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diaryujin · 11 months ago

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𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄? (𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔)

summary: you’re the best thing that’s happened to the girls – a life-changing event. it shows.

OR little things that (G)I-DLE do with you and only you

genre: fluff

includes: google translated thai and korean pls do not come after me if it’s wrong or weird, indirect mention of soojin leaving but oh well, got a little deep in yuqi’s bit, mention of idol struggles, wHY ARE THERE SO FEW WARNINGS

pairing: idol! (g)i-dle x non-idol! fem! Reader

word count: 1.3k

a/n: this is all fluff, a rare exhibit even i’m shocked…

taglist: @kflixnet

cho miyeon

Miyeon is known for being extremely feminine and girlish and being on the receiving end of affection. It’s her trait, something everyone adores her for, and something she’s proud of. Yet, with you, she ends up doing things that are traditionally done by ‘the giver’ or the ‘man in the relationship’. Often, you’ll see her covering your shoulders with her favorite jacket when it’s cold, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you closer when you seem uncomfortable, letting you borrow her shirts and accessories, and – hear ye, hear ye – big spooning you. She does it all so casually and without a word leaving her mouth, just a sweet smile, making it seem like a normal thing to do when, in reality, it isn’t. She’s giving you her prized things without a single word of complaint – which isn’t the experience of the other members, as they have so grumbled to you before.

Can you blame her? You’re one of the very few things that truly belong to her, and she can’t help but want to show everyone else sometimes, even if it breaks character. Plus, you look adorable in her outfits, and she’ll always push aside her narcissism and self-love for you.

yontarak nicha (minnie)

Nicha speaks to you in English, which is how she’s practiced and became proficient in it. She often finds herself malfunctioning though because of the crap you do to the point that she thinks in three languages. If you do something stupid to annoy her, for example, the thought train in her brain choo-choos from “โอ้ ให้ตายเถอะ เธอทำอะไ��ลงไป-?” to “잠깐만 왜 그렇게 웃는 게 이렇게 귀엽지?” to “OH CRAP THERE’S FLOUR IN MY HAIR?!” in a split second. It’s crazy to her because, before you, her mind’s default language was Thai, only translating it to words in English or Korean or something else she knew if she had to speak to someone who wasn’t from her country, which was a huge portion of the world. For you to be able to make her think multilingually? That was a feat she never saw happening. She makes sure that she speaks in English by the end of the day though, which is why she lags a couple of times when trying to respond to you.

First, her thoughts are jumbled in different languages. Second, she has to bring them all back to her native language - Thai. Third, she has to translate what she wants to say from Thai to English. Fourth, she has to make sure she doesn’t end up directly translating Thai phrases and idioms to English, where they make no sense. Give her a break.

(Thai - oh shit what did she just do-? Korean - wait why is she so cute laughing like that?)

seo soojin

Soojin is quiet. She was the quietest member in (G)I-DLE, a stark contrast to the other girls. She also used to playfully reject most affection that they (Shuhua) offered, acting all tsundere-like. When it comes to you, however, you find that she’s the one initiating almost everything. Random back hugs, her hand suddenly sliding into yours perfectly, her lips puckering into that adorable duck lip she has when your faces are barely touching, you feeling your cheeks being cupped by her as she gives you uncalled-for kisses and more. If you try to push her away or ignore her acts of love, she’ll playfully whine and pester you to give her the attention that she desires from you. Of course, she knows where to stop bothering you and to give you space when you seriously need some alone time, but in moments unlike that, she’ll be like a small toddler bothering their parent for something insignificant.

It’s like you’re the Soojin to her Shuhua in SooShu, which is ironic if anything. She can’t be bothered to change her mannerisms though – she loves you so dearly that she’s afraid her heart might burst and she wants to make sure you know that.

jeon soyeon

Soyeon wrote Queencard and Allergy on a whim after you once told her that you didn’t like the way your body looked. You had been her muse for a few love songs, her favorite example being when she collaborated with Nicha on the lyrics of Dahlia and got endlessly teased by the girl for months on end for it (“You’re a simp!”), but these two were dedicated to you. Of course, she never mentioned it to anyone for fear of your name getting leaked out to fans, and she wasn’t going to get made fun of for loving you twice – she learned her lesson with one girl, imagine if all the others joined in on it? She didn’t allow you to listen to either until it was released officially, but it was all worth it when she got to see you screaming ‘why am I me?’ and ‘my boob and booty’s hot’ 24/7 around her.

She’d always sport a small smile when she saw you listening to it, knowing that this made you feel at least a little bit better and confident in yourself. You had done so much for her and had been her rock and inspiration when she struggled and this was the least she could do to repay the favor.

(if you don’t like queencard or allergy sHhHh just go with it)

song yuqi

Yuqi is loud and argumentative to the point she can break the eardrums of whoever she sits in a heated discussion. She uses it to her advantage when she wants people to see her viewpoint and as a stan attractor for her group. Having to put up an image like that all the time in front of cameras and the eyes of adoring fans is exhausting though, and she always looks forward to the end of the day when she can come back to you and melt in your arms, or at least video call you if she’s on tour. You’re the calm to her storm, and she admires you for that. You’re able to handle her, rain or shine. Even if she gets overly emotional over something tiny, you’ll always be there to console her. Her favorite pastime is to simply cuddle with you on the couch and talk to you about random shit quietly as she closes her eyes and lets you hold her close. She can be herself with you, plain and simple, without worrying about what you think of her.

You’re her comfort space, where she can just be. As an idol, such a privilege is hard to get, which is why you’re her little secret, hidden away from almost everyone except a select few, and reserved for her only.

yeh shuhua

Shuhua is boisterous. She loves to make quips at people and bullies them playfully (just look at Miyeon). All the members and her family are victims of her teasing – no one is spared, except you. Instead, she lets you poke fun at her, with smacks to her head, mocking whatever she does, making disgusted looks at her when she acts cute, and whatnot. She’ll patiently wait there for you to be done before responding to you with an exasperated sigh or an insult back. It’s not as harsh as what she’s said to the other girls, and they have noticed the obvious favoritism whenever you go over to their dorms. They always complain about it to Shuhua, especially Yuqi, saying that they should get some of her love too. She denies any accusations of special treatment and argues back that they’re not her partner, you are, and thus they’re not worthy of her affection. It usually ends with Yuqi and Shuhua bantering for a long while as the rest, including you, watch in amusement.

You’re so special, one of the best things that’s happened to her. As much as she loves her group, you’ll always be on a higher pedestal in her head than them, resulting in a free pass and a shield from her relentless taunts. You don’t know whether to be grateful or a little concerned, but it’s nice to boast about a liberty to the others and watch their faces of annoyance.

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howlingday · 10 months ago

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new vegas au) LT. Valkire was a simple girl, she liked explosives and she hated bullies. made it pretty easy for her to decide to join up with the NCR military of course now she had to sit in the desert trying to deal with the powder gangers. to make things worse there was no fucking support from the higher ups meaning she had to handle everything solo! That was until the knight rolled unto town. The dude was strange, only spoke in old English, wore metal armor that he'd polished till it was basically a mirror. had probably the only solid steel sword she'd ever seen, not reclaimed scrap metal someone had sharpened till it could stick someone, no, an actually forged sword! and while it was hard to understand what he was saying apparently he was going to help with the powder gangers? well if he wanted to pick off a few of the patrols for her that was fine, she's surprised he even had time to do that in between his charity work with the kids of Primm, he mainly just passed through from time to time handing out sasparilla and candy while helping the community as needed after he helped them liberate it a few days ago. it's a shame, she really liked the guy. why'd all the good ones have to be gay or crazy? (give us jaune singlehandedly taking out the powder gangers in their prison-turned-fortress and nora's reaction to it pls)

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Whassamatter, sweetheart?" One of them shouted between gunfire. "Did your mommy not pack you a lunch?"

If Nora cared about her mother, she might have taken that as an insult. Instead, she chose to focus her anger on the lack of explosives she had. Try as she'd like, the Powder Gangers had her outnumbered ten to one, outgunned with them still having ample rounds and her with no grenade cartridges, and outwitted since she was trapped in an office above some well-protected radroaches hiding under sturdy barriers. In short; she was fucked, and it wasn't going to get good anytime soon.

"Shit, shit, what do I got?" Nora scanned the office around her for something, anything that could be used as an explosive. The closest she could find was an empty pencil shaver and some old bottle caps. Nothing volatile in the slightest, save for her temper.

And it was her temper that got her into this mess, wasn't it? She didn't like standing around in the base, doing nothing, so they sent her off to clear out a Powder Ganger base and send word to the NCR that it was clear. Too bad the base had fired a flare and sent pretty much every Ganger in the desert to come for her. She'd managed to whittle them down, killing a bunch in the first shot, but there were still too many for her. If she was lucky, they'd kill her quick.

"Just you wait, sweetheart!" One of them called up. "We'll give you exactly what those uptight pricks at the NCR never would!" Judging by the laugh they gave, her spinal chills were justified.

"Hold there, worthy adversaries!" A new voice called, and judging by his tone, he was a loony, too. One of those Caesar's guys? "Pray tell, what kingdom doth thee hail from?"

"The fuck you wanna know for, freak?"

"Don't waste your breath! Just light him up!" Gunfire roared, soon followed by screams of agony.

Nora peered outside to find the loony, all dressed up in some kinda sheet metal tougher than anything those Caesar guys had on, slice one Ganger in half like a lunatic! But he was a lunatic with a chance, since the bullets kept bouncing off him. Anyone dumb enough to get close with a slugger either had it parried or sliced in half with them. Nora'd never seen such carnage before, not even from the Deathclaw attack that stampeded her home all those years ago.

The one her mother left her behind in.

"Hail, fair maiden!" Before she could be sucked into her trauma, a voice called to her. "Are you unharmed?"

"I'm fine!" Nora called back. "Thanks for saving my bacon!"

"Oh, good! You have rations!" The idiom flew over his tin-metal head. "I only have one other question before I enter!" His voice suddenly became less friendly. It was about as dangerous as when he started slicing the gangers like meat. "ARE YOU FRIEND, OR ARE YOU FOE?"

"Dude, you just saved my ass! I think that makes us friends!"

He was quiet for a moment, then he let out a belting laugh. He lifted his helmet from his head, giving a smile to her from beneath golden locks of sweaty hair. He swiped them away, free of sweat, and stepped closer to her.

"It has been some time since anyone had answered as a friend!"

#rwby #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #fallout #rwby au #fallout new vegas #fallout: new vegas #my answer #my answers

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midnightluck · 6 months ago

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Aventurine is Rom-Coded

Back on my bullshit with more over-analysis for my best blorbo LET'S GO

DISCLAIMER I am not Rom, I am just an interested party, pls correct me if i'm wrong or disrespectful here it's been a long time since I got to deep dive this topic. Will be also discussing the slur as context with full knowledge of the context. ALSO I am BIASED take this with a barrel of salt, and I haven't cited my sources since I did this research in high school for writing Dick Grayson fic okAY HERE WE GO

So like, can we talk about Sigonia??? Like???? What the fuck kind of culture has "may your schemes remain hidden" as a general wellwish? Can we talk about how "Sigonian" is a slur????? and ALSO they are so Rom-coded, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE CULTURAL GENOCIDE PARALLELS PLEASE--

So FIRST OFF, Romani != Romanian, Romani != "gypsy", Romani != criminal. Romani is a tribe, is a culture, is a way of life. It's nomadic and art-centric and Romani, as a language, is not Romanian, no matter what some folk use in fic (sources: 1, 2, 3). It's a language that borrows from most European languages, and because Rom are nomadic, they then spread that back to those countries. For example, the English word "love" is used in Rom to mean "money," possibly the basis for the idiom "show me some love" meaning "pay up". (also, side note: as there are different groups and traditions, there are some pretty widely varying dialects; here's some more about that if you're interested.)

The Rom culture involves moving on and traveling. This is fascinating for townies (derogatory) and for the vast majority of people because it's an alternative lifestyle, and often children or teens or young adults would fall in love with the people or the lifestyle and follow the caravan, at least for a while. This led to the Rom's reputation as babythieves and childstealers. "Lock up your children," people used to say, "because the gypsies are coming to town." Maybe some caravans did take kids, we don't know, because fresh blood is important to continue family lines? But citation needed and A N Y WAY

So the Rom would roll into town, half-show and half-trading, perform for money, spend money, and move on. Because they were transient, there was less pressure to maintain a reputation, and a lot of the "tricks" and bad trades led to the term "getting gypped" being coined from the word "gypsy," which is why it's a slur; it literally means "someone who is intending to steal from you". One such common trick was Ekkeri, akkery, u-kéry an, which was a "magic spell". Put your money into this handkerchief, say the spell, it doubles. Do it again; it doubles again. Oh, you want me to do it with all your life savings? Sure, here's the hankie, the longer you wait to open it, the more it'll grow, buh-bye! Ekeri Aikeri is likely the original basis for the common rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, and like all nursey rhymes was presumably a warning: if you hear this, be wary. (sources: 1, 2, 3)

So the Rom became more and more marginalized, and as any marginalized group will tell you, that's not a winning recipe for longevity. There's currently an inherent, unexamined bias all modern kids are taught, to be wary of strangers, to be wary of "gypsies" because they're enchanting magical creatures who will walk into town one day and leave with your money or your heart or your dreams (see Shakira's Gypsy), but they're not, the Rom are people, and people are not one thing. The stereotype of a "gypsy" is constantly enforced and as the population dwindles, more and more people are assuming that the Rom aren't real people, that the way of life has died out, and why be careful when there's no one left to harm? Only there is and they are trying but they no longer have the infrastructure to support themselves outside of society and they have to give up their culture to be a part of society because society thinks they're extinct fairy tales. It's a lot like what happened with Native Americans in the US, except that there were more Native Americans, they had settled land and history, and they fought back. The Rom didn't have a place to defend because nomads, couldn't point to history because oral traditions, and now there's so little to prove they ever travelled the entire continent of Euraisa and spread culture and art and magic. The only things the wider world has left of Rom culture are in our words, and even then those are carelessly used and more weapon than word.

TL;DR I have a lot of feelings on this but LET'S GET TO AVENTURINE.

Unlike real Rom, he's got the eyes--everyone can see at a glance that he's a schemer, a liar, a storyteller and a gambler. He wears his heritage on his face and he doesn't try to hide it, just like he doesn't try to hide his serial number. Someone tried to own him, and he beat them. Someone tried to kill his culture, and he won't let it die. He's been a foreigner longer than he'd ever been Avgin, but that kind of heritage doesn't die, even when everyone else does. Take Sparkle looking at him and saying "What's one of your kind doing here?"

Sigonia IV is the planet; there were multiple races on it, according to the lore, and Aventurine was an Avgin, a race that was wiped out. "Sigonian" is like calling someone an "earthling"; you're not wrong, but you are grouping everyone in together, and the Avgin and the Katican are terrible enemies who would not appreicate that in the least, I assume.

In-game characters use "Signonian" over "Avgin" which feels like "gypsy" over "Rom". Aven is presenting himself as a "gypsy," letting people call him that, embracing the stereotype and leaning the fuck in because it's better to be a Sigonian than to let the entire Avgin culture die entirely.

