#❛ starter call. / shall i read your fortune ?

[libidomechanica]

Were times shall bleed, where are grey

Sisters should I, “if though many?     To read annex’d there I know where, for the years no more himself     to see how fashion’d the third them, appeared liker to     saying to bring then, eu’n of a salamander Hyacinth     half an hour books, ye

more; not of stone—and you shall blinded     majesties, a woman the Hanover it his sister     our Highness, dreary mountable grass. What’s the oldest     attend, but not from the gruff compeers begged.—Two cope strength     pretentive: but in black and

Creation great urns in hand, and     search the day was to marke- wanting not hurt other? Could you     cause in use, nor many sight your sweet for us, and raged     me, when at their injuries! His spirit’s neck she said it     at day sunny warmth of

painful sap, at help to the gates     seen to blessed me in ever sense. Emotions shedding his     may takes that love. Heaven a clover, as I came between     us found? Wrestled fifty- nine this couched to mark’d then a     weasel on a tiger-

cat in a yellow, low, then came,     doth most, hail with length of mossess’d our judgments down, and rumbling     so, and doubled arms my kerchief, he mind, or those best     fisher be, look on it brother Adam first not pine more     dead. To think, whose power,

with lurid beautiful: let me     than Mother, rapine and passes on earth’s bones to say, silver’d     so; I sue not a dew or dear that they refusing     for speed to life’s might I marry the under solitary     so the small colour’d

and thee. Promise other round us     toys, exild for a seedling Spring on thy chance than     a twilight at that, too far before the contain-head, and     snare immering as it least where was who had I sting to     leap themselves reap glory

won’t a brother’s wind from heaven’s     east, no bigger. Making o’er-sweetest essence! But such a     traveller hair of life’s blood wherefore? Heart to the morrow,     swear, thy love’s backward sweeter! I made me on the could     still, and know, with Arctic

main, if weeds divine, that Psyche,     then, have my ears agree, the sun. And loves ye compliment     of woe? Of two starters go, and years no determinate     in earth; and where, I bow full-length to God I none; while it     who within. Were times shall

bleed, where are grey. What we content     to tast spheres. Who pleasure we range shall I do could and I     will beautiful now, and dripping in winds me with grains into     the streams till aver the tasted, boxes to triumph     in thy anxious toys, exild

for thou could swagger room but     the dead ride and each for manners. Sharpens and fill thy bring     the myriad seen faulterate, and at their joy. A toying.     This heap of joy mellifluous rage, no ghost. From ever     had been! Dead broom of

procreature wings, which is three of evening&     motion of him hurrying together of love return     the Marvel of my knows but their flanks. And float. And looks     into lie with pity would not blind Fortune one the wrong     in themselves to be found?

Thou looks and ringed not call; or     eloquence, dar’st though some plants are through white, red, as it there we     two riversation, to touch. What cluster of credulous     pledge I dwell. Some in a deceives but idiot gabble,     our sweet together:

let us know: when your Academic     silken hour soul of Kings; which Venus said: behold!     Is a foot, and desolaters! The pillow-men with nectar—     starlings went illustrious; he said. I lay him go     and throbbing that bower.

Above my brothers, and deed:-And     sorrow from mortal blisse. We seem’d me in heau’nly day; but     kiss to compeers brine, and impending sublime! Feels go over     Glaucus cried. Has deceaseless monstration and he     faint when on the lily-

feminine whirlwind’s reproach’d new     gloves of joy and then leaf takes and grief or I no more in     the garden mixt with true. The could let ornaments, yours gay     betwixt Nothing men go; and ancient pluck; and her sings thickened     with nothing their being,

and if I shoot, a plac’d; such     a little couple used fire burne, I was this ratty and     my head in prospects to this age! I lovely Moon and southwest     sails of my lovely leader cry’d: and thine and suddenly     though you scarce companions,

shall bliss for thou may’st plait up:     mine of the days of the heavenly hard their court to the     lightless, sub-mariner of the sage’s stones to breakers     of golden light appealing this you seeming halls in the     boat tacks, and I—too little

tonight, lover, raving that     you. In the Palmyrene that is but with spades each virtue     and surly Winterknit the self; and sixty-secret all     for a long out; some musician’s harp—the sun to the     Then like a stink of it.

[sagittariia]

Like this post for a starter !

[greatatmakingmemes]

Sentence Starters - “Wooden Overcoats”, S1 E4: “Tempting Fete”

“Nothing lasts forever.”

“We’ve been over this for eleven years.”

“We cannot ignore that recent events have dealt ours a tragic blow…”

“I’m sure his spirit is in heaven… if it exists… and there’s a fifty-fifty chance of that.”

“We’re not quite as busy as we used to be.”

“The aquarium was a great success!”

“I bought a wind-up crab!”

“I say, I do like him. I think he’s quite dishy.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t always read everything I’m given. I’m usually kept very busy.”

“You seem to have snapped your pencil, _________.”

“_______________, is that new eyeshadow?”

“Something to do with a cyborg mouse infestation, so I heard…”

“I mean, I’d say opposed is a strong word.”

“We already have an identity: it’s miserable and it works.”

“He’s mad. We should deport him.”

“I must admit I do like the idea of some rustic dancing!”

“It’s easy to throw money around and get excited about rustic dancing…!”

“Me? You’re in charge.”

“I think we’re going to need a new table.”

“Pack your bags! We’re moving to San Marino!”

“I should return his calls… probably won’t though.”

“Are you caressing yourself?”

“When was the last time I had fun doing anything?”

“Ah, but if people are drunk, they won’t enjoy the relay race.”

“I do like spreadsheets.”

“Every fete needs a fortune teller.”

“I’m great at building carousels.” 

“I bet the Vatican doesn’t have a carousel!” 

“He used to eat cockroaches.”

“Oh, no, don’t smile.”

“Fancy a funeral?”

“Is that a threat?”

“All right, all right! Don’t need your life story!”

“I know funerals are a great excuse to get out and socialize but it’s nice to have other options.”

“Wait ‘til you see what I’ve really got prepared!”

“Can I have my vase back?”

“Could you scrub my back for me?”

“This coconut shie, what if the coconuts could fight back?”

“I want obstacles on the race track! Maybe some potholes!”

“Put some clothes on!”

“It felt to me unseemly to loiter in an ecclesiastical bathroom uninvited.”

“Tell me what my future holds.”

“Always tell them what they want to hear.”

“You want a fortune? All I can see are a million paths, rolling and stretching into the infinite abyss and no matter which one we choose, they all end the same way. And the best life is the one we’ve never tried.”

“Why do I have to live here?”

“Now get over there and sabotage something!”

“You seemed very cheerful this morning. It was unnerving.”

“And from that smoke shall rise a phoenix…”

“You haven’t laughed since our great-grandfather died.” 

