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moku-and-his-madness · 1 year ago

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First few pages of Ghost Stories (by me) is Out!!! Enjoy!!!

!heads-up! i put any other language in red for it to be easier to read, the story basically self explains the sentence and translates it for you so need to worry about language!!!

Languages Contained: Spanish, Portuguese. (more but we'll have to see how the story progresses)

GHOST STORIES

By Unt1t3d

Position for Hire: “J”

I don't like offices. I don’t know if it's because they mean that something uncomfortable is being discussed or that I didn’t organize anything myself, knowing that contents are probably where they don’t belong. This tossed here, That cast aside there. But this office I hated the most. Not only was I uncomfortable, I was being pestered about “How I felt” and, “What I should do to get on a healthier path in life”. I’ve never liked the ‘this is a safe space’ shit they rant.

I didn’t need to get healthier mentally, I needed to get better physically. I needed money. “Justice, are you alright?” The Therapist was nagging me, I noticed. “Huh? Oh, Yeah. I agree.” I spaced off a lot so I just pretended I knew what anyone was saying in a conversation. “ I was just saying that you should get your work papers in order. I think a job might be just what you need to get yourself in the right headspace.” She said like she was talking to a toddler, writing notes on her notepad. Wow, I’m touched, she’s concerned. Aren't they all? I’ve had enough of the sympathetic 'Are you alright?’s Honestly, a ‘you're a crazy mother fucker’ once in a while is perfectly fine to balance out the chaos.

“So is your medication working? Do you still see…them?” She's talking about the shadowy friends of mine! Yeah, I still fucking see them even though you have me on enough meds to call me a drugaddict! In fact, I saw one on Tuesday, SUSAN. I’ve always been able to see them, even when I was younger, and they blamed it on a very rare, very young case of dementia. But these…things, aren't just figments of my imagination. They have minds of their own, taunting me all the time. It's the reason he’s gone.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen them in a while.” I say with a smile, so that she won’t prescribe me another pill. “Don’t we end in a few?” I say to hurry her along. She taps her skull, as if she’s just now remembering I have a life. “Oh, you’re right! Then we’ll pick this up next week.” Ew, I didn’t want to pick this up again next week. “Um, I’m going to get my papers organized, remember? I’m getting that job. So, if I just notify you, I don’t think meetings will be necessary as of right now.” I say impatiently with a weak smile, tapping my foot at godspeed. Man, she’s slow on the update. Maybe if She's smart enough she’ll realize what I’m trying to say.

She gathers her things, clearly not in her right headspace as she throws it all recklessly in a tote bag. My OCD impulses twitch. “Oh, wow. Yeah, that is right! You have a way better memory than me!” she said over-enthusiastically. No wonder she was alway re-scheduling. “I suppose that’s alright, but if you're ever stressed, or need someone to talk to, call my number.” She said with a deeply concerned look. To be truthful, I lost her Number, but that’s just between you and me. “Yep. In fact, I’ll have you on speed-dial, just in case.” I tell her, my enthusiasm weak and my social battery draining fast. “Okay! You have a good rest of your day then!” She says with a cheery smile. Right, like hell I will.

Yup. Sure will. Time to go home to Mamá and step-daddy and scrub the house clean, and cower away from David’s leather belt. I hate to be brutally honest like I always am, but they’re half the reason I’m in debt for these damn medical bills. I walk down the long flight of stairs and out of the building. Ugh, finally, I’m free.

-X-

I hung my keys and walked into the kitchen and shouted, “I’M HOME!”. No response, of course. I opened the door to my room and took a deep breath. Now I’m home. I closed the door because, privacy ya’ know? I hung my messenger bag on a decorative rung I had 3-d printed in sophomore year of Computer Design. I glanced at my neat wall of vinyl records with bands like “Nirvana” and “Los Campesinos”, right next to the picture of me smiling with my father. On my desk was a stack of books, things I was borrowing but now belong to me, a cup of pencils, and my PC setup I made myself, stickers plastering the frame.

I flopped on my bed, tired as hell. I pulled out my phone and selected a playlist, closing my eyes and drifting in and out of sleep. I dream of the shadows and VHS tapes changing and a loud static in my head. Everything is so unilluminated, and I’m scared, frightened out of my wit at whatever could come out of the wispy darkness. “Jay '' someone says. I look in the darkness, trying to detect where the voice is ringing from. “Jay” I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jolt awake and rub my eyes. When my vision focuses, my mom is standing in the middle of my room, cigarette in hand. “You were screamin’ again. Did you take your damn pills?” No, I hadn’t. I was supposed to take them even if I took a two minute nap. Or else I screamed like a madman.

“David isn’t coming home tonight.” She said, taking a drag of the cancer creator. “ ‘Work’?” I say, not looking at her. She breathes out. “Yeah, ‘work’. I figured you could use the stove tonight then.” She takes one last look at my room and walks out, her shirt askew across her small curved shoulders. She’s not the same anymore. After my dad died in that plane crash, she’s been doing all the wrong things with all the wrong people. I don’t understand why she would want to be in a relationship with that abusive fuck ‘David’ or whatever anyway.

But she still does little things like this, letting me know if and when David’s going to be home, and letting me use the stove to make my empanadas and arroz Rojo or ‘foreign food’ as David calls it. He doesn’t let me cook because it’s too ‘spicy’ for him.

I pull out all my spices and ingredients, ‘Summerland’ by Half Alive still playing in my ears. I’m in the zone, everything how I want it. Cooking the arroz and frying the meat and sauce for empanadas, carefully avoiding the paper cuts on my hands when dicing the jalapeno and cilantro. In the midst of cooking, I decide to make dessert, having a hard time picking either Tres Leches or Concha Bread. I would ask Mamá, but she was half asleep on the tattered La-Z-Boy in the parlor. So I just decide based on what we have the most. A few hours later, mom wakes up, the smell of authentic Mexican food calling her. “Gracias por la comida hijo.” She says, eyes only half open. “De nada mami.” Spanish is another thing David doesn’t like. He can’t understand ‘taco bell’ as he calls it. “Pronto conseguiré un trabajo.” I’m getting a job, I tell Mamá. “¿un trabajo?” she says with no surprise. “¿Sabes cuál?” Do I know which one? I was so focused on getting out of my meetings for a bit,that I hadn’t actually thought of what I would do. “Quizás algo en informática. Se paga bien.” I told her about my computer science classes and how the area of work paid well. Well enough to finish paying the debt to the bills I owed.

“¿Cuándo te convertiste en un hombre tan adulto?” When did I become such a grown man? She looks at me. “uh, el mes pasado mamá.” I had just turned 18 last month on November 7th. I was already an adult, technically. Mamá just looked at me and shook her head. “Ya sabes a qué me refiero, joven.” She said sassily. I laughed, enjoying our little corner of the universe, where we were safe. I brought out the Concha Bread and Mamá’s eyes lit up. “Mi Favorita! ” I smiled at her happiness, “¡Solo para ti! “. Just for you! “Hijo, ¡me estropeas!” You spoil me, She says with a laugh.

We finished dinner, and I tucked Mamá into bed. I piled up the dishes, planning to do them tomorrow, and pulled out my phone to look at available jobs in my area. I pulled up Yelp and look for an IT job. No such luck. I tried Indeed next, again, nada. The hours passed, websites were searched, and still, no IT or Cyber Security jobs in my area.

I give up and try to find a decent paying job not too far from home.There are some alright ones and then there's the ones that look a little shady. I filter out my results so I don’t wish myself an early funeral. And then I found it, THE GOLDEN JOB!!! The golden job is this thing me and my computer friends would do when we were job hunting. You search for a job, filter it, and whoever had the best job at the end could dare anyone to do anything (within reason of course). One time, my friend Alex won and he got everybody to buy him something from DQ.

But this job seemed too good to be true. Just down town in the suburbs, away from the city, is a fancy estate house. The owners died a few years ago and this little old lady is looking for someone to clean it up for resale, as she is getting on in her years. The pay is good enough to pay for my bills though. All that's left now is to make the call…

Question Everything: “Wil”

Do you ever get that feeling that you’re constantly being watched? Like eyes are constantly trained on you? As if existing is a cause for concern. “Hey Wil,can you pass me the arroz?” I snap out of my daze, “Huh? Oh sure, Tio.” The house is hectic today, cousins running around and Aunts and Uncles drinking and talking. Nobody in the family liked to be around me and Tio Hector felt bad about that, so he sat with me at all the family meets.

“Ei, você está bem?” Tio says, I smile dancing on his lips. I play along, “Sim, só pensando... e você?” I’m just thinking, what about you? I say this with the same smile playing on my lips. Tio just laughs, “You silly, I’m always fine! Como foi a terapia hoje?” He asks about therapy. He cares but I don’t need therapy. We’re just wasting money we don’t have. “Ah, o mesmo de sempre. Ela apenas traz à tona as mesmas coisas…” Same old, Same old. The lady doesn’t even have a plan for me to get ‘better’. Tio just smiles and says, “Talvez ela esteja louca!”. He bursts out with laughter, making the house feel a little more homely.

Some more family members enter the kitchen, filing up on more drinks and food. I feel so uncomfortable around them, as they do around me. A hate/hate relationship, I guess. Tio sensed my unease and acted as necessary. “Ignore-os, eles estão aqui apenas para ficar bêbados e conseguir babá de graça.” He said they’re alone at the event to get drunk and get free babysitting. He knew this would make me smile, because not only was it funny, it was true.

I stand and push in my chair. “Vejo você mais tarde, tio. Tenho que ir para casa. Trabalho ocupado para ser feito.” Tio stands, “Trabalhar? OK, te vejo mais tarde. But don’t stress yourself! Or else you’ll end up like Aunt Maria!” He laughs. We hug and I leave, off to drive to my small apartment.

-X-

I got in and locked the doors and tossed my keys anywhere, I didn’t care at this point, my stuff was already everywhere. Boxes were still piled up from a month or two ago, from when I left the family house and moved out on my own. I toe my way on my cold floors, slowly inching my way to my room. LED lights are strung up, drawings and sketches hung up from AP Art classes. A picture of me and Tio sits on my nightstand. We were at a fair, eating bad funnel cakes and playing games. He won me the very avocado plushie that rests on my bed right now that day.

My laptop rests on my desk, covered in stickers I had designed myself, still open on my DAW program with a music track in queue. I slam it shut, too tired to even think about any actual work. I collapse to the bed. I don’t fall asleep, but just lay there. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with more scars. I lay horizontally, drinking in the late afternoon sunlight, absorbing all the details of my room. It’s kinda like when you’re waiting for something but can only leave at a certain time, so you wait and actually notice all the little things in your life.

A boom rings from upstairs. Ugh, the neighbors. I finally decided that I had rested long enough and had to do something productive. The therapist said something about getting a job or whatever, so that I could ‘get myself in the right headspace’. I already had a job, but it was one my family didn't approve of, and if I mentioned that to the therapist we would have a WHOLE discussion about ‘how that made me feel’ or, ‘what I could do to change their perspective’.

I didn’t have the time for that, and hell, I needed a buck. So, restlessly, I snatch my laptop and open Yelp and Indeed and other numerous job websites and applications. Hours later, you would think I would discover a decent art job! Even a graphics designer looking for an assistant in the heart of New York! But Nada. I gave up a half hour later, deciding to just filter my results for easy, high paying jobs in a calm area (so that way I wasn’t lost in Time Square).

What comes up is some crack-head craigslist kinda shit but some of the jobs are promising. I filter again to get rid of the cuckoo's and 9-5 jobs, settling for something more temp style. This narrows down my search even more, drastically not giving a fuck about my opinion, and only showing one or two results. Eenie Minie Moe later and I found the thing to shut Susan up about the job. A cleaning job, high pay, pick my own hours, AND! When the estate sells I get 2% of the profit sold. It’s this little old lady, selling the home and land of her dead son and daughter-in-law, just wanting to get it in shape before resale.

I applied for the application and got it sent. I go to the kitchen to eat some trashy dried ramen in a bowl I haven’t washed in a week, and decide what time my body wants to deal with sleep and pain.

-X-

I woke up late that morning, my knees bloodied. Fuck. I tip-toe to the bathroom and get out my huge first aid kit. I disinfect and clean, avoid infection and patch it all up with a huge band aid. I've learned the art of self-aid with my eyes closed and hands tied by now. Fixed, for now.

I checked my phone, surprised to see a notification from the lady with the estate this early. She says my application checks out and that the latest I can start today is 11:30 am. Well, at least I can choose when I leave. I glance at the clock, gauging how much time I get to blow before leaving to find the property. 10:29…okay. Shower, skip breakfast today, and attempt to clean. Like hell I'm gonna clean. It’s just not in my nature anymore.

Flashforward and I’m running to my car to get there on time because my sense of time is horrible. I showered and barely had time to get my boxers on. So, looking like a lunatic, brandishing my disheveled hair and soggy bandaids barely hanging on by a thread, I booked it to my car.

more to come soon!!

tagging:@thinkingaboutctommy @paldeanbooper (my writer buddy:@wiblursaystuff) @vibestillaxxx @gay-mooshrooms @colleenispunk @wormsinsdirt (another writer buddy:@teagica)

#al was here!#hector estaba aqui!#proceed with caution at my blog #my work!!#al writes...#Hector escribes...

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hotcheetohatredwastaken · 11 months ago

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20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged on this by @unexpectedstormy ! I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to respond like it was a chain or make my own post, so I just went for it

1. How many works do you have on A03?

Two. There will be more coming, because Blood Drops on Roses is just arc one of this story, and there's a lot of snippets for Prologue floating around.

