something that you have to do."

"You're always like this?" he asked after a few seconds, out of the blue, and you had to blink twice to register that.

"Like what?"

"Talking. Even if you pretty much told me you're not gonna tell me."

"…yeah." you mumbled with a bit of shame, pink creeping at your cheeks. "Are you always so reserved?"

"Negative. I'm not reserved, 'st talking when I'm supposed to." he shrugged, as he looked at you, which you saw with the corner of your eye, considering that now your attention was on your sneakers. "And that assumption… might be true. Too many jackasses are walking 'round here, including your ex."

"Oh, you have no idea."

After this comment, the rest of road to your apartment was pretty much silent – and it wasn't also that much far, so before you even knew, you stood right in front of your apartament building.

"I guess that's it. Thank you, seriously. You didn't have to, and yet, you did" you chuckled awkwardly, taking a few steps back. "Night, Simon."

"Night." he nodded.

"Addison?" he called out, which made you look back at him. "Check that car, alright? I'm gonna send you the number to my mechanic, but talk with that Celia girl."

"Oh, I… yeah, alright. Gonna wait for that." you choked out, surprised.

It was a nice feeling – to know that he's gonna text you, and not only that, he… well, was "care" the good word for what he did? You couldn't help but wonder when you finally found yourself in front of your door, third floor of building. Something pushed you to check if he's still visible out there – and, he was, even if barely, walking calmly with that transporter of his.

And one second later, he looked straight in your window.

Was that a coincidence? Maybe, but the feeling made you dizzy, so you hid swiftly behind the wall, clearing your throat – a few seconds later, when you looked again, Simon was gone, leaving you with many thoughts.

#simon ghost riley #mw2 #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x reader #simon riley imagine #simon riley fanfic #simon riley x you #simon ghost x reader #call of duty #ghost mw2 #ghost cod #mw2 ghost #ghost x reader #simon ghost x you

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aois-amaterasu-painting · 5 months ago

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GiGS vol. 520 - interviews with the 5 members (2021 July)

Interviewer: This time, with "MASS", the production was carried out over a long period, wasn't it?

RUKI: At the time when we were talking about releasing songs, the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and as I was considering how to proceed, I realized that the songs we had made until then were not something I wanted to listen to in this situation. What I wanted to present gradually changed. Rather than having a specific concept, I wanted to convey the latest evolution straightforwardly. That was quite the aim.

Interviewer: Among the songs born in that period was "BLINDING HOPE," which was released in advance.

RUKI: Yes. "BLINDING HOPE" had 4 to 5 different versions, and it was still uncertain how it would turn out. So, while making various changes, we created it with the idea that it would be the first song for the fans who had been waiting, serving as a starting point.

Interviewer: Around spring last year, when you were supposed to be deep into song production, you mentioned that you hadn't yet created a core song. When the members heard this song, they all felt it was the lead track. How would you describe the elements of a lead track in your words?

RUKI: In the past, a lead track might have been imagined as a song for a single. While it's the standout track of the album, it's also a kind of middle-ground song. With something thematic like "DOGMA," it's different, but it's important that the song conveys the overall atmosphere of the album and the current direction of the band. It's also something that can be listened to as the entry point to the album. I wanted it to be the trademark song of the album.

Interviewer: It's truly a song that represents the GazettE, and it seems some fans are already covering it.

RUKI: I've heard a few covers, and you know the crunchy sound that kicks it off? For some reason, everyone delays it. That's where you have to play it down with full force. That's what I want to say. It was good to have the opportunity to say that (laughs).

Interviewer: That's valuable advice (laughs). Did the other songs develop from there?

RUKI: Yes. "BLINDING HOPE" took an unusually long time to finalize. So, as a sort of reaction, when we started working on "THE PALE" and "NOX," the general image came together fairly quickly. At first, we kept creating the foundational tracks of the album one after another. As we went on, we integrated ideas like wanting to include certain types of songs and thinking about how they would be performed live.

Interviewer: It's an album that makes you really want to see the live performances, and moreover, it's catchy.

RUKI: Yes. We're not an overly niche band to begin with, so we focused quite a bit on the melody and catchiness of the riffs that we naturally have. The early version of "BLINDING HOPE" was extremely complex. There were many other songs with intense structures and very complex compositions. But after that, we aimed to create something simple and cool with a certain momentum.

Interviewer: What was the intention behind "NOX" and "THE PALE"?

RUKI: "THE PALE" came after "BLINDING HOPE," so initially, I was trying to make something that would rest my ears a bit. Then it ended up having a lot of elements. So, in contrast, "NOX" started with a phrase that came to mind while playing the guitar, and I wanted to shape it somehow. It was an extremely simple creation process, and then we added touches like violin for flavor.

Interviewer: "THE PALE" also features string sounds, but the violin in "NOX" stands out.

RUKI: It really does. It felt like the song was finalized because of that. It's something that hasn't really been seen in the GazettE until now.

Interviewer: The track order of the album is exquisite. Especially placing "THE PALE" and "MOMENT" in the middle section, surrounded by intense songs.

RUKI: It incorporates elements of the GazettE's live performances. The dark parts, the spatial elements like in "THE PALE," and songs like "MOMENT," which we haven't really had before.

Interviewer: "MOMENT" is indeed a rare type of song for the GazettE.

RUKI: Yes. This type of song usually has distortion in the middle, but this time I deliberately excluded it, adding a folk-like feel. The songs created later have many elements, so I wanted to do something extremely stripped-down and raw. Also, I always jot down ideas as they come to me.

Interviewer: How about "Daku"?

RUKI: "Daku" was something that happened by chance. When I was thinking about what to create next, I came up with the dissonant-sounding part at the beginning. At that time, I had a slightly grunge, somewhat weathered-sounding melody recorded in my voice memos, and it fit perfectly with that. I just wanted to incorporate a dirty feeling into the melody, but it surprisingly turned out to be something I really liked.

Interviewer: "ROLLIN'" plays a role of continuing the momentum from "BLINDING HOPE," doesn't it?

RUKI: Actually, "ROLLIN'" was initially a ballad made before "BLINDING HOPE." I originally wanted to have a lot of percussion and a bit of a folk music vibe in the album, and I thought of making it a main feature. But then I realized it wasn't right, so I significantly increased the BPM and added the guitars on top. So, the kind of music I initially wanted to make is quite close to the opening SE of the album.

Interviewer: In the track "COUNT-10" positioned at the beginning of the album, there's also an industrial atmosphere that's quite characteristic of you, RUKI. You can also hear a percussive rhythm.

RUKI: Yes, that was something that came about during mastering (laughs). It felt good to return to the original idea at such a timing.

Interviewer: "BARBARIAN" is an aggressive song as the title suggests, with a sharp riff driving it forward.

RUKI: Yes. Initially, I played with it without any particular plan and was struggling with how to develop the chorus. I wanted it to become increasingly decadent. It's not just intense, but also somewhat unpredictable towards the end.

Interviewer: This track probably has the most variations in the album.

RUKI: Yes. Even during recording, there were moments of, "Wait, what was this melody?" (laughs). It was originally all over the place, and I just wanted to somehow connect everything nicely.

Interviewer: Since it appears suddenly in the latter part of the album, it keeps you on your toes until the end (laughs).

RUKI: Especially since it comes after "MOMENT" (laughs). In terms of how it was made, it's similar to how we approached "DOGMA." While making simpler tracks, I felt the need for something complex. Without such elements, the album would feel lacking to me.

Interviewer: The album concludes with "LAST SONG," which has a very weighty presence that carries everything.

RUKI: Yes. I wanted to end with a song that could hold its own more than "BLINDING HOPE." It was a song we put a lot of effort into. I felt it had to be something truly satisfying, and it was a challenging process, but I aimed to create something quintessentially the GazettE. This song gave me confidence in the album as a whole.

Interviewer: The words in the lyrics also seem to be fitting for these times.

RUKI: I never expected the state of emergency to continue like this. In a sense, I was thinking of preserving what we could only create in 2020 and 2021. These words are not just directed at the fans but are also for ourselves, aiming to return to our original state amidst the ups and downs. It's also about reminiscing about live performances. If these feelings can be conveyed throughout the album, that would be great.

Interviewer: When did you start working on the songs for the album?

Uruha: We had our first selection meeting in December two years ago, and from then on, each of us started composing songs. Initially, we didn't have a specific concept when we began production. So, we were making songs as we liked, but as the songwriting progressed and recording approached, we began to see the path we needed to take. It felt like we had reached a point where the goal was unexpectedly narrow. Also, in August last year, RUKI brought in "BLINDING HOPE" and proposed making it the lead track. It seemed like RUKI saw something within that song, and from then on, RUKI started bringing in more songs. As a result, all the songs on "MASS" this time were either written entirely by RUKI or he was deeply involved in them.

Interviewer: Did you feel any resistance to not having your own compositions included?

Uruha: As musicians, we have the desire to create and express ourselves through songs that we want to release to the world. However, when it comes to releasing music as the GazettE, the personal aspect has gradually become less important. Rather than who composed the songs, what's more important is how we create works that will impact our listeners. So, it didn't really bother me that my own songs weren't included this time. It turned out to be a good album, so I'm satisfied with that.

Interviewer: Indeed, it doesn't feel like a solo work by RUKI but rather an album filled with the essence of the GazettE. Next, let's talk about the guitars on this album.

Uruha: This time, there were many instances where we reproduced the guitar parts based on the demos RUKI created. RUKI had a strong will to achieve a specific vision. As a result, while we did change the irregular parts musically, we tried to stick to the approach of the demos as much as possible. When I really wanted to change something, I would throw it out there during pre-production, saying, "I've changed this," and there were songs where those changes were incorporated, and other songs where we discussed and decided that the previous version or a different pattern was better. We experimented with various things and reached the current form after being satisfied with the results.

Interviewer: That's a good approach. However, unlike the previous stereo-oriented guitar sound, there are more parts where you play in unison with Aoi. How do you feel about that?

Uruha: This time, we focused on the sound pressure throughout the album, so I think that's the right approach. I've always wanted to establish the individuality of the left and right guitars, but this time we decided to respect the composer's intention more. For RUKI, it was important to consider what melodies would work against the background guitars and rhythm. Also, this kind of approach was refreshing as we hadn't done it much before.

Interviewer: Even with the unison, the subtle differences in nuance and tone create depth and breadth, and I think this way of handling guitars is nice too.

Uruha: I wanted to highlight those aspects. We wanted to avoid having one person play all the backing tracks or doubling them mechanically. In fact, we tried an approach where one person played all the backing parts. But we found that the sound created by both of us playing the same thing felt better.

Interviewer: I think that was the right decision. Which songs do you think have a strong impression in terms of guitar parts?

Uruha: "BLINDING HOPE" has a strong impression in many aspects. The song starts with an introduction and then the band kicks in with a bang. It was crucial how we started the song because it was our first release in a long time and our lead track. I felt that if this part wasn't impressive, it wouldn't work. Until we arrived at the current form, there were many twists and turns. Also, when this song came up, I reconsidered how we were recording. The recording process completely changed my thoughts and approaches. Initially, we recorded in the studio using a cabinet and stood the mic up to capture a realistic sense of space. However, with the traditional method, I felt that the impact was lacking. So, we stopped using the cabinet and searched for the best way to record.

Interviewer: That was quite a process. The guitars on "MASS" have a clarity and quickness in their attack that's unique to digital, yet they don't sound too close to the ear, which I think is excellent.

Uruha: Thank you very much. Through trial and error, we concluded that we needed to use a cabinet plugin, and the choice of cabinet was extremely important. Also, RUKI wanted to distort the guitar quite a bit, but my personal guitars didn't quite achieve the sound he wanted. So, we borrowed a guitar with active pickups from ESP and used active pickups for the first time this time. "BLINDING HOPE" used passive pickups, but the rest were all active. However, for the leads and guitar solos, we recorded them all using a cabinet. We recorded the sounds that were meant to stand out in an analog manner and the backing parts that were meant to be more in the background digitally to achieve tightness. We valued this front-to-back contrast.

Interviewer: That's a method befitting someone well-versed in both analog and digital techniques like yourself. Since you mentioned guitar solos, could you talk about the guitar solos on this album?

Uruha: I had set aside the guitar solos for a while. I was focused on exploring the texture of the backing tracks, so I put the solos on hold. Towards the end of the production, I recorded them all at once. I particularly like the guitar solos in "BLINDING HOPE" and "MOMENT". For "BLINDING HOPE" I felt I should play an aggressive solo, but the length was quite long, so starting aggressively wouldn't last (laughs). Instead, I thought it was very important to create a dramatic development and changed direction midway. I tried various things from there and finally settled on the current form, focusing on building up towards the end. For "MOMENT," the backing is entirely acoustic, so I decided to play the solo on acoustic guitar as well. From the beginning, I wanted the sound to be acoustic and never considered using an electric guitar for the solo. In terms of phrases, RUKI had played some in the demo stage, so I used those as references.

Interviewer: The high-quality guitar solos deepen the world of the songs. How did you record the acoustic guitar for "MOMENT"?

Uruha: I recorded the acoustic guitar at home. I simply set up two mics and used compression while recording. When you play arpeggios, the volume level is low, and it's difficult to control dynamics. The engineer processes this with compression later on, but I wanted to control the dynamics myself while playing, so I decided to record with compression. Being able to play while visualizing the finished product was the most beneficial thing for me. Also, I enjoyed being able to do everything myself, such as mic arrangement and EQ adjustment.

Interviewer: That's very characteristic of you, Uruha, with your engineering skills. Now, the album "MASS" is a must-listen, combining the GazettE’s essence with a fresh feel. How do you feel now that you've completed the album?

Uruha: First of all, I really want to express my gratitude for completing this album. Production took a lot of time, and there were times when I wondered if we could really do it. However, with no live performances scheduled due to COVID, we had the opportunity to thoroughly focus on recording, and there was also the feeling that our efforts would be in vain if we didn't do this well. So, we put in more effort and spent more time than ever before to create something we can confidently call our masterpiece, so I hope you look forward to its release. However, since the songs grow when performed live, "MASS" isn’t complete yet.

Interviewer: I understand. Because of that, I think there are many listeners who are eager to see the GazettE live as soon as possible.

Uruha: Although I can’t promise exactly when we will perform live, we are constantly working towards it. Ideally, we want to perform live, not online. Even if the venue capacity is halved, we want to do it live. Also, if we do perform live, I want it to be a level beyond just not showing any signs of our hiatus; I want to show an evolved the GazettE. So, when we do hold a live concert, please come to the venue and experience it.

Interviewer: As the work on "MASS" progressed, RUKI ended up writing most of the songs. Did you have any resistance to not including your own songs?

Aoi: Not at all. I thought that RUKI probably had a lot of things he wanted to express and convey, and if that was the case, he should be the one to transmit it. While asserting what I want my instrument to sound like is important, I felt it was better for someone with a clear vision of what they wanted to express to take the lead. Everyone seemed to feel the same way, and there was no pushback like, "I want to do it this way." If it had been just 2-3 years since we started the band, it might have been different, but we’ve created many works, and this isn't our last album. So, this way of making the album was totally fine and an interesting experiment.

Interviewer: Even though RUKI took the lead on the album, it’s still overflowing with the essence of the GazettE. I heard that "HOLD" and "FRENZY" were mainly created by the instrumentalists.

Aoi: RUKI kept bringing in songs, and before we knew it, there were only two slots left. Initially, RUKI and Kai had started working a bit on "FRENZY," but it was put on hold. We decided to work on "HOLD" first as an instrumental group, aiming for a straightforward song that would grow well in live performances. So we shaped it with that in mind before handing it over to Ruki to reflect his intentions and complete it.

Interviewer: The hard tunes on this album are both intense and easy to listen to, and "HOLD" is dark yet catchy.

Aoi: I thought it was okay even if it didn’t have much melody because we were focusing on a “frenzied” feeling. But when we passed it to RUKI, he added a solid vocal line, making it both dark and catchy. For "FRENZY," RUKI and Kai had only made the intro, which initially wasn’t to my personal taste (laughs). I thought it was a bit too pop, at first. But since the intro was a must-keep, we worked on the other parts, and eventually, even the intro was reworked. We created multiple versions for every part of "HOLD" and "FRENZY." So, we were able to make it complex or straightforward, and decided the current form was the best.

Interviewer: Both songs are really high-quality compositions. Now, let’s talk about the guitars on "MASS."

Aoi: This time, we mainly reproduced what RUKI had included in the demos. If there were parts where I thought I’d do it differently, I suggested changes, but usually, we ended up going with RUKI’s ideas after trying both versions. So, the guitar parts are quite simple this time. There are parts where we deliberately simplified RUKI’s phrases, not breaking them into finer notes but making them larger. We have two guitarists in our band. Visual kei twin-guitar bands often create competing guitar phrases, but I felt we’d already done that enough. This time, I wanted to focus on clear roles for lead and side guitars. I was interested in this approach and wanted to experience the side guitar position. I wanted to explore songs from the side guitar perspective.

Interviewer: The side/rhythm guitar might seem plain, but it’s deep and fun when you get into it.

Aoi: Yes, it’s great as a musical instrument. It felt really good. "Feeling good" is a very vague expression (laughs). There are layered phrases, rhythms, and sequences, and the role of the side guitar is to connect them well. In the past, I thought as long as the bass kept the rhythm tight, the guitar could just hit the main points and follow the broader rhythm. This time, though, I matched the drums closely and paid more attention to filling the guitar's frequency range and determining what to cut. This approach was very enjoyable and made me appreciate the importance of backing guitar.

Interviewer: So, you had new discoveries with this approach. Which song left a strong impression on you with its guitar work?

Aoi: "MOMENT." In this song, both Uruha and I played acoustic guitars throughout, with Uruha handling the arpeggios while I focused on strumming. It was a first-time approach, and it was fulfilling. Also, I used the acoustic guitar version of the IR (cabinet simulator) to record the acoustic guitar. Nowadays, when you hear an acoustic guitar in music, you sometimes can't tell if it's live or programmed. I wanted to explore that aspect a bit, so I decided to use IR. I recorded it with just the sound of the piezo pickup without setting up a microphone, and then I refined it.

Interviewer: The gentle texture and appropriate airy feel are pleasant, and it's surprising that you recorded it with only the piezo pickup sound.