It's a lot of weight to carry, but that's the thing about a magic trick: the real trick is hiding how hard it all is. Magic is the art of making the impossible seem easy and natural, after all; look at this shiny pretty distraction, isn't it flashy? Isn't it bright and pretty and so easy? Just a twist of the wrist to produce anything your heart desires, and never mind how long it took to set it all up (we'll discuss performative luck build next time!)

Anyway so that's my take on his identity and cultural issues; he's too visibly an outsider to ever be trusted, but he's too alone to ever be supported in a culture. He knows he's alone, and what's more, he knows that everyone is looking to him as their only example of what an Avgin is, of what they were. He is defining his entire culture, in defiance of society, and all he has to do that with is childhood memory. There's this fuckoff big weight on his shoulders which is part of why he can't die; his reputation is every Avgin's reputation, and he will defend that more bitterly than his own. Aventurine doesn't lose because Avgin don't lose.

#hsr aventurine #aventurine honkai star rail #i will keep talking about this as long as you let me really i will #let's discuss the inherent trauma of luck builds: why Aventurine isn't one #all in

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biglittleluobo · 2 years ago

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有志竟成

大家好！

Hello everyone and 新年快乐! I am back for the new year with a brand new 成语 aka Chinese idiom or proverb to keep you going all year long! Today’s 成语 is 有志竟成 (yǒu zhì jìng chéng), which translates to “persevere (literally “hold ambition”) and you will succeed”. The most straightforward English equivalent to this is definitely “where there’s a will, there’s a way”, certainly something that is both useful and a nice message, regardless of which language you’re speaking! I wish the story was a little more wholesome, but oh well. Let’s get to it!

Long ago, a general named Gěng Yǎn was serving under Liú Xiù, the newly proclaimed emperor. Though Liú Xiù commended Gěng Yǎn’s eagerness to wipe out separatist powers as quickly as possible, his highness sometimes doubted whether it was possible. Eventually, Gěng Yǎn was ordered to attack the Zhāng Bù, a powerful group occupying the 12 counties of Qīngzhōu and Shāndōng. Though Zhāng Bù caught wind of this impending attack and quickly set up defenses, Gěng Yǎn had established a plan: first capture Zhù’ā, then take down Lìxià through trickery, and finally bear down on Línzī with full force. Ultimately, the battle for Línzī was fierce and bloody, with heavy losses on both sides. Gěng Yǎn himself was shot with an arrow, but he cut the shaft off with his sword and continued to fight.

Knowing that the battle was not going well, Liú Xiù himself led another contingent of troops towards the battle. One of Gěng Yǎn’s generals suggested a temporary truce while waiting for these reinforcements. However, Gěng Yǎn disagreed, stating that an emperor’s arrival is cause for feast and merry, not to fight the toughest battles of his armies. He thus ordered his troops to step up their efforts and win before Liú Xiù arrived. Their soldiers fought bravely and finally defeated Zhāng Bù. A few days later, Liú Xiù arrived at Línzī. Hearing of their wonderful success, he praised Gěng Yǎn in front of all the other generals. He publicly stated: “In the past, I felt your suggestions to put down rebellions were too ambitious and was afraid it would be difficult to succeed. Now I know that where there is a will, there is a way!”

And that’s it! Did you enjoy the story? As I mentioned above, I wish it was a little more wholesome, but ancient times were just more brutal I guess. The next time you find yourself up against what appears to be an unstoppable force, remember the words of Liú Xiù, ignore the haters, and remind yourself: 有志竟成!

Here are the other idioms from within the story:

勇气可嘉 (yǒng qì kě jiā) - to deserve praise for one's courage

兵强马壮 (bīng qiáng mǎ zhuàng) - lit. strong soldiers and sturdy horses (idiom); fig. a well-trained and powerful army

See you next time!

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iantimony · 2 years ago

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tuesday!

hello tuesday :) i'm going to start crossposting these onto my dreamwidth also just so i have a non-tumblr log of my weekly updates. please friend me on dreamwidth i would love an excuse to move platforms more

listening: OH i listened to SO much this week. i tuned in to my spotify release radar thing and it was a great idea to get exposed to some new music from artists i already know i like! i also peeped the discover weekly one a bit

i haven't listened to the newest paramore album in full but 'running out of time' was on the release radar playlist and i really really like the sounds! it feels very st vincent-y to me in a way that i wasn't expecting from paramore so i wonder if that was a conscious influence at all? or if they were both separately influenced by the same sources? it's really good though. i dont remember following shakey graves but they also rule i've been jamming to the whole album 'deadstock' which i think is just a collection of some of their more popular tracks? plus some live recordings. and tom rosenthal makes me cry still

from discover:

and then i found memi through...instagram reels i think? instagram has unfortunately nailed the type of music they should serve me to get clicks so i do. keep clicking them. anyways i love her

reading: quantum :V

oh wait actually i do have reading this week! i re-opened the slowly app (i downloaded it years ago but stopped using it at some point), which is a real-time penpal app - you can send letters to random people in the world, and it will send in "real time" as if you were actually mailing a letter! so i opened it and the app went oh? you're active? cool! and i started getting letters! so i got one from a guy in morocco, which i replied to right away, and also one in mandarin which i have NOT replied to right away because i had to spend like an hour translating it rip. out of five i put my mandarin proficiency at a 2 on my profile but honestly that may be too high oops. ah well. it'll be cool to try and get my mandarin back up to snuff! it'll also be a great way to learn things like idioms and other stuff that doesn't show up as often in traditional learning materials.

for example, phrase that i learned is 畅所欲言, chang4 suo3 yu4 yan4, which is a standard four-character idiom that means to speak without inhibitions or to just frankly speak your mind. i have like a full two pages of new words and phrases that i had to look up to read the letter which is awesome!

the letter from morocco was very cool and like...poetry adjacent? which im not sure if it's just because of a translation quirk - he said his english isn't the best - but i dunno. "I am writing to you because writing is a companion of the tired". anyways.

watching: i started watching evangelion with my partner!! we did ... i think about five episodes last week? it owns. this is the first time in a really long time that i've, like...gone blind into a media? my only exposure to eva has been through out-of-context memes (shinji get in the robot) and i feel like a lot of the time with TV shows i tend to read the wikipedia page before watching to see if it's really worth it :") i've never really cared about spoilers or whatever because honestly if it's a good enough show it won't really matter if i know what's going to happen or not, it's more about How it happens and how it's shot/framed/acted/etc. but i have zero context for eva and im very much enjoying it! i wasn't expecting the body horror at all it rules

making: making good progress on my embroidery project! this photo is from about two weeks ago but it's the most recent one i have and honestly haven't done THAT much more. i just finished filling that vertical headphone cord in with red, started some other headphone cord...after that all i have left is the letters (rip) and then doing maybe some sort of sashiko stitch/cross hatching as fill for the hair? like some spaced out x patterns in a grid or something like that. because i'm sure as shit not doing a satin or brick stitch to fill all that in and i think it'll still look good that way.

im also finishing up valentines gifts to mail to people :3

misc: hgg. quantum midterm on march 2. it is Rapidly approaching and im very nervous about it but in a VERY different way - this semester he's having the exams be open note and open book, which could be really good or really really bad. on the plus side i dont have to drive myself insane memorizing equations on flash cards again, most of my studying will probably be uber-familiarizing myself with the layout of the notes so i know where to reference things and also copying out things from online that might be relevant. on the minus side it means i have really no clue on how hard this exam will be. pain.

research is going. i feel like im sooo close to getting shit to work. however i am also experiencing research fomo because a prof that i didnt even know existed gave a presentation on her group for potential new students and i went wait wow that fucks. sigh. i think that's all for this week gang, gonna crosspost to dreamwidth after lunch!

#tuesdayposting #Spotify

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confusedshades · 1 year ago

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I wish you would write a fic where the plot/intro to the plot is based on some kind of pun-like misunderstanding. (I want to see what you do with the puns.)

This is rough and not thought through as much as I probably should have. Also much longer than you were probably hoping for.

Jason found Damian and Cass working over maps and scrawled notes in the cave when he dropped by one night after patrol. Unable to contain his curiosity about what would have these two working together on a case he wandered over. "What are you two working on?"

Two sets of eyes moved up to consider him. "Todd, what do you know about animal trafficking and fight rings?" Damian went back to considering the map in front of him, with various crosses and circles from previous cases marked out on it. Cass waved him over and made space next to her for him to stand in front of what looked like different case work.

"I don't know a lot about animal trafficking per say, but there has to be similarities to human trafficking, right? Is that what you stumbled on baby bat?" Jason knew the kid has a soft spot for animals and if he had truly stumbled onto a case of animal trafficking then it made sense why he'd be working on it instead of sleeping as soon as patrol ended.

"I was wrapping up patrol when I overheard some low level thugs talking about needing to find a new place because of the dog eat dog competition in the city."

Jason looked up just in time to catch Cass' confused expression. "What?"

"They disappeared into a club before I could get more information, but I plan to figure out where and how they're hosting this fight ring, and then make them regret ever preying on helpless animals." Damian was still scowling over the map.

"Little brother, are you sure those were the exact words they used?" Cass asked turning to look at him.

"Yes I am sure." Damian huffed, crossing his arms and turning to look at the two of them. "Did you not read the case notes I started? All the information is in there, and as soon as I can figure out where to find those two, I'll be able to find out more."

Jason and Cass exchanged a look, and at Cass' expression, Jason sighed. He's going to have to figure out a good way to explain about idioms without riling up his little brother.

"Dami, dog eat dog is an expression. It just means that things are cutthroat in some way, and people have to be ruthless about what they want."

"I am aware of the idiom Todd, but these two were talking about a competition." Damian was truly growing up. A few years ago, he would've been at Jason's throat at the perceived failing, now his frustration was only visible in his voice as he obviously waited for Jason to make his point.

"The word competition gets used a lot with the idiom in Gotham, Damian. It's part of the language actually." Jason made sure to keep his voice steady and non judgemental. The kid had learnt a lot the last couple of years, but being Robin meant he was constantly learning and would continue learning. Suddenly living in a new country and city would not have helped, because the kid basically now had to reset his cultural and linguistic understandings.

"That doesn't make sense Todd. The idiom itself is dog eat dog, with the recognised variation of dog eat dog world." Damian's frown had eased somewhat so he was listening to what they were trying to say and not dismissing it outright.

Cass laid a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Yes," she said cocking her head to the side slightly, "but sometimes when you learn by speaking and listening only, it is not accurate. English is hard, and not everyone goes to school or has good teachers."

"Language also changes," Jason shrugged. "As people and societies change, language changes. All the memes and internet speak as Bruce is fond of calling it, are a good example. You can't use yeet in an essay but you can still say it and have people understand what you mean."

"Oh." Damian was frowning at the maps again but this time it was obvious that he wasn't actually looking at them.

After a few minutes, Cass nudged Jason and Damian. "Hot chocolate?" she asked.

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fantasy-observant · 2 years ago

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Venting

Man, I was gonna stay quiet but no, I can't. Guess I'm going to kick the hornet's nest.

Gotta love the kind of fandom people who whine about receiving comments that aren't up to their standards. A "Nice story! :)" isn't good enough. To these types if your comment doesn't have paragraphs of literary analysis or super deep questions (that no one would even know to ask) for their fics, they would rather you don't comment at all.

Meanwhile, I know so many writers who get depressed, quit, and sometimes even delete their stories because they never receive any kudos, likes, or comments AT. ALL. on stories they pour their hearts out on.

(And for now we'll say nothing of the comments that actually ARE bad that these writers receive. The classic "kill yourself because Xcuse"s come to mind)

Once upon a time I received an anon message who told me they liked my story but didn't want to waste my comment space with "useless gushing" and I'm still furious that someone cowed that anon into not expressing themselves! Wtf!

I do what I can to support my fellow creators, but the assholes described at the top are why the writers described next to that don't receive comments. People are driven away from saying ANYTHING if it's never good enough for you snobs.

Sure, be annoyed that they didn't comment to YOUR preference. Everyone else shut up. After all, we wouldn't want to offend you types by expressing our interest in a way that isn't exclusively the way you want.* Oh. Wait. That's STUPID.

Look, it's simple. Everyone go make comments to your own preference and let everyone else enjoy the content and express their enjoyment of said content as they like. If anyone tells you otherwise: they are an asshole and should be ignored.

P.S. I will say nothing that is the shitstorm that erupts when you ask for clarification for weird phrasing/unclear descriptions, or heaven forbid, pointing out a typo. It is not rude to ask what an idiom means. Wtf.

*this goes double for those of us who may not have English as a first language, or struggle to convey our full meanings through text. "Wah so blunt!" Yeah translating thoughts into your language sucks sometimes and your culture dictates that everything must be couched in constant ass-kissing and sugar-coating and sometimes I'm too tired to remember that. Thicken your hide and stop assuming malice.

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patricida · 2 years ago

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well if my mutuals jumped off into a pit i wouldnt follow but i would be like well maybe its good in the pit you dont know. maybe theyre having fun.

#wait does the pit idiom even exist in english at all. oh well.

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pickyperkypenguin · 7 years ago

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Tango Anawa

(music: Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, lyrics: Marek Grechuta, Marek Czuryło, translation: pickyperkypenguin)

A theatre strange, one of a kind

Where sense and substance

Deuce only knows

There are pianos and mandolins

In frenetic tango Anawa

You, ma’am, are saying – it’s impossible!

You, ma’am, are saying I am guessing

You, ma’am, are saying – unbelievable!

You, ma’am, are saying it’s a jest

But what is possible – is possible

What I am guessing – I am guessing

And you don’t know, my lady, what I’m feeling

When I am singing tango Anawa

A theatre strange, one of a kind

In which the show eternally goes

Animal tamers and arlequinos

And frenzy of illusion Anawa

You, ma’am, are saying – it’s impossible! (…)

Theatre strange, one of a kind

One other like this – I don’t think there is

Here come to us prepossessing girls

And they are laughing and having fun

You, ma’am, are saying – it’s impossible

That you know all these sort of japes

That is naïve and frankly phony

This so called tango Anawa

But what is phony, that is phony

What I am guessing – I am guessing

And you won’t ever understand

What is a tango Anawa

youtube

#my art #writing #marek grechuta #anawa #translation #polish #i was showering and then i thought - what if i butcher ahem translate some grechuta?#i love some of his songs so much #such a sentiment for them #and i'm not sure if they are translated to english - or at least those that i want to be translated #so i thought what the hell i will do it #i wanted to do something artistic that requires some mind gymnastics from me #so i did this #i'm pretty sure it could be done better by a professional or somebody more immersed in language #but it was too much fun not to do this #this one song my mother told me my grandma adored #and my mother likes it very much too #funnily i've first heard it independently from this - i was listening to grechuta on my own not even knowing any of them liked his music #so it goes for the first fire #oh wait that's not an idiom in english #in polish it is and it means something (or someone) that goes first at a risk of being burned by that new thing #so here it goes #the second one i will post will be my personal fave #but i want to think about its words some more #i tried to keep the rhythm and the syllables we'll see how did it go

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babeyvenus · 2 years ago

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My Future

Derek Hale x OC

Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.

Chapter 24: Taken

Sam sat in Stiles' car as he took her to the school. Lydia went missing again.

