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catch-me-hello · 4 months ago

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Make Mate 1, Episode 5: approxiMATEly halfway there

2pm Team B, with two of my picks (Han Yu Seop and Kim Hak Sung) are about to perform “Again and Again.” With the rest of the performances and hopefully some eliminations, we’ll have a lot to cover in this episode, so let’s do this.

The team introduces themselves to the swooning crowd, and the judges backstage comment on how this group has a really difficult song to do. Onstage, Xiumin tells Leader Han Yu Seop that he heard Yu Seop grew to regret being chosen Leader. That’s a setup for a flashback if I ever heard one. Back in time we go.

We flash back to Team B’s interim rehearsal in front of the judges. They start out well, but during the first chorus, they’re floundering. They forget the steps at one point and have to awkwardly pick up where they remember. They finally just fizzle out and don’t even finish.

The judges criticize the whole group, but Leader Han Yu Seop gets an especially stinging rebuke for poor leadership. All during rehearsals, he and Kim Hak Sung have been the only ones giving it their all. The other three are barely trying.

Han Yu Seop decides to change his leadership style. He takes the three failures (the show actually calls them that) and goes over basic dance skills with them. We are almost halfway through the series, and if these three are having to go back to the drawing board, I don’t know how they’re going to make it to the end. But the rules of the flashback dictate that they must miraculously improve, so miraculously improve they will. (I would love to see a behind-the-scenes documentary showing how the director convinced these three guys to play the role of “failures” for their families and everyone on the internet to see. I would recap the hell out of that show.)

They rehearse again for the judges. They do much better. Still, Leader Han Yu Seop is told he needs to work on his facial expressions. “The song won’t work if you just scowl,” he’s told. Okay, but … that’s kind of his thing. His bad boy image is what makes him stand out. But the judges say they want him to express charm and sexiness. They want to see – I swear this is the translation – “wet sexiness.”

Cut to the group standing in a shower. No, I’m not making this up. After they get wet, they start rehearsing the choreo, right there in the shower. Well, I’m the one who wanted something different from the usual Flashback Formula, so I guess here we are.

Flashback over. Showtime. This should be interesting.

Wow. Best performance so far. Full-on beast idol performance. Incredible dancing. They should rehearse in the shower more often.

This performance is a perfect example of why I can’t take these flashbacks on any of these shows too seriously. They have to be acting. I do not believe that three of these dancers were completely inept and had a bad attitude on a show that could make their dreams come true, and now a week later, they give a performance worthy of the actual 2pm. They went from stumbling around like they just woke up to absolutely slaying. The shower part was interesting, but this trope is really getting old.

Team B has definitely given the better performance. By a mile. Which means they’ll probably lose.

But no. Team B wins!

My bad boy and my North Korean survivor are on the winning team! I’m so happy! So is Yoon Ho Hyun (one of the alleged failures), who bursts into tears, and our now-sensitive bad boy Han Yu Seop hugs him. Our survivor Kim Hak Sung is also crying, and now I’m a weeping mess. I can only imagine what’s going through his head right now. These shows might drive me crazy sometimes, but this is why I still love watching them.

Xiumin asks Han Yu Seop to speak on behalf of his group, and he barely gets out two words of gratitude to his teammates before he’s now fighting back tears. I love this team. I’m so glad they won.

2pm Team A takes it well. They are clearly discouraged, but no breakdowns this time. And now I understand one of the rules that was lost in translation earlier – when Team A or B wins, the benefit points go to all the Team As and Bs. So now each side has won benefit points for their overall teams.

Both of our 2pm teams make their way to the green room for the final rankings.

Now for the final round, and the group is SHINee. Both teams take the stage, and by the tweed suit costumes on Team B, I’m guessing they’re doing “Sherlock.” This battle will be the tiebreaker between Teams A and B. These SHINee teams are ACE teams filled with top vote-getters from previous missions. I expect the best performances yet, after flashbacks showing that such performances will not be possible.

We’re starting with the SHINee A Team. Our group consists of 200-song dancing machine Jung Jae Young, Handsome Dancer (and my pick) Bing Fan, SCUBA diver Seo Yoon Duk, Six Singers descendant Jo Min Jae, Riize shout-out recipient Jeon Joon Pyo, and trainee I have no notes on An Xin. The song will be “Everybody.”

I don’t know that song. I pull up the video on YouTube. This is a full-on techno electronica song. Very different from “Sherlock.” I love how K-pop lets its bands experiment, even on the same EPs. I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of “Everybody,” but I give a lot of credit to SHINee for going full-throttle on all the songs I’ve heard from them so far. Their songs are not background music. They grab your attention. And the choreo looks seriously challenging. I hope Team A is up for this.

We flash back to the first day of practice. Our boys focus on the robot choreography and have it memorized in just one hour. They are in high spirits when they go before the judges for an interim check. They dance with strong energy and move in perfect sync, but this is a flashback, so the energy falls flat as the dance goes on. They get exhausted by the choreo halfway through the song.

We know the drill. The judges scold them. Team A goes back to rehearsal. They work to make their performance consistently high energy. Flashback over. Showtime.

The energy is insane. It’s non-stop. And somehow, they throw everything they have into the choreo while keeping their singing voices steady and not running out of breath. It’s mind-boggling. My jaw dropped during the dance break. I honestly don’t know how SHINee Team B is going to top this. The audience is chanting for an encore, which is only the second time I’ve seen this happen on these shows.

Surprisingly, Team B does not look worried. They’re impressed with Team A’s performance, but they are impatient to get out there and show what they can do. Xiumin calls them out to the stage to introduce themselves. Our tweed-clad trainees bow with a flourish and introduce themselves. They are theme song center Jia Hao, most popular Noh Gi Hyun, TikTok dancer Midori, great expression pro Jo Seung Hyun, and two trainees I have no notes on, Lin and Choi Min Joon.

Their song will be “Sherlock,” of course. Even with a song that’s better than Team A’s song, this team still has a long way to go to beat them.

Xiumin sets us up for the flashback by telling us that Leader Jia Hao cried during rehearsal. We cut to the first day of rehearsal, when they choose him as Leader. I’m going to keep this flashback quick and to the point. For some reason, Midori participates in team meetings over video chat. The show doesn’t say why. Jia Hao gets voted Leader, which makes him nervous because he was the Leader of his team in Stage 2, which they lost. This is where he cries. But the rest of the team encourages him. Then we have the usual problems with the dancing and singing, which of course will be resolved by showtime.

Back to the venue. Let’s do this!

It’s an impressive performance. But the choreo isn’t as exciting as Team A’s, and Noh Gi Hyun’s voice breaks near the end. I know it’s not fair to compare this to the Wild Idol performance, but I can’t help it. The Wild Idol version blows this one right out of the water, and I don’t think it’s enough for them to beat Team A. I will say I liked the dance break a lot. And given how the votes usually go on shows like this, I won’t be surprised if they win.

The audience casts their votes. This should be interesting. Everyone’s acting like Team B’s got this in the bag. I’m honestly not sure. Besides, Team A has one of my picks, Bing Fan, and they had more challenging choreography and made no vocal mistakes.

The winning group is revealed. It’s … Team A. Wow. I’m happy for Team A, but Jia Hao, Leader of Team B, takes it especially hard. This is the second team he has led that has lost. All the Team Bs are devastated. They don’t really know how to lose gracefully, but then, they’re young, and there’s a LOT at stake here.

Both teams move to the green room for their individual rankings.

Wow. Noh Ki Hyun’s voice broke during the performance, and he’s still the top vote-getter. I have to think that makes Jia Hao feel even worse, even though he made it to the third spot on his team.

Bing Fan has the highest score of all the contestants, and the other SHINee scores are close, so Bing Fan winds up being the deciding factor in Team A’s win. This last-minute addition to my list of favorites comes out the top winner of this entire mission. He has invented Handsome Kicking Butt.

The trainees hug it out backstage. Jia Hao is still inconsolable. The eliminations are coming up soon, but I really don’t think he has anything to worry about. Still, it’s got to be rough to lead two teams and see them both lose.

Wait – we suddenly learn that we’re going to do all the rankings now. We cut to the original stage with the numbers on the floor and the glittery platforms. Xiumin tells us that nobody is being eliminated just yet. Seriously? We’re at the halfway point. Most shows would have cut at least a few trainees by now, but Xiumin tells us they will do eliminations after the next battle.

There are only nine platforms this time, so we’ll be getting a Top 9 instead of a Top 10. Here we go.

Number 35 is Yoon Ho Hyun. Honestly, I’m not surprised. He’s a visual stunner but a weak link in dancing. He’s dropped 17 spots from Number 18.

Number 34 is Chen Shiau Fu. Wow. He’s dropped from 6th place. So far, these trainees are falling hard.

Number 33 is Choi Han Gyul. Good grief. He’s plummeted from Number 4.

Number 32 is Kai. Our banana milk-loving guy will probably get eliminated. He was at 35 last time and can’t seem to get out of the lower ranks.

Number 31 is Ki Hyung Joon. Our clunky mustard trainee. He was Number 33 last time, and he’ll probably also get eliminated.

Number 30 is Aki. Dropped from Number 27. Not only did his team lose in Stage 3, but he missed part of rehearsals when he had to temporarily leave the country to renew his visa.

Number 29 is Jo Jae Hyun. Dropped from Number 15. That’s almost a clean sweep for 2pm’s Team A. They’re all at the bottom of the rankings, except for their Leader, one of the Kim Seung Ho’s.

Number 28 is Jo Seung Hyun. One of the “Sherlock” team members. Dropped from Number 22.

Number 27 is Lee Do Ha. Oof. He’s dropped from Number 10. Fell right off the platform.

Number 26 is Kim Hak Sung. Oh no. My defector pick. He’s dropped from Number 13. This is surprising. He’s been on the winning team for the past two missions.

Number 25 is Midori. He’s been dropping like a stone this entire show. He went from 8 to 16, and now 35.

Number 24 is Kim Sun Yub. He actually went up 4 spots, which is weird because he hasn’t been doing very well on this show. He actually got in a fight with one of his teammates in Stage 1.

The announcer says that all the candidates ranked so far are in danger of elimination. That includes my escapee pick, Kim Hak Sung. Now for the middle-tier trainees.

Number 23 is Lee Jang Hee. He’s up from Number 34, but I have almost no notes on him. For Stage 3, he was on the losing team. He just doesn’t stand out.

Number 22 is Choi Min Joon. Up from 30, but another one who isn’t standing out. He was also on a losing team in Stage 3.

Number 21 is Lin. Wow. He dropped all the way from Number 2. The other trainees are stunned.

Number 20 is Seo Yoon Duk. Our SCUBA diver has dropped from Number 8.

Number 19 is Seo Ji Ho. Interesting. He’s stayed at 19 the entire show. The girls love him, but apparently not enough to bring him up in the ranks.

Number 18 is Noh Gi Hyun. Another one who’s been dropping all series. Getting less and less popular.

Number 17 is Jia Hao. Poor kid. Dropped from 5. He’s got talent and star quality and doesn’t deserve to be eliminated, even though he probably feels like he does.

Number 16 is one of the Kim Seung Ho’s. I really feel badly about this. It wasn’t until the second or third episode that I realized there were two of them, and I didn’t know which had done what so far. One of them really should have been given a nickname.

Number 15 is Jeong Hyun Wook. Up from Number 24. All I have on him is that his 2pm team won Stage 3.

Number 14 is An Xin. He’s been up and down the rankings. Started at 6, dropped to 21, rose to 9, and now at 14. He was a team top vote-getter in Stage 1 and was on the winning team in Stage 3. I wouldn’t count him out just yet, even though he’s not really standing out.

Number 13 is Jung Jae Yong. Our 200-song dancing machine is up from 29. Not bad.

Number 12 is Yoon Jae Yong. Dropped from 6 to 12. He’s not standing out either.

Number 11 is Miraku. My ASTRO fan pick is up from 12. He’s had wins and losses all through the show, and I’m really pulling for him.

Number 10 is Jeon Joon Pyo. Just missed standing on one of the platforms. He’s our Riize shout-out trainee and is up from Number 13, so I still have hope for him.

Now for the platform positions. I still have two favorites left.

Number 9 is Kim Shi On. Our flexible trainee has dropped from Number 3, but he’s still on a glittery platform, stretching his quads.

Number 8 is Han Yu Seop. YES! Our sensitive bad boy has dropped one spot, but with the way he’s improving at every stage, I still believe he will be in the final group.

Number 7 is Jung Hyun Joon. Our lovable show maknae has dropped from the 2nd spot but is still on the platform.

Number 6 is Jo Min Jae. Our Six Singers descendant. He’s moved up and down the top seven for the whole show. I think he’ll be in the final group as well. It’s practically his birthright.

Number 5 is Shin Won Chun. Our Uber Athlete has jumped from Number 17. This was the guy who had to practice smiling naturally.

Number 4 is the other Kim Seung Ho. Seriously, this show really should have given him a nickname. I looked up the name, and “Sung” is another way of spelling it. So they could have had him go by “Sung Ho,” and if he makes it into the final group, he could change the spelling of his name just like all the members of TAN did after Wild Idol. It would have been a simple change.

Number 3 is Takuma. Another wow. He’s jumped from Number 23.

Number 2 is Jang Hyun Joon. Another one who has stayed in the Top 7 for the entire show.

Number 1 is Bing Fan. My pick has been at Number 1 twice in a row. He’s definitely going to make it to the final group. He thanks everyone and says he will try harder from now on. He does know that #1 is the highest ranking, right? Maybe he’s gunning for Xiumin’s spot as host.

Speaking of Xiumin, he says it’s time for Round 2 of the Mate Group Mission. New teams will be chosen, but Bing Fan is not being put on a team. The A and B teams will be split among odd and even numbers, just like before, but Bing Fan gets to choose which group he wants to join.

Unfortunately, he has to choose right now. I think the show is missing the chance to have some fun. Make both teams beg. Jo Min Jae could offer to introduce him to his famous family members. Han Yu Seop could offer to scare off any enemies by glaring at them. Use some imagination!