Aoi: I did my best (laughs). I only knew the sound of K. Yairi and Martin guitars. But this time, I used the modeling of a Gibson Hummingbird. It has a very beautiful sound. In reality, I wouldn't want to buy it because the care is troublesome (laughs). When I recorded it, it had a more acoustic guitar-like sound with resonance, but since Uruha wanted to go thicker with the arpeggio, I thought it would be too much if I also made my sound rough. So, I deliberately made it thinner. I aimed for a fullness like the strumming of pop artists in Western music, while incorporating a slightly darker feeling from Japanese music. I like the darker tone of Japanese acoustic guitar.

Interviewer: Choosing to make the sound thinner shows a sharp sense. Also, the electric guitar sounds on this album are even more refined.

Aoi: When we first recorded "BLINDING HOPE," we used a cabinet, but the closeness of the sound wasn't what RUKI had in mind. So, we stopped using the cabinet and tried using IR, and finally settled on a plugin cabinet. At first, Uruha used a plugin, and I used IR, but the IR sound became too rich, so I adjusted to match Uruha. I didn't expect the sound to change so much with different cabinets. We tried various amps, but RUKI kept rejecting them, saying "This isn't it, this isn't it." In the end, we switched to a plugin cabinet, and it turned out that any head would do (laughs). The sound isn’t too close to the ear but still has the fullness of a cabinet, making it hard to believe it was recorded direct.

Interviewer: Another impressive aspect of your guitar sound in this album is the wide range.

Aoi: That’s something that changed over time. Originally, Uruha had a wider and more dynamic range. But that reversed at some point. This time, we worked on that a lot. My sound was wide-ranged and loud, so I narrowed it down. Uruha’s sound is more solid, so if we don’t adjust, the two guitars won’t sit well together.

Interviewer: The careful crafting results in a pleasant thickness and spread created by the two guitars. Now that "MASS" is finished, how do you feel?

Aoi: "MASS" might sound very simple at first listen. What the band is doing is quite simple, creating the atmosphere with sequences. While I have no complaints about this approach, there are parts where I feel my guitar might have become too simple. I am satisfied with my role, and enjoyed supporting the overall sound as the side guitarist. However, there are fans who could be called "Aoi enthusiasts", who favor my compositions specifically, and I wonder how they will take it. I feel confident about what I did in "MASS," and I want people to understand that my passion for music and the GazettE hasn't diminished just because the guitar parts are simpler. The simplicity gives me more leeway in my playing, allowing for a different kind of performance on stage. Therefore, if you listen to "MASS" and think, "What's this?" I hope you look forward to the live performance.

Interviewer: Can you tell us your honest feelings now that the album "MASS" is complete?

REITA: Among all our albums, this one is probably the most suited for live performances, so I really want to showcase it soon. The track order also closely resembles a live setlist. When we released "NINTH," I thought we had an amazing tour, so I aimed to create an album that evolved further from there, and I think we achieved that.

Interviewer: "BLINDING HOPE" was released as the lead single, and I heard that it was recorded ahead of the others.

REITA: Yes, that's right. It was similar with our previous album and "Falling" as well. We finished mixing one song first and used that as a guideline to record the others. It helps create a framework.

Interviewer: How did you approach the recording this time?

REITA: I bought a lot of equipment beforehand. Even just with compact effects pedals, I bought around five… Honestly, it was quite an expense (laughs). We had used the equipment from the previous recording and tour extensively, and I wanted to advance the sound further. There is still a lot of equipment I haven’t tried, and I hoped to find something even better. Renting for just a day doesn’t really give you a good idea, so even though it might end up being a waste, I decided to buy and try everything. In the actual recording, I ended up using the orthodox SansAmp. I had been using it in live performances before, but a new version with mids was released. In the end, I didn't tweak the mids much and used it flat, but it fit the current songs perfectly.

Interviewer: I heard you bought a new bass too.

REITA: Yes, I bought two, but the one I used in the recording was the second one, a Dingwall Z3, a 2020 NAMM SHOW model. Initially, I used the first bass I bought for "BLINDING HOPE," but after re-recording with the new one, it sounded even better. Time was tight, so it was hard to suggest replacing it, but everyone agreed the new one was better, which was a relief (laughs).

Interviewer: I see. How did you approach the bass line in "BLINDING HOPE"?

REITA: The song is dark, so I tried not to stay too high up. I aimed for a slightly heavy feel while having the phrase move, going back and forth to lower chords. The bass volume is a bit higher in this song, and I think the bass presence fits the tone.

Interviewer: "ROLLIN'" has an intense sound that promises immediate impact in live performances. It's quite an interesting track.

REITA: I struggled a lot with the sound production for "ROLLIN'." Nothing seemed to click, so we re-amped it again on the last day of mixing. For example, in "BLINDING HOPE," the intro has a ground-shaking lower end, but that's because I’m playing open strings. However, in "ROLLIN'," I'm holding down the second fret continuously, so even if I tried to make the same sound, it wouldn't turn out the same. So, we adjusted it to fit between the kick and the guitar.

Interviewer: The slap bass at the end of the chorus is also impressive, but adjusting the sound with other parts seems difficult.

REITA: Originally, the song had everything up to the end of the chorus. During the mix of "BLINDING HOPE" or something, RUKI brought in the continuation, saying something like, "There's a bass solo, so do it." In the demo, it was programmed, but the nuance suggested it was supposed to be slap bass. However, running it through an amp made the sound too wild, so we ended up using a plugin. I'm still not sure how we’ll reproduce it live.

Interviewer: How about "NOX"?

REITA: "NOX" has a tempo that’s quite different from what the GazettE usually does, so I’m looking forward to playing it live. In the past, I might have thought this kind of song wouldn’t have a great groove live, but after the "NINTH" tour, I believe it will work well. Playing at this tempo feels really good, so I hope it creates a big wave in the audience.

Interviewer: The bass line in this song gives the impression that it's playing the absolute correct answer.

REITA: The phrase itself isn’t difficult, but the picking was really tough. I focused on keeping the pick level to ensure a clear "terodero" sound throughout. I didn’t want it to sound like alternate picking, but using down-only picking didn’t flow well, so I tried to find a balance.

Interviewer: The bass has a unique fret design, right?

REITA: At first, I wasn’t sure how it would feel, but I got used to it right away and didn't find it difficult to play.

Interviewer: The ballad-like songs such as "THE PALE" and "MOMENT" have interesting approaches too.

REITA: In intense songs, there are many unison parts, but in ballads, I think the bass has moments to shine (laughs). Especially in "MOMENT," which progresses with acoustic guitar strumming, the bass can handle intricate arrangements.

Interviewer: Was there any key song that stood out during the recording?

REITA: Ah, for example, I moved quite a bit with the phrase in the chorus of "濁 (Daku)."

Interviewer: I'm also looking forward to seeing how "MOMENT" will be performed live. "HOLD" seems to embody the intensity of a live performance.

REITA: This might be the song most tailored for live performance. The phrase itself is almost in unison with the guitar, so there’s nothing particularly standout, but it has a sense of band unity and isn't just intense; it has dynamics. We shared tracks on Pro Tools and discussed them over Zoom while creating this song. This was our first time using this method, but I think it might be a viable approach for future projects. We worked until someone said "I can’t go on anymore," which was tough but also fun (laughs).

Interviewer: The bass drives this song as well.

REITA: Mixing the bass within the double bass drum parts is challenging. It often gets buried. I can’t count how many times I said, "Isn’t the kick too loud?" (laughs). We approached "FRENZY" similarly to "HOLD." For the bass, I aimed for a cohesive sound without cluttering it, sometimes reducing the picking to avoid interference.

Interviewer: The bouncy rhythm in the chorus is excellent.

REITA: This was quite difficult. At first, Uruha played the phrase and asked, "How about this chorus?" We all played along with the strings, but the drums didn’t quite fit. The bass rhythm is tricky too. Avoiding ghost notes makes it harder to catch the rhythm. The energy should rise sharply, but the hands need to stay calm to pull it off.

Interviewer: The last song on the album, "LAST SONG," feels like a particularly important track, doesn't it?

REITA: As soon as the song starts, it gives off a strong feeling of "the beginning of the end." From the bass perspective, I played the chorus not with detailed phrases but with a slight undulating sensation, aiming for a bit of a driving feel. The intro is tightly synchronized vertically. This became clear once the piece was finished.

Interviewer: With this work completed, do you have a vision of the musical future of the GazettE?

REITA: Musically speaking, I think this album represents evolution rather than a new challenge. When the GazettE makes it, it really becomes a GazettE album, and I was reminded of that again. But I also realized the difficulty of the bass guitar again. This past year, I’ve particularly focused on the bass. I’ve watched a lot of playthrough videos on YouTube and bought a lot of gear. When you buy equipment, you naturally end up spending more time playing the bass, right? I want to bring those experiences to our live performances. However, while I can clearly envision the live performances, the uncertainty of the tour schedule due to COVID-19 is quite frustrating. Nevertheless, I want to keep honing my skills so that we can fully express this album when the time comes.

Interviewer: Did you have any themes or concepts in mind when creating the new album?

Kai: No, we didn’t. It’s always like that with the GazettE. We speak through our music; without songs, there’s nothing to talk about. Starting with a concept is quite rare for us. Usually, as we create songs, themes and concepts naturally emerge. Through the song selection process, we find how to express the current GazettE. Initially, each member was making songs, but later, we started shaping the songs RUKI brought in. There wasn’t a standout song for a long time, but then the pandemic hit, our March concert was canceled, and we had time to reflect on ourselves. During that period, I think RUKI found the concept. "BLINDING HOPE" came together in April, and we unanimously agreed it should be included. After that, RUKI kept bringing in songs, and by shaping them, we completed most of the album. The last couple of songs were made by all of us, but even those were strongly influenced by RUKI. So, "MASS" ended up being entirely RUKI's work, which is a first for us, but it still feels very much like a GazettE album, so it doesn’t feel strange to me.

Interviewer: It’s more important what kind of work it is, rather than who made the songs. Let’s talk about the drums in "MASS." The drumming throughout the album is very energetic.

Kai: Everyone says that (laughs). People often say that, but I don't really feel that way.

Interviewer: Really? The approach of incorporating intricate patterns, fast fills, and double bass throughout the album made me realize once again how amazing your drumming is.

Kai: I wonder... People often say it's busy (laughs). To me, it's just a continuation of the approach I've always taken, so I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special. When I listen to a demo, I naturally hear the drum patterns in my head and then just bring them to life.

Interviewer: It's impressive that such intricate drumming comes naturally to you and that you can actually play it. Do you ever think that a drum pattern you came up with is too difficult and consider simplifying it?

Kai: No, I don’t. It’s important to bring the imagined patterns to life, and if something is difficult, I just practice it. Besides, the other members have also gained knowledge about drumming, so these days, they don’t suggest physically impossible drum patterns like they used to. There used to be many times when I'd think, "I’d need three legs and four arms to play that" (laughs). Now, the drumming is more logical, so with practice, I can play it.

Interviewer: Thrilling songs have thrilling drums, and songs with a sense of speed amplify that feeling even more. Your drumming really pushes the music forward.

Kai: I'm glad you feel that way. I don't know how other bands construct their music, but for us, the speed and everything is carried by the drums. The drum is our standard. First, we create speed with drums, and then we discuss how to hook onto that. So, drums don't really go off into a different world.

Interviewer: It seems like many patterns amplify speed by adding sequences, but your approach is quite the opposite.

Kai: Yes. Also, even if you want to create momentum and speed with drums alone, it's different from just running. You need to pay attention to keeping the rhythm, and especially in intense songs like "HOLD" and "FRENZY" this time, you can't just go with the flow. It's meticulously crafted phrases as a band sound, so you need to integrate well with guitars and bass. If you go with just momentum, it becomes messy. Therefore, I consciously try to play tighter, and I think it requires a lot of attention during live performances.

Interviewer: The rhythm that combines tightness and momentum feels incredibly good. Another thing is that with drumming like yours, sound is also important. The drum sound in this work, with its blend of sound pressure and clarity, is ideal.

Kai: We've tried many different things with drum sounds, but this time we used the same method as on "NINTH." Basically, we recorded separately: just the kick, just the snare, just the cymbals. We record like that, but we also use off-mics, not just close mics. This way, we can achieve the clarity unique to separate recording along with the natural airiness you get when recording normally.

Interviewer: Setting up off-mics is an unexpected approach. However, I often hear that multi-tracking is more challenging than simply playing drums.

Kai: It's really challenging. Just playing the kick alone is quite difficult, and you can't play fills smoothly within the flow. Also, you can't hit the crash in the middle of a fill. So, while rolling the toms, you end up hitting a sponge where the crash should be (laughs).

Interviewer: Especially in Western music, many bands avoid such intricacies and opt for programmed drums. Your skill in doing this live is impressive.

Kai: I wonder about that. It might come down to being about programming if you pursue it deeply. But right now, we're allowed to do it with live multi-tracking. By recording separately, there are parts where you can focus on other aspects. For example, when putting a crash at the end of a fill, you need to keep it in mind, but if you don't worry about the crash, you can strike with edge until the last hit. I changed my approach this time and got closer to the ideal sound.

Interviewer: It must be challenging, but if possible, I hope you won’t switch to programming in the future. So, what drum set did you use this time?

Kai: I used my Yamaha set. It's the oak one I use for live shows, and it's really good. I decided to use it because I like the tone of the toms, and overall, its quality is high. For the snare, I used both Sonor’s bell bronze and TAMA’s bell brass, depending on the song. I like the sound of bronze and brass, and it’s easy to shape the GazettE's sound with them. We really like tuning it low to get a solid, rich sound. I tried various options, but in the end, I settled on those two.

Interviewer: "MASS" indeed has many highlights in its drumming. How do you feel after making this album?

Kai: Through the production of this album, I once again realized that the GazettE is a very forward-looking band. It’s easy to fall into negative thinking, like "we can't do this because of the pandemic," but we took it as a driving force to keep moving. We released a new music video on March 10th, exactly one year after canceling our concert on March 10th last year. This shows the strength we have as a band to reach that point. Personally, I was very affected by the cancellation of the March concert. The pandemic took a toll on my mind, and there were times when I thought it would be dangerous for us to remain silent for so long. I realized how weak I was as an individual. But I was greatly saved by RUKI bringing in "BLINDING HOPE." The way the band picked up from there was truly amazing. I feel that this strength is unique to the GazettE, and "MASS" is packed with the GazettE's resilience and unwavering spirit. So, I hope it reaches as many people as possible.

Interviewer: I'm sure it will. Also, I’m looking forward to your live performances.

Kai: I really want to perform live again. When we perform live, I want to surpass fans' expectations...or rather, I think we must. As time passes, fans’ memories get idealized. We can't betray that, and I also have a desire to always surpass it. So, it can't just be a "long time no see!" kind of live show. We have accumulated something within us, and there's a strong desire to release that. I don't think it will be an ordinary live show, so please look forward to it.

___________________

All translations are ChatGPT Scans: rad-is-more

#the gazette #mass #interview translations #guitars #scans #gigs #magazines #mi #The headless raven

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vermutandherring · 5 months ago

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I've always felt that there was something missing from the romance in The Sims 4, though I can't quite put my finger on what. The depth of the relationship? Passion? Variety of interactions? Now, 10 years later, when our characters have learned how to raise children and organize weddings, we can finally teach them the art of love. At least that's what you'd expect from a Lovestruck.

Meet Julianne - together with her we will discover a never-before-seen world of romance, the journey to which starts from the phone (let's ignore the fact that I chose to play in my historical save file). Game doesn't give us a separate option to create an account on the dating app. As with Social Bunny, it works by default. From the first minutes of playing for another household, several sims called my character: some claimed that they got this number from friends, others that they were impressed by the profile in Cupid's Corner (which I did not create) and wanted to get to know each other. Arguably, your large social circle and popularity will attract more potential love interests. Or it's just my imagination and your acquaintances will have no effect on the appearance of calls with offers to get to know each other.

You can take your own profile photo, but without corresponding skill it will take some time. Actually, I love how cute it looks.

However, the best way to succeed in anything is to take matters into your own hands. The game offers us 6 candidates every 12 hours, which you can immediately add to your contacts and go on a date. These are both homeless NPCs and sims you create. I did not check whether it is possible to meet profiles of characters with romantic relationships, but all the households I came across were single, which is obviously the main condition for Cupid's Corner.

I also can't tell if the game selects profiles according to a certain principle. Only 1-2 sims had the same traits as Julianne. The rest were matched by age and gender. All this gives the impression that the application for dating is made somewhat lazily. There is very little information about the characters - only 2 traits, age and living place. And this despite the fact that in CAS we can choose an incredible number of hobbies and traits that can attract our sims.

It was funny to see profiles of the sims' I made before. You can say Wesker is always in my saves ✨

Perhaps there is logic in this, if we take into account that sims themselves have to learn more about each other during dates. So, having chosen 3 candidates, I send Julianne on the first date. Here you have to be careful and send your sims exactly on a date from the EP. Now, in addition to the huge and chaotic menu of communication, you will have another type of dating, which does not overwrite the basic one, but exists separately (which, in my opinion, does not make any sense, since they are identical in essence). After looking through the buy catalog beforehand, I purchased a picnic tablecloth and a board game, hoping to try out some new interactions.

Oh, this iconic arrival on the lot where sims stand around, waving their fingers until they want to drink water or to do the push-ups. I don't think that you are obliged to gift something on the first date. However, here we are talking about a game with a somewhat hyperbolic reality. It would be very nice if your partner greeted you with flowers, candy or a funny gift. But… no. Do you remember the phrase about taking matters into your own hands?

Dating in Lovestruck is no different from basic dating, except that it is now organized as an event, for which you will receive a reward. To finish it successfully, you need to complete as many tasks as possible: talk, flirt, and do activities that you have previously chosen. Like always, everything on the date depends only on you. This is the first and not the last time when I want to remember previous Sims games. Unlike the fourth part, in Sims 2 you can't spend the perfect date relying only on your whims. You should pay attention to your partner's wishes by asking what they want or checking their wishes on the date panel. This way, you make sure that both characters have a good time interacting with each other. In the Sims 4, those moments when your love interest takes the initiative are rather annoying, because their actions may not count towards the dating success scale, wasting your time.

Let's return to Julianne. A bit of grilled cheese, light conversation and a board game were a good start to getting to know each other. The picnic tablecloth is officially my absolute favorite part of the DLC. You can do relatively many things together, and it looks a lot better than sitting in different corners of the room with plates in hand. For me personally, this is exactly what I was missing - to watch how sims adequately communicate with each other, without getting up from their seats to play on the computer. This date ended with gold, for which Julianne received a sweet photo with Vittorio.