"That girl can never stay in one place…", Sam muttered to her best friend.

"She ended up somewhere. What if it's a dead body?", he asked.

They quickly arrived at the school. "Where is she?", Stiles called as they got out of the car.

"Over here.", Allison replied as the two rushed up to her. Lydia was beside her, a dazed look on her face.

"What happened?", Sam asked. "It's the same thing. Same thing as the pool. I got into the car heading somewhere totally different and ended up here. And you told me to call you if you found a dead body.", Lydia told Stiles.

"You found a dead body?", Stiles exclaimed.

"Not yet.", Lydia said.

"What do you mean not yet?", Sam asked in confusion.

"Lydia, you're supposed to call us after you find the dead body!", Stiles fussed.

"Oh no, I'm not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on.", Lydia responded, shaking her head.

"We're not the ones finding the dead body! It's always you! We don't have special weird connections to the dead!", Stiles complained.

"Guys! I found the dead body!", Scott shut them down as they followed his gaze. Hanging over the 'Beacon Hills High School' sign was the body of the victim.

The stone of the sign was covered in the blood of the victim, who was wearing a police uniform. Stiles and Sam's eyes as they muttered simultaneously, realizing who it was. "Tara."

Hours later, the school was flooded with police. Stiles was speechless to say the least. Tara had been a family friend of Stiles.

Sam only encountered her every now and then when they were in middle school. She helped them with homework whenever things got hard. She had been Sheriff Stilinski's partner for a few years now. Now she's dead.

The school itself seemed to be a radar for death. Sam tuned in and out Ms. Blake's English lesson. Sam was suspicious of even more now. Why haven't she said anything about the recent issues? What was she gaining from this? Why she continued on as if she didn't see what she saw was beyond Sam.

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes. All tools the writer uses to tell their story.", Ms. Blake droned on. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents.", she complimented Lydia's drawing.

Lydia's been drawing the same exact tree every day lately. It was starting to be creepy at this point. What did the tree mean?

"You and every guy I've ever dated.", Lydia retorted. Sam snickered and Ms. Blake caught it. "Well, that was an idiom, by the way. Sam, could you give me an example of a metaphor?"

Sam glanced at her, boredly. "Raining cats and dogs, heart of snow, you're the eyelash in my eye–"

She cut Sam off. "Thank you, Samantha.", she said with a smile. "Idioms are something like a secret to the people who know the language or the culture. They're phrases that only make sense if you only know the key words. Like saying jump the gun is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like seeing the whole board."

"Chess.", Stiles mumbled.

"That's right, Stiles. Do you play?", Ms. Blake wondered.

"No, my father does.", Stiles said. "Now, when does an idiom become a cliché?", Ms. Blake walked back to the front of the class.

"I think I can get to Ethan. And I'm pretty sure I can make him talk.", Scott leaned over and told Stiles and Sam.

"And how exactly are you gonna separate Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?", Sam asked.

"Wait, hold up, why do you want to talk to him?", Stiles asked Scott.

"The druids are emissaries, right? What if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas?", Scott asked, making their eyebrows raise.

"Kinda makes sense, but we're going to have a huge problem getting to Ethan through Aiden. Ever since he'd been back to school, they've been stuck at the hip.", Sam says.

"Already found a way to split them up.", Scott said as he and Stiles both turned around and stared at Lydia.

Lydia caught their gaze and sighed. "What now?"

Sam smiled. "Can you do us a favor?"

After catching Ethan alone in a hallway, the trio stayed with him as Lydia was distracting Aiden.

"Why are you even talking to me? I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not going to kill another one?", Ethan asked Scott while looking at Stiles and Sam.

"Is he looking at me? Are you threatening me? I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe, and shove it up your freaking—" Sam looked at Stiles in shock at his sudden outburst and pulled him away. "Okay, easy!", she says, and looked back at Ethan, apologetically.

She urned to Stiles. "Before you could even get that branch, he'd rip your head off. You want that?", Sam scolded.

"We're talking to you because I know you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think if something like that happened now you wouldn't do it again.", Scott said.

"I think he'd do it again anyways. He's part of the Alpha pack, that's what they do.", Sam said, letting go of Stiles.

"You don't know what we owe them. Especially Deucalion. We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met them. We weren't Alphas.", Ethan explained. Sam raised her eyebrows. They wasn't expecting that much info. "So, what, you guys were betas?", she asked.

"We were Omegas. In actual wolf packs, Omegas are the scapegoat—the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack.", Ethan corrected.

"So, you and your brother were like the bitches of the pack?", Stiles asked.

"Something like that.", Ethan grumbled.

"So, what happened?", Scott asked.

"They were killers. I mean people talk about us as monsters, but they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our Alpha was the worst of them.", Ethan explained.

"Why didn't you guys just fight back? Form Voltron wolf, you know? Kick everyone's ass'.", Stiles asked.

"We couldn't! We didn't know how to control it back then!", Ethan fussed.

"So, Deucalion taught you.", Sam says.

"Yes, and then we fought. We took down a whole pack, one by one. And by the time we got to our Alpha he was begging for his life! And we tore him apart. Literally.", Ethan confessed.

"What about your emissary? They're all dead? Kali and Ennis' too?"

"All of them except for Deucalion.", Ethan corrected.

"You mean Morrell?", Scott questioned. Before Ethan could answer, he let out a pained gasp. He clutched his chest and clenched his jaw in pain. The trio looked at each other in confusion.

"What, what's wrong? Are you hurt?", Scott asked him, concerned.

"Not me. My brother." Sam's eyes widened. She told Isaac to step back and if he's not doing anything, and Derek is still resting…

Sam shook her head. He's not gonna come here…

Cora would though.

Sam quickly ran down the stairs and into the locker room.

Lydia was screaming for Aiden to stop as the sound of metal clanking and bones crushing erupted in the room.

She found Cora on the floor in Lydia's arms. But before she could ask what happened, Aiden tackled her to the floor, wolfed out. She kept his fangs away from her neck as he snapped at her. "Get offa me! Get off!", she yelled.

Aiden was ripped off of her, stumbling back against his brother and Scott. "You can't do this!", Ethan yelled at his twin.

"She came at me!", The other twin shouted, angrily pointing at Cora. Stiles came over and kneeled down next to Lydia, Cora and Sam.

"Doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek till the next full moon. You can't touch him." Ethan pointed at Cora. "Or her. Or her!", then at Sam.

Ethan pulled his brother away and out of the locker room. Cora was groaning in pain, her head gushing with blood.

Sam helped her up as she clutched her head. Sam sat Cora down, grabbed a paper towel, soaked it under some running water, and dabbed the blood off her forehead.

Cora hissed, yanking her head away. "I know it hurts. I know you don't like me, but let me help you anyways.", Sam scolded, and she reluctantly let her clean her up.

"You okay?", Scott asked Sam and Cora. Sam frowned. "Do I need to answer?"

"She doesn't look okay.", Lydia said.

"I'll heal.", Cora told them. She tossed the bloody paper towel into the sink and stumbled back, Scott and Stiles getting her back on her feet once more.

"I said I'm fine.", Cora growled. "Do you realize how suicidal-ly crazy that was? What were you thinking going after them?", Stiles asked.

"I did it for Boyd!", Cora yelled. "None of you were doing anything."

"We're trying.", Scott assured.

"And you're failing. You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around thinking you can stop people from getting killed. All you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies.", she argued.

"Cora, you're a teenager yourself and you got put on your ass by a stupid teenager.", Sam said, pointing a hand to the alpha twin. "Not only that, what you just did was a pretty stupid move back there. Had Lydia not been here, or had those twins not been linked, we wouldn't have known what the hell had happened to you. You're not out here trying to stop the sacrifices or dealing with a psycho emissary. We are. We're the ones trying to fix all the problems.", Sam says, stepping up.

"You can't just act on revenge alone. We're just as hurt about Boyd as you are, but we're trying to stop people from being victims to this so no one else will die. You can't do this alone.", Sam told her. Cora glared at her before walking out of the locker room and Sam sighed.

"She's definitely a Hale.", Stiles spoke up and left to walk out. "I'll make sure she gets home."

"I'll come with you.", Sam frowned, following him out of the locker room.

Now they were in Stiles' room as he paced in panic. He was considering telling his dad everything now that they know what the pattern is.

Healers. Warriors. Virgins. Philosophers and guardians. His dad was a potential target. Sam couldn't blame him for being nervous. She hadn't even told her mom what was going on.

But if she knew Deaton… there may be a chance. Hell, if she knew what Deaton did and was a part of it in some way, Sam wouldn't know what to do.

Now Stiles struggled to tell what was going on to his dad who stared at Sam and Cora in confusion.

"Yes! Okay. No, ugh.", Stiles groaned.

"Stiles, words please.", Sam says. Stiles was mumbling, incoherently.

"Stiles!", Sheriff Stilinski called, impatiently.

"Dad, I'm sorry, okay? Just– I'm trying to figure out where to start from here.", Stiles fidgeted with the ends of his plaid button-down.

"Hey! I don't have this kind of time.", his dad yelled.

"Yeah, because you're working on the murders. We know. That's what we're trying to tell you.", Sam says.

"Okay, for the last year you had all the cases that you couldn't figure out, right? All the murders involving Kate Argent and then Matt killing all the people who had drowned him. And, and all these murders right now…it's like you've been playing a losing game."

"Stiles, the last thing I need right now is a job performance review from my own kid and his friends.", Mr. Stilinski shook his head.

"We're not doing a review, though.", Sam says. Stiles rushed over to one of his shelves and grabbed a chessboard.

"See, that's it, dad. The reason you've been losing the game is because you've never been able to see the whole board." Stiles put the board down on his desk. "We need to show you the whole board." Stiles began setting up the chess pieces with post-it strips. Derek, Scott, and Peter were all black pieces with pink strips. Wolves.

Chris, Kate, and Allison were all white pieces with purple strips. Hunters.

Jackson was identified with a yellow stripe while Deaton had a blue strip. As for Sam, she had an orange strip with a black piece.

"Last year, during the first murder of the girl that turned out to be Laura Hale, Scott got bit in the woods by an animal when we snuck out."

"You said Scott wasn't there.", Sheriff Stilinski frowned.

"We lied.", Sam says, shamefully. Stiles groaned.

"He turned into a werewolf after a few days. We tried to figure out who killed the girl. We thought that Derek Hale killed his own sister since he's also a werewolf but turns out the Alpha did it. The Alpha's Peter Hale, Derek's uncle."

"Long story short, we were trying to find out who the Alpha was all at the same time Kate Argent was here and trying to kill Derek because she's a werewolf hunter along with the whole Argent family.", Stiles explained.

"The night Peter was planning on biting me, Kate Argent kidnapped Derek and I and held us captive in a cellar. It's what hunters do; they're crazy. But when Scott got us out she shot us.", Sam explained.

"Deaton healed her because he's some kind of Druid—", Stiles said and took a breath. "And Peter Hale killed Kate Argent because he was killing all those people who started the Hale fire. Then Derek killed Peter. Okay, um, next set of murders—", Stiles looked at the chess board.

"Jackson wanted the bite from Derek. He gave it to him, but he rejected it. So, he turned into a lizard creature thing called a Kanima and was being controlled by Matt, who was making him kill people as revenge for drowning him. Matt died, I ended up getting powers, Gerard Argent killed him, and Gerard controlled Jackson. We defeated Gerard, then Derek and Peter, who came back from the dead by the way, killed Jackson and he came back to life as a werewolf.", Sam confessed.

"And at the same time Peter Hale was controlling Sam and making her do all this weird crap and made me think she was an Alpha which she isn't but that's done now so they just hate each other. Yeah. Now we've got an Alpha pack running around Beacon Hills and a crazy Darach, which is a Druid that went down the wrong path according to Deaton, running around killing people for sacrifices. And whoever the Darach was ended up slashed up and left for the dead by wolves.", Stiles finally finished with a heavy breath. Sheriff Stilinski blinked a few times.

"Scott and Derek are werewolves?" He raised his brows.

"Yes.", Stiles sighed, believing his father was understanding.

"And Kate Argent was a werewolf?" He wasn't getting it.

"Hunter. That's purple…hunters.", Stiles fidgeted with the Kate Argent chess piece.

"Along with Allison and her father.", Cora added.

"Yeah. And, my friend Deaton, the veterinarian, is a Kanima?", his dad asked.

"No, no, no, no, no. He's a Druid. Kay? Well, we think."

"So, who's the Kanima?"

"Jackson.", Sam said.

"No, Jackson's a werewolf."

"Yeah, now. Jackson was a Kanima at first then Peter and Derek killed him, and he came back to life as a werewolf.", Sam explained.

"Since everybody finds it weird, he was dead.", Stiles pursed his lips.

"So, who's a Da-Rack?"

"Darach.", Stiles and Sam corrected. Sheriff Stillinski rubbed his forehead in growing frustration.

"We don't know yet.", Cora answered.

"But he was killed by werewolves."

"Slashed up and left for dead.", Stiles corrected.

"We think.", Cora said.

"Why was Jackson the Kanima?", he asked.

"And that's what you've missed in Beacon Hills the past year.", Sam smiled. Sheriff Stilinski leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Because sometimes the shape that you take reflects the person you are.", Sam says.

"And what shape would an increasingly confused and angrier by the second father take?", Sheriff Stillinski asked, annoyed.

"Uh…that would be more of an expression. Like the one you're currently wearing.", Stiles licked his lips.

"Yeah." Sheriff Stilinski got up from the chair and began heading towards the door.

"We're telling the truth!", Sam yelled. "I have powers!", Sam told him, and he turned around, fixing her with a look.

"Dad, dad, dad! I can prove it, okay? She's one of them," Stiles pointed to Cora, "a werewolf!"

"Stiles, Stiles! That's enough!", Sheriff yelled.

"Dad can you please just hold on.", Stiles pleaded. Sheriff Stilinski sighed.

She stood up hesitantly.

"Trust us, please.", Sam pleaded to the older man.

"Alright dad, just watch this. Okay?" His dad's eyes widened as they heard a thud on the floor behind them. Sheriff Stilinski ran past Stiles and Sam, and they turned around to see him crouched over Cora who fainted.

Cora laid unconscious, the cut on her head bleeding black blood.

Shit.

"Call an ambulance.", Sheriff Stilinski demanded. Sam took out her phone and immediately dialed 911. After Sam explained, Stiles dragged her into the hallway, leaving Sheriff Stilinski to take care of Cora.

"We can't take her to the hospital! She's going to heal and then we'll have more questions to answer.", Stiles whispered, panicked.

"Stiles, she's bleeding black. Something bad's happening. As far as I know, Melissa is the closest person we can trust and rely on. We'll take her to her.", Sam reassured.

She took her notebook as she sat in Cora's hospital room. Cora looked sick, pale and almost lifeless. Just like Lydia.

Sam looked down at her open pages. Five words were written down on it: healers, warriors, guardians, virgins, and philosophers.

As far as she knew, Deaton's a healer, and he was almost sacrificed so that was crossed off the list. Stiles' dad was a potential target, so he was on guardian.

Either she or Stiles had to be on virgins…

Would the warriors be Scott?

Who's the philosopher?