Bing Fan chooses to stay in Group A, which isn’t really the loyalty flex he thinks it is, because that team has new members now. Does he know that? He didn’t seem to know he was in the top spot a minute ago. I’m not quite sure what’s going on upstairs with this guy.

We get a preview saying eliminations are coming in the next episode. Good. Eliminations are tough, but we need to move this show along.

For now, I’ve gotta run. ENHYPEN just dropped a new video for their song “Brought the Heat Back,” and it’s so good. I need to watch it about 50 times. See you next episode.

#kpop #recaps #survival reality shows #Make Mate 1 #Nouera #Xiumin

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verdart · 2 years ago

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So far i have watched httyd in 6 languages (3 that i can speak fluently and understand w/o subtitles)

And its always funny how the change the names

Funny cuz so far Astrid always stays Astrid.

Turkish is one of the few that decided to change Stoick’s name

While French is just being French and even they kept Stoick!

But nope toothless is asking too much ig

So here are some of my personal favorites

Balıkayak (Fishlegs) it is turkish for fishFEET budget fishlegs

Snotlout is okay he gets the name Südüklü südük means snot -lü as suffix is someone or something with the main word so he is snotty but just changing the pronunciation a tinny tiny bit it becomes Sidikli which is pissy and i love that for him anyways because Südük is not as commonly used bc usually we use sümük for snot as a kid my mind constantly went to sidik which is urine and is used much more in the form sidikli (for kids who wet themselves after a certain age its a shitty nickname so its used much more)

Tersceviz and Sertceviz (Ruff and Tuff respectively) ceviz is basically nut more specifically walnut Tuff has the luxury to keep some meaning cuz Sert means Tough/durable while Ters means upsidedown. Cudos to the translaters tho cuz sert and ters basically are just 4 letters rearranged twice so it rimes nicely

Now my favorite

Zebella even I had to check the spelling cuz omg its ridiculous but it makes sense. Yeah so Zebella is Stoick :) Zebella is a word play on Zebellah which means someone with grand stature to a point its intimidating. I watched this movie when i was 6 i understood this at age 12 lmaoo i saw it in a book and was like wtf isnt that hiccups dad so i continue and its guven in context and i go damn my life was a lie i thought it was a name!

To ease the curiosity i may have build up

Hiccup is Hıçkıdık which is a slightly altered version (i think for easier pronunciation for kids in the books and the movies) hıçkırık meaning hiccup

Toothless stays Toothless in turkish no fun there Dişsiz diş is tooth and suffix -siz is like none/lacking of the main word so yeah basically can be -less but not exactly the same.

Now French being well french kills the fun like omgg

Harold HAROLD ! Vraiment un nome effrayant ill give him that the line about scaring trolls and gnomes is still there so yeah apparently Harold is a hideous name

Stoick is lucky he gets to be Stoïk so that o is pronounced separately from the i so yeah sounds same written different (still not even close to being Snapes name being changed completely in hp books for pronunciations sake so ill give them that)(also side note Gibber in french is amazing not the name its not too bad the meaning is the somewhat same i mean his voice acting i just love it)

Time for true offenders the dragonriders

Fishlegs > Varek

Snotlout> Rustik

Tuff> Kranedur

Ruff> Kognedur

Actually writing it down the word play on twins is kinda nice so lemme explain

I think Varek is a play on Varech which is basically algues/seaweed by the shore.

Rustik is a play on rustique rustic in french as you may have guessed. As well as being a real pretty architectural style it also a synonym for simple resistant and strong in french so i think it adds up for

Krandur is a play on crâne and dur basically thick skull

Krognedur was harder for me to actually understand and im sill not that sure but a little research on the french forums for the fandom i had a victory it comes from the verb cogner and dur, kick some ass ungently, my queens name is kicking someones ass real hard i love that for her

Toothless was also a cuite nice discovery for me honestly Krokmou kinda sounded stupid on my first watch (also my french wasnt that good back then) but it makes so much sens its a play on words croc (meaning fang or tooth usually fang tho) and mou (meaning soft)

His name is soft fangs thats so precious im sorry but i mean sans-dents would be fun to bc sans and dents is pronounced almost the same idk how to explain it just put it in translate or pronounce and it would mean without teeth but at least his name is not édenté which gives much less toothless and more like rendered toothless bc of the é at the end. Like toothlessed does that make sense?

Anyways sorry for the rant its one am i need to sleep

#httyd #httyd rant #tired ramblings #i really should sleep

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la-hannya · 3 years ago

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If you haven't already read this.

I suggest you do. Like now. Cause this! Cause this WHOLE thing—is such a mess that all I could do was laugh while reading it. Seriously.

In the meantime I'm gonna show you my "favorite" things from it

First off I wanna say is that we right. We right with some the theories, like Treekyo being the villain but they scrapped it and I BET MY SWEET ASS HAG RT FOUGHT HARD SO TREEKYO WASN'T THE VILLAIN. THEY WANTED AN EXCUSE FOR KIKYO TO BE DRAMA AGAIN NOT JUST FOR INUKAG BUT SAUCERIB TOO. Can you imagine how much more hate Kikyo would've gotten and that was really her? Working with pedomaru and all.

Number 2)

I remember mentioning this a couple of times in my discord. Another thing that was scrapped. Can you imagine how much a certain fandom would seethe if Towa didn't stay with her "biological family" in the feudal era?

Number 3

This shit was such a hot indecisive mess that even Rumiko was fighting people at shitrise. Still the old hag let them violate her own work in the end. Just by reading this, you can tell they didn't know what to do and I think it was highly possible that good things even including a different mother for the twins was there but it was scrapped thanks to Pedosawa pushing and pushing this shit, saying everyone would like it till they all just relented to shut him up. But ofc it blew up in their face. That original very early leak that said things like Setsuna staying with Kohaku and Rin would take her of Moroha is getting more credibility by the day. It was possible that this was the original pitch but they shitted all over it.

Also yes, by "Rumiko's feelings" they mean of RT making sure Saucerib stayed 6ft apart alright 🤡

Number 4

Imagine taking a demon lord that's very ace aromatic asexual or demi whichever you desire to call it, who's true calling mostly is the battlefield and also technically a dad to a little girl (as stated by the author herself) and suddenly turn him OOC...

They really said that a bored Sessh tried what having kids would feel like as an experiment (remember what Narita said), Rin was sadly right there... Then have him say: "0/10 would not recommend" and in the meantime he bounced hoping everyone would die in the fire.

💀

A demon lord that in og had clear issues with his parents (remember the way he speaks to his mom?), Who wanted to surpass his father... Being a deadbeat is such contradiction to his growth. What were they smoking?

And then finally

Are they really trying to say (or excuse) that Kirinmaru being a loving dad and aswell as being there for his daughter is bad parenting here? But Deadbeatmaru was 10/10 parenting done right?????

Honestly I just want to say that if you want die on the hill that you like this thing despite everything. It's cool, you do you I say and accept whatever consequences come from it, but this is literally the worst sequel in anime history. If this interview doesn't convince you I dunno what will. It's undefendable...

#I'm just taking Moroha and Kirin #and that's it #bye #i'm wheezing #this is so ridiculous #i cant #just cant #peace outs #anti sunrise #anti yashahime #anti rinsess #antisessrin #anti sessrin #never let pedosawa touch inuyasha again please #anti katsuyuki sumisawa

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dialovers-translations · 3 years ago

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Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Yuma Ecstasy [03]

ー The scene starts in the living room of the Sakamaki castle

Yui: ーー For the millionth time! Why do you always do that!?

Yuma: Aah!? ‘Cause I fuckin’ want to, duh!

Yui: Wha...!? I’m not buying that!

Ruki: What are the two of you doing?

Yui: Ruki-kun...!

Yuma: Oi, Ruki, hear me out. She’s the one whoーー

Yui: I-I’m not! It’s Yuma-kun’s fault thatーー

Ruki: ...Haah. I’m not getting the point here. Why don’t you start by explaining the situation to me?

*TIMESKIP*

Ruki: ...In short, Yuma suddenly pinned you down, and the shock of it nearly caused you to choke on the piece of candy you were eating?

Yui: Yuma-kun is obviously the one at fault here, right!?

He always does this. He’ll suddenly throw himself at me...It nearly cost me my life this time!

Yuma: Aah!? Ya belong to me! So I can latch onto ya whenever I darn please!

Ruki: ...Haah. Ridiculous.

It seems like both of you need to be punished.

Yui: Eh...!?

( W-What now...? Ruki-kun’s eyes are serious... )

Yuma: ...One sec, Ruki. I admit I was at fault.

Yui: Yuma-kun...?

Yuma: All of this happened ‘cause I didn’t train her properly in the first place.

I’ll make sure to tell her...’Kay?

Yui: ( I’m sure he’s saying this to calm things down but...I can’t say I enjoy the way he phrased it. )

Ruki: ...Very well. I’ll listen to your report later.

ー Ruki walks away

Yuma: ...Haah. Good god. Come on, let’s go, Sow.

Yui: ...Thanks for covering for me.

Yuma: Don’t mention it. Let’s just hit the hay already.

Yui: Okay...

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( ーー I did think it was kind of odd how Yuma-kun’s behavior suddenly shifted but... )

( I could have never seen this coming... )

*Smack*

Yui: ...Uu...

ー Yui opens her eyes in the bedroom

Yuma: Heeh. I never really fancied usin’ these kinds of tools, but I guess ya have to give everythin’ a try at least once?

*Smack*

Yui: Stop...!

Yuma: And why would I do that? Come on, how does this whip feel?

*Woosh*

Yui: Uu...

( It hurts...This is just too cruel. )

Yuma: Still, Ruki can be quite the freak as well. Handin’ me this bad boy while tellin’ me to punish Yui with it.

Yui: Why...are you doing this...?

Yuma: Aah? To train ya, obviously.

I should have taught ya who exactly ya belong to a bit better.

If I had done that, ya wouldn’t make a whole fuss every time I pin ya down.

Yui: Wha...?

( Excuse me!? I can’t believe this...! )

Yuma: ...Well then, where do ya want me to hit ya next, huh? Tell me.

Yui: ...Please, just stop already...

Yuma: Hah...Seems like this Sow needs to be tamed a lil’ more until she learns to give a proper answer.

Yui: ...Uu.

Yuma: Come on...Answer the question. Where do ya want me to hit ya?

Yui: ( I don’t want to be hit at all but I have to say something... )

Selection

→ My legs (S)

Yui: M-My legs...

Yuma: Heeh. I’ll make sure ya won’t even be able to stand by the time I’m done with ya.

Yui: I don’t want that...

Yuma: Don’t worry, even if ya can’t walk anymore, I’ll just carry ya instead.

Gotta give ya a bath first. I’ll drop ya in the tub once it’s filled to the brim with water.

I’m sure the pain from the hot water stingin’ into yer wounds would be almost unbearable.

Yui: No way...!

Yuma: Aah? But you’re the one who asked for this!

*THUD*

Yui: ...Uu...

( This is just...too much... )

→ My back (M)

Yui: My back...

Yuma: Hm...I didn’t know ya got off to this sorta thing.

Yui: Eh...?

Yuma: Come on, turn yer back to me. ...Ugh!

*Woosh*

Yui: Awuh...

*RIIIIIP*

Yuma: Heeh, so clothes can actually tear apart from bein’ struck by a whip, huh?

Hehe...Honestly, ya look quite nice with yer clothes all ripped up like that?

Yui: No way...

( It hurts and it’s embarrassing...I really can’t take any more of this... )

Yuma: Haah...I’m done with this.

Aah, what a waste of yer blood.

*Rustle*

Yuma: Nn...Haah...

Yui: No...It hurts...!

Yuma: How am I supposed to tame ya without a lil’ pain?

Haah. Doin’ somethin’ out of my comfort zone made me hungry...Nnh...Nn...

We’re gonna let Ruki know how I trained ya today, so ya better remember it well, ‘kay?

I want to hear it all from yer mouth after all. Understood?

Yui: ( There’s no way...I can tell him that... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

→ LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

<-[ Ecstasy 02 ] [ Ecstasy 04 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #yuma mukami #dark fate #diabolik lovers translations #dfyumaecstasy3

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witheredlilacs · 2 years ago

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Tilin almost knocks on the door again when it opens, revealing trumpet! Her- hm. 3rd favorite big sibling!! It had seemed to have been ages since she'd last saw him. Crees smile gets even wider and teethy as they are greeted.

"¡No hay problema! ¿pensabas que no lo haríamos?" Her tail wags as she sees trumpet, sure she'd talked to him online, but it was nothing compared to being around him. That mightve been what she missed most about being 'dead'. Sure trumpet was prone to staying in his room sometimes, but he was never too far away, unlike now.

She reeeealllyyy wanted to hug him, but his arm hurted really bad so maybe he probably wouldn't like that very much. The joy of seeing him raced through pers body and per began to bounce on the tips of her feet. Ah- she had to remember! They were here to help trumpet, not to play and jump around! She couldn't just stop though, sadly.

"¿estás seguro de que puedo entrar? la tía Maximus podría estar un poco molesta conmigo por alguna razón." Usually she'd have been back in English by now, but she was too too too excited and trumpet had started it first! Her tails wags slowed to a gentle sway as she waited for him.

[Transl 1: no problem! did you think we wouldnt?]

[Transl 2: you sure i can come in? aunt maximus might be a little upset with me for some reason.]

Trumpet's waiting by the door, trying to squeeze his shoulder the same way the doctors used to do it.

It sucks. He can't use both of his hands, and he can't make it hurt the same way they did, and he doesn't know how much it's supposed to hurt, and what if he's making it worse? What if someday he can't move his arm at all?

He huffs, bouncing his leg up and down. It's okay. His si-friends are coming over, and he hasn't seen them in a while, and- and they probably won't know what to do, actually, but at least he'll be able to talk about it.

In, hold, out. He breathes out slowly and ignores the quavering in his stomach and waits.