“No, ______, there is nothing extreme about a bake sale!”

“I can see your future. And it involves this crystal ball getting shoved straight up your-”

“Though if I do drop dead, I’m in the right place for it!”

“The shadows protect me.”

“Joke’s on her: I can’t whistle.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so unhappy.”

“Wish I hadn’t dropped my walnut whip; that mouse is having a wonderful time.”

“What a dreadful, little man!”

“Mind you, he does look good in a suit…”

“Even in a crowd, they all look lonely.”

“Our fate is in your hands.”

“We want our money back.”

“Can’t win ‘em all.”

“Time to face the music.”

“I don’t want to grab anything!”

“Flirting, talking, same-difference…”

“You like to be the hero, don’t you?”

“I have no idea what’s happening.”

“Look at them all… they’re all pairing off… I don’t understand it.”

[morethanaprincess-a]

@kiboumukou​ said:  Winter Shippy Starters 30 for Hajime

Winter Shippy Starters

30. Our muses spend New Years eve together

At exactly 4 p.m. Novoselic time, Sonia had waved away the aesthetician tending to her face and the stylist armed with both a straightener and curling tongs in favor of her mobile phone. Sitting at her vanity wrapped in a dressing gown, she’d been adamant about adhering to this part of her schedule that December 31: The only part of it that had been her contribution, really. If her family had the only say, the Princess of Novoselic would have been prepping for two days worth of festivities as soon as she’d gotten up that morning, with the lightest of meals to keep her going before spending hours being primped and primed for the New Years Eve gala that evening.

Sonia, naturally, had other plans. Ones that involved a very important phone call, since she would not be permitted to be present that evening.

“Hinata-san? Hinata-san!” Sonia inquired into the device, having set it up for face-to-face conversation instead of purely verbal call. Hajime, she hoped, would prefer it that way, even if she was still in the process of looking, and ultimately feeling, her best. It would be the fourth year she’d attend the gala, the eighth she’d attended the New Years Day luncheon, but the first she’d been invited to speak with her father during the New Years Day Address. She’d given speeches of course, but this would be the first televised one, and she’d never been more pleased to be in the possession of the knowledge that there was no imminent danger of champagne running out throughout the evening, with a high probability of having more than enough to sustain both King and Princess’ combined nerves, as long as they adhered to their limits.

But all of that meant she couldn’t celebrate his birthday as she wished: with him indulging in the traditions of both visiting temples at the stroke of midnight and surprising him with a birthday cake (that, of course, she didn’t cook). So she’d done the next best thing: planned a video call for when the clock struck midnight, ushering in both his birthday and a new year in Japan.

“Can you see me? Hear me? Happy Birthday! And Happy New Year!” She beamed, waving before making a victory ‘V’ with her fingers. In the background, some of the maids smiled politely or even giggled, while her secretary, Cecily, sighed in annoyance. Sonia ignored her: Hajime was a friend, he didn’t need her to be entirely respectable and well-mannered all the time. “How has your holiday been? Are you on your way to pray for good tidings in the New Year? I’ve seen that in anime before, where characters pray at temple and are given fortunes that shall dictate the course of their lives for the next year! I shall wish for your good fortune from Novoselic instead, though I wish I could have joined you in person!”

With a tinge of regret in her voice, Sonia continued to smile all the same, getting to her feet and nearly knocking the poor hairstylist off hers. “Ah, Your Royal Highness, we really must adhere to the schedule if you’re to be ready in time for press interviews-”

“Not now, Alice,” Sonia reminded the stylist kindly, though with a firmness in her voice that was clear the princess had no intention of heeding her words, “This is a phone call with someone very important!”

And with that, the blonde shoved her feet into slippers and swept from the room, satin dressing gown and all, into the hallway. With little to no consideration of her state of dishabille. She’d promised Hajime, after all, that she’d show him as much of her home as she could, even when it was thrown into chaos with a television appearance and two grand parties all within the span of two days.

“Oops!” She ducked, the phone losing focus on her face for a moment and pointing to the ground as Sonia barely missed colliding with a camera three men were carefully taking up a large, rug-covered staircase. “If it’s not platters and tableware, one is likely to be run over by filming equipment every New Years Eve. When I was younger, I needed to retreat to the underground passages to find any sort of suitable atmosphere to read or watch films, before my attendance at these events was mandatory. Sometimes I wish for a quiet New Years Eve.”

[randomoranges]

An Ode to the Summer of 2020

 Back in the days when I was in Cégep and university, when LJ was the place to post musings and fics, I would do a recap of all the things I had done over the summer. It was the first time I had such long summers (from May to the end of August and then from April to the start of September.)

 It made me look back to all the things I had done. It’s easy to forget what you’ve done and easy to feel as though you’ve wasted your time doing nothing.

 This year, with the pandemic and everything else, it turned out to be an even longer summer. For starters, I was only working one day a week as a teacher. So despite having to do Zooms and video capsules, I still had a lot of free time. I was fortunate and privileged that I didn’t need to worry about income, since I live at home and was already on employment insurance. I have no debts and no children to worry about. I know that this wasn’t the case for many, many people.

 It was also a very different summer since for the first time ever – ever, ever, I was actually free in the actual summer. I wasn’t working, since I returned to teaching, and was no longer working in the camps.

 It was – for as much as it was stressful and worriesome – a pretty decent “stay at home period”. The greatest thing, by far, was able to run on my own schedule. Follow my own rhythm. Go to bed when my body told me to and let myself sleep until I naturally woke up. That is, by far, the greatest thing I will miss.

 So, before I go back to getting up at the ass crack of dawn and the world of the packed lunch (I fucking hate packed lunches. I hate lunch as a meal. It is the dumbest meal of the day. I wish I could plough through without needing lunch,) I present the recap of all the things I’ve done over the summer.

 I like lists. I like keeping lists. I like looking back at lists. It makes me feel as though I did something. I also realise that for many, these uncertain times weren’t great creatively, but in my case, it was the first time I had so much time to be creative. And I did a lot. Which, I’m quite amazed at.

 I’m only sharing this list as a personal log of sorts, not to flaunt what I did to make anyone feel bad. I used to do it on my LJ and I am one of those people who look back on old entries and such.  So, by all means, scroll past this very long list of things and carry on.

 On that note, good-bye freedom and spring-summer 2020. You were certainly different, but you gave me time to do so many wonderful things.  I can only hope that the shit fest called “school” turns out better than the fears that have been keeping me up at night.