"What happened?", Derek's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as he rushed into the room. He looked panicked as he caught the sight of his sister.

His shoulders immediately slumped as he went to her side, checking her bandages. He could hear her heartbeat, but it was slow. Why?

"She got in a fight with Aiden at school. Stiles and I took her back to his house and she passed out. She's not healing.", Sam said.

"Why isn't she healing?", Derek asked.

"I don't know. But it can't be because of her fight with Aiden, she should have healed already. Something else is going on.", Sam says, frustrated.

Derek took a seat in the chair next to the bed and took his baby sister's cold, lifeless hand in his.

He squeezed it, pressing his forehead to his clasped hands. watching his baby sister cling to life.

Sam sighed, looking at the notes again. Something's missing. "What's wrong?", Derek asked, noticing Sam's frustration.

"Something doesn't add up. It's confusing…", Sam says, looking over her notes again.

"What is?", he asked.

"The sacrifice pattern.", she says as she tried to piece everything together. "You know the pattern?", Derek sat up.

"Yeah, Allison found it out today and told us–" Sam's eyes widened as she looked back down at her notes. Allison. Hunter. Warrior.

"Sam?", Derek urged.

"It's related to us. The pattern's getting close to us.", Sam says, getting up.

"How?", Derek asked.

"Stiles and I have to be the virgins. Allison's the warrior since she's a hunter. Stiles' dad might be the guardian. Deaton's gone so he has to be the healer. I can't find out who's the philosopher….", she trailed on.

"Lydia.", Sam realized.

"How is Lydia a philosopher?"

"Philosopher, another word for scholar or thinker. She's always brought up some facts every now and then when it helped us. I just— What if there's something more going on than we know about? What if the Darach's closer to us than we thought? The darach is someone we know.", Sam says.

"I kinda doubt it. I'm still suspicious as to why people are dying just because she gets a feeling. For all we know, it could be Lydia.", Derek said, bluntly.

Sam shook her head. "Lydia finds the bodies, she doesn't cause the deaths.", she said, and pulled out her phone as she got a call from Stiles.

"Where are you?", Sam asked.

"I'm with Scott.", Stiles said and Scott cuts in. "The school but that's not important. It's not guardians, not law enforcement. It's philosophers, as in teachers! Allison and her father just found Mr. Westover.", Scott informed.

"That makes sense. Tara wasn't always a cop. She used to teach middle school.", Stiles said over the phone.

"Then the last one's going to be another teacher."

"There's dozens of them, Scott. And they're all headed home.", Stiles said. Sam shook her head. "No, Stiles."

"They're all going to the recital!", Scott exclaimed in realization.

"So, the three of us are going to go protect three dozen teachers?", Sam asked in disbelief.

"Sounds like a plan.", Stiles mumbled.

Sam sighed and hung up the phone as Derek's eyes never left her. "The Philosophers are the teachers. Looks like I'm going to your girlfriend's recital.", Sam says, taking her things. Derek frowned. "I have to stay here.", Derek said.

"I know. We'll be back.", Sam says before leaving. Derek stops her, though. "Sam," Derek called. Sam turned around to face him. "Be careful.", he warned. She gave him a smile and nodded before leaving.

After arriving at the school, Sam and Stiles' jumped out of Stiles' Jeep and rushed inside to where the concert had already started.

Stiles and Sam pushed right through the auditorium doors and found Scott watching the concert.

"Hey.", they whispered, catching his attention.

"Why is Lydia not with you?", Sam asked.

"She was, she went to go talk to Aiden, I think. She's somewhere in here.", Scott said, continuing to watch the performance.

Sam looked around and saw the twins. Lydia wasn't with Aiden and Aiden was with his brother.

Something's wrong. Sam quietly left the auditorium and searched for the redhead.

"Lydia?", Sam whispered, looking around the moonlit hallways. She continued walking until she could hear shuffling coming from a classroom to her right. She turned and looked into the classroom with widened eyes. Sitting, bound to a chair, was an unconscious Lydia. Sam ran in, taking in the sight of her as she tried to pry the girl's restraints apart.

"Lydia, wake up.", Sam tapped her cheeks before trying her restraints again.

"She's not going to wake up." A female voice startled Sam. Sam turned around and saw Ms. Blake standing before her.

"You knew all along, didn't you?", she asked as Sam glared at her. Her eyebrows furrowed as Sam came to the realization.

"You're the darach.", Sam muttered. The prissy, snobby teacher who pretended to be innocent. The woman who pretended to cry over Derek's wounds. She was behind everything.

"How does it feel to be out-powered by your enemy?", she smiled. "You were going to kill her.", Sam growled.

"She's just an inconvenience. Just like you.", Ms. Blake sneered before rushing at Sam and knocking her back against stacked desks and Sam groaned as she fell to the floor.

Through her blurry vision, she could see the woman walk over to Lydia before passing out once more.

Last month

"You knew about him this whole time? That's why you asked me if I was okay?", Lydia asked Sam. The girl nodded. "A little after the beginning of the school year.", Sam confessed as they talked about Jackson.

Her eyes widened. "You've known for that long?"

"We've just been trying to keep people safe…", Sam looked down at her hands.

"From what?", she asked. Sam looked up at her. "Jackson hasn't said anything to you?"

"He's explained to me what Derek's taught him—about the full moons, the hunger, the claws and all. He told me about how he didn't know he was doing the killings, and he didn't know how he got turned into that lizard thing.", Lydia said.

"Kanima.", Sam corrected.

Lydia gave her a sad smile. "You guys have been through a lot."

Sam nodded and explained everything. From Scott's bite to Kate, to Peter's bite, and Allison's mom trying to kill her and Scott, to the whole thing with Jackson's werewolf transformation.

"She tried killing you.", Lydia frowned at the news of Allison's behavior.

"Yep, so we're not talking at the moment.", Sam says.

Sam even told her about the sudden voices she was hearing after talking about Peter's bite. "Deaton told me I was dying. Throwing up black blood and constantly being weak, that was the bite's doing."

"I didn't go through any of that…", Lydia muttered.

Sam nodded. "The most they told me was that you were just having an allergic reaction but that was it."

Sam groaned as she woke up to see Lydia was whimpering as Ms. Blake was threatening her.

She smiled at Sam. "We're bite buddies.", she said. Sam chuckled. "Bite buddies. I like that.", she grins.

"It's too bad though, and too late." Ms. Blake started to duct tape Lydia's wrist to the chair. Lydia started crying, and pleading no.

She tried yanking her wrists free but to no avail. Sam got up and used Ms. Blake's shadow to push her away from Lydia, slamming her into the blackboard of the classroom before rushing to free Lydia.

The woman groaned and got up, glaring at Sam behind her long dark hair.

She jumped over the desk, ready to run at her with a knife.

"Drop it!" The voice of Sheriff Stilinski yelled from behind Sam. The girl's eyes widened as she turned to him, but Ms. Blake took that as an opportunity to stab the knife into Sam's side, making her drop in pain.

Before the sheriff could react, a loud roar erupted from the back of the classroom. Scott stood there fully wolfed out, threatening Ms. Blake with a growl. He jumped over desks and started clawing at Ms. Blake, who dodged his attacks. She finally knocked him in the chest and sent him flying back into rows of stacked up chairs.

Stiles came running up to the front door of the classroom and looked in with wide eyes. In a swift motion, Ms. Blake shoved a desk in front of the door with ease, blocking his entrance.

Sam placed her hand on the floor, pulling at Ms. Blake's shadow as she fell to the floor. Looking back at Sam, she kicked her chest and Sam groaned with a cough as the woman got up.

"There was a girl…there was a girl. We found her in the woods, her face and body slashed apart. That was you, wasn't it?", he asked, angry.

"Maybe I should have started with philosophers—with knowledge and strategy.", she says. Sam's ears rang as she heard the sheriff's gun pop. He shot the woman's leg and she stumbled but soon steadied.

"Healers…" Ms. Blake lunged for the Sheriff and stabbed the knife in his chest. He cried out in pain as she backed him up against a stack of chairs. "Warriors.", she growled. She snatched the badge on his uniform. "Guardians." She crushed the badge with her bare hands. It dropped to the floor with a quiet clank. "Virgins.", she finished, leaning in for a kiss with the Sheriff.

Stiles pushed the desk away from blocking the door and finally entered the room. He helped Sam up and they ran over to where Ms. Blake and his father were previously standing.

It only took a second to blink as they all saw an ugly, disfigured, pale monster in place of Ms. Blake. She let out a screech before leaving with the sheriff.

Scott made it back to his feet as well, but they were too late. All they were staring at was the sight of broken glass.

"Dad?", Stiles called.

As the trio got settled in Stiles' Jeep, her phone rang. Sam winced as she pulled it out of her pocket and saw my mom's face on the screen. She answered it in a rush, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Hi, mom.", Sam greeted. "Are you with Stiles and Scott? You've been gone all day.", her mother said. Sam nodded, though she couldn't see her. "Y-Yeah, yeah! We went to a recital at school, yeah, we're leaving now.", Sam says, and bit her lip from the pain in her side.

"Okay, just let me know if you're staying at their house–", she heard before she stopped. Sam's eyes widened a bit at the silence.

"Mom?", Sam called. "Hold on, someone's at the door.", she told her. Sam looked at Scott and Stiles as they glanced at her.

Sam heard a crash in her phone's speaker and jumped at the sound. "Mom!? Mom!", Sam exclaimed, calling her mother.

The phone hung up.

Sam could hear the blood pounding through her ears as swallowed, looking at the ended call. Her hand trembled as Stiles looked at her in shock.

The boys quickly took their friend to Derek's loft, rushing in. "Derek! Derek!", Scott called as they entered the loft. "What happened?", Derek rushed into the room.

The boys laid her down on the floor as Sam silently cried. They all looked down at her as Derek examined Sam's wound.

"Ms. Blake.", Sam rasped, groaning. "She's the Darach."

"What?", Derek looked at her in disbelief. Stiles went to go get paper towels.

"She's the Darach. She attacked Lydia, she tried to sacrifice her.", Scott explained.

Stiles came back and pressed the paper towels on her wound. Sam let out a cry of pain, gripping his wrist as he looked at her apologetically. Her body started to hurt all over.

"Then how did she get into it?", Derek asked Scott, gesturing to Sam as he took the paper towels away from Stiles shaky hands, putting pressure on Sam himself.

"I went to look for Lydia. She wasn't with Aiden.", Sam swallowed as Scott looked at her in panic. "Why didn't you say anything!?", he exclaimed, worriedly.

"We don't know! One second, she was at the concert with us the next she was gone. We found her in there.", Scott told him.

Before Sam could explain, she screamed in pain as her head felt like it was gonna explode. Her body felt like it was on fire and felt too sore with every touch. The boys instantly flinched, fidgeting around as they were unsure of what to do.

"What's going on?", Scott yelled.

"I-I don't know!", Derek replied, taking Sam in his arms as she thrashed at his touch. It was too much. Everything burned and hurt. He held her arms in his hands, his veins instantly turning black, but the pain didn't subside.

"Derek, do something! Make it stop!", Scott yelled, covering his ears. "I'm trying!", Derek yelled back, wincing in pain. It was stab wound. It shouldn't have hurt this bad.

The pain started to fade as well as Sam's crying. Her whimpers turned into soft pants as she laid her head into Derek's chest, shutting her eyes.

The boys sighed, but silenced as the werewolves listened for her heartbeat. It was slow. Steady, but worryingly slow.

Derek quickly went to find supplies to clean Sam's wound and dress it. Scott and Stiles couldn't help but sit in silence, feeling the despair of what would come for the sacrifices.

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thelastspeecher · 3 years ago

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Accidental Abduction AU - Permanent Residency

I rediscovered my Accidental Abduction AU the other day and today, well, uh, this happened. Enjoy.

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“Goodbye, Stanley!” Stan looked up from his current chore, weeding the vegetable garden, to wave goodbye to Angie and Lute. “We’ll see you for lunch!” Lute called in English. Stan grinned. The alien family was picking up his language much faster than he was picking up theirs, and they were thrilled to use English as much as possible.

If it was anyone else, it’d feel like they were rubbing it in my face that I’ve only learned twenty words in their language. But they’re nice people. And I like hearing what they really sound like, not whatever the translators make their voices sound like.

“See you then!” he called back. Angie and Lute walked through the orchard at the edge of the property, vanishing into the woods beyond it. Stan straightened with a groan.

“Your spine produced some odd sounds,” Merle’s voice said. Stan looked over his shoulder. The father of the family was standing nearby, carrying two bags of the feed they gave their livestock. Stan knew they were farmers; after all, he’d helped out on their ship’s smaller, indoors version of a farm during the travel to the planet. But he was surprised by how similar their livelihood was to Earth farming.

Or at least it’s like Earth farming on TV.

“That happens with humans sometimes,” Stan replied. He stretched, producing more popping sounds from his joints. “Our bodies make that noise.”

“Hmm. So it is of no concern?” Merle asked.

“Uh, not always. Sometimes that noise means you got hurt, but I’m fine. It’s just from me stretching after being hunched over for ages.”

“If you were injured, you would inform us, I am sure,” Merle said.

“Sure,” Stan said. Mearl saw through the lie.

“I understand you may have a cultural or societal difference that means you are reluctant to tell us when you are in ill health, particularly if it is minor enough to not affect your daily activities. However, we are unaware of much of human biology, and as such-”

“I need to tell you if I’m sick or hurt, I get it,” Stan muttered. Merle sighed.

“It is for your own good, Stanley. We are taking care of you. We cannot return you to Earth worse than we took you.”

If I go back to Earth. With each day that passed, Stan was more and more reluctant to go back to his home planet. Sure, Earth was a bit easier in that he knew a language spoken there and one of its many cultures. But that was where the easiness ended. He didn’t have money or a home or even a family that really cared about him on Earth. Here, though? I’ve got all three. The alien family currently housing him insisted on giving him an allowance, which he mostly used on clothes and food, trying out everything that he could wear and digest.

“No, I get it,” Stan repeated. He looked off in the direction Angie and Lute had disappeared to. “Where do they go every day?”

“Whom?”

“Angie and Lute.”

“Oh, they attend an educational facility,” Merle said with a shrug. “It is the learning season.”

“Wait, they go to school?” Stan asked. Merle nodded. “Huh.” Stan looked down at the pile of weeds at his feet. He felt insane for the question he was about to ask, but couldn’t help himself. “…Can I go?” Merle blinked in surprise.

“I did not think you wished to attend school,” he said, setting down the livestock feed. “Would you share your reasoning?”

“Well, I don’t get to see much of the planet. It’s just the farm and the weekly trip to town. It’d be kinda nice to meet some more of you guys and learn about your culture.”

“Ah.” Merle nodded wisely. “You are getting…” He frowned. “I am uncertain of how it would translate, as it is an idiom, but it refers to feeling uncomfortable staying in one place for too long.”

“Cabin fever,” Stan supplied.

“That is the human term?”

“English, at least.”

“So strange, that your planet has multiple languages,” Merle muttered to himself. He raised an eyebrow. “I understand this reasoning, but…most juveniles would be thrilled they do not need to attend their daily lessons.”

“If we were back on Earth, I’d be the same way. But alien school sounds interesting. And I wouldn’t mind some more time with Angie and Lute.”