Blood Drops on Roses: Linked Universe

BDOR Prologue: The Yiga and The Sheikah

2. What's your total A03 word count?

51,493 words since mid-August, when I finally got an account XD I've been a lurker for YEARS ya'll.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Linked Universe only, so far.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

See above XD I hope to get enough fics out there that I can sort my work like that, but for now it's just those two.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, I respond as soon as I can, they are like crack to me. Maybe because I'm new to sharing my work or something, but I would die for each and every one of you that leaves even as much as a <3

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

NONE OF MY FICS ARE FINISHED YET AAAAAAAAAA. Arc 1's ending is going to be pretty angsty though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm, I see that this questionnaire is not meant for me. There is a Prologue section "The Trap" that I'll be putting out soon through, its ending is pretty sweet I would say.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet. I am afraid that it's gonna happen, but so far everyone has been so nice, so I hope not D:

9. Do you write smut?

Nah. Don't really read it either. Just not my thing.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I mean unless you count LU as a crossover between all the Link's respective fandoms, no

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Gosh I hope not. How does one steal a fic?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. If I ever get good enough at Spanish, I would like to take a crack at translating my own fic once its all published, but it would probably be laughably terrible. Eh, practice is practice.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet. Hey @needfantasticstories, I think Clippy Wind and Pug Sky need to go on some adventures together, don't you?

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Tbh I don't really ship. I do think Malon/Time and Legend/Ravio are cute though. I'm just not really interested in exploring the romantic side of stories, even in published literature.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Geez I hope that I finish all of Arc 2 at this point. But I may be too early into the game to answer this.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Heck if I know. I had someone say in my comment section that they liked how I characterize people, so we'll go with that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I write too much and probably in too much detail. Sometimes it would be better to say "They crossed the bridge and set up camp" but nooooooooooo lets add 7,000 words to this already bloated fic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Italics. I was about to whip out my decade of Latin for part of this fic, but I decided against it because I'm pretentious but not that pretentious. Also because I still don't understand word order at ALL.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I have some fanfic from the dog series of Warrior Cats lurking somewhere that I wrote when I was like 12. Survivors, or something? I should probably go delete it, I'm sure it's trash. I'm scared to even look, it probably hasn't seen the light of day since I wrote it.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Well I've only got one big fic out right now so let's go with BDOR

@needfantasticstories and @somer-writes I'm kicking this your way.

#linked universe #lu #linkeduniverse #cheetoanswers #ao3 #linked universe fanfic #hope i did this right #I'm just kinda new so idk how to do this crap lol #bdor #blooddropsonroses

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theladyofshalott1989 · 4 months ago

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20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag @heyitszev, @thetotomoo, and @infernalrusalka! It was so fun reading all of your answers, too <3333

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Eleven!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 220,491 posted currently (about 60k more written but not posted yet).

3. What fandoms do you write for? Hogwarts: Legacy (10 works) and Bridgerton (1 work).

4. Top five fics by kudos? "Like Moths to a Flame", "Burning Bright", "The Reynolds Dilemma", "Heart's Pleasure First", "Love's Not Time's Fool".

5. Do you respond to comments? In the words of Severus Snape, "Always." <3

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? My Sebastian Sallow/You one-shot "What Was I Made For?"

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Nearly all of my fics end happily, but I think from a "wow, the characters went through hell and back and yet they somehow got a happy ending" perspective, I would probably say "Burning Bright."

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not directly on them yet (thankfully), but I have definitely received anonymous hate here on Tumblr and Reddit. Those people can suck it. Affectionately. 🙃

9. Do you write smut? Yup.👍

10. Craziest crossover? No crossovers yet, although I'm hoping to write a Hook (the 1991 movie) & Peter Pan (the book by J.M. Barrie) long-fic someday. That's not all that crazy though...haha.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of, but I don't go looking. Eek.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but that would be very cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I'm currently co-writing an MC x MC fic with heyitszev. Someday we'll (hopefully) finish it because it's SO FREAKING GOOD ALREADY. AHHH.

14. All time favorite ship? I have consumed many ships over the years, but the one that always sticks with me is Cassian/Jyn (aka Rebelcaptain) from Rogue One. My own ship (Sebastien, Sebastian x Damien) may also be added to this list soon as these boys have consumed my every waking thought for nearly a year and a half now. Lol.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't think I've ever not finished a WIP? Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself...

16. What are your writing strengths? Banter, emotional whiplash (sorry lol), foreshadowing, and plot twists. At least I think so. Haha.

17. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I like it! I minored in Spanish in college and have always wanted to use Spanish in a fic, but haven't really had the opportunity to yet. Maybe if I ever get around to writing a Cassian Andor-centered fic, I'll finally do it. We'll see.

18. First fandom you wrote in? Star Wars! I wrote a shit ton of Anakin/Padme when I was a young teen.

19. Favorite fic you've written? If you had asked me a few months ago, it would have been "Burning Bright", but it's now my current WIP, "You Cannot Put a Fire Out." I put a lot of myself and my insecurities into these two fics, and they were both written at a pretty emotionally turbulent time of my life, so they have a special place in my heart.

20. There's no twentieth question, so take this as your cue to give yourself a hug. (Yes, I'm talking to you!) <3

No pressure tags: @morelikeravenbore @endless-starlight-legacy

#tag game #my writing

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feekins · 1 year ago

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depression still sucks but I stay sillay🤞

meanwhile, looks like shit's kicking off again at the start of ch 5 of Trigun Maximum vol 2, so let's get into my thoughts and things and translation weirdness I find as I re-read it!

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

SO. first page. Brad's shoving Jessica into an escape pod. when Jessica tries to insist on staying, Dark Horse has Brad replying with "Get in the 'shell'!! We're at low altitude, we'll touch down soon!" which. always confused me. until I read the Overhaul's translation, which has Brad saying "Get in the ship! We're at a low altitude, so it'll land quickly!"

moving into Wolfwood's...flashback? dream? thing? we see this habit Dark Horse has of keeping in honorifics. I've noticed this throughout my re-readings (like Milly saying 'sempai' where, in the Overhaul, she says 'ma'am'...and they pretty consistently keep the '-san's and '-kun's and whatnot), but...idk. this is one of the more interesting instances to me. Dark Horse has the kids calling Wolfwood "Nico-onii-chan" and "Nico-nii" whereas the Overhaul translates these things as "Big Brother Nico" or just "Big Brother".

COMPLETELY UNRELATED:

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

...I mean, okay, Dark Horse?????

on the next page...idk, kind of context-changing translation discrepancies? at least, it changed my understanding of this bit. Dark Horse has Wolfwood saying to the kids "It would appear...I'm no longer fit to hold you guys..." and you can see his bloody hands as he says this, so previously, I interpreted this bit as metaphorical blood on his hands and/or maybe his hands are physically fucked up? but in the Overhaul, it's "It seems...I no longer have the right to hold ya..." and that drives the visual metaphor home way better imo.

BUT THEN...WE'RE BACK TO VASH AND WOLFWOOD'S ANTICS 😆

which leads to...

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

I MEAN??? OKAY?????

here's a translation discrepancy I'm attributing to Dark Horse doing weird localization things (again). it completely changes the context, messing with this recurring theme we see across vol 1-2 of how ordinary, nonviolent folks will turn to violence when their family is hurt or in danger. to quote Wolfwood in ch 4 of vol 1 of Trigun Maximum (Overhaul translation), "Even people who would never fight will pick up a gun if their loved ones are killed." I'm p sure I've said it before, but that goes all the way back to Vash going against Knives for causing the Fall (killing humans, whom Vash basically considers extended family, as Sensei explains in ch 6 of Trigun Maximum vol 1) and killing Rem (closer adopted family). so yeah, that thing Wolfwood says...that's something Vash knows intimately. so I don't think it's a stretch to say that perhaps that's a big part of why Vash keeps intervening (even when he's hurt or sick as hell;;;;;)...

ANYWAY.

something interesting I noticed about THIS freaky s.o.b.:

in this panel, Dark Horse has him saying "And lost property is lost property, right? Am I wrong? Hmm?" meanwhile, in the Overhaul...he has a pretty distinct Spanish accent? like, saying "Lost property is lost property. Am I right, or am I right, jefe? Comprende?" and that accent goes beyond this panel, so. THAT'S interesting. 🤔

and, once again, the Overhaul's translation makes more sense, as we literally just saw this guy light his cigarette with this thing.

good wordplay in both translations! I'm not sure why Dark Horse leaves out that one bit, tho 🤨

and again, Dark Horse! ya really need to stop leaving out these vital bits...

AND FINALLY...

...Wolfwood.

my guy.

you were LITERALLY THERE at Fifth Moon.

...then again, this bit isn't about the big things, I don't think. it's about the little uncanny things Wolfwood's noticing about Vash as they continue to travel together...

#trigunbookclub #text postan 2k23 #xjgxjgcjg these posts NEED to stop taking forever for me to make;;;;;;

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mickvalencia · 11 months ago

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Devlog #001 - Summer is here and there's ice in the cooler

Hey Dear Reader! Here we are again, on our second week of the project being out in the open, and I must say that it has been absolutely delightful. The whole team has been hard at work on their own duties, writing, setting up things, discussing new and old ideas, editing, translating and mostly having a blast with this new working schedule we've developed so far. This whole policy of "Trade Perfect for Done" has done wonders for us, this week we've tackled some ideas we had in the backburner for a while, and I'll tell you what do we have in store for the next few days and weeks:

• DGS Podcast: Our Project Manager "elSolar" and I, just finished recording the raw audio for the first episode of what will be our bi-weekly (I'm not sure if it's the right term, maybe is bi-monthly, when you do it every other week, I get confused with those sometimes) official podcast, in which we'll talk about mechanics, lore and the development process of DGS, it should be out this week, and we'll release it as soon as it's done. It was a fun experience! We were a little bit nervous at first, but we got into it and let ourselves loose after a while, all in the spirit of doing things instead of overplanning. This episode we talk about the origins of DGS, we unveil some of the lore and have fun with some random questions, stay tuned for when it comes out! • Detrayan Prism Takes Off: We posted one of our main stories the other day, "The Myth of Creation", which will be part of our narrative series as a way to flesh out the lore and share with you some of the non-mechanical aspects of DGS. This week we're working on the translation of "Miracle - Losing Doesn't Halt the Bet", a beautiful story about empathy, forgiveness, and gambling, written by our Narrative Director, Mr. "R. Ursus". We hope that these stories not only help you understand more of the lore of our world, but also leave you with a message of hope and resilience. • DGS Annex: As you might have noticed, the manuals need some elements that are not available yet, like our continent map, the character sheet, a GD reference sheet and the script for the Prologue Episode. We're putting the final touches to these elements, and they'll be published very soon as well, which will takes us to a point where we can concentrate more on the lore, by having the mechanics already established in their basic sense, leaving us free to work on lore and subsystems! • Community Space Tidying Up: As you already know, social spaces are a difficult area for me, so our Subsystems Manager, "Kitt", is giving me a hand with the social and the construction of spaces to grow a community, play the game and discuss the lore and stories around it. We're aiming to have a presence on most socials, but we'll concentrate mostly on Discord (Which is where our sessions usually take place) and we've also made a Subreddit (r/Detrayan) as well. • Green Book: We keep our progress on our third manual, we're taking it easy with this one a bit, so we can push the final parts of the playable stage, but it should be out pretty soon. This one will be a glimpse into the world in a general sense, we'll talk about the Planes, Ages, Species, Landmarks and Deities, among others. Besides that, there are lots of other things we have planned for the upcoming weeks, like the Spanish versions of the manuals and stories, the construction of our own Discord Bot for DGS sessions, and the implementation of our Subsystems once the three main books of the "Detrayan Colors" series are finished (I want to get to the Yellow Book so much! Can't wait to talk about our moving cities and Behemoths!)

Anyway, I hope you're doing well, that your family, friends and pets are healthy and happy, that your today pales in comparison to your tomorrow, and that all your projects and ideas get to safe harbor. We want to thank everyone who has shown interest in the project and our ideas, we really appreciate your support, we hope you see us as friends you can reach out and talk to. Throw a message our way, let's have a friendly chat, talk about the project with your friends, clean up your cat's litter box and take your dog for a walk, call your mom and tell her that you love her, drink water, drive safely and enjoy life as much as you can. It seems I got sidetracked, anyway, have a most excellent day, and it would mean a lot to us if you can do the whole "like, share, subscribe, engage and comment" that everyone talks about, your support is the fuel that keeps this TTRPG vehicle going forward. As always, very big hugs from your friends at the Detrayan Team! Mick Lead of Detrayan Team

#dgs #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #indiedev

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finsterhund · 2 months ago

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so you have any info for an english translation of the original french heart of darkness? you did mention some diffrences in what andy says and id like to know more about it!

I've been on and off looking for a professional translator or dedicated fan who's first language is French to pay to create a transcript and then making a subtitled video of all the cinematics, possibly even modifying the PAF file to create a fanmade English subbed install of the game that properly runs. But finances and stress has put that on the back burner. It is very much planned though. I fully intent to make this a resource available online when I get there.

My French is poor enough that I cannot do this by myself but good enough that I can notice differences and in slower sections pick out specific words and understand the meaning. From what me and other people have said, there's a more serious tone in the general cutscenes with Andy being presented as more younger and naiver and with dialogue that is less "of the time period." Knowing that there was a large cardboard cutout of arnold schwarzenegger in a tv interview that showed a bit of Eric's studio at around that time, the inclusion of a Terminator reference at the final confrontation for the English dub makes sense. Particularly in that scene, it would not make sense for a direct translation. As in French the Master essentially goes "We'll all die" and Andy says "No, you'll die" which sounds more like a meme sort of joke line directly translated into English where as in the English dub the Master goes "You'll kill us all" to which Andy responds with the comeback. Andy being a bit spicier and quipping with the big bad being the ultimate result of the change.