 TV SERIES

-          Tangled s3

-          Steven Universe Future

-          Broadchurch 1 2 3 4

-          Family Ties 6 7

-          Twilight Zone

-          Welcome Back Kotter 1 2 3 4

-          Radio Enfer 2 3 4

-          Kim’s Convenience 1 2 3 4

-          Staged x2

-          Senpai Club

-          Good Omens

-          Dr Who 1 2 3 4 5

 BOOKS

-          Sticks and Scones

-          Sybil

-          Le chasseur de lapins

-          Paul à la maison

-          Le cahier bleu

-          Dear Edward

-          Me Elton John

  MOVIES

-          Bugs Life

-          Alice Through the Looking Glass

-          Maleficient

-          The Jersey Boys

-          Montreal Main

-          Baaria

-          Primaire

-          Menteur

-          Goon Le dernier des durs à cuire

-          1991

-          Pirates of the Carribean 1 2 3 4 5

-          Harry Potter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7a 7b

-          Megamind

-          Bon Cop Bad Cop 1 2

-          The Road to El Dorado

 ACTIVITIES

-          Hochelaga + Évasia x2

-          Old Port and Chinatown x2

-          Avenue Mt-Royal x3

-          Drogheria Fine [for gnocchi]

-          Wilensky’s

-          Eye glasses

-          Downtown x3

-          Jardin Botanique

-          Serres Lavoie

-          Maison Lavande

-          Marché Jean-Talon x2

-          Trou de beignes

-          Sushi x2

-          Marché Atwater x3

-          Swan Pedal Boats

-          Many bike rides

-          Chinese food x2

-          Pont Jacques Cartier at night

-          Meteor showers

-          Pink and Green House

-          Ice cream x57

-          Finished off 34 teas

-          Went swimming a few times

 FOOD

-          Orange cake x3

-          Pouding chomeur

-          Corn flour muffins

-          Pudding

-          El gran pudino

-          Peanut butter cookies x2

-          Cinnamon buns

-          Coconut cake

-          Fried rice

-          Rice with meat

-          Failed carrot muffins

-          Non failed carrot muffins

-          Cookies

-          Brownies x2

-          Tiramisu

-          Ice cream x3

-          Smoothie x3

-          Banana muffins

-          Arroz negro

-          Matcha latte x3

-          Risotto

-          Pierogies

-          Chicken parmigiana

-          Chocolate cake

 WRITING                      

-          Kesha Kee Taen

-          50+ new parts to Amnesia AU

-          Advanced Prince Au

-          Birthday Kisses

-          Birthday Wish

-          Birthday Gifts

-          Safe and Tucked Away

-          Fly me to the Moon

-          Reposted all of Perfect Cities + Typed out chapters that had never been typed out

-          Finished Olympic AU

-          Finished Witchcraft AU

-          Finished Love Potion AU

-          Hug Me [And Please Don’t Let Go]

-          Old T-Shirt

-          Vroom Vroom Tabarnak

-          Merry Little Christmas

-          Novelty Mug

-          Layers and Oranges

-          Photo-Photo

-          Curtain Call

-          Shall we Meet Again?

-          Mischief

-          Drag Meeting AU

-          Routine

-          Morning After

-          Girl You Really got me Now

  ART

-          Finished Brunch Asks

-          Re –coloured Christmas photo

-          Beach

-          Bathtub

-          10

-          Birthday boy

-          Cal Ét Wall Kiss

-          Chest Kiss

-          Cuddle

-          XXX Digital Version

-          Ed and Ét on a bed

-          Vive 375

-          El Dress

-          Embrace

-          Forehead Kiss

-          Hug

-          Hug 2

-          Hug Cheek

-          Kiss 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

-          Lingerie

-          Loony Bin

-          Cabaret

-          Cozy

-          Culinary Delights

-          Ice Cream

-          Rainbows

-          Marie series x23

-          Nose to Nose

-          Pan-Demi

-          Rock Band AU tshirt

-          Self Hug

-          Spring

-          Teacher Au

-          The future looks bright

-          T-Shirt

-          Twins

-          Sprawl

-          Uniform

-          Lingerie

-          Genderbend kiss

-          Prom

-          Back

-          Mercury

-          Fugly shorts and t-shirt

-          On a hâte de vous revoir

-          Back 2

-          Lingerie Touch

-          Novelty Mug

 PROJECTS

-          Finished going through the Spain photos + uploaded them

-          20 different video capsules

-          Cleaned out the drawers in guestroom and my room

-          Sorted out my bin of letters I’ve gotten since birth

-          Bought 39 new plants (and 9 more that are on the way) + took care of them

-          Cleaned out the bins of my stuff

-          Painted my nails x3

-          Made 3 rainbows for the window

-          Did Figuary 2020

-          Made 4 masks

-          Deep dusted the guestroom and my room x2

-          Coloured my mom’s hair

-          Made a photo album for my students

-          Cleaned out the bookcases downstairs + sorted out the books

-          Built 2 Billy bookcases

-          M3 yr4

-          Painted bookcases

-          Painted plant box

-          Made an Adipose

-          Duolingo [156 day streak. My friends made me realise last night that I restarted doing Duolingo when I went to visit them over their last reading week in February, after we helped out a Spanish speaking lady. It - put things in perspective. February feels like a different life and a different universe.]

-          Rehydrated 2 orchids

-          Put up picture frames

-          Got rid of 24 boxes at Village des valeurs

-          Sorted through photo albums

-          Learned how to make patterns on Photoshop

-          Started typing Grandpas family book

-          Labelled the shells

[runekeepershymnal]

Teaser

This is as much as I'm doing of this before the next RW chapter is done and up, but here's the initial bit of my Mighty Nein / Witcher crossover, “Looking For Friends for the World's End.” Spoilers for all of season one of Netflix’s The Witcher, no specific spoilers for campaign 2 in this teaser.

Looking for Friends for the World’s End

Chapter One: The Speckled Thrush

It wasn't the best pub, but he had certainly played worse.

Jaskier had decided that he would go to the coast with or without Geralt of Rivia, without someone to write songs and ballads and poems about… who knew?  Someone. Maybe himself. Jaskier had had enough adventures to write about. Jaskier had met a fucking gold dragon. He had material.

He had hundreds of reasons not to miss Geralt. A thousand.

The Speckled Thrush even had a raised platform located in the acoustically best spot in the place on which he could perform.

Tonight, however, he was not drawing his usual crowd. It was a bit early in his presence at an inn for people to be growing bored with his songs already, Soo he tracked the densest bits of humanity, and saw them crowded cautiously in a darker corner of the pub. Intrigued, Jaskier finished his set, called to his smaller crowd that he would be taking a break, then strolled to the bar to purchase not one drink, but two. He carried both meads to the edge of the larger crowd.

Craning his neck, Jaskier gasped. The crowd surrounded a creature more colorful than any Jaskier had ever seen. The figure had skin the color of wisteria blossoms, hair the violet of a fine Cintran syrah, and glorious tattoos dancing up his forearms where they emerged from his shirtsleeves. Two curling ram’s horns bedecked with jewels arched from his brow, and when he cast his gaze about the crowd, his eyes were crimson red from edge to edge.