“Hmm.” Merle seemed thoughtful. “Yes, that makes sense. Still, though, why would you wish to pursue any sort of schooling in a place you only plan to temporarily reside?” His Kelly green eyes bore into Stan. “Unless there is something you have not told me.” A silence stretched. “Stanley. Do not pretend you are not considering staying here. I have noticed how silent you get when we plan for your return to Earth. And your remarks about how your stay here might be longer than a year have not gone unnoticed, either.”

“…Fine,” Stan muttered. “I- I don’t wanna go back to Earth.” Merle sat down on one bag of feed and patted the other. Stan sat down on the other bag of feed.

“Why?”

“You guys are nicer to me than anyone on Earth is.”

“What about your family?”

“You know that I was kicked out,” Stan said quietly.

“Yes, by your father. Do you not have other family members?”

“Everyone fell in line when Pops kicked me out. I guess…I guess they all agreed it was what I deserved. Or that it was time for me to leave, since I wasn’t contributing anything to the family.”

“Impossible,” Merle said immediately. “Individuals contribute to a family by merely belonging to it.”

“Yeah, well, that might be in your family, but it’s not how it works in mine. Ever since I was a kid, I had to earn my keep by helping out in the family business.” Stan sighed. “If you guys don’t want to keep putting a roof over my head or whatever, I understand. But I- I don’t have anything on Earth for me. I don’t have anyone. So if you guys would be willing to let me stay and work here, I-”

“Of course,” Merle said firmly. He placed a blue hand on Stan’s knee. “We love having you with us.” Stan looked at him in surprise.

“You do?”

“Yes! You are a wonderful young man. Are you rough around the edges? Yes. But many people in your situation would be.” Merle smiled warmly, baring his nightmarish teeth. “We would be more than happy to continue housing you.” Stan’s heart pounded in his chest.

“R-really?” he stammered. Merle nodded.

“Yes. I will speak to the member of the Council supervising your case of accidental abduction and inform him of your wishes to stay here.”

“That- that’s great,” Stan said, relieved. He’d been worried the aliens wouldn’t want to let him continue staying with them, even if he helped out around the farm. Sure, they were nice, but it could have been an act from the parents. Angie and Lute, though, Stan knew for a fact genuinely liked him. They weren’t very good at hiding their emotions.

“However, all of this requires one condition,” Merle said somberly.

“What?”

“When we return to your home solar system during the flock’s annual intergalactic migration, you must visit Earth briefly. We will come to the planet surface with you and even walk around. But I want to ensure that your home planet does not call to you.”

“…Call to me?”

“Certain species do poorly when removed from their home planet. They are tethered too tightly to it,” Merle said softly. “You are in perfect health now, yes, but you may weaken the longer you are from your home planet. If you find yourself feeling better upon visiting Earth, you are likely tethered. In which case, we would be morally required to leave you.”

“O-oh.” Stan swallowed.

“However, if you are tethered, we will be able to make accommodations for you nonetheless.”

“I don’t need-” Stan started.

“Oh, I understand you may not need nor want assistance. But it is still available.” A twinkle appeared in Merle’s eye. “This information has not been shared with you yet, but one of my children actually resides on Earth. He is there to study your culture and language, as well as keep an eye on extraterrestrial activities that your species is not ready to encounter yet. Should you be tethered, and thus need to stay on Earth, we can arrange for you to stay with my son.” It felt like a weight was lifted off Stan’s shoulders.

I’ve slept on other people’s couches before, I can do it again until I get back on my feet. And I’ve lived with strange aliens this long, what’s another?

“Do you understand, Stanley?” Merle asked. Stan nodded. “Excellent. I will contact your case manager.”

“But, um, before you do that,” Stan said.

“Yes?”

“About me going to school…”

“Ah. Yes.” Merle chuckled softly. “I would be more than happy to enroll you. But while the translators may work on spoken words, they are not able to translate written words. We should probably teach you how to write at least your name in our tongue before sending you to Angie and Lute’s Advanced Chemistry class.”

#I'm gonna be getting a new brace tomorrow that might restrict my typing abilities for a while again so you better enjoy this ;P #Accidental Abduction AU #Stanley Pines #Pa McGucket #Lute McGucket #McGucket Family #ficlet #my writing #my stuff #speecher speaks

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rowanthestrange · 3 years ago

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@rearranging-deck-chairs terribly gauche to make your tags into a post but I know you won’t and just:

#that snake guy is#he wont leave my head#it feels like he means so much so so so much but i dont know what he means#like that entire torture scene is just#all the things she says that shes so smug about. 'exiled? or *fleeing*?'#'very painful sonic locking' thats another sonic trick like the ventriloquism maybe#and then at the end when shes like 'taste of your own medicine'. which is like. very fitting idiom in english bc shes a doctor and tecteun#i guess isnt really but that torture contraption does remind of me of her. and also like.#the doctor being undoctor-like with an idiom that specifically evokes her doctor status is.... a lot. does make me think of 'experiences of#a lifetime'#oh hey wait. 'you exiled yourself here?' - 'or *fleeing*?'

“taste of your own medicine”

I- oh god that is peak Dark!Doctory and I didn’t even notice it. And the torture table thing, yes, that’s why it looked familiar! It’s visually evoking Tecteun there like their other mirrors, holy shit.

Thirteen is absolutely going to try to make the choice that yes, the Timeless Child needs to be sacrificed for the greater good, because that’s what Tecteun did, and Yaz is going to have to be the real Doctor and insist that is absolutely not what we do.

#bring tecteun back for bel to shoot her #ala amy in that finale with kovarian

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studyvibes · 3 years ago

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Hello guys so I thought it would be nice to translate an interview with Maneskin which is originally in Russian.

Thank you @teatrodellavita for sending me the link for the interview ❤️

So to warn you all before you read the translated interview, this is translation everything from Russian to English so all the maneskin answers were basically translated x2 (Italian -> Russian -> English) so there might be some Chinese whisper/telephone effect. Also I struggle with Russian idioms/metaphors so I’ll note them if they are during the interview.

I’ll leave the link here so you can follow the time stamps all of the questions. Also I tried my best making a nice structure which was hard because this whole post was written on tumblr mobile app

https://youtu.be/16NIbGDcycI

youtube

(I’ll be writing in personal notes to explain some parts in italic and bold)

So the video starts with the host making a parody of 80s Italy video promoting a vinyl. I am not sure, correct me if I am wrong, but I think that’s a reference to their New Years special episode. I skipped parts of the host talking because I don’t see it relevant to the Maneskin interview. Also I’d like to note that if you want to compare the host he is similar in hosting style like Jimmy Kimmel, he trying to ask questions with a bit of humour

[2:02] Host: Our guest, the winners of Eurovision: Maneskin!!!

[2:08] Maneskin performing I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE

[4:59] Host: Maneskin!!! *clapping*

Damiano: Thank you

Host: Thank you! Grazie! (Says other random Italian phrases, which I don’t know how to spell)

[5:21] Host: I was informed that on Yandex Music in our country (YandexMusic is a streaming service) you became more popular than Billie Eilish. You are the most popular band/group in the country based on streaming your music.

Host: Tell me how do you feel about Billie Eilish? Are you happy that you surpassed quiet singing woman from America (he didn’t mean it in harsh way more like a joke way)

Victoria: Poor Billie

Damiano: We really like her. There isn’t any competition with her, it’s not that important. But we are happy that our audience is here.

*audience clapping*

[5:55] Host: (said something that I couldn’t hear because of the clapping)

Host: You know, thanks to you we noticed how much in TV and Russia we see rarer and rarer people come/visit in leather and lace

*audience laugh in the background*

Host: And honestly speaking, looking at you we realize how much we miss it, we lack it, you have very very beautiful costumes/outfits

Damiano: thank you very much

Host: it just lacking blue and then a bit we’ll have a russian flag

*audience laugh*

[6:31] Host: what are your thoughts/feelings of Russia? What are your thoughts/feelings of meeting your fans? Where did you go? You are already a couple of days here, what did you like?

Damiano: Very pretty. It is very rare when we could go for walk, we saw the Red Square. The public is very warm so we appreciate/it’s very nice.

Victoria/Damiano (Not sure if this translated part was from Victoria or Damiano): We received a lot of Vodka as gifts

Ethan: and chocolate

Host: In this country you are the first people to receive vodka as a gift. (I think it’s sarcasm because I know a lot of people who received vodka as a visitor/ gifted vodka for visitors)

*audience laughs*

Host: but it’s ok, maybe it’ll become a tradition.

[7:04] Host: Tell me, a bit, for all of us who know you after the Eurovision. How was the band created? Who first joined the band. Am I right that Thomas, Victoria, you *pointing Thomas and Victoria* you first then Damiano joined? Tell us

Thomas: We went to the same school, and during that time we met each other. Then Damiano joined our band and then we made the band. A lot of different people came to us - we were looking for a soloist and drummer

Victoria: and during that time Damiano joined us.

Victoria:We choose Damiano because he was the only who could actually sing

Thomas: and then later Ethan joined the band. We found him *pointing at Ethan* on Facebook

Host: So you wrote something that you are looking for a drummer right? How did it happen? What did you write, what to write so I can join you as the 5th member with accordion

*audience laughing*

Ethan: Accordion is a bit difficult instrument *audience laughing* to use in rock music, but you can send us your resume, we will look at it.

[8:35] Host: We have a question from our band called ‘фрукты (Fruits)’ which is performing already 10 years. So the question is: you, just like the band Fruits, started from street performing, right? Like outside nearly at the streets of Via de Corso in Rome?

Damiano: Yes

Host: When you performed outside did you already wear the same costumes/outfits? How much as an estimate did you earn a day? It’s very interesting, a lot of bands will travel to that street, to repeat your journey.

Victoria: We dressed worse

Damiano: We dressed the style of hippie, but we earned a bit of money. One time, one boy came up and dropped for us 20 euros. It didn’t matter on the day, and one time a guy/young man came up and dropped 50 euros in to our box.

*Host pointing at himself proudly, audience laughing*

Victoria: So it was you!

Host: Oofcourse

Victoria: We thought we saw your face somewhere before.

*audience laughing*

Host: Of course guys, I left the boutique and thought hmmm what do I do with useless money, ofcourse.

[9:50] Host: Also about the band Fruits I just can’t not say it, Damiano, when you turn to your profile, *asking camera men to move the camera close up to the soloist of the band Fruits* *we see her side profile* I think during your childhood you both were separated, you look so alike. Damiano, maybe you have relatives in this country.

Damiano: *Damiano laughs*

Damiano: Maybe

*continues laughing*

Host: maybe, maybe

Damiano: It is possible, my dad was in Russia. *Damiano starts to laugh more, audience and laughing and clapping, camera goes on the soloist of the band Fruits smiling looking shy/embarrassed*

Host: She has the exact same story, her mother was visiting Italy

[10:23] Host: I can’t stop talking about your costumes/outfits (positively). And that you returned us faith/hope in Italian music in our country, which we really really love here, but also faith/hope in rock music. You are a group which uses more than one guitar and doesn’t used a drum machine and suddenly became very popular that we grateful for you because the word rock appeared and returned thanks to you.

Host:It is clear that you love rock music which is now considered the past rock and know the history of rock music. If you were offered to be able to go to a concert from the past, from any band, where would you want to go? Each one of you

Damiano: maybe the performance of Queen, would’ve been fun to see

Host: Victoria, which band and which performance?

Victoria: hmmm...possibly David Bowie, his tour.

Host: Ethan?

Ethan: If it was possible to return in the past, I would’ve traveled to the Woodstock

Victoria: he has has there contacts/ connections

*Damiano imitates smoking and laughs*

Host: oh I can’t repeat that after you

Host: and Thomas?

Thomas: I would go to the 70s for Jimi Hendrix

[12:00] Host: Where do you buy your clothes? Like from the basics, so I arrive to Rome and I have more than 50 euros, thank god, and I want to buy clothes. Where do I buy the clothes?

Maneskin (I wasn’t sure who’s comment the translator translated): just in the stores

*audience laughing*

Damiano: There is nothing funny *Damiano smiling* It’s true *He starts laughing*

Host: I’ll be honest I haven’t been in Rome for a very long time. But it’s in vintage stores right?

*Maneskin agreeing*

[12:30] Host: I have a very important moment, it is that you for the first time..mm.. finally brought back what we all missed and exactly that is bright and beautiful, outlined dignity male makeup on stage. Speaking of this..... talking veryyy slow so they can translate them quickly... speaking of this, I have a small favour/request ... *he kinda goes of track for a second* who does the make up, do you do it yourself?

Maneskin: no no

Damiano: no we have makeup artists, actually one makeup artist, very talented, well done. Between all of us, Victoria is best as makeup.

Host: Yeah, but with Victoria it’s understandable, it’s clear that she start trying makeup sooner than you did.

Host: I have an offer, imagine you don’t have your makeup artist and you have a person who urgently needs makeup applied. I would like to ask if you, Damiano, and the member could apply the makeup on my face? I honestly don’t know what you need to apply to makeup *he is opening palettes of makeup*

*Damiano stands up walking towards the host

Host: (in English) Thomas if you wanna, you know help, please.

*Thomas joins Damiano*

Host:(back in Russian) Victoria you can hint them

Translator: She (Victoria) said that you (Host) choose the wrong helpers

*audience laughs*

Host: Yeah? Then come join

*Victoria and Ethan join*

(Ok here it goes messy cause they are all talking and the translator instantly translates so I might have mixed up)

*Victoria points at some makeup product (can’t see which one)*

Host: This one?! Victoria...

Damiano: wait, I’ll go first, first add a bit of eyeliner

*Damiano applies eyeliner under the eye of the host*

Victoria: you started under the eye, you should’ve started from the top

Host: *joking* I’ll also always start with this line

*Victoria smiling shakes her head, audience laughing*

Damiano: Its the type of makeup you wear when you go grocery shopping

*Audience is laughing, host tries not to laugh while Damiano is applying eyeliner on him*

Host: I was actually planning to go grocery shopping

*Thomas and Victoria start applying eyeshadow on different parts of hosts face*

Host: Sto-wha- already other parts being applied?

*Audience laughing*

Host: Ok guys... but..

Host: Ethan is it ok? Your the only one I can trust in this group

Support host in the background: he’ll need to be returning home (as a joke implying he needs to look decent when he leaves the studio)

*Victoria applies makeup on the host lips*

Host: Also lips?! Hmmm

Ethan: you look good

Damiano: close your eyes *applies upper eyeliner*

Damiano: (in English) I don’t know what I am doing

Host: (in Russian) you don’t know what you are doing? No, that’s too late to tell me.

Damiano: (in English) that’s why we have a makeup artist

Host: (in Russian) no, wait, now your make up artist will say why am I even needed by this band.

Ethan: just a final touch *applies eyeshadow on the tip of the hosts nose, and walks away with two thumbs up*

*host laughs and then picks up mirror to look at the work*

Host: not bad guys, to be honest, not bad.