[@witheredlilacs @bulletflips]

#diamond point #semi butterfly

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scandalsavagefanfic · 4 years ago

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Hi. Um I'm reading your Gods among us series rn. I started like a couple hours ago and I'm on chapter 6 rn but i needed to pause and just say. HOLY. SHIT. this? is AWESOME. Dude. Dude. I can't deal with how good this fic is???!!! Its dark and fucked up i love it. Also the world building is immaculate!!

I'm literally kicking myself for not picking it up sooner. Honestly many many kudos to you. thanks for sharing this!

Hope you have a lovely day!!!

a;dkfjkaljfkal;afhl;dkal;hf

Thank you so much for such a beautiful, glowing comment!! I’m sorry it took so long to respond to these but I kept them so that I could look back on them easily when I needed a confidence booster (which is too often lately). This is such a lovely, sweet comment. Thank you so much, you really made my... well, weeks that I’ve had this in my inbox lol. I’ve reread it so many times.

But one can only be selfish for so long and it’s time to get you an answer.

[Find the series we’re talking about here: GOD’S AMONG US] I’m pretty thrilled when people say they like the worldbuilding because I had so much fun thinking about it. If you haven’t checked them out already, you might be interested in the Appendices. (Also, I am still working on additional stories in this verse! I’ve just been very distracted by other projects lately. One is very close to completion though!)

Re the “War is a growing pain”/dual natures stuff... ultimately this fic was born from some thoughts I’ve had for original work over the years and my musings on the nature of divinity; how living forever and having these insane powers that separate you from the beings of the next closest evolutionary level by lightyears would inform how one viewed not just other life/intelligence but existence in general. I’ve always felt like there was something missing from the way we write and talk about immortality and I still don’t think I fully did it justice but I hope I managed to scratch the surface a little. The idea that we get so caught up in the world around us and all it’s problems that it’s easy to forget all the ways things are better now than they ever were before was kind of the catalyst for “If you had the first hand perspective and experience of history to inform your thoughts, would you be jaded or awed at the potential of humanity?” And at one point someone described a country or a political concept as “young” and I started thinking about international relations as interfamilial relations or even personal growth; how humanity as a species might evolve along the same emotional and intellectual ebbs and flows as a single human... I’m sorry, I’m not articulating my thought processes very well 😭 I’ll move on to the easy answer now 😂

The time period! I did mostly want to leave it open to interpretation, but I did have specific reasons for making certain decisions.

SO while this fictional world is very similar in a lot of ways to ours, there are obviously some major differences. The biggest one is that these gods are known entities. No one questions whether they exist. There is no such thing as atheism in this world because the gods are tangible facts, happy to remind people that they do, in fact, exist. AND many of the gods are in same-sex relationships that produce children, the ones who are part of “fated” or “official” pairings are still ancient beings, monogamy isn’t really a thing for the gods (another one of those things that seemed unlikely for eternal beings). While there is still a lot of religious tension between sects and subsequent moralizing, it’s on a much smaller scale. So while each region of the world still has it’s own history and developed individual cultures, there is a also this massive shared experience with the gods. At the same time, the gods have largely secluded themselves from the world and humans, with all their problems and all their lack of power, don’t have that option. For good or bad, they can’t hide and are forced to deal with their issues.

All this apparently translated to this anachronistic, vaguely WWII era aesthetic on Earth with hopefully little bits from all over the world seeping in (If you’ve read any of the other fics in the series, Dick is India for the celebration of this universe’s approximation of Holi at the beginning of A Love Story and bits of his temple are definitely inspired by Japanese shrines) and the Hall of Divinity was largely stuck in a classic ancient Greek aesthetic.

A couple little notes: jeans and t-shirts have been around for a long time! Jeans since the 1800′s I think and t-shirts actually right around the time of WWII (though I think there were similar garments before that. And the stuff with the computers... that was meant to show that the gods do actually have jobs 😂 The computer in Tim’s rooms isn’t available on Earth. Jason is mesmerized by it. What he thinks of as a computer is MASSIVE and don’t actually have screens. The computer he sees in Tim’s rooms is the future and it’s Tim’s job to figure out how to inspire mankind to use it wisely when they finally invent it (inspiring mankind to invent it is Arsenal's job).

Thank you so much for such amazing and insightful questions! I really do still love this AU and I’m so glad people are still getting enjoyment from it. You honestly made my entire month lol 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

#asks #you are too kind anon #thank you so much #I'm so fucking flattered #melting from all the sugar in the sweet things you said #watgp #we're all the gods' playthings #fic commentary

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elliepassmore · 3 years ago

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The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: anthologies, short stories, Chinese literature, language and linguistics, gender, translation Big thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Stars We Raised: Xiu Xinyu, transl. Judy Yi Zhou 4/5 stars I thought the idea of stars just hanging around on earth was interesting. I liked that the children did what children do best and made a game out of it. I thought that aspect made it more realistic, and I liked how the transitions showed growth. The Tale of Wude’s Heavenly Tribulation: Count E, transl. Mel ‘etvolare’ Lee 4.5/5 stars I enjoyed reading about Wude’s misadventure. This was an entertaining story and I liked the hints that there could be future stories about the characters. What Does the Fox Say: Xia Jia 5/5 stars I quite enjoyed this one as well. It’s clever in its use of language and narration, and I liked reading the author’s note afterward about how the story came about. Blackbird: Shen Dacheng, transl. Cara Healey 5/5 stars This one was interesting. It didn’t go the way I was expecting, but it did go an interesting route. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Tai-Chi Mashed Taro: Anna Wu, transl. Carmen Yiling Yan 5/5 stars I really enjoyed this story. The mixing of a very sci-fi realm with one that’s more aligned with ‘normal’ history was interesting, and I liked how time was played around with. The imagery was rich as well, which I always enjoy. Mo was a fun character too and I liked her addition to things. The Futures of Genders in Chinese Science Fiction: Jing Tsu It’s kind of hard to rate an essay. This one poses some good questions about the role of gender in the past and present (and of course future) of sci-fi. Interesting read. Baby, I Love You: Zhao Haihong, transl. Elizabeth Hanlon 4/5 stars I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. The writing was good and I was invested in the story. However, the narrator is unlikeable and some of the things in there I don’t really agree with (i.e., the whole biological clock stuff and a woman who wants kids changing her mind just because she interacted with some kids). A Saccharophilic Earthworm: BaiFanRuShuang, transl. Ru-Ping Chen 5/5 stars I like how I couldn’t tell if this was truly fantasy or just something cooked up by Flora at first. It was an interesting take on loss and love and relationships. The Alchemist of Lantian: BaiFanRuShuang, transl. Ru-Ping Chen 4/5 stars This one had some humor to it. It’s an interesting concept, to be resentfully immortal. The Way Spring Arrives: Wang Nuonuo, transl. Rebecca F. Kuang 5/5 stars I liked the imagery and the mythology in this one. I wasn’t a huge fan of Goumang, but the rest of the story was good. Translation as Retelling: An Approach to Translating Gu Shi’s ‘To Procure Jade’ and Ling Chen’s ‘The Name of the Dragon’: Yilin Wang This was a good overview on translation and the intricacies of the job. I liked getting to know some background of some of the choices of these translations. The Name of the Dragon: Ling Chen, transl. Yilin Wang 3.5/5 stars This story was fairly quick and brief. I get the dragon was upset about having to serve humans, but I don’t really get the point of the story. To Procure Jade: Gu Shi, transl. Yilin Wang 4.5/5 stars This one plays on language and meaning, which I enjoyed. I felt somewhat bad for Deyu at the end, considering what he’d gained since leaving the palace, but it was still a good story. A Brief History of Beinakan Disasters as Told in a Sinitic Language: Nian Yu, transl. Ru-Ping Chen 5/5 stars This is definitely one of my favorites. I really liked the different planets and the differing issues that are faced on each of them. There’s definitely a moral dilemma in here (as well as several allegories for climate change). Is There Such a Thing as Feminine Quietness? A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective: Emily Xueni Jin This essay was another good one about translating and language. I liked how this one specifically focused on words in specific contexts and how to best choose a translation. Gender is heavily taken into account here, and I find the different ways ‘quiet’ can be translated depending on context from English to Mandarin to be quite fascinating. Dragonslaying: Shen Yingying, transl. Emily Xueni Jin 4/5 stars This is well written and I liked the magic of the world, but it’s also horrifying. New Year Painting, Ink and Color on rice Paper, Zhaoqiao Village [Tk]: Chen Qian, transl. Emily Xueni Jin 5/5 stars I liked this one as well. There was a good mix of reality and fantasy, and I liked the curse aspect of things. The Portrait: Chu Xidao, transl. Gigi Chang 4/5 stars This story didn’t go where I was thinking it would. It was interesting how it turned out. The Woman Carrying a Corpse: Chi Hui, transl. Judith Huang 5/5 stars This was an odd little story, but I liked the twisting wordiness of it. The Mountain and the Secret of Their Names: Wang Nuonuo, transl. Rebecca F. Kuang 4/5 stars I liked the role of the mountain in the story. I wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of the grandfather, though. Net Novels and the ‘She Era’: How Internet Novels Opened the Door for Female Readers and Writers in China: Xueting Christine Ni This was a really interesting essay on the rise of net novels in China and the role they played in creating a more egalitarian form of literature. I wasn’t familiar with this topic and found the essay to be quite educational and interesting. Writing and Translation: A Hundred Technical Tricks: Rebecca F. Kuang This was another interesting piece that explored translation. I’m currently taking a class on translating right now (German to English), and I find it interesting to read about how various translators think about the act.

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italian-sides · 5 years ago

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“Ombre e Bastoni”, ch. 2

Here I am with the second chapter! Again, a huge thank you to both @misslilidelaney on Tumblr for writing this and @watcher-from-the-heights for being my beta! I also tag @ts-italian-gang, just in case. One last thing: if you want to support the ff, it’s on AO3 too! Thank you if you’re gonna step by! Enjoy!

Whenever Emilio Picani walked into the Dolce&Remì, all heads turned.

And when all heads turned, Giuda Schiavon's only instinct was to turn away.

To avoid imploding.

At the exact moment the young man crossed the threshold, Giuda understood that he was Patrizio's famous "psychologist cousin".

And at the exact moment he saw his face, only one sentence echoed in his brain:

- Sò ciavà. - [1]

The newcomer sat down at the counter, while Remo looked illuminated with immense light and Romolo seemed to be having a heart attack.

"Patrì. Are you kidding? You should at least have said that your cousin was so beautiful!"

"What are you saying, Romolo? C'mon, you're embarrassing him!"

"Orco can, Pati [2], take it easy! Trust me, it takes much more to embarrass me.", the interested party replied, giving Romolo, who just laughed like a twelve year old, a benevolent smile.

- Nice, exactly what I needed, even the competition with the Stellina. -

Giuda glanced at Remo, who had been wiping the same glass for three minutes.

-Ah, well. Both the Stelline. [3] -

He just looked at the newcomer from behind the counter, through the mirror in front of which the liquors were placed.

Of course both twins already came out swinging, while Virgilio and Luca simply looked at him with the gaze of two hungry lions.

And obviously Patrizio noticed the looks that the Trentine guy - that is Luca - launched at his blood relative, and Giuda shook his head after seeing the Emilian's eyes getting a little bleary.

-If I end up like this too, I'll set myself on fire.-

"You're quiet, Giudino [4].", Tommaso, the only one who seemed immune to the charm of the newcomer, chirped.

Giuda merely smiled slyly, pointing to the group behind him with a nod:

"I'm enjoying the vultures."

"Pffftt, they're terribleee!", the pastry chef whispered, biting his lip from laughing, which made Giuda smile even further and then continue:

"They look like they haven't seen a man for ages, eh? And Patrizio has the face of someone who repented 'a sbrega'."

"At what?"

"Someone who regretted it very much. I’ll have to teach you Venetian sooner or later, boss."

Tommaso nodded, and Giuda decided to get defensive even before anyone could attack him.

"Plus, like... He's not even that cool. He's pretty, don't get me wrong, but c'mon, to the point of making all four of them lose their heads?"

Tommaso nodded, shrugging:

"Agreed. And I hope Luca will soon get over this thing before Patrizio goes on a killing spree."

"Patrizio should also get a move on, however; Luca is too much of a wimp to realize he's drooling like a slug. If he doesn't get moving, someone else will take him and I’d like to remind you that the last time Patrizio got drunk, he got a sad hangover."

"Don't remind me, please."

"Ao, regà!" [5], Remo sneaked in and took them both by the arm, smiling like the idiot he was.

"Come and meet the newcomer!"

- Oh, no, please. -

"Boss, at least let me take off my dishwashing gloves!"

"No no, you have to keep them, I want him to understand who's in charge!", the 'older' brother of the Stella twins laughed at the request of his dishwasher.

- Curses.-

With a movement worthy of the worst drunks in Caracas, he brought Tommaso and Giuda in front of the newcomer, who had a smile capable of melting Giuda's heart in an instant.

And it did.

"Emilio, here's my co-partner and pastry-chef Tommaso Sandero, and my all-rounder, dishwasher, whatever-you-want, Giuda."

"I have a surname too, you know, old man.", with an eyeroll worthy of a Hollywood star, Giuda turned to Emilio.

Shit, he was even more beautiful, up close.

"Giuda Schiavon. I would shake your hand but I have gloves on."

"Schiavon?", Emilio asked, lighting up.

How beautiful a human being could be? Was he even legal?

"Ahah, his name is Schiavon. Which is perfect, since he's ours... [6]", Remo started, but Emilio dreamily clasped his hands in front of his face and asked, interrupting him:

"Are you from Veneto too? I'm from Verona!"

Giuda just shrugged, nodding immediately after:

"Par tera, par mar, Sammarco. [7]"

"Can del porco, un Venexian! Beaaa! [8]"

Having said that, Emilio approached him, pretending to speak in great secrecy - which was impossible, since everyone was still staring at him as if he was a wonderful thing, except perhaps Romolo, who was just looking at Giuda as if he was the worst thing that ever happened in this world:

"Cossa go da far pa aver na bona ombra de vin qua? [9]"

Was he trying to speak Venetian?

Was there a limit to how cute he could be?

"Ask Remo. I only wash the glasses, I don't fill them."

