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copperbadge · 1 year ago

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Okay but can the royal family be called to serve jury duty?

We were talking about this in comments briefly! I've been thinking about it since.

I think the discussion is predicated on the idea that Askazer-Shivadlakia even has trial by jury. France apparently only has jury trial for felony level crimes, while Italy doesn't use juries at all (they have a council of judges). Askazer-Shivadlakia has a number of cultures tugging on it, but given they speak English due to an occupation, probably they have a jury trial format of some kind. Perhaps with only five or nine jurors (Italian Judges Style) instead of twelve. In any case, let's assume they do.

Alanna and Jerry aren't elected or immediate family, they have paid staff positions -- although this made me think that Michaelis and Miranda offered Alanna the title of "princess" as a teen, because of her close relationship to them and lack of parents, although she probably didn't really need it, given her grandparents. Anyway, let's also put Jes in this category of "not royal", because they hold no official title or staff position but have a clear association. Michaelis and Noah are Royals but Michaelis is retired and Noah is appointed, so they have similar status to staff. Eddie, too, is "royal but not elected" and his main function is paid staff much like Al and Jerry. So really it's just Gregory who might legally be exempt. In the US, at least, elected officials at the federal level are. So let's presume that getting elected to king exempts you from jury service until you leave office.

Michaelis, Eddie, and Noah (once he turns eighteen) could be summoned to appear, but would immediately be disqualified from criminal cases because they're affiliated with the Crown and could be argued to have an unconscious bias. What we were discussing in comments was in part my thought that Michaelis, who became king (and thus disqualified) very young and ruled most of his life, would be rather excited for a novel civil service experience, and disappointed when he was dismissed.

I think pretty much any of the royal family except Gregory would be qualified to serve, and allowed to in a civil case (Jerry, Alanna, and Jes would also be fine in a criminal case). Jerry and Al are famous-ish as the local nobility, Jes is a famous journalist, and Michaelis, Noah, and Eddie are royals, but I did a bit of research and I guess celebrities aren't given any kind of special exemption usually. And it's canonical that the Shivadh find celebrities amusing at best, so I doubt their presence on a jury would even be particularly disruptive. So yeah, I could see the royal family serving jury duty.

But my brain is a bit sidelong, so while it would be entertaining to write that story, I was thinking more about...hearings, court protocols, the hierarchical structure of the courtroom, and the weird way in which everyone in a court is pushed into a very specific role. I'll probably write more about that in a general sense later, but where it took me was the idea that Gregory, as a king who has a parliament he has to obey but also certain specific unilateral power, might hold something like a quarterly "King's Boon" session ala the Big Block Of Cheese Day from the West Wing.

Some period of time, every few months, he basically holds open office and meets with people who are struggling to get heard in other ways -- people who want to suggest new laws, or want state funding for something, or need help untangling some bureaucratic issue. One person might have an idea for a law but not the legal training to write it up; Gregory might put them in touch with Palace legal, who can help them draft it for presentation to Parliament. Someone else might be having trouble with some kind of bank issue, Gregory can call up the bank and be like "Hey I'm the king and I'm here with one of your clients, let's get this solved before I audit you." When the recording studio collapses at the start of Infinite Jes and Michaelis says "I'm going to have a word with the government about building inspections", if he wasn't the former king he might take that kind of issue to the King's Boon. Two ordinary people who are arguing about some issue but don't want to take it to the courts might ask Gregory to decide the matter for them. Could be who owns the tree in their mutual front yard, could be some kind of philosophical argument they've got a bet about and they're willing to let Gregory rule on it (this is also very Talmudic, the idea of finding a Sage to figure your shit out for you).

And the nice thing is, much like in the West Wing, this is something Royals and palace staff would participate in -- so when Michaelis was king, he and Miranda would both participate (as would Eitan, as Well Connected Nobility); eventually Gregory as prince and then crown prince would participate as part of his training. It's basically "you, too, have a friend in high places" week in the Palace.

So you've got, say, King's Boon Week, where you get a number, show up on your appointed day, and hang out in the ballroom, which has been converted to a waiting room with nice chairs and snacks (presumably people who can't make it in person can get a Zoom call set up). You wait to be called, and you might meet with Gregory, but you also might meet with Eddie, Michaelis, Alanna, or Jerry. Noah would also participate but for a few years he'd be sitting in with Michaelis as training. Eddie would sit in with Gregory for a year or so after officially becoming King Consort, until he had a more thorough grasp of things. I have a feeling Jes would spend the time circulating and interviewing people for a quarterly podcast. :D

That just seems like a cool thing that is possible to achieve given the size and informality of the country, and would make I think potentially a more interesting story.

I mean. Just imagine. You're having trouble getting the permits all in order for the nightclub you want to open, and you're hoping to get Lady Alanna because you know she's got every bureaucratic "in" it's possible to have. But you groan a bit because you draw Duke Gerald, who...sure he's nice, but you've heard he's a daft scatterbrain. But then you meet with him and he goes through your business plan and is like "This is really solid. Let me make a call," and while you're gaping at him he calls a friend in Legal, gets your paperwork in order, phones a guy he knows who has a vacant building that you can lease on the cheap for the first year or two, and then looks you dead in the eye and says, "Do you need investors? I'd take a thirty percent stake in this," and you wander back into the waiting room, dazed, to inform your business partner that you've struck a deal for each of you to sell 15% of the nightclub to His Grace the Duke of Shivadlakia.

Now THAT'S a fun story. :D

(Eddie is like "Just herd anyone who wants to open a restaurant into my office," and the quality of the food in Fons-Askaz, already pretty good, shoots up a notch that year.)

#shivadhverse

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fromtenthousandfeet · 2 months ago

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https://x.com/97901_sue/status/1837382052729311473?t=AkNYU_IdWzar_rrDeie5Ew&s=19

Idk if he's achieved the money they were hoping his album would bring but he definitely got more fans than any other members. The songs that were chosen were of general public taste more than any other members'. Of course we know the Maknae line is already more Famous than others but he definitely gained a lot more fans like at least they succeeded in this. There's always some idols or other celebrities mentioning his songs and it's not just seven or not they do mention the b-sides as well. One thing i can say is that if currently there's one idol who's most popular then that's definitely him in general not talking about specific parts. The songs from Golden are known. I know the company pushing him helped A LOT but it's still about his vocal ability that i think attracts more ppl plus the choreo for those songs were also something that gp would love not too complicated not too easy. He Especially gained a lot more in sk cause so many idols mention him.

And i really hope someone won't say that I'm a jjk in disguise cause I'm not. Just saying what i saw. Would have said the same if it was any other member instead of him.

I'm really not convinced Jungkook picked up a ton of fans due to SEVEN or his album. Don't confuse successful marketing with actual committed fans.

Marketing exists for a reason - because it works! HYBE spent an INSANE amount of money marketing SEVEN, and Golden to a lesser extent. SEVEN was basically unavoidable if you were on TikTok. And if you weren't on that platform, you got hit by auto play on Spotify, or forced ads on YouTube. Hearing something enough times makes it familiar. Recognizing a song is kind of comforting. You may sing along even if you don't really love the song.

I get so many asks about Jungkook. Why me??? Stop, I beg you!

Here are my honest opinions about JK:

He's overhyped. At the end of the day, he's just a typical Gen Z dude in an extraordinary situation.

The songs I've heard from Golden sound dated and dull.

His voice is nothing special. I don't care how much training he's had. It's nasal and devoid of emotion. He sounds better when he sings in his lower register, but that doesn't work well in pop music, where almost all the male singers are tenors. His falsetto is unlistenable.

He's a mockingbird. He can mimic famous singers, but he himself has no signature sound or artistic point of view.

I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift. I don't hate her, but I don't actively search out her music. I'm fine listening to her songs when I hear them in public or on the radio. I think it's great that she's so successful. I'm totally fine with her enormous fandom. This is where I'm trying to get with Jungkook. It would be easy to feel indifferent to him and his potential success if all members of BTS were given equal treatment by the company. I would simply say, "congratulations on your success as a solo artist and good luck in your future endeavors." The problem, of course, is the fact that BigHit/HYBE openly sabotages Jimin, copies Jimin, and gives him the bare minimum of tools for success. They aren't really doing any favors for the remaining five members, either.

Jimin has something Jungkook doesn't have, and that's the most dedicated global fandom imaginable. It's an organized fandom who keep him on the charts despite the odds. Jungkook just has lots of tools, including basic pop songs specifically written for a western audience, infinite versions, covers, and remixes, and an unfathomable marketing budget, all of which almost guarantee his success. You just can't compare the two.

Yikes. I'm long winded as usual, but here's what I'd like to end with. I hope Jimin will continue to write his own music. I hope he will continue to dazzle us with his own style of dance, incorporating contemporary and street style. I hope he pushes boundaries. Jungkook can have the huge global pop star title. I am in no way obligated to consume his music or content. Equally, I won't mind if others do.

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heartstopperlarrie · 10 months ago

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Idk how much this will help if at all but I’d like to make a @niallermybabe appreciation post. If you see this and you’re one of Bella’s mooties, please feel free to rb and add all the things she’s done for you and how she’s made your life better.

When I first re-joined this app back in November I was convinced nobody would care and I’d abandon the blog after maybe a couple weeks. Then I had @cc-horan28 reach out to me (love you lots my og mootie) and one of the first things she told me to do was to message Bells. I put it off for weeks cause I felt awkward reaching out without really anything to say. When I eventually did message her she IMMEDIATELY welcomed me with so much love and excitement and I instantly felt that she is such a special person. So incredibly inclusive, so supportive, so lovely, just overall a 10/10 human.

One of the first things that come to mind when I think of Bells and how she has made my life infinitely better was the day we lost our German Shepherd Nim. She literally flooded my inbox with asks filled with the most random questions; asking me to come up with nicknames for certain names, playing this or that, just silly things to take my mind off of the loss. She was then messaging me afterwards making sure I’m okay, sending me hugs. Just sweet little Bella things.

I remember a time when she accidentally called me “sis” instead of “sib” (cause I’m enby and whatnot) and her sweet little soul got herself so wound up thinking I was angry with her over it. She was so upset by the thought of hurting me, I honestly thought she couldn’t get any sweeter but she did just with how much she cares about these small things. The way she gets so excited whenever I tell her I’m proud of her is just the most wholesome thing ever. Anytime I’m excited with her about something she gets herself MORE excited and I love it so much. The way she would do anything for me and every single one of her mooties, I have no words to describe how incredible she is.

I work with dogs, and istg every other female dog is named Bella. It used to really annoy me cause it’s just such an overused dog name here. Now every time I hear the name I can’t help but smile because it reminds me of my little Bella Bean.

Every time I message her she’s so excited to hear from me. Every time we interact I get so excited. Every time I see her name pop up I smile.

So Bells, if you see this. Please understand how much light and positivity you have added to my life. Please know that every time I think of you I do it with a smile on my face. I may have only gotten to know you a couple months ago but you made that short time feel like forever. A world without you in it would just be so wrong, and I don’t ever want to experience that. All of these small things that you have done/continue to do for me make my life better. Every single one. You could message me the word “coconut” with absolutely no context and it would make my day. I don’t care what you say, as long as I get to talk to you as much as time zones and responsibilities allow. Because you are worth so much. So so so damn much.

Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone else’s inability to see your worth.

I love you so much sweets. You’re my lil bella bean, yeah? ❤️

#bells💕#ilysm <3 #mooties do your thing and show her how much we love her

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ahundredtimesover · 7 months ago

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Chapter 11 was such a roller coaster ride I loved it!

Mr.Ri☹️☹️ after hearing him explain his backstory as well and how he feels infinitely indebted to the family, but also lost someone who he truly loved?? I know he’s just a supporting character, but I can’t hope to wish that we get to see a win for him in the end as well🥲 I can’t imagine spending basically your whole life dedicated to one family without having the chance to even have your own or experience who you are without them. I’m hoping JK and Hobi picked up on this while he explained the story of oc to JK and they use their great executive power to give Mr. Ri a vacation or even an end to his “debt” because he doesn’t deserve to live working till the very end💔 and I hope he finds someone, whether a friend or partner that makes life more enjoyable for him because🥲

Sorry I’m very soft Mr. Ri right now🤭

I loved seeing their relationship grow and I was right w my theory (that their relationship wouldn’t happen while she was his assistant) but I’m sad this miscommunication happened, but I know it’s better for them. I’d rather they wait till they have their own problems sorted out before trying to start a relationship where they end up resenting each other (especially reader, if she stayed for JK). I think JK has a lot that needs to be done emotionally, especially with his family dynamics before he could pursue a relationship (not saying everything needs to be fixed before that), but he obviously has issues that could “mess up” their relationship and I’d hate to see that cause a problem between them

And it’s so crazy how I was so excited for when we’d finally get some🥵🥵 but all I could do is feel sad because yes, what jk asked of her was selfish(I know he didn’t realize at the time), I couldn’t help but feel for how lonely he truly is. He has all these people around him ofc, but even in the beginning w his first uncomfortableness with getting a new assistant, it takes a lot for him to trust someone and I think him realizing that he might “lose” someone he just let in really scared him

I still think he asked at the wrong time! I know he didn’t realize her relationship w his family at the time, but I don’t think he had malicious intent with his plea, he just bared his heart and was trying to get everything off his chest WAY TOO early!