Without wasting time, Julianne goes on a second date. It was a bit more boring as I sent sims to a bar to explore the new town. Ciudad Enamorada is a new world, which represents the countries of the Iberian basin and Latin America. It is difficult for me to clearly state my opinion about the city. On the one hand, it is very reminiscent of San Myshuno, but feels more empty and sham like in the case of Tomarang. I suspect that EA have been planning for a long time to move to more modern versions of DirectX and started making bigger worlds full of large, carefully decorated areas to create an open world feel. In the already mentioned Tomarang, you can view the whole neighborhood, while being on the same lot.

But this attempt to deceive the player does not save the situation. The streets look empty due to too little traffic of cars and characters. 10 characters in the cozy Willow Creek neighborhood add life to the town, while the same number of characters in the huge Ciudad Enamorada give the impression of a ghost city.

There's not a lot you can do in these areas, and it turns this beautiful city into another one empty box.

Although there are also pleasant moments. For example, in parks you can meet characters spending time together. Just don't look at them for too long, otherwise you will notice that they sit on the benches for whole days, poking their fingers at the clouds and at the starry sky.

Now your sims can stargaze on the benches and this animation is really sweet. I'd wish it were just a bit more diverse, maybe with kissing interaction (my man deff doesn't understand hints).

Julianne's date with Hosea went well. It was the usual conversations about interests and jokes over a glass of root beer and a little flirting. Since this is the first meeting, Julianne did not insist on extremely frank details, stopping at superficial facts about herself, because now you can not only ask your beloved ones about their likes, but also share your own. The developers tried to deepen the relationship by adding more psychological moments. It would seem that the preferences of sims should be based on this, which would influence their choice of a partner. But to be honest, I couldn't feel it. The information you learn about the characters constantly bombards you with an endless number of messages, reading which is very tiring. Even after reaching the maximum relationship, my sims never developed any specific preferences and could not tell each other anything new (or maybe I create too boring sims).

The second date quickly tired me out, as it was not much different from the first. I managed to finish it for silver, after which Julianne had a little rest. As a reward, she received a teddy bear. I expected that partners after successful dates would quickly want to see each other again. But the rare times they did call, they were asking for advice on relationships with other sims. This is another gap that the devs didn't try to fix or simply ignored its existence - the game does not take into account your current relationship and romantic level with other characters. I think this is an interesting option if you are playing for a polyamorous relationship. But for Julianne, I set the goal to find a partner and chose the exact settings for her in CAS, which the game ignored. Frustrated by this, I sent her on a third date.

It was awful. Julianne couldn't find approach to Omari, and each of their lines turned the date into a complete mess. Neither jokes nor attempts to find a common language helped. It ended up with bronze and little flower as a reward for wasted time. You can also end the date early, or ask to extend it if you don't have time to collect the reward (the additional time decreases with each attempt). Maybe things would have turned out better if Julianne had practiced her romance skill. This is another controversial point for me, with which I cannot decide.

Of course, we must learn to find an approach to each other, train patience, be able to accept our partners and talk about our problems and complaints to each other in order to solve them. But in Lovestruck, romance skill is geared towards unlocking additional interactions, such as kissing or sharing candy box. Do I really have to go on multiple dates and get into relationships with different partners to finally learn how to present sweets? I understand that this was done mostly in order to make the gameplay a little more difficult and exciting, to add some time before you get completely bored.

After all, this skill exists because there must be new skill in Expansion Pack. It's very reminiscent of a similar parenting skill in Parenthood, but some things look absurd. Skills from WW has more sense, but for obvious reason devs can't put something that spicy into the game. Eventually, I got tired of developing a talent for romancing other sims and had to use a cheat code.

Julianne ended up with Hosea. Not because he called after a date or wanted to see her. But because I accidentally bumped into him while was hanging around in the park doing quest (this is really tiny quest you can find in the park and finish it within 10 minutes, 5 of which is loading screens). As we know, nothing makes you closer and helps to grow connection like fishing. But this I would do without paying 40$ (or 999 UAH, for God's sake).

I got tired of Julianne's love story. I tried pushing their progression with Hosea to see what else the game can propose. Not that much. So I switched on other married couple.

I adore new furniture. It embody well the atmosphere of romance and erotic mood, which can be supplemented with wallpaper with interesting animal patterns (I missed zebra and leopard prints since Sims 2). It looks like something you expect to meet in the 'certain places for adults' and I like that devs went a bit further than just a bunch of cute stuff. The only thing that does not go well with the 'strip-clubs-velvet style' is art deco. Why don't make more club/bar furniture with booth seats, puffs and huge mirrors in soft cloth is beyond me. But now, if you want full art deco collection, you should get Hight School Years and Lovestruck altogether. I find it quite funny, not sure either in bad or good context.

As I already mentioned, picnic tablecloth is my absolute favorite from the whole EP. It also has the bear rug variation, which fits just perfect for your romantic evenings by the fireplace. I'm sure Victor and Lily will agree with this.

Same interactions are available for both the rug and the cloth because these are literally the same object.

But what if I tell you that it already was in The Sims, 20 years ago?

Gif made from this video. All credits to the original creator.

I don't like to think about it as an "easter egg". Almost every DLC for The Sims 4 is repeating of the same content and functions from the previous games, but with less functionality. And EA charges extra money for it over and over again. Now let's just wait till they figure out how to implement the biggest easter egg of The Sims series ever - cars.

You can make your sims sitting with drinks like in The Sims 1, but of course it has different vibe.

Time to talk about the "hottest" part of this add-on - the seductive dance. To do this, you will have to develop a little not only relationships, but also romantic skill. Dressing up in erotic outfits is optional and not a requirement. That's where all the fun ends. Your partner will begin to move to the rhythm of the dance, which lasts several minutes and during which nothing happens but monotonous movements. Again, this can be described with the words "cute" and "funny", which fits perfectly with the whole family friendly concept of the game. To be honest, I am not categorically against this, because the step towards real erotic and sexuality makes The Sims 4 hover over the abyss of what is appropriate for its age limit.

This review is already too long, but I would like to add a little more about the interactions. I counted a dozen new romantic interactions with animations. For some of them, you will have to increase your romantic skills. Other parts (such as questions or flirting) use the same animations as in the base game. The menu of relationships has become even more chaotic, the description of preferences is even more complicated and unclear. If you want to make the gameplay more varied, you will have to spend a lot of time reading the explanations and noting these details in your head. And even then, I'm not sure if it will make your game more diverse.

As It's been told many times before, Lovestruck EP makes the romance too complicated. Obviously, the developers tried to add depth to the relationship that was so lacking, but in the end they went in wrong direction. Maybe I should play more to understand new features better. But I just don't have the desire for it. The gameplay became so full of text that I started to turn a blind eye to it. I have no doubt that the new features will give someone more variation to play and build their stories. But for me this DLC doesn't cost neither full nor discount price at all.

I love suits and Lily in butler's uniform wins my heart 🖤 Pose is CC.

There are also some features I didn't mention (like therapy for couples which broke my relationship) so there's a bit more to discover. You are free to argue with me of course. Sometimes I think I'm too biased about the game.

#sims #the sims 4 #sims 4 #sims 4 lovestruck #ts4 lovestruck #ts4 #simblr #sims 4 screenshots #ts4 gameplay #sims 4 gameplay #vermutandherring

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detectivestucks · 1 year ago

Text

A Jealous Hokage IV

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact

Pairing: Kakashi x F!Reader x Obito

Summary: Obito regrets his actions as you decide what to do moving forward. Kakashi invites you to an event and things get steamy as you decide what you’re going to wear.

Warnings: NSFW, Slight Degradation, Spanking, Fingering, Unprotected Sex

Word Count: 3.4k

Part 3

New here? Check out Part 1

You sit there, staring at the gift. Your mind that had gone blank, paralyzed by indecision, was now swirling with inner dialogue. What is wrong with me? Kakashi is amazing. We’ve been dating for the better part of a year. Why would I throw that away? But Obito, how do I describe it? You always know where you stand with him. He doesn’t hide his affection. The way he looks at me. The way he made me feel under his genjutsu…but that’s exactly why I can’t trust him. The entire thing could’ve been lies just to get me in bed. This is all a game to him. It’s not a game to Kakashi. He loves me. He’s the healthy choice, even if it is in secret. I might have feelings for Obito but I love Kakashi and I'm not gonna give that up.

You make this decision with a firm nod of your head. Now that you are certain of what you’re going to do, you reach out and finally unwrap the small box that had been sitting patiently on your table for the past two hours.

It is a beautiful necklace and earring set. A long strand of glittery stones with a bright pendant, it was exceedingly fancy and you wonder when you would ever wear such jewelry. Sure you love dressing up for work but within reason. This looked like something you’d wear to dinner with the Feudal Lord. It must’ve been very expensive. Why would Kakashi spend this kind of money on me?

The next morning you head into work trying your hardest to pretend last night never happened. It was genjutsu, it was genjutsu, it was genjutsu. None of it was real. It was genjutsu. No matter how many times you told yourself this, you were still saddled with guilt cause you know that in the heat of the moment you liked it. Curse Obito for doing this to you. You were happy and in love before he came along. Why did he have to come ruin everything?

You drop your stuff off in your office and head to the break room to grab hot water to make some tea. Upon entering the room you see Obito. Your face instantly shades red from both shame and anger and you storm away avoiding him. Obito for once regrets his advances towards you. He knows he crossed a line last night. Desperation got the best of him. He shouldn’t have used his abilities like that.

Mortified, you decide to hide out in your office. You hear a soft knock on the door. It was Obito holding a cup of tea. “Go away Obito”

Completely disregarding your wishes he enters anyway and puts the tea down on your desk. “I’m sorry, Y/N, I was out of line last night.” You sheepishly take the tea off the desk. “I think that might be the first time you’ve ever called me by my name.” you give a small smile. “Thank you Obito. For the tea and for the apology.” You blow on the tea before taking a sip.

“I’ve let my feelings for you consume my actions. I've been focusing on what I want and I took it too far.” He steps forward and grabs your hand, kissing the back of it. “Forgive me Princess.”

“Please stop calling me that.”

“Never” he says with a smile as he walks out of your office.

You would be lying if you said that the small gesture didn’t make you feel warm. You liked how special he made you feel but last night is as far as things will ever go. You stand firm on that decision.

Not even ten minutes go by before Kakashi enters your office without knocking and leans against your desk. You beam up at him. “Good Morning Kashi!”

“Good Morning Angel” He leans down to give you a kiss on the cheek. “Did you like your gift?”

Recalling the jewelry he had delivered to your home, you exclaim, “It was beautiful! However I couldn’t help but wonder, what was the occasion?”

“I’m so glad you phrased it like that.” He smiled, “The Feudal Lord came to my office yesterday afternoon. He wants us to host a Gala to fundraise for the Academy. Since these times of peace have brought in fewer paid missions, we need more money to keep the program going. He also wants to invite representatives from the other great nations to continue to build international relationships. I thought you could wear it when you go.”

“I’m invited?”

“All members of the shinobi forces are invited, including the personnel at headquarters.”

“Wow, sounds fancy. I feel so important.”

“You are important.” He says with a brush of your cheek.

At that moment you hear your office mate shuffling in through the door. Kakashi immediately stands up.

“I’ll have the latest update on that translation on your desk by lunch.”

Kakashi nods while playing along. “I appreciate it. I can always count on you.” He begins to leave your office.

“Good Morning Lord Sixth.”

“Good Morning Shiho. Just a heads up, you should be expecting an invitation from my office later today.”

“Oh, okay, thank you!” she called to him as he disappeared out your office door.

“What is the invite about?”

“It’s some fundraiser Gala. We’re all invited.”

“Oh that sounds fun! You gonna bring a date?”

“Psh, yeah right.”

“What about the mystery man?”

“He is a mystery for a reason and he is going to stay a mystery.” You say with a pointed look.

Shiho rolls her eyes and drops it, deciding to get started on the day’s work.

**************************************************

You come home from work thinking about the Gala. What on earth am I going to wear? I don’t have anything that fancy! You begin to rifle through your closet looking for a dress that matches Kakashi’s earrings. There is a knock on the door. You turn around, leaving your closet and walk towards the kitchen. You open up your door to find Kakashi standing there with flowers for you. Beaming at him, you hurry him inside before anyone could see.

“That was a big risk you took coming here with flowers like this. Someone could've seen you.”

“Don’t worry Angel, I was careful.”

He gives you the bouquet and you smell them. “They’re lovely, thank you.”

“Not as lovely as you.” he says, eyes sparkling as he looks at you with complete adoration. You feel butterflies rise in your stomach yet again. He always has that effect on you. You turn to put them in water and make two cups of tea.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”

“That’s okay, Kash. I have plenty of work to occupy my time.”

“And I’m sorry that you can’t be my official date to the Gala.” The way he says this tells you that he is genuinely bothered by it.

“I don’t need all of that. I’m just happy being with you, even if it’s private.” you say, placing a hand on his forearm.

Kakashi pulls down his mask while he leans in for a kiss. You wrap both of your arms around him pressing your lips into his. When your mouths disconnect, he asks softly, “Have you thought about what you’re going to wear?”

“Actually I was just trying to figure that out. I think I may need to go shopping.”

“Well I’ve been thinking about what you should wear, a lot.” He whispers in your ear. You feel the familiar tingle of excitement trickle along your spine.

“Do tell” you whisper back

“Well I was thinking something red and revealing. Maybe something low cut showing off your lovely tits, teasing the entire room” he says gripping your waist tightly. “The fabric sheer so I can see your thong through it from across the dining hall.” He kisses your cheek. “Perhaps a slit up to your hip so that I have easy access when I corner you in the closet.” He kisses your neck. “Every man in the room will want you but only I will get to fuck you.” he whispers into your neck.

You hum in amusement. “Well if you want me to wear something low cut, you’ll need to stop giving me so many hickies.”

You hear the hesitation as he debates whether or not to resist the urge to bite down on you. He settled for kissing along the entire curve of your neck and shoulder, willing to allow your pre-existing marks heal before the Gala. He kisses all around your collarbone before licking his tongue up your neck.

You close your eyes and exhale feeling the arousal begin to pool in your underwear. He presses his lips into yours before nibbling on your lower lip, pulling till it slips out from between his teeth. You sharply inhale feeling lust wash over you. Your fingers dig into his back as you pull him towards you.

He pushes you onto the table pulling off your tank top to kiss all over your chest. Your head drops back as he kisses you, careful not to leave a single mark. It isn’t as fun as his love bites but it still makes you soak the lace between your legs. While he kisses you he undoes the snap of your bra, causing it to fall in your lap. You push his face into your chest letting him lick your cleavage before suckling on your tits, taking care of each one. Since he couldn’t mark up your skin he decided to be extra cruel to your nipples biting down on them with ferocity. “AH!!” you call out. Chills roll over your body covering your skin as his nibbling makes your empty pussy crave something to clamp down around.

He lets go of your tit with a satisfied smile, devilishly staring up at you. You pull off his shirt and undo his pants, kissing his entire front. Every muscle, every scar, every facet that you could get your greedy mouth on, you wanted to taste it all. He stroked himself as he watched you. Once again thinking about how he could fuck you for the rest of his life. You nibbled on his collarbone before he raised your face up to his.

“Open”

You open your mouth. He spits into it.

“Swallow”

You swallow his spit. A wicked smile curls his lips. He loves how you play along with anything he throws at you. “That’s a good Angel”

He spins you around so you’re bent over the table and yanks your pants down past your hips. He spanks you a few times just to watch you squirm before sliding his fingers into your slit. You moan as he works your gummy walls. His other hand reaches to cover your mouth and arch your back up towards him. With his hand jutting in and out of your tightening pussy, he leans down and whispers in your ear, “Do you like that my little slut? You like when I finger your hole?”

“Mhm” you say, muffled by his hand. He adjusts his hand and slips two fingers into your mouth fish hooking you while he quickens the pace in your cunt adding a third finger inside.

“Aa-aaa-aaa-hhh!” you moan, unable to truly speak with your stretched out lips. You began to kick your legs trapped together by your pants pulled halfway down. He pulls his fingers out of your heat and replaces them with his dick already dipping with precum. You let out a satisfied groan as he stretches you, filling you up completely, pushing inside you all the way to the hilt.

He shoves his slick covered fingers in your mouth, feeding you your own cum before hooking them in your mouth like his other hand, using your lips to grip you while slamming rhythmically into your plush behind. Your fingers clutch the edge of the table trying to steady yourself as you curse and scream in pleasure.

Wanting to pick up speed, Kakashi grabs you by the elbows pulling your arms behind your back as he unleashes the pent up sexual desire that had been building in him from imagining you in your sexy red dress.

“Oo-ohh, ye-esss, babb-byyy” you say broken up by each stroke that slams into your cervix.

Wanting more, he switches his grip to your throat, pushing deeper with each thrust. Your eyes are rolling backwards with pleasure. You start to gasp for air as you feel yourself toppling over the edge leaving cream all over Kakashi’s cock.

He adjusts his grip again, putting one hand on your neck and a pinky in your rear. Normally he’d save this for a punishment but he couldn’t resist. You were squirming so much already and he wanted to see your squirm more. A guttural groan fell out of your mouth as he slid in, making his stomach coil.

You start to go limp after your orgasm so Kakashi flips you on your back, lifting your restrained legs over one shoulder, pulling you to the edge of your kitchen table. Your fingers once more curling around the edge for support. You gaze up at him with a look of satisfied exhaustion, smiling as he plows into you. He hugs your knees as he slows down. Stroking slow and even. You whine and wiggle around wanting him to go fast again. He centers your legs, knees stuck together, on his chest, letting your ankles fall open on either side of his head.

He leans down, pressing your legs into your chest going in deep. He keeps a medium pace as he sticks a finger back in your mouth. You obediently suck on it hoping you’ll be rewarded with more speed. He sticks a second finger in. You accept it gladly. He starts to smile and adds a third finger. You willingly take it into your mouth sucking as drool starts to dribble out the corner of your lips. He adds a fourth finger stroking them in and out of your mouth.

“You’re a greedy little slut tonight, aren’t you?”

“Mhm” you say with doe eyes. He smiles ready to give you your reward. He takes his hand out of your mouth and grabs your tit as he picks up the pace slamming into you over and over again. Your back arched off the table in ecstasy. His balls tightened as he watched your eyes roll back before squeezing shut. “That’s it Angel, let it out.”