Contrastly, Andy actually swears in the original. In the opening cinematic he says "merde" several times, which in the English dub is translated as "shoot" as oppose to the more correct "shit"

There's some figures of speech that weren't directly translatable. the "sleeping in class" is basically "head in the clouds" in the original French and from what I can tell the Teacher's rant is more along the lines of "if black holes are so boring maybe you'll be more entertained by the black of the cupboard" as black/dark are both "noir" and that's a bit of a word pun with black hole and the dark.

Other notable differences that I can confidently point out are what appears to be a political joke in reference to the European Union when Vicious is first thrown against a wall (this scene due to a mixing error is almost impossible to hear in the English dub so it was a point of focus when trying to listen and understand what the lines were in the original French), and the Ami/Friends/Amigos not being speakers of another human language. They simply speak broken French. Which I think makes more sense that their species is called "Friends" and the one that Andy befriends is called "Friend" because it's them using a human word they know. It's not their actual name. Just something they hope Andy will understand. Interestingly, the English dub and the Spanish dub are the only ones that changed this, instead having the Friends be shown to speak one human language better than that of Andy and the viewer. It's common knowledge for the English dub that Spanish was chosen for the language of the friends. In the Spanish dub, it's English! Not related to the French dub itself, but I found that fun.

Additional fun fact about things lost in translation. Maître (Master) has a dual meaning. It's also the title given to what's the equivalent to primary school teachers by their students. So hahaha the teacher and the master are the same entity hehehe.

There's probably more word puns. I'd argue that if there's any more significant differences it'd be more lost in translation stuff.

Oh, also my current blog title is "Send the Flying Spectres" because that's what the Master says in the original French where in the English dub he just says "Get him"

#text post #heart of darkness #language differences

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condor-solaris · 3 months ago

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crap I forgot to post here

Mysterious Golden Cities

"The 16th century was an era of great geographical discoveries, when many people dared to challenge the unknown world for the sake of wealth and fame"

Chapter 1

- Esteban, there is a place to land.

- All right, Tao.

The Condor was spotted from the ground.

- What is it? The Golden Bird?

- If so, then surely it will lead to the golden cities. Follow her, now!

- Yes, sir.

The Condor landed and Esteban, Zia and Tao got off it

- Where do you think we have arrived? - Esteban asked when he got off the Condor.

- I think we got to Mexico. - Zia replied - and as I heard at the palace in Barcelona, Hernan Cortez is now the governor of Mexico.

- CORTEZ!? - Tao shouted.

- Of course – Mendoza said that Marinche and the Doctor are Cortes’ friends! - Esteban snapped his fingers.

- And if Marinche could read manuscripts like me, then surely Cortez has a manuscript! - Tao said

- Maybe it says where the next golden city is located? Surely we can find your father there, Esteban.

- If he's still alive.

- Of course he's alive, Esteban, we'll definitely find him.

- If only I had the same relationship. - Tao shook his head sadly.

- DANGER! DANGER! SOLDIERS! SOLDIERS! SOLDIERS! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! FASTER! FASTER!

- RUN!!

- Stand still, damn Indians!!

The children ran away who went where

- OUCH!

- ZIA ARE YOU OKAY!

- Yes, Esteban.

- Gotcha.

They were brought back.

- Aah! GET YOUR PAWS OFF ME!!

- Who are you and what are you doing here?

- And who are you? And why did you catch us?

- I'm Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, and I'm looking for escaped Indians here. Now answer my question!

- I won't tell you.

- Well, then you will be beaten up just like this Indian.

The Indian was completely covered with abrasions from the whip, which made the children very scared:

- No, don't do this! I'm Esteban, she's Zia, and he's Tao. We are here on behalf of the Doctor and Marinche! We need to see Cortez right away!

- Yes? Good. A couple of people will stay here to guard this golden bird, and everyone else will escort the Indian and these children to Mexico City with me. Lucas, come here. (in a whisper) Will you tell His Excellency everything that they said, is everything clear?!

- Yes, sir.

After a while, a group of soldiers with children came out of the forest and they were incredibly surprised -

- Look at what a huge city!!!

- Aren't there such big cities in Spain?

- No, Barcelona is much smaller than Mexico City. And what is it?

- These are chinampas, floating gardens.

- Is this dam needed to prevent Mexico City from flooding?

And finally they arrived in Mexico City, at the Spanish fortress, where Cortez was already waiting for them

- Hello, Your Excellency.

- Hello, Coronado. Well, what do these traitors need? And where are they?

- They're dead, sir. The Indians sacrificed them to their gods.

- Serves them right. And what did they want from me?

Tao stepped forward.

- So that I can translate your manuscript!

- Then read it.

- Well?

- "Aztlan is the ancestral homeland of the Aztecs, it stands on a small island in the middle of the lake. One day, the Aztecs escaped from there for an unknown reason. It is located **north** of Mexico City." That's all it says here.

- You lied - Marinche said that this city is located in the NORTHWEST! Immediately tell me what it says.

- But that's all there was!!

- Coronado!

- Yes, Your Excellency.

- You know what to do with liars. 50 lashes for him.

- NO!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!!

Esteban stepped between the Spaniards and covered Tao with his hands.

- What are you doing?

- I don't want you to get beaten up.

- What do you want?

- Tao is my friend. Give him time until morning so he can translate everything. I promise he will do it.

- All right, but if he doesn't make it, then I'll execute you all. Coronado, take this boy to the tower.

- I'm listening. But what about the others?

- Lock them down with the Indians.

- Yes sir.

They were captured.

- NO!! LET US GO!!

- I CAN WALK BY MYSELF!

They were taken downstairs. When they were thrown into the dungeon, Esteban and Zia saw a group of Indians sitting in the middle of the cave.

- Zia, are you okay?

- Yes, thank you. Why are they so?

Meanwhile, Tao was taken to the tower and closed it.

- TAO!! TAO!!

- Pichu, fly here quickly, and don't shout so loudly! Bring me the rope and now!

- CARRYING IT! CARRYING IT!

- Well done, you're a good bird! (Tao went down the rope.) Pichu, can you find a powder magazine?

- LOOKING! LOOKING!

Tao and Pichu suddenly came across an Indian whom Tao had already seen, he was being carried and beaten to the cell where Esteban and Zia were. He was thrown right at their feet

- OOH!

Several Indians took him to the center of the cave, and Esteban ran to help him, but one of them pushed him away and said:

- Go away, white devil!!

- What did I do? I just wanted to help!

- Stay back!

- Calm down, he didn't do anything to you. Forgive him, we are all on edge right now because of... (Here the elder notices that Esteban and Zia are wearing medallions) - Incredibly, you are wearing medallions symbolizing the arrival of our god Quetzalcoatl, who sailed a long time ago to the west!

- But it's not like that! I'm an ordinary boy!

- It can't be! My people have exactly the same legend! But Esteban, it's true!

- I still can't believe it.

- That's right, because you look very much like him, otherwise we would be doomed. After all, earlier we took Cortez for a god (here the flashback Cortez rides horses with Marinche and the Doctor, and the Indians clap for them) and accepted him as a god, but he looted our temples and killed us, he did not bring anything good. That's why you have to get us out of here!

Esteban sighs. Meanwhile, Tao took two barrels, but the Spaniards noticed him.

- STOP! HE STOLE THE GUNPOWDER! FOLLOW HIM!

- No way.

Tao pushed the soldier off the dam and ran on. There he lit the barrels and ran to the prison.

- Esteban, Zia!

- Tao, how did you get here?

- Pichu brought the rope up to me, but it doesn't matter, we need to leave urgently! The dam is going to explode here soon.

- WHAT IS IT?

Tao opens the bars, and Esteban calls the Indians -

- Come on, we need to leave.

- Only I do not know where.

- Come on, I know there is a passage to our village.

The elder pointed to a large hatch and two Indians opened it. They all went down and the sewer appeared in front of them.

- This place was abandoned, and I doubt the Spaniards know about it.

- And what is there?

- An abandoned temple. There is an exit to the other side of the lake.

- That is, we can return to the Condor along this path!! Tao, I hope you understood what the Cortez manuscript was about?

- Of course. We need to fly northwest from Mexico City. The next golden city is located there - Aztlan.

- This is wonderful news!!

- Do you understand our language?

- Just a little bit. These pictographs are similar to the language of my people from Mu.

- As the old legend says, a stranger who understands our language must take the treasure of the temple.

- The treasure of the temple? What a…

Suddenly, a terrible roar was heard from above.

- The gunpowder exploded!!

- Then we need to run!

Two Aztecs lifted the elder in their arms, and the children joined hands and ran. At that time, water was already gushing through a hole in the dam and into the sewer. The Spaniards are trying to escape from the stream of water, but they are still washed away. And finally they all came out of the sewer and found themselves in a small village near Mexico City.

- We got out!

- Yes, but how do we get back for the Condor?

- It doesn't matter now. Take a break, and tomorrow I'll tell you how to get there.

- Thank you very much.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City.

- I'm sorry, Your Excellency, we lost them.

- You stupid fool, they couldn't just disappear like that. Find them. We really need them!! Especially this Tao!!!

- I'm sorry, Your Excellency, but you remember we talked about Sibol.

- About this stupid gossip?

- One person has already been there, he said that the whole city is made of pure gold. I would like to go on an expedition to find him.

- Find these children first, and don't come back without them!

- Yes, Your Excellency.

The end of chapter 1.

#and i dont like it #cuz it need to redo it

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dreamerofthewinds · 1 year ago

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« The Dust Devil » [Fanfiction in Naruto Universe]

Chapter 6: "Ryou's Choice"

The bell rang, signaling the end of their shift. The prisoners lined up to receive their piece of shokupan. She discreetly saw Ryou take a second one, and then they left the room. As they walked through the corridors toward their respective cells, Hatsu, unable to wait any longer, gently grabbed the boy's arm as he walked in front of her and whispered to him:

"Ryou, you don't understand! You could be our only chance. Maybe we can finally get out of here. You know this place, these corridors..."

"Stop it, Hatsu! Let go of me!" he urged, without even looking at her.

Surprised by his reaction, she released his arm. He moved further ahead in the line. It was the first time she had seen him so distant and irritated with her.

They reached their separate cells. Despite the shokupan that Ryou shared with her, a heavy silence had settled between them. Hatsu was convinced of what she had witnessed, and that thought consumed her. Giving up was not an option for her. The lights went out.

"Ryou, I swear! I saw it! Why won't you believe me?"

"You're out of your mind! Stop with these crazy stories!" he said, giving her a reproachful look.

She stood up and approached the bars separating them. Whispering to remain unheard, her trembling voice betrayed her frustration, "It's you who refuses to open your eyes, Ryou! If you have even the slightest abilities of a shinobi, I can help you develop them. I can teach you to mold and control your chakra, just like medical ninjutsu requires! Why don't you try instead of denying it? "

"Shut up!" was all he responded with.

Hatsu felt a rush of hope and anticipation once again. In all this darkness, she felt that things might finally turn in their favor. She was bursting with eagerness.

"We'll improvise based on what you can do and your affinities. And then, no matter how long it takes..."

"Shut up!" he yelled, getting up. "I'm not from your world, Hatsu, and you know it! Look around you! Your view of reality is not ours! And you should quickly change yours if you care even a bit about your life instead of daydreaming all the time!" he said, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

Ryou's words struck her like a slap, sharp and unyielding. Hatsu struggled for breath. Facing each other, with palpable tension between them, only the cell bars separated them.

"It's precisely because I value my life that I refuse to give up! I will not end my days in this mine!"

"Face it, we'll never get out of here!"

Available on Wattpad : The Dust Devil

In the following versions: 🇫🇷 French (original), 🇬🇧 English, and 🇪🇸 Spanish.

🇫🇷 Chapitre 6 - Le Choix de Ryou

🇬🇧 Chapter 6 - Ryou's Choice

🇪🇸 Capítulo 6 - La Decisión de Ryou

Please forgive any translation mistakes. I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy this story!

#naruto #fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #naruto universe #oc naruto #oc

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teconkaals · 1 year ago

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Walking With A Ghost Chapter 3

Back in the UK, Soap invites Ghost to dinner at his house.

AO3 Chapter link: Chapter 3 - Back Home

Fanfic Masterlist: Here

Next Chapter: Chapter 4 - Home

Previous Chapter: Chapter 2 - One More Heartbeat

Wordcount: 8063

Rating: Mature

Tags of the fanfic (some of them): hurt/comfort, taking care of each other, blood and violence, happy ending, non explicit sex

A/N: A bit long, but it's all fluff I swear

I don’t give others permission to translate and/or re-publish my works on this or any other platform (I’m publishing on my Ao3 account both English and Spanish).

SIMON “GHOST” RILEY - TF 141BACK HOME CHICAGO, USA NOVEMBER 4, 2022, 04:15

A buzz woke him up.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to drive away the sleepiness, and looked around him, trying to place himself. No, this certainly wasn't his room. He turned a little to the left when he felt something on his waist and saw Soap hugging him, his forehead resting on his back. Ghost looked at him for a few seconds before moving carefully so as not to wake him. He pulled the blanket gently over them, and Soap stirred in his sleep. He hugged him a little more and Simon couldn't contain a half smile, feeling how his heart warmed.