But reader🥲, I’m so happy she’s leaving! (Bad terms w jk, but I have faith he’ll grow up and find her when the time is right) she’s finally going to be doing something for herself and hearing how she’s basically lived her life thinking she HAD to repay the jeons for their kindness and just became a secretary for her adult life… nothing wrong with a secretary but you can tell she has dreams and aspirations, but the strong need to repay them back overtook that. I hope she uses this newfound freedom to explore her options and really choose something she’s happy in, she deserves that more than anyone, I’m so happy for her I can’t even explain it☺️

Jk and reader also have such noticeable holes in them (ofc I know this because I’m able to read their inner thoughts), but I hope they get filled🥲, yes a romantic connection is one of them, but it goes deeper than that. They both have traumas and issues they don’t talk about and I hope they are able to grow as people and with each other (in the future) because they’ve shown so much compassion towards others.

Sorry for rambling so much, but I really love the world building Mimi, I think there’s some other point I might be forgetting but thanks for sharing this story with us, it’s true one of my favs

ANON IM SORRY THIS IS SO LATE. 😩😩 Pls forgive me, especially given the thoughtfulness of this message. I appreciate u so much thank you thank you for sharing all this! 💕

Ok so first - yes, Mr. Ri is such a special character. I wanted to write someone who has this kind of backstory, bc I know it happens that people commit themselves to a company and a family like this. I wouldn't say he's "doomed" to live this way, although I envision him to be with them all his life, looking after the family bc he's a very trusted man. He technically has a 24/7 job, but it doesn't mean it's all he does. It may not be stated but CEO Jeon gives Mr Ri lots of time-off, he's paid well, he travels, etc. It's just that he chooses this, bc it's all he's known and he'd rather fulfil his purpose this way than anywhere else.

As for your theory, correct! I never planned on OC and JK being romantically involved while OC is employed. That just means more drama and yes, miscommunication and lots of insecurities and fears. They have their burdens to carry and deal with, but we'll know of their respective thought processes on how they make sense of that baggage and how to move forward. I like that you touched on JK's family dynamic bc that's an important part of the aftermath. 😊

Echoing what you said about JK being truly lonely. He feels a lot of discomfort sharing parts of him to others; we saw that at the beginning. And now he's losing her, and that's such a big loss for him bc he doesn't do this, he doesn't open up and allow himself to feel. But it's the same with OC. They have so much going on internally and emotionally and it's about figuring how to deal with them and if they think they should do it on their own (again) or not. We do want to see them happy and it'll come! 😉

Pls, never say sorry. I enjoyed reading this. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! Sending you love, anon! 🫶🏼🫶🏼 Sorry again for replying so late.

#mimianswers #fic: iwyts

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jemmo · 2 years ago

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i don’t know how else to describe eternal yesterday, and the profound affect watching it has had on me, other than it’s the most quietly heart-breaking show I’ve possibly ever seen. It presents its subject matter so simply and plainly in a way that makes it feel huge, overwhelmingly huge, painfully huge. It’s premise is not for supernatural drama, it isn’t played up, not laughed at or exaggerated or used to give things more unnecessary emotional weight, it simply gives physicality to the real experience of letting someone go, to having to let someone go, to having to let go, and the indescribable pain of it that you can’t truly know until you’ve experienced it. It’s a glimpse into this short period of time, less than a week, that is so private to them, and is so concentrated with emotion, that truly does feel like time stopped, holding on, the fear of the moment passing, so instead the pain of it is just dragged out. You think of course they should do this, fight for every last second they can have together, but then you come to realise this life after death, this impossible extension, its a curse just as much as it is a miracle. We always wish we could know when we are going to lose someone so we can take that chance to say goodbye, but is that easier or harder? how do we wrestle with the pain of holding on but the pain of letting go? its a situation we cannot win, its simply a situation that has to happen, and we have to let time tick on.

there’s so many moments i want to bring attention to in this series but i’ll hold back and just talk on the 4 that feel the most special to me. first, a personal one, because in so many ways oumi reminds me of myself, and never has that been more true than the line “honestly, i feel comfortable when i’m alone. and i hate myself for being comfortable”. i cant think of another character that has embodied this anxiety i have in myself so much, and so simply, this ridiculous contradiction of being so at peace in your own company and despising that peace sometimes, wishing it wasn’t so peaceful, so maybe you wouldn’t be alone, maybe you’d do something, go out there, find people and things to do, and yet all that time maybe you’d be thinking “i’d like it so much better now if i was at home by myself”. its kind of ridiculous, and maybe people like us do need a koichi to be the company in our lonely peace, but yeah... i just have never felt so seen by a show before.

secondly, that final conversation oumi has with his father, because this whole time the situation feels so insular. even though other people know, and other people love koichi, and koichi loves other people, this is about oumi and koichi, and no one can truly understand the immensity of what those two are feeling in that moment. its like i said, you cant understand it unless you’re in it, unless you’ve experienced it. and yet, at the end, this minorly present, distant father comes in and says “what you’re going through, i went through that too”. and its the kind of conversation that doesn’t happen because they’ve both experienced this supernatural phenomenon of a love one existing after death, it happens because they’ve both lost people they’ve loved, and that something thats universal, and the people watching don’t need to have experienced anything supernatural to empathise with that. its when the audience truly realise that this story might be insular to them, but the story has also been told infinite times by countless people, and such the emotion of it is both theirs and everyones.

third, i think my heart actually crumbled to pieces when koichi said someone could have 2 number 1s. its his phrase, he loves mitchan the most, mitchan is his number 1. and its only given more weight when oumi says it back, and even more so when we hear his ending lines, about always wanting to be number 1 to someone, and that someone being his number 1 too, and how much of a miracle that is. for that same person, knowing he has to leave that person he loves the most, to say you can have 2 number 1s, saying to oumi its ok, you can move on, in the future you can have people that are precious to you, thats so fucking beautiful, and is an act of such love i cant even put it into words. you can feel so guilty sometimes for moving on from a loved one, for even feeling like you’re replacing them, so that gesture, that permission, that almost request, to not lose happiness and love because you’re losing them, to let yourself be happy again, because thats the biggest gift you could give to those you lose, thats just beautiful.

and finally, the moments in episode 6 where koichi is starting to disappear, and when people start to walk into rooms and not see him, i don’t think i’ve ever seen such a good metaphor for what its like to have a same-sex partner and for them to never truly be seen as your partner. because when that nurse walked in and was just talking to oumi, like koichi wasn’t there and yet he was, and oumi got so mad because thats the most important person in his life how dare you not see him, how dare you ignore him. i think it was him saying ignore that connected it for me, because thats what its like when you walk in with a same sex partner and you’re not recognised or seen as a couple. I thought to myself if this nurse walked in and oumi was sat with a girl, how he’d instantly be asked if its his girlfriend, but no he’s sat with a boy so you dont even bother asking, either because you dont think to or dont want to. we get flashes of it throughout the show with people not knowing about their relationship or the relationship between the teachers, how the gay is hidden. and with koichi gone but not gone, he’s like a ghost in oumi’s world, and i feel like that’s what it can feel like sometimes, walking around with someone you feel like no one else can see when theyre all you can see. theyre there but no one draws attention to them, no one wants to acknowledge them or it, the relationship, the ghost in the room, to the point you want to scream they do exist, how dare you think they dont. and when oumi gets angry on koichi’s behalf, thats what happens, thats what it can sometimes feel like experiencing homophobia. its horrid and angering and you want to scream because how dare they do that to the most important person in the world but theyre at peace with it. koichi has accepted his fate much like someone learns to accept hate and harrasment, they become at peace with it. and you can get angry all you like but that doesn’t change anything, that doesnt stop it from happening, thats what it feels like. you get that when you lose someone, you get angry when other people have moved on when you cant, you wont, you dont want to, you think why dont people care anymore, how can they be so unfair and unkind and unfeeling, which is why its shocking that themes of loss can mirror these queer experiences, where a partner can feel invisible to everyone even when their heart is beating. thats why i think this blending of actual loss and actual invisibility with queerness being hidden and unseen is just heart-breaking genius.

this show is heavy, and has honestly brought out in me one of the most condensed visceral reactions to media ive ever had. i feel sad, i feel drained, i feel broken. ive cried so much, and my sadness is physical, my heart hurts, it feels heavy. and yet... i do feel at peace. i feel at peace with this sadness because its something you have to learn to do in life. these experiences are inevitable and ive always tried to avoid these heavier shows, things i know will hurt and make me sad and feel things, where there isn’t a core of happiness, a good ending to keep you together. but sometimes it has to be embraced to see the beauty in it, because as koichi said, despite what happens, despite the tragedy and sadness and loss, at the core of the story if two people meeting and falling in love, and how that simple, human connection, that we all have, is a miracle, so treasure it.

#jemmo sad hours #im literally writing this through tears #i just needed to rant otherwise the sadness would eat me up and id become a ball of depression for a week #this show is just stunning #and such incredible performances by the leads #that scene in the last ep of them holding each other and koichi sobbing #honestly ive never seen anything so intimate and touching and heartbreaking that was just phenomenal #im so grateful for this show and its message and the love and care everyone involved put into it #these plots can so often be overdone or cliche or sad just for sadness sake #but this felt simple and pure and raw in a way that trusted the story and characters and performers to covey the emotional weight with #understated sincerity and i adore that #nothing extra nothing unnecessary just how it feels to be in love and lose that person #they know they dont have to overplay that #they know if its acted and put together and produced well that it will say everything it needs to #im in love #and ill never rewatch this show again bc i cant take the heartbreak but ill treasure it forever #eternal yesterday #made by jemmo

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birlwrites · 1 year ago

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what's wizarding music like in the ttdl universe? i've almost always got music on in the background and especially when i'm studying, but all of your characters are just. they're just sitting there studying and doing homework in silence! that would drive me insane!! so i was wondering what wizarding music is like, how available (? accessable? idk) it is in day-to-day life, and if you know, what are the 5th year slytherins' musical preferences? :)

anon you have hit on something that i think about a LOT and still don't have a totally developed 100% this-is-ttdl-canon answer for, so you're going to get a ramble!! and also INFORMATION ABOUT JOHN DOWLAND

(note from the birl who has completed her ramble - actually, less about john dowland than i anticipated, because i had Restraint because there was too much other stuff to talk about. i also haven't really read anything about dowland in like 2 months so WHAT IF MY INFORMATION ABOUT SOMEONE WHO DIED IN 1626 IS OUTDATED)

i generally think of wizarding technology as being behind muggle technology, for the obvious reason that it is. in the 1990s, they've got radio, but they don't have telephones, television, CD players, or computers

some of this is explained by the 'magic and electricity don't mix!!' principle but i'm a little suspicious of this principle bc... well, because i am afjslkghsjkdf. mostly because of 'how do the radios work then'

so imo the REAL reason wizarding technology is behind is because of, as with many things, Blood Purity Mentality. they're not really inspired to figure out how to adopt these things

so, where are they at in the 1970s? there's still radio - it operates on a ~magical frequency~ that manages to get down into the dungeons of hogwarts, so go magic. i think they have gramophones and even vinyl (just in time for muggles to figure out cassette tapes ajfslkghkjldsf), but a certain class of pureblood will sometimes sneer at vinyl for being Too Muggle.

if we think of wizarding culture as being, say, 15-20 years behind, then vinyl's been around for about 10-15 years, so it's been adopted pretty successfully in wizarding culture, but it's viewed as inferior to live performance (create an idea of scarcity and exclusivity!!!!)