Having said that, he turned to the owner, making a superhuman effort to take his eyes off Emilio, who seemed quite dazzled by the answer.

"Can I go back? I have to go to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes before other people arrive for happy hour."

Then he turned back to Emilio, waving at him with half a smile:

"Fellow countryman, enjoy your stay in Bologna."

And then he left, without giving him time to answer.

Three years passed since their first meeting.

Three years in which Romolo made the funniest epic fail with Emilio, in which Patrizio decided to stick his tongue down Luca's mouth, and Virgilio pretended to be drunk to touch Romolo's ass, whom he said he'd forgotten, but Giuda knew that was bullshit.

Because he, being a chronic liar, could basically smell the lies.

In fact, not even for a second did he let anyone remotely suspect of his mind-blowing crush on the psychologist, especially the above mentioned, given that he was probably now convinced he hated his guts.

Which was the intention of the Venetian, since he took for granted that the thirty-year-old was far beyond what someone like him could afford.

After the disastrous relationship with one of his university buddies, Giuda indeed decided that being single was far better than being heartbroken.

Even though his heart wasn't too good.

Treating Emilio badly was making him lose sleep, at times he risked forgetting to put on his contact lenses due to tiredness, and even Virgilio took the piss out of him for the bags under his eyes.

And now he was there. Gloves in one hand and a broom in the other.

With Remo looking at him with a Cheshire Cat's smile on his face.

"You little snake. I get it, you know? You like the Veronese."

"You're speaking nonsense. I’d rather kill him right now. I dropped the glasses because of him."

"Don’t fuck with me. Tommy and I yell at you all the time and you’ve never jumped like this. Yo, Coso [10], I can smell lies too, you're not the only one. You’re being a little shit because you like him."

Giuda kept looking the bar owner in the eye, trying to deny it with all of his body language.

"I. Don't. Like. Emilio. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Mr. Psychoanalysis isn’t exactly my cup of tea, okay?"

"Giuda..."

There was something in Remo’s voice, something that for a moment opened a breach in the Venetian's heart.

Maybe... Maybe he could trust someone.

"...From the first day he walked in here. You all got over it. But me? Never. I don’t have a crush on Emilio, Remo. I’m in love with Emilio. But I’ve suffered enough in the past to know that I’m better off alone. What if it goes wrong? How am I gonna look at him? How...?"

"You don't know that. I mean, I don't know either even if I live with him, how can you, if you run away every time you see him?"

"I personally believe that what you don’t know can’t hurt you."

"If Luca were here he would scream 'Boiate' [11]. Giuda... I..."

"Welp. It's too late now, the damage is done, right? He’s probably convinced I hate him even more after today's crap."

With a bitter laugh, Giuda surpassed the roman, continuing:

"I blew every chance, amen..."

"Giuda."

"But surely he won’t stop coming, we’re his favorite bar and you’re his roommate..."

"Giuda, shut up."

"I'm sure he'll find someone else pretty quickly, he just needs to breathe and someone always comes along."

"Giuda!"

The dishwasher turned again towards Remo, biting his lip as the stupid tears began to stream down his face.

"I can’t do this, okay? After Mattia, I don’t know what to do, with a man. Besides, I’m kind of a mess. Emilio will never appreciate someone like me."

Remo remained silent for a moment, before moving forward... and hugging? Giuda.

The Venetian was baffled, usually it was Tommaso, the one with whom he sometimes allowed himself affectionate gestures.

"Shut your mouth, you’re not that bad. And I swear on Totti [12], I’ll help you get the therapist, whether you want it or not."

Giuda laughed bitterly, his face stuck in the chest of his tallest peer.

"Yeah, sure. And how are you gonna do that?"

Remo let him go and asked, very seriously:

"Do you know how to play briscola [13]?"

[1]: transl. "I'm fucked" [2]: "Holy crap" + Pati = a nickname for Patrizio [3]: this is a pun with Romolo and Remo's surname, "Stella" = "Star", that here is referred as "Stellina/Stelline" = "Little Star/Little Stars" [4]: a nickname for Giuda, a diminutive of his name [5]: a Romanesco dialect exclamation that means more or less "Hey, guys!" [6]: it's a pun with Giuda's surname, Schiavon, that in italian, without the "n" at the end, is "Schiavo" = "Slave" [7]: it's a Venetian saying that literally means "on land, on sea, San Marco", but more broadly it means the power of the Venice Republic that reigned both on the land and on the sea [8]: "Good heavens, a Venetian! Niiice!" [9]: "What can I do to have a good glass of wine around here?"; in Venetian dialect, "ombra" means both "shadow" and "glass of wine" [10]: "coso" is the italian version of "thingy" and/or "dude/dingus" [11]: yes, "boiate" is the italian term for "falsehood", in this case [12]: a famous Italian soccer player, specifically from Rome [13]: a very popular Italian card game

1 - 2 - ?

see ya next time, ciao!

Quando Emilio Picani entrava al Dolce&Remì, tutte le teste si giravano. E quando tutte le teste si giravano, l'unico istinto di Giuda Schiavon era di girarsi dalla parte opposta.

Per evitare di implodere.

Nel momento esatto in cui il giovane aveva oltrepassato la soglia, Giuda aveva capito che era lui il famoso "cugino psicologo" di Patrizio.

E nel momento esatto in cui aveva visto il suo volto, solo una frase gli aveva rimbombato nel cervello:

- Sò ciavà.-

Il nuovo arrivato si era seduto al bancone, Remo che sembrava illuminato d'immenso, e Romolo che sembrava stesse per avere un infarto.

"Patrì. Ma stiamo a scherzare? Ce lo dovevi minimo minimo dire che tuo cugino era così bello!"

"Ma cosa stai dicendo, Romolo? Mo' dai guarda, che lo metti in imbarazzo!”

"Orco can Pati, stai calmo! Guarda che ci vuole molto di più per imbarazzarmi." aveva risposto il diretto interessato, scoccando un sorriso benevolo a Romolo, che si era limitato a ridere come una dodicenne.

- Ben ciò, perché mi mancava la competizione con la Stellina.-

Giuda aveva lanciato uno sguardo a Remo, che stava strofinando lo stesso bicchiere da tre minuti.

-Ah beo. Entrambe, le Stelline.-

E si era limitato a guardare il nuovo arrivato da dietro il bancone, attraverso lo specchio davanti al quale erano sistemati gli alcolici.

Ovviamente entrambi i gemelli erano già partiti all'attacco, e Virgilio e Luca si limitavano a guardarlo con lo sguardo di due leoni affamati.

Ovviamente, Patrizio si era accorto degli sguardi che il trentino lanciava al proprio consanguineo, e Giuda aveva scosso la testa vedendo i suoi occhi velarsi un po’.

- Se finisco anche io così mi do fuoco.-

"Sei silenzioso, Giudino." Aveva cinguettato Tommaso, l'unico a sembrare immune al fascino del nuovo arrivato.

Giuda si era limitato a sorridere sornione, indicando il gruppetto alle sue spalle con un cenno del capo.

"Mi sto godendo gli avvoltoi."

"PFFFF sono tremendiii!" Aveva sussurrato il pasticciere mordendosi il labbro dal ridere, cosa che aveva fatto sorridere ulteriormente Giuda che quindi aveva continuato:

"Sembra non vedano un uomo da millenni eh. Veramente. E Patrizio ha la faccia di uno che si è pentito a sbrega."

"A cosa?

"Pentito molto. Devo insegnarti il veneziano prima o poi, Boss."

Tommaso aveva annuito, e Giuda aveva deciso di mettersi sulla difensiva ancora prima che qualcuno potesse partire all'attacco.

"Che poi... Neanche fosse così figo. Bellino eh. Ma insomma, da far andare fuori di testa tutti e quattro?"

Tommaso aveva annuito, facendo spallucce.

"Ti do ragione. E spero che a Luca questa cosa passi presto prima che Patrizio faccia una strage."

"Patrizio dovrebbe anche darsi una mossa però eh, Luca è troppo impedito per accorgersi di quanto stia sbavando come una lumaca. Se non si muove finisce che se lo prende qualcun altro e ti ricordo che l'ultima volta è andato di sbronza triste."

"Non ricordamelo, ti prego..."

"Ao, regà!" Remo era arrivato di soppiatto e li aveva presi entrambi sottobraccio, sorridendo come lo scemo che era.

"Venite a conoscere il nuovo arrivato!"

- Oh, no, ti prego.-

"Capo fammi almeno togliere i guanti da piatti!"

"No no, li devi tenè, voglio che capisca chi comanda!" Aveva riso il maggiore dei gemelli Stella alla richiesta del suo lavapiatti.

Maledetto.

Con un movimento degno dei peggiori ubriachi di Caracas, aveva portato Tommaso e Giuda al cospetto del nuovo arrivato, che aveva addosso un sorriso capace di sciogliere il cuore di Giuda in un istante.

E lo aveva fatto.

"Emilio, ecco il mio socio e pasticcere Tommaso Sandero, e il mio lavapiatti tuttofare quello-che-vuoi, Giuda."

"Ho un cognome anche io sai, vecchio." con un eyerolling degno di una star holliwoodiana, Giuda si era voltato verso Emilio.

Merda, era ancora più bello, da vicino.

"Giuda Schiavon. Ti darei la mano ma ho i guanti."

"Schiavon?" Aveva chiesto Emilio illuminandosi.

Ma quanto poteva essere bello un essere umano? Ma era legale?

"Ahah, si chiama Schiavon. Il che è perfetto visto che è il nostro..." Aveva iniziato Remo, ma Emilio aveva stretto le mani davanti al viso con aria sognante ed aveva chiesto, interrompendolo:

"Ma sei veneto anche tu? Io sono di Verona!"

Giuda si era limitato a fare spallucce, annuendo subito dopo.

"Par tera, par mar, Sammarco."

"Can del porco un Venexian! Beaaa!"

Detto questo, si era avvicinato facendo finta di parlare in gran segreto - cosa impossibile visto che tutti lo stavano ancora fissando come se fosse una cosa meravigliosa, tranne forse Romolo che stava guardando proprio Giuda come se fosse la peggiore delle cose mai capitate a questo mondo:

"Cossa go da far pa aver na bona ombra de vin qua?"

Stava cercando di parlare in veneziano?

Ma c'era un limite a quanto potesse essere carino?

"Domandarghe a Remo. Io lavo i bicchieri, non li riempio mica."

Detto questo si era girato verso il titolare, compiendo uno sforzo sovrumano per distogliere lo sguardo da Emilio, che sembrava parecchio abbacchiato dalla risposta.

"Posso tornare di là? Devo andare in cucina a finire i piatti prima che arrivi altra gente per l'happy hour."

Si era quindi girato di nuovo verso Emilio, facendogli un cenno di saluto con un mezzo sorriso.

"Conterraneo, buona permanenza a Bologna."

E se n'era andato, senza lasciargli il tempo di rispondere.

Erano passati tre anni, da quel loro primo incontro.

Tre anni nei quali Romolo aveva fatto il più divertente degli epic fail con Emilio, nei quali Patrizio si era deciso a ficcare la lingua in bocca a Luca, e Virgilio aveva fatto finta di essere ubriaco per toccare il culo di Romolo, che diceva di aver dimenticato, ma Giuda sapeva essere una balla.

Perché lui, le balle, le subodorava, essendo un bugiardo cronico.

Infatti, nemmeno per un secondo aveva lasciato che qualcuno sospettasse minimamente della sua cotta allucinante per lo psicologo, specialmente il suddetto, visto che si era probabilmente ormai convinto di stargli sullo stomaco.

Il che era l'intento del veneziano, visto che dava per scontato che il trentenne fosse ben oltre quello che uno come lui potesse permettersi.

Dopo la disastrosa relazione col suo compagno di facoltà, Giuda aveva infatti deciso che single era decisamente meglio che col cuore a pezzi.

Anche se il suo cuore non stava troppo bene.

Trattare male Emilio gli stava facendo ormai perdere il sonno, a volte rischiava di dimenticare le lenti dalla stanchezza, e persino Virgilio lo prendeva per il culo per le occhiaie.

Ed ora era lì. I guanti in una mano ed una scopa nell'altra.

Con Remo che lo guardava con il sorriso dello Stregatto dipinto in faccia.

"A serpentino. L'ho capito eh. Te piace er veronese."

"Tu stai vaneggiando. Ora come ora lo ammazzerei. Ho fatto volare i bicchieri per colpa sua."

"Nun me piglià per il culo. Io e Tommy ti gridiamo contro in continuazione e non hai mai saltato così. Senti Coso, pure io le subodoro le stronzate, non sei mica l'unico. Fai il merda perché ti piace."

Giuda continuava a guardare il titolare negli occhi, cercando di negare con tutto il linguaggio del corpo.

"Non. Mi. Piace. Emilio. Non so cosa ti sei messo in testa, ma Mister Psicanalisi non è esattamente di mio gradimento okay?"

"Giuda..."

C'era qualcosa nel tono di Remo, qualcosa che per un attimo, aveva aperto una breccia nel cuore del veneziano.

Forse... Forse poteva fidarsi, di qualcuno.

"...Dal primo giorno in cui è entrato qui dentro. A voi tutti è passata. Ma a me mai. Non ho una cotta per Emilio, Remo. Io sono innamorato, di Emilio. Ma ho sofferto abbastanza in passato da sapere che sto meglio da solo. E se poi va male? Con che faccia lo guardo? Come..."

"Non puoi saperlo. Voglio dire, non posso saperlo io che ci vivo assieme, come puoi farlo tu se scappi ogni volta che lo vedi?"

"Sono del parere che ciò che non sai non può farti del male."

"Fosse qua Luca urlerebbe 'Boiate'. Giuda... io..."

"Beh. Ormai il danno è fatto, no? Si sarà convinto che lo odio dopo la stronzata di oggi."

Con una risata amara, Giuda aveva superato il romano, continuando:

"Mi sono bruciato ogni possibilità, amen..."

"Giuda."

"... Però di sicuro mica smette di venire, siamo il suo bar preferito e tu sei il suo coinquilino..."