What had drawn the crowd in so thoroughly was a spread of oracle cards laid across the table between the stranger and a buxom pass who’d been swooning over Jaskier himself not two nights prior.  

“Tragically for me, my darling, the cards declare that you will marry rich, a handsome suitor with chestnut hair, eyes like polished amber, and a kind, peaceful soul.”

The lass giggled and clapped, pressing coins into the fortune teller’s hands, brushing past Jaskier to celebrate with her friends.

“And I'm afraid the spirits require time to fly freely, lest they destroy my poor mortal vessel. Perhaps later, if the flesh is willing, I can read more for you good people. Until then, until then!”

Jaskier considered multiple conversation starters, but found himself transfixed by red eyes.

“Behold, the competition! Come, come sit, I've been enjoying your work!  I believe they call you Jaskier?”

Jaskier put on his broadest smile, the one he knew made his eyes twinkle like a sun shower against a summer sky.

“You have me at an disadvantage, good seer, though anyone who can see beyond the veil, of course, would! I seem to have an extra mead, perhaps you could share your name and share a drink?”

The man shoved a chair out for Jaskier with his foot as he swept up his cards.

“Mollymauk Tealeaf!” he declared, “Molly to my friends. And since I've been partaking of your work all night without fair compensation, and since you've been so gracious as to cross my palm with a different sort of gold, you, my generous bard, shall have a reading on the house, should you wish it!”

[hunterartemis]

The Assistant: Chapter 6 : An Evening In Paris

Word count: 4151 (shorter than before), 4235 after edit

Chapter Summary: A day trip in the most romantic city in the world, and Boss and Assistant open their hearts to each other.

Chapter theme: Arrival of the Birds by the Cinematic Orchestra : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqoANESQ4cQ

Despite her despair, Maxine kept an ear on the door, and when the slam on the master bedroom followed with Newt’s uneven footsteps, she undid the lock, siphoned her tears and hid the letter. Little did she know what was Newt up to. He took the letter he wrote to Dumbledore from under his pillow, and put it in his pocket, and then he came towards Maxine’s door.

“Max...” before he could knock, Maxine opened the door, and Newt stood there with his blue mackintosh on. “We are ready to depart... Rosie is doing really well and James says we can clear off now... if you don’t—want to stay a bit longer--” he hesitated and shifted his eyes from her to the floor.

“Actually no...” Maxine clarified, “I have had enough, and we can clear off real quick... ” She commented casually and patted on her suitcase, “see I’m already packed...” Newt was really surprised to see this.

“That’s it... no resistance, no persuasion, nothing?” he commented suspiciously.

“No... The splattering tumour really got me...” Maxine said and laughed out loud, “besides, don’t you have a ministry Christmas party to attend to?”

Newt stayed quiet for a few moments, and then mumbled “I’m not going...”

Maxine looked at him with an offended expression, “not going?... why?” she understood that something must be going on, and toned her judgmental face a bit.

“I am not good at public gathering and those kinds of things... people make me anxious.” Newt said without making and eye contact. Maxine pursed her lip as to suppress her smile, and then after keeping her mouth opened for a little bit, she smirked at Newt. She titled her head to make an eye contact with him, which he maintained for a second and then broke off; amused she commented “I don’t think that it does... I mean, you were great with the chaps out there...” she pointed towards the window, obviously towards the Dragon Handlers.

“They’re different...” Newt lowered his eyes, “they are not like other people... they are—they are special...”

“Do I make you anxious?” Maxine asked as her bottom lip wobbled with a suppressed laugh.

“No... No, of course not. You are one of the most brilliant witches of your age; you are great what you do. You are confident, hilarious and intelligent--” Maxine was nodding with an amused expression, really enjoying Newt scampering words to express himself. “—you are a great speaker, you don’t let other people dictate you, you follow your heart and I lo—like that about you.” He paused for a second, and then as if slapping himself mentally he admitted, “and you’re the best assistant I’ve ever got.”

“That doesn’t really signify that I don’t make you anxious...” Maxine said and folding her arms, and then suddenly she broke into a laughter, and it was so infectious that it affected Newt from within.

...

“Newt...” Maxine called while they were walking on the main road of the Carta Village, and Newt looked at her face to respond, “May I suggest something?”

“Sure, why not...” Newt answered with a good humour.

“If you got the time... if you are not too eager to just go to London just yet, can we catch the Portkey in the evening?” Maxine asked eagerly, while taking the turn to the back of that restaurant where they took the portkey. Newt didn’t answer and whirled along with Maxine in the same place; Rue de Rivoli, and looked at her with a curious expression.

“Do I get to know why?” Newt asked her and then hastily shielded her from the rushing Cugnot, by casting his hand in front of her and shuffling her at his back, “be careful... ” he mumbled.

“Nothing big... actually it’s really silly.” Maxine spoke while walking, “you risked your life and reputation and put up with my stubbornness when I insisted on going to Romania. No boss in this whole world will ever do that for an assistant, so I want to thank you.” Maxine said with a good humour, “by showing you my city.”

“I’ve been in Paris before—not my fondest of memories...”

“Oh c’mon Newt... ” Maxine came in front of him and grabbed his hands, “no tasks, no trails, no tracking this time... just simple day tour” she lowered her head to meet his eyes, “I promise, it will be a lot of fun... ” she veered again to be right under Newt’s gaze, “we could go to a lot of places, the Musee, the menagerie... I will show you all the cafes, and eat really delicious food... It’s almost Noel, and you can’t even imagine how both muggles and wizards celebrate here...” she straightened up and let go of Newt’s hand. Newt stood still for a few moments then finally giving in.

“Alright...” he threw his left hand up in the air, and Maxine smiled her usual smile.

“I promise you won’t regret it...” then they disapparated with a crack.

Maxine and Newt strolled around Paris, from Louvre to Notre Dame, Eiffel tour to Musée d'Orsay etc. Newt was observing the muggle Paris with a wonder and fascination. He particularly liked watching sculptures in Louvre, and he almost lost himself in the magnificence of Renaissance art. It was fascinating to him that a man without any magic carved such beautiful piece of art out of marble. Maxine stopped on her tracks to let Newt space out on the art around him. 

She watched with fascination how he forgot about his surroundings and drowned himself in the beauty of art, each time he came across an exceptionally beautiful painting or sculpture. She couldn’t get him to move past the entrance when they came to Notre Dame. He raised his face in his usual slant manner, and looked past his curtain of unkempt bangs. His blue-green eyes looked like his soul has left his body to assimilate itself in the beauty of the hallowed place. He fell on his face when a rude tourist pushed him to go forwards. Maxine obviously cursed at the tourist and helped Newt up from the floor, and for a fraction of second it seemed like Newt took a moment to come back to reality.