You scream as your legs shake. Your back begins to convulse as he continues to split you in two during your orgasm.

Kakashi’s toes curl as he’s close to cumming. At the last minute he pulls out and sprays his sticky ropes all over your chest. Still panting and catching your breath, you take a finger and wipe up some of his cum and bring it to your mouth. “Mmmm” you hum. Smiling at him as you lick.

He pulls you up by the back of your head to kiss you, even though he was still catching his own breath, he can’t help himself. He loves you and can’t think of a better way to show you. You know exactly what to do to drive him wild. He can’t get enough of your swollen lips. He inhales deep before releasing your mouth with several small kisses. Smiling at you, heart full. He goes to grab you a damp cloth to clean up your chest when he musters up the courage to ask:

“Would it be all that bad if I were your date to the Gala, officially speaking?”

“Huh?”

“If people were to know about us. Would it be so bad?”

“Kashi, we’ve been over this. I don’t want people to think I’m sleeping my way to the top, especially now that you’re Hokage.”

“Everyone knows how bright you are. No one would assume any merits you earn are because of me.”

“That’s all everyone will think. I wouldn’t be able to stand the scrutiny.”

“If anyone causes you trouble then they will have me to deal with.”

“And have you make it worse? I don’t think so.”

At that moment Obito came to your house. He was hoping to steal another moment with you but he heard Kakashi’s voice so he stayed outside, listening in on your conversation.

“So am I just going to be your secret forever?”

“No, just till you step down as Hokage.”

“Till I step down? That will be years. I don’t think I can hide you for that long.”

You cast your eyes down realizing how big a commitment that was to ask of him.

“Are you going to ask me to marry you in secret too? Be your secret husband? Cause I’m not waiting till I’m out of office to ask for your hand.”

Your eyes shot up wide. “You, you’ve thought about marrying me?”

Still outside eavesdropping, Obito felt he had been punched in the gut.

“Is that surprising to you?”

“I guess I hadn’t stopped to think about it.” Your stomach was doing flips realizing how serious Kakashi was about you.

“You see my face every day. The last person to see my face was my father. What does that tell you?” he says playing with your hair.

“Kakashi…”

“You have my trust completely. I am yours forever.” He says, closing his hands around yours.

“I…I want all that with you. I do, but I’m not ready. I don’t know if I can handle what people will think and say. I’m sorry Kashi.”

Kakashi is having a hard time hearing your words. He starts to wonder if it has to do with Obito. He pulls up his mask and gets dressed.

“Please don’t leave Kashi, please” you say, feeling panicked. Getting up off the table, tugging at his arm. You pull him into you, forcing him to hug you.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Kash. I wish I could change the way I feel, I do, but I’m not ready.” tears are leaking out of the corners of your eyes.

“I’m sorry too. I need some time to think.” He pushes you away heading towards the door.

“Kashi, Please!” Desperation thick in your voice.

He turns around, pain painted all over his features. “Do you know what it’s like for me to watch men look at you thinking you’re single? What it’s like to hear how they talk about you knowing they believe you’re available for the taking? What it’s like to be in the same room as you but pretend you are nothing more than a colleague? It was fun in the beginning but I can’t do this forever.”

“You don’t think I go through the same thing? Every girl wants you. But you have nothing to lose, where I will lose the respect of all my peers. No one will take me seriously. Everything that I’ve worked for will be lost.”

“I will take you seriously. Me, the Hokage. Can’t that be enough?”

You swallow hard as you look down in thought. Kakashi kisses your forehead and whispers, “Come to me when you figure it out.” and with that he left.

You stood there crying in your living room, staring at the door through which he left. You felt like he was asking you to choose between him and your career. It's not as simple as he makes it seem.

After a few moments you find it in yourself to move from where your feet were planted and begin putting your clothes back on, tears still streaming down your face.

Obito finally decided to make his presence known. He walked through your front door without knocking, “Now’s not the time, Obito.” you sniffle

He comes in and immediately hugs you, holding you in his warm embrace. “It’ll be okay Princess”

“You’re just saying that cause you hope it’s over between us.” you mutter into his chest beginning to cry even harder.

“No, Princess, I wouldn’t hope for anything that hurts you.” he whispers, moving you over to the couch to sit together. You look up at his face and believe him. That look in his eyes where the universe has shifted to revolve around you is front and center. He stays with you, holding you as you lay on his chest. “What can I do to help, Princess?”

“Be the Hokage” you say sarcastically with a hint of seriousness

He lets out a small chuckle, “That used to be my dream, you know.”

“What changed?” you say with a sniffle

“I did some things that I can’t take back.”

Unsure of what to say, you choose to nestle into Obito in response. He had never been so vulnerable with you before.

Tightening his embrace he says to you,“You wouldn’t have to go through any of this if you were with me. It would be easy, the way it’s supposed to be.”

“Give it a rest Obito.”

He kisses your temple and continues to hold you, deciding to drop the topic. He stays with you till you cry yourself to sleep. He carries you to your bed and kisses your salty tear-stained cheek before leaving. His heart ached from how much he was beginning to love you. He was all but certain you would never leave Kakashi. It pained him to know you wouldn’t have to endure any of your fears if you would just choose him. Why wouldn’t you just choose him? He looked back at you longingly, over his shoulder, before shutting the door behind him.

Part 5 Masterlist

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etude-in-citrine · 1 year ago

Text

Detective Conan Drama CD: A Written Challenge from the Detective Boys

So I've noticed this drama CD has been out for more than ten years (October 2011) but the most I've seen are tidbits of it, especially regarding a.. certain scene. (￢_￢) No one has really translated the whole thing though and after taking that mantle it myself, I see why... If anyone is interested in matching this to the drama CD video, be my guest but I ask of you just to ask and credit me. ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)

So heads up before we start (warning: super long), I translate most of the terms to English but kept some Japanese terms like most honorific like -kun, -san, etc. I sometimes would switch between Professor/Prof. and hakase but they're both the same. However I have switched meitantei to great detective since it's a smoother transition in translation and it has a nice ring to it.

I also kept classic Conan phrases like oi oi, arere, barou because they're too iconic not to. (*´∀`)♪

I decided to differentiate Kaito and Kaitou Kid because Yamaguchi has a specific way of voicing them, just like how he does with Kid and Shinichi.

Italics are thoughts

Bold is codes/ciphers

*(word)* are actions

TN is translation notes to clarify riddles/codes/jokes that get lost in translation.

And I have loads of side comments in forms of SN(side notes) so apologies if it ruins your experience.

Also to make this a more amusing read, I litter face emojis in some of the dialogue, mostly those with strong reactions.

Watch out for this face specifically (◕∇◕) because that means Conan is speaking in his cute childish voice.

Now with all that mumble jumble out of the way, enjoy!

*Watching Detective Red Jacket*

Ayumi: It was so interesting!

Genta: Detective Red Jacket was so cool!

Mitsuhiko: Yeah! The action and story were perfect! It's the best movie I've watched! Number 1!

Ayumi: Yup! There's no doubt about that, right Conan-kun?

Conan: You think so?

Ayumi: Eh?

Conan: I figured out the killer in 5 minutes.

Haibara: Is that so?

Conan: And also- Ah.

Ayumi: What's wrong Conan-kun? You suddenly turned around.

Conan: Nah. It felt like someone was watching me..

Kaito: Shoot this is bad! To think these guys were watching the same movie as me. And it just had to be the seats right in front of me...

Conan: Was it my imagination?

Haibara: Well, what were you planning on saying?

Conan: Well the protagonist Sannomiya Kazunori's acting wasn't very good.

*crunch*

Ayumi: Huh? What's wrong Ai-chan? You're crushing the pamphlet very tightly.

Haibara: Uh.. a-ah-

Mitsuhiko: I know!! Why don't we all go to Mitsubo shop? If I remember correctly, the Detective Red Jacket special edition is being released today!

Genta: Let's go then!!

Ayumi/Mitsuhiko: Yeah!!

Conan: You guys seriously like it that much? Sorry but I'll head back first. See you guys!

Genta: What's with Conan? Always saying stuff and being a wet blanket just when everyone is so enthusiastic.

Haibara: I'm going to buy another new pamphlet.

Ayumi: Sure..

Genta: Let's hurry up and go!

Mitsuhiko: It'd be bad if it sold out! Especially since it comes with a special poster of the protagonist Sannomiya Kazunori as a bonus.

Ayumi: Oh, Ai-chan came back.

Haibara: Tsuburaya-kun, is that true?

Mitsuhiko: Uh yeah.

Kaito: It's true that Detective Red Jacket is super cool! A far cry compared to certain midget detective.. (SN: (≖_≖ ))

*theme song playing*

Conan: Detective Conan Drama CD A Written Challenge from the Detective Boys

Agasa: So in the end, you weren't able to buy the Detective Red whatjamacallit's book.

Ayumi: Yup that's right!

Mitsuhiko: A middle aged man with a weird hat bought the last book in stock!

Genta: That's definitely harassment!

Mitsuhiko: Right!!

Genta: Because no way an old man would be a fan of Detective Red Jacket!!

Kaito: *old man voice* Well turns out he was a fan~ Hehe. Sorry about that but I'll partake myself with the last book in stock~ (SN: childish.. (￢_￢;))

Agasa: That certainly is a bummer. *ahem* Now here comes a question!

Detective Boys: Ehhh?!?!

Genta: Another of Prof's pun quiz??

Mitsuhiko: It's so sudden as always.

Agasa: Sorry about that.

Which martial arts is most suitable for you guys today?

A) judo 受動

B) kendo 剣道

C) karate 空手

Ayumi: Eh? Ayumi has never done any of them before.

Mitsuhiko: Me too.. I'm bad at martial arts after all.

Genta: Ran-neechan would be karate though.

Haibara: The answer is A) judo

Agasa: Eh? Your reasoning behind it?

Haibara: Kendo and karate have thrusts ( 「突き(つき)」(tsuki)) but judo doesn't have any. In other words, it means we're unlucky (TN: phrase: 「月(つき) がない」(tsuki ga nai):not having luck on your side) right?

Agasa: Bravo!! That's the correct answer!!

Mitsuhiko: I see. We have no luck, huh? That's true..

Genta: But that's all Conan's fault right?

Agasa: Huh? What do you mean?

Genta: Because even though everyone was so hyped up in the movie, Conan kept saying stuff that spoiled the mood!

Mitsuhiko: But I don't think that has anything to do with not being able to buy the Detective Red Ja-

Haibara: It's related, don't you think?

Mitsuhiko/Ayumi: Eh?

Haibara: They say "Once you start finding faults, your luck/moon will leave you". I think there's some truth to that.

Genta: *whisper* Don't you think Haibara is somehow scary?

Mitsuhiko: She's probably angry because Conan-kun badmouthed Sannomiya Kazunori.

Genta: Ehhh??? Does that mean Haibara is a fan of Sannomiya?

Haibara: (ʘ言ʘ╬)

Mitsuhiko: *shriek*

Genta: W-w-what?

Mitsuhiko: Haibara is glaring at us with scary eyes..

Genta: Huh-Waahhh! Her eyes are a little..Ahhh.. I might have leaked a little...

Mitsuhiko: But that kind of expression is also quite lovely. (SN:(￢_￢;) Is Mitsuhiko an m??) But now that you mention it, Conan has just been talking down on us.

Genta: Sometimes I want Conan to be (surprised and) speechless.

Ayumi: Well then, let's all challenge Conan-kun then!

Genta: Challenge Conan?

Ayumi: Yup, let's all prepare super difficult problems and let Conan solve it.

Mitsuhiko: Ahh... but don't you think the riddles we think of will be solved very easily?

Ayumi: To make up for that, we'll have Prof. Agasa and Ai-chan to participate with us, right?

Agasa: Sure.

Haibara: That sounds interesting.

Agasa: Now that we've settled on it, let's start the plan.

Haibara: First the words for the cipher.

Genta: Hmm you're right. Okay Haibara, we'll leave you to a really difficult one!

Ayumi: No Genta! We're all going to think for it!

Genta: You're right.

Mitsuhiko: To start off..

Kaito: A challenge to the great detective huh? It's gotten interesting! I was wondering what was up so I'm glad I made the right choice to place the miniature microphon- DAAAHHHH!!!! Y-you idiot! Go over there!! I'm not a telephone pole!! \(º □ º l|l)/

(SN: I think some birds pooped on him. Poor guy, I thought you knew how to deal with them considering you own doves..)

Conan: So what business do you have with me?

Ayumi: We Detective Boys are sending a challenge to Edogawa Conan-kun!

Conan: Ha?

Mitsuhiko: In other words, it's like this. We're going to send four codes for you to solve from here on out and have you find the treasure that's somewhere around this city.

Genta: The time limit is until 5 in the evening! So you have 2 hours!

Conan: Oi wait just a minS

Ayumi: If you can solve all the codes and find the treasure until then, it's Conan-kun's win!!

Haibara: But if you can't find it, it's Edogawa-kun's loss.

Ayumi: Here! The first code is in this envelope!

Conan: No, like I sai-

Genta: *gibberish sounds* You can't open it yet until 5 minutes passed. You got that?

Mitsuhiko: Well then, let's hurry to our designated spots!

Genta/Ayumi: Yeahhh!!!

Conan: Oiiii you guys!!! *Detective Boys run away* It's not like I agreed to this and they ran away.. Haibara, what's the meaning of this?

Haibara: Who knows? Isn't it because you don't normally treat them nicely?

Conan: Huh?

Haibara: So, what are you going to do?

Conan: Even if you tell me what to d-

Haibara: A great detective will accept any challenge, wouldn't you agree?

Conan: What's with you? You've been quite snarky today.

Haibara: You think? Isn't that your imagination? Ah, 5 minutes passed.

Conan: *sigh* Fine! If you're going to go that far, then I'll participate. *rips envelope* Is this the cipher?

"A comedian hates octopus(お笑い芸人はタコが嫌い)"?

Haibara: If you go to the location this code indicates, you'll be able to get the next code.

Conan: An octopus huh? If we're talking places that have octopus, the first things that you would think of is a fish market, a sushi restaurant, or an octopus ball(takoyaki) stall.... Ha! As if!! It's not even worth trying to deduce! Such an easy riddle! Just to add onto this, it's not just comedians, exam students hate octopus too.

Haibara: Heh...

Conan: Something a comedian and exam student both hate is failing/falling (滑る(suberu)). In other words, the location this code is pointing at is a sliding (also すべる(suberu)) octopus. If you put it that way, there's only one place like that in this town.

Conan: So, why are you coming with me? Aren't you Genta and the others' side?

Haibara: I'm here as your observer.

Conan: Ha! With such easy riddles, I'm not going to stoop so low and cheat.

Haibara: Not that! I'm here to see if you're going run away in the middle of this challenge.

Conan: Run away? Yeah right! Look, we've arrived. It's here.

A sliding octopus means that, the octopus playground slide.

Random girl: Mister, hurry up and slide down already!

Mitsuhiko: Ah, I'm sorry. I'll slide right away. *slides down* As expected of Conan-kun, to think you arrived here already.

Conan: This is only park to have a octopus slide in this town after all.

Mitsuhiko: But! This is only the beginning! Here. This is the second code.

Conan: Oi, I'm telling you in advance. I'll be able to solve codes of this level in a heartbeat.

Mitsuhiko: Muhuhuhuhu. The next code is going to be even more difficult. Well then, I'll be waiting at the location of the treasure!

Conan: Good grief. So what's the next riddle?

"Economy at Siberia(エコノミーでシベリアへ)"?

Economy...Siberia?

Haibara: What's wrong? Weren't you going to solve it in a heartbeat?

Conan: Shaddap!

Haibara: Don't hold yourself back meitantei-san!~

Conan: *huff* Like I thought, Haibara seems to be in a bad mood. I don't know what happened, but spare me from your venting.

Travel agency saleswoman: A travel ticket to overseas is currently discounted in this campaign at the moment!

Conan: It seems Ayumi and the others aren't around. It seems a travel agency would be too straightforward as expected.

Haibara: A~rere~ It can't be that with economy and Siberia as keywords, you would think it's a travel agency right?

Conan: Hufufufufufu! I was only coincidentally passing by!

Haibara: You're right! A great detective like yourself wouldn't make such a childish deduction like that right?~

Conan: Hmph, shaddap with all the nitpicking. Just you wait! I'll solve it for you right now!! (*｀□´)

Economy and Siberia, there should be a different meaning to them. First economy, other transliterations have meanings such as 「経済(keizai)」: economy/finance, 「節約(setsuyaku)」: economy/savings, 「景気(keiki)」: economic activity/marketing. Hm? Mm?? 「けいき(keiki)」? 「ケーキ(keiki)」:cake.. Siberia... Siberia cake.... I see! I figured it out! It's this way Haibara! Follow me!!

Haibara: Ah!

*opens door*

Pastry waitress: Welcome!

Haibara: Isn't this a pastry shop? Why?

Conan: Don't play dumb with me. Well whatever! I'll explain it to you right now.*in the cutest childish Conan voice* Excuse me, do you have Siberia cake? (◕∇◕)

Pastry waitress: Yes! It's right at the far end of that case!

Conan: Thank you!!~ (◕∇◕)

Hehe! This is it! A Siberia cake is sweet bean jelly sandwiched between the Castella cake. It was popular between the Taisho and Showa Era. But nowadays, you barely see it around anymore so this is the only shop in town where you can buy this fabled cake. I can't imagine Ayumi and the others to be aware of this so I bet Prof. suggested this.

Haibara: pachi pachi pachi (TN: it means clap but pachi sounds cute so I kept it)

(¬へ¬) Hmph. As expected. It was a perfect deduction, although it's very fustrating. Yoshida-san, you can come out now.

Ayumi: Okay.. Aww you found out. Here, this is the next code.

Conan: Sure, thank yo- Oi oi! We're still doing this?

Ayumi: Obviously!! This is our challenge after all!! (｀ｴ´) Don't flake out until the very end! See you! *goes out the shop*

Conan-kun is amazing as expected! We might not be able to win even with Professor's and Ai-chan's help. Ah! *bumps*

Kaito: Oops! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?

Ayumi: I'm okay! I'm sorry! *runs away*

Kaitou Kid: Now then, I guess it's about my time to shine.

Conan: Hah... what's next? *rips envelope*

The panda shop is a fruits parlor without fruits (パンダのお店はフルーツがないフルーツパーラー).

Haibara: This one is simple. You can just check all the fruits parlors in town.

Conan: You're one to talk. Judging from all the previous riddles, you can at least tell that it won't point towards the location the code writes word for word..