"Giuda piantala."

"Di sicuro troverà subito qualcuno, gli basta respirare e arriva sempre qualcuno..."

"Giuda!"

Il lavapiatti si era girato di nuovo verso Remo, mordendosi il labbro mentre le stupidissime lacrime iniziavano a scendere.

"Io non ce la posso fare okay? Dopo Mattia non so più come comportarmi, con un uomo. E poi sono un casino. Emilio non potrà mai apprezzare uno come me."

Remo era rimasto in silenzio per un attimo, prima di avanzare ed... abbracciare? Giuda.

Il veneziano era basito, di solito era Tommaso, quello con cui a volte si permetteva gesti affettuosi.

"Ti devi de sta zitto. Non fai così schifo. E te lo giuro su Totti, io ti aiuterò a prenderti lo psicologo, che tu lo voglia o no."

Giuda aveva riso amaramente, la faccia ficcata nel petto dell'altissimo coetaneo.

"Seh, vabbè. E come credi di fare?"

Remo lo aveva lasciato andare ed aveva sentenziato, serissimo.

"Sai giocare a briscola?"

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sisterofiris · 7 years ago

Note

Mostly now I am super curious what Ḫattušili III did.

OH MY GODS YES THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME THAT I CAN RANT ABOUT ḪATTUŠILI III

I’ll preface this with a reminder that, of course, all Hittite kings having been dead for 3200 years or more, it’s impossible to know what they were like as people. The texts they left us are, for the most part, not an insight into their personalities - and the information they do give us is often biased. Just because Ḫattušili III sounds insufferable in his texts doesn’t mean he was any worse than his predecessors; likewise, just because Muršili II comes off as thoughtful and sensitive doesn’t mean he was a pure cinnamon roll who never did a bad thing in his life. Each of these kings was a three-dimensional, flawed person, loved by some and hated by others, and we can’t judge them based on the political documents they left behind.

That said, I would deck Ḫattušili III in the face if I could.

My hatred for him is mainly based on his so-called Apology of Ḫattušili, in which he explains how he became king. It’s clear that he usurped the throne from his nephew, and as a result, he was invested in making his actions seem just and legitimate. Maybe this worked well for the Hittites, but to me, the general effect is 370 lines of “yeah I broke the law but I’m awesome enough that it doesn’t matter”. Take this passage as an example:

When the people saw the regard of Ištar, my lady, for me, and the goodwill of my brother towards me, they envied me. Arma-Tarḫunta, the son of Zida, and then other people began to cause me trouble. They treated me badly. Things were unfavourable for me, and my brother Muwatalli ordered me to the “wheel”. (l. 30-36, transl. my own)

It’s unclear what, exactly, the “wheel” refers to - some researchers have suggested a torture method - but the general idea is easy to understand: Ḫattušili was accused of something and brought to trial (and later acquitted). It’s undeniable that he was at least partly in the wrong, or did something that could be construed as being in the wrong. (Given his later actions, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was already plotting to gain more power, but that’s just a conjecture.) The way he presents it, though, is that his accusers were just jealous and brought him unjustly to trial. Though again, this may have been received positively by the Hittites, to me it just makes him seem dishonest and full of himself.

This happens time and time again in the Apology: Ḫattušili does something undeniably perceived as wrong, glosses over it, and justifies his actions by insisting Ištar supported him so really it’s okay. He eventually revolted against his nephew, king Muršili III, and it’s worth noting that his only justification for that is “Muršili stripped me of my power and I didn’t like it”. Well, that would be his justification if Ḫattušili actually called Muršili by his throne name - instead he insists on calling him Urḫi-Tešub, his Hurrian name, as a means of delegitimising him.

As a side note, it’s incredibly frustrating for me that we don’t get Muršili’s perspective in all this. I would love to know what he had to say about Ḫattušili’s actions, not least of all because I think there’s a lot Ḫattušili doesn’t tell us. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, history is written by the winners.

After Ḫattušili finally defeated Muršili in civil war, he says he “locked him up in Šamuḫa like a pig in a sty”, which is a lovely way to speak of the king, especially considering pigs were viewed very negatively by the Hittites (kind of like they are by Muslims now). Ḫattušili then proceeded to usurp the throne, something which I surprisingly don’t hold against him too much - after all, he was far from the first Hittite king to do so. However, what does annoy me is his attitude towards it.

A couple of hundred years earlier, Telepinu seized the throne and proceeded to write a proclamation laying out the rules to succession, encouraging peace and harmony over bloodshed, and containing one of my favourite lines in the entire Hittite corpus: “[my family’s murderers] harmed me, but I will not harm them”. Ḫattušili, meanwhile, concludes his own Apology by insisting he’s awesome, got sent the best gifts on his accession, and totally deserved everything he got because Ištar said so. This is not to say that the Proclamation of Telepinu has more value than the Apology of Ḫattušili, nor that it was perceived any more positively by the Hittites, and we obviously can’t prove Telepinu didn’t write texts just as insufferable as Ḫattušili’s too. But based on the documentation we have, I can’t help but feel like Ḫattušili wasn’t the bigger person here.

Also, my professor once compared Ḫattušili to Trump, and that’s something that can’t be unseen.

#hattusili iii #hittites #damn i love the hittites #except for hattusili

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whereisthefood123 · 8 years ago

Text

Gajevy-AU Romance through Bachata

So, this is my first time participating in the Gajevy week and I'm super excited about it. I would love to get some feedback on my writting. The inspiration for this story came from my best friend who went through something similar to what Levy will go through in this story.

Hope you like it!

Summary: Modern-AU Levy flies to Cancun, wishing to relax and have fun there. Faith gets her meeting Cana which introduces her to her crazy friends, one of which captures Levy's heart instantly. The night has many surprises for the blunette and for her new person of interest. Drinks, dances and a bonfire at the beach is the perfect set for love to bloom. Especially when Gajeel teaches Levy how to dance bachata and sparks fly all around them.

Words: 8,022

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail characters or the song "Propuesta indecente" by Romeo Santos (put that on youtube when Gajeel starts to sing [because obviously I needed to put Gajeel singing sexy spanish lyrics])

Fanfiction.net

"Urgh! I can't believe them!" a furious Levy exclaimed while closing her hotel room's door quite roughly. Said room was being shared with 3 of her closest friends from the university's book club.

The four girls had agreed to go in a vacation after the semester ended and bought their tickets to go to Cancun, one of the most popular beaches in Mexico. The original plan was to have fun and get a little crazy after the stress of the exams. Well, that's what Levy thought was the original plan.

Once they got into the airplane to go from Austin to Cancun, Trish, Sasha and Clem rounded up on Levy and told her they were going to play nice and not go out to nightclubs or bars. Levy's jaw hung down a little bit in disbelief. All she had been looking for in this trip was to have fun and have couple of drinks and maybe meet new people, but her friends had a completely different idea about what a vacation in Cancun meant.

She had hoped that maybe once arriving to the hotel and seeing the beautiful beach that was just around the corner of their hotel, her friends would change their minds. She had been so wrong…

After having lunch at the hotel's all-you-can-eat buffet, her three friends decided to go and take a nap. Levy suggested going to the beach and relaxing under the sun, but they just refused saying that they didn't wanted to get sunburn. Really?! You fly all the way to Cancun and you don't want to get sunburn! Levy almost yelled at them but decided to let it slide. Maybe after sleeping a little bit, they would be in a better mood to go out and explore the city. Wrong again.

After the 2 hour nap, Clem turned on the TV to find that there was a Harry Potter marathon, to which Sasha and Trish got super excited and settled down on their beds to watch the TV. Levy ignored them and decided to go for a walk at the beach all by herself. Maybe they'll get bored and we'll go out to a bar later tonight she thought. Wrong!

When she came back to the hotel room, it was past 8 pm and the sun had long hid behind the horizon. Levy steeled herself to try to convince her friends to go for, at least, one drink at the hotel's bar. They obviously refused, saying that they were too tired and that there was still two more films before the marathon ended.

That's when Levy snapped. She locked herself in the bathroom and took a quick shower. She then put on her night black dress and arranged her blue curls in a messy high ponytail with a thin black headband holding up the loose strands that tried to cover her face. She applied a little bit of makeup on her face and sprayed her neck with her favorite perfume. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror and decided she was ready to go.

When she got out of the bathroom, her friends stared at her in confusion on why she had prettied up for. "Well, even if you don't want to go out, I do! So I'm heading to the hotel's bar. Don't wait up on me" Levy stated with a posture that emanated confidence. She grabbed her black 5-inch heels along with her purse and walked out the door. Her friends called after her, telling her it was dangerous to go out alone and that she shouldn't go, but Levy was beyond the point of listening them.

Which takes us to where this story began.

"Urgh! I can't believe them!" Levy put on her heels and hastily walked up to the elevator that would take her to the first floor. She was beyond furious! All she wanted to do was to let loose a little bit, but her friends were just too tied up!

Even when Levy wasn't a frequent drinker, she felt the urge to drown her frustration in alcohol.

Once she got to the first floor of the building, she made a beeline to the bar's counter and sat down on one of the empty stools. She propped her elbows on the bar and covered her face with her hands, groaning in frustration. She didn't noticed the strange look the brunette sitting to the right was giving her.

"Tough night, eh?" she said while sipping beer from her mug.

"You have no idea" Levy snorted and looked up to her side to acknowledge the woman. She saw a tall slender woman with brown hair, wearing a red bikini top and tight black jeans. Levy suddenly felt a little self-conscious when she noticed the huge breasts of the brunette and she made an effort not to cover her small chest with her hands.

The woman smiled down to her and extended her hand, which Levy took in hers. "Cana Alberona"

"Levy McGarden" she replied. Then, Cana pulled Levy's hand forward, reached down and kissed Levy's right cheek. Levy pulled back blushing intensely at the gesture. She was just trying to be friendly but maybe this girl was looking for something else that Levy couldn't give her.

Cana cackled loudly. "Yer not from around, right?" Levy shook her head from side to side saying 'no' which earned her another loud laugh from the brunette "That's how we say 'hi' here in Mexico. Don't freak out about it"

Levy smiled at her explanation and laughed nervously "Sorry. Yeah, I just got here today"

"Well, let's give you a proper welcome" Cana exclaimed before downing her beer in one swift motion. Then, she jumped to the other side of the counter and ducked behind it. She grabbed two shot glasses and a tequila bottle from under the bar, she prepared two lime slices with salt, one for Levy and the other one for herself, and finally placed everything on top of the counter.

"So, we are going to play a little game now" Cana said while pouring tequila on the glasses. "Basically, it goes like this. Ya tell a story about anything that happened ta ya and I'll try to guess if it's true or false. If I'm right, ya drink, if not, I drink. Then, I'll tell a story and you try to guess and so on until someone calls it quits. What da ya say?"

Levy took a moment to think about the proposition. It looked like fun and this Cana girl seemed friendly. "Alright, then. You go first" Levy grabbed her lime and her tequila shot. Cana nodded in agreement.

"Okay. So, one time a guy tried to beat me at a drinking contest. After the 20th mug of beer the guy collapsed on the floor, completely wasted and he had to pay for my tab. He ended up paying for 60 drinks in total: he drank 20; I drank 40" Cana said and laughed loudly at the memory of that night.

"Oh, God! That's totally unrealistic! I'll say it's false" Levy said with confidence. She didn't believe there would be someone capable of drinking that much.

"Take the shot. 'Cuz it's totally true!" Cana cackled and Levy grimaced at the taste of the tequila going down her throat. "Lime, lime!" Cana signaled her to bite the lime with salt to ease the taste of the alcohol in her mouth.

Levy shivered but then felt warmth spreading in her chest and up to her cheeks. She laughed while Cana filled up her shot with more tequila. "Really? 40 beer mugs?! That has to be a world record"

"Haha! Not really, just one typical night-out" Cana winked "Okay, now it's yer turn"

Levy hummed and touched her lips with her index finger, thinking on a good story. "One time, a guy dumped me because he said he couldn't go out with a girl who could insult him in at least seven different languages. He said that it would be embarrassing whenever I spoke with a foreigner and he wouldn't know whether I was making fun of him or just indicating where the bathroom was"

Cana laughed again. "No way! Yeah, men are fucking scumbags but 7 languages? Yer what? 19? Ain't possible for ya to know 7 languages already. I say false"

Levy grinned "Actually, I'm 22, but thanks. And I happened to be fluent in more than seven languages and my story is totally true! So it's your turn to drink. ¡Salud! (transl. Cheers!)" Levy said and gestured to Cana to down her tequila shot.

The brunette laughed "Man, 7 languages, really? ¡Y hablas español! (transl. And you speak Spanish!)"

Levy giggled "Así es mi amiga (transl. That's right my friend). I'm still learning though"

"Ha! I definitely need to introduce ya to my friends. I have a hunch they'll love ya! Especially Lucy" Cana said and raised her shot "For ya, Levy McGarden. The woman that can tell a man in seven different languages to fuck off" Cana downed her drink with expertise and Levy laughed at the praise.

"I mean it, eh! If ya have no plans, we're going to a nightclub and then to the beach. Wanna tag along?" Cana filled up her glass with more tequila.

"Sure! Why not? Besides, my friends just ditched me to stay in our room watching TV"

"Ha! Too bad for them. They'll miss all the fun. Cheers for an amazing night!" Cana raised her glass again and it clinked against Levy's. The girls downed their shots and with one last bite of her lime, Levy took her purse and looked at Cana.

"Hey Cana, how much is it going to be for the drinks?"

"How would I know? I don't work here" Cana shrugged her shoulders and put away their shot glasses and the tequila bottle.

"Wait! What?!" Levy shrieked.

"Alberona! Get the fuck away from my booze!" a man shouted from the far end of the counter. The bar had been so crowded that none of the bartenders seemed to have notice Cana on their side of the counter, filling up tequila shots and handing them to Levy, free-of-charge.

"Shit! Make a run for it!" Cana jumped over the counter and grabbed Levy's hand.