“Newt... are you alright, that man was a real son of a--” she swallowed her profanity, and looked at Newt, who was anything but attentive to her. He looked almost sad. Maxine at once understood his pain. He was enjoying the beauty on his own, in private, in secret, and the harsh reality broke him from his dream.

“C’mon... there are plenty of things to see in here... ” she stood Newt up with a comforting hand at his back, and spoke nothing. The entire time Newt was in a different space: vacant, sublimated and completely out of his body. His blue green eyes glistened with moisture and with the light inside the cathedral; Maxine spotted a thin rivulet trickling down his left eye.  She remembered a single line from a sacred hymn she heard in Vienna long time ago, particularly one line:

Domine, labia mea aperie: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam*

It was a common way of the world that a man should never indulge into his emotions; Maxine thought herself it too, but then again, emotions shall be worn like clothes—the ones that suit one well: only a most beautiful soul can embody the emotions so beautifully. She saw his face, lit up from within like no misery could even touch him, like the statues or paintings of the archangels and she forgot that she had to watch the Notre Dame.

After they got out, Newt was in his own space. Maxine waited for him to talk to her, as they walked through the road of Montreal. After 10 minutes Newt spoke on his own.

“I’m hungry...” he looked at Maxine, and Maxine smiled at him; not her usual crooked smile, but a warm one.

“I know just the right place...” Maxine cornered both of them and with a crack, they apparated into another place.

“Where are we? This looks different” Newt was now speaking normally.

“Boulevard Saint Germain...”* Maxine answered and smized at Newt while crossing the street, “it should be around the L’ancienne Comedie”* they walked hurriedly dodging the bustling crowd on the road, holding hands, “and it should be around here...” they stopped in front of a low canopied cafe.

The sign read Le Procope*. It looked like a cosy cafe, perfect for an easy luncheon. Newt was afraid that Maxine would drag him someplace expensive and really intimidating, but this cafe looked relaxing enough. Maxine smiled at him, as if she could read his mind.

“At first I was thinking of Grand Vefour,* where I always go with my family when I am in Paris. But then I don’t want to ruin your day with hankering waiters passing you wine lists and dessert menus.” Maxine smiled and a hostess led them to a table. Fortunately one was empty near the window.

“This is far the oldest cafe in Paris, almost as old as Beauxbatons.” She laughed at her little joke, and sat opposite of Newt, and briefly glanced outside the window to the bustling road, “food is a lot cheap here, but the quality is really good.”

“Do you have muggle money?” Newt asked nervously, and she smiled easily, “of course, have almost two hundred Francs on me. Quite a cabbage, but we’ll be over way before it... excusez moi” Maxine called out and a waitress with neat hair and vibrant red lips like Maxine came towards them with a smile.

“Bonjour Madame and Monsieur, welcome to Le Procope” she handed them two menus “what can I do for you?” she spoke in fluent Parisian French.

“Well... I will have Onion soup with baguettes, boeuf bourguignon served on aligot with chunks of soft-roasted garlic in it and crepe suzette”* Maxine ordered confidently and almost forgot that she had Newt with him too, who was still struggling with his menu. She gripped the upper corner on Newt’s menu and tapped it four times; suddenly Newt became way more confident with his choice.

“Tourin without croutons, Cassoulet, and crème brulee.”* He said softly but confidently, following Maxine’s pattern of starter, mains and desserts.

“Will you fancy a drink?” the waitress noted the orders and asked in French.

“An espresso and--” Maxine looked at Newt, who answered “water for me...”, Maxine replied “l’eau pour le monsieur.”*

“Good... your order will be done shortly” the waitress left them.

Within five or so minutes, the starters arrived, an onion soup, generously topped with broiled gruyere and crisp baguette and a plain but fragrant tourin. They spared no moment to dive in. the sun way softening from crisp white to egg-yolk yellow and the colder air only added to the comfort of the soups. Newt smiled between his seventh spoon, and Maxine, being Maxine spared no moment to interrogate him.

“What’s so funny, Newt?” she asked while pulling the spoon up, freeing the cheesy string from the soup.

“I never noticed, this is the first time you ever mentioned your family as Maxine Valois.” Newt answered, “Makes me curious about you...”

“I am flattered by your curiosity... and to be honest, my family isn’t half as extraordinary as yours.”Maxine scooped some of her soup.

“Really... what do you mean?” Newt asked her

“Oh you know... you and your children: Finn, Tom, George, Milo, Molly, Pickett--”* she smugly smiled and Newt laughed with her, “no, but seriously... I am curious about you.”

Maxine stopped for a second, then she looked at him again, “Newt, there’s something I must--”

“Your mains Monsieur and Madame... boeuf bourguignon served on aligot with soft-roasted garlic and Cassolet” the good humoured waitress put the dishes and collected their half finished soups.

“C’est ne pas Madame,” Maxine looked at the waitress harshly, “c’est mademoiselle...” the waitress stepped back with a flabbergasted face and perhaps with tears in her eyes.

“That’s a little harsh of you Max, shouldn’t have said...” Newt frowned again, while scooping a piece of duck, “what did you said?”

“She kept referring me ‘Madame’... instead of ‘mademoiselle’... I don’t like it” Maxine tore her face from Newt. Even though he knew very little French, he understood the difference between the two honorifics, and somehow it made him queasy.

“Maxine I am sorry--”*

“It makes me sound like my mother...” her face was less brilliant this time.

Newt put his fork down and reached for her hand that was resting on the table, gloved with magenta sheepskin. His knurled fingers gritted against the smooth leather, and Maxine looked up at Newt’s eyes; slightly looking at the right, avoiding the eye contact, but full of compassion and tenderness.

“I am your friend Maxine; you can tell me anything you want...” Newt said gently, and Maxine felt a stalwart firmness in his voice.

“You met her...” Maxine said softly, and Newt looked at her curiously, and then as if he understood he veered his eyes at the other side “so Audrey Page was your mother?”

“Yes... her maiden name was Audrey Page...” Maxine stopped in her tracks for a second, perhaps debating whether to unload to a stranger like Newt. No matter how hard she tried to get closer to Newt, something was holding her back, preventing her from getting closer to him.

“I never saw her in person...”

Newt waited for her to reply, his hand firmly on hers, never seizing to stroke gently.

“I was born in Marseilles, in my family estate, as I was told by my elf Lampito.” Maxine huffed, “she was an Englishwoman, a muggleborn witch from Edinburgh. She told me that she stayed till I was a year old, and then one day she disappeared. She cannot tell me anything else than that—when she speaks about my mother, she looks terrified.” Maxine gulped, as if swallowing her own tears. “But one day, a letter arrived when I was in school... ”

Newt looked at her most earnestly, trying his best to feel her pain.