The hum was heard again somewhere on the floor, insistent, and he frowned as he recognized it as the vibration of a mobile. Simon had a feeling it was his and he moved quickly to find it. He always kept it in silent mode and the only calls he got were from work, so there was a good chance it was Price. Ghost found his pants, rummaged in its pockets, and pulled out the little device. He rolled onto his back, carefully placing Soap on his chest, and opened the phone, confirming his suspicions.

He took a deep breath before answering.

“What's up?” He asked in a lower tone of voice than usual.

“Finally, I've been trying to reach you,” Price replied. Ghost didn't miss the slight relief in his voice. “I went looking for you, but you didn't answer. And I’ve also called you. Five times, where have you been?”

“We're on break.”

“That's right.”

“Then why so much insistence?”

The Captain was silent and Ghost continued speaking.

“You wouldn't be worried about me, would you?” he growled.

“Maybe a bit restless. A lot has happened in these last few hours.”

Ghost looked at Soap as he noticed him move again and lowered his voice a bit more as he spoke.

“Too many. Do you want to talk about a specific one?”

Price snorted.

“I hardly hear you. You know that phones have a microphone you put near your mouth, right?”

Ghost looked at the ceiling for a moment.

“Get to the point, Captain.”

Price chuckled softly.

“It's nothing important,” he replied. “I thought you might like a drink. You know, for old times sake.”

Simon cocked his head and took a deep breath.

“I'll be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Don't worry.” Price said and Ghost sensed that smile that downplayed the matter. “We'll have a chance for that later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” he chuckled. “Try to rest, we'll leave early tomorrow morning.”

He hung up the phone and closed it. He wasn't surprised that Makarov's name had stirred up the Captain's past. In fact, he too would have been in the same situation if he hadn't been busy with… other things. Makarov was a bad guy, one he didn't expect to meet again. On the other hand, perhaps he could take advantage of it to collect a series of debts.

“You've stayed.”

He turned to Soap upon hearing his sleepy voice. He'd moved his head a little to see him and, although he was smiling, Ghost couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his chest.

“I can go if…”

“No!” John hastened to answer. “No, it's okay. I'm just… I'm surprised. I thought you'd leave after… well, you know.”

Sure.

It was logical that he thought that of the cold and distant guy who, once the physical need is satisfied, leaves because nothing ties him there. And the truth is that he wasn’t wrong; on the few occasions he'd slept with other people, he'd walked out without saying a word. With Soap though, it was different because there were feelings involved. Emotions he hadn't felt in many, many years, and that had kept him from leaving the room in silence.

He sighed.

“I'll leave when you ask me to,” he growled.

John made up a huge smile and chuckled. He rested his cheek on his chest and frowned a little at his hand.

“What've you got there?”

“My cellphone.”

John lifted his head slightly and moved to take it.

“Your cellphone?” He took a good look at it before laughing. “This thing is older than me. Why do you have a grandpa's phone?”

Ghost took it from his hands and let it fall to the ground. The device made a thud as it landed on the clothing, and Soap laughed, settling himself against it.

“Don't sulk,” he told him, smiling, “I'm asking because I'm interested.”

Simon looked at him and snorted.

“It's for calling. I don't need more.”

“To call,” he repeated.

“You don't call or what?” Ghost growled.

John laughed again.

“No. Well, sometimes," he added, seeing his mate look at him. “My grandma, for example. She doesn't quite understand how messaging apps work, so I've to call her,” he cocked his head. “You don't text with your family?”

Simon looked away and stared at the ceiling. He was silent for a few long seconds before speaking.

“I’ve no family.”

Soap sat up like a spring.

“Fuck… I… I'm sorry, Simon. I didn't know that…”

“Calm down,” he cut him off.

Soap was silent, looking at him carefully.

“You don't…have anyone?”

Ghost looked at him and growled a curse at the tone of sorrow in his words.

“Save your pity, Johnny.”

“It's not pity,” he snapped back. “It's… how to explain…” He ran a hand through his hair and huffed after a few seconds. “Okay, fine, you're right: It's pity, but it's how I've been raised. I've always had my family there, and we're a lot,” he added with a cherished smile, “so I'm a little sorry when people grow up without it. It's… that kind of pity. I didn't mean to offend you, Simon. I'm sorry.”

Ghost glanced at him and nodded. He understood what he meant and, if he made an effort to empathize, it was logical that he would have that reaction. He was distracted when he noticed Soap climb on top of him to get to the edge of the bed. The Scotsman leaned out and reached out to rummage through the clothing.

“Where the hell is it?”

“What the fuck are you doing, Johnny?”

“Aha, found it!” He answered triumphantly, getting up again and showing him the cellphone that Ghost had dropped. “No matter what, you'll always be my friend,” John continued. He sat on the bed and typed on the device. A Bruce Springsteen song blared from somewhere on the floor, cutting off abruptly after a few seconds. “You can call me whenever you want. You can even give Price my number in case… something happens to you,” he handed back the phone. “You'll never be alone again, Simon.”

Ghost picked up the phone without saying anything, completely shocked by Soap's words. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, realizing that he couldn't make a sound. John looked at him with understanding and lay down next to him, putting an arm around his neck and pulling him gently. Simon let go and rested his forehead in the crook of his neck. He felt his chest split open at having all those emotions at once. He, who always thought of himself as a person who didn’t deserve to be loved, a kind of killing machine, was receiving love from a person whom he considered good. Someone who did seem to care about him beyond camaraderie. After so many years suffering abuse from his father, having been betrayed several times, having lost everything that was important to him; after having put on a shell to not let a single emotion pass…

Simon broke down.

And Soap hugged him tight as he began to tremble, kissing him on the hair. John moved a little to cover them with the blanket and gently caressed his back, offering him his silent support, and Ghost, far from feeling vulnerable, felt protected. Like he'd found a safe haven. And noticing him brought on a sudden wave of exhaustion as he released the tension that had accumulated over years. Pretending that he was strong, that he wasn't affected by anything and that he was fine alone, was exhausting.

He took a deep breath and felt Soap move a little.

“You better?” He asked.

Ghost nodded wordlessly. He was so comfortable in his arms that he didn't want to break away.

“I'm glad,” John whispered into his ear and kissed his cheek.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and they both jumped. Gaz's voice sounded on the other end.

“Hey, Soap! You there?”

John sighed.

“I'd better open it before he kicks in,” he whispered and Ghost moved a little to let him go.

Soap quickly dressed and hurried to open the door. Although the bed was invisible from the hallway, Simon shifted his position just in case, casting a quick glance at the floor to see if there was anything to indicate he was there.

“Hey” Soap greeted him with a jovial voice. “What’s up?”

“Haven't seen you all day, man. Still sleeping off your hangover?” Gaz asked with a laugh.

Soap chuckled.

“I think I drank too many beers.”

“And also whiskey. Did you have company?” He added he mischievously.

Ghost tensed for a moment, relaxing when John laughed.

“I wish! I was so drunk that I didn't see that I had already drawn a glass.”

Gaz laughed with him.

“You're a basket case, man” he took a deep breath. “Price sent me to remind you that the plane leaves first thing tomorrow. Try not to fall asleep.”

“I'll set seven alarms” Soap assured him and his partner laughed again.

He said goodbye to Gaz and closed the door, stepping into Ghost's field of vision. He glanced at him and smiled.

“Go home, huh?” Soap commented casually.

“Don't want to?” Simon asked.

“Of course I do” John chuckled softly and sat down on the bed, close to him. “It's weird after being away so long. And it's funny because it's only been a handful of days, but it feels like months,” he added, quietly. “It'll be a rest to sleep at home and go back to the routine.”

Ghost nodded wordlessly and Soap looked at him.

“What're you gonna do when we get back?”

Simon took a deep breath, thoughtful. The truth is that he hadn't given it much thought because he assumed that he’d do what he always did: inventory the weapons, clean them, review the reports, train and read a book at night. Maybe he'd have a drink at Amelia's pub.

“I don't know,” he finally answered.

“We can go somewhere,” he suggested. “If you want,” he added, outlining a smile.”

He looked at him carefully. Although Soap kept his usual smiling, Simon could see past him and see that he was hesitating. Apparently, Soap didn't seem to be sure where they were. Well, neither did he, so they were both equally lost. What was clear to him was that he wanted to follow the new path that was opening up before him.

One corner of his mouth turned up.

“Sure.”

John's smile widened and his face seemed to light up. And also the room. A kind of superpower that never ceased to amaze Ghost. He let his heart warm a little before taking a deep breath and sitting up on the bed.

“I should go,” he commented, rubbing his eyes. “I need a shower and something to eat.”

“I thought you might want to shower with me.”

He looked up. Soap was smiling shamelessly, one eyebrow raised, and Simon would have kissed him if it hadn't been for the words his mate had said.

Showering together.

This was something Simon had never done with anyone. Not even in the army. He'd always managed to shower alone, away from the prying eyes of his partners. It was a very personal moment for him because the water relaxed him, relieving stress, apathy and anger. He’d never considered that there was a chance to share that with another person, not even Soap. And he didn't know if he was ready for it.

John's smirk faded and the mischievous look turned into a worried one.

“Simon?”

Ghost swallowed and looked down.

“I've… never done it.”

“You kidding!” Soap exclaimed, stunned. Ghost looked at him and John's expression softened. He sighed before speaking. “The last thing I want is to pressure you, so take your time, okay?”

Simon shook his head, surprised to realize that he wanted to try; see how the experience was and how it ended.

“I want to, it's just that…”

He sighed, leaving the sentence in the air, not knowing very well how to formulate it. Luckily for him, Soap seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“Don't worry,�� he replied kindly. “Let's try, okay? Set the pace, and if you get overwhelmed, let me know so I can give you space.”

Ghost nodded, and after Soap removed his clothes, he led him into the bathroom. Although the shower was a standard size, it was a bit small for two such large men. They managed to keep from falling, and when the water began to run hot, Soap moved so that Ghost was under the tap. The effect was immediate, and Simon felt him relax. He let out a soft sigh and lifted his head, closing his eyes to keep out the water. Seconds later, he remembered that he was accompanied and opened his eyes.

The Scotsman was looking at him carefully and lovingly and Simon's heart skipped a beat.

“All good?” He asked. Ghost nodded. “Can I?” He added, holding up a hand with the sponge.

He stared at him for a few long seconds before nodding again. Soap placed a hand on his shoulder, a gentle touch, and gestured for him to turn around. Simon complied and turned away from him, taking a deep breath as he felt the soft pressure of the sponge against his skin. John took it easy, indicating when he needed to change position or raise his arms, and Ghost grew more comfortable. He also understood why people liked to shower in company. Perhaps it was because Soap was the person with whom he was sharing that first time, but he perceived it as something intimate; something that reinforced the trust he had in his partner.

No, mate no. Friend, he corrected himself.

“Okay, only part left.”

He looked at Soap, pushing thoughts of him away. GH frowned a bit, not understanding, and Soap smiled.

“The war paint you're wearing on your face,” he clarified. “Sure you've left some on my bed, but there's still some left on your face. And between the tears and the water, you look like a raccoon about to commit a crime.”

“What's wrong with that?”

John didn't answer, but he laughed. He reached out a hand out of the shower and reached for a towel, dampening it, motioning for him to close his eyes. Ghost obeyed and crouched down a bit so he could reach better. Soap washed his face with the same gentleness that he had applied to the rest of his body and Ghost found himself wanting to do that again.

“That's it.”

Simon glanced at him and Soap smiled, cocking his head to get a better look. He raised a hand and placed it on his cheek, carefully, like someone caressing a wounded animal to tell it he won't hurt it. Ghost closed his eyes and leaned his face into John's hand.

“Your turn,” he whispered, taking the sponge from his hand.

Soap laughed and switched places. Simon repeated the same movements Soap had done on him, slow and gentle, and found that it relaxed him, too. Feeling how John's skin crawled at his touch gave him a small sense of triumph. Being responsible for such a positive reaction was something new, something he wasn't used to.

Something he was beginning to enjoy.

He had always considered his hands to be another weapon, a tool to take lives. And suddenly he felt stupid for forgetting that he could also use them for something less violent. Yes, he was aware that they had a more than pleasant use during sex, but that... that was something else. Feeling John's soft skin under his fingers, feeling him relax, hearing him sigh and even groan in low pleasure. Ghost could get used to it, he could do it every day without getting tired.

And then you'll lose it because everything good you've ever had has been brutally taken from you.

He unfocused her gaze and stopped his hand almost without realizing it. That intrusive thought had caught him off guard and blocked him without being able to put up any kind of resistance.

“Hey, everything okay, big guy?” He asked softly.

Ghost nodded, still distracted.

“You can leave if you want. Don't feel forced, okay?”

Simon half processed the words and nodded again, silently, as he left the shower. He dried himself and dressed, sitting up in bed and trying to clear his mind. It didn't take long for Soap to come out of the bathroom. He crouched in front of him, a towel tied around his waist and his arms resting on his thighs. Ghost didn't miss that he hadn't touched him.

“I think you've gotten a little overwhelmed there,” he commented. “Sorry, maybe it was a bit soon.”

“No,” Ghost managed to reply, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. “It…was good.”

“So?”

Simon shook his head and took a deep breath. He met John's eyes and stood up. Soap immediately followed suit.

I'd better go.”

Ghost moved across the room to retrieve his jacket and frowned when he couldn't find his balaclava.

“Here.”

He turned to Soap. He had his hand outstretched toward him, holding the garment.

“You're going to need it to get back,” he added with a half smile.