"What?!" Levy repeated in a high pitch tone and scrambled out of her stool to rush to the front door with Cana. "Wait a sec" she told the brunette and then leaned on the outside wall of the hotel to take off her shoes. There was no way they would escape with her running in her 5-inch heels.

They resumed their run until they were a couple blocks away from the hotel. Levy sat down on a bench to recover her breath and Cana started to laugh loudly "That was fun! Ha!"

"That wasn't funny! I thought you worked there!" Levy frowned angrily at the brunette

"I never said I did" She laughed again and Levy couldn't hold on to her anger and started giggling as well. "Come on, Lev. I'm meeting with my friends in the next corner"

Levy hesitated for a second. She didn't knew this girl that well to follow her blindly. As far as she knew, Cana could be a mass murderer that was taking her to an alleyway where she'll stab her to dead. Maybe Levy had been watching too many 'Criminal Minds' episodes as of recently. Besides, the alternative to follow Cana was just too depressing. Returning to her room when it wasn't even midnight didn't sound like fun at all.

With a deep breath, Levy decided to trust Cana and followed her. What could go wrong?

"Guys! Let me introduce ya to Levy. Levy, these are my friends. They aren't as crazy as they look like, but I wouldn't get too close to Natsu if you want yer dress to keep from catching on fire" That's how Cana introduced Levy to the peculiar group of six people.

After the awkwardness of being greeted with kisses on her right cheek by complete strangers subsided, Levy started to chat with one of the girls of the group, finding a lot in common with her. She introduced herself as Lucy, a college student who wanted to publish her own novel, and soon enough the two girls started to talk non-stop about books and Levy's fascination with reading.

The rest of the group was very interesting indeed and soon Levy found herself comfortable walking with all of them towards a nightclub at the end of the street. At the front of the group, Juvia, a fashion design student, clung with both her arms to Gray, a professional hockey player. Lucy explained that she met both of them three days prior and that they- well, Gray actually, flew to Cancun for his two-week vacations and Juvia just followed him.

Behind them, Natsu, a backpacker who just travelled all the way up from South America, yelled something at Gray about him being an 'ice princess' and taunting him into a fight. Lucy told Levy that Natsu was something akin to a pyromaniac and that in the four days that she had hang out with him, he had managed to set half of Lucy's skirts on fire.

At the rear of the group, Cana was chatting up with Lily, a pilot who just recently graduated from flight school. Even with his big body, Lily seemed to be quite a nice person, sending off a warmth aura around him. Not at all like the last guy that completed the group.

His name is Gajeel. Well, that's what Lily had called him when he scolded him for glaring at Levy when Cana introduced her to the group. The first thing Levy noticed was his toned body and when he crossed his arms over his chest, Levy started to wonder if his black shirt was about to tear apart from the strain his big muscles put on the fabric. Then, she noticed his piercings and she couldn't stop herself when she started to count them in her mind: three above each of his eyes where his eyebrows were supposed to be, two on each side of his nose, two below his lower lip, five on each ear and four studs on each forearm. The third thing about this man that caught Levy's attention were his eyes. Red ruby orbs seemed to pierce into her soul when she crossed her gaze with his. When she realized she had been staring at him for longer than meant to, Levy forced her gaze away from him, blushing from embarrassment at her obviously ogling the man. It didn't go unnoticed by Gajeel who snickered and said "Like what ya see, shortstuff?" That caused her face to flush even more from embarrassment but she managed to make it look like it was out of anger at the nickname.

Gajeel was walking beside Lily, seemingly not interested at all in the conversation between him and Cana, and Levy couldn't help to look over her shoulder directing her eyes to him. There was something incredibly fascinating about this man. Out of everyone from the group, Levy knew the least about him and it just helped to peek up her curiosity. Cana told her that both Lily and Gajeel were also Mexicans and that's as far as she knew about Gajeel. She wondered about him more and more, why does he have so many piercings? What does he like to do? What are his dreams? Levy's mind started to race with lots and lots of questions about the mysterious man that she craved to know more and more. Especially because when she had crossed her eyes with his, her heart started to beat faster in her chest and her stomach did a funny flip that almost got her giggling like a high school girl. Almost. Levy would burn all her books and eat the ashes before she was caught giggling and fawning like a high schooler over some guy. Even when that guy looked like he had been chiseled by gods. Even when his smirk was so goddamn sexy that-

"A picture lasts longer" he said in his gruff voice. Shit! She had been caught staring at him, again. She turned her gaze to the front of the group and tried to ignore the booming laugh he let out at her expense. It hadn't even been more than 15 minutes since she had met the guy and he somehow had managed to embarrass her twice.

His laughing subsided with a loud slap to the back of his head, courtesy of Lily. "Hey! What was that for, Lil'?"

"Come on, Gajeel, play nice" Lily chided.

"Try to flirt like a normal person fer once, Stud Face" Cana commented.

"O-Oi! I ain't flirting!" he exclaimed and Levy could swear she heard his embarrassment in his voice.

She didn't dare to look back, unless she risked to be caught once again staring at him. Instead, Levy looked at Lucy who was on her right and she saw the blonde looking back and smirking. Then, she turned back to Levy and whispered in her ear "He's blushing." Levy giggled and finally took a quick glance at the black haired man that was truthfully blushing while glaring at both Lily and Cana.

Levy had to admit that Gajeel looked cute when flustered. So long, this night seemed to be getting even better.

"So Levy, had ya ever dance bachata before?" Cana asked but Levy barely managed to hear her from all the noise inside the nightclub.

They managed to get inside and secure a table for themselves, which was now full of empty glasses and mugs, mostly thanks to Cana. When the DJ started to play a random bachata song, Juvia convinced/dragged Gray to dance with her on the dance floor. Natsu somehow saw that as a challenge and grabbed Lucy walking quickly to where the other two were. Now, Cana, Lily, Gajeel and Levy were the only ones sitting at the table.

Levy couldn't help but stare at the dance floor, watching all the people dancing. It was a smooth dance, sexy, fiery and so alluring to the eyes of the blue haired girl. It was as if the couples were flirting with their bodies; eyes locked between both of them, girls swaying their hips sexily, guys holding the girls so close to their bodies that they even looked like puzzle pieces fitting together and moving around like one. She couldn't suppress the sudden desire to dance like that, to have someone holding her like she was the sexiest woman in the world, to have someone looking at her like she was the only thing that matter at that moment.

Levy snapped her head back to Cana when she felt her place her hand over her shoulder. "Geez! Stop drooling all over the table. If ya want to dance so bad, go for it" she said louder and closer to Levy's ear so she could hear her.

Levy blushed and laughed sheepishly "Even if I wanted, I can't. I don't know how to dance like that" she pointed to a guy that twirled the girl around and when she was about to get out of his reach, he moved to catch her hand and pulled her back to him.

"Ha! That ain't a problem! Ya see, Lily here is the best teacher ever and Gajeel is quite a good dancer himself when he's not brooding" Cana pointed out to each of them.

"I heard ya, Drunkard!" Gajeel yelled at her over the loud music.

"That was the point, Stud Face! Ha!" Cana turned back to Lily then "Hey Lil', could ya teach Levy the basics of bachata?"

"Sure!" Lily stood up and extended his hand to Levy, which she took eagerly. She was so excited to learn this type of dance. They didn't walk all the way up to the dance floor since it would be easier for Levy to learn in a less crowded space. So, they just took a couple steps away from their table and prepared for dancing.

"Okay, you just follow my lead, alright?" Lily held Levy's right hand in his left and placed his right hand on the small of her back. Levy placed her left hand on Lily's bicep and nodded at him.

Looking down at their feet, Levy tried to follow each of Lily's movements. She took two steps for each sway they did, trying to copy what Lily was doing with his own feet. It didn't matter if it was right, left, back or front; two steps needed to be taken and the direction of the sway was decided by Lily. Still, sometimes she tried to guess where the next sway was directed to and ended up stepping on Lily's foot once or twice... or thrice.

Gajeel laughed loudly whenever Lily would reach down to rub at his almost-impaled foot. Levy felt embarrassed each time and apologized profusely to Lily.

After several attempts on dancing, Levy gave up before she would break any of Lily's toes with her heels. They walked back to the table and sat down with Cana and Gajeel.

Cana patted Levy on her back sympathetically "Don't worry, Lev. No one nails it in the first try" Levy just groaned in annoyance at her clumsiness.

"Hey! I know! Why don't ya try dancing with Gajeel?" Cana suggested and an evil plan started to formulate in her mind.

"Huh? And why him?" Levy asked confusedly.

"Well, he taught Juvia how to dance and as you can see she became quite good at it" Cana pointed to Juvia who was dancing like a professional with Gray. Levy's jaw hung loose in astonishment "Ha! Who could guess that just last night she learned how to do that?"

"What?! She's that good after just one night?!" Levy turned to look at Cana to see if she was bluffing.

"That's right! I tell ya, if anyone can teach you how to dance bachata is Gajeel" Cana said proudly and then turned to shout at Gajeel "Oi, Stud Face! How about ya try to teach Levy how to dance, eh?"

"Eh?! And why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, Levy over here thinks that there's no way ya can be a better dancer or teacher than Lily. I told her ya are and we bet that if ya two can dance one song without her stepping on your foot, she'll pay for the next round of drinks. If ya fail, I'll pay for it. What da ya say?" Levy wailed her hands in front of Cana's face asking her to stop. The brunette gave a quick glance at Gajeel's angry expression and then leaned down to whisper in Levy's ear "Don't worry. He heard nothing about the bet. The idiot always hates when we tell him Lily can best him at anything. Men are so predictable, ha!" she winked.

"So Studds, are ya in or what?" Cana asked Gajeel.

"There's no way in hell Lily can be better than me!" Gajeel roared and stood up angrily "Come on, Shrimp! Time for ya to learn how to dance!" he hauled Levy by her hand up to the dance floor.

"¿Qué estás tramando ahora, Cana? (transl. Cana, what are you scheming up now?)" Lily asked when he scooted closer to the brunette to have a better sight of the two new dancers approaching the dance floor.

"Nada, pero te apuesto una ronda de shots que se besan antes de volver a la mesa (transl. Nothing, but I bet ya the next round of shots that they'll kiss before coming back to the table)" The brunette said and extended her hand to Lily.

"Doblo tu apuesta a que se besan hasta el final de la noche (transl. I double your bet that they'll kiss by the end of the night)" Lily grabbed Cana's hand to seal their deal. Their eyes returned to the two persons involved in their bet.

"Gajeel! Wait a sec, I'm gonna fall!" Levy yelled at him but she was ignored by the big man who kept dragging her to the middle of the dance floor. He stopped when he found an empty space in the dance floor and turned around to hold her the way Lily had held her previously. Though, this time Levy blushed at being held so intimately by Gajeel.

"First rule, Shorty: Don't look at yer feet or ye'll end up tripping. Second: feel the music. Third: follow my lead. Fourth: have fun" Gajeel stated and held her closer to his body. Her torso was just mere inches from his well-toned abdomen and Levy had to use every ounce of will for her hands not to roam all over his body feeling each and every one of his muscles. God, why did he have to be so damn sexy!?

Levy squealed slightly when she felt him placing his leg between hers. It definitely was a very intimate position and Levy couldn't stop the blush that spread through her face. "Relax, this way it's easier for ya to follow my movements" Gajeel said in a somehow calm voice. The tension left Levy's shoulders and she took a deep breath to calm her heart's pounding in her chest.

"Ready?" he asked to which Levy nodded and she placed her hand over his broad shoulder while he held her other hand in his. (A/N You may want to play the song "Propuesta indecente" by Romeo Santos on youtube or something. It makes this part even more sexier)

They started to move at the music's rhythm and Levy found herself doing her best not to look down to her feet. Instead she looked directly to Gajeel's face and soon she was entranced by those ruby eyes that had caught her attention since the first moment she saw them. In her dazed state, she didn't notice when they started to sway from left to right, turning around in perfect synchronization with the music.

She didn't notice either when she started to move her hips to the song's rhythm, in the same motion as Gajeel moved his shoulders. She recognized the song to which they were dancing. It was a popular bachata song and she found it to be a quite enjoyable tune to listen. When she focused in Gajeel's face again she noticed he was having fun. His previous annoyed expression was missing in his face; instead, his features looked relaxed. Levy assumed Gajeel really enjoyed dancing and something inside her fluttered at knowing just a little bit more about him. When the chorus of the song started, Gajeel sang along with it.

Si te invito una copa y me acerco a tu boca Si te robo un besito haz ver que no vas conmigo

Qué dirías si esta noche te seduzco en mi coche Que se empañen los vidrios Y la regla es que goces

Gajeel pushed Levy at arm's length, holding both her hands. Then, while still holding her hands, he pulled one of his hands over his head and placed their linked hands on his shoulder opposite to her position, and his other hand came down to her lower back. Now, they were dancing side by side, still holding hands and swaying left to right without breaking eye contact. He kept singing the chorus and Levy was entranced by his deep and sweet voice.

Si te falto el respeto y luego culpo al alcohol Si levanto tu falda me darías el derecho A medir tu sensatez Poner en juego tu cuerpo Si te parece prudente esta propuesta indecente

He let go of her hand that was over his shoulder and Levy pulled it back sliding it over the back of his neck and over his other shoulder, leaving a tingling sensation in Gajeel's skin where her hand had just been. Then, he used his hand that was on her lower back to twist her around pulling her back to him with a little more force than intended to. She placed her free hand over his chest to steady herself and then they continued dancing to the sound of the music.

They didn't notice that more and more people were looking at them and creating more space for them to dance on the dance floor.

"Yer not bad at this, Shorty" Gajeel started a conversation to distract his mind from the tingling sensation every one of her touches left in his body. God! She felt so good in his arms and every curve of her body seemed to fit perfectly in every dip of his. But the most marvelous thing about this girl were her eyes. Two hazel pools seemed to absorb all the light surrounding them, leaving Gajeel completely blind and befuddled with just a quick glance into them. He began to feel like he was falling for her very quickly, but that was just messed up, wasn't it? He just met her and barely knew anything about her. But something deep inside him was telling him not to let go of her.