like, with things like pensieves and enchanted art, the idea of recording a song so you can play it again without needing to go to a concert where they happen to play it is less special. can you afford a reasonably-sized enchanted oil painting of a string quartet? if you commission one with a list of your favorite pieces etched into the back of the canvas so it's guaranteed that they'll know the pieces you want to hear, you're good to go, no record player needed

so record players definitely aren't ubiquitous, and they tend to be a little unwieldy, so the only people who are going to be lugging those to hogwarts are people who really care about being able to listen to Specific Music. radios are more common. (people also generally aren't lugging oil paintings of musicians to hogwarts ajfskhgskf - wealthy students interested in music might have a miniature- to medium-sized painting with one to three musicians and up to 8 pieces on their 'setlist')

the rosiers have like. over a dozen small portraits of john dowland with his lute the dream and OH MY GOD i don't have room to talk about this on this post this post is already long and hhhhhhhh ANYWAY. if your family ever acted as patrons for a musician, you've probably got at least a couple of paintings of them lying around

but live music is still definitely viewed as Elite. ghost ensembles are popular to hire for events - they have basically infinite time to practice and learn new pieces, and they really don't ask for much in return beyond an audience and applause. live music performed by live people is Especially elite, bc exclusivity mindset

lucinda grew up listening to popular music on the radio and she got maeve into pop with her - there's definitely a radio in the girls' room, i just can't decide which of the two of them it belongs to ajfslkghlksjdf. charlotte will start pulling her hair out if people are playing music while she's trying to think, so they have a lot of Quiet Hours, but charlotte does a lot of her homework in the library anyway so it's not a huge restriction. emma will beg and plead and bribe people with candy to listen to as many quidditch matches as she can possibly manage - lucinda's usually down to listen to pro matches, but sometimes she'll go 'emma i have literally never heard of those teams' and emma goes 'THEY'RE THE FARM TEAMS FOR THE BRITISH LEAGUE' and that's usually when the bribery starts happening, because lucinda likes quidditch but she doesn't like it That much

(maeve gracefully avoids being dragged into those discussions. she's down for whatever :) which means she does not actually want to listen to an exhibition match between farm teams but emma does so)

evan's got a radio stuffed into his wardrobe somewhere - he usually listens to quidditch matches in the girls' room with emma and other than that he doesn't really care ajfslghsjdkf

barty's family has a ton of records thanks to his mom, spanning a wIDE range of genres - he doesn't really bring any of that with him to school (his trunk is already full of books and, you know, unimportant things like his uniform) but he knows a surprising amount about random things here and there. lots of information from liner notes his mom read aloud. he's a mars the bringer of war basic bitch but i forgive him because it is a banger and aren't we all, and also mars the bringer of war is significantly less basic in wizarding culture because it's a Muggle Composition

and regulus fjslghslkdghjsljk. regulus LOVES his peace and quiet. there's a reason he used to do almost all of his work in their dorm room and only moved out into the common room to be Seen. like charlotte, he would lose his mind a little if he was trying to listen to music and do work at the same time - he'd have to block the music out. no radios or enchanted oil paintings for him

so for regulus, listening to music is an Activity all by itself. he's been to a handful of (classical) concerts, and heard plenty of live music at the more salon-y high society gatherings, but his education in pop music (or other genres of commercial music) is,,,, sub-minimal ajglshkgjsldf. (evan's not much better tbh - lots of those salons are In His House, he's just as immersed in art music as regulus is, except for when he happens to be in the girls' room when they're not listening to quidditch)

i haven't put much thought into the development of magical instruments or techniques, because tbqh i am a singer and things like the mechanics of instruments often totally fail to enter my mind as a thing that should be thought about - now i'm having thoughts about dark arts applied to vocal abilities to build quite literally superhuman voices

but i think that one of the reasons that regulus doesn't listen to a lot of music is because it affects him too much. that boy is repressing so much shit and if he listens to too much beethoven or tchaikovsky or dowland or god forbid a REQUIEM MASS (other than like. fauré's) it's all going to come out

#atfhv worldbuilding #dark lord wip #should i make an inbox tag

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hiso03 · 11 months ago

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ok but hear me out but hal's song that suits him is self inflicted achromatic (english ver)

I've been thinking about it and I've been pausing to analyse the feeling and I just want to say that my God, it's literally his song.

I mean, the song perfectly understands what it feels like to have depression and it just hurt me that every word I thought more strongly about Hal.

At the beginning when he mentions "I wanna be someone like you", it could literally be anyone he knows, because Hal always thinks that anyone is cooler than him, that anything is better than him. So when he talks about how he thinks he can do it, but questions whether that would be the real him; I could interpret it as an internal fear. He wants to change because he feels that it's not right to be the way he is, that maybe if he's like someone else people will like him more or maybe they won't hate him; but he's afraid to change, because maybe that change means losing himself, however much or little Hal Jordan means. And that's when thoughts of suicide and self-hatred start to creep into his head.

He thinks about how it's better not to be there, what the world would be like without him, and oddly to his mind it doesn't sound like a bad thing. Because no one cares about Hal Jordan, no one wants Hal… He has no one, even though he tries to convince himself that there is someone. Deep down, he feels terribly lonely. Then he thinks about the world, about the universe, about his home, and he realizes how terribly disgusting and unfair everything around him is, and he thinks about what a world without pain would be like, without people feeling as miserable and unhappy as he feels; but he knows that all that is impossible and nothing more than a silly dream that he mocks himself, but that he longs to believe in just like the rest of the dreams he has while he's awake.

When he thinks and wanders into a world where he could feel happy, loved and free without the need to prove himself, without the need for the whole world to see him and approve of him in order for him to feel fulfilled. And these thoughts instead of helping him depress him, because there are days when he wakes up believing that lie that he created for himself. Sometimes being unable to differentiate if what he lived was really real or if it was an invention of his mind and that makes him feel terribly worse and he falls into an infinite circle where each thought is even worse than the previous one and the world begins to lose the brightness it once saw.

And then, the ending, the fucking ending seriously kills me. Because I can only think of one thing.

When Barry comes back to life.

Everyone has always thought that if a certain person would be back everything would be easier and Hal certainly thinks so too, so when Hal revives and Barry comes back too he can't help but feel a little bit loved, even though he probably feels he doesn't deserve it because of everything that happened back with Parallax, but when he sees Barry smile at him like that and believe in him, he can't help but feel that maybe there is something worth staying for and putting up with all the hell. He might finally have the support he's longed for and been deprived of. He might finally have a special someone to talk to who doesn't need to say much, if anything, to bring a sincere smile that Hal hasn't seen for years.

#hal jordan #barry allen #dc comics #green lantern #parallax #sorry for being depressing #again #halbarry #Because if I can't seem to live for two seconds without making a Hal post and my brain ends up getting Barry in there somehow #sorry not sorry #Much of the text is written from my personal experience with the disease #sorry if it doesn't feel as similar to Hal's.#depression #Unpleasant thoughts #Sorry if there are mistakes #it's at night and I don't usually see well at night #but I love writing fanfics #headcanon and anything at night

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chaotic-theatrical-weaver · 2 years ago

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I just saw the opening night of my school’s production of Lost Girl...

boy, was that an emotional rollercoaster or what?! It went off so flawlessly!

My theater kid friend from Spanish class was playing the therapist and she was so amazing. The actress playing the doctor did her job of making me frustrated with how unhelpful she was to Wendy. The Lost Boys had such impeccable comedic timing (special mention of the scene where one kissed another on the head when Wendy tells them about how she wants Peter to give her one special kiss back).

Wendy herself?! OH MY GOSH. The actress playing her and the trio of A, B, and C voicing her thoughts in a choruslike manner?! SO PERFECT. Her body language conveyed her apprehension and numbness. I sat there psychoanalyzing Wendy and came up with ideas on her codependency, insecure attachment style (had a hard time pinning that one down because she seems both dismissive-avoidant and anxious, so then I just decided on fearful-avoidant instead), depression with anhedonia, and depersonalization-derealization disorder (the way the lighting would switch and she would detach while someone was asking her if she could hear? The way she would sometimes answer questions with less concrete, more hazy replies?! Yes, yes, and surprisingly when I asked the actresses about whether they did deep dives or not, they said no because they were operating with only a vague knowledge and were more infusing their own anxieties about growing up. I admire them for their resistance of the urge to overanalyze--they were playing raw emotion and not something some textbook told them to be. I could never do that).

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE WINDOW AND CLOSURE. WENDY WON’T CLOSE THE WINDOW BECAUSE SHE IS STILL WAITING FOR PETER TO COME BACK! SHE’S LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY COLD AND LACKING IN CLOSURE!!! THE PLAY ENDS WITH HER FINALLY SHUTTING IT AFTER TALKING TO PETER AND REALIZING HE’S GROWN UP, BUT NOT MATURED. HE’S NOT THE SAME AS THE PERSON SHE IDEALIZED, AND SHE MAKES HER PEACE WITH THAT. THIS IS SO REMINISCENT OF SAMANTHA TURNING THE KEY AT THE END OF THE MAD ONES.

Apparently the actresses playing Wendy, A, B, and C had my theology teacher a few years ago (I asked), so Wendy saying she tries to remember what exactly led up to her happiness so she can replicate it and have that exact feeling again reminds me of what that theology teacher said about every human being wanting complete and perfect happiness and wanting more because we were made for God, who is infinite. (Now that I think of it more, it also sounds a bit like that part of The Screwtape Letters where Screwtape says that gluttony is traditionally envisioned as one who is insatiable in the sense of wanting more, but it’s also one who is insatiable in the sense of wanting something overly specific and being all picky about it.) I offered to share with them my upcoming web weave on growing up and they actually want it. It was inspired by my literature teacher’s thoughts on the coming-of-age novel...speaking of her, I hope she goes to see it. I’ll see her again on Tuesday and tell her everything I can.

I need to sleep now, so I’m just throwing out my thoughts. Good night!

#lost girl #kimberly belflower #ellie talks psych

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tempenensis · 3 years ago

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Jujutsu Kaisen: Abyss of Math Course - part 1

The title already makes me shiver in fear.

This is the lesson-slash-interview with math professor that Takano-san (T-san) did. Hino-san (H-san) was actually his academic advisor when T-san was in university, while Sonoda-san (S-san) was his senior. This interview will be divided into four parts.

Jujutsu Kaisen have a lot maths?

T: Actually the two of you had checked the formula and wording during Jujutsu Kaisen vol. 14 and 15. Thank you for that!

H: No, no, that’s all because my daughter and son are big fans of Jujutsu Kaisen.

S: Me too. Thanks for letting me read it. It’s very interesting.

T: In Jujutsu Kaisen, “how do they fight under established constraint” is one of the fun of the battle. And due of it, math is considered. Then a question arised, “Akutami-sensei won’t actually explain the math of all jutsushiki, right?”, so I, Grade-2 master of Math, could not compete. This is the reason I thought to call the two of you, Special-grade masters of Math, to give an explanation.

H: I don’t think I can do such huge things (laugh). For example, Todo clapping his hands to swap places, and Awasaka’s ‘Abekobe’ are math, right?

S: Seems like you can express ‘Abekobe’ if you can use logarithm or negative function of differential well (Board 1).

H: As Awasaka said, if “the damage given” is input x and “the damage received” is output y, the larger the x is, then y becomes smaller. In reverse, the smaller the x is, the value of y becomes larger. However, by that definition, the rule is can only be applied in the specific domain. He is someone who has technique with such formula.

T: Actually, when they use cursed technique, you think the users have mathematical equations inside their mind, right?

S: Actually, our work involves modelling, so thinking about the math of a phenomenon is very fun

T: I’m glad you said so! In these 8 pages, we’ll talk a lot with Gojo Satoru in the center!

Board 1: In the specific domain (=the number range of input), monotone decrease function is applied, Awasaka's ability can be turned into a math formula!

Awasaka was the opponent who fought Itadori and Fushiguro. By using his "Abekobe" ability, the damage of strong attack becomes small, caused the two of them to struggle. After they saw through him that weak attack becomes huge damage, he lost to Itadori.

cont'd under the cut.

Complete consideration of Limitless cursed technique: Red, Blue

T: Well then, in the volume 15, I had considered that limitless cursed technique is something like the action of scaling, but I regretted that it might have more serious math. The image that Akutami-sensei hold is like the problem of “Achilles and the Turtle”. But I couldn’t write properly about the number sequence. The two of you have always been more knowledgeable on math than me.

S: In the first place, the techniques that Gojo usually use are three, right?