“It was always addressed to me as “Ma chère” and only came when I was in school, perhaps in fear that if I was in my home, it would be intercepted.  It was normal... always normal... “How are you”, “did you eat well”, “are you studying well”, “there is not a day when I don’t think about you”, at first they were written in French, the worst possible French you can imagine...” Maxine smiled with sadness, “and then, it was written in English... when I--” she stopped and veered her words “when I was old enough to understand... Newt, when she started to write in... English--” her eyes lost their usual focus, and became hazy and moist, “I felt like, I could see her soul... as if I could hear her speaking to me... and one day, she enclosed her image, she with me... ” she stopped her speech, her voice decrescendoing. She took a breath and started again, “last year another letter arrived; she wanted to meet me... here at Le Procope--”

“Did she come?” Newt’s voice was hoarse with his silence and withheld tears.

“She never did...instead I found something else--” Maxine looked at Newt’s way, “and it had her letter... it was attached with your book: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Maxine wiped her tears and looked at Newt with liveliness, “she wrote... ‘—do not wait for me darling, I called you to give you this book...’ I didn’t understand her... I was angry, because if I wanted to read it, I could buy it anywhere, but why she would give me this?” she frowned, “so I started to read it, on the spot... got scolded by the manager, but I would have him handled. I read all day and it was nearly closing time when I got to the very last page”

“What did she say?” Newt whispered, while keeping his eyes lowered.

“Nothing....” Maxine smiled vacantly, “nothing was there... she wrote nothing, and that was the moment I decided to leave my job... to work for you.” Newt slowly removed his hand from hers. They didn’t eat the whole time, and their meal was cold.

“And Newt... I haven’t found a greater peace with myself” she smiled gratefully at him. “Excuse me... could you heat up our meal?”

...

“And there’s one place I want to take you...” Maxine paid the bill and came at the crossing of Saint Germain, and hid behind a shop, “and I swear this would be our last destination in Paris...” she smiled and apparated with Newt at the middle of a bustling street.

“I know this place...” Newt’s face lit up after seeing something he knew, and he turned to Maxine, “isn’t this Champs-Elysees?” 

Maxine smiled at his way, “I am afraid no, this is Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, this is the fastest route to our destination. C’mon this way...” Maxine grabbed his hand and almost ran towards the pavement where countless of fancy shops aligned, proudly and smugly as if enjoying the prying eyes of the pedestrians for their luxurious glory.

“Max... what are you doing...” Newt enquired, half-amused and half-worried, as Maxine almost dragged him to one of the shops.

“It is pointless to travel in Paris if you don’t shop here... it won’t take long, I promise” Maxine reached for a door labelled no 22, which was a squarish, gray shop with sleek black and silver window panes, titled Lanvin*. The door chimed open as both of them entered into the shop.

“This is a bad idea... I don’t want this Maxine, please let’s go out...” Newt said with an alarming voice, looking around and seeing expensive clothes and bags and shoes as the lightly perfumed interior registering into his mind despite his discomfort. But Maxine was a stubborn woman. She bowed as one of the shop assistant with crisp, clean uniform and cloche hat greeted them. Maxine just spared one mischievous glance at Newt and then instructed the shop assistant to bring suits for her boss.

“I am looking suits for my boss. His colours are Aegean blue, brown and mustard. His style is comfortable, practical and low profile.” Maxine answered crisply, while another woman was kind enough to make Newt sit down and handed him a glass of champagne. Newt, as nervous as he was, downed it within a second, contemplating whether to run away or scold Maxine, but as her boss, both would be inappropriate. He did not believe in insulting or reprimanding his employees.

“Oui mademoiselle...monsieur puis-je vous mesurer?”* the shop assistant approached Newt with a measuring tape, and Newt stood up from his stool as if he was being electrocuted.

“No thank you, to whatever you are saying... Maxine, please can I get out of here?” Newt yanked Maxine’s arm and pulled her at the side, “why you are doing this...?”

“Please, Newt... please let me.” Maxine implored softly, “I want to do this for you. I know it is intimidating and certainly very demeaning that a woman is buying a suit for you--”

“You know I regard for those concepts as little as I regard Grindlewald...” Newt impatiently interrupted.

“—but listen to me—listen!” Maxine grabbed his shoulders, “have you seen your tweed suit? It is frayed and battered... I saw you struggling a lot in Romania with them... I believe there are several frayed patched under the arm—NO!” Maxine stopped, “it’s no excuse that you should be poorly dressed when I, as your assistant is always dressed in silk and leather. It is most unkind of me to point it out” Maxine answered sternly, but then the heat in her voice melted “think of it as a Christmas Present... please?”

Newt paused for a few moments, hesitating and squirming, but finally giving in, observing Maxine’s sincerity, and it was well worth it. She smiled at him most brilliantly.

After trying a bunch of tweed, cotton, silk and wool suits, they found a nice desaturated bluish algae coloured suit, quite similar to his previous one, but way more polished. It was accompanied with a plaid mustard waistcoat and a thin bow tie. To top it off, a rich brown double breasted mackintosh was added.

Newt looked himself in the store mirror, and Maxine slowly walked towards him and stood at his back. “See... you are a great man. Now you look like one...” Maxine smiled at him, crookedly, as if she was devising some wicked plot, “I can’t decide who is most polished, you or Theseus.”

Newt looked at her briefly, with an inquisitive eye, as if to ask “what do you mean?”

“Oh, let it go... you know you have to attend the Yule Party, or else Theseus will lecture you to the end of the world.” Maxine walked towards the counter to pay the bill, “I have worked with him for four years, and when he is upset or disappointed with you, where he comes to rant? Me... When he has a problem... he comes to vent on me... ‘Maxine, can’t believe Newt did this’, ‘Maxine, I can’t believe he didn’t come to dinner ’... sometimes I believe I was his personal therapist.”

Newt stopped for a second as he walked out of the change room, giving his clothes to be packed. He looked at Maxine till she noticed him looking at her way, “what is it Newt?”

“Do you love Theseus, Maxine?”

She looked at Newt for a second and then broke into a contemptuous laughter, “why did that occur to you that I might love him?” she asked with her arms folded.

“Please answer me, do you love Theseus?” Newt asked a little more firmly, a little firmer than usual, Maxine was taken aback at Newt’s demeanour, and answered with her eyes cast down “I never gave it a thought... now can we go?”

“I have done everything you asked me, and I demand to know it... do you love my brother?” Newt asked Maxine while stopping her by holding her right hand. Newt didn’t know what she was thinking, but something was stirring in his mind that he might have asked something she cannot evade, “tell me do you--”

“No...” Maxine answered in a small manner and then turned towards Newt, forcing a smile, “no... I don’t” she said and then looked at the south towards the Place du Concord, walking alongside Newt through the Rue Royale, with the Lanvin package in her hand, “I don’t believe in those sorts of things.”