"You're not a bad teacher either" Levy complimented. She was so dazzled by the way this man treated her that she just gave up in trying to control the way her heart fluttered when he touched her. The gentleness with which he held her had captured her heart and she soon realized she was falling for him, and falling hard. This was all so new for her; sure, Levy had been attracted to other guys in the past, but not with the intensity she felt towards Gajeel. She couldn't help but crave for more of his touches and she started to wonder whether his lips would be soft if she dared to kiss him.

The music switched to a more smoother tone within the same song and now both Gajeel and Levy started to sing.

How about you and I

Me and you

Bailamos bachata

He pushed her away at arm's length again and pulled one of his arms over her, twirling her in a half-turn and pulling her closer to him again.

Y luego

You and I

Me and you

Terminamos en la cama… Que rico…

Gajeel had his arms on Levy's waist, holding her hands in his. Her arms were crossed over her abdomen and her back was pressed against Gajeel's broad chest. He placed his head over her left shoulder and she kept her gaze fixed on his face. They kept singing while dancing from left to right, swaying their hips in perfect synchrony.

How about you and I,

Me and you

Bailamos bachata

Ayy bailamos bachata…

More and more couples in the dance floor stopped their dancing to look at them. It wasn't that they were dancing spectacularly, but the attraction that could be felt in the atmosphere surrounding them was just so entrancing that their spectators couldn't help but stare at them.

Y luego

You and I

Me and you

Terminamos en la cama… Terminamos en la cama...

Gajeel brought his nose and mouth closer to Levy's exposed shoulder, hovering just inches over her white skin. Her smell was amazing and he took his time to engrave it into his memory. He closed his eyes enjoying her scent and letting himself be surrounded by it.

At the same time, Levy felt a shiver travelled all the way down through her body when Gajeel's hot breath brushed against her skin. She closed her eyes as well, letting herself get lost in the pleasure this man was giving her with just the minimum touch. She instinctively arched her head to the other side to let Gajeel's breath wash over every inch of skin on Levy's neck. She craved more, oh she craved for so much more and the fact that she could still be standing and dancing when she felt so weak on her knees was beyond Levy's comprehension.

The pace of the music started to pick up and so did their movements.

How about it you and I… You and I….

Me and you… Me and you…

You and I… You and I…

Me and you… You…

You and I… You and I…

Me and you

Me and you… Youuu…

With one last sway to the right, Gajeel pulled Levy's hands over her head and turned her around to face him. Without letting go of her hands, he pulled her closer to him and placed her hands behind his head, releasing them slowly to the music's rhythm. She picked up from there and while locking her eyes to his, she slided her hands from the back of his neck down to his shoulders and then to his chest. The movement was slow and sexy and Gajeel used all his willpower not to moan at her caresses. Still, he couldn't help how the hairs in his arms bristled by the excitement this woman was causing in him and he forced himself to place his hands on her waist, even when he wanted to touch her in other places that wouldn't seem appropriate in public.

The music started to subside with the end of the song and Gajeel took hold of Levy's hands one last time and twirled her around. At the last note of the music, he leaned to his side, holding Levy's back with one hand and her right hand with his left one. Levy followed the movement and leaned back letting Gajeel hold her weight with the hand he had on her back. With this position, their faces came closer and closer that his breath was ghosting over hers. If she pushed up the slightest, their lips would meet in the such anticipated kiss. Both of them had their eyes half-lidded and seemed to be in a trance where nothing else existed but them.

They were brought out of their stupor by a loud cheer and catcalls from the people around them. Gajeel and Levy jumped up at the noise and took one step away from the other, blushing profusely when they realized the position they had been just seconds ago. Their audience kept whistling and clapping at them until Gajeel exploded "OH! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

He grabbed Levy's hand and walked hastily back to their table, Levy keept up with the pace of his long strides. Both of them tried very hard to control their thundering hearts. The dance had been simple and smooth, but at the same time, it had been so intimate and passionate for both of them. Levy didn't felt like that at all when she danced with Lily, and Gajeel was sure as hell that he had never felt that way when he had danced with other women in the past. It had been something special, unique, and even when both of them were stubborn, they weren't that stubborn to try to ignore the spark that ignited between them during their dance.

When they returned to the table, Cana was complaining to Lily about something 'not being fair' and that 'they had been this close'. Then she ordered a round of shots for everyone and no one asked anything further.

Levy sat down beside Cana and Gajeel returned to his seat at Lily's right. Both of them tried to look past the embarrassment they felt after their dance, but they found themselves locking their gazes time and time again, which Lily and Cana found to be very amusing.

"Natsu! Be careful! That's my purse!" Lucy shouted at the pink haired guy that was way too excited about the bonfire they just lighted up at the beach.

After they had dance and drink for a couple of hours, the group decided to head out to the beach that was behind Cana's house. Who would have thought that Cana lived in one of the most expensive parts of the city and owned a house with a private beach as the backyard? It was now 4 in the morning and they were seated around the small bonfire, telling jokes and funny stories about everything and anything.

Cana had been nice enough to lend the girls a change of clothes, so now Lucy, Juvia and Levy wore short shorts and plain t-shirts instead of their night dresses, which had been put away in Cana's room along with the girl's shoes. The boys decided to leave their shoes and pants in the house as well, so now Gray, Natsu, Lily and Gajeel were only in their shirts and boxers. They were all sitting comfortable around the bonfire on a couple of beach towels that Cana lent to them.

"Hey Gray! Betcha can't beat me in a race to the water!" Natsu yelled and started to sprint towards the ocean.

"You Flame Brain idiot! As if you could win against me!" Gray also took off quickly, running at high speed after Natsu.

"Gray-sama~! I'll follow you to the end of the world! Nothing will keep us apart my true love!" Juvia exclaimed and took off as well, skipping happily after his loved one.

"Natsu! That's my phone you have in your hand! Give it back you idiot! If you ruin it, you're going to pay for a new one, you hear me?!" Lucy yelled after the pink haired man and ran after him to retrieve her cellphone.

"I'll make sure no one drowns down. That would just ruin our night. Care to join me Cana?" Lily stood up and brushed off the sand from his boxers and extended his hand to Cana.

"Ha! Wouldn't miss the beating Lucy is about to give to Natsu" Cana took Lily's hand and stood up, holding closely one bottle of whiskey. Together, they walked up to the shore calmly, making fun of the four persons that were already knee-deep into the water.

Levy noticed then that she had been left alone with Gajeel, which she didn't minded at all but she soon felt a little awkward since her mind seemed to be blank at trying to find one simple topic for conversation with the man. They were silently watching the embers of the fire and Levy noticed that it wasn't an uncomfortable silence at all. Somehow, she enjoyed the Gajeel's company, even when they didn't have anything to talk about.

"Ya know they did this on purpose right?" Gajeel broke the silence and Levy looked at him questioningly. "Ya don't have to stay here with me if ya don't wanna" he looked away shyly.

"I like your company Gajeel" she replied honestly and he almost got whiplashed from turning his head so fast to look at her.

"R-Really? Well, that's a first…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly "The only ones that put up with me are Lil' and Drunkard, and I'm pretty sure there must be something wrong with them"

She giggled "That's not true. You seem to get along fine with Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Juvia as well. And even when each of them has their perks, they can't be all crazy, right?" As if on cue, some loud yells were heard from the water and Levy somehow deciphered them.

'Natsu! Give me back my t-shirt! And my bra!'

'Try to catch me, Luce!'

'Gray! Put on your boxers!'

'When did that happened?!'

'Gray-sama~!'

'Haha! Ya owe me a six-pack Lil'. Told ya he'd end up naked before sunrise!'

Levy and Gajeel sweatdropped at their friends' antics. He cleared his throat before continuing with the conversation "Well, I know them just for a couple of days back. Bet they wouldn't stand me for a week"

"I wouldn't mind spending a week with you" Levy paused when she realized she had said that out loud, clear enough for the pierced man to hear her. She blushed intensely and burrowed her face in her hands when Gajeel laughed loudly at her slip of tongue.

"Gihi! Geez, ya don't have to throw yerself at me, Shrimp!" he smirked and laughed again.

"Stupid Gajeel!" she huffed but couldn't stay mad at him for long. His laugh was very unique and it somehow eased down all the embarrassment and anger within Levy.

Gajeel finally calmed down and swiped away an imaginary tear from his eye. "How long have you known Lily and Cana?" she inquired.

"Hmm. I'd known Lil' since I can remember. He had been there for me at every rough time in my life and I couldn't be more grateful for that. About 4 years ago, before he went to flight school and I went to college, we went on a road trip and one of our stops was here, Cancun. That's when we met Drunkard. After that, we have come here once a year to catch up with her" Gajeel smiled at the memory.

"That's nice. It's so good that you have such good friends" she admired the way the light from the bonfire reflected on Gajeel's face and made his piercings shine in the night.

"How about ya? Don't tell me ya came to Cancun all by yerself?"

"Hehe, funny story. I came here with my friends but it ended up being not as I expected it to be" she sighed "That's what happens when you make plans with people you know for barely six months"

"Hey, ya just met all of us tonight and I'm sure ya had fun, right? Ya just got bad luck with yer friends"

Levy smiled at Gajeel "You're right. Thanks" Another comfortable silence passed between both of them.

"And what about yer boyfriend?" Gajeel asked without looking at her

"Huh?"

"Ya know, why didn't ya came here with him?"

"Are you asking me if I have a boyfriend?"

"N-No…J-Just trying to make conversation, that's all" Levy didn't missed the nervousness in his voice but decided to not push it.

"Well, I don't have a boyfriend"

"Good… I-I mean…" he started to sweat from embarrassment. "S-So, would it be okay if I treat ya to lunch? Maybe tomorrow?" he gulped in anticipation at her answer.

Levy stared wide-eyed at him "You're asking me out? Like, out out? Like, out on a date?"

"It doesn't have to be a date if ya don't want to. Besides, yer the one who said ya wouldn't mind spending a week with me" he smirked at her trying to cover up his eagerness to know her answer.

Levy blushed again and cleared her throat before answering him "Sure. I'll love to go out on a date with you" she smiled brightly at him.

"Really?! I-I mean, cool! Then it's set!" he smiled at her as well and soon they looked like two beautiful dorks in love just staring and smiling at each other.

They kept chatting about their lives. She told him about her dream of owning a bookstore and he told her about him wanting to open up his own mechanic workshop. She told him about the day her parents died and he told her how his father raised him all by himself. He told her that one time when he was little he ate a nail, and she confessed to him that the scar on her forehead was caused by a heavy book that landed on her head.

They talked and talked about deep stuff and about everyday shenanigans. Eventually, they laid down on the sand and soon found themselves deep asleep cuddling with each other. The rest of the group made it back from the water after they fell asleep and decided to leave them right there, while they made it back inside Cana's house. Lily snuck out of the house and covered the couple with a blanket before going back inside.

With the first rays of sun hitting her in the face, Levy stirred up from her sleep state and opened up her eyes slowly, just to find herself looking straight into Gajeel's face. He was still asleep and had his arms wrapped around Levy's waist and his legs entangled with hers.

She couldn't hold in the smile that surfaced in her face at remembering everything that happened the night before, everything from their dance to their late-night conversation. With every second that she had spent with this man, Levy found herself falling more in love with him. She gave up on trying to convince herself that his wasn't love and that she was fooling herself for thinking like that, because no one had swept Levy off her feet like Gajeel had in just one night without even trying. If that wasn't love, then Levy had no idea what was it.

She used this moment to appreciate the soft expression in Gajeel's face. He seemed so peaceful at that moment that she couldn't believe this was a man that wore a scowl in his face most of the time. The piercings on his face glinted with the light of the sun and she started to trace each one of them with her index and middle finger.

He stirred in his sleep at her ministrations and soon his eyes blinked slowly, getting rid of the drowsiness. He smiled down at her and locked his gaze with hers. "Morning, Shrimp"

"Morning, Gajeel" she beamed at him and then pushed herself up to a sitting position. He followed her and they stretched their arms and backs getting rid of the stiffness in their muscles.

"Guess the idiots left us out here on our own" Gajeel grunted while folding the blanket.

"Probably" she giggled.

"Come on, Shorty. I'll walk ya to yer hotel. Yer friends are probably wondering where the hell have you been all night" He stood up and held a hand out to her.

"Oh, God! You're totally right! Thanks" she took his hand and stood up as well.

They went inside Cana's house to leave the blanket in the living room and for Levy and Gajeel to grab their clothes before heading out to Levy's hotel. They enjoyed their stroll and kept conversing about anything that came to mind. When they arrived at her hotel, she gave Gajeel her phone number and waved goodbye to him. Before she was out of reach, he pulled her close to him and kissed her on her right cheek.

"That's how we say goodbye here in Mexico" he smirked at her flustered expression but sooner than expected she recovered and she placed one kiss on his cheek as well. Now was Gajeel's turn to blush and she took the opportunity to escape into the building, making her way up to her room.

Before entering the room, she checked her cellphone and indeed found that there were several missed calls and text messages from her friends. She sighed, resigned to be yell at for her recklessness.

She opened the door slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not alert her friends of her arrival, but it was pointless. Once she entered the room, she noticed her three friends standing in the middle of it with angry expressions.

"Hey, girls" she waved at them but it just helped to increase their fury.

"Where were you, Levy!?"

"We were worry sick about you, you know!"

"Why didn't you pick up your cellphone!?"

Levy sat down on the edge of her bed with her friends around her scolding her for going out last night alone and returning home until the early morning. Levy apologized to them and tried to look remorseful about her decision, but deep inside Levy was smiling widely. It had been the best night of her life and if she could, she would do it again.

At that moment, her phone buzzed and she looked at it to see who had send her a message. Her smile appeared on her face when she read it.

Hey :) It's Gajeel

Well, maybe she could repeat what happened last night. She had a whole week ahead of her and she had a date with a sexy, pierced, red-eye, black haired man who couldn't wait even an hour to text her. It would be cruel to make him wait for a reply.

Hi ;)

Oh, yes. Last night couldn't have gone any better and this vacations were just getting started.