H: Yes, Cursed technique lapse, “Blue” and Cursed technique reversal, “Red”, and void formula “Purple”. First, let’s try to write the definition and assumption clearly. Describing it first is important after all. I drew it on the table (Board 2).

T: Limitless cursed technique is a cursed technique that uses infinity.

H: That is the engine, right?

S: By using that, “Blue” can attract, “Red” can repel, while “Purple” is the mix of two. Hearing only the words make them seem like a riddle.

H: Isn’t using this description already make sense? This seems like a job for researcher (laugh)

Limitless Cursed technique

He can make infinity in the space between him and his enemy, so the enemy who approaches him feels like they get further. As such, he does not let them touch him.

Approaching near becomes further away = they are stopped.

By applying this he is able to exert the power to attract, which is cursed technique lapse "Blue"

Furthermore, reversing the operation resulting in cursed technique reversal "Red".

Mixing the two resulted in void formula "Purple"

T: Akutami-sensei hold the idea of Achilles and the turtle. The time sequence is counted as infinity so they will never arrive.

H: This assumption is that, if you apply the process to reach, it has no end. Because time is a continuous thing, you can fit it into the frame of infinity, and if you apply that, there’s no end to it.

T: That’s right. If seen from 0.1 second window, one second has 10 frames. If seen from 0.01 second window, 100 frames. But in this case of 0.00000…01 second, if you add more 0 in between, you can increase the number of frames.

S: This, something approaching make it into convergent sequence, so there’s a point after all, to slow them down is the key, right? Saying it simply, if the convergence of convergent sequence can be slowed down, the convergent series of the situation is sorted, right? If you have a different sort of line…then you will get such formula (Board 2). The operation done using this sorting is “Blue”. In this sorting, extreme distance beyond N becomes larger than ɛ.

H: I see. So, it’s “Riemann series theorem”. If the subject (the person who receives jutsushiki) considers to converge the technique, it doesn’t look like convergent series (laugh).

S: Gojo is unpleasant guy (laugh)

T: Is that really a bad guy…

H: As an alternative, it seems fine to use the idea of strengthening the phase. Phase is, saying it simply, an established rule of what will happen if we include the two points in the same open set (group). Weak phase is the circumstance of “Together no matter what. You and me and everyone else are the same”, while strong phase is “Each point is separate, everyone is different.” The phase and distance “belong in the same group” in the assumption for scale. So, in theory, Gojo is able to control the weakness or strength of the phase.

T: This becomes difficult right away, but I’ll sort it a bit. So it seems that Gojo is able to tweak the concept of “near” and “far”. He can tweak the feeling of the enemy who thought “near!”. For example, if they are separated 1000 meters away, he can make them think “he’s near!”. In reverse, he can also control the phase to make the opponent think 1 m as “that’s far!”.

S: In the norm of finite dimensional space, the established phase is each other is equivalent, but for the time being, the details don’t matter. In the infinite dimension, that kind of things happen.

(to part 2)

#jujutsu kaisen #translation #gojo satoru #abyss of math

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realcube · 3 years ago

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❥ HOW HE CONFESSES

characters ❥ mikey, draken & baji

tw ❥ the beach, bad driving, mentions of murder and cursing

cr ❥ requested by anon

a/n ❥ i’ve not read the manga yet :’(

MIKEY

♥ his love language is shoplifting for you <33

♥ like okay.. in writing it kinda sounds pathetic compared to all the other shit he does but like.. he goes through the effort of personally picking up your favourite snack from the grocery store —instead of getting his toman underling to do it for him — and hiding them under his shirt

♥ and he thinks about you the whole time he is sprinting away from security

♥ if that isn’t true love idk what is

♥ today wasn’t any ol’ day tho, snacks and sweets were going to cut it

♥ instead, he went for the big shiny rock on a ring he keeps seeing the window of the rock shop on the high street

♥ it was pretty, for a rock, but not pretty enough for anyone in their right mind to think it’s worth £10,000/$14,000/ ¥1,500,000!!!

♥ however, after hearing that price from a salesperson, he knew that stupid rock ring was exactly how he’d win your heart <3

♥ it was a challenge and it had him working overtime, but after pulling some strings, doing a couple favours, and maybe even inadvertently killing some people (you never know 🤷‍♂️), he managed to get his hands on the pristine stone, which he had come to learn was called a diamond, which was why it was so expensive

♥ the guy who did him the favour of stealing it initially asked if mikey was planning on proposing and mikey said yes —since asking you out on a date is technically a proposal — and the dude didn’t even question it, he just said good luck

♥ and that sort of energy was exactly what mikey needed right now as he stood behind a wall near your lunch table as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do

♥ all your friends had left yet you were still sitting there alone since mikey texted you and asked for you to wait behind, and the fact you actually did filled him with hope from the get-go

♥ “(y/n)! there you are!” mikey greeted as if he didn’t know exactly where you were this whole time. why was his heart thumping so harshly in his chest? and why did he suddenly feel overwhelmingly embarrassed? i mean, he’s not done anything worth being awkward about.. yet.

♥ he didn’t understand. he never usually gets this way around people. but then again, he shouldn’t be surprised since he knew you were an exception from the beginning

♥ “hi, mikey.” you hummed, head propped gently on your arm while you slipped your phone away, “why did you want to see me? is something wrong?”

♥ the slight concern he detected in your voice was enough for him to immediately blurt out, “oh, no! nothing like that! everything is great; i am great and i, erm, hope you are too.” he announced, somewhat glad that your only reaction was a blank stare as it meant he doesn’t feel inclined to explain himself

♥ “so, uh, i was just wonder if you..” he started, clenching his jaw as he mentally reassured himself. the fact that he felt embarrassed about feeling embarrassed made things infinitely harder from him. he took a deep breath, and spilled

♥ “do you want to go out on a date with me sometime?” he basically screamed, squeezing his eyes shut tight and emptying his left pocket onto the table in front of you so that his special gift would accompany his proposal

♥ he closed his eyes as if that was going to protect him from rejection, but before he was able to silently rebuke himself, he heard faint sobbing from where he dropped his present

♥ upon opening his eyes, the shock from the sight before him was enough to give him whiplash

♥ in an unfortunate turn of events, he must’ve emptied the wrong pocket because sitting on the table in front of you was not a diamond ring, but rather a sherbet dip he bought to share with you if you said ‘yes’ to his proposal

♥ and his suspicions were correct, you were the one crying

♥ ....

♥ waIT WHY ARE YOU CRYING mikey panicked, frantically looking around for someone who might’ve hurt you, or perhaps someone he’d have to send to A&E

♥ “are you okay?”

♥ “yeah.” you whispered, your light chuckle enough to prevent mikey from worrying any more, “i’m just..” you stuttered, smiling fondly at the blonde, “i’m just really happy. i thought you’d never ask.”

♥ it was impossible for mikey to conceal the sigh of relief he breathed as he slumped down next to you on the bench, “thank god. i thought someone had threatened you or something.”

♥ “threatened me? why would they do that?” you innocently cocked your head to the side, rubbing your eyes as you did so.

♥ oh, yeah. mikey hadn’t been fully transparent with you about his.. current employment. as far as you knew, he was a full-time student at ‘toman academy’ and he had a part-time job babysitting (which was hardly a lie, in his opinion)

♥ so you didn’t really know about how he was the leader of the tokyo manji gang or any of that

♥ originally he thought it was fine to keep it a secret, but now that you were officially his partner it would be immoral to not let you know about his affiliation with the gang

♥ so he decided to tell you over a sherbert <33

♥ “so, are we official?” he cooed, ripping the lollypops out of the bag and popping one in his mouth while offering you the other by tapping it against your lips lightly

♥ “yep.” you smiled, taking the lolly into your mouth with a smile, glad that he didn’t bring up your little waterworks a few second ago

♥ but in all honesty, he was preoccupied wondering what the most appropriate way to phrase ‘i am the leader of a gang of delinquents’ would be

♥ poor little mikey brain working on overdrive

♥ he decided to pull out the ring, since he still had to give that to you, so while you were entranced by the fat gem glistening under the light in mikey’s possession, he began, “so, babe, do you think being a gang leader is hot?”

DRAKEN

♥ he honestly didn’t have a clue how to ask you out

♥ in fact, he didn’t even know that he had a crush on you until mikey pointed out all of his weird behaviours around you

♥ so his first instinct was to go to mikey for advice when thinking of ways to ask you out

♥ but the only idea that mf was to get ‘will you go out with me, (y/n)?’ tattooed onto his ‘thick skull’ and ofc draken wasn’t about to do that

♥ although he did consider it for like.. a minute

♥ (he was like.. hmmmm... well, the tattoo guy does owe me a favour so... maybe i could get it for free?)

♥ (or permanent marker might work???)

♥ anyway, he eventually decided to ask you out the good ol’ fashion way!! by just telling you how he feels

♥ however, once he explained this plan to mikey, he was scoffed and said ‘good luck with that’ in the most condescending tone of voice

♥ draken’s initial instinct was to simply beat up mikey and go ask you out anyway, but this conflict ran deeper than just him and mikey bickering about trivial issues- his whole relationship was on the line!

♥ so after hearing the leader out, he finally decided on the most appropriate way to confess — just like how all the dudes in the animes mikey and him and watched did it

♥ by giving you flowers and chocolates <3

♥ and mikey even offered to come into the store with draken and help him choose the goods since mikey was a self-proclaimed ‘love-expert’

♥ draken obviously denied his offer but he came along anyway

♥ “ooh, ken-chin! look at these ones, they’re on sale.” mikey gasped, happily grabbing a pack of heart-shaped chocolates off the shelf, ripping them open and stuffing his face, “and they are delicious too!”

♥ paying no attention to the fact that mikey had essentially already committed a crime since there was no way he intended to pay for those chocolates, draken mused while eyeing up the rest of the sweets, the bouquet of flowers he had already chosen tucked under his arm, “valentine’s day was a week ago, that’s probably why they are on sale.”

♥ “draken?”

♥ a familiar voice from the end of the aisle caused draken to avert his gaze from the chocolates displayed in front of him and instead search for the source of the voice, which happened to be you standing innocently with your basket in-hand

♥ “ah, (y/n),” draken tensed, immediately shoving the bouquet of flowers behind his back at hopefully out of your sight as he put on a forced smile to distract from them too, “what a nice surprise seeing you here.”

♥ “hm?” mikey chimed in, unable to vocalise his curiosity through the chocolates stuffed in his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from trying, “is that the (y/n) you were talking about? the one you were going to conf--”

♥ “that’s enough outta you.” draken hissed through a fake smile, shoving mikey into the next aisle, which happened to be the snack aisle so, entertained, he decided to stay put

♥ “oh, is that your friend mikey?” you inquired, having only ever heard about mikey through rumours up until now. though none of them exactly matched the image you saw just there

♥ “yep, he’s pain sometimes, but he’s still cool.” draken muttered, awkwardly rolling on the balls of his feet as he waited for a deity to save him from this interaction — not that he didn’t want to talk to you, it’s just that every second you spend with him, the less likely it becomes that his confession will go as planned

♥ and you only confirmed that with your follow-up question

♥ “i see you’ve got flowers, and you’re looking for chocolates. who’s the special someone?” you teased, poking draken’s cheek playfully (which is one of the many things he only finds comfort in when you do it)

♥ “oh, no one.” he hummed, his coy smile doing a number on your heart rate

♥ “how about you? who is that card for?” he inquired casually, gesturing to the classic pink ‘i have something to tell you... <3′ confession card that was only in-stock during valentine’s day season, that was sitting atop the groceries in your basket

♥ a cocky smirk tugged at his lips — as if to say ‘i won’ — while he watched you become increasingly flustered right in front of him. it was adorable

♥ but he thought it would stop there; stop with him winning the teasing battle, you getting all sheepish then leaving but that apparently wasn’t your plan

♥ instead, you lowered your head and outstretched your arms to give him the card (which was still in the wrapping plastic)

♥ “red-handed. i bought these with you in mind, draken.” you said, voice barely above a whisper, “but if you don’t accept then that’s fine too, have a nic--”

♥ “who said i don’t accept?” draken grumbled, almost as if he was annoyed, as he took your card and examined the card thoroughly for a couple seconds

♥ then suddenly, he froze. the shock of the realisation leaving him stunned to the point where the only thing he could do was shift his eyes from the card on to you and utter in a terrified tone, “this isn’t, uh, this isn’t a confession, is it?”

♥ you shrugged, “i guess, it is.”