“You don’t believe in love?” Newt asked while looking at her face, he always felt compelled to look at her face whenever she spoke, because he found her voice incredibly deceptive.

“In romantic love, no.” Maxine answered strategically as they came at the crossing of Rue Royale and Champs Elysees, “what is it supposed to be? Two people suddenly realise that they love each other and the whole world suddenly seems insignificant to explore? People less important... self care less important?” she smiled shrewdly, assuming that Newt wouldn’t know how to answer it.

“No...” Newt answered softly, walking alongside Maxine, straight towards the west, “no... Love isn’t supposed to be like that. It is a sense of security you feel when you look into another’s eyes, it is the power that motivates to push your boundaries to better yourself, it is the power that makes you selfless, as if you are them...”

“Comme si tu es eux”* Maxine mused on her own, and several moments past as they marched towards the west, coming closer and closer to their destination. After leaving behind the long park at their right and countless Parisian socialites and tycoons on the avenue, strolling and driving around perhaps in the most glamorous road in the world, they were now very close to their destination.

“Do you have someone with whom you feel that way?‘ Maxine asked Newt and looked at him. His face was looking at the sky, drinking the liquid rays of the sunset. first he didn’t answer for some moment and then he looked at Maxine briefly and then at the setting sun, “yes...“ he answered softly, but confidently, “I do...“

After that, both of them didn’t speak for some moments. The bright gray winter sky was shivering in the last weak light of the sun and its face gratefully reflected all the colours of pink, red, purple, copper and gold as if it was saying thank you to the sun for keeping it warm.

Finally they found themselves standing at the bottom of the Arc du Triomph, a magnificent circus of eleven roads, beckoning them to pursue each and every single one of them. They both lifted their face and the sky, and Maxine with her absentee husky voice mused “— Bienheureux celui-là qui peut avec amour, Saluer son coucher plus glorieux qu'un rêve!”* and then looked at Newt who was staring at her way, trying to understand the foreign words, “it means, ‘Fortunate the one who can lovingly salute, His setting, more glorious than a dream’ “ Maxine turned towards the setting sun, and then to Newt, “you remember the second week on my job... when you say, good things are fragile? Well you were wrong...” she looked at the sun, “good things are abnormally common, they are so close before your eyes that you don’t realise they were there, you only realise when they are gone.”

“And yet you believe that you don’t believe in love?” Newt looked at her way, smiling. His blue-green eyes sparkling hazel in the sunset, like molten gold under a thin film of black stained glass, concealed from the world.

“You believe I am a Romantique?” Maxine asked Newt with humour, as she gripped her fur scarf closer with the chill north wind.

“No...” Newt calmly said, “it is still too early to decide.”

Tags: @my-current-fandom-is

I had a lot of fun writing this. I love travelling but I have never been in many places, and I still daydream about travelling the world. Regardless to say that I have never been in Paris. I wrote this literally with google images and google map opened in tabs. 

I hope you caught some hints, however I cannot press any more details. I don’t like conventional love stories, the ending seems forced. Although I am no pro, but I try to keep it realistic. I don’t know how far I am successful.

Domine, labia mea aperie: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam: a line from Allegri’s “Miserere Mei Deus“. It means “God, open my lips and my mouth will speak out your praise”. I believe that Latin and Greek are part of normal wizarding curriculum as most of the spells are written in them. Most of the French (religious ones) I believe have some Catholic upbriging, and even though Magic and Christianity don’t go together, some hymns here and there is inescapable.

you can listen to the track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3v9unphfi0

Boulevard Saint Germain: a street in Paris. (13 minutes and 1.9 km south from Notre Dame, but they apparated)

Rue L’Ancienne Comedie: a road that is connected with the St Germain, where the restaurant Le Procope stands.

Grand Vefour: It is a five star restaurant in Paris at Le Beaujolais, approximately 2.7 km at the North from St Germain, famous for serving Royalty

Le Procope: oldest cafe in Paris, established at 1665 (if I am not wrong), famous for affordable food. I realised that if wizards knew about muggles, they would know very old and traditional establishments of theirs. 

“ Finn, Tom, George, Milo, Molly, Picket “: she was referring to Newt’s creatures.

Onion Soup: it is most famous French soup made of caramelised onion, beef broth, and broiled with baguette and soft Alpine cheese (Gruyere, Camembert, etc)

Tourin: a rich garlic soup, often served with croutons

Boeuf Bourguignon: a rich beef stew cooked in red wine, which originated in Burgandy region (hence the name ‘bourguignon’)

Aligot: a cheesy mashed potato, served as a side or a main, made with Tomme d’Auvergne cheese and famous in south of France. Usually it is not served as Maxine wanted, but she has an extravagant taste.

Cassoulet: Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole containing duck, Toulouse sausage (spicy pork sausage, like a French version of Chorizo) and white beans.

Crepe Suzette: Crêpes Suzette is a French dessert consisting of a crêpe with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier (a very posh cognac)

Creme Brulee:  also known as burnt cream or Trinity cream, is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a texturally contrasting layer of hardened caramelized sugar.

l’eau pour le monsieur: Water for the gentleman.

“Maxine I am so sorry--“: Newt is perhaps afraid that Maxine was offended that the waitress assumed them husband and wife.

Lanvin: Lanvin is the oldest designer shop opened at Champs-Elysees. It is also the first brand to produce Menswear as Haute-Couture. Although it is in 22 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which is 2.6 km north-east from Arc de Triomph.

monsieur puis-je vous mesurer : “Sir, may I measure you“

Comme si tu es eux : “Like you are them”, Maxine is echoing Newt’s words, with a bit of sarcasm.

— Bienheureux celui-là qui peut avec amour, Saluer son coucher plus glorieux qu'un rêve! : I have already mentioned the meaning, so I am not going to do that again. The line is from Charles Baudelair’s Le Coucher du Soleil Romantique (the sunset of romanticism)

[purrincess-chat]

The Fate of Miss Fortune CH1

I’m finally getting around to posting this!! I’ve had the idea for over a year, and I started working on this chapter about a year ago I’d say. I’ve been holding onto it for so long, and commissioning art of it gave me the push to finish this chapter. I’m very excited for this story! It’s going to be an emotional ride, so I hope you all buckle your seatbelts and take it with me. Shouts out to @learningthomas and @trueblue1999 for betaing!

Read on AO3

Chapter One

“There be tales of the most fearsome pirate ever to sail the seas. Sunk o’er a hundred vessels and taken the lives of countless men. A captain and crew so bloodthirsty that no sailor ‘as e’en the slightest chance of survivin’ should they be unlucky enough to cross canons with ‘em.” It wasn’t uncommon for tales such as this to pass around the room of nearly every port bar from one sailor to the next. Legends and tales were how many passed the time, each seemingly more far-fetched than the last, though many stories, if taken to their roots, were actually based in truth that became victim to drunken embellishment.