Simon reached over to grab it and pulled it over his head. He said goodbye to Soap and left the room. He put his jacket on and pulled the hood up before moving. He walked through the corridors of the hotel and used the stairs instead of the elevators so as not to meet anyone, although, due to the silence that reigned in the building, he was sure that there were hardly any people passing through the corridors. Simon took a deep breath and took out the card to open the door to his room when he heard footsteps in the corridor.

He snapped around, alert, but relaxed when he saw who it was.

“Price.”

The Captain looked him over and raised an eyebrow. Ghost didn't miss that he was trying to hide a half smile.

“I see you've been out for the night, Lieutenant,” he commented casually. Simon was silent, unmoving, and Price let out the smile he was trying to hide. “That, or you’re gone Scotch.”

Ghost looked down at his left arm and saw the St. Andrew's Cross there. He closed his eyes for a second and forced himself to breathe deeply. How had he been so stupid as to take Soap's jacket instead of his?

Damn him and his habit of wearing clothes several sizes too big.

“Don't worry,” Price continued to speak gently; in fact, he thought he heard a paternalistic tone in his voice. “I know you pretty well, and considering what you’re been through, I'll be glad of anything that adds a bit of color to your life."

Ghost felt his heart sink a little. Yes, too many emotions.

“Have you come just for that?” He replied, unable to answer anything else.

“Something like that,” he fished in one of his pockets and pulled out a small USB stick that he offered him. “Take a look at it when you can.”

Simon picked up the small item and pocketed it without saying anything. Price patted him on the shoulder and headed down the hall. Ghost looked at him for a few seconds and walked into his room. He made sure everything was locked up tight and pulled the drive back out. He looked at it for a few seconds and looked for his laptop. He should eat something, and he knew it, but he knew that whatever was on that little hard drive was important.

And confidential.

He plugged the device into his computer and scanned the contents. He clenched his jaw and took out his cell phone. He kept his gaze on the first number in the call log as Soap had saved his phone as “Johnny” and added two emojis next to it: a fist and a bar of soap. He added it to the speed dial before calling Price.

“When is this from?” He grunted as the other picked up.

“A week,” replied Price; he heard him breathe and knew he had just taken a drag on one of his cigars. “The CIA sent it to me a few hours ago.”

Ghost squeezed the phone a little.

“Where?”

“Never mind. They've already checked the place and it's not there,” Price paused a little to take another drag. “They've taken everything there was, and as far as I can tell, it's not good.”

“Weapons?” Ghost guessed.

“And the bad ones,” Price sighed. “I've spoken to Laswell. His team has a lead and we're going to follow it.”

Ghost knew that even though he spoke in the plural, this mission bore his name. And he wasn't surprised. The Captain knew that not sending him would be a mistake.

“When?”

“The day after tomorrow. I'll give you the details then.”

“Copy.”

He hung up without saying anything else, keeping his eyes on the laptop screen. It showed a person much larger than himself, head covered and holding an assault rifle, issuing orders. It didn't take Ghost much to recognize him. To recognize the bastard that had screwed up his life ten years ago and the one he had left for dead. He slammed away a series of memories that tried to break through and he cursed, slamming the laptop lid shut. His jaw clenched, and he forced himself to take a deep breath.

“You won't run away again,” he growled and pocketed the USB stick.

Simon got up, left the room, and walked out of the hotel. He needed to be alone for a while with his thoughts, away from his companions. He walked for several hours until he couldn't keep ignoring the rumbling of his stomach, so he stopped at a fast food restaurant and returned to the hotel. That information had brought out a series of memories that he didn't feel like managing and that, moreover, was forcing him to go back to healing old wounds that still hurt.

Ghost put the food on the table and opened the beer can. He uncovered his head and took a drink, plopping back into the chair with a huff. He ate in silence, trying to keep his mind blank, and took out a glass where he emptied what was left of the can. He dropped the flash drive in and watched the bubbles surround the device. Simon pulled it out and plunged one of his knives into it to break it open. He'd buy another for Price.

He picked up the remains of dinner, threw everything in the trash, and lay down on the bed, sighing. Streetlights streamed in through the window, and Ghost watched the flashes of passing vehicles. He turned in bed, and for a moment, he missed John's presence. He found himself feeling a small twinge of guilt that he hadn't told him anything all afternoon. He took a deep breath and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Should he call him? Write him a message?

What the hell is done in these cases?

His phone vibrated once and he jerked back in startle. He reached over to the nightstand for it and opened it to see that he had received a text. Simon felt his chest warm when he saw it was Soap's.

>Hey, I hope I didn't push you too hard today. Try to rest.

He kept his eyes on the message, reading it several times until the screen went black on its own. He took a deep breath and hit the answer button.

>All good. Rest up Johnny.

He hit send and put the phone down on the table. He was surprised that Soap thought he had pushed him when he had, in fact, been very careful with him, letting him set the pace. Apart from his mother, no one had been that considerate of him. That didn't surprise him either. Since that night, so many years ago, he had become inaccessible to people. And his mask, coupled with his bulk and height, didn't help. He knew the impression he gave, that of the hard and cold type that you did not want to make angry; that of a person who wouldn't blink an eye when taking a life. A killing machine. And no one wants someone like that around.

Except Soap.

For some reason he couldn't understand, he seemed to enjoy his company. He always had. From the first minute they'd met, John had greeted him with a huge smile on his lips and, most of the time, with a soft punch on the shoulder. At first that bothered him. And his attitude too. Always smiling, always cheerful, always positive. However, after a few months, he began to tolerate it and time passed until he finally found himself in his bed. With him. Two poles just as opposite as day and night. Simon was broken in many places, patched haphazardly to keep going, and using the darkness as an ally instead of drowning in it. By contrast, John was light. The spitting image of a person who had had a normal life, without great losses and full of people who loved him.

Someone who wanted to live and eat the world.

And he, selfish, drank every drop of light that that smile gave off. Until then, always from a distance and without getting too close for fear of rejection, pain and betrayal. People like John (charismatic and laughing) could have anyone around and the thought that it was just a simple crush flitted through his mind.

Simon snorted and lay face down on the bed, his face buried in the pillow.

He was too tired to think about it all. He needed sleep, so he took all those thoughts, and feelings, and stuffed them into a drawer, shut it tight, and put it in the corner of his mind. He would deal with them another time.

When he boarded the plane, most of his companions were already seated. Ghost suppressed a sigh and looked around for a free spot, if possible, away from everyone. A smile caught his eye and he knew it was Soap. He nodded at him, and Ghost moved closer to him. The Scotsman removed a backpack from the seat next to him and waved at it, inviting him to sit down. Simon complied without saying anything, placing his backpack between his legs and leaning back against his back. Although the rest of the team sat close to them, their seats were relatively far away from the people. For a moment this surprised him; however, it was clear to him that he hadn't forgotten that he didn't like people.

Heat filled his chest again. He was completely convinced that John barely remembered what happened in the bar, too much alcohol; that's why he was surprised to see that he hadn't forgotten that he didn't like people.

“I have your jacket,Lt.” Soap whispered.

He cocked her head slightly at him when he spoke.

“And I yours, sergeant,” he replied. “You'll give it to me another time.”

John didn't answer, just smiled a little more and nodded. He settled into the seat and leaned his head against it, closing his eyes. Ghost looked at it for a few seconds before putting on the headphones, took out the eBook and turned it on. They had almost eight hours of flight ahead of them, so he hoped to finish the book. He felt a small pang of apathy as he remembered that as much as he liked paper books, he didn't have any. Actually, he had few things because he always traveled light and all his belongings fit in a sports bag. He often told himself that someday he might have a house with a room full of books. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn't live for it.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, pushing those thoughts away, and settled back in her seat.

When they had been in the air for a couple of hours, Simon noticed something over his shoulder. He looked up from the book to see that Soap had stirred in his sleep, resting his head on it. Ghost slumped down a bit in the seat to give him comfort and looked around him to rest his eyes. Some of his companions looked at them in surprise and Ghost gave them a look full of anger and threat. As he expected, they looked away and sat down without saying anything. Usually, he didn't care what people thought, but he didn't like being stared at. And that situation had repeated itself on more than one occasion, especially when they returned from a mission.

Soap had the enviable ability to fall asleep anywhere, so he usually dozed off on the way back. He almost always ended up resting on his shoulder, like at that very moment, and Ghost used to move so that he was more comfortable. Needless to say, in a helicopter full of soldiers, this didn’t go unnoticed and soon there were rumors. He didn't care, however, he waited to see if John was bothered before taking action. When he saw that he didn't seem to mind being talked about, he forgot about it.

His partner growled and Ghost turned to him. Soap was frowning slightly, his body tense. Simon didn't need any more information to know that he was having a nightmare. He sighed and moved a hand to rest on John's thigh, pressing down a little.

“Easy,” he murmured to him in a barely audible tone.

Soap took a deep breath and his posture relaxed. Ghost kept his hand there throughout the flight, intending to accompany him in his dreams. It must have worked because his friend didn't move again and he slept for eight hours. He woke him as they were about to land and Soap yawned and stretched. He glanced down at Ghost's hand on his thigh and smiled sleepily.

“Have you slept at all?” he whispered, rubbing his eyes.

“No.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, half surprised and horrified. “Nothing?”

Ghost shook his head and showed her the eBook.

“I've been reading.”

“Reading,” Soap repeated, still in astonishment. “For eight hours.”

“It's a good book.”

John opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to think better of it and sighed. He composed a half smile and shook his head.

“Don't ever change,” he told him, patting him on the arm.

The corner of Ghost's mouth turned up without his being able to help it. They got up, picked up their luggage and got off the plane. They walked the track in silence, and when they reached the limit, they stopped. Simon turned to say goodbye to Soap when Soap spoke before him.

“Do you have plans for today?”

Ghost blinked.

“No.”

John made up a huge smile.

“I invite you to dinner. At my house,” he added quickly. “I have the impression that you don't like restaurants.”

Ghost looked at him for a few long seconds, evaluating his proposal. The truth is that, knowing that he was going to leave in less than twenty-four hours, he wanted a little company.

“Sure. What time?”

“Seven?” John guessed and Simon nodded. “Great. I'll send you the address later. Try to get some rest, okay?”

He punched him lightly in the shoulder and stalked away. Ghost stood there, motionless as he watched him go. He barely moved when he sensed someone standing next to him.

“Spying on other people's conversations?” he asked.

Price burst out laughing.

“Soap is a good boy,” he replied, crossing his arms. “I'm glad you finally decided to take the plunge.”

“Do you mean him or me?”

“Both of you,” Price looked at him and smiled kindly. “I think, this time, you are the last one to notice everything.”

Ghost looked away and stared ahead.

“What time is the meeting?”

Price fell silent, and Simon knew he was debating whether to press about Soap or go along with it.

“At six.”

Ghost's phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to read a message from Soap with his home address. He put it back and turned to Price when he slapped him on the back.

“Have fun tonight,” he said before walking away from him.

Simon turned and walked across the base to the barracks. He went into his room, took a pair of headphones and an mp3 player from his backpack and dropped the bag on the floor. He lay down on the bed and turned the music up a bit before taking a deep breath.

I think, this time, you are the last one to notice everything.

He clicked his tongue. Price had to be wrong, no one in his right mind would be attracted to someone like… him. At least, that's what a part of his mind said; the other was dedicated to throwing at him the memories of the night he had spent with Soap. Kisses, caresses, words and names whispered between moans that made him shiver when he remembered them. Simon closed his eyes, tired of dealing with his mind. Why couldn't he accept it? Why did it insist on trying to screw him over? To plunge him into the deepest of miseries?

“Dammit.”

He turned up the music a little more and tried to make his mind go blank. When he got it, he fell asleep almost without realizing it.

It was ten to seven when he woke up. He muttered a curse and shot up. He took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and headed out of his room toward the parking lot. He plugged Soap's address into the GPS and left the base for Hereford. He stopped at a supermarket to pick up a bottle of whiskey because, according to what he understood, if you were invited to dinner, or to eat, you had to bring something. He thought about getting wine, but he didn't know if Soap would like it either, so he played it safe. When he reached his destination, it was seven thirty.

“I thought you wouldn't come,” Soap greeted as he opened the door and invited him inside.

“I fell asleep,” Ghost growled.

He laughed and closed the door.

“That's what you get from reading during the flight.”

Ghost didn't reply, just followed him into another room that turned out to be the kitchen. The place was permeated with the smell of food and, to his surprise, it smelled quite good. He put the bottle of whiskey on the table, took off his jacket, and sat down in one of the chairs. With a sigh, he tugged on his mask and ran a hand through his still-damp hair, trying to comb it out.

“Have you brought whiskey?”

Simon looked up. Soap was looking at the bottle with a smirk.

“I didn't know what to bring,” he admitted. “I’m… I'm not good at this stuff.”

Soap put the bottle down on the table and walked over to him. He placed a hand on his cheek and leaned down to kiss him on the lips.

“You're doing great.”

Ghost nodded and John grinned. He pulled out a couple of glasses, poured ice into them, and opened the bottle of whiskey. He handed one to Simon and raised his own. They clinked glasses gently and both drank.

Suddenly, something jumped on the table and Ghost jerked up, reaching for the knife from his back. He took a deep breath as soon as he checked what it was and looked at Soap.

“I didn't know you had a cat.”

“You're allergic?” he asked, concerned.

“No,” he replied, reaching out a hand to the animal. It sniffed him before rubbing against his hand, purring. “What’s its name?”

“Biscuit.”

“Sorry?”

“Its name’s Biscuit,” Soap chuckled. “Don't judge me, my niece put it on.”

Ghost's gaze blurred upon hearing this and he couldn't help but remember Joseph. The echo of his voice, and his laughter, echoed through his mind, and pain gripped his chest as he felt the emptiness of losing him.