Hm? Word for word? I see!! It is supposed to be seen word for word!

Genta: *badge beeps* Is that Ayumi? Eehhh?!?!?! Conan already cleared it?! Are you for real?! An hour hasn't even passed yet!... Okay I got it! Wait for me at the final place! See you! *beeps* So does that mean Conan will be able to arrive here quickly then? Ooohhh!! Is that Conan?.. Hah, wrong person... AAHH!! OVER THERE IS-

Agasa: Genta-kun.

Genta: Yes?! You scared me.. What is it? It's just Prof. Don't scare me like that!

Agasa: Haha.. sorry about that.

Genta: Anyways why are you here? Aahh! Did you come here to play pachinko?

Agasa: Of course not! I came here to trade places with you.

Genta: Huh? Trade?

Agasa: That's right. When you think about it, it's not proper to have an elementary schooler constantly wait in front of a pachinko (gambling) parlor. We're talking about Conan-kun. He'll arrive here momentarily. Leave this place to me and you should head to final destination.

Genta: I see! That's smart Prof! Okay I got it! This is the riddle! *hands envelope* Then I leave this place to you Prof!

Agasa: Sure!

Kaitou Kid: Leave it to me.

Haibara: How did you figure out it was a pachinko parlor?

Conan: Hm? I just followed it literally. It's because it's a 'fruits parlor without fruits'. Without the fruits, you remove the fruits from fruits parlor and it just becomes parlor. And then, you can call a pachinko by its other name parlor. Oops! *ding dong* Excuse me! We're getting off!! (◕∇◕)

*getting off the stop*

Haibara: So then, what about the panda shop?

Conan: It's the name. The pandas in the zoo further down at moment is named Lily and Xinxin. Hey Haibara, read the pachinko's name on the signboard.

Haibara: Parlor Lily...

Conan: There you have it!

*enters parlor*

Agasa: I've been waiting for you Conan-kun. You have such good timing!

Conan: Professor! That paper bag...

Agasa: Well, since I was free, I wanted to kill some time. It kept on coming out one after another nonstop! (SN:じゃんじゃんバリバリ,(janjan baribari)(￣∇￣*) Reminds me when Kaito disguised as Subaru in the New Years opening) It's a big fever dream!

Conan: 'Continuously nonstop' you say? Huh? *opens bag* it's all candies....

Haibara: Professor. What do you plan on doing with those candies? (・∀・#)

Agasa: What's this? Do you want it? Then take as much as you want! I can't eat it all by myself after all.

*realization hits*

Haibara: Is that so? You're going to eat it...

Conan: You're... not Agasa-hakase are you?

Agasa: Hm?

Conan: Haibara strictly monitors Professor's meals and nutrition. For you to talk about eating candy so casually in front of Haibara... The real professor would be trembling to his bones and would definitely never dare say something like that.

Haibara: Saying trembling was unnecessary.

Conan: I'm sorry...

Agasa: As expected of the great detective..

Kaitou Kid: Hmph, it seems you've figured it out!

Conan/Haibara: Kaitou Kid?! Σ(ﾟДﾟ)

Kaitou Kid: Well then well then~ What I have produced here is a single red rose. There are no tricks or contraptions. One two three *poof* Wow how mysterious~♡ The red rose swapped places and became a challenge notice~

Conan: Wow how mysterious~ What do you mean by challenge notice?（￢へ￢）

Kaitou Kid: Nah~ I just happened to coincidentally witness a scene of some innocent little boys and girls that wanted to make Conan-kun speechless. It looked interesting so I decided to partake myself as a contestant. (SN: Sure Kaito.. I'm sure no listening devices were involved when you happened to hear them right? (;￢_￢))

Conan: What?! (　ﾟ皿ﾟ)

Kaitou Kid: You'll naturally accept my challenge right oh great detective!? *throws a flash bomb*

Conan: So bright! Y-You bastard!! He disappeared...

Haibara: Kudou-kun, open the envelope!

Conan: S-Sure.. *rips open the envelope*

To my beloved great detective,

I will be appearing at one of the following jewelry stores at 5 in the evening today.

イ(i): Niaoka Jewelry

ウ(u): Jewel Yuki

エ(e): Crystal Gem

Now to figure out where I'll appear, try your hand at deciphering the next code.

Orion's children all know this. Four of the sons love taking a walk. Three of the sons gaze at the sky. Five of the sons are left-handed. (オリオンの子供たちは知っている。四つの息子は散布好き、三つの息子は空をみやげ五つの息子は左利き)

The end. I wish you the best of luck,

Kaitou Kid

Haibara: If it's 5pm, we have less than 30 minutes. For now, let's contact Inspector Nakamori and have the police guard all three stores.

Conan: S-Sure... *dials* *uses Shinichi's voice*

Shinichi: Hello is this Inspector Nakamori? This is the detective Kudo Shinichi. I've just received a challenge letter from Kaitou Kid.

Haibara: It means we won't be answering to Kid's challenge but it can't be helped... This isn't a game after all.

Shinichi: Yes. The place where Kid will appear? That is... I will definitely figure it out within 30 minutes. So can you please stay on standby until then?

Haibara: Kudo-kun?!

Conan: Heh.. Haibara. You told me this right? A great detective will accept any challenge.

Haibara: Hmph. You idiot.

Conan: Now that that's settled, the Detective Boy's treasure hunt will have to be put on hold. We don't have time.

Orion's children all know this. Four of the sons love taking a walk. Three of the sons gaze at the sky. Five of the sons are left-handed.

Haibara: Show me the first page.

To my beloved great detective,

I will be appearing at one of the following jewelry store at 5 in the evening today.

イ(i): Niaoka Jewelry

ウ(u): Jewel Yuki

エ(e): Crystal Gem

Isn't this a little strange?

Conan: Hm?

Haibara: Normally, the order of the katakana is generally either ア(a)イ(i)ウ(u) or イ(i)ロ(ro)ハ(ha).

Conan: Right...

Haibara: But what's written here is イ(i)ウ(u)エ(e). Why didn't he start from ア(a)?

Conan: Hm.. there must be a reason behind that. But, let's decipher the code first.

Haibara: Then let's start from Orion's children. What is the meaning behind it?

Conan: Hmmmm... Kid is aware of Ayumi and the others challenging me with riddles. If he took advantage of that opportunity, then this code is like theirs. There's no doubt it's guiding us to a specific location.

Haibara: And that's where we'll get the hint about the jewelry store.

Conan: Yeah.. now that you mention it, if I remember correctly, back then there was a movie theater called Orion Seat right? But it's already been demolished and became a plot of land.

Haibara: If we consider any other areas with the term Orion, myth「神話(shinwa)」, Beltegese 「ベテルギウス」, Orion's belt「三星(mitsuboshi)」: Three Stars).. Hm? Ah! Mitsubo shop!

Conan: That's it!

Haibara: Then what about the children part?

Conan: I'm not sure. But let's go there first. We might be able to figure something out when we're there.

Haibara: You're right. Okay.

Conan: Mitsubo shop. There should be a clue to which jewelry store Kid is aiming at inside this shop.

Haibara: The Detective Red Jacket will come out again soon. Please look-... Look....Look.........

Conan: Hey Haibara- SCARY!!! W-What's wrong Haibara? You have such a scary look on your face. Σ(Дﾟ;/)/

Haibara: I-It's nothing.

Conan: Hm? An automatic eclipse machine...(TN: it was really difficult to hear so I'm not entirely sure if this is accurate. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Haibara: Orion's... children!

Conan: Let's go check it out!

*runs*

Haibara: If that's the case then the next line is

Four of the sons love taking a walk. Three of the sons gaze at the sky. Five of the sons are left-handed.

But is it referring to three siblings?

Conan: Oh about that, don't you think it's strange then? If they were siblings, then isn't it more natural to refer them as 5th, 4th, and 3rd and follow them by age? (TN: the way 五つ(itsutsu), 四つ(yotsu), 三つ(mitsu) is used is either by numeric counters (ex:I would like 3 of these please) or comparing ages(ex: He's the 3rd child of the family))

Haibara: You have a point. It's quite strange to order it by fourth, third, and fifth.

Conan: Which means those numbers doesn't mean age. It's referring to the amount. Let's first find stuff that comes in four.

Haibara: Things that come in four? *bumps into child* Ah!

Random lady: Ah! I'm sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?

Haibara: I'm okay.

Random lady: Jeez! Cut it out already! I told you it's dangerous to run around the bookcases already!!

Haibara: Bookcases? Look Kudo-kun! There's four bookcases!

Conan: There's.. four! Then what's the three referring to? There should be some type of rule that contains three. And that hint is most likely within 'taking a walk', 'sky', 'left-handed'. I see! I figured it out! 'Love taking a walk' means to walk! It's four so that means you have to walk to the fourth shelf!

Haibara: Then what does 'Three of the sons gaze at the sky' mean?

Conan: It's 'gaze' so you count from the bottom. It's three so it's the third row!

Haibara: The third row is... the children's literature!

Conan: 'Five of the sons are left-handed.' So counting from the left is the 5th book!

Haibara: One.. two.. three.. four five. *picks out the book* This? This book is.. Sans Famille 「家なき子(ie nakiko)」!

Conan: Sans Famille「家なき子(ie nakiko)」?... I see! So that's what it means! *realization* I figured it out which jewelry store Kid is aiming for!

Conan: The store Kid is aiming for is Jewel Yuki!

Haibara: There's only 7 minutes until 5pm! I'll notify Inspector Nakamori!

Conan: Sure! I'll go ahead and head towards the store!

Conan: I won't make it if I just run! Guess I'll go retrieve my skateboard then! *opens door* I'm home Ran-neechan!! Ran-neechan, I'm leaving! *door closes* TURBO ENGINE FULL POWER!!!! 🎵

Just you wait Kaitou Kid!!!

Conan: Where are you?! Show yourself Kid!!

Kaitou Kid: As expected of the great detective. Impressive that you figured out it was this place.

Conan: It took quite some time to arrive at finding Sans Famille「家なき子(ie nakiko)」 but everything fell into place after that. The biggest indication was the three options. Instead of using ア(a), イ(i), ウ(u) nor イ(i), ロ(ro), ハ(ha), you opted for イ(i), ウ(u), エ(e). (TN: I'll be utilizing the Japanese translation of the book title rather than the original because it would only make sense with this cipher)

「家なき子(ie nakiko)」. There is no イ(i)エ(e) 「いえがない(ie ga nai)」. In other words, you remove the イ(i) and エ(e). Therefore the answer is ウ(u)'s Jewel Yuki. (TN: To further explain this, the hiragana for 家 is いえ(ie). なき(naki) can mean lacking or non-existing so Kid used this word play of removing the いえ(ie) literally with his options)

Kaitou Kid: Right on the mark! Hehe, maybe it was a little too simple. (SN: For a guy who was planning alongside the rest by himself, I'm pretty sure Conan appreciates your 'easy' riddles more than what the Detective Boys and Agasa planned together. Also there's a transition to Kaito in voice here but I'll be using Kid because that's how Conan perceives him.)

Oh? They're as punctual as always. Guess I'll take my leave for today. Besides, I already got my hands on today's loot. *poof*

Conan: Eh? Is that.. Detective Red Jacket special edition? You're going to stoop so low to steal something like that?! (＃ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

Kaitou Kid: *splurts in offended* So rude!!! Of course not!!!! Σ(｀Д´#)

Conan: Hah?

Kaitou Kid: I bought it with my own money obviously! (SN: as a 'law-abiding' citizen *coughcough*)

Conan: BOUGHT IT?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?!!! YOU?!?!?!?! Σ(○ﾛ○￢)

Kaitou Kid: Yeah...

Conan: A PHANTOM THIEF?!?!?!!?!?

Kaitou Kid: Nngh..

Conan: THE DETECTIVE RED JACKET SPECIAL EDITION?!?!?!!?!

Kaitou Kid: *speechless as he tries to regain his poker face* ...Doesn't matter. You wouldn't mind if a phantom thief came to like detectives, would you? (σゝω・)σ (SN:(￢_￢;)........)

Conan: Eh? (ﾟﾛﾟ) (*Conan's turn to be speechless*)

Kaitou Kid: SEE YOU!! *escapes*

Officer #1: Kid is running away!!

Officer #2: After him!! We're definitely going to catch him!!!!

*police sirens blaring*

Conan: Huh.... Ah? Another envelope. The seal is open. *opens envelope* It's Ayumi and the others' fourth riddle. Hmmm? Kid's message seems to be included in this. 'I deciphered it for you as a bonus. The answer is the bathhouse.' Barou, it's already past the time limit.

Haibara: He's arrived.

Genta: Ooohhh!! He's here he's here!!

Ayumi: Conan-kun!!!

Conan: Yo!

Mitsuhiko: As expected of Conan-kun to be able to solve all the codes. BUT UNFORTUNATELY-

Detective Boys: TIME'S UP!!!!!

Conan: I know...

Ayumo: Then you'll obediently admit defeat right?

Conan: Yeah...

Ayumi: Hmmm? I can't hear you~

Conan: It's my loss.

Detective Boys: Huh?

Conan: Like I said, it's my loss.

Genta: What did you say?

Mitsuhiko: We couldn't hear you.

Genta: Yeah not at all.

Conan: *sigh* It is my loss!

Detective Boys: YESSS!!! o(^o^)o

Ayumi: We made Conan-kun admit it!!

Mitsuhiko: We did it!!!

Genta: Now that we're here, let's all take a dip here!

Mitsuhiko: That's a great idea!

Ayumi: Ayumi loves the bathhouse!

Haibara: Good work Kudo-kun.

Conan: Haha shddap....

Genta: What are you doing Conan?!

Ayumi: Ai-chan hurry up!!

Haibara: I'll be there.

Conan: I mean, not only was I forced to run around the whole town, the true identity of the treasure is just a bathhouse called Yuu Treasure. (TN: Unless I see the kanji for yuu, I'm unable to translate it) That's it?! That's all my hard work amounted to?! It's probably one of Agasa-hakase's ideas again.. Jeez he has no taste, not even a shred of it!

Haibara: This place.. was actually my idea though. (#ﾟ∇ﾟ)

Conan: Ehh? ((ﾟ□ﾟ;))

Genta: Aahhh that hits the spot. It feels so good.

Mitsuhiko: Yeah...Bathhouses are really nice once in a while.

Genta: Right? Oh yeah Conan. Since you lost, wash my back later.

Conan: Don't joke with me. I never signed up for that.

Kaitou Kid: Stop being a sore loser.

Conan: Aahhhh!! Where the hell did you come from?! Σ(°Дﾟ/)/

Kaitou Kid: I suggest you should gracefully *wash face* do what they tell you.

Genta/Mitsuhiko: Kaitou Kid?!?!?!?!

Conan: *speaking underwater* Why the hell are you here?

Kaitou Kid: Hehehe... Magicians are elusive. *sirens blaring in the background* Nah~ The policemen were so persistent you know?

Conan: You know... if you're taking a bath, you should at the very least remove your silk hat.

(SN: What the honest... what the hell are you doing taking a bath with your hat (and possibly your monocle) Kaito? Did you even remove your costume? (￢_￢;) Bruh Kid, you're sullying your dad's outfit)

Genta: You need to put more strength in it Conan!

Conan: Sure SURE!

Genta: As gratitude for us everyday.

Conan: For who?

Genta: Don't say everyone.

Conan: *huff*

Genta: Oh yeah Conan. Haibara was mad at you all day right?

Conan: Yeah... What was that? Did I do something?

Genta: ?!

Mitsuhiko: Conan-kun you didn't realize?

Conan: Heh? 'Didn't realize'... so I did do something?

Mitsuhiko: Aahh... Conan-kun really doesn't understand a woman's heart.

Genta: Right?

Mitsuhiko: You ready? Haibara-san is actually Sannomiya Kazunori's closet fan. But despite that, you decided to badmouth him in front of her!

Conan: Eeeeehhhhh?!?!?!?!? Haibara is Sannomiya Kazunori's fa-

Mitsuhiko: Ssshhhhh!!! Your voice is too loud!!!

Conan: Pah! If I remember correctly, Sannomiya Kazunori is one of the members in the Fubuki Idol group right? That Haibara?! There's no way she's a fan of such a popular idol!!! Haha!! Ahahhaha! That's a lie!! Ahahaha!

(SN: Conan is willing to dig his grave super early apparently ((( ；ﾟДﾟ))) )

(In the girl's bath)

Haibara: ( º言º╬╬)

Ayumi: Ai-chan? Where are you going with your bath towel wrapped around you? E-Eeehhh? That's the boy's bath- Hiiiieeeeee!!! Ai-chan's face.. is so scary!! ((( ；ﾟДﾟ)))

(In the boy's bath)

Conan: Kyahahaha! Because this is Haibara we're talking about! You know, Haibara! For Haibara to be an idol fan, that's impossible. No way that's happening!

Genta: Hey stop that!

Conan: Huh? Why? There's no way she's an (idol) enthusiast after all.

Mitsuhiko: Idiot!

Conan: Huh?

Mitsuhiko: Conan-kun!

Conan: What is it?

Mitsuhiko: Behind behind behind behind behind behind-

Conan: Cow? Moo moo~ (TN: Mitsuhiko is stuttering the word 後ろ(ushiro):behind and Conan stupidly mistakes it as 牛(ushi):cow.

ε-(ｰдｰ) And I thought Kaito was the insensitive one.)

Mitsuhiko: Behin-behind you.

Conan: Behind me? What's behind m- Uop-!!!

Haibara: (╬ಠิ益ಠิ) Sorry about being an ENTHUSIAST!! *SLAPS*

Conan: Ooowww!!

Kaitou Kid: Heh. The tongue is the root of calamities, great detective. (TN: A proverb meaning the more you speak, the more you'll put your foot in your mouth.

Wise words you should follow as well, our fellow magician (￢_￢;))

#dcmk #detective conan #dcmk translations #detective conan drama cd #Detective Conan Drama CD A Written Challenge from the Detective Boys #where haibara is perpetually rightfully annoyed #conan is a insensitive dense idiot #and kaito is bored and decides to be a certified stalker #also kaito loses his braincells and traded it to protect his identity(?)#with loads of kaishin moments where it became a fangirls grave to heaven #edogawa conan #haibara ai #kaitou kid #detective boys #yoshida ayumi #tsuburaya mitsuhiko #kojima genta #agasa hiroshi

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theacecouple · 1 year ago

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I didn't see anything from somerton until about a month ago when he popped up in my recs and I ended up binging his content for about 2 days, but something kept being off and I noticed some of the lies/ignorance, and there was something really dismissive and weird about how he talked about aspecs and women in particular... I stopped watching him cause I watched one of you guys' podcast and realized I also just felt like crap after his videos.