♥ “damn it.” draken cursed, glaring at the snack aisle and hence mikey, for giving him this stupid idea

♥ “is there a problem?”

♥ “no.” draken said through gritted teeth before pulling out the bouquet his had hidden behind his back, “but i was meant to confess first.”

♥ your jaw dropped, leaving draken concerned for a second until you instantly pulled him in for a tight hug; another thing he admired about you was that you gave hugs like you were in the mafia, strong enough to cut off his airflow

♥ “double confession!” you squealed, absolutely delighted that draken not only wanted to confess to you, but he had the same idea to come to the shop and buy stuff beforehand

♥ “i guess so.” draken chuckled, handing you the bouquet of flower as soon as you pulled away, “these are for you.”

♥ you gasped, smiling at how he managed to remember your favourite kind of flower after a single off-handed comment you made ages ago, “thank you!” you hugged them to your chest, “have you already paid for them?”

♥ “no.” draken replied simply. “but they are still yours.”

♥ sometimes it slipped your mind that draken was part of a literal gang since.. he just seemed so normal and humble

♥ but on some other occasions, it was painfully difficult to consider draken anything close to ‘normal’

♥ and one of those moments was when he was trying to convince security he was pregnant with a flower-baby, and when that evidently didn’t work, he just made a run for it with mikey, whose pants pockets were filled with sweets that trailed behind him where ever he ran

BAJI

♥ he didn’t even ponder about how he was supposed to confess to you for over a second

♥ the idea just came to him instantly and he went with it

♥ the only question he asked was ‘how can i show them how badass i am without bragging?’ and he immediately came up with an answer and rolled with it, no questions asked

♥ and there was no planning or anything done beforehand either, he literally just texted you ‘where are you?’ at like 7PM and when you replied ‘the park’, he hopped on his bike and sped over

♥ like he didn’t even ask which park.. he just guessed.. but he guessed correctly

♥ your heart almost stopped as you watched a chunky motorcycle come speeding towards you at such a rate that all you could do was brace for impact and kiss goodbye to your relatively peaceful live

♥ however, at the very last second it swerved around you and came to a halt, allowing the rider to extend his free hand to you, “hop on.”

♥ the voice was all to familiar and you weren’t surprised at all to see baji with his signature ‘i could kill you’ grin plastered on his face

♥ as your heart rate slowly began to return to normal, you cried, “what do you mean ‘hop on’? you almost ran me over!”

♥ he unclipped his helmet and tossed it to you, “safety first.”

♥ “did you even hear what i just said?” you grumbled, putting on the helmet anyway

♥ “i think you said something about how excited you are to finally go out with me.” he mused, shuffling forwards slightly to give you more space to sit on behind him, like a true gentleman /s

♥ “no.” you replied simply.

♥ though you initially had no intention of going anywhere with him, you still found yourself reaching your leg over his bike to take a seat behind him, “where are we going?”

♥ baji shrugged, chuckling slightly as he felt you gently wrap your arms around his hips, “don’t know, but hold on tight.” he warned, revving his engine and taking off without another word

♥ perhaps you were the fool for getting on a motorcycle with baji and letting him take you to an undisclosed location, but you trusted him enough to know that he wouldn’t try to drive you off a cliff or put you in danger.. or at least, that is what you hoped

♥ however, if it wasn’t a rival gang that kills you, baji’s driving definitely would

♥ he drives like a madman and left you with no other choice but to cling onto him for dear life, since if you didn’t bury yourself into his side, you’d probably fly off with all sharp turns he does around the other cars/bikes

♥ it was like being taped to the top of a vehicle in mario cart

♥ eyes squeezed shut, you yelled over the harsh blaring of the wind, “slow the fuck down! where are you even taking me?”

♥ baji was having fun, but he was getting the feeling you weren’t..

♥ usually he doesn’t care about what other think but this was the first time he was taking you out, he didn’t want you to think of him as a maniac driver, or else you might not want to come with him ever again

♥ “if you open your eyes, you’ll see.” he uttered, slowing down slightly so the noises weren’t as harsh

♥ taking his word for it, you hesitantly pried open one of your eyes and turned your neck so your face was no longer pressed against his shoulder

♥ and honestly, you were glad you did. passed the edge of the road, you had the perfect view of the beach below, the sea gently glistening under the orange sunset

♥ now that your nose was free from only breathing in baji’s sickeningly strong, wild spice body spray, you finally able to enjoy fresh ocean air

♥ “the beach.” you mused, smiling down at the completely deserted sandy shore, which looked so beautifully peaceful in contrast to how busy it was when you usually come

♥ “no shit.” baji chuckled, his eyes remaining glued to road, despite how much he wanted to see your reaction

♥ you let out a defeated sighed, leaning against his back, “but it’s closed.”

♥ baji nodded, “yep, that means we’ve got the whole place to ourselves!”

♥ before you could question what baji meant by that, he steered off the edge of the road and down the steep hillside which led to the beach, though it definitely was not meant to be drove on as there were several warning sign at the side of the road, warning drivers about the hill

♥ “baji, what the fuck?!” you screamed over baji’s amused laughter, similar to the way you’d laugh if you were playing GTA, rather than playing with actual human lives

♥ “isn’t this fun?” he yelled back, enjoying how the wind felt against his skin as he maneuvered his bike down the steep hill

♥ honestly, you weren’t sure whether you enjoyed it or not, but as soon as the bike came to a smooth landing upon the soft sand of the beach, you found yourself silently wanting to do that again

♥ “well, how was that?” baji asked, immediately hopping off the bike on his own only so he could offer you a hand

♥ accepting his hand, you stepped off the cycle only to notice that your legs were shaking, yet you oddly liked it, “that was.. okay.” you murmured, not wanting to feed his ego but also unable to lie to him.

♥ “great.” he uttered, leaning forward to carefully unclip your helmet for you and sling it over the handle of his bike

♥ “so,” he started, looking around the beach for any stray cops or surveyors, “what do you wanna do?”

♥ he felt a light tug on his jacket sleeve, causing him to look down and meet your pleading gaze, “do you think we could go out again? some other time, maybe?”

♥ all baji did was laugh, resulting in you become sheepish for a moment, until he wrapped his arms around you picked you up for a hug, “obviously!”

♥ you smiled, your cheeks heating up slightly, “nice!”

♥ “anyway,” he started, placing you back down and dashing off towards the sea, “loser owes me lunch!”

♥ ignoring how he gets lunch either way, you immediately sprinted off behind him, watching as he dramatically fell over a large shell and face-planted into the the sand

♥ being the kind friend you are, you ignored him and continued running towards the water, only for him to grab your ankle and trip you up too

♥ “ha!” that is how he shows affection <3

#tokyo revengers sano manjiro #manjirou sano x reader #mikey x reader #draken x reader #draken x you #mikey x y/n #baji scenarios #baji x y/n #draken x y/n #ryuguji ken x reader #mikey x you #baji x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #keisuke baji

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fruggo · 3 years ago

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Hi hi can I req Danny, Leon and Steve with a male s/o who's a real goofy guy? Cracks jokes during chases, just can't take things too seriously, laid back and chill guy who prioritizes having fun

absolutely, thanks for requesting!! :D this is cute haha. i hope you like it!

danny, leon, and steve with goofy m!s/o

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍

danny would consider himself a pretty fun guy, though perhaps his idea of fun would not be the same as a normal person's. so i wouldn't take his word for it if i were you.

honestly? he thinks you're the shit. he genuinely likes your bad dad jokes great puns, will banter back and forth with you, and he might even give you the hatch instead of a mori. although he would love to have your picture, it can wait until the next trial. or the next if he still doesn't feel like it. who knows?

he likes that you're not too serious about everything. since danny is the entity's golden boy, he never has to worry about anything! he likes it here! and it's cool that someone else has a similar mindset about things. although he might have misunderstood "making the best of the situation and just being a goofy person" for "liking it here". you never really clarified which one it was, and why should he ask?

when danny finds out that you act basically the same way with all the killers, cracking jokes and laughing things off in chases, he gets all pouty. he thought he was special. well, looks like you're getting that mori now.

he still likes you though, and he gives you even more special attention now in the form of tunneling and camping! he means well <3 (no he doesn't he is a little bitch and a loser)

but then he hears stories from the other killers about you, and is pleased to find that you are significantly more fun with him, and, dare i say, flirty!

but he still wants to tunnel and camp you.

when you realize what he's doing, you don't get mad about it. what's the point? in fact you think it's really funny.

the first time danny proximity-camped you, you found it rewarding to just talk and talk and talk until he finally talked back. it took a while, but he did finally respond.

you would just say dumb shit, and then you would say more dumb shit, and then it got annoying and danny had to tell you to shut up. and then you would just dramatically whisper something like "okay, pissbaby."

and danny thought maybe he should be angry with you, but he just wasn't. he couldn't be mad at you, because even if he was, you wouldn't care. you weren't scared of him.

so when he finally left and you got unhooked, he tunneled you obviously. it makes sense, okay?

"wow, am i that handsome and gorgeous and attractive?" you monologued while smashing a pallet onto danny's head. "i'm really just so irresistible that you want to tunnel me? honestly, danny, i'm flattered. i'm touched."

danny couldn't remember since when you were on a first name basis, but he let it slide. just because maybe he thinks you are that handsome and gorgeous and attractive.

dude danny is kinda fucked up but like. he's funny. and charming. and he also let you take off his mask once, and so now you know he's also hot. he has a few things going for him as long as you ignore the part where he chases you with a knife.

𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐃𝐘

leon, our favorite rookie :D he's so cute!!! sorry im gushing i just cant resist i love him !!

and you love him too, so much. that's why you accidentally distract him during trials by goofing off and almost getting him killed

it's out of love. leon knows that. you don't really mean to.

while leon's doing a generator, you are probably somewhere nearby trying to find something even remotely interesting to do. and that might involve climbing a tree, then falling out of the tree. but it wasnt your fault! you swore the crows were attacking you, they didn't want you up in that tree because they knew you were just so cool up there and the Entity couldn't have somebody being better and hotter and funnier than itself so high in the sky.

leon could only smile and shake his head, inspecting you for the wounds you inevitably had. when you said you were fine, he was very skeptical, because your version of fine was never the same as his.

the killer knew where you were now because of your very loud "FUCK!" as the crows supposedly attacked you and forced you out of the tree, so you immediately put on your game face and got ready to command some attention.

leon said no, you were not in the right headspace to get chased. you only shrugged at him, slapped his ass, and ran towards the killer yelling, "HEY YOU WANNA HEAR AN AGGIE JOKE?"

leon was used to this by now, and he found it rather endearing. you were an enigma to him, really. how you could be so laid back about this whole murder-die-sacrifice thing was beyond him, but it was refreshing. he liked your enthusiasm.

since he had just come from raccoon city, he was still in his "i have to do the right thing and save everybody because it's my duty" kind of mood. you made sure to lighten up that burden and remind him that it's okay to chill sometimes, and he can't save everybody, especially not here. if you were in a particularly bad trial, you always made sure to get him to crack a smile.

likewise, leon wasn't always too jazzed about your "funny guy gets killed so the team can live" complex. he knew you didn't care, or at least you said you didn't, but he still hated that you constantly sacrificed yourself and acted like it was no big deal. to him, it was. he hated going back to the campfire alone and waiting forever for you to show up again; he cared about you and it hurt to see you sacrifice yourself so much even if he knew you would return.

leon didn't have a stick up his ass or anything--he had his fair share of humorous moments (i mean have you seen infinite darkness ashdjshdf that man just wants love and food). he just wants to save everybody, you included. it's frustrating to come to terms with the fact that he can't.

he loves it when he can hear you yelling at the killer mid-chase from afar, be it a pun or a swear or both. you've even influenced him to crack his own jokes while being chased sometimes--it comes out more often if he's being tunneled. if you ever happened to see him do it, you would wipe a fake tear from your face and start clapping. you were very proud of your rookie.