Damiano: (in Italian) No it’s true, look how pretty he is, very pretty

Host: guys I want to tell you one thing: never fire your make up artist

*audience laughing*

Host: Thank you for your visit and we are very grateful for your performance

Host: And what can I say, we are waiting here and with the whole company will to you concert. Grazie mille

————————————

Ooooooff that took wayyyy longer I planned, it was hard because I had to relisten some parts to know who actually said, like it is easier when it’s only one person cause I get to translate quicker.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this translation, if you have any maneskin interviews in Russian or German (warning: my German is a bit ruff from lack of practicing) which you would like me to translate, message me :)

#maneskin #måneskin #maneskin interview #thomas raggi #damiano david #victoria de angelis #ethan torchio #maneskin damiano #maneskin thomas #maneskin victoria #maneskin ethan #Youtube #my translations #my post

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whatareyousearchingfordean · 4 years ago

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Happiness Continues

Part 12: Home

Summary: Jensen and Y/n are adjusting to being new parents when an unexpected visitor turns everything upside down.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 3.9K+

Warnings: Language, mentions of postpartum struggles, home invasion, attempted kidnapping

Author’s Note: Thank you all for the endless love, my girls who are always there to cheer me on, and my amazing beta @emoryhemsworth xoxo Alex

Catch up with the series masterlist and then check out Alexandra’s Library for more by yours truly!

4 Weeks Later

Steam billowed up from the mug that sat on the counter. Y/n dipped the teas bags in and out of the boiling water, letting the flavor steep out. Once she was satisfied that it had been long enough since she’d initially dropped the bags in, the mother pulled the soaking pouch from the mug, squeezing the excess water from them into the sink. She pulled open the tabs of the nursing bra she was wearing and stuck one bag into each cup, allowing the warm, humid, heat to surround her swollen nipples.

“Every time I walk into this room you are doing something strange in our kitchen.” Jensen’s voice had her popping her head up, a soft smile on her face. Her husband was cradling their son in the crook of his arm, the infant cooing as he looked up at his father.

“I looked it up online; it’s supposed to help with pain,” the noise that fell from her mouth was almost a whine… almost.

“Have you talked to the doctor about it?”

“Yeah, it’s likely he’s just cluster feeding because he’s going through his first growth spurt. It should taper off in a few days, but for now, he’s attached to my fucking breasts, so they are not having a good time.” Y/n picked up her mug and headed into the living room to plop down on the couch.

It was no secret that parents, especially new parents, tended not to get much sleep, but nothing had prepared her for this level of exhaustion. Since birth, Y/n felt like she didn’t get any time to herself. She was a walking milk machine with her body attempting to heal at the same time, and more than once, she found herself in tears out of pure frustration. Jensen had been wonderful, of course, and having Donna around during that first week was a godsend, but they could only do so much, especially now that he was cluster feeding. The fact that Ezra was even letting Jensen hold him at the moment was something of a miracle. She was hoping the tea might help her sleep a tad more soundly, something she had been struggling with since her son was born, her body hyper-aware of everything happening around her, but she had to be careful and watch how it affected the baby. The tip about the tea bags on her sore nipples was a lucky bonus.

Jensen followed her to the couch, sitting beside her as their son babbled away in his arms. The new mother couldn’t even stop herself, her attention immediately on Ezra. She smiled brightly down at him, using her free hand to wipe away the flyaway hairs at the crown of his head. Her husband watched the exchange, an equally wide grin on his face.

“He’s a growing boy, that’s for sure,” Jensen agreed, watching his wife with an amused smile.

“Yeah, well, I wish he would stop.”

“Don’t all parents wish that?” He sat back in his seat, laying out Ezra along the length of his lap. The little boy peered up at his parents, his chubby legs and arms thrashing about.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice high as she played with the giggling baby during their conversation. Y/n continued to make faces at the smiling baby as she spoke, her attention divided between the men in her life. “I just know it makes me feel old.”

“It makes you feel old?” He scoffed out a laugh at her comment.

“You know what I mean. He’s already growing out of outfits. I blame you and your damned height for that.”

“Oh, as if height doesn’t run on your side of the family,” Jensen pursed his lips and she laughed at him.

“Fine, you’ve got me on that one. I’ll just blame my dad.” She turned her attention from the infant, whose eyes had begun to grow heavy, a beaming smile on her face as she looked at her husband.

“Sounds good to me,” he smiled back at her, leaning in to peck her lips. “I’m going to see if he’ll let me rock him.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in bed.” Y/n watched as Jensen shifted Ezra back into his arms so he could stand. He turned to her as he got to his feet, the tall Texan bouncing the infant in place as he spoke.

“It’s seven-thirty.”

“Yeah, so I’ll see you in bed,” she repeated with a pat to his behind as she stood along with him. Jensen shook his head as he headed off, leaving her to get ready for the night with a smile on both their faces.

****

The cries ringing through the house grew insistent, the pitch rising fast through the baby monitor before she was jolted awake. Her body jumped from the bed on instinct, startling the sleeping man next to her.

“Again?” He husked, his voice like gravel as he didn’t bother to open his eyes, but he recognized the sound filling the bedroom. Y/n wiped her hand over her face, rubbing her knuckles into her tired and sore eyes.

“Yeah, it’s the damn cluster feeding,” she replied as she tossed the covers from her body. Jensen moved to get up from the bed at the same time, but she gently urged him back against the mattress. “I’ve got him.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, unless you want to breastfeed him.” It was supposed to be a joke, but she was too exhausted to attempt to hide the aggravation behind her statement. Her adamance about avoiding a bottle had turned into Ezra refusing them, which meant that she and her nipples got no breaks. Not to mention if they wanted to break the cluster feeding, baby-to-breast was the quickest way.

A wide yawn broke across her face as she fetched her robe, slipped it on, and headed to the nursery. She let her muscle memory guide her body through the house, her eyes still struggling to open fully as she shuffled across the floor. The fatigue in every cell of her body was fighting against being awake again.

Y/n pushed open the door with another yawn, her eyes on the crib as she entered. Between the cries, the white noise machine, and the lethargy, her brain didn’t process that something was off until it was too late.

“Hello, Y/n.” Y/n whipped around, her breath catching in her throat at the sight in front of her. Seated in the glider in the corner of the nursery was Chandler, her son wailing away in his arms as the man rocked the chair back and forth. Y/n opened her mouth to talk, but for once she was truly speechless. Adrenaline was now coursing through her blood, the only thought in her head on getting her son away from him.

“There’s no way...” When she finally willed away the lump in her throat, the words slipped past her lips, cracked with fear. Chandler’s menacing grin somehow grew wider on his round face as she spoke.

“Where there is a will, there is a way,” Chandler chuckled to himself as if he’d cracked some code and not just uttered one of the most common idioms in the English language. “See, I overestimated your security system at first. It messed up my whole plan, and I had to improvise. No worries though, he will not notice anything.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Her mind was reeling. Part of her was attempting to assess the situation, looking for any way out, while the other half listened to the deranged words of a sick man, but it seemed Chandler was the priority. That is until he no longer had her son.

“He thought he was doing the right thing by changing out the system when in fact he just made my job of freeing you that much easier,” Chandler went on as if she hadn’t said anything. “Hooking everything up to the Internet just makes it easier to hack. Besides, I was already on your computer—”

“Wait, my computer?” Her voice broke through his rambling.

“I’ve been waiting for years now to save you, but I had to make sure you were safe in the meantime… so I have been keeping an eye on you,” Chandler explained to her, the nonchalance in his voice terrifying as her son continued to cry in the man’s arms.

“You cloned my computer.” The realization hit her like she had been slapped.

“More or less,” Chandler rolled his eyes at her statement. That action somehow irritated her more than the fact that he was holding Ezra hostage at the moment.

“You keep saying ‘save me.’ Save me from what?” At this point, Y/n was only trying to buy herself some time to come up with a plan of her own. Her eyes flickered around the room, landing on the baby monitor sitting high on the wall. The green light on the side of the camera was not shining, signaling that it had been turned off. Whether it was Jensen or Chandler who had done it, she couldn’t be sure. Both her and Jensen were guilty of shutting the device off in the past if their son was still fussy as someone was attending to him in the middle of the night. It was the only way they managed to get an inkling of sleep some nights. Now she was afraid that it could be her undoing.

“This obviously,” he indicated the child in his arms. The infant was still fussing, but his cries had grown softer in the mere minutes since she had walked into the room. “This cliché of a life you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“What if I told you I loved my life?”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“You don’t even know me!” Y/n reared back at his observation, more than irritated that she had been dropped into the lunacy of this man’s head once again.

“I do know you!” Chandler yelled back, the roar in his voice startling the fussing baby and sending him into another frenzy of cries. He rose to his feet then, and she could now make out the holster on his hip. Y/n stepped back, the revelation of the possible escalation of the situation heavy on her shoulders. “I know you’re way too good just to be someone’s wife and mother!”

It took her a moment to find her voice again, the frightened woman shaking where she stood as she kept her eyes on her son. All she wanted was for him to put Ezra down, but she had to be careful how she went about it. There was no telling what might set him off next time.

“So what now?”

“We leave,” Chandler allowed the grin to return to his features, the triumph in his eyes not lost on Y/n. “You and me.”

Y/n bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, wanting to say anything but what she ended up saying next. “Okay.”

****

The faint sound of a distant shout and the continued muffled cries from across the house pulled Jensen back to consciousness. He blinked in the darkness, confusion taking over as he realized what he was hearing.

He rolled over in the bed, noticing Y/n was still up, making the cries of his son unusual. The still groggy man crawled across the bed and snatched the baby monitor off of the nightstand. He hit the power button, bringing the screen back to life in no time. As it adjusted to the darkness of the room, he could see where his wife stood near the doorway, but she wasn’t holding Ezra, and Jensen couldn’t see him in the crib. The scene perplexed his tired mind. That was until his wife’s voice came through the small monitor.

“So what now?”

“We leave.”

The sound of a second voice in the room had Jensen on his feet in an instant. He cursed under his breath as he ran back to his side of the bed and pulled his pistol out of the locked compartment at the bottom of his drawer where it had been waiting for this very moment. Somewhere deep down, he’d always suspected they hadn’t seen the last of the man that haunted his wife’s dreams. Though he’d hoped that it wouldn’t play out this way, he hadn’t disregarded any of the potential scenarios where Chandler may re-emerge.

Jensen expertly checked the magazine and chamber before flipping off the safety. He ripped his phone from the charger and dialed 9-1-1, putting it on speaker in front of the monitor before sprinting from the bedroom. His long legs brought him to the nursery in no time, his wife’s name on the tip of his tongue.

“Y/n!”

****

“Okay?”

“Yes, just—” The sound of her name had her spinning on her heel, her husband skidding to a stop behind her. His brow creased in the center of his forehead as they made eye contact before he lifted the gun in his hands. The glare that settled into his features as he took in the scene in front of him was downright terrifying to look at. “Jensen, no!”

“I would listen to her,” Chandler challenged, his actions mirroring that of the enraged husband and father. With the baby in his grip, he was at a disadvantage physically, but the reality was that meant he now held all the cards.

“Please?” Y/n put her hands up, one towards Jensen and one towards her stalker. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she turned a pleading gaze on her husband. “Jensen put the gun down.”

“Y/n—”

“I’m leaving,” she hiccupped, hoping he would understand what she was doing, that every action from here on out was about making sure Ezra was safe. Most of all, she hoped Jensen knew that no matter what, she loved him. “Put it down.”

Jensen searched her face, his eyes scanning over every inch of her tear-stained features, searching for anything to hint she was lying to him, but the truth was she had every intention of going. If it meant Ezra was safe, she would leave and figure the rest out later. It was all she had right now. He nodded, his eyes glistening as he succumbed to the truth in her words. He clicked the safety back on and set it on the ground before kicking it away from him.

Y/n turned back to Chandler. “See, I’m coming with you, but you’ve got to put my son down. Please, just put him in the crib and I’ll go wherever you want.” The man eyed her before glancing at the crying infant. Carefully he placed Ezra into the crib, his eyes never leaving the couple as he did so. A shuddering breath escaped her chest as soon as her son was out of the line of fire.

“Go,” Chandler indicated out the door with his gun, the action causing Y/n to flinch, but she did as she was told. Jensen was forced to step back and watch as the woman he loved was carted off at gunpoint. Instinct was yelling at him to go after them, but one false move could mean he risks her life and he had their son to think about too, so instead, he let her go.

Y/n kept her head forward, blinking back the tears that were blurring her vision as she walked. The unknown laid out before her with every step she made, and it took everything in her to keep from breaking into hysterics. Her chest ached with every fractured breath she attempted, bordering on hyperventilating. Chandler grabbed her arm as she passed the door outside, tugging her back and out the door into the courtyard. She shivered in the night air, the stone wet and cold under her feet as he dragged her along. Her whole being wanted to protest, but there was no use anymore, she was at his mercy.

He continued to drag her down the driveway and into the road, his grip tightening on her bicep. Her feet shuffled beneath her, her toes going numb from the cold with every step. There was no telling where or how far he would take her. She only hoped someone would be able to find her, or one day she’d be able to find her way back.

Chandler walked up to a parked car sitting at the end of the street less than two houses down from her home. He guided her to the passenger seat, unlocking the door and tugging it open for her. Y/n let out a huff as he shoved her forward, biting her tongue to stop the comment she wanted to spit at him. She turned her back on him before she got in, her eyes going straight to his hands and the gun where he was flipping off the safety. The once irritated woman saw his guard down as her opportunity to run, her stomach now in her throat. It was now or never.

The woman used this momentary distraction to disarm him, the gun skidding against the asphalt and behind the car. She lunged for the device as he howled from the pain she inflicted to his wrist, picking up the pistol in trembling hands and bolting across the street. Temporarily dazed, Chandler unintentionally gave her a head start before chasing after, anger enticing his actions. His hand reached out just as she got to her feet, gun in hand, his fingers gripping a sliver of the tie of her robe to tug her backward, making Y/n lose her footing. Her body tumbled to the ground, the wet concrete slicing up the exposed skin of her extremities.

“Stop!” She screamed as she hastily rolled onto her back, the gun aimed at his head as he loomed over her. Her heavy breaths fanned into the night sky in a plume of white mist as she laid out on her back in the middle of the street.

“Ha, you won’t do it,” he snarled, taking in the way the adrenaline and cold had her whole body shaking.

“Try me,” she growled back, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her break yet again. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated whether or not she was capable, but Y/n held her ground, refusing to move first. The sound of police sirens hit before the blue and red flashing lights began to bounce off the nearby houses. Y/n let out a breath as a police car skidded to a stop just in front of them, the headlights bathing the two in blinding light.

“Drop your weapon!” She heard the shouts coming at her, but she wasn’t ready to give in. More than anything she wanted to shoot him, for the months of worry and stress to be over once and for all, but she knew deep down that it was over. Y/n put her hands up in defense, dropping the clip from the gun before setting it down slowly and pushing it out of her reach.

Then everything happened in a blurred mess. She was on her stomach, her hands being pulled behind her back and secured into metal cuffs before the officer brought her to her feet. It was now that she finally let the floodgates open, every emotion hitting her at once and racking her body with sobs. The cops must have thought she was crazy, but she honestly didn’t care.

“Shit, Y/n!” Jensen’s voice had her popping her head up. He was jogging down the street towards her in just his boxers and a robe. The cop turned on him as he approached, stopping in his path.