I did end up getting his rwrb video in my recs when it came out cause of the binge and I just remember leaving a comment about the way he talked about aces in it. It was especially upsetting seeing people in the comments who were simply happy he mentioned aspecs at all. He replied to me just saying his cowriter was ace. I don't reply to youtube comments but I just remember wanting to point out that same co-writer he was using as a shield said aces don't face discrimination or conversion therapy, and in that video wrote that aces have to have sex to find out they don't like it. Being something doesn't make you instantly know everything about it, as somerton himself demonstrates with his ignorant comments about gay history.

I'm not really one of his victims since I avoided him as soon as I found him, but I feel bad for all the people he tricked and/or guilted into believing him. I hope some other creators make videos exposing the weird way he manipulated the queer community, cause I think a lot of young folks could use a breakdown of it.

Anyways I just wanted to finish by saying I love you guys' work and learning from you. You helped me understand why certain phrases make me upset, and that and watching your podcast back to back with his videos helped me figure out what I didn't like about Somerton, so you helped protect me from him and not convince myself I was just being Weird as I often do when I get Bad Vibes from someone.

Thank you so much for reaching out <3

It's so fascinating that you stopped watching Somerton after finding us. We've tried to keep things as professional as possible these last 2 years by only citing directly harmful things he's done to us and direct members of our community, and even then it was sparingly and as kind as possible.

When we first spoke with him about including Asexual representation in his future Telos endeavors, he assured us that not only was there already an Ace in the writers' room, but that two real, fully-fleshed out Ace characters were already being written. This was encouraging! After all, we had no way of knowing if he was the kind of cis gay man who loathes Aces or doesn't view us as queer. Since this didn't seem to be the case and rep is important, we supported him. We now deeply regret not doing our research on him first.

Even before his video "The Queer Erasure of Asexuality", we started watching a few of his YouTube videos for the first time and some of the subtext was NOT kind to our community. Subtle things that we'd see get repeated by his fans over and over again, like how queer art is bad these days because all the "artists" and the "exciting queers" who "really lived" died in the AIDS crisis. Or the implication that the Interview with the Vampire reboot was *more queer* because the vampires actually had gay sex on screen, despite this being a complete departure from the source material and neglecting the fact that Anne Rice's vampires have always been undeniably queer *and also* sexless. In fact, we didn't say his name, but we did mention some vague "bad takes" we saw about the series in our podcast episodes 75 & 76 The Triumphs and Failures of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire Part 1 and Part 2...At least some of those came from James.

We did not see his rwrb video, because we had long given up on him by that point, but it is not at all surprising to hear that he had bad takes and also hid behind Nick once again to shield himself from any criticism. It was very much his MO, and yet we're also certain we've heard him chastise straight women for using the "I have a gay friend" defense.

It is so good to hear that our podcast has been helpful to you. There are FAR too many Aces who are willing to let bad behavior or ill-informed takes slide just because someone with a decent following noticed us. We deserve so much better.

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ineffable-suffering · 11 months ago

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What really happened during the 19th century?

So, we all know Crowley slept through a good chunck of the 19th century. But we know very little about the surrounding circumstances (or! maybe we do know and someone else can help me out here).

Here’s what I keep wondering about:

Did Crowley let Aziraphale know about his Big Sleep? It was definitely his longest one yet, so it would have been worth mentioning. Or did he simply sulkily snooze off without another word after their argument about the Holy Water?

If he didn‘t tell Aziraphale about it, did Aziraphale eventually come looking for him? I‘m pretty convinced that at this point in time, they were used to seeing each other a lot more frequently than the flashbacks in S1 & S2 let through. At least every other month or so, if not even weekly, at times. If Crowley hadn’t told Aziraphale about vigorously hitting the hay (or at least left him a note), I‘m pretty sure Az would have started worrying at some point and would‘ve come looking for Crowley. Especially since the Holy Water convo heavily featured the theme of just how big the consequences of Heaven and Hell finding out about them would be. Crowley suddenly disappearing for longer than a couple of months certainly would have stirred Aziraphale‘s fear suspicion.

On that note: Did Hell simply grant Crowley a century-long sabbatical? Because last time I checked, an employee can‘t just fuck off without any notice to their boss. And ngl, Hell doesn’t strike me as the lot to grant such a long sleep-cation.

If Hell did for some reason know about and grant it (possibly because Crowley is sort of the Employee of the … Month? Year? Eternity? down there), did they organize a replacement for him? Did one of the other Demons stationed somewhere on Earth do all his wiles and temptations? Or was it all just put on hold? No foul fiend-ing in the Europe-ish region for almost a hundred years? Seems a little hard to believe.

Or, did Hell not know at all and a certain infernal trainee by the name of Aziraphale, who‘d been taught by Crowley himself, took over for him for the time being? („They don‘t care how it gets done, they just want to cross it off their list“ or however exactly Crowley phrased it)

If so, how would Aziraphale have known about the exact wiles and temptations on Crowley‘s future To Do list? Pretty sure he can‘t intercept the infernal instruction channel or pop down to Hell real quick to look at Crowley‘s upcoming tasks. Or did he just do random wiles every now and to then thwart them himself? His own self-preserving Arrangement system? Like an ethereal-occult oroborous? Keeping the scales even all by himself? After all, Crowley was clearly able to sell all the horrid things the humans came up with themselves as his own work without Hell checking whether or not he‘d done any corresponding miracles. They don‘t check the source material, only the result. So mabye all Az had to do was fake some reports, overselling Crowley‘s evil achievements and all was settled.

If not so, well, see question 4.

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #the 19th century

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whiteboardartstudios · 6 months ago

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Goodbye, Gendaen

fan art for @mtqcomic

Thoughts and LONG ramble under the cut! (includes spoilers!!!)

A while ago (like last week maybe?) I realized that I've been following this comic for almost a year, and I still haven't drawn Mysta yet! I figured that with the recent end of Chapter 3 and that *huge* lore drop (I was NOT expecting that oh my goodness the theory wheels are turning in the void that is my brain) now would be a pretty good time to draw her! So that's where this came from! :D

I thought that it would be fun to draw Mysta looking sort of like a knight? Partially because it makes for cool posing and composition but also because I think that if she was in D&D she would be a paladin due to the whole "Hero sent by Destiny" thing (I considered sorcerer or warlock as well, but her moveset is mostly melee at the moment so I thought that paladin fits better. Plus this opens up the possibility of Gendaen being an Oathbreaker paladin, depending on how that whole situation with the Crimson went. (also now I kind of want to put the main cast of mtq in D&D even though I don't actually know a lot about D&D ToT. I think Eth would be a ranger maybe multiclassed into something magic-related, because rangers have a favored enemy mechanic that gives them advantages on fighting a certain type of enemy, which could be Crimson enemies for D&D Eth. Yele is (kind of obviously) a druid because of the whole dryad thing, and Zaïl is definitely giving rogue energy to me.)) Anyways, D&D-related sidetrack aside – hello??? End-of-chapter-3 lore drop? (/positive) I have SO many questions. First of all, what happened to convince Gendaen to switch sides? For someone who allegedly spent his entire life trying to cleanse the Crimson, it would've taken one heck of a worldview-upending revelation to get him to join it. With the information we currently have, it seems pretty clear that Gendaen isn't mind-controlled or corrupted or anything – not just because of the reasons Eth gave in page #169, but also because from all the interactions we've had with Nelun Soma'o/Gendaen, he seemed to be pretty chill? I pointed out in my first fan art post that it doesn't seem as if Nelun Soma'o is being built up to be a villain character and is instead more of an antagonist with a slight mentor role, and I think that still kind of holds up now. Gendaen definitely wants Mysta to help him and/or the Crimson with something, and as Yele said in that recent comic, things aren't really adding up. I'm still slightly suspicious of the Order of Learning as well (insert person pointing at conspiracy theory board meme here lol), since you would think that if Gendaen and Eth are really close then Gendaen might have told Eth about the whole Crimson situation, right? On Page #250 (which is marked as 150??? probably a typo but idk) Gendaen says that he didn't want Eth to be roped into this whole situation, which could be a reason for keeping him in the dark – though if he knew Eth really well then he might have suspected that Eth wouldn't just let him disappear and would go searching for him. Another possible reason (in my theory) if the Order is evil or something and Gendaen learned something that he shouldn't have learned, maybe he knew that Eth wouldn't believe him because of his loyalty to the Order? I may just be connecting random dots and calling it a picture here but *something* is going on and until we get more clues on what that may be, I'm sticking with this theory lol :P EDIT, I was rereading Gendaen's character sheet and it says there that he has a strong code of honor and fights for the underdogs (not the exact phrasing but it's close). 👀 does that mean the Crimson is in some sort of underdog position? 👀

Anyways back to the drawing a little, I gave both Gendaen and Mysta a sort of braid-like element in their designs to sort of tie them together a bit visually (Mysta's is on the sides of her head, which is kind of hard to see so I added a little ribbon to show that parts of her hair is tied back, and Gendaen's is in his golden hair accessory thingy). I think that there's definitely some sort of correlation between Gendaen's disappearance/switching to the Crimson and Mysta being sent to Sol Ybberia, and I also think that both of them are going to play an important role in whatever happens in the future, hence the braids (to show that their destinies are kind of intertwined, as the two Heroes of Sol Ybberia). I also thought that it would be fun to put Gendaen in a stained glass window instead of actually physically being present, because up until the Nelun Soma'o reveal, all the things we know about Gendaen are basically all from Eth's recollections of him, which for me definitely paints a bit of a "Character haunting the narrative" kind of vibe. I also think that with the Nelun Soma'o reveal, the somewhat glorified (for a lack of a better word – I think Eth might be a little biased when it comes to Gendaen, considering that Gendaen has been missing for about 5 years, if my math is correct? 5 years feels like a long time to me and I think that if a person important to me has been missing for that long then my impression of them would definitely start warping to how I want to remember them/who I wanted them to be and I might start unintentionally ignoring the things that doesn't quite match that image in my head. Speaking of/case in point, Eth's reaction to the Nelun Soma'o reveal!) image of Gendaen that we had got thrown in a metaphorical blender with our idea of the Crimson at the time, and it just makes things a whole lot more complicated in a very interesting way. (If you look at the bottom right of the image you can see Nelun Soma'o's cloak coming out of stained-glass Gendaen's cloak, which I thought would be a fun little detail to include). Hence, the stained glass is kind of the "perfect Hero who disappeared to advance the plot" Gendaen and we can see Mysta kind of splitting the glass with her Rotted Fork from a composition point of view, referencing that huge lore bomb she dropped a couple of pages ago and how that changes our (or at least my) perception of Gendaen as a character entirely. I really do like the plot twist, as I think it makes Gendaen a more 3-dimensional character with more complicated motivations and narrative significance, as before I mainly knew him as "predecessor to Mysta" and "one of Eth's sources of motivation", but now he my understanding of Gendaen also extends to things about Gendaen himself and not just about his role in relation to other characters (for example, "Gendaen is helping the Crimson for reasons currently unknown" or "Gendaen is planning something that involves Mysta??? and he's in the Void??? And apparently Mysta is supposed to jailbreak him out at some point in the future?" He definitely has something planned behind the scenes, I don't know what it is and I want to find out).

MORE THINGS about Gendaen (can you tell that he's my favorite character at the moment ToT), what's up with those last words? If I'm correct (and I think I am, I scrolled all the way back to the page where the gods were introduced just to check this ToT), Nomù is Compassion? How is compassion related to Gendaen's alliance with the Crimson? I mean, when you think of the Crimson, compassion definitely is NOT the first value that comes to mind. Right now it seems that to me, Gendaen's plan with Mysta and the Crimson and the Void is connected to Nomù somehow? (the "I won't disappoint you" is definitely interesting). I don't have a lot of thoughts or theories on where this might be going, I just thought that it was something interesting to metaphorically chew on for the next while. It definitely seems like it has some sort of narrative significance, at least.

There might be more things that I wanted to talk about, but I can't really think of them off the top of my head right now (it might be due to the fact that it's currently quite late in my time zone ToT I am sleepy) so that's all from me for now :D (Also dropping the version of the drawing with just the lineart here because I think it looks really cool)

I hope you have a really nice day and/or night! :D

*a starry rift in space opens up in front of me and I faceplant into it like it is a mattress* (gotta make that dramatic exit!) [Image ID: The first image is a colored and rendered image of Mysta from the Mysta's Terrarian Quest webcomic standing in front of a stained glass window of Gendaen. She is holding the Rotted Fork spear from Terraria, and she has a determined expression on her face. The stained glass shows Gendaen with his back turned to the audience, and one closed eye is visible. His cloak is flowing to the right of the image, where it emerges out of the stained glass as it fades from green to dark grey. Crimson vines, green trees, and white clouds surrounds Gendaen in the stained glass. Outside of the glass portrait, real crimson vines are creeping along the stone walls that the portrait is on, framing the portrait and Mysta in the middle. A red light source is shining down from the upper right corner of the drawing. End ID.] [Image ID: The second image is a work-in-progress version of the first image without any color and only some minimal shading, with all shades being in monochrome. Mysta's lineart is noticeably darker compared to the line art of the background. End ID.]

EDIT: Forgot to add image ids, they're here now TwT

#mtqcomic #fan art #my art #whiteboardartstudios #art #also drawing fan art for people is really funny because you'll see them going about their life as usual-#-and then you're there hiding in the corner going “ehehehehehehe they don't know I'm about to hit them with the dodgeball of appreciation”#it's a very >:3 kind of feeling lol (at least for me)#also I had SO much fun drawing that Rotted Fork #I took some creative liberties with its design (aka the weird spine-shaped thingy-#-that was only slightly inspired by Acheron's (Honkai Star Rail) weird spine-shaped accessory. I thought it would be cool for Crimson-#-weapons to have more body parts in their visual design compared to just in the name and color scheme lol. Shading all that dark metal-#-was super fun :D the shiny red bits were great too :D)#also I was SO incredibly excited when I realized that Mysta's armor is reflective and thus I can make it glow #fun art things I guess :)#I really do need to go to sleep now tho #byeeeeee

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thebadboyfanclub · 2 years ago

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Grow Forever, Never Yield (Aemond x Reader)

This was actually the easiest one to write, I loved writing this character and wanted to write a slightly enemies to lovers type of thing, this was requested by @aegvn I hope this is what you imagined and you enjoy it as much as I did

“The prince has surpassed me in his sword fighting skills I am no longer a worthy opponent to him, I would like to invite another skilled warrior to court”

“Whom will that be Ser Criston?”

“The lady (y/n) Phoenix”

“Of firebend? They would never allow their own to join our court”

The house of Phoenix at the firebend land was amongst the last of the rebels and as allied themselves with the Dornish during the age of Aegon the conqueror, inevitably they came to a treaty of peace with the Targaryen king that allowed them somewhat freedom if they agreed to acknowledge Targaryens as the true kings, in retaliation they decided to make the words of their house be

“Grow forever, never yield”

The lady (y/n) was the second child of Nevan Phoenix, she was known for her skill at yielding a sword amongst all of 7 kingdoms, the girl was young, mayhaps a year or two Aemonds senior still she had established herself to be a legend and a name that could install fear to any knight with a mixture of the men wanting to meet this legend that came from the far lands of firebend.

“Who would be better at preparing a prince for any battle other than what they call “the strangers' daughter”?”

The house of Phoenix had been in battle when she was just at the age of 14, thankfully the girl seemed to scoff at death, (y/n) had come victorious and led her brothers' army better than any man would have, to gaze upon her stallion as she held her sword and waited to give the signal to charge was a sight only a few could witness,

“If you die, die with honor”

(Y/n) would often say to her soldiers, some even whispered that even though she got injured she kept on fighting, hence the nickname of her being a descendant of the God of death.

Otto leaned back in his chair, it would be a great opportunity to remind the Phoenix of their treaty, with Viserys getting weaker and Rhaenyras claim shaking if Aegon had Phoenix on his side then others would follow only out of fear of facing her in battle.

“I suppose sending a raven would not be so bad”

“I will arrange it, thank you, lord hand”

(Y/n) was already bored of kings landing, the place reeked of piss and the common folk is starving, she had opened the window of her carriage and she could already count dead bodies that lay on the streets.

“What is the purpose of dragons and glory if you cannot even take care of your land and people?”

“Unfortunately some kings do not see past their noses and tall castle walls”

Her father responded he was not pleased with the visit either, howbeit he had given up his seat as the lord of the land to his firstborn son Henley since Nevan had phrased it as

“I am too old to support my family, I shall pass the torch and legacy to a mind full of ideas and a heart full of zest for life”

Henley was a noble and wise young man, peaceful and certainly diplomatic, he could talk his way out of anything before his opponent could even comprehend what had happened.

(y/n) was close to her dear brother and was immensely proud of the man he had grown to be, Henley’s first decision was to announce (y/n) as the First Lady commander of the knights, she was the reason he was alive.

“Why did we even agree to this? I do not wish to train a spoiled brat of a prince”

“Aemond Targaryen is a prince and mounts a very large dragon, as much as we are rebels at heart we must pick our battles wisely”

Her father advised her making her blow bubbles out of boredom mixed with denial of his words standing true, they could have easily found a way to deny the invite, she was certain that her brother hid behind this act of kindness, to keep their end of the bargain and appear as a pacifist leader to avoid conflict.

Before (y/n) could utter another smart remark and ridicule the name “Targaryen” even further she was interrupted by the carriage coming to a halt, she took a deep breath as a way to steal time and gather herself along with restraining her attitude.

“Let’s get this over with”

She spoke in a gritted tone before she got off their carriage to stand next to her father, before she was standing at the queen and lord hand, along with a young girl and boy, the queen did her best to hide her surprise at the young lady’s appearance, however (y/n) picked up at the widen eyes and clench of the fists which only made her smirk.

“Queen Alicent, I must thank you for the invite to your court”

“Welcome to kings landing lord Phoenix, it is an honor to have you and your daughter here”

(Y/n) chose to stay silent, her demeanor was cold and stoic as she held her head high and her chest puffed out, she mirrored her father down to his core, a true warrior.

Her copper hair was pulled back to one thick braid making her scar that overtook almost the entire left side of her face even more intense and visible, it was quite ironic since Aemonds had lost his right eye whilst the lady was missing her left.