“Simon?”

He blinked and focused on Soap.

“All good?” He added, looking at him with concern.

“Yeah. A bad memory.”

John pulled out a chair and sat near him. He gestured for him to follow suit, and Ghost complied. Biscuit hopped off the table onto Simons’s lap and snuggled into it. He stroked its back absently.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Soap asked.

Ghost didn't answer. He kept his gaze on the cat as he watched his fingers sink into the animal's dense fur.

“It'll spoil dinner.”

“It won’t.

He looked at him and could see that he was serious. He could tell him. Price trusted Soap and Simon trusted Price. And as scared as he was, as suspicious as he was, it would be a test of confidence John would have to pass.

He sighed.

“I've remembered my nephew,” he finally replied.

He knew that Soap remembered that he had no family and he could see how he added two plus two. John placed a hand on his arm.

“Sorry,” he muttered. Ghost nodded. “What… what happened to him?”

Simon focused back on the cat.

“He was killed, just like the rest.”

Silence fell on them like a heavy slab of concrete. Ghost was aware that this was the last thing Soap was going to hear, so he gave him a few seconds to absorb it.

“A former mission partner killed them. He was following orders from a Mexican narco,” he added.

“Have they been found?”

“I took care of that myself.”

John pressed lightly on his arm, and Ghost glanced there.

“It's classified information,” he said rather harshly. “Only Price knows.”

“I won't tell anyone, Simon,” Soap assured him. “I already told you: I'm not going to hurt you.”

Ghost nodded and looked curiously at Soap when he saw him move. When he held him close, he closed his eyes and rested his head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Simon's stomach protested.

“I'm sure you haven't eaten anything all day,” John snorted mockingly. “Let's go have dinner and then watch a movie, shall we?”

He nodded and went to get up to help him when Soap put a hand on his shoulder.

“Stay. You’re the guest and you’ve a cat on your lap. Your mission is to stay there.”

Simon smiled and complied, watching as John placed plates on the table. They dined quietly, talking about everything and nothing, and Ghost slowly relaxed. He hadn't realized that he was tense until that moment. Like sharing the shower, he’d never dined with another person like that. And it was clear to him that Soap was aware of it by the care with which he was. It was a very subtle thing that someone else might have missed, but not him. Not when he'd learned to read people's body language to know how to react.

“Did you like dinner?” Soap asked.

“I'm surprised it didn't get burned.”

John burst out laughing.

“I like to cook, I admit it. Especially for others. It's not much fun to cook for yourself, so I always end up making myself anything.”

“It's logical.”

“Do you like cooking?”

“No. But I'm good at baking.”

Soap looked at him, surprised, and smiled.

“Makes sense.”

“Really?”

“Sure,” he replied, getting up as soon as the coffee pot started to make a noise. “I've seen you assemble and disassemble the weapons to clean them and I know you're a very meticulous person. In confectionery you’ve to measure the ingredients very well so it doesn't end up as a disaster. That's why I never make desserts," he added with a laugh.

“I'll bring one next time.”

John's face lit up when he heard it.

“That would be great,” he agreed. He paused to get a couple of mugs from a cupboard. “Sounds like Biscuit liked you. He doesn't usually get along with strangers.”

Ghost looked at the cat, still curled up in his lap, and stroked it gently.

“For some reason, animals usually like me.”

“People judge, they don't,” John commented. He had both coffee cups in his hands. “It’s logical that they know how to see beyond appearances.”

“Like you?”

Soap chuckled.

“Possibly,” he cocked his head. “Let's go to the living room?”

Ghost nodded and scooped Cookie into his arms, following his friend out of the kitchen. Although Soap's living room was not very large, Simon found it cozy. He had a couple of sofas placed in front of the TV, with a small table in the middle, and an armchair next to one of the windows, the largest. Several bookshelves lined the walls, mostly filled with books and comics, as well as a few games. Over the television were a handful of framed illustrations of various sizes. Art was never his strong suit, however he did know enough to realize they were good.

“Okay, what do you want to watch?” John asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He turned to him and sat down next to him, placing the cat back on his lap.

“Anything is fine.”

“No, no. You choose. I want to know what movies you like.”

Simon looked away.

“You'll laugh.”

“I promise not to. I don't judge, remember?”

Ghost sighed.

“Pride & Prejudice.”

“What?” asked Soap, surprised. He smiled. “The 2005 movie?”

“It relaxes me,” he murmured, noticing him to blush. “It’s a balanced rhythm and the soundtrack by Dario Marianelli is brilliant.”

“I admit I didn't think you were the type of person who likes romantic movies.”

Simon was silent as Soap got up and turned on a small computer on the counter. He pulled out a wireless keyboard and mouse and sat down next to him again.

“I like movies, in general,” he replied at the end.

“Me too, but I admit I have preferences. Like fantasy and sci fi.”

“We can see one of those genres.”

“No, no; Pride & Prejudice is fine. I haven't seen it in a while.”

Ghost glanced at him.

“Have you seen it more than once?”

Soap laughed.

“Of course I do. Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen have amazing chemistry. The scene where he helps her into the carriage? One of my favorites.”

Simon smiled helplessly, stunned. No turning up the corner of the mouth, no half-smiles. No. A full smile. And John widened his as soon as he saw it.

“Now who's surprised?” He added in a mocking tone.

Ghost laughed, and Soap with him. He turned on the television and searched for the movie. Saying nothing, he took Biscuit off Simon's lap to rest his head on and placed the cat on his chest. Ghost looked at him, surprised, and placed a hand on John's abdomen. He covered it with his at once and moved his head to look at him.

“You should laugh more,” he commented in a lower tone, a fond smile on his lips. “Suits you good.”

Soap’s smile widened when he saw him blush and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, turning his attention back to the movie. Absently, Ghost tangled his fingers in John's hair, trying to take in his words as he stroked him. The heat that he’d been feeling for a few days filled his chest again. He felt very lucky to have those moments of peace, those moments of affection and intimacy with another person. They were a breath of fresh air to everything he’d suffered and the truth is that he did not want to live without it.

The thought that he would lose everything reared its head and he inadvertently tensed. Soap began to caress the back of his hand, gently, and Simon knew he hadn't missed the change in his mood. Again, he was grateful that John was there with him. That he had insisted so much to make a place for himself in his life. And Simon certainly wouldn't regret that. Not after everything he was feeling.

It was almost twelve when the movie ended and they both got up, stretching their muscles after sitting for so long. Ghost looked at the clock and sighed.

“I have a guest room, if you want to stay,” Soap offered.

Simon looked at him and felt something tighten in his heart. It must have shown in his face because John reached over and stroked his arm, running his fingers over the tattoo that continued past his shirt.

“Trust me: I'm trying really hard not to drag you into bed,” he murmured, looking at the patterns that covered his skin, “but above all else, I don't want you to feel pressured.”

“Not with this,” Ghost whispered, moving a hand to place it under Soap's chin. He looked at him. “I sleep better with you.”

A smile lit up John's face and, incidentally, Simon's chest. He hesitated before leaning in to kiss him. Soap clung to him a bit before pulling away. He took his hand and led him into the bedroom. Once in bed, Soap leaned his back against Ghost’s chest and he hugged him. He thought about telling him that, in a few hours, he’d have to leave on a mission and that he wouldn't know when he would return, nor how dangerous it would be. However, he didn't know how to bring it up, and by the time he wanted to know it, Soap was asleep. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to match his breathing to his until he fell asleep.

As his phone vibrated, Simon was thankful John was a sound sleeper. Moving carefully so as not to wake him, he tucked him in and got into the shower. He dressed quietly and left the room in search of a pen and paper. He found nothing in the kitchen or living room, so he opened the door to one of the rooms, stopping as soon as he entered.

It was a study.

Three of the four walls were lined with bookshelves and cabinets, filled with drawing supplies and reference books. There was a work table just below a large window, with jars full of pencils, brushes, markers and the like; as well as some notebooks and papers on top. Simon walked over to the desk and took a look, recognizing the same style as the paintings in the living room. He opened a notebook on the table and was surprised to see that it was full of sketches. Drawings of people, landscapes and things.

Still in his astonishment, he turned a little towards the door.

In that instant he understood what Soap did when he took out a small notebook during missions. He had never tried to read it because he always thought it was some kind of diary, however, now it was clear to him that it wasn't.

He smiled helplessly and picked up a small piece of paper from the table. He wrote a note with a pencil that he hoped wasn't too expensive and walked out, closing the door carefully. He left the paper propped on the bedside lamp and turned to Soap, who was still sleeping. He saw Biscuit lying on the bed and stroked her head gently.

“Take care of him for me,” he whispered.

The cat purred a little louder and Simon leaned down to kiss John on the forehead. He put on his balaclava, picked up his jacket, and left the house.

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twentyfunnybunnies · 11 months ago

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Lol it's been a fat minute but here we go!

1: How many works do you have on ao3?

76 currently but i round down to approximatly 4 when i don't count the cringy ones.

2: What's your total ao3 word count?

124,120 and it scared me

3. What fandoms do you write for:

I do mostly Star wars, then some marvel, and I've done three from the rookie, and some ninjago in a weak moment, and one for harry potter that I like to pretend doesn't exist

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Datapad - (sabine and ezra find a datapad full of pics of ahsoka, anakin, and the 501st)

Chocolate - (Anakin unintentionally poisons Ahsoka by feeding her chocolate)

Can We Keep Her Forever (and Ever Again) - (the bad batch runs into Ahsoka after order 66 and takes her in)

The Death of Kix - kix swears that anakin's padawan is going to be the death of him

Define Okay - (Ahsoka recovers after being kidnapped and experimented on by an evil space scientist)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

It depends. I usually do, since comments on ao3 are rarer than some other sites, but if it's the kind of comment that doesn't need a response, or it feels forced, i just leave it

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably And the War Drags On where the ending isn't so bad, but I ruined it in the authors note and someone left a comment saying the a/n made them wanna dive off a cliff :)

Or "unafraid" where i killed the pov character

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Maybe datapad? Or Anakin the Limp Noodle. Basically any of my fluffy ones

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't yet, but I still don't get many comments in general. I did recieve one comment with a ton of ✨spicy✨ words in it and I didn't really understand it so it might've been hate but we'll never know

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope! I can't even handle kissing scenes at this point so there is no way

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've done one crossover that I published and it was a very sketchy star trek star wars crossover and i was pretty sure i was gonna have some angry readers ranting in my comments, but everyone was super chill

i basically really liked a star trek scene and put star wars characters in it instead. It's "One Question: What's your Favorite Color" and surprisingly one of my favorites.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not yet but it's one of my fears

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I know some of my readers translate my fics for just themselves, and once i popped one into google translate to see if I could read it in Spanish when i was learning (i couldn't lol)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, but only with people I've been sitting in the room with, and it was just mad chaos that was hilarious but made no sense so it's buried in my google drive.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

if it has to be romantic definitely obitine, and honestly i dunno why but they always make me so happy

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Basically any fic i start writing these days lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't know if it's actually a thing but it's like my brain superpower when i don't really know what a word means but I know I NEED it in the sentence so I look it up and it turns out it was exactly the word I was looking for.

Don't know if that counts but I doubt myself in every other area so...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Chaos and indecisive-ness.

I've been writing some og works lately for some contests and i swear i started three different works and stopped all of them before I finally settled on one, and even now I'm really wanting to burn it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I do not trust myself or google translate enough for that. Once I put "Crystal" in and translated it to another language. I did it back and forth a few times and it ended up being "onion" so that's nice

19. First fandom you wrote for?

star wars the clone wars for my queen Ahsoka Tano

and i owe it to @anxiety-banana and @ashgryff cause I saw their one shot fics on wattpad and it inspired my little baby nugget of an author brain to write my own <33

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I'll chose one from each fandom:

Star Wars: As stupid as it seems I really like Aw, dang it, I chipped a nail

Mavel: No Hospital Can Hold Her just because of babysitter fury

The Rookie: probably Stay Still for Me but only the first chapter

Ninjago: I don't really remember them lol but Light up the Sky for the complete angst

For my tags, i know basically no one so @cc-cobalt-1043 but literally anyone, and i'll tag you if you let me lol

20 questions for fic writers

y'all i'm so happy i haven't done one of these in forever :')

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

93, but that doesn't count my 49 anon works lol

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

252,902, and i'm still disappointed by that number, because that means i could have written multiple novels by now lol

3. What fandoms do you write for?

oof uh lets start the list: star wars and marvel (and like three of its subcategories lol) are the current ones, but including past ones: white collar, psych, warehouse 13, almost paradise, and leverage!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

so apparently most of my best fics are anon,,, i guess stick around for the official release of those?? but yeah the first three are anon

when it matters (white collar)

inevitability is a stupid, stupid, thing (penny parker fic!)

if you're so smart tell me why are you still so afraid (this is my one and only suits fic, i also hate it, but feel free to check it out lol there's not enough content in the fandom to keep it anon)

and home isn't quite the same, but it's far from unachievable

big brothers make it okay

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

uh YEAH unless you're writing in a language google translate doesn't understand or you made me so mad i'm avoiding giving my phone a smackdown, i'm replying to your comment

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

browski my fics are either fix its or "hey you know what would be fun? killing plo koon" so uh i did some digging and i think it might be call me what i am, call me a monster. that one was,,, a lot lol i have no idea where my headspace was when i wrote that. a lot of my angsty fics end somewhat hopeful but this one legit is angst all the way through

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

ooh!! lose ourselves in the moment is one of the fluffiest endings i can think of. i write quite a bit of fluff, but my main fandom also occurs during a war so it's a delicate balance lol

8. Do you get hate on fics?

kind of?? i've never had someone comment "u suck" on a fic, but i've had a LOT of passive aggressive stuff telling me i'm writing a character wrong, or that I write a fact wrong (i usually get these when i actually wrote something into a fictional universe with fictional, non canonical facts lol so i do get a little pleasure responding to those kind)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

lol nope. i have an appreciation for certain kinds of smut in writing, when they're tasteful, but even then i typically don't read far into it before wimping out

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i haven't, but i've written references to them into fics for people to find haha

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes, but basically my entire wattpad fic era was stolen on one of those weird bootleg fic websites?? honestly it was all crap they can have it

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i'm hoping to translate all my fics into legible english prose one of these days. when will this clown figure out how to write is my question

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i had one (1) fic in the works between @ashgryff and @ljbrary once like two years ago that never even got close to completion, i'm not even sure what happened to that thing?? but i remember panicking because i was terrified of messing up something and we were all kind of new friends at the time so it was mortifying ahaha

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

team "i crave familial affection" i literally took to scrolling my bookmarks to find one i love :') i might have to go with kanan/hera?? i just never get tired of them they're some of my favorite characters as it is

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

mmm so I Know, I'm Sorry (But You Can Do Better) is technically an ongoing fic, it's just a one-shot sort of thing that I'd really like to either give a full plot or just continue indefinitely but at this rate i have no idea if it'll even get another chapter

16. What are your writing strengths?

when i get into it, i pride myself on inner emotional prose, also people have complimented me on my dialogue before so i guess dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plotting, pieces longer than 10k, sticking through rough patches to finish a draft

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

personally i only trust myself to do it in a tiny bit of french, but if it's done correctly i think it can be really cool

19. First fandom you wrote for?

sooo technically that would not be star wars even tho that's the first of mine on the internet, it would be Marvel, in which I wrote three paragraphs of a random movie ten years in the future after Endgame came out. it sucked, but look what it started i guess??