“Sir, please, you’re gonna have to stand back.” The cop grabbed him by his shoulders as Jensen continued to try and pass him.

“The hell I am! You have my wife in handcuffs!” Jensen barked as he knocked the hands of the cops away from his body.

“This is your wife?”

“Yes, now will you tell me why she’s being detained?” Jensen kept trying to peek over the cop’s shoulder, trying to meet his wife’s eye as she continued to sob. The sight hurt worse than watching her walk out the door. After everything she’d been through, now this, and he couldn’t even be there to hold her.

“She was pointing a gun at this man when we pulled up,” the police officer explained.

“Maybe because he was trying to kidnap her!”

“Sir, please, it's just procedure. Let us take both your statements and we can go from there,” he assured Jensen.

“Can I at least see her?” The annoyance was heavy in his words. The cop nodded and Jensen didn’t think twice before rushing to her side. He pulled her body into his arms, cradling her head against his chest as he began to cry with her. “Don’t you ever do anything like that to me again.”

“I’m sorry, I had to for Ezra,” she wept, her inability to hold him as well making everything worse. Jensen sighed, his whole body going slack when her words registered in his head.

“Shhh, I know, I know. I just—I can’t lose you.” He kissed the crown of her head, one hand moving to rub up and down her back as he continued to try and soothe her.

The police officer returned with the gun now in an evidence bag. Y/n couldn’t believe what was happening. She felt like she was watching someone else’s life through their eyes and not her own. It was all so surreal. The officer took Jensen’s statement before she insisted he go back to the house. He didn’t want to go, but he’d been gone long enough, the baby monitor in his pocket not sufficient for anything longer than he had been away. He reluctantly left her in custody, placing one last kiss on her forehead before he returned to their son.

Once the paramedics arrived on the scene a few minutes later, the cops released her, Y/n’s statement, and Chandler’s record enough to explain the scene they had arrived at. She didn’t want to let the medics clean her wounds, her mind focusing only on returning home, but she eventually relented that it was the best course of action. The second they cleared her, Y/n was on her feet, running back to her house as if her life depended on it because honestly, she felt like it did.

Jensen was waiting in the kitchen, attempting to feed a fighting Ezra a bottle. He turned when he heard the door opening, relief washing over him that she was back to him. The still shaking woman ran to her family, allowing her husband to properly wrap her in his arms as she held both of her men against her chest. Her face was shoved into his robe on his shoulder as she let the floodgates open, soaking the fabric in her tears. Jensen shushed her through the release, her body shaking as it came down from the high of everything that had happened. There was no stopping the trauma the night had inflicted upon her, no matter how much she tried.

So she chose instead to let it out. At the end of it all, Y/n would push it all aside and move forward because she refused to let the experience control her any longer. All that mattered was continuing to build and nurture the family that she and Jensen had started. It wouldn’t be easy, but time would heal the wounds if she worked through them now, and her promise to the guys in her life was to figure it out. Her promise was one of a future filled with nothing but continued happiness.

Epilogue

Forevers: @22sarah08 @akshi8278 @anathewierdo3467 @atc74 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @briagallen @callmekda @dawnie1988 @deandreamernp @deanwanddamons @ellewritesfix05 @emoryhemsworth @foxyjwls007 @hobby27 @janicho88 @jensengirl83 @katehuntington @lyarr24 @malfoysqueen14 @miss-nerd95 @mrsjenniferwinchester @msmarvelouswinchester @polina-93 @sleepylunarwolf @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan @smol-and-grumpy @suckmyapplejacks @superfanficnatural @supraveng @talesmaniac89 @tatted-trina6 @thoughts-and-funnies @tranquility-or-chaos @waywardbeanie @winchest09

Happiness Continues: @afangirlreacts @anaelsbrunette @ashleyrose0117 @austin-winchester67 @cno92 @deanbowlegsackles @deangirl93 @deans-baby-momma @death-unbecomes-you @dvnmbabe @fangirl199813 @harryhook-lover @hoboal87 @itsdesiree86 @jbsgirl4eber11 @let-me-luve-you @linki-locks11 @lunarmoon8 @neverland14353 @onethirstyunicorn @parinarain @rebeccathefangirl @rebelemilu @smoothdogsgirl @spnfamily-j2 @squirrelnotsam @stoneyggirl @supernatural3002 @traceyaudette @winchestergirl82 @winqhster @zpandaqueen

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whatifxwereyou · 3 years ago

Text

Ashes Chapter 13: Perception

Fandom: Mortal Kombat 2021

Pairing: Liu Kang x Reader

A/N: Maybe it's inevitable. Definitely cried like an adult while writing parts of this. I'm a weepy baby. I hope you imagine an ugly MySpace style sparkly gif every time Y/N uses the word "kidnapping". As always, appreciate you guys <3

First Chapter << Previous Chapter Next Chapter >> Chapter Index

Buzz.

You peeked one eye open and caught sight of the smart phone dancing around on the nightstand close by. Strong arms were wrapped around you and there was no mistaking who they belonged to this time. Liu. You’d fallen asleep next to each other and somewhere along the line, in unconsciousness, he’d cuddled against you.

This was fine.

This was all fine.

The phone continued to dance and nearly vibrated right off the edge of the nightstand and onto the floor. You grabbed it from its place near the edge and wiped your eyes with your other hand. Johnny Cage. Rubbing your eyes again, you checked the time on the phone. It was nine at night. Carefully you snuck out of Liu’s arms without waking him. You’d mastered sneaking out of bed while you’d been dating Kung Lao. He was so heavy a sleeper that in the beginning of your relationship you had wound up trapped beneath his arms for hours. Then when you tried to get away, you’d wake him up. Eventually you’d mastered maneuvering from his grasp without waking him because waking him led to fooling around or talking and then you were either trapped having to pee or late for some responsibility or another.

Liu adjusted behind you but didn’t wake up. You fixed your askew shirt, grabbed your keycard, and then answered the phone and stepped into the hallway, carefully closing the door behind you.

“This is weird. I don’t think I even got your name earlier.” Johnny spoke without waiting for you to acknowledge him. You chuckled beneath your breath then cleared the sleepiness from your throat. “I know that may seem like it’s a pretty common thing for me but…”

“Y/N. You can call me Y/N.” You interrupted what you were sure was a very cleverly crafted explanation about his popularity and fame. Johnny Cage seemed like the type to be easily derailed from a topic with banter. You’d become skilled at wrangling men like that given that Kung Lao had been your other half for so long.

“And you’re from China, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Just trying to make sure I spell your name right…” His voice was distant, as if he spoke nowhere near the phone. You spelled your name for him with a sigh. “Is that…?”

“That is not important right now.” You interrupted him again. You had to keep him on task or this conversation was going to go on forever.

“Right, yes. I’ve been thinking about this morning.”

“And?”

“I was hoping to hash out the details with you guys before I officially agree to anything.” Johnny Cage tried to sound like he was bargaining with you but you were already convinced that he was joining you. This seemed like a formality. Or like he was dragging it out. Why? You couldn’t think of a good reason. Maybe to try and land a date with Sonya? You didn’t think that was going to happen and also it seemed petty. Then again, you and Liu were a hot mess in the middle of all of this so you couldn’t criticize anyone else’s motives. “I’ve begun clearing my schedule for the next few weeks but I’m a busy man, you know. Takes time.”

“I understand that. I’m sure that we can meet tomorrow to answer any questions you may still have.” There was no point in arguing with him on that. It was a reasonable request though not entirely necessary. Besides, you were still ready to jump to the kidnapping stage of this endeavor. If he caused too much trouble tomorrow then you would promptly lure him somewhere quiet and knock him out. Then you’d go from there. You could probably convince Cole to help you if you had to but you didn’t think it would go that far.

“That’s exactly what I hoped to hear!” You could hear the smile on Johnny’s face. “When we’re off the phone, I’ll text you where to meet me.”

“Sounds like a plan.” You yawned.

“I wanted to ask you something. You seem like a nice woman.”

Oh, how misguided a man Johnny Cage was. Oddly trusting for someone in his position. Here you were planning out an elaborate scheme to kidnap him and drag him to China and he thought you were nice. It was probably the tea thing from earlier. Ah, well. You’d fooled him.

“Ask away, Mr. Cage.”

“Just Johnny, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.”

Then he sighed as if trying to word his question or embarrassed to ask it. You waited patiently. There was no need to rush him. You weren’t sure that Johnny Cage could be rushed. “Are you guys for real? Or are you just dicking me around? No one put you up to this, right?” After everything that you had showed him that morning, he was still stuck on the idea of this being a prank. Was Johnny often victim to silly pranks? Did he find himself the butt end of a joke amongst friends? It was funny to imagine.

“I know that this is… what’s the saying? Difficult medicine to take?” You weren’t so good with the English idioms. Maybe that was why he thought you to be nice. You were far more sarcastic in your native tongue. Your English was good but stuff didn’t always come out right.

“Hard pill to swallow but I got the point.” Johnny chuckled. “…so yeah? It’s true?”

“Trust me, Mr. Cage, I have much better things to do than play silly pranks on you.” You reassured him but he scoffed as if insulted. “That and I’d never heard of you before this.” It sounded like you’d punched him. Ah, yes, the delicate male ego.

“Low blow. Never heard of me?” You could picture the horror on his face.

“No offense meant.”

“I bet you just didn’t remember my name. Dragon Fist? Cage Match? Aquatic Assault? Exiting the Dragon of Death? A personal favorite of mine…”

“Exiting the Dragon of Death?”

“Yeah? You’ve heard of that one?”

“No.”

“Come on, don’t play with me like that.”

“I couldn’t resist.” You spoke over him as he made to list more movies. “I’m sorry to have offended you.” You were certain this could go on all night and you were still tired and now you were hungry too. Your appetite was back and you were far less shaky than you’d been earlier that day. “I did watch one of your films last night with a friend so that I could be familiar with your movement patterns.”

“For that crazy duplication thing you did?”

“For my arcana, yes.”

“…and?”

“It was a fun movie.”

“Which one did you watch?”

“Mr. Cage, this is a conversation for another time. Can we stay on topic?”

“Just Johnny, please.” Apparently no, he could not stay on topic. You pulled the phone away from your face so he wouldn’t hear your heavy sigh. Hearing footsteps behind you, you turned and found Cole approaching holding an ice bucket and offering a wave. He stopped next to you and nodded toward the phone. You mouthed that it was Johnny Cage. Then he offered you a thumbs up, pointed toward the end of the hall and walked away, presumably to get ice. “I’m making a choice to trust you. I don’t think you’re lying to me. I hope I’m making the right choice.”

“I’m a terrible liar so good choice.” He continued going on about something but your brain was tired of the babble. You needed food! This conversation felt like it would have gone on all week if you let him talk the way he wanted to. “Can I trust you no to dick us around?”

“I promise. You’ve got a deal, Y/N.”

“Text me the address and we’ll meet you just before noon.” You assured him.

“Got it. See you then.” Johnny hung up and you breathed a sigh of relief. At least this part of your trip was going smoothly. Seconds later your phone buzzed with a message from the same number. You selected the address and put it into the browser of your phone after figuring out how that worked. From what you could tell, the address seemed legit. A house by the shore. Of course, a beach house. Why wouldn’t he take the opportunity to show off?

“How’d it go?” Cole returned with his bucket full of ice.

“Mr. Cage is going to meet with us tomorrow to discuss details.”

“I anticipated us having to use your devious plan B so I’m surprised he’s going to meet with us.” Cole adjusted the bucket in his arms. “What do you think of him? I’m having a hard time taking him seriously.”

“I meant it when I said that I thought he was funny earlier. Honestly, if we had met without any of this pretense, I think that he and I would get along quite well.” You shrugged. “I also think that he’s going to do what he thinks is right if that’s what you were really asking. Seems like the type to talk a big game but ultimately a good guy.”

“That’s optimistic of you.”

“I usually have a good read on people.”

“I can tell.” Cole gestured toward your door. “You just getting in? Maybe not.” He looked down at your bare feet.

“I was napping.”

“And you came into the hallway to take a call?”

“Yeah, I was uh… going to grab food.”

“Without your shoes?”

“Are you always this nosy, Cole?”

“Not really but this afternoon has been especially boring. Plus, your reactions are entertaining.” Cole smirked. “You have more color now. That’s good to see.”

“Why does no one believe me when I say I’m just tired?” You gestured back to the room. “I’m gonna go.”

“We’re about to grab a bite to eat if you want to join us. Late dinner.”

“No, no, thank you though. That’s sweet. I’m okay.”

“You just said you were going to get food.” Cole laughed.

“…I think I’ll order something.” You pointed to your bare feet but was sure your expression was one that screamed you’d been caught in the most pointless of lies. Cole had inadvertently talked you into a corner. You hadn’t even meant to lie! It had just happened. This was why you didn’t usually bother.

“You’re lying.”

“Yeah, turns out I am. I’m not good at it.”

“I can see that.”

The door to your room opened behind you and Liu Kang peeked into the hall, still looking sleepy.

“Hello Cole” Liu stepped into the hall and kept the door propped open a crack, back leaned against it. Then he bowed his head politely in greeting. He turned to you and spoke Chinese as if this weren’t suspicious. You didn’t think it had the intention that he wanted it to have. “Everything okay?”

“I had a call to take with Mr. Cage. No big deal.” You replied in English to try and make it seem like you had less to hide. Why? Because Cole was already giving you a look as if to say it was ‘nothing’. You sighed. “I’m just about done.”

“Good.” Liu replied in English. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You snapped at him without meaning to then took a cleansing breath. He was just worried about you but you were tired of the worry. You felt far better than you had earlier. A few hours of sleep had done you good. “I really am fine.” Liu bowed his head politely to both you and Cole and then disappeared back into the hotel room.

“What was it you were saying earlier? About that being nothing?” Cole teased in a whisper after you made no move to offer any explanation.

“If you recall, I also said it was none of your business.” There was no point in trying to lie again. You folded too easily. Instead, you’d be evasive. That was easier. Avoiding the truth was far easier than twisting it at least for you.

“Liu looked pretty tired. You guys have a nice nap?”

“We fell asleep talking.” You narrowed your eyes at his implications but also hated how close he was to the truth.

“Sure, is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

You shoved his shoulder with a laugh. “Your ice is melting Cole. It’s nothing.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to mentally shift my definition of that word to better fit what I’m seeing.” He teased. “You’re trouble, Y/N. I’m making note of it.”

“You have no idea, Cole.” You pointed to the room behind you. “I’m going now.”

“Enjoy your nothing.” He called after you. You disappeared into the hotel room and then leaned against the door once it closed. You fiddled on your phone and sent a message to Jax, relaying what you’d learned from Johnny Cage along with the address and what you’d agreed to. The door to the small bathroom to your right opened and Liu stepped out, closing the door behind him. He waited patiently for you to finish on your phone.

“When I woke up and couldn’t find you, I was worried.” He nodded to the messy bed where you’d been sleeping. And snuggling. You mustn’t forget that there had been a fair amount of snuggling.