The scar she held was twice the size of Aemonds, whoever did it wanted to cause pain and even craved to disfigure her, Aemond thought that not only did that person fail but since the lady was standing and had created a legend out of her name the person was unsuccessful, she was the most interesting person Aemond had ever seen, he never thought he would say a such thing but “she wears it well”

Her clothing was a dark dress but if you took a close look the detail of it was marvelous, you could even observe the drawing of a Phoenix at the hem of it, it was certainly eye-catching yet it embodies her character.

“Is this why you asked us to train the prince? You believed I would be best because of our similar injury?”

(Y/n) was visibly offended by this coincidence, it was truly not Ser Coles's intention nor reasoning behind his choice of a teacher, it all came down to the tales of her talent that he had heard amongst other soldiers.

(Y/n) spoke in a calm tone yet her voice was stern and demanding, she stared at Aemonds soul with fire in her eyes, Aemond was also taken back by the lady, it was the first time he had seen someone as young as him that has suffered the same fate as him.

“No, my lady, we do not wish to offend you, we merely admire your accomplishments”

Ser Criston took a step forward as he was the one responsible for (y/n)s arrival to court, silence overtook the group as Nevan was also skeptical now that he was present, he also did not want to intervene since it might make the matters worse knowing his daughters' temper stops at nothing when she feels disrespected or threatened.

“We have heard tales of you but you are beyond our expectations, my lady, we just wish for our prince to learn from the best”

“Very well, I think we had enough pleasantries, we are not here to sweet talk one another, I shall rest for the rest of the day, I will see the prince on the morrow at your training yard, I do not want to be disturbed by anyone unless it is my father until then, whom will escort us to our chambers?”

(Y/n) had whipped the prince to shape, she was resilient, cunning, and tireless, Aemonds entire body ached so bad that he had to sit in a bath of scorching water just to ease his muscles for at least an hour.

(Y/n) had once barged in and laughed at him, she ridiculed him with her words as Aemonds face showed no emotion as she spoke, well mostly as she laughed at him from her high horse “Was she also in pain? Probably too stubborn to admit that the practice also took a toll on her” he thought as he watched her go back and forth in front of him, though he was filled with rage from her little stunt, how dare she walk in at a such vulnerable hour.

“What type of lady walks in so shamelessly when a man is bare? I take it as a sign of you not being a true maiden?”

“Is that all you got? Your pride is so bruised that you cannot think of a better insult than one of my virtue? I suppose it suits a man, still, I would take not being a maiden if I had to choose to be that or laying with my brother or uncle”

Aemonds next move was something that she did not even expect, he rose revealing every single part of him, to Aemonds surprise (y/n) was unfazed and just eyeballed him straight in the face, she did not even glance for just a minute past his neck nor was there any sign of her being uncomfortable.

“I understand that in your land you have different customs but you are in kings Landing now, Vhagar is quite peckish around this hour and you would surely be a delectable snack to her”

“You can do as such that is true, are you sure you want to face the wrath of my family? We did not name our land firebend for nothing”

(Y/n) had a way of pushing his buttons, sending him to madness, and forcing him into losing his cool was her favorite hobby, one would suppose it is befitting if you take into consideration that her family's entire legacy was to oppose the Targaryens and remind them that they would always be the thorn that bled their reputation, even going as far as to making their sigil a Phoenix with its wings spread, the animal that is known for rising amongst the ashes, the ashes of dragon fire in this situation.

Aemond relished walking in the garden upon the hour of the ghosts, it was the only time this forsaken castle was quiet, Aemond had lived almost his entire life in solitude, not a child that made friends naturally and that worsened after Driftmark, the silence brought him comfort as the breeze went through him was refreshing.

“Incoming”

A voice erupted as someone attacked him from the back, luckily Aemond was quick on his feet and ducked just in time to miss the spike of a sword only by an inch, Aemond was unharmed and forced to defend himself with his bare hands.

“You sneaky bitch”

He spat as he went into defense, he could barely see her from the darkness that surrounded him as she marched at him with full force, you could hear their grunts as they had a go at one another.

“You think every war will be in broad daylight and fair? Some bastard can attack you even when you take a piss”

She taunted him, (y/n) did not hold back nor empathized with the prince who was put in a situation that wasn’t beneficial to him whatsoever, on the contrary, she was thoroughly enjoying seeing him struggle.

Aemond had suffered from attacks ever since the incident, in this moment he was pulled back into the time he was a boy and had to come out alive after his nephews resorted to violence over Vhagar, his breath was short and sharp as his eye squinted and had started to sweat.

Aemond grew vicious, not caring for precautions or if he made some serious damage to her, in his delirium he was placed in a death or life situation and he would be damned if he did not come out of this alive and well.

(Y/n)s laughter was replaced by a loud grunt and a thud once her back was forced against the wall and Aemonds hand was by her neck, his fingers clenching her airway making it harder for her to draw a breath.

“Yield”

He commanded in a low tone at her as she struggled under his grasp, he detected the struggle in her eye, even then her pride was strong, visible since she refused to make a sound and did her best to keep her composure, she did not want to give him the satisfaction of taking her as weak.

At that moment something in him changed, instinctively his chest collided with hers, the warmth of her body was inviting and her scent of vanilla was mouthwatering, he didn't even realize how close he had come to with his nose tracing her neck.

(Y/n) grew goosebumps at the strange sensation though she was thankful that Aemond was distracted enough to loosen his grip, she remained still as she took a few breaths to relax her system and regain her strength.

“What are you doing?”

“I was imagining a blade gracing this gorgeous neck of yours”

“Strange, I would love to do the same to you”

Aemond let out a sound of pain at the sudden move of (y/n) kneeing him in his stomach, she wanted to go for the crotch still she decided it would be best to spare him this one time.

Aemond took a step back however he laughed between his agony at her stubbornness of not wanting to admit that she enjoyed the intimate encounter as much as he did, his arms hugged him to soothe his stomach from the pain while she looked down at him, her hands were shaking and for a minute she wanted to run away, hide after being caught like a little girl that was eyeing the stable boy.

“It was silly of you to ask me to yield, you have forgotten I am a Phoenix, a word of advice for next time, never lose focus”

“I never lost focus my lady, I had no weapon, so I used what was available, my charm”

“Well judging by the fact I only kneed you and did not draw my sword from the belly button to your shoulder then never do that again”

“Was it truly that repulsive or are you just so prideful that you do not crave to admit that you liked it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous”

“Am I? Sweet (y/n)”

His voice was melodic as he got closer to her once again, now it was her that was defenseless and she was back again to the wall, the eye contact between them never broke as Aemonds hands found their way to the sides of her waist, (y/n) was frozen, for once in a life she did not know what to do.

Aemond was in full control when his nose brushed against hers and (y/n) closed her eyes letting out a breath that parted her lips ever so slightly.

“Seven hells, let us not do this”

“Why? The sweetest bite comes from the forbidden fruit”

“Mayhaps, but I am no fruit, I am a warrior and you are a stuck-up, obnoxious, little prick”

“A little prick that has you blushing, it is alright, I am a gentleman, and I will not expose you if you choose to take a bite”

Requests are open!

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air--so--sweet · 10 months ago

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Okay I already made one post about Klaus's rehab 'accessories' sold as part of a TUA prop auction and there's a lot of cool stuff but I can't post about everything, as much as I would like to, but there's one more thing I thought was worth singling out, Reginald Hargreeve's journal from season 2.

Transcription:

I have finally arrived at my destination. The journey was lengthy and arduous, far more taxing than any of my expeditions back home. Few of my fellows were prepared for the physical and emotional demands of the trip. The close quarters, the strict rations, the seemingly nonexistent passage of time. One could easily succumb to insanity or death in such a fate. I carry Abigail in my heart, her tenacious spirit and altruistic nature. She would not allow me to stay behind and perish with her, and in turn I will not allow her to die with me.

It took a ludicrously short span of time to determine my new home is a filthy, foolish and depraved place. I find it hardly worthy of saving, despite my commitment to doing so. Why should I have abandoned my Abigail for the sake of countless souls, not one of which could even hope to match her selfless grace? But I know she would admonish me for these thoughts, and tell me to recognise the value in all who reside in this despondent place.

It will take decades to see my plan to fruition. I enacted the very first step prior to embarking on my journey and now I can do little more than await the date of its engenderment. In the meantime I will commence building an identity, empire and legacy in my own right. My singular priority in the years to come is to ensure access to the resources (both material and intangible) to successfully implement the final phase. I am resolved to make Abigail proud.

There's so much interesting stuff in here. Firstly the implication that Reginald Hargreeves is not the only one from his planet on Earth. I don't think we'll learn anything about or see the other aliens, but I do wonder what they were getting up to while Reggie was doing his thing. Honestly I think it wpuld be funny for a throwaway allusion to some of them being certain public figures.

He knew before he came to Earth it needed saving. It's unclear from phrasing if he chose to do this or was tasked with it. And why him and seemingly only him if he was not the only one to travel to Earth? Or was the plan always save the world and then use hotel oblivion and the 7 bells to remake it with Abigail by his side? In season 1, having failed, did he choose to kill himself to reunite the academy to at least complete one part of his plan, having failed at the rest? A last ditch attempt to honour Abigail's memory? Hotel Oblivion was more or less off the table as soon as Ben died (which in a way makes ut funnier Klaus frequented Hotel Obsidian when he was on the streets, it literally just became a hotel and nothing more 😂).

That brings me onto the next thing - his love for Abigail. This is the most affection we've ever seen from Hargreeves I think (and the least creepy since the closest example I can think of was him creating a robot mother in his ex-girlfriend's likeness). Though saying he doesn't see why he should abandon her to save all life on earth is a tiny bit concerning. His description of Abigail as altruistic and saying that she would admonish him for not seeing the value in the lives of humans is definitely interesting (also I cant help but feel the choice of saying 'selfless grace' over 'selfness nature' or similar was intentional, not that it means anything, just a fun play on words). I saw a theory forever ago (I believe on reddit but I'm not sure, if I find it I'll edit and add credit) that in season 4 Abigail will leave Reginald when she learns what he did to bring her back and the way he describes her here it doesn't sound like she would be okay with the cruel and abusive treatment of his children followed by him sucking them of their powers and seemingly life force to revive her (though the fact Luther is alive it's possible he planned to reincarnate all of them in the new universe but y'know, maybe make Allison aware so she doesn't chop your head in half before you fully finish building your new universe). The Reginald who wrote this journal entry bears hallmarks of the one we knew, but he seems to have been somewhat tempered by Abigail. Did the decades without her cause a hardening that led to the cold, cruel and abusive man he became? A man Abigail will no longer recognise as the man she fell in love with? Based on this it doesn't seem unlikely but, as far as I recall, these entries are never seen on screen so I don't think we can really count them as canon, especially not knowing who wrote them (I suspect it was someone on the writing staff but we don't know that for certain). However, I vaguely remember seeing a few claims of a new big bad several places, I think people may have sourced this from an interview with Steve Blackman (I intentionally avoid interviews with him because he gives far too much away) which, if the main villain of the piece is not in fact Hargreeves, Abigail, the love of his life and his whole reason for his lifes work leaving him, feels like a pretty good catalyst for him to give up, and possibly even yield to anything the Umbrellas ask of him or maybe even help them?

And lastly, when writing this I couldn't help but think how Reginald's loss of Abigail mirrors several of the Umbrella's own losses. His deal with Allison involved getting Ray and her daughter back and there's been a lot of people wondering if Dave, Sissy, Harlan or even Patch could be alive in this new universe. Allison's words to Viktor before pressing the button, 'Trust me,' and the fact we didn't see her make the deal with Reginald (beyond the handshake Five saw through the doorway) has made me wonder if it didn't just involve her getting to be reunited with her lost loved ones but her siblings too (though my housemate suggested the alternative idea that she made a deal for herself and Viktor only, as he is the only other Umbrella to lose a romantic partner and child, a loss Allison is partially responsible for, having killed adult Harlan, and he's also the sibling Allison was cruelest to in season 3). Would Hargreeves have agreed to the terms of any deal if it meant getting his way? Yeah probably, but I also feel like he might have been more willing to agree to Allison's terms if they involved reuniting her and her siblings with the people they loved who they had to leave for reasons outside of their control (Ray, Sissy and Harlan) or they lost to death (Dave, Harlan (again) and Patch, and in a sense Claire). I feel like I'm giving Hargreeves too much credit but at the same time there's moments in the show that could be interpreted as him caring for the Umbrellas and I do believe he cared for human Grace and Pogo too so it's not impossible that he's capable of empathy, at least at times where it wouldn't negatively impact him or stop him from doing what he believes is right (though just to be clear - any care or love he felt does not in any way absolve him of the cruelty and abuse he subjected his children to or the fact he subjected Pogo to a life of servitude either).

It's just occurred to me that there's the whole additional layer in regards the apocalypse that Reginald was aware of it and wanted to avert it yet he was the cause of it as without his interference the Umbrellas (and other super powered children) would never have been born, never mind his treatment of them, especially Viktor, leading to them growing into the adults they were that led to their actions causing the apocalypse. I've already spent several hours and a tonne of hyperfocus writing this though when I have other real world stuff to do so I'm going to leave it here.

#the umbrella academy #tua #reginald hargreeves #props #prop auction #reginald hargreeves journal

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theromanticscrooge · 2 days ago

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I started coming out of the closet among friends and family in late 2020. When quarantine started lifting and more businesses opened back up in 2021, I re-entered the workforce. I wanted to be recognized as a transman despite being pre-hrt and any surgeries. Originally, I interviewed and took a position as a horticulture technician. In my case, that title was a fancy way of saying "I water, prune, and tend to indoor plants at local businesses."

The second day in, I told my boss that I was trans. She said that was fine as long as it didn't interfere with work. That seemed reasonable. It seemed like a green light. She referred to me by my preferred name vs my legal name, too.

Everything was okay for the first two months. I learned the general checklist for plant care and common issues to look out for/how to remedy them. Most local businesses were friendly enough. The dentist's office on my route said that I was doing a good job. It seemed like I was fitting in okay and performing well. I thought I'd be here for awhile and even hoped I'd be there after an indefinite point when I'd start HRT and what changes would come with that.

I wanted to be referred to with he/him pronouns. It was getting to the point where I was felt like I was increasingly uncomfortable with pretending to be a cis woman and damn, I was sick of pretending to be something I'm not. Presenting as cis was temporary for me; as in there would be deliberate effort on my part to change my features and appearance. I'd been there long enough that people knew my name, I had a route, etc. It'd help me feel comfortable there; the last step to really being part of the team, right?

And considering my boss' initial reaction, I thought being accepted was a real possibility. I asked to be referred to with he/him pronouns around the shop. Her first reaction was "You haven't told any of the customers about this, right?" No. Then she followed up with, and keep in mind that I'm paraphrasing here, "I can't see you as a man. I'll always see you as a woman in my mind. I'll try to use your pronouns but I just can't see you as a man." I don't remember the exact phrasing. In essence, she said the unspoken part out loud that some cisgender people still operate on if they knew you before you started transitioning.

After that discussion, I had trouble performing regular job tasks. I fumbled badly enough that I was laid off a week later. I had one more interaction with my boss after getting laid off; she used my legal name. I want to reiterate: I honestly did fuck up badly enough that I don't chalk up getting laid off to discrimination. Maybe I should have reached out to HR about accommodations in regards to pronouns or coming up with a workable game plan to come out more gracefully at work. I don't know.

After that job, I went strictly by my dead name and presented as cis at other jobs and in public. A combination of my experience with this boss and some disparaging remarks from my dad made a certain part of my reality painfully clear: my potential employment and means to live were threatened by transphobia. If I existed as a trans person in public, especially if I didn't pass, it made people uncomfortable. Especially potential customers, people that signed my pay checks, etc. I was convinced that I'd be in the closet forever; that it wasn't safe to come out and transitioning would never be an option for me if I wanted to live comfortably in any capacity.

This became untenable. Thankfully, I'm in a spot where I was able to start HRT and I'm about six months in now. I came out to my current employer and she was very accepting. She's the best boss I've had in the last ten years, hands down. I'm sharing this story because I want to say, very loudly: If you're trans, you deserve to exist. Bigots can be uncomfortable. Its miserable staying in the closet, trying to stay small/stealth, and you deserve to be yourself in public. Unfortunately, I know this is becoming increasingly difficult, but I hope you feel supported and continue to fight for your right to exist fully as you are in every part of your life.

If we have to work to live, its not unreasonable to ask to be recognized as your true self at work. It means that you'll be a much happier, productive person and despite my own crappy experiences, I think there's still plenty of managers and employers that understand this. I was lucky enough to find one.

Hopefully, you'll find that too. Whether it's a direct employer or something like Patreon supporters, art clients, whatever works. You deserve to be you at home, in private, in public, and definitely at work.

#personal #transman #transman at work #trans in the workplace #tw:transphobia

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ingravinoveritas · 1 year ago

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MY GOODNESS THAT TV INSIDER SNIPPET WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM MOVE PHYSICALLY CLOSER TO EACH OTHER IN ABOUT 20 SECONDS. UGHHH. DAVID WAS LITERALLY HALF OFF HIS SEAT TO BE CLOSER TO MICHAEL

Hi, Anons! Oh, gosh, I love both of these so much. Putting them together because I think there's a definite connection worth discussing.

So first, Anon #2 I know you must be referring to the new interviews with Michael and David that have come out the past few days (on Screen Rant Plus, Movieweb, etc.). Anon #1 is referring to another clip that just came out today, so I'll put the video up here for anyone who hasn't seen it and then discuss it further down this post:

Anon #2, how beautifully you have phrased your observation, and I could not possibly agree with you more. I've noticed a lot of people saying that Michael and David look sad or miserable, but I don't think that is the case at all. Well, a couple of things: 1) We have no idea when these interviews were recorded, though if I had to guess I'd say within the last month or two, and if that is the case, Michael was still directing/working nonstop on The Way, so that would explain him looking tired (along with running around after two little kids all the time). 2) I'm fairly certain that a large part of them not looking at each other is because they are trying not to give anything away about the second season, and Michael and David both know they won't be able to keep quiet if they make even the tiniest bit of eye contact.