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

we've already established that i have a total 142 fics on ao3 so this is a struggle uhhh maybe Eternal, i was really proud of it when i posted it, also you didn't put those bones in the ground, because it took me a really long time to post after i finished it. i find most of the fics i hesitate to post are my favorites, because i don't want them to be harshly judged haha

that was long, thank you for sticking around!!

no pressure tags! answer any or none of these questions haha

lilly and ash who i already tagged and feel bad for double tagging, @ahsokryze @dashedwithromance @armchairaloof @twentyfunnybunnies and all who wish to join! i see this a lot but honestly if you want to join this, please take this as your permission! i will literally tag you if you ask me to so you feel better about participating

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corrodedseraphine · 2 years ago

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dreamland | eddie munson x harrington!reader #11

pairing: eddie munson x harrington!reader

summary: After breaking up with Jason, you end up in a pretend relationship with Eddie to piss your ex off. The more you know each other the more the pretending dissappears.

the story is also avaliable on ao3

masterlist | eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist

Songs which I mentioned: Queen - I Want to Break Free | ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! | Bryan Adams - Heaven

The story which y/n was reading to Eddie was 'The Kiss' by Kate Chopin

Also if you are curious about the sequel, which y/n wrote, I wrote one myself and you can find it here

Eddie managed to beg the teacher for another chance to improve his grades. The list he got seemed endless. Having seen it and shown it to you at one of the breaks, he immediately wanted to give up. You couldn't let that happen. He had two weeks to prepare. The deadline was the day before the charity ball you were supposed to go to together. The first days of studying passed terribly reluctantly for you. Eddie's uncle, seeing him over the books, could not get out of admiration. When you first went there to study he sat there impressed for the first fifteen minutes watching you and listening as you began to explain the rules of pronunciation. Unfortunately his presence had a bad influence on Eddie, he couldn't concentrate. On Wednesday and Thursday you studied with him, and when you left you always left him a few sentences to translate for the next day. To your surprise he always got everything done, not necessarily well, but it was the willingness that counted. You appreciated how he exemplified himself. When Friday came your house was in chaos. Everyone was getting ready to leave. Suitcases and bags were literally banging everywhere.

"Does it always look like this?" asked Robin sitting down next to you on the couch.

"It's always much worse." You rolled your eyes "Your presence here is like salvation, at least no one has argued yet."

"Nothing like a good old argument before you leave, I think it happens in every house" she laughed.

"It's good that you understand me. What are your plans?"

"Two days at the lake partying and getting drunk to the point of unconsciousness."

"Just don't drown, I want to have you both back whole and healthy!" you leaned your head against her shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" she asked.

"You know Steve doesn't like me spending time with your friends" you said.

"I think he wouldn't mind if all his buddies didn't drool at the sight of you" you snorted with laughter. "And do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Eddie is coming to study."

"Munson? To study? I thought you were better at making up excuses." She looked at you with a grimace on her face.

"I'm helping him with his Spanish so he can finally pass school." You explained.

"I'm able to believe that... And after learning, what will you do? Practice the language in a slightly different way?" she laughed.

"Robin!" you patted her forehead. "After learning I don't know, maybe he'll go home, maybe we'll watch a movie. Certainly nothing of the things that have been born in your sick mind!"

"Say what you want, but one thing I am sure of, Edward Munson will not leave this house for another two days." She replied giving you a pat on the forehead.

The sound of a bell rang through the house. You looked at your watch. It was too early. Steve, standing closest to the door, opened it.

"Oh, hi Steve." Eddie said. "Is y/n home? She was supposed to help me today..."

"...with studying. I know, come in." finished Steve.

You walked up to him and introduced Munson to your parents. They cared little about it. As a rule, they cared little about anything. They shook hands with Eddie and went back to packing. Slightly embarrassed he sat down next to you on the couch. He probably didn't expect such a crowd. Rather, he certainly wasn't expecting anyone here but you. Looking at his watch, he realized he had gotten the time wrong. He was too early, but there was no turning back. You sat in awkward silence and watched as your parents and Steve gathered to leave. Robin came to the rescue by chatting with you about the latest movies that had come out in the rental store. In time, even Steve joined you and they began to talk about various situations and very strange customers who showed up at their place. The atmosphere began to relax, and you saw Eddie become again the confident and talkative charming Eddie you knew. Seeing him get along with your brother made you feel warm in your heart. You could stop time and admire that view forever more. Steve got along with Jason, but you never saw them joking around together and having such a casual conversation.

As your parents left the house and drove off in their own direction, Steve and Robin also started to leave.

"Remember what I told you, Munson." Said your brother, standing on the doorstep. "Also remember that I have my eye on you, don't think I won't know what's been going on here."

"Does your eye have curly hair and his name is Dustin Henderson?" laughed Eddie. Steve reciprocated the smile by shaking Eddie's hand in greeting.

"Have fun!" You shouted as they packed into the car.

"Have fun learning!" exclaimed Robin and winked at you.

When you finally closed the door you breathed a sigh of relief. Finally alone. You thought.

"Go unpack your things in the living room and I'll be right back." You said going upstairs. In the room you took all the necessary notes and books. Before leaving the room you noticed a small bottle of perfume. After a moment's thought, you sprayed yourself with it. Just In Case. With a quick step you moved to the living room. You caught Eddie looking through the box in which you kept the music tapes.

"Are you looking for something specific?" you asked coming closer.

"Queen?" he looked up fondly. "A little different vibe than ABBA." He remembered.

"Weren't you the one who said that music is too beautiful to be limited?"

"Point taken. Shall we listen?"

"Spanish first, pleasure later Mr. Munson." You replied, pointing your finger at the table. Reluctantly Eddie sat down on the seat, and you sat right next to him.

"You smell nice, Mrs. Harrington." He smiled.

"If you think that giving me compliments will make me ease up on you, you are sorely mistaken."

He rolled his eyes and sat up straight. He began to show you the translated sentences you asked him last time. Checking them out went on in silence. While you were busy, Eddie started looking at you. The hair gently falling over your face and the focused look on your it caused, in his mind, a truly charming sight. He took a deeper breath and the scent of the perfume you had just used reached his nose. It's perfect. He thought. He also thought about how strange it was for him to sit with you in your big house. He was already used to your presence in the trailer. He liked it. Your Company always made him feel comfortable and at ease. Even on the first day when you unannouncedly barged into his room completely stood up he didn't feel bad about it. On the contrary, that night he felt something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Eddie, are you okay?" you asked seeing his thoughtful face.

Snapped out of his reverie, he shook his head. " So, how is it, everything needs to be corrected again?" he asked resignedly looking at the tasks.

"Actually, you only made three mistakes, congratulations." you said with a smile on your lips. You were proud, finally the progress of your study was visible, and his reaction was the best reward for you.

Full of self-confidence, Eddie straightened up in his chair, grabbed the list of topics and started looking for information on the next item on the list himself. He was so motivated that this time he was the one who spoke more than you. You were just a little help in possibly explaining again the information he didn't understand, or in checking tasks. Seeing his progress propelled himself, he was already able to see for himself what mistakes he was making and find explanations for them. After a few hours of studying, you had had enough. You needed a rest, and despite his desire, Eddie needed it too.

"I'll write you a few sentences for tomorrow and that's it for today. You did a great job Mr. Munson." You ruffled his fringe. "I think you've earned your dinner."

"I feel honored!"

"What are you in the mood for?" you asked, opening the refrigerator, where there wasn't much of anything interesting. "How about pizza?"

"Sounds great!" he exclaimed from the living room. "Can we listen to music now?"

"Yes!"

Moments later, Freddie Mercury's voice filled the entire house. After ordering the pizza, you reached for two glasses, and from the refrigerator well-chilled alcohol and something to mix it with. You both deserved a reward.

"I don't know if I should drink, I came by car."

"You can always stay the night" you said remembering Robin's words.

After a moment's thought, he grabbed the bottle and poured you Both equally into glasses. The time waiting for the pizza passed you very pleasantly, you talked about everything that had happened in the last few days. Eddie joked about his uncle, who still did not accept the fact, about his studies, and about more situations with Dustin and the rest of the club, he also mentioned the band and the concerts they played.

"You absolutely must come and see us sometime!" he said, refilling his drink.

"I'd love to! But how will I deal with this crowd of your female fans? They too must think that we are a couple, after all, if they find out they will tear me apart!" you laughed.

"For such a special person there will be a throne waiting where you will be safe and no one will be able to touch you. Well, except for me, pretending to be your boyfriend, who is a star."

"It will look like this like the throne on which you sit as Dungeon Master?" you grinned.

"Whatever you wish m'lady."

When the food arrived both of you were already terribly hungry. While you were preparing plates, Eddie poured more drinks. You ate in silence while Freddie continued to sing to you in the background. When the first notes of I Want to Break Free came from the speakers, you clapped your hands and got up from the table. You loved this song. It put you in a very good mood, now especially after the few drinks you had.

"I want to break free, I want to break free I want to break free from your lies You're so self-satisfied I don't need you I've got to break free God knows, God knows I want to break free"

You started singing and pretending to play the guitar. Eddie just watched you with a wide smile on his lips.

"C'mon Munson! Perform with me!" you said walking up to him.

"I've fallen in love I've fallen in love for the first time This time I know it's for real I've fallen in love, yeah God knows, God knows I've fallen in love"

You kept singing, unfortunately Eddie was still sitting in his seat watching you with a wide smile. You took another sip of your drink, and another and another. You could feel the alcohol warming you from the inside putting you in an increasingly goofy mood.

"In two weeks we have Ball Eddie! If you don't dance with me there, I won't forgive you!"

"I'm sorry to say, but I can't dance." He replied.

"You don't have to know how to dance" you replied walking around the room to the rhythm of the music. "Dancing is all about having fun! What did you do at all the school dances?"

"I've never been to any."

"Unacceptable!" you shouted. "You can't invite me to a ball where we won't dance a single song together!" You walked over to the tape recorder and rummaged an ABBA cassette out of the box.

"Get up handsome, it's time for a little practice!" The change in repertoire had an even better effect on you. As soon as Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! began to play you grabbed him by both hands and pulled him into the middle of the room. At first he stood beside you motionless watching you move to the rhythm. His thoughts were swirling in his head not knowing what to focus on. Standing there and fooling around in front of him. You looked unreal. Unreal to him. He couldn't believe what was happening and that it was happening to him. He wanted it to be like this forever, happy you singing and dancing to your favorite songs in his presence and he can only admire how beautiful and carefree you look then. He wanted to remember every detail of that moment, praying in his soul for more of those. Seeing that you would not persuade him to go crazy you went to change the tape. Since fast jumping rhythms were not his style you will try something slower. Eventually, as a couple, you will have to dance a slow one.

"Oh, thinkin' about all our younger years There was only you and me We were young and wild and free Now nothin' can take you away from me We've been down that road before But that's over now You keep me comin' back for more"

Hearing the first stanza echo from the speakers, you approached him. You placed his hands on your waist and hung yours around his neck. You began to move slowly in rhythm. You felt his body relaxing with each note.

"When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe We're in heaven And love is all that I need And I found it there in your heart It isn't too hard to see We're in heaven"

"Better?" you asked, lifting your head up and looking into his eyes. He was much taller than you, but because of that, when you hugged him you could hear his heartbeat.

"By a lot," he replied, pulling you close.

"Oh, once in your life you find someone Who will turn your world around Bring you up when you're feelin' down Yeah, nothin' could change what you mean to me Oh, there's lots that I could say But just hold me now 'Cause our love will light the way"

One hand was still on your waist, the other was playing with the ends of your hair, while gently riding your back with it. Nothing could ruin this moment for you. You took your arms from around his neck and embraced him at the waist resting your head on his chest and he rested his cheek on the top of your head.