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐎𝐍

the killers hated you and steve, and i mean like despised you

you were so chill. and for what???? why do you have chill???? nobody else has chill, what makes you think you deserve to have chill????

they could never make you angry and that made them super angry

you and steve would quip back and forth between chases, sometimes going so far as to pretend the killer is not there and talk about something like what kind of cheese you missed eating the most. let me tell you, that did not make the trickster happy.

he was a star!! a star, and here you two little shits were, ignoring him to talk about cheese. honestly, the audacity.

you and steve ran to the killer shack with the trickster on your heels, still talking about cheese. how the conversation had gone on this long was a mystery, and it continued to be a mystery while the two of you shared a chase in the shack.

steve was very happy to have found someone to share his sentiments with. everybody was so serious all the time, and while he was similar to leon with his altruistic streaks, he was slightly less responsible and occasionally enjoyed doing dumb stunts just for shits and giggles.

you can bet that whenever you are in a trial together, it's a competition to see who can hold the killer's attention longer. your teammates don't mind--all they have to do is complete gens, so their job is fairly easy. and it's always entertaining to catch sight of one of you sprinting with a new flashlight in your hand to go annoy the crap out of the killer.

there's no question that steve would die for you a hundred times over, and you would do the same for him. you didn't see it as a very big deal--you didn't see anything here as a very big deal. steve was the only important thing you had, really, and you cared for him a lot. saving him? kapeesh. no sweat.

scenario: steve is being chased, you throw yourself in front of him, the killer has noed, you are hooked, you give him a thumbs up as you die, he flips you off because why the fuck would you die for him what is wrong with you he's supposed to die for you and you know that?? why would you do that???? great, now steve gets to escape and it's all your fault.

you would simply smile. he was so cute sometimes.

#requests #fruggo writes #dbd x reader #dead by daylight x reader #dbd #dead by daylight #danny johnson x reader #ghostface x reader #leon kennedy x reader #steve harrington x reader #headcanons #dbd headcanons

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spanishskulduggery · 3 years ago

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Hi, I'm the anon who wanted to learn some basic Spanish and I'm looking for grammars

♡♡♡

So my first recommendation is for www.studyspanish.com/grammar because they have a really good intro to the basics of pretty much all of the grammar (minus some more advanced things)

Also I would recommend: https://tildesites.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/ats/

And I can't go over every single piece of grammar in Spanish but I will do a very bare bones overview of the major tenses/moods that you'll find in Spanish and a basic explanation of them

If you're a beginner a lot of this may go over your head until you're there but I'm not totally sure of anyone's level so!

Strap in everyone, it's a long post again and I'm going to explain like a solid 65% of the most important Spanish grammar concepts including tenses and moods, and even I think I need a read more for this one.

I didn't include things like concordancia "agreement (between nouns/adjectives)" and other fundamentals because I assume you probably are aware of those and so I'm focusing more on verbs and tenses/moods, but if you are a total beginner I'm more than happy to discuss the fundamentals in more depth

As always if anyone has any questions on anything I've mentioned here specifically, please let me know. I have no problem delving deeper into specific concepts but this is just a general overview of most of the big grammar concepts you're going to come across as you learn Spanish.

First things first, they don't totally teach you this in Spanish, you kind of just have to figure it out yourself or delve into it later on by yourself but there are tenses and moods. I mean they teach you that there are tenses, but they don't totally explain the idea behind tenses and moods and I think it helps to know them to keep them straight.

It's not required learning but it is helpful for overall concepts. It is required learning if you're going more into the linguistics side of things though, but practically speaking you don't really need to know what a mood is to use subjunctive, but I find it helps.

What is a linguistic mood?

In Spanish a mood [modo or "mode"] refers to the ways in which grammar should be used. The moods encompass the tenses themselves.

There are three moods, and really you only need to worry about two.

There's the indicative, subjunctive, and the imperative.

Getting imperative out of the way real quick, it's commands. Commands are very easy to spot because they boil down to affirmative commands ["do it"] vs. negative commands ["don't do it"]. There are some things to mention with imperative but I'll do that towards the very end for miscellaneous grammar concepts

Indicative mood is hard to explain linguistically. It's honestly mostly defined as "not subjunctive or imperative". This is default explanation of things. Most of the tenses are indicative - present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional.

Subjunctive mood is harder to explain but really important. It doesn't totally exist in English, at least not in a noticeable way so it's something that people really struggle with. Subjunctive mood is usually described as the mood you use for desires, wishes, polite requests, imposition of will, hypotheticals etc

You usually find that subjunctive is 1 of 2 things. It's usually either a kind of imposition of will, where it's one subject making a wish/request or imposition on another subject like quiero que hables "I want you to speak"....... or it's subjunctive clauses. Subjunctive clauses tend to be kinds of conditions, that something will happen once a condition is met; "until", "unless", "so that", "as long as", "provided that", "even if", "as if it were"... Those are kinds of subjunctive clauses.

Some subjunctive clauses make more sense than others for English speakers. It can be its own sort of topic.

...

A Tense on the other hand [tiempo or "time"] in Spanish refers to the time in which grammar is used.

A mood is used to explain the way in which Spanish gets used, but a tense determines if you're talking about it being past, present, or future... or something in between.

You can usually divide the tenses between past, present, or future. There are some "in-betweeners" which I'll mention in miscellaneous but in general it's like this:

Present [things happening now at this very moment] = Present Tense, Present Subjunctive

Past [things that happened or things started in the past (either completed actions or ones that may still be going on)] = Preterite, Imperfect, Imperfect Subjunctive

Future [things that will happen or have the ability to happen] = Future, Conditional, Future Subjunctive [*obsolete now mostly], Imperfect Subjunctive [sometimes] .......also ir + a + infinitivo expressions are somewhere between present tense and future, it's a thing, we'll get there

Again, tenses don't have much to do with the imperative mood because a true command is always "do it" or "don't do it" at that moment. If you're saying "I want them to do it" or "I wanted them to do it" that becomes subjunctive.

Present

The present tense is probably the most important tense because it encompasses a lot of things and it isn't always talked about fully. Plus it's the tense you use the most.

The present tense as the name implies talks about things happening now. Most of your declarative statements are things happening in the present. "I am", "you have", "we are here", "it is blue", etc tend to be present tense

The other facets of present tense are what make it more important than most tenses. In present tense there are two other important functions: "continuous present" and "short-term future"

Continuous present is synonymous with the gerund/progressive forms which I'll talk about more below in miscellaneous. What continuous present means is that you may be translating it as the -ing forms in your head. For example: leo may be "I read" as a present tense declarative statement like leo mucho "I read a lot"... or it could be leo "I am reading" depending on context. It's very subtle but something like leo el libro could be "I read the book" OR "I am reading the book". If you knocked on someone's door you would hear ya voy "I'm coming (right away)"

With the gerund forms, you are specifically talking about something happening right at that moment. But it is a function of present tense as well. Both are correct, mostly synonymous, and useful in their own ways but I mention it because it isn't often mentioned

There also exists a facet of present tense that is understood as "short-term future". There exists the possibility to use present tense to talk about things you plan on doing shortly or things that will happen in the very near future. This is somewhat different than ir + a + infinitive forms since those can be in any tense. It's just something to be aware of.

Preterite

Preterite tense (also called simple past) is nice and easy. It exists only in the past tense and it's for completed actions.

The hallmark of preterite is that they're actions rather than descriptions, and often involve set time phrases like ayer "yesterday", antiayer/antier "the day before yesterday", anoche "last night" or they include things like times, dates, days, or implied time frames

Think of preterite as "I did it", no muss no fuss

Imperfect

Imperfect tense is all muss and fuss

In linguistic senses, "imperfect" means "not yet completed", or "not yet past". You see it used for description rather than concrete actions and so it is very commonly used for narration and description; telling time in the past, talking about something's appearance or moods, and uninterrupted actions

In the context of preterite vs imperfect the very basic (possibly too reductionist, even) is that the imperfect tense is often used to set up a situation while preterite marks the action that interrupts the setting

In other words; dormía y sonaba el teléfono "I was sleeping and the phone was ringing" is all imperfect and it seems to imply the sleep was not interrupted. Saying dormía y sonó el teléfono is a mix of preterite and imperfect "I was sleeping and the phone rang". It stops being description and marks an "interruption" and if I read that, I would assume either "I" woke up, or we're paying special attention to the fact that the phone rang, and that it's not just casual description

Just like present tense, imperfect tense can be used as "continuous past"... saying leía could be "I read" [past] or "I was reading" [past continuous]. You could also say leí "I read" for preterite, though that's a completed action. Saying leía "I read" sounds more like description to me

You will also find that imperfect tense is used for "used to" to describe habitual things. This can be done with the verb soler [which only really exists in present tense as "to be in the habit of" or in imperfect "used to"]. Imperfect is a simpler way but it is important to note.

So for example: iba a la playa could be "I went to the beach" [description], "I was going to the beach" [continuous", OR it could be "I used to go to the beach" [habit that may or may not continue]

You often see this "used to" with certain time phrases or something qualifying it like cuando era niño/a "when I was a kid" or something like that. It's just important to note because saying something like vivía en Londres could be "I lived in London" or "I used to live in London"... If you saw it as vivía en Londres cuando era joven "I lived in London when I was young(er)" is more specifically a "used to" sort of phrase.

Future

Future tense is exactly what it sounds like

Actions that will happen in a long-term setting. Things that WILL happen, that imply more certainty.

You'll also want to note that it means "shall" as well. It's less common in English to say that, but in older texts and especially the Bible you're going to see future tense like that... no matarás is "thou shalt not kill", literally "you will not kill"... same with no robarás "thou shalt not steal"

Depending on tone, you might see no volveré translated as "I will not return / I won't return" or "I shall not return / I shan't return". Future tense has a sense of finality to it, very much like preterite does in past.

In general I would say that the future tense is unremarkable and kinder to non-native speakers, but do note that there are Spanish speakers who sometimes use future tense the way English might use present tense; serás idiota for example is a way to say "you're an idiot" rather than eres idiota (present tense)

I would say think of that particular expression as "stating the obvious" or "it's a foregone conclusion"... I only mention it because in some countries, especially Spain, you will see future tense used like that sometimes

Present Subjunctive

Present subjunctive is subjunctive mood that takes place either in the present, or the short-term future. It carries that same continuous and short-term future vibe

Again, subjunctive typically works with a set of 2 clauses [that is, two different subjects and verbs] with an imposition of will in some way... or subjunctive clauses. These just happen to be in present

So for example; quieren que (yo) hable con ella "they want me to talk to her"... has two clauses [ellos/ellas quieren and then yo hable] with a kind of imposition of will

This is common for polite requests or someone giving orders; exige que hagamos la tarea "he/she demands we do the homework"

Subjunctive clauses in present are more straightforward once you know the clauses: sea lo que sea "whatever it is / whatever it may be", or para que sepas "so that you know", or antes (de) que te vayas "before you leave"

Conditional + Imperfect Subjunctive

These two are often taught together and for good reason

The conditional tense is indicative, but it talks about something that will happen... as long as a condition has been met. It can be a little harder to nail down, but in "if/then" statements, conditional is the "then"

Conditional talks about things in the future and that can make it difficult for English speakers because we use the same conjugations for multiple things.... podía hacerlo "I could do it" is imperfect so it's past, it means I had the ability to do it... and podría hacerlo "I could do it" is future, so it talks about something you do have the ability to do, but you haven't done it yet

Though I do need to say that "should" is usually either in present tense or conditional: debo decir "I should say" or "I must say"....

But then no debería haberlo dicho "I shouldn't have said that". That kind of should is very often conditional and that can be weird for people

The main thing to know is that conditional isn't unlikely or doubtful, it just hasn't happened yet... but it COULD.

Imperfect subjunctive on the other hand is a very wide topic. What you need to know for this to make sense is that once upon a time in Spanish imperfect subjunctive was used for the past tense subjunctive [imperfect being "not yet complete", again]... and then you had a separate branch of subjunctive that was more future and that would have been your hypothetical situations and contrary to fact statements

Today the same tense pulls double duty so that's why it's a big topic

You'll see it for past tense subjunctive: querían que hablara con ella "they wanted me to speak with her"

But you'll also see it for more nebulous or doubtful futures. This is the kind of imperfect subjunctive that gets used with conditional tense.

In "if/then" statements, imperfect subjunctive is the "if". And that's what we mean by hypotheticals and "contrary to fact statements"

si fuera jefe/jefa "if I were the boss" is your if statement. I would call this contrary to fact. It implies "I" am not the boss

The "then" would be in conditional because you're talking about some condition being met... si fuere jefe/jefa, no lo haría "if I were the boss, I wouldn't do it"

Or, si tuviera dinero, viajaría en el extranjero "if I had the money, I would travel abroad". You can translate it as "if I were to have".

But don't hate on Spanish for doing this. English does it too. We say "if I was president" and "if I were president" and they both mean a contrary to fact future.