3) I fully agree with your assertion that the lack of staring shows how close Michael and David have become, because to me, it also means that they no longer feel a need to be "on" around each other. They've both spoken in the past about how much they hate doing interviews/photo shoots, and that it became far more bearable when they had each other. That was the case four years ago, and now we've all gone through a global pandemic and some of the darkest times in our lives. That naturally strips away any sense of pretense--seeing someone at their worst, or when they're sick or afraid. I get the feeling that Michael and David have been through all of that and where so many other relationships/marriages fell apart, their relationship is even stronger now as a result. They love and accept each other exactly as they are, and it shows.

Finally, 4) What you said about Michael not staring at David makes my heart ache and seems so true. On the season 1 press tour, he was already in love, but didn't know when they would see each other again. I'm reminded of that one interview where they both suddenly seem to realize the press tour is coming to an end, and they don't know when they'll see each other next:

vimeo

"Can we just...see each other? For no reason?"

He doesn't even have to ask that question now. Michael doesn't have to keep his eyes on David every moment because he has already memorized his whole face, the stubble on his skin, the softness of his lips. And he knows with perfect certainty that he will never be without David in his life again.

And this all fits in beautifully with the video you've mentioned, Anon #1, because they absolutely do move closer to each other in that video, and not only does it look like they did it completely unconsciously, but David seems to actually mirror Michael:

Michael is the first one to move closer, as we see above, and then right after he does, David moves closer. And again, they're not staring at each other the whole time. nor do they seem to be playing up their "personas"--Michael and David are just being themselves, and their natural inclination is to be close to each other. (Also, Michael's fucking wiggle right after he moves is killing me, because I think he only does that when he's very, very happy...)

Absolutely beautiful. I so appreciate you both sharing your thoughts with me, Anons. Thanks for writing in! xx

#anonymous #reply post #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #saying a lot by saying very little #so soft and lovely #the energy between them just crackles #so much warmth and affection #i don't know if i believe in fate but i believe in them #ineffable lovers #discourse #gif by me

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darsynia · 2 years ago

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Just Right | Ch 4

(Steve Rogers x F!Reader, post-Ultron Multichapter)

Summary:

You’ve been in love with Steve Rogers for at least a year, but he treats you the same way he treats every other member of the team– with respect, but nothing more. It takes an inter-dimensional mistake and a whole second, more assertive, actually interested Steve for you to realize that you don’t want just any version of Steve Rogers– you want the one you’ve been pining for all this time.

Length: 3,456

FIC MASTERLIST | LAST CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

Want to be tagged on this or any other Steve fic? Please ask! @ronearoundblindly @munstysmind @tiny-anne @themaradaniels @starryeyes2000 @chickensarentcheap

Excerpt:

“He’s me, ‘Dine. He’d never dream of revealing something like that. I was thinking about it-- I think the only reason he went on the mission is because it happened for them already. It’s hard to resist the comparisons.” He lifts his eyebrows to see if you want him to take your tray, and you nod.

“How is that going?” you ask carefully.

Steve immediately looks at the ceiling, then over at the window, before finally glancing your way, letting out a little sigh. “Can someone be better at being you than you are?”

You let some of how you feel about him show, since you’re practically bursting with it anyway. “No, but you can know yourself well enough to recognize that you and he are working on different things, and they don’t overlap.”

He’d been priming to stand up, but your words physically send Steve back in his chair. The look is back, the one you wish you could bottle up and overdose with, on nights when you talk with your married friends.

“I-- That really helps. Thank you.”

Chapter Four

You don’t change clothes for lunch; it’s only when you walk into the cafeteria area that you realize this could be very loosely construed as a date-- but by then it’s too late, because Steve’s seen you and he waves you over to the smaller table by the wall.

“I waited, hope you don’t mind. Natasha told me it’s very rude to set things up so that the woman is eating when the man isn’t.”

Does that make this a date? your traitorous brain pushes you to ask as the two of you make your way over to get food. You could probably phrase it in a way that gives you cover if his reaction is negative-- but you just can’t do it. Instead, you ask him about the stuff that didn’t make it into Natasha’s rather clinical report.

He talks about the secrecy the government had asked them to employ, how they’d worn sunglasses and ball caps to get to the site, their gear stowed away in backpacks.

“Tony took one look at the group of us and went back into the Quinjet. He came out wearing a leather jacket, reflective sunglasses, and a motorcycle helmet. Said we all looked like a ‘tourist group’ of undercover FBI agents!”

You laugh. “Glad he put it to good use, even if it wasn’t the one I’d intended.”

He looks down and smiles at his sandwich, shaking his head a little bit. “I should have known you were the one who put that in there.”

“Hey, stashing an extra helmet is a no brainer, pun intended! Not everyone is a super soldier, but all of you sure love your motorcycles.”

“You’ll be happy to know we avoided self-destructive behavior as much as possible, this trip. The NRC guys were very careful, only let Stark go into certain areas.”

“Well,” you say, pointing at him with a celery stick. “Based on Howard’s notes you would have been fine, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

“Howard Stark?” Steve asks, voice going quiet.

“Yeah. I mean, he was heavily involved in the serum development, and man, was he a note-taker!” Something about the look on Steve’s face hits you. “Did… did no one ever tell you about that? There are notebooks’ worth of--”

“No,” he says, posture straightening. “No one said anything.”

Now you feel guilty and indignant on his behalf, all at once. “They’re all scanned in, I bet you have access? I’m not sure anyone thought to tell you, sadly enough. Either that or they just assumed you knew.” You fumble around for your phone, but he stretches out a hand into your line of sight in that way he has, gentler than using his voice. It’s a leadership thing, the knowledge that a command to stop means something different when you’re both a friend and a team leader. You’ve always loved that about him.

“I’ll check it out. Thank you.”

You nod, offer the olive branch of a redirect back to the original conversation. “So, was Stark able to find the source of the radiation?”

“Yeah, flew it right to the disposal site. Probably saved days worth of decontamination work. Problem was, the HYDRA base-- well, you saw the report.”

“Booby traps, Tony Stark’s favorite.”

He wheeze-coughs through the sip he’d been taking. “Yeah, and his work defusing them was the lynchpin of the whole operation. He’ll be insufferable for days.”

“How will we be able to tell the difference?” It’s a joke, but after the two of you share a chuckle, Steve’s expression turns serious.

“Yeah, about that…”

“Oh, I walked right into that one.”

“Humor me? It’s been a strange experience, having a doppelganger. You seem like one of the only people who can instantly see the difference, so when you didn’t--” He breaks off and doesn’t continue.

You shrug. “It’s honestly just instinct? Or maybe I’m hypersensitive to hair length. Got to make sure that helmet fits you without slippage!”

Steve finishes off the last bite of his sandwich and regards you thoughtfully. It’s familiar (still thrilling, though), and you shove away the thoughts that everything you’ve been saying and doing here could have just as easily been done as a function of your job. You suddenly wish you could change the subject, but you know Steve. He’s wrestling with something. You suspect you’re one of the only people who see the differences between him and Gold Steve enough to help.

“He won’t say anything about what he may have gone through-- and I wouldn’t ask,” Steve says quickly. “It does feel like he’s more… maybe ‘comfortable’ is the word? It’s hard not to worry that it’s from some kind of shared trauma.”

“A shared trauma you’d avoid, if only you knew it was coming?” you guess gently.

Steve’s look of relief carries with it an undercurrent of gratitude that could very easily be tuned to the romantic. After spending hours of your life syncing yourself to his resonance, your body can’t help but respond, quickening your breathing and heating your blood.

“How is that going?” you ask carefully.

Steve immediately looks at the ceiling, then over at the window, before finally glancing your way, letting out a little sigh. “Can someone be better at being you than you are?”

“I-- That really helps. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” you say, and mean it.

When you’re finished with your work for the day, something in you just cannot stand to be indoors any longer. That doesn’t mean you’re going to go for a run or anything, but a walk among green things is a necessity. You head straight for the woods when you get outside, aiming for a particular clearing that’s a favorite, the one with a tree that angles just so, perfect for leaning against and thinking.

It had been a gamble to move into the Avengers Compound, because it cut you off in some ways from your friends in the city. Not everyone who works there lives on-site, it’s not required-- and you didn’t do it just because it’s where Steve lives. After all, he’s been looking for months for a place in Brooklyn, so he could move out at any point. He refuses to let anyone help (and you suspect that Stark actually has a place rented or bought for him and is just looking for the right way to trick Steve into living there), but you’re sure it’s only a matter of time.

The lunch today has you all twisted up in knots, even hours later. On one hand, you’re elated that he’d invited you to lunch at all, that you got his full attention for such an extended period of time-- especially in such a relaxed, no-pressure setting. On another, it was… more of the same, from him.

You let out a long, frustrated sigh. Meeting Gold Steve has made you dissatisfied with the status quo, there’s no other way to put it. Without his attentive interest, you’d have seen your lunch with your universe’s Steve Rogers as one of the most exciting events of your tenure here.

“That’s a weary sound,” a voice says. Speak of the devil…

“Haven’t they sent you back yet?” you quip, mostly kidding. You’re vulnerable and combative right now, and if you can chase Gold Steve away, you really ought to.

He walks over into your line of sight and shoulders up against a tree, one hand in his pocket. “Tony’s been in the lab since last night, or so FRIDAY says. A couple more hours and Natasha’s planning to break in to give him a care package of food and fresh coffee.”

“That’s… actually pretty encouraging.” Your back has started to hurt, but if you stand up to leave, you know he’ll offer to accompany you, and your universe’s Steve has seemed a little… protective of you, when Gold Steve is around.

That thought actually pisses you off, because the word your mind is dancing around is ‘jealousy,’ and in order for there to be jealousy, there need to be feelings. You’re pretty sure that’s not what’s going on.

“If you don’t mind my saying so, you look like you need to talk something out.”

“You’re probably simultaneously the best and the worst person to do that with right now,” you groan.

“It’s ‘other me’ related?”

You close your eyes and scrunch up your face in regret. “Pretend I didn’t say anything?”

“And squander your chance to figure him out?” Gold Steve actually makes a ‘tsk’ noise.

“You don’t really mean that,” you say with your eyes still closed. “Even if you did, there’s no figuring. There’s just me reading into things.” You suspect he’s trying to learn more about his counterpart, so you decide to chase him away with this and then maybe dig a hole to fling yourself into until he goes back home. “He’s had lunch with any number of other people, and it’s just the way you look at me that made me mix the two of you up when he was jog--”

You straighten up. If Stark’s really on the verge of a breakthrough, this might be your last chance to ask Gold Steve the thing that’s been nagging at you for weeks.

If you’re burning bridges, then you might as well light them up.

“What is with that, anyway? You know that’s how I knew, right? The way you look at me.” Most of your rational brain is in revolt, but you’re tired. If this avatar of the person you love can’t explain to you how to trigger the same reaction in your version, then you’re going to demand that he tell you what makes him different. He’s upended your neatly compartmentalized life, it’s the least he can do. And once he has, he’ll probably stop seeking you out, and you can start the process of returning to normal.

He looks guilty.

“I wasn’t going to--” Gold Steve presses his lips together. “I’m not trying to change anything,” he says, and it sounds more like he’s trying to persuade himself than you. “After I found out Bucky was alive, learned some of what he’d gone through, someone was there for me, and I fell really hard.”

His wry smile is sad, and you feel a tiny prickle of alarm. It doesn’t feel like this is going to be a happy story.

He continues, “At the time, I didn’t feel like I knew enough about this decade, this century. I needed time. And the nature of the job, you know, the world always needs saving, so I wasn’t worried. I figured I had time. And then we lost-- she was gone.”

Gold Steve stops and takes a breath. He’s not looking at you, and you don’t blame him. It seems like if he did, he might just lose the tenuous grip he has on his emotions. You can barely breathe just listening to him.

“I really regret that. I never took that chance-- and, I’d love to think we’d have made it work, that she’d have fallen for me just as hard-- but now I’ll never know. I’ll never know what it would’ve been like to wake up next to each other. To help her through the tough times, to maybe be the last loving thought on her mind, before the end.” He looks directly at you, and you can see it, the bone-deep regret, the determination to do whatever he can to prevent that kind of heartache. “Those days afterwards, they taught me you have to speak up, let people know what they mean to you. I can’t let the fear of letting someone down leave them to die alone. I told myself I had to use that horrible day to be better, to--” he lets out a tiny chuckle, like he’s reliving a bittersweet memory. “To wear my heart on my sleeve.”

“That’s beautiful,” you whisper. “I’m sorry you lost her.”

“Me too.”

Gold Steve wasn’t at dinner, but you didn’t blame him at all. You’d sat there trying to socialize with his words hanging around your heart until the burden was too heavy, and you’d excused yourself after barely eating anything. Now it’s two in the morning and you’re ravenous, and you only have yourself to blame.

You make yourself some cereal, a comfort food from your childhood, but you can’t bring yourself to eat it in the large, dark cafeteria, nor do you want to put the overhead lights on. Instead, you steal away with it to the rec room, even though it’s probably not allowed in there. If FRIDAY wants to tell on you, so be it.

It isn’t until you’re happily settling into the comfiest chair that you see you’re not alone.

“Jeez, Tony, are you okay?”

“Finally! Pay up,” he says triumphantly from his place on the couch. You swear for a solid twenty seconds; for months you’d avoided using his given name after he’d teased you for using Natasha’s first, telling him smugly that you’d rather pay him $50 than give him the satisfaction.

“I’ll pay you in the morning, but I think it’s cheating to stay up for forty some hours just for a lousy fifty bucks. I guess eccentric billionaire is as eccentric billionaire does,” you sniff. Inwardly, you’re mad that you’d forgotten Tony likes the rec room couch better than the guest beds.

“Fifty bucks and the solution to sending the Rog-elgänger back,” Tony says, adding quickly, “I think. I came in here to get a few winks and see if I still feel like a genius when I wake up.”

“And?”

“Fatal flaw,” he grins. “I don’t know what it’s like not to feel like a genius.”

“Well, run it by me, I’ll give you my honest, non-genius opinion.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to count yourself out of this equation, Brigandine. You’re a big part of how I figured it out,” Tony shocks you by saying. “Keep eating, don't let it get soggy. Okay.” He slaps a hand down on his right thigh. “Say this is our universe, and this--” Tony slaps his other hand down on his left thigh; “--is IMPOS-Steve’s universe. He’s said there’s no Avengers Compound over there, but he still walked out into the room when he showed up, right? Like there was a door in the wall?”

You’re still giggling from a minute back. “Only you would use your lap to symbolize the multiverse! But yes, it was like he’d just walked through a door.”

Tony ignores your gibe, caught up in his explanation. “That means it’s not a one-to-one transfer-- whatever chose that place in space-time, it’s not based on where he was when he left. Which is useful only up to a point, because to send him back, I have to do the same thing. With me so far?”

You nod, your mouth full.

“Not long after the attack on New York I got to thinking about how the Chitauri were able to connect from so far a distance. I mean, yeah, wormhole, but I figured there had to be more to it than that. I thought, what if there was something that was like DNA, but it was readable without having to look into a person’s cells. A molecular imprint, like your own personal resonant frequency.”

You’re completely fascinated. “The same way a big building or a bridge has a specific frequency, only unique?”

“Not at all, and yes,” Tony says. “It doesn’t really matter what it is exactly, just that it exists. The problem is figuring out how to detect it, so I went looking for Vision. The two of us did some testing--” He pauses for an extended, satisfying-looking yawn, scratches his forehead, and tries to remember where he was.

“Some testing?” you prompt.

“A lot of testing, but yes. I had set this aside way back when because there was no way to really test the theory--”

“I’m sorry, what theory? Connection over long distances?”

“Well, yes, but connection across universes, too. I mean, the worst possible nightmare, right? With the mind stone and access to every dimension, Loki might have had the largest army ever. An infinite army.”

There’s something about the expression on Tony’s face, like maybe he’d actually set this concept aside because it was the only way he could sleep. He shakes himself a little bit, sees you’re sitting there, and apparently, that’s enough to remind him of where he is in his explanation.

“Right. Faux-gers,” Tony says, grinning. Your stomach clenches in a not wholly uncomfortable way at the idea that your boss associates you with Steve enough to put him back on track like that.

“I think what you’re really lying awake doing is coming up with those,” you tease.

“You know it. Anyway, you’d think there’s no way to test it, right? You’d have to have two versions of the exact same person. Yes, exactly!” Tony says at your spark of realization. He absurdly makes two little ‘people’ out of the first and second fingers of each hand, and stands them up on his thighs, harking back to his ‘lap dimensions.’ “Vision was able to confirm it. Both Steves have the same resonance.” He sighs and lets his hands drop. “Another breakthrough I can’t win a Nobel for.”

You still feel like you’re right on the edge of understanding, and from the yawn Tony just fought through, he’s running out of coherent consciousness. “That’s great, but how does that send him back, exactly?”

“Because all I have to do is tune the thing I haven’t quite invented yet to the resonance of one of the other Avengers. That way I can feel confident I’m sending Pure Imitation Vanilla back safely, instead of in the middle of the concrete foundation for the Bezos Tower or something. And now I want cookies.”

You are taken by a yawn of your own, and Tony leans over and rescues your mostly-empty bowl before it falls off of your lap. Something he said when you first started talking is important, but you can’t remember what it is--

“I might send Nat to trick him into telling us how much farther along he is than we are,” Tony says, lifting up your spoon, making a terrible face, and setting the bowl down on the coffee table. “He tried to play it off, but there were times on that mission that he was definitely steering us away from some nasty shit.”

That confirms your similar hunch. “How far ahead do you think he is?”

“Very,” is the surprising answer. “Which brings me back to your role in all of this. Brigandine, I’m sorry to say, but I think you’re dead.”

You blink at Tony. “Dead? I figured I just wasn’t born in his--”

“Ah, but that wouldn’t work.” He pops his finger figurines back up on his lap, and you groan. “They have to match, remember?”

“Couldn’t the matching resonance thing have been Sam?” you protest. A film of unreality is forming across your skin, dusting up goosebumps and an accompanying chill.

“I don’t think so. You said he seemed pleased to see you, surprised to see the complex. What if something happened? Something bad?” Tony leans over. “Something preventable? If the resonance is tethered to a person instead of a timeframe, how do you ensure you arrive before the bad thing happened?”

“You choose someone who shouldn’t be alive,” you breathe, shaken. “But he’s been here for weeks! If something’s coming, wouldn’t he have said something by now?”

“Not if it’s a ways off. Not if he can’t go back. This is Steve Rogers, ‘Dine. His morals have morals. If we can’t send him back, he doesn’t need to say anything and change other things by accident. He just has to steer us away from the dragons at the edge of the map.”

Next chapter

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