“My phone was ringing and it felt rude to answer it with you asleep so I stepped into the hall.” You shook the phone in your hand and then filled him in on the conversation you’d shared with Johnny Cage. You left out the exhausting banter that had kept you on the phone for far longer than necessary. Even if it had been mentally exhausting, you had also enjoyed talking with him. Your phone buzzed with Jax’s response. “Okay, Jax is going to arrange a ride to take us to meet Johnny tomorrow. He’ll also let everyone else know where to meet.”

“Good.”

Silence followed and you stood awkwardly in the small entranceway of the hotel room.

“So.” You began.

“So.”

“You should probably go, right?”

“Yeah.” Liu shifted but made no move to leave and a smile played on his lips. “Or… I could stay. We could order some food and continue our… getting along for the day.”

“Mostly getting along.” You corrected. Maybe he’d chosen to forget when he’d pushed you against the wall and you’d nearly undressed him. You blinked the mental image away. If you thought about it for too long then you’d probably end up right back where you’d started. “We could. Is that what you wanted to do?”

“Are you okay with that?”

“I guess.”

“There was a menu around here somewhere.” Liu walked back into the open area of the room and you were grateful he’d taken the initiative to make the decision to stay. In all honesty, his presence was comforting and conflicting. You craved the comfort but the guilt and pain made you want to push him away. Your brain was such a mess. Your emotions were even worse. You joined him and mulled over the menu, trying to discern what was safe for you to eat. Liu called to place the order since he had several questions about the food. His diet was more specific than yours was. You had never quite taken to the vegetarian diet completely. Your food arrived and you sat on your bed and ate while making quiet conversation. It was pleasant, if not a little awkward. In a way, it was reminiscent of when you would spend time alone together when you were first dating Kung Lao. You had often avoided discussing the difficult things then but not for the sake of each other. Instead, it was for Kung Lao.

“Cole seems to have taken a shine to you.”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy and his family is cute. I think he feels guilty about Kung Lao so he’s compensating a little.”

“I could see that. I tried to reassure him that he isn’t to blame.”

“I did too.” You clicked your tongue in amusement. Liu gently nudged you with his shoulder.

“Today was nice.”

“I mean, parts of it were.”

“We had a bit of a rough start but things didn’t end so horribly.”

“Well,” you began in a higher, nervous pitch, “we didn’t exactly fix anything.” Liu laughed. “And I think we definitely made things worse but… all things considered, neither one of us is dead and we aren’t screaming at each other so that’s something.”

“I was thinking and… maybe we don’t have to fix anything.” Liu avoided your eyes and began to clean up dinner. You knew why he was avoiding your eyes because you were looking at him like he’d lost his damn mind. He had. He was insane. You couldn’t keep going like this. You both knew that. “We can’t ignore it, obviously. But we can’t expect to resolve anything when we’re like this. We’re grieving, Y/N. We hurt each other. But I also think that it could be healthy to try and find a way to be content amongst all of that too. We can’t force a resolution, Y/N. I think that’s clear.” Liu’s smile was soft but strained, like talking about it so analytically pained him. “I don’t think I can handle this much misery all the time.”

“I understand.” You didn’t necessarily disagree with him you just couldn’t see the end either. He seemed to think there was some kind of happily ever after waiting for you and you didn’t think there was. The only end to life was death. Even if you found happiness eventually, life would continue moving. No amount of happiness would erase your history nor would it erase your trauma. That didn’t mean you wouldn’t find joy. You were just being realistic. “It’s weird, isn’t it?” You helped him gather the dishes. Liu then placed the tray aside on the desk. You picked up the tray and placed it carefully outside the door and then returned to him. “Surreal is maybe a better word for what we are right now.”

“Surreal works.” Liu’s smile was forced and it pained you. “We’re going to be okay.”

“Oh, you think so, hmm? Confident in that?”

“I am.” He grinned but you could still see that worry behind his dark eyes. Liu had never been a good liar either. It was a wonder that he’d fooled you all those years ago. Perhaps because he’d said all the things that you’d been afraid he’d say.

“I suppose the worst thing that could happen is that we decide not to talk to each other anymore and lose touch. Then in like, thirty years, we’ll reunite and reminisce about the old days. Then this won’t seem so complicated anymore.” You hadn’t realized how much you’d considered that as an option until then. Liu seemed alarmed. “What?”

“Is that what you plan to do?”

“That would imply that I’ve thought past today so… no.” You sat on the side of the bed facing the window. There was no way to open the window so this was as close to the breeze and the stars as you could get. “But it happens. People drift apart even after being as close as we were especially after traumatic stuff like this. And this is a pretty messed up thing we’re dealing with, Liu. I can’t pretend to know what will happen.”

“I don’t want to drift apart.” He sat next to you and cautiously placed a hand over yours on the bed between you. There were times where he treated you like a ticking time bomb. This was one of them.

“Of course not, Liu. I don’t want that to happen either.”

“You had that scenario pretty thought out.”

“This time, Liu? You’re the one overthinking things.”

“Maybe.” He watched out the window, but you felt his thumb brush over the back of your hand. Looking at the night sky was easier than looking at each other. But right now the night sky looked empty. You didn’t see the stars. Just the lights of busy Los Angeles, a thing which brought you no peace. “Do you think you’ll still be this cute in thirty years?”

“I uh…” You laughed and pretended to consider it. “I didn’t think about it. For the brief moment I considered this make-believe scenario, you were still cute.” You joked and nudged him playfully.

“You’re beautiful Y/N, so I’m sure you will be too.” Liu still didn’t look at you. “I always thought so. Even when I used to tease you.” You rolled your eyes at him in disgust and he laughed again. You were well beyond being bashful at his compliments.

“Cut it out, Liu.”

“I just don’t want to leave it unsaid.”

“It feels like you’re trying to butter me up.” You narrowed your eyes in suspicion.

“Maybe. Or… perhaps this last week I’ve been cruel to you. I thought that I’d pay you a compliment instead.” That was as good an excuse as any. You had dug at each other quite a bit the past few days.

“I’m not vain.”

“I know. I always liked that about you.”

“Stop it, Liu. You’re freaking me out.” You laughed and shoved at his shoulder.

“I won’t.” He leaned back on one arm. You reached for your phone on the bed behind you as it buzzed. Jax had verified the location online as legitimate. He’d even found out that the property belonged to Johnny. Apparently, Jax had been much more suspicious of him than you had been. You’d decided to trust Johnny. And if he lied to you then you’d just go to plan B. Kidnapping. Jax continued on to say that he’s pretty sure the asshole just wanted to show off his beach house. You chuckled. You’d thought the same thing. You replied quickly to ask if you were still to meet in the morning in the same place. Jax replied to be in the lobby by ten. “Going off without a hitch?”

“Are you spying on my conversation?” You cradled the phone protectively against your chest and pouted.

“I didn’t mean to.” You set the phone aside face up. You had nothing to hide anyway, you’d just been trying to lighten the mood. Then you watched the dark sky out the window and tried to find something positive to say about it. He was right. You’d had too much unpleasantness lately. “Kung Lao would have loved…”

“Do you think about that a lot? What Kung Lao would have thought or felt?”

“Don’t you?” You thought that was obvious. “We spent most of our time together. This is the longest I’ve been alone in years.”

“I… hadn’t considered that.” Liu’s eyes fell to the floor. There was plenty that you hadn’t thought regarding each other. “It must have been hard waking up next to me.” You sighed heavily. There were those difficult conversations you couldn’t seem to avoid. You didn’t know how to respond. That wasn’t an easy answer. If you could have lied and said it wasn’t weird than it would have been simpler. But lying had gotten you into this in the first place and you didn’t want to lie. You were so tired of hurting.

“I… yes.” You sighed and then closed your eyes tight. “But I confess that I miss being held.” You hated saying it and even got the chills as you did. You and Kung Lao had spent most nights at least next to each other if not tangled up in each other. Liu was watching you with those big sad puppy dog eyes of his again. “But I also feel selfish and awful for having briefly thought it was nice.”

“It’s okay to be selfish at times.” He clasped his hands together in his lap, as if nervous they would betray him as they had often done. “I confess that when I woke up alone, I panicked.” You smiled a little. You hadn’t considered that he would be upset to wake up alone after falling asleep next to you. Oh, boy. You were both a mess. “But then I remembered this was your room and you had nowhere to run, really.”

“Did you briefly consider that I was so dedicated to running away that I went and got another hotel room to avoid you?”

“No.” He laughed and then furrowed his brow as if trying to picture you doing that. “You didn’t consider that, did you?”

“Of course not.” You chuckled, resting your elbows on your knees. “The phone rang and I didn’t want to wake you. That’s about as far as I had thought.” Your head was pounding and you realized all at once that you were clenching your jaw. Ugh, tension headache. “At least this time I woke up with all of my clothes on.” Liu laughed softly and avoided your eyes. Then he laughed harder as if he’d just gotten the joke. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s kind of like déjà vu, isn’t it? You woke up next to me again and then I woke up alone.”

“You know, Liu, I’m trying, but that’s not funny.”

Still he laughed and you watched him in disbelief. Was it you? Were you the one cracking up?

“I have to laugh, Y/N. I have to or I think about how screwed up it is.” He leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. His face fell. You turned to watch him in disbelief and your stomach twisted up into knots. “I just couldn’t help myself, could I? I had to… cross that line.”

“Liu…” You didn’t want to fight again. You thought you had made a truce for the day.

“I have to say this, Y/N.” He turned his head to the side to look at you and you leaned on your side to better meet his eyes. They were so sad and it was killing you. “The woman that Kung Lao planned to spend the rest of his life with. Only a little while after he’s gone and I just… how selfish I am.” You searched his troubled eyes and then couldn’t help but laugh but you weren’t smiling either. Liu knit his brow in confusion.

“Liu, I… I said the same things to myself.” You offered a sympathetic smile but he didn’t seem relieved to hear that. “Not about you, obviously. I don’t think I’ve ever used the word selfish when describing you, really. Or at least meant it. Maybe out of anger… but I… how could I? Kung Lao’s best friend. His brother. I feel like I just lost him and I still, somehow, couldn’t manage to keep myself together well enough not to sleep with you.”

“Sometimes we’re a lot alike.”

“Most times it feels like we’re oil and water.” Now you avoided his eyes, afraid of what yours might reveal to him. “I’m sorry that I ran off that morning, Liu. I panicked. I didn’t know what else to do. I was terrified and embarrassed and ashamed and… the idea of having to talk to you about it was too much.”

“Why were you so scared?” He turned on his side to face you, as if eager for this answer, as if he had been caught wondering that same thing for too long. “I know it was a… big thing but I…”

“I guess no matter how I played it in my head, it went wrong. You uh…” You were having a difficult time saying the words without getting upset. “I kept picturing us having to find a way to… be okay with… it being a mistake because… I…” You were frustrated with yourself for not being able to say it. “It felt like a mistake. Like we’d fallen into an old habit. Or that it was just… a transaction and I couldn’t hear those words again after everything. I was already falling apart and I don’t know what that would have done to me. And then… you being receptive to it would have been just as painful… I… Kung Lao…” You had to stop there. You were pretty sure you’d made your point.

“I think I get it.” His eyes were taking you in while yours were avoiding him and were most likely glassy with tears. “Maybe I didn’t consider how much I’d hurt you back then. It never crossed my mind until you brought it back up and I realized the damage I’d done. I hadn’t considered myself that important.” There was that similarity again. Neither one of you thought yourselves to be important to the other when it was far from the truth. “I wish I’d had a say in the matter that morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I understand now.” He sat up and offered you a hand to help your back up too. you took it and sat up with him but he didn’t let go of your hand. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry that I reacted so angrily. That I was so cold to you. I thought it might make things easier and put distance between us.”

“Did it work?”

“No. No, it didn’t. I wish, more than anything, that I could go back.” His eyes were dripping with sincerity and you avoided his gaze again. You couldn’t help but think that if this had been Kung Lao, you never would have had this conversation. Nothing ever would have gotten resolved. You had both avoided your emotions like the plague.

“To that morning? Hard pass, Liu.”

“Think about it. I could wake up with you. Keep you from running. We could talk.”

“That’s a fantasy, Liu. It wouldn’t have ended the way you want.” You threw him an accusatory glance. “You’re fantasizing. I was too panicked. I would have lashed out.”

“And maybe I could have kept a level head.”

“It’s a fantasy.”

“Let me have my fantasy, Y/N.” He laughed and gave your hand a squeeze. His smile faded as he let go of your hand and closed some of the distance between you. Your instinct was to pull back but you didn’t. He pushed your hair away from your face and tucked it behind your ear. The loose strands of your long hair tickled your neck as they fell back into place. You turned your gaze away. His hand was warm as it rested on your cheek and you could feel him admiring you.

“Seems dangerous to let you.”

“Many good things can be dangerous, Y/N,” he whispered. You got the shivers and moistened your lips nervously. You should have moved back when you’d wanted to. You were so much closer than you’d realized and his lips brushed just against yours. He was going to kiss you and you knew what would happen. Tender kisses led to feverish kisses. No kiss between you had ever stayed just that. You had never once exchanged a soft, momentary kiss. Every single time you had wound up in his arms. His lips would treasure yours like they were something priceless and yours would tease his in return to make him want more. Then you’d be naked.

The more time you spent this close to Liu the more inevitable it seemed to wind up in his bed and you weren’t sure that was the right thing. You weren’t sure it wouldn’t destroy you. It was a dangerous way to think but he was right too. Many of the best things were often dangerous.

“Don’t.” You managed and caught his eyes, half-lidded and admiring your lips. His gaze snapped back up to yours and you watched as he took a careful breath. You could feel it against your lips. He was thinking it too. How dangerous this had become.

“Probably a bad idea, right?” His voice was low and just for you.

“An incredibly bad idea.” You tried to joke but your words fell flat. It was miserable being this close to him and not kissing him, against every instinct in your body. You could feel as he ran his tongue over his lower lip, as he weighed the pros and cons of defying you. You held your breath.

Then he scooted back a few inches. You felt like you could suddenly breathe, like the air was less thick than it had been so close to him. Your heart was hammering away and it was a headrush, as if to punish you for having wanted that kiss. You cleared your throat and put more distance between you. But try as you might, you couldn’t stop thinking about those marks you’d left on his back that you had so clearly felt earlier. Did he think of how you’d clung to him in passion every time he shifted and felt those scabs? That was truly a dangerous thought.

“It’s late. I should go.” He had turned away, but his eyes were wide and his breath was short, as though he were also fighting dangerous thoughts.

“Yeah. Good idea.” You got up and walked past him and around the bed. He followed you and then walked past you to the door. Then he bowed politely.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He looked hesitant, as if he were still considering crossing that line again.

“Get out, Liu.” You gestured to the door behind him, making the choice for him. He laughed and did just as you asked. Once he’d gone, you leaned against the door with a thud and whined. “What am I doing?” You closed your eyes tight and felt a wave of guilt weigh you down. Then you flipped the swing bar lock shut on the door as if this would provide you with protection from your stupid feelings.

Maybe you had to reconsider the situation.

Maybe this was inevitable.

Maybe guilt wasn’t enough to keep you from being attracted to Liu Kang.

It felt wrong. It felt like you were betraying Kung Lao. It was too soon and you were too broken. But maybe someday it wouldn’t be those things. You weren’t sure how long either one of you could wait either. Spending the afternoon with Liu had been eye opening.

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