...Oh also I should mention that if you look up imperfect subjunctive conjugation you'll find two forms. So like you'll see hablara, hablaras, hablara, hablaran, habláramos... and you will see hablase, hablases, hablase, hablasen, hablásemos

Both conjugations are correct, but there's a lot of history involved in this that I can't totally get into without it being a big discussion.

Suffice it to say, it's historical, and Latin America tends to use the -ara and -iera forms for both. Spain makes more of a distinction, where they'll use -ara/-iera for past subjunctive, but use -ase/-iese more for the hypothetical subjunctive

So just as an example: both Spain and Latin America would say querían que lo hiciera "they wanted me to do it" because that's past subjunctive

But Latin America would say si tuviera dinero, compraría una casa "if I had money I would buy a house"...

And Spain would more often say si tuviese dinero, compraría una casa "if I had money I would buy a house"

Again, both are totally fine, but I personally don't use the -ase/-iese forms very much in my own life. I see and read them more than I use them myself, but I'm also in the United States and not Spain.

And that's your bare bones overview of the tenses and moods

I'll also just include some other key miscellaneous grammatical concepts real quick:

Silent Subject (sujeto tácito)

This is very basic and not talked about often, but in English we're taught that we always need to put the pronouns in our sentences. It's always "I do this" and "you do that"

And that makes sense for us because our conjugations have less variation; "do" could be anyone

But in Spanish, it's not as common to include the subject because the subject is often implies by the verb. If hablo only exists for yo, and hablamos is always nosotros/nosotras... then mentioning the pronoun seems irrelevant because it was implied

However, habla and hablan are different; habla could be "him" or "her" or "it" or even usted. And hablan could be multiple people but is it ellos or ellas or ustedes?

It becomes more common to mention the subject if there's a chance you'll be misunderstood

The general rule is you mention your subject and the verb... and you continue on until your subject changes and then you mention a new subject so no one's confused

As an example; ella habla con Marco y siempre menciona sus amigos y familia, pero Marco no habla mucho sobre su vida personal "she talks to Marco and always mentions her friends and family, but Marco doesn't talk much about his personal life"

When it's obvious like yo [except in certain tenses], you rarely mention the subject. Saying something like yo hago la tarea, yo limpio la sala, yo leo el libro doesn't come across as "I do the homework, I clean the room, I read the book"...... it comes across as "I am the one who does the homework, I am the one who cleans the room, I am the one who reads the book"

When you mention the subject over and over when it's obvious it sounds either like bragging like "look at all the things I do aren't I great!", or it sounds like complaining "I'm the one who did this, I'm the one who did that, not you, it was me"

When it's obvious you tend to keep the subject out. But you can put it in when you want some emphasis! Such as yo mando aquí "I'm the one in charge here / I give the orders around here"... which is kind of like if you'd italicized or bolded the "I/I'm" there

Infinitives

Infinitives are the dictionary form of verbs, you probably know that already even if you didn't know what they were called

They're unconjugated so the show up ending in their -ar, -ir, or -er forms... hablar, vivir, comer for example

By themselves you read them like... hablar "to speak/talk"; that's what I mean by dictionary forms

When you come across multiple verbs together, one is conjugated and the other tends to be in either infinitive (or gerund but that's next)

So, quiero aprender "I want to learn", quiero nadar "I want to swim", or quiero aprender a nadar "I want to learn to swim" for example

Also be aware that infinitives can be used as the noun forms of verbs. That is, they are "the action or result of a verb". In English we tend to translate them as the progressive forms, but in Spanish the gerund is a verb conjugation implying motion or continuation

For example: errar es humano, perdonar es divino "to err is human, to forgive divine".

Or hablar es fácil pero escuchar me cuesta "speaking is easy but listening is difficult for me"

Gerund/Progressive

The gerund form (also called progressive) is the equivalent of the -ing forms in English

In Spanish they usually end in -ando, -iendo, sometimes -yendo, and there are a few weird ones here and there because of irregular verbs

They're different somewhat in that in Spanish, gerund is a form of motion or movement in some way, so we don't use them quite the same way that Spanish does - see above with infinitive

You're using this when you're specifically talking about something in the moment.

Very often you're going to see gerund forms either by themselves, or you'll see them with the verbs estar, ir, andar, seguir, continuar or some kind of verb of motion or continuation

As an example teniendo esto en cuenta "keeping that in mind"

Or... estoy aprendiendo "I am learning", voy aprendiendo "I'm learning" [as in "it's a process and I'm in the middle of it" or "I keep on learning and I am making progress"], or sigo aprendiendo "I'm still learning".

Additionally you can see infinitive and gerund used together in some cases: quiero seguir aprendiendo a nadar "I want to keep learning to swim"

Past Participles

The past participles are other conjugations of verbs

While the infinitive is the noun form of a verb, a participle is the adjectival form of a verb

These mostly end in either -ado or -ido... although there's a whole host of irregular ones that you need to memorize

By themselves they can be just straight up adjectives and can lead into the passive voice... or just used by themselves

dicho eso "that said / that being said" where dicho is the past participle of decir

Or something like limpiado "cleaned" is the past participle form of limpiar "to clean"; and you could say el suelo limpiado "the cleaned floor" or la ventana limpiada "the cleaned window"

Past participles lead straight into passive voice, or the perfect tenses

Perfect Tenses

Speaking of the perfect tenses, these are "tenses" that are sort of their own thing but they use forms of the verb haber + past participles

The perfect tense is like a time traveler. It can exist in any tense and any mood (minus imperative). It's function is to make everything just a little more past tense

Again, if "imperfect" means "not yet completed"... then "perfect" means "already completed", since it literally means "done thoroughly"

The perfect tenses make use of haber and you most frequently are going to see present perfect and the pluperfect [sometimes called pluscuamperfecto which is "more than perfect"... aka "past-er than past"]

These follow very closely with English.

he hablado is "I have spoken/talked" (present perfect), and había hablado is "I had spoken/talked" (pluperfect)

The goal of perfect tenses is to make everything a little bit past tense while still keeping the impact of it in the present which is why I say it's a time traveler.

Instead of hablé "I spoke" you're saying he hablado "I have spoken", which means that you're now reporting on what happened once you did it. Maybe you're saying "I've talked with them and this is how it happened" or "I've already talked to them and it made no difference". Either way you're reporting on a past event but it still has bearing on the present.

Pluperfect is the same just more past. You're using the imperfect form of haber + past participle and it's very common in 3rd person narration. This is something that someone "had done". It's still got some bearing on the present but the action took place further in the past

había hablado con él antes "I had spoken with him before" makes it sound like you're reaching further into the past, but you're still going to report on how it went

But like I said, they could be used in any tense or mood except imperative; si lo hubiera/hubiese sabido, no lo habría hecho "if I had known, I wouldn't have done it"

Indirect Commands

Indirect commands are the murky space between the subjunctive and imperative moods

It's very simple though. It's basically you're telling someone else to have something be done. Kind of like delegating a command.

que canten for example is "let them sing", but it could be translated as "sing" as a plural command... it's sort of like pointing to someone and being like "I want them to sing" or "go tell them to sing"

Indirect commands are more polite than regular commands. A command can be rather brusque and impolite, depending on how it's said or phrased. Indirect commands are just nicer.

Instead of hazlo "do it" you might soften it with que lo hagas "go ahead and do it"

Indirect commands can be more impersonal and distant however. They can be used as a more... patronizing tone almost? For example: que así sea is "so be it". Literally that's "let it be so"

"We" Commands

The "we" commands are technically imperative mood but I mention them separately because they show up a lot as "let's"

For example hablemos con ella "let's talk to her"

Or something like seamos amables "let's be nice"; no seamos crueles "let's not be cruel"

It's a less common type of command, where you're part of the nosotros group, but also issuing a command to everyone else in the nosotros group

Sometimes the "we" commands are done just with present tense, but there's always the option: nos vamos could be "we're going" but may be "let's go"... while vámonos is "let's go" specifically

Oh did I mention you can stick object pronouns and reflexives onto these? Because you definitely can; hagámoslo "let's do it" or hagámonoslo "let's do it (for ourselves)"

The next ones are bigger and more confusing so I'm just going to attach my tags and other things that might help if that's okay because they are important but they're big and confusing:

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

Indirect Objects

Direct Objects

Reflexives / Pronomials Additional reflexive stuff Dativo ético which is very advanced and confusing but involves reflexives so I will include it but just be aware it's like advanced advanced stuff

This is also not including spelling changes for stem-changing verbs and verbs with certain endings like -car, -gar, -zar.

And I also didn't mention irregular verbs just in general so they're really that's more of a linguistic thing. I can just tell you some verbs are irregular and require memorization so you get the spelling right and so you sound smart

I also didn't include por and para because good lord that is a huge topic and very confusing for people so really just better for me to link to more info on it rather than try to explain it because it's hard to do briefly in a way that feels complete and makes sense

Also I didn't include different verbal expressions like tener expressions. Those are important but sort of separate grammar concepts in my mind. If you've studied other Romance Languages you probably have seen them and are familiar, but it's more of a translation thing because English speakers are more likely to say "I am hungry" rather than "I have hunger" for example.

#Spanish #learning Spanish #reference #langblr #language #languages #la gramatica

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werenotadulting · 3 years ago

Text

Routine Procedure pt. 5

Over the next couple of days, it was actually abnormal for Kate not to give me some special attention down there during a diaper change. Just woke up? Let's try using my vibrator on your soaked diaper. Need a change before lunch? How about reverse cowgirl while laying there on top of your fresh diaper. Time for your night diaper? Bedtime blowjob.

Don't get me wrong, Kate and I have always had a very good sex life, but this past week was unlike any other.

On Saturday, in the middle of a mid-afternoon change, was when Kate suggested we try getting out of the house for a bit.

"You really soak through these diapers quick, Mike. We're gonna have to see about getting some more soon."

"I suppose we should, right? I mean, they're working infinitely better than that condom thing," I said as I was laying back while Kate took care of wiping me down.

Despite what she had said about showing me how to change myself, she didn't seem to mind taking care of it, and I was in no rush to put a stop to it considering what was in it for me.

"That's very true. There was only that one minor leak you had last night, which I'm sure we can find a way to prevent in the future. I'll put in an order for some new diapers tonight, so they get here by Monday."

Kate secured the last tape and ran a finger along the elastic leg gathers. "You know, that new game store opened up in the mall on the other side of town. What do you say we stop over there and see how it is?"

I froze. Being diapered at home was one thing. Going out in public though.... Kate seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

"Mike. Earth to Mike. Remember what we talked about? No one is going to be paying attention to the size of your butt or the sound of your pants. And guess what? Even if they do, who cares? You have a medical need to wear diapers. Just like people who have trouble walking use canes, it's a medical thing. You didn't ask to be incontinent."

────────

I looked at myself in the mirror. My jeans appeared to do their job of concealing my diaper.

"You know," Kate popped up behind me in the reflection, "if you're so worried about people seeing, they do make onesies for adults. Just a thought."

I scoffed at her, and we headed off to the mall.

About 30 minutes later, we arrived. I couldn't help but notice that it seemed like there were a heck of a lot more people there than normal. Another 10 minutes later and we were finally able to find a parking space towards the back. As I got out of the car, I made sure my shirt was pulled down as far as it could go. It was all I needed for my shirt to ride up and expose my plastic waistband.

Kate grabbed my hand, but not before giving my padded butt a firm slap. The corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, and we walked hand-in-hand up to the mall.

────────

You know that feeling you get when it feels like someone is watching you? Yeah, it did not go away no matter how much time passed as we meandered through the mall.

Our first stop was in the food court, where we grabbed a late lunch of chicken and waffles. Kate went to order the food while I found a spot to sit down.

"All ready," Kate said as she walked up with a tray piled with chicken. "They accidentally made your lemonade a large, and I wasn't about time tell them they were wrong."

"It is the best homemade lemonade in town," I said, grabbing my plate off of the tray.

Kate set the tray down, then went to grab a couple of napkins. A few moments later, I noticed my shirt rising up and the back of my diaper being pulled open. I spun around and swatted the offending hand away, which turned out to belong to Kate.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Giving you a diaper check, what else?"

"We are in the middle of the mall!"

"It's been awhile since you had your diaper changed, and I know you are bad at knowing when you're at capacity," Kate gave me a 'prove me wrong' look.

"I'm fine!! Just... not out in broad daylight, please?" I pleaded.

"Well I didn't even get a chance to properly check just now, but if you say so...."