"Baby you're all that I want When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe We're in heaven And love is all that I need And I found it there in your heart It isn't too hard to see We're in heaven

I've been waitin' for so long For somethin' to arrive For love to come along Now our dreams are comin' true Through the good times and the bad Yeah, I'll be standin' there by you"

It was heaven. Your little heaven together. You begged in your mind that the song would never end, you felt so good. The happiness and peace. The tranquility you found in his arms was something still unknown to you. You had hugged many times, but this time you both knew it was different. In that moment, you knew that Bryan Adams was singing the words you wanted to say to him in that moment. Eddie felt exactly the same. He had a hard time believing it. He couldn't accept how good he felt right now. In the right place, at the right time and most importantly - with the right person. From the moment he saw you in the cafeteria in your T-shirt with a bandana wrapped around your wrist, he knew that no one else would fit the spot. No one but you.

When the song ended and another began neither of you moved. Neither of you wanted to lose this moment. You could have stayed like that forever, hugged tighter than ever. Your hearts beat at the same pace, as if made for each other they wanted to jump out and merge into one. At some point, unfortunately, reality got to you. One thought that sent to both of you at the same moment. It's all a fake. Eddie moved away first.

"I think it's time to sleep," he said yawning. "I'm going to jump in the car, I have some clothes there to change into."

You just nodded. You didn't want to say anything. You felt sad. Sad that the beautiful moment was gone. You desperately tried to remember and recreate at least a little of that feeling. Tiredness was also getting to you. While cleaning up, you heard Eddie coming home.

"Come on I'll take you to the bathroom."

You led the way upstairs to where the bathroom you shared with Steve was located. You pulled a fresh towel from the cabinet under the sink and handed it to him. In the meantime, you used your parents' bathroom, which was downstairs. Feeling the warm drops of water on your body, you wanted to feel the same lingering warmth that you felt standing in his embrace. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same.

When you returned upstairs, you saw Munson looking at the bookshelves in your room.

"Big selection," he commented upon hearing you enter the room. "Which is your favorite?"

"I mean... It's not a book, it's a short story that I was obsessed with when I was younger." You laughed. You reached for one of the copies. It was a collection of short stories by Kate Chopin. Along with the book, you lay down on your bed.

"You're not going to stand like this, are you?" you said patting the spot next to you. Feeling the mattress bend under the weight of Eddie laying down next to you, you started looking for the right page. He was lying close enough to you that his hair, wet from the shower, touched your hand. It was cold, but you didn't mind.

"Here it is." You showed your finger and handed him a book.

"Will you read to me?" he asked unexpectedly "I think I deserve some kind of bedtime story. " He smiled.

He returned the smile. "It was still quite light out of doors, but inside with the curtains drawn and the smouldering fire sending out a dim, uncertain glow, the room was full of deep shadows..." you began in a low voice. Eddie listened to your voice more than the story. The way you changed the intonation to best convey what was written impressed him. Your voice had a soothing effect on him. So did the sounds of his song on you. "...Well, she had Brantain and his million left. A person can't have everything in this world; and it was a little unreasonable of her to expect it." finished closing the book.

"What do you think?" you asked after a while.

"I already know what you dreamed about before you went to sleep a few years back." He laughed. "Mr. Harvy must have turned your head quite a bit" he said.

"So much so that I started writing my own sequel, because I couldn't get over Natalie's choice!" you replied.

"May I see?"

"I have two conditions."

"I'll do anything."

"You read quietly and if you don't like it you won't tell me."

"Deal."

You got up from the bed and pulled your rosy notebook out of your backpack.

"There is still one more condition." You added. "You read only this and nothing else."

"I promise."

You handed him the notebook open on the appropriate page and lay down facing him. He sat leaning against the bed frame. His hair, already a little less wet, fell over his face, obscuring it so that from this perspective you couldn't see his reaction. He was right, a few years back you were lying in the same bed dreaming of having Mr. Harvey come into your life to make your head spin. Now you knew that Mr. Harvey's real name was Eddie Munson.

"I like the flow of events, do you have a follow-up?" he asked handing you back the notebook.

"Not for now, maybe one day I'll come back to it." you replied yawning.

"You should, but now we need sleep, sleeping beauty, can I steal a pillow?"

"Stay." you asked. "The bed is big enough. Besides, I can't let you sleep on an uncomfortable couch." you added recalling his words.

Eddie turned off the lamp and lay down next to you.

"Can I hug you?" you asked after a while. Instead of hearing an answer, you felt his arm wrapped around you. Satisfied, you began to play with the rings on his fingers. You slowly twisted them enjoying the moment. After a while you both fell asleep. You fell asleep being convinced that it was all pretend. Unaware that you both prayed that the morning would never come.

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maybeimavillain-byleif · 2 years ago

Text

New blog to talk about Eldarya

Let's begin with a little presentation

Hi, this is a new blog to talk about Eldarya (as I said) because I really need and want to share my thoughts on it! I'm Italian and I play Eldarya on the Italian server even though the whole story is in English (and it won't be translated in Italian). I'm 22 years old, I like music and in particular K-pop and my favorite band is SHINee (I have another blog where I post about them). I also like NCT! I like reading and I can speak different languages: Italian (mother tongue), English, Spanish, a bit of French and now I'm studying Korean and Japanese. Plus, even though I didn't study it, I understand Portuguese. And that's it!😊

About the game:

I have two different accounts. I've played, on the first one, The Origins completely and I did Nevra's route. Now I'm playing A New Era but I'm still at the beginning. On my second account I'm playing The Origins again but on Leiftan's route. I decided to play, on my first account, Nevra's route because I like vampires. On the second one I decided to play on Leiftan's route because I've always felt he had something but, of course, at the beginning I didn't know what it was. After discovering his true nature, how cute he is when he blushes or gets jealous (yes, I really like when someone shows how jealous they are🙂), I decided to play his route. Of course, because not every episode has him for the illustrations, I'm playing with Ezarel for the other illustrations (that elf is evil but he's so funny so that's how I ended up doing it😆).

About my blog name, colors and profile picture

First, I've took inspiration from SHINee's Key new album "Gasoline" (I really recommend it) and the name of my blog is a line in one of his b-side songs named "Villain" in which he says "maybe I'm a villain" and so I thought about Leiftan in The Origins when no one knew he was actually one of their enemies😆 and also when he tells Gardienne that maybe he is also a pest after she returned him Amaya. The colors are also inspired by one of SHINee's Key's outfits which is in black and green. I found that those colors really suit Leiftan (as he also wears it even though his outfit is mostly white). The profile picture is one of the illustrations (episode 17) and is actually one of my favorite from him! The header imagine is a edit of mine as I couldn't find something that would match the rest.

Final speech:

And that's all! I hope we'll have fun all together talking about Eldarya here! I'm a nice person so don't be shy if you have any questions or just want to talk to me!😊 Have a nice day and let's have fun!

#eldarya #eldarya a new era #eldarya erika #eldarya nevra #eldarya ezarel #eldarya valkyon #eldarya lance #eldarya mathieu #eldarya leiftan #new blog #eldarya the origins

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hotcheetohatredwastaken · 11 months ago

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20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged on this by @unexpectedstormy ! I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to respond like it was a chain or make my own post, so I just went for it

1. How many works do you have on A03?

Two. There will be more coming, because Blood Drops on Roses is just arc one of this story, and there's a lot of snippets for Prologue floating around.

Blood Drops on Roses: Linked Universe

BDOR Prologue: The Yiga and The Sheikah

2. What's your total A03 word count?

51,493 words since mid-August, when I finally got an account XD I've been a lurker for YEARS ya'll.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Linked Universe only, so far.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

See above XD I hope to get enough fics out there that I can sort my work like that, but for now it's just those two.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, I respond as soon as I can, they are like crack to me. Maybe because I'm new to sharing my work or something, but I would die for each and every one of you that leaves even as much as a <3

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

NONE OF MY FICS ARE FINISHED YET AAAAAAAAAA. Arc 1's ending is going to be pretty angsty though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm, I see that this questionnaire is not meant for me. There is a Prologue section "The Trap" that I'll be putting out soon through, its ending is pretty sweet I would say.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet. I am afraid that it's gonna happen, but so far everyone has been so nice, so I hope not D:

9. Do you write smut?

Nah. Don't really read it either. Just not my thing.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I mean unless you count LU as a crossover between all the Link's respective fandoms, no

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Gosh I hope not. How does one steal a fic?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. If I ever get good enough at Spanish, I would like to take a crack at translating my own fic once its all published, but it would probably be laughably terrible. Eh, practice is practice.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet. Hey @needfantasticstories, I think Clippy Wind and Pug Sky need to go on some adventures together, don't you?

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Tbh I don't really ship. I do think Malon/Time and Legend/Ravio are cute though. I'm just not really interested in exploring the romantic side of stories, even in published literature.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Geez I hope that I finish all of Arc 2 at this point. But I may be too early into the game to answer this.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Heck if I know. I had someone say in my comment section that they liked how I characterize people, so we'll go with that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I write too much and probably in too much detail. Sometimes it would be better to say "They crossed the bridge and set up camp" but nooooooooooo lets add 7,000 words to this already bloated fic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Well I've only got one big fic out right now so let's go with BDOR

Skip Breaker get over here and do this

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @the-real-azalea-scroggs! Had to wait until I was of my phone because doing these is a nightmare on mobile lmao

1. How many works do you have on A03?

18 as of a few days ago!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

60,763! Which is. Only a fraction of the word count in my Docs folder. Be prepared.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I mainly write for The Legend of Zelda; specifically Linked Universe! In fact, that's all that's posted on my Ao3 currently, since my fall into that fandom began with me uploading there! Pre-Ao3 I wrote for Black Cat (Anime/Manga), Megaman NT Warrior, various Pokémon things, Assassin's Creed, Yugioh, Final Fantasy XIV and Octopath Traveler! Some of these I still write privately, but I haven't gotten around to re-posting any.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Whistling on Deaf Ears - My longest fic on Ao3, focusing on Wild and Twilight's friendship and how good intentions can lead to disaster.

Iconoclasm - Warriors deals with the room full of portraits in Cia's palace. The Chain also deals with it, but with a bit more fire.

Deserving - Twilight finally tells Rusl that he was the wolf in the village during TP, but that also means dealing with some heavier topics. Colin half overhears them and forms his own conclusions.

Something Greater - The start of the "Hyrule can see magical auras" series! In this one we deal with Legend and his many rings.

Ocean Magic - Mermaid Legend and Zora Time have a race and then fight one of the Big Octos from WW! Fun times.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one!! I love comments, they give me an excuse to ramble about my fic more!! I am always down to ramble about every single insignificant detail of any line and/or section. If you ever want more background info about one of my fics, look to the comments! So please, I adore comments, I treat them like treasures, not responding to them would be a CRIME.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

There's no contest; Inevitable, my (so far) only MCD fic.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm, that's hard to quantify. I usually try to end fics on a hopeful note regardless. I'd say possibly either Deserving, where Twilight reconnects with his family, or Shimmering Blue, Striking White, where Time meets the Fierce Deity settled down on Satori Mountain and they both get closure.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no! I've been blessed with mostly amazing and patient readers, even when my upload schedule isn't the best.

9. Do you write smut?

No, not really. I've attempted it, but I'm too asexual for it lol

10. Do you write crossovers?

Very, very rarely. Mostly privately, and only very specific ones. Only a single one has had an actual plot, so far (more on that one in question 15!).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also a nope! I tend to write for smaller fandoms, where these things don't tend to happen a lot!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! But it's been a while. Over a decade, in fact! I tried to find the fic to link it here, but it was on the German fanfic website fanfiktion.de, and my friend who posted it back then must have deactivated her account, because it's nowhere to be seen (I still have the Word file though!). It was a Multi-Crossover that started as an RP in a forum, and we took turns turning the RP into prose one chapter each. "If a Hero Turns to Dark" was its title. We were edgy teenagers.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Hissssss. Bad question. Shoo. They are all equally important!! But it's probably TenRose from Doctor Who.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

One of the very few crossovers I've ever worked on; a crossover fic between Assassin's Creed and Doctor Who, that I have mapped out in both chronological and timeline order, and yes, those are different. I only ever wrote about a quarter of it, since my primary audience of it disappeared when we graduated. I doubt I'll ever pick it back up properly, and if I do it'll probably go through heavy rewrites first since it's so old. Finishing it is a nice thought, but realistically, after 9 years it'll never be high priority enough for it to actually happen.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially arguments, and emotional impact. I've been told I do really well making characters feel alive and believable! Also I like to believe I'm decent at setting a scene and giving it the vibe I want it to have!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with dialogue tags when nothing much is happening besides the talking. I always feel it's too bland, and fall back on the same phrases. My scene transitions could use some work too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done this with Japanese phrases, because I was a massive weeb. Usually I followed them up with their own translations, though; I'm not the biggest fan of footnote translations, unless they are properly linked to. Simple dialogue tags are my favourite way of indicating a language switch.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Black Cat the Manga/Anime! It's a series about an assassin turned bounty hunter trying to live a life separate from his murdery past, but getting dragged back into things by still wanting to avenge his best friend's death. The series has a special place in my heart and my bookshelf, it left an imprint on 13-year-old me that will never leave.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Jailbreak, uncharacteristically enough! It's one of the only fics I never got stuck in once. Writing it was a great feeling from start to finish. I love writing all of my fics, but that was a special few days.

Tagging @ahrva @nowhere-to-go-but-down @silvercaptain24 and @aeghina! And anyone who wants to do it, really, go wild

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