AUTHOR NOTES

That's it! I swear that this took me longer that expected but I managed to upload it in time to participate in the warm-up for Gajevy week. Sorry there is no kissing scene (I wanted to write that down but this was going to end up being a 10k fic if I did that; maybe when I find the time I'll come back here and add that scene)

I really loved the brotp between Cana and Levy (Cana is just too fun to write!) And the dance scene between Levy and Gajeel got me so worked up! O/O I know it's silly but I'm Mexican and for us is like a huge turn on to feel that spark when you're dancing sexy latin music with a sexy boy.

I feel like I slacked a little bit at the end of the story, but it was past 2 in the morning and I had work the next day. Sorry for that hehe.

Thanks for reading and I'll appreciate any review you want to leave me!

WTF (Where'sTheFood)

#gajevyweek17 #levy mcgarden #gajeel redfox #au #mexican!Gajeel #bachata #gajevyweek #where's the food fanfiction

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italian-sides · 5 years ago

Text

“Ombre e Bastoni”, ch. 1

Hello everyone! Today I’m back with a fanfic written by the amazing and wonderful @misslilidelaney almost over a year and half ago?, which i tried to translate in English, while at the same time keeping some key Italian words in it. A huge thank you goes also to @watcher-from-the-heights for being my extraordinary beta all the freaking time. I also @ts-italian-gang because they’re all great people and i hope they’ll enjoy this too! There will be some translations at the end of the fic, but please lemme know if you don’t understand something, I’ll gladly answer your questions! Well, enjoy! Pairing: Deceit Sanders x Emile Picani; implied!Logicality

TW: the italian version of a swear word, mentions of alcohol, and non-consensual staring at body parts (?) Whenever Emilio Picani walked into the Dolce&Remi, all heads turned. Maybe it was his everlasting teenager vibe despite having been in his thirties for some time. Maybe it was the way his light brown hair brushed the frame of his glasses. Maybe it was the bright burst of joy that radiated with every step he took. Or maybe, simply, because he was excruciatingly hot. Everyone, in the clique of Remo Stella's friends, including himself, got a more or less significant crush on the psychologist. His brother Romolo was the first to flirt with him in a rather shameless way, getting knocked down with a feather when the handsome Picani delicately declined his offer. Luca looked at Emilio's eyes - and maybe also at his ass - for a long time in a dreamy way, before placing his own pair of eyes on those surrounded by ephelids belonging to Emilio's cousin, Patrizio, and realizing that those were the eyes he wanted to look at forever. Virgilio never said anything about it, but Remo was quite convinced that his choice to enroll in Psychology at university was not entirely accidental. On his hand, Remo limited himself to get over his crush when he learned that Emilio was looking for someone to share rent with, and decided to offer one of the rooms in his apartment to house the psychologist, at least until he found another arrangement - which didn't happen, not even three years later. While living with him, Remo understood that Emilio was as adorable as he was terribly distracted and messy, and he took him more as a clumsy older brother than a possible companion. And there was the closet situation, of course. Despite hanging out with the most queer souls of Bologna, Emilio never did a coming out of any kind, so in reality only Patrizio could probably know if he spent time with them only because they were interesting lost causes or because, in the end, he was also part of the closet too. Not that it mattered, anyway, because when Patrizio brought the psychologist, who had just moved from Verona, to the bar for the first time, the whole company "adopted" him almost automatically, either because of the Cool Cousin Effect™ or because, in the end, Emilio was a truly exquisite person, who managed to impress everyone. Well, almost everyone. If there was a person who couldn't stand the psychologist, it was undoubtedly Remo's dishwasher-handyman, Giuda Schiavon. After moving from what he called "la terra dei mussatti" [1], that is Venice and his mosquitoes, to study at the University of Bologna, he gave up on it during the second semester of his third year, finding various little jobs before landing at Dolce&Remì and being accepted by Remo and Tommaso. Remo doubted that he really had the chance to have all those work experiences, but Tommaso liked the commitment that Giuda put into doing things, so the owner of the bar agreed to keep him. Giuda appeared like a good person, even if everyone seemed to have noticed that he loved to exaggerate things, especially regarding his past in Venice, and Virgilio once sentenced, sipping his coffee: "He tells things as if they were true.", something everyone nodded to. But if Giuda was good at hiding his emotions behind layers and layers of nonsense, it was clear as the sun that he, unlike everyone else, couldn't suffer Emilio. As soon as the young man got into the bar, or showed up for the clique's nights out, Giuda had always, and invariably, something to do. When they were out, he would get a text that forced him to go elsewhere; when he was at work, suddenly he had to go and do something in the kitchen.Emilio tried several times to speak with him, but Giuda always cut him short in a bad way. Remo found it irritating, but Emilio didn't say much at home about it, and Giuda eventually continued to do his job well. Lately, he made up his mind that the bar's wine list was not interesting enough, and started suggesting typical wines from the Veneto region, which Tommaso decided to try, and that everyone seemed to like. Paradoxically, the happiest of them all was Emilio himself, whom Remo knew was a wine lover: "Really, I would have expected everything, except that here in Bologna I would have drunk such a good Millesimato di Conegliano [2]! Guys, really, I love Emilian wines but here you're really spoiling me. Last week's Garda Chardonnay [2] was divine!" Tommaso gloated and indicated the kitchen boy struggling with a tray full of glasses: "You must thank Giuda, Emi. He's the one who's coming up with Veneto wines." Emilio darkened for a moment, looking down at his feet. Remo didn't even have the time to comment that the veronese came out with a ringing: "Thanks for the wine, Giuda!", which followed up with a disaster that definitely opened the bartender's eyes. "GHESBORO!” [3], the Venetian shouted, while the tray flew out of his hand, shattering the six glasses on it. With his face flushed from... anger?, he turned to Emilio and hissed, mordant: "You're welcome." before leaving for the umpteenth time in search of the broom. The veronese darkened further, and Patrizio put a hand on his back, without saying anything, while the hamsters in Remo's brain slowly started to move. With an agile bounce, he passed the massacre of glasses and reached Giuda in the broom's closet, where he was about to say something before hearing him speak: "Ma ghesboro. [3] That's not possible! Right in front of him!" the young man was saying with bitterness, while putting on his yellow dishwashing gloves to be able to collect the glasses without hurting himself. And it was at that moment that the hamsters in Remo's head understood how to run on the wheel. All the distancings, all the tension, his always getting away but remaining within reach of conversation. Giuda asked the boys to bring more Veneto wines because Emilio often said that he would have wanted to be a sommelier, if he hadn't become a psychologist. Giuda knew it. Giuda always listened. And as they looked each other in the eyes, Remo visibly shocked and Giuda flushed with embarrassment, the roman finally understood. Giuda had a terrible crush on Emilio. [1] transl: "the land of mussatti", in which "mussatti" is the venetian dialect term for "mosquitos" [2]: they're two famous Veneto wines [3]: according to the Urban Dictonary, "Venetian slang meaning literally "I ejaculate on it", an expression of anger or surprise. Expression of very common use." So... did you like it?! I really hope you did, because there will be other chapters later on and I can’t wait to share them with you all! See ya around, ciao! <3

Ciao a tutti! Oggi torno con una fanfiction scritta dalla fantastica e meravigliosa @misslilidelaney, ormai un anno fa, circa?, che ho cercato di tradurre il più possibile in inglese, pur mantenendo qualche parola in italiano. Spero vi piaccia! Quando Emilio Picani entrava al Dolce&Remì, tutte le teste si giravano. Forse era la sua aria da perenne ragazzino nonostante avesse da un pezzo raggiunto i trent'anni. Forse era per come i capelli castano chiaro sfioravano la montatura degli occhiali. Forse era l'aria di gioia che irradiava luminosa ad ogni suo passo. O forse perché, semplicemente, era un figo atroce. Tutti, nella compagnia degli amici di Remo Stella, lui incluso, si erano presi una cotta più o meno pesante per lo psicologo. Suo fratello Romolo era stato il primo a provarci in maniera abbastanza spudorata, rimanendoci di sasso quando il bel Picani aveva declinato con tatto la sua offerta. Luca aveva guardato per un bel pezzo gli occhi - e un po' anche il culo - di Emilio con fare sognante, prima di posare i propri su quelli contornati di efelidi del cugino Patrizio, e rendersi conto che erano quelli, gli occhi che avrebbe voluto guardare per sempre. Virgilio non aveva mai detto nulla a riguardo, ma Remo era abbastanza convinto che la sua scelta di iscriversi a Psicologia non fosse del tutto casuale. Dal canto suo, Remo si era limitato a farsi passare la cotta quando aveva saputo che Emilio cercava qualcuno con cui dividere l'affitto, e aveva deciso di offrire una delle stanze del suo appartamento per ospitare lo psicologo, almeno fino a quando non avrebbe trovato un'altra sistemazione - cosa che, a distanza di tre anni, ancora non era successa. Vivendo assieme a lui aveva capito che era adorabile quanto incasinato e tremendamente distratto, e Remo lo aveva preso più come un maldestro fratello maggiore, che per un possibile compagno. E c'era la situazione Armadio, ovviamente. Nonostante girasse con le anime più gay della città, Emilio non aveva fatto nessun genere di coming out, quindi in realtà solo Patrizio poteva, probabilmente, sapere se girasse con loro solo perché erano degli interessanti casi umani o perché alla fine faceva anche lui parte della Parrocchia. Non che agli altri interessasse; infatti quando Patrizio aveva portato nel bar per la prima volta lo psicologo, appena trasferitosi da Verona, tutta la compagnia lo aveva "adottato" quasi in automatico, vuoi per l'effetto Cugino Figo™ o perché alla fine, Emilio era una persona davvero squisita, che faceva colpo su chiunque. O quasi. Se c'era una persona che invece non riusciva a sopportare lo psicologo, quello era indubbiamente il lavapiatti-tuttofare di Remo, Giuda Schiavon. Trasferitosi da quella che lui chiamava "La terra dei Mussatti", ovvero Venezia e le sue zanzare, per studiare all'università di Bologna ma si era arreso ed aveva mollato al secondo giro di terzo anno, trovandosi vari lavoretti prima di approdare al Dolce&Remì e venir accolto da Remo e Tommaso. Remo dubitava che avesse davvero avuto modo di avere tutte quelle esperienze lavorative, ma a Tommaso piaceva l'impegno che Giuda metteva nel fare le cose, quindi il titolare del bar aveva acconsentito a tenerlo. Giuda sembrava una brava persona, anche se un po' tutti sembravano aver notato che amava ingigantire le cose, specialmente per quanto riguardava il suo passato a Venezia, e Virgilio una volta aveva sentenziato, sorseggiando il suo caffè: "Le racconta che le par vere.", cosa a cui tutti avevano annuito. Ma se Giuda era bravo a nascondere le sue emozioni dietro strati e strati di baggianate, era chiaro come il sole che lui, al contrario di tutti, Emilio non lo poteva soffrire. Non appena il giovane uomo entrava nel bar, o si presentava alle loro serate fuori, Giuda aveva sempre, invariabilmente, qualcosa da fare. Quando erano fuori, gli arrivava un messaggio che lo costringeva ad andare altrove; quando era a lavoro, improvvisamente doveva andare a fare qualcosa in cucina. Emilio aveva più volte cercato di parlare con lui, ma Giuda tagliava sempre corto in malo modo. Remo trovava la cosa irritante, ma Emilio non diceva molto a casa a riguardo, e Giuda alla fine continuava a fare bene il suo lavoro. Ultimamente, si era messo in testa che la carta dei vini del bar non fosse abbastanza interessante, ed aveva iniziato a proporre vini tipici del Veneto, cosa che Tommaso aveva deciso di provare, e sembravano piacere a tutti. Paradossalmente, il più contento di tutti era proprio Emilio, che Remo sapeva essere un appassionato di vini. "Davvero, tutto mi sarei aspettato, tranne che qui a Bologna avrei bevuto un Millesimato di Conegliano così buono! Ragazzi, veramente, amo i vini emiliani ma qui mi state veramente viziando. La settimana scorsa avete messo il Garda Chardonnay che era divino!" Tommaso aveva gongolato ed indicato il lavapiatti, alle prese con un vassoio pieno di bicchieri.

"Devi ringraziare Giuda, Emi. È lui che sta proponendo vini veneti." Emilio si era rabbuiato per un attimo, abbassando lo sguardo. Remo non aveva nemmeno fatto in tempo a commentare che il veronese se n'era uscito con uno squillante: "Grazie per il vino, Giuda!" che aveva dato seguito ad un disastro che aveva aperto definitivamente gli occhi del barista. "GHESBORO!" Aveva gridato il veneziano, mentre il vassoio gli era volato di mano, facendo frantumare i sei bicchieri presenti. Rosso in viso per la... rabbia? si era girato verso Emilio ed aveva sibilato, caustico: "Prego." prima di andarsene per l'ennesima volta alla ricerca della scopa. Il veronese si era rabbuiato ulteriormente, e Patrizio gli aveva messo una mano sulla schiena, senza dire niente, mentre i criceti nel cervello di Remo avevano, lentamente, iniziato a muoversi. Con uno scatto agile, aveva superato la strage di bicchieri e raggiunto Giuda nello stanzino delle scope, dove stava per dirgli qualcosa prima di sentirlo parlare. "Ma ghesboro. Ma non è possibile. Davanti a lui." stava dicendo con amarezza il giovane mentre si metteva i guanti da piatti gialli per poter raccogliere i vetri senza farsi male. Ed era in quel momento che i criceti nella testa di Remo avevano capito come si correva sulla ruota. Tutti gli allontanamenti, tutta la tensione, il suo allontanarsi sempre però restando a portata di conversazione. Giuda aveva chiesto ai ragazzi di portare più vini veneti perché Emilio aveva detto spesso che avrebbe voluto fare il sommelier, se non fosse diventato psicologo. Giuda lo sapeva. Giuda ascoltava sempre. E mentre si guardavano negli occhi, Remo sconvolto e Giuda rosso di imbarazzo, il romano aveva finalmente capito. Giuda aveva una tremenda cotta per Emilio.

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