────────

After stopping in a couple clothing stores, ("Hey, we should think about getting you some new jeans. Those ones seem a little tight all of the sudden.") we finally made our way to the new gaming store. It was like a one-stop shop for gamers, with board games, collectibles, and video games. Towards the back, there were tables setup, where people could break out their games or card decks and hang out for a bit.

Once we had searched down all the aisles, we found ourselves in the back next to the gaming tables.

"Hey, we're looking for two more for Ticket to Ride! Do you guys want in?" said a blonde girl from a table in the corner. She and another girl were setting up the board, getting ready to start.

Kate's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Oh heck yes! I never lose at this game!" It was true, she did never lose, and she never let me hear the end of it whenever we played.

An hour later, and it was clear that it was between Kate and Melanie, the blonde girl, on who would be crowned victorious. The other girl and I had all but given up. Seeing that there was no way I could complete all my routes, I had long since resorted to my usual strategy of trying to sabotage Kate.

"Annnnnd 110, 111, 112. I have retained my crown," Kate gloated.

"Oh wonderful," I said, "I can't wait to hear about this all the way home."

"Well played, you two," Melanie chimed in. "Don't worry about cleaning up, we are actually waiting for some friends to come play a round."

"Oh thank you, that's so nice," Kate said as we both stood up to leave.

"Of course! It was nice meet....." Melanie trailed off, staring at my crotch.

Both Kate and I followed her gaze, and it was then that I saw that I'd had a major leak.

Large wet spots had formed down the inside of my jeans, as well as two half-moon shapes on my butt. Looking at my chair, there was more evidence of my accident, there for all to see.

It was obvious to anyone looking what had happened.

I was speechless.

"Oh shit, we're so sorry! Let me just wipe this up..." Kate said as she frantically wiped the seat down with a tissue.

The girls were equally dumbstruck, as they watched Kate lead me out of the store waddling behind her.

────────

The feeling of eyes on me increased tenfold on the walk through the mall to the car. Without a jacket or anything to cover up with, we moved as fast as we could, whispers and giggles following us out.

In what seemed like an eternity later, we finally made it back to the car.

"I'll get the seats cleaned, don't worry baby, just get in." Kate pulled open her door and got the car started. I didn't need to be told twice, as I practically leaped into the car.

"That...I...I'm so embarrassed...." I was starting to get choked up, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Hey, hey, there there sweetie, I'm sorry. That can't have been fun, I know. It's not your fault." Kate was rubbing my back, the car still in park.

"That doesn't make it any less humiliating! And it's not even like I had a little accident, Kate, my diaper leaked!" I was almost yelling, my emotions getting the better of me.

"Shhhh baby, it's okay, take deep breaths, it's going to be okay. We didn't know anyone there, no one important saw, you'll be fine."

I was still upset, but I listened to her, taking steadying breaths that at least got my heart rate under control. Seeing this, Kate started to back out of our parking spot.

"Let's get you home and into a bath, baby," Kate soothed. We drove on in silence for awhile as I continued to calm down.

I think," Kate broke the silence, "that we might want to consider getting you some thicker protection. Just to be safe, you know? What do you think?"

"I think that means I will definitely be waddling, and it will be obvious to everyone what I'm wearing," I said, staring out the window.

"Well, do you prefer people maybe noticing that you walk a little funny, or running the risk of leaking like happened back there?"

"I don't know Kate, I just...I don't want to think about it."

"I'll take care of it then, babe," Kate said, "those hospital diapers are notoriously cheap anyway. We'll find something that works better for you. And I'll look into some of those onesies, so you don't feel so self-conscious about your diaper sticking out."

"Yeah, whatever," I said, as we continued down the highway.

────────

Kate knew exactly where to look when she logged on to order new diapers.

Let's see, she thought, I think probably a case of ABU Simple Ultra. Maybe a mixed case with some fun prints? No, it was too soon to go all-in like that. I'll just add in another pack of PeekABUs. That's 90 diapers, so at 2-3 diapers a day, that should be good for a month. Better throw in some boosters, too. And set up a recurring monthly order, yes please.

With that order placed, it was then to the ODU website, where she settled on several of their basic onesies.

"All in good time, Kate," she muttered to herself as she looked longingly at all of the cute designs. She could just picture how adorable Mike would look in that dinosaur onesie.

She was so horny right now. The sight of Mike in his wet jeans, his face burning bright red. Her hand slipped down the front of her shorts.

Oh fuck, she thought, he was so humiliated. She rubbed her clit to the image of Mike standing there over the pee puddle on his chair while those girls looked on.

Had she taped on his diaper perhaps a little loose before they went to the mall? Yes.

Had she intentionally ordered Mike a large lemonade? Also yes.

Had she suspected during her impromptu diaper check at the food court that Mike would protest and insist he was fine? Triple yes.

Had she known those flimsy hospital diapers would fail sooner rather than later, and she could talk Mike into something a bit thicker?

Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner.

Kate closed the laptop and got up.

She had a diaper boy she needed to fuck.

#werenotadulting

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years ago

Text

COSMIC - S1:E5; Chapter Five, The Flea and The Acrobat - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘳. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you."

'I can't believe I'm at Will's funeral.'

"Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." The pastor continued.

I spared a glance at the people around me.

I looked to Jonathan, his head bowed, and poor Joyce who was sitting nearby.

I can't imagine what they must be going through.

Joyce was like a second mother to me, and she has always treated as if I was one of her own. I'll always be grateful for that. I lay a hand on her shoulder.

She looks up to me confused like I had pulled her deep out of her thought, upon seeing it was me she smiles thankfully. She put her hand over mine and gave it a few gentle pats and then a small stroke with her thumb to say thank you.

I smiled solemnly at her and let go, listening to the rest of the service.

"It's times like these that our faith is challenged. How, if he is truly benevolent... could God take us from someone so young, so innocent?"

I looked down at my feet.

"It would be easy to turn away from God... but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love."

I felt a nudge on my shoulder and turned to look at Dustin. He wore a sly smirk as he looked to his right, past me and Mike.

Frowning in confusion, I turned my head to see what he was smirking about.

"Just wait till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." Dustin said cheekily.

I scoffed under my breath, rolling my eyes.

"Since when has she cared about Will? She couldn't even get his name right, remember that week she called him Bill?" I huffed, crossing my arms in distaste.

The boys smirked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Somebody jealous?" Lucas smirked.

"No-! Not ev- Shut up!" I scowl.

The boys giggle earning more than a few concerned and offended glances making me smile to myself. Mrs. Wheeler leaned down and shushed the boys making me smirk more.

'Serves them right.'

Soon enough, the casket had been lowered into the growd and roses had been thrown on top. I made my way to the very side of the grave, looking down.

"I know you're not dead. But I swear to God, if you don't come back I'm gonna kill you." I muttered to the casket in the ground.

As people began to filter out, we watched as Mike's mom said her condolences to Will's parents.

"I'm so, so sorry."

"Oh, thank you so much for coming." Will's dad said.

I never liked him.

Joyce was just standing by herself quietly, her arms crossed looking down at the grave.

"Yeah, if there's anything we can do..." Mr. Wheeler offered, shaking the man's hand.

"I appreciate it. Thank you so much."

I said goodbye to Lucas who had to follow his parents out, even though we would be seeing him later at the wake. I did the same with Mike, and soon enough Mom was waiting for us so we could get to the car.

"Mom, will you give me a minute?"

"Of course, Pumpkin," She smiled at me with sympathy.

I turned around wove through the crowd that had separated me from Joyce. I tapped her on the shoulder, seeming to jostle her from her thoughts a second time.

Upon seeing it was me, she smiled.

"Hi, Ms. Byers."

"Oh, hi Y/n. Thank you, for coming, sweetheart," She smiled.

I captured her in a bear hug and she gladly reciprocated, giving my several comforting strokes.

"Of course. I'm so, so sorry for your loss." I said, letting her go.

"Oh, thank you, honey. T-Tell me, how have you been holding up?" She asked gently.

My eyes welled up.

"I'm not gonna lie, it's- it's been really hard. I just, I just miss him so much. Your son was such a good person. Always a gentleman." I knew what I was saying.

Even if he is alive for sure, everything I said was true. He always has been nothing but kind to me.

Not to mention, I owe him for so much.

She seemed extremely thankful for hearing that and I was glad I could make her genuinely smile on this sad day.

"Really? Oh sweetie, thank you. That means, just so much to me."

I look back to my mom and brother waiting for me by the car, and I return my gaze back to Ms. Byers.

"Um, I better go. My mom is waiting for me. I guess I'll be seeing you at the wake. Goodbye, Ms. Byers."

"Thank you again, Y/n. I'll see you later, okay?" Her face slightly fell and she smiled at me.

I nod and begin walking backward sending a small wave her way before turning around a breaking out into a small jog to catch up to my mom.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Being at the funeral of your best friend is daunting and quite surreal.

Being at the funeral of your best friend who is quite possibly alive in another dimension and you and only four other people know this is a completely different ballpark.

We had all met up at the wake and regrouped.

The plan was to ask Mr. Clarke if there was anything he could tell us about the theories regarding alternate dimensions. I'm just praying that we don't arouse suspicion given the setting.

"Mr. Clarke?" The tall man turned his attention away from the buffet to look at us.

Mr. Clarke smiled sympathetically. "Oh, hey, there."

The somber look came easily to my face as I looked to Mr. Clarke, Mike, and Lucas on either side of me while Dustin was digging into the buffet.

"How are you kids holding up?"

Lucas speaks up for us, slightly distracted by Dustin's blatant chewing. "We're... in... mourning."

"Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers," Dustin sighed, shaking his head.

My eyes widen softly, and I look to Mr. Clarke trying to cover for him.

"You'll have to excuse my brother, Mr. Clarke, he's-" I stop midsentence to see him happily munching on more snacks, and look back to Mr. Clarke. "well, he mourns in his own... special way."

"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asked, wanting to move things along as quickly as possible.

"We have some questions," Lucas added.

I shook my head in agreement. "A lot of questions, actually,"

Mr. Clarke complied and the four of us found ourselves at the nearest table, asking our teacher about other dimensions at our "dead" friends' wake. Not something I ever could have imagined doing.

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Segan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?"

"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr. Clarke replies, noticeably confused at the subject of our questions.

"Right, theoretically,"

"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asked.

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-World's Interpretation, haven't you?" A ghost of a smile on our teacher's face.

"Yeah," I chuckled, nodding my head in response.

The boys looked at me, wondering why I had said that.

I gave them a look that said, 'I don't know, just go with it.'

"Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened," I found myself nodding along, not for the sake of being believable, but actually lost in the idea.

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about," Lucas sighed, leaning back.

"Oh."

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows. You know the Vale of Shadows?" Dustin asked, taking another loud bite of his off brand Nilla Wafers.

Not thinking that our science teacher would know anything about Dungeons and Dragons, I was completely taken aback by his next words.

"An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic–"

"Yeah, exactly." Mike said cutting him off.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"If that did exist - a place like the Vale of Shadows - how would we travel there?"

"Theoretically, of course." I add.

"Well..."

Mr. Clarke grabbed an empty paper plate and pulled out a pen from his jacket pocket. He then drew a straight line across the paper plate as he spoke, creating a visual for us.

"Picture... an acrobat..." He drew a small stick figure on top of the lines. "standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules."

He began drawing arrows on either side of the acrobat.

"You can move forwards, or backwards. But, what if..." He drew a very small creature under one of the arrows. "right next to our acrobat, there is a flea? Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?"

"Right." We all agreed.

"Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way... along the side of the rope." He drew arrows indicating the flea's direction around and under the rope, causing me to furrow my brows. "He can even go underneath the rope."

The boys and I all shared the same look before returning our gaze to Mr. Clarke. "Upside Down."

"Exactly."

Mike spoke up. "But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat."

"In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat."

"So we can't go upside down?" Lucas asked warily.

"No."

"Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?"

"Well," Our teacher furrowed his brows, a thoughtful look coming upon his face. "you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then..."

He folded the paper plate in half, creasing it shut before shoving his pen directly through both sides of the paper plate. "you create a doorway."

"Like a gate?" My brother asked eagerly.

"Sure. Like a gate. But again, this is all–"

"Theoretical." I smile, nodding my head.

"But... but what if this gate already existed?" Mike asked, timidly.

"Well, if it did, I... I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole."

Mike seems to gauge our reactions, and I'm the only one who met his eye with an equally uncertain gaze.

"Science is neat." Mr. Clarke continued. "But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving."

We all lean back, digesting the information.

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