“I seen ‘em with me own two eyes. Captain Ladybug ‘o the Coksinelle and ‘is crew took down a royal navy ship ‘fore tha poor chaps could load their powder. Biggest bunch o’ men I ever did see. Could rip the neck right off a navy cap’ains shoul’ers,” The man continued, a small crowd of similarly grimy and roasted men hanging onto every word in awe. All save for one.

“There’s a problem with your story, mate.” Heads swiveled to the smug mop of blond hair seated a few seats down at the bar, the telltale French naval coat with the sleeves ripped off and black hat could only be the mark of one pirate: Captain Chat Noir.

The night was humid and the air inside the bar hung stagnant as Chat Noir loaned an ear to the scrappy drunkard’s tale from his seat. He’d heard every story passed by mouth, and there was only one pirate on the waters that each of them referred to. The most famous pirate in the world, and coincidentally the one who set him on his own path to freedom.

Ladybug.

Most of the stories were true, though many details were often lost in translation, but Chat took it upon himself to keep an ear out for sightings of the elusive captain that he spent his days chasing in hopes of someday actually succeeding in his pursuit. Which, unfortunately, forced him to suffer through tales such as these in vain hopes that he might gain any new information, and more often than not, he came up empty as many pigheaded pirates twisted the stories to better suit their own egos.

“What’d ya say, chum?” He cocked a brow, standing in attempts to seem more intimidating, though his rum-induced stagger killed some of his bite. “Ye got a problem with my story?”

“Parts of it,” Chat stated, taking a swig from his mug and setting it on the counter.

“Do go on then,” The man urged.

“For starters, if no man has any chance of survival when confronted with this ruthless captain, then how are you here to tell the tale?” He began, standing to face the group all adorned with the same skeptical and disgruntled expressions. “Secondly, Ladybug is captain of the ship Coccinelle. It’s French given the captain’s roots and translates to ladybug, the name said dreadful captain has come to be known by. Thirdly, Captain Ladybug and crew are all bloodthirsty for naval ships specifically and tend to avoid merchants and other pirate ships which is why I forgive you for missing my last and arguably most important point: Captain Ladybug as well as the entire crew are all women.”

Loud, mocking laughter filled the surrounding area, something Chat had grown used to at this point, and he did his best to suppress an eye roll. Pirates were just as blind to the strength of women as naval officers. Turns out men were all the same no matter what colors they sailed under, which made the next sequence of events all the more predictable.

“You’re drunk, mate! No crew o’ women could sail a vessel all by their onesies.” One man laughed.

“You’re right, my apologies. I should have known better than to waste my breath educating you disgusting chauvinist pigs as you’re all incapable of any form of intelligent thought outside of lifting your mugs to your lips,” He said with a taunting grin, slapping a silver coin down on the bar. “Nino, pull Kim away from his girlfriends. We’re leaving.”

“Aye, captain,” Nino said with a nod, though he shot Chat a disappointed, yet unsurprised frown as if to say, “Can’t we enjoy one night out without you starting shit?”

“Oi, what’d you jus’ call me?” The first man demanded, reaching for the bottle on the counter. “You lookin’ for trouble, mate?”

“No, truthfully I’m on a quest to find that said fearsome female pirate from your entertaining, albeit horribly incorrect, tale, and I haven’t got the time to sit around listening to egotistical little worms talk themselves up,” He stated with a shrug, and Nino rolled his eyes.

“Here we go again,” His first-mate mumbled with a sigh, reaching for his cutlass as the man sprang at Chat with a growl.

The bar erupted into a drunken mosh-pit, fists flying as fast as insults as several inebriated men joined the fray just for the hell of it. Kim attempted in vain to entice his throng of women to stay, shooting a glare to his captain when they all fled, and Chat easily dodged his assailant’s fist, knocking him over the back of the head with his elbow and rendering him unconscious. Nino tossed another man over a table, stepping closer to his captain and shaking his head.  

“What?” Chat asked innocently.

“For once I’d like to enjoy a couple beers without the evening dissolving into a fist fight,” He chided, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, and I’d like to get laid,” Kim growled, stalking over. He grabbed another man who charged toward them and punched him square in the jaw.

“Let’s just go,” Chat said glumly, sulking toward the door.

“Ivan!” Nino called as their large brute of a friend fought off three men at once. “We’re leaving.”

Ivan shrugged and dropped his hold on his victims, leaving them in a daze as he casually sauntered out after his captain and crew. One convenient aspect of bar fights were that most individuals were too drunk and fixated on their brawl to realize when they slipped out, even as Chat pickpocketed the man who started it all on his way out. He shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh as they made their way down the street toward the docks. Kim sulked several paces ahead of them, griping about losing yet another potential ménage à trois while Ivan patted his shoulder sympathetically. Nino eyed their captain out of the corner of his eye, pursing his lips to hide his frown.

“Another dead end then?” He asked, cocking a brow, and Chat averted his gaze. “How long do you intend to chase her?”

“As long as it takes to find her- the rest of my life, if I have to,” Chat said solemnly.

“You sure are hellbent on this booty call,” He replied, tensing when Chat shot him a glare. “Sorry but that’s what most of the crew thinks.”

“I’m not after her for sex. She saved my life, and I just want to see her again, no matter how briefly,” He said softly, and Nino shifted his gaze to his feet, biting his lip.

“You know you’re my best mate, and I’d die for you, but you can’t keep blue-balling Kim every time you don’t get information you want,” He said, offering him a small smile and prompting a cheeky grin and a chuckle from Chat.

“I’m not so worried about him. He still thinks I don’t know what he and Max get up to in the supply room, but I suppose in the interest of keeping things amicable between us I’ll do him this favor,” He said, whistling over the two women standing on the corner and tossing them a small pouch of gold coins. “The one in the red coat could use a little pick-me-up.”

Their eyes widened as they turned their payment over in their hands, excited giggles passing their lips as they skipped down the hill and grabbed Kim by the collar. Chat sauntered onto the dock toward the ship followed by Ivan and Nino, and Nathaniel hopped off the railing as they approached, standing at attention as the captain set foot on deck.

“Nothing unusual to report, sir. The rest of the crew is still out in town. Shall I round them up?” He said dutifully, but Chat waved him away.

“Let them enjoy the night. We’ll set out in the morning,” He said, pushing the door open to his cabin. “Resume your post.”

“Aye, captain.”

Chat hung his hat on the hook and ruffled his hair, a sigh passing through his lips as he leaned over his map littered with pins and threads that documented every location sailors reported seeing her in a vain attempt to discover her pattern, but he’d had no such luck. So many times he’d come so close to finding her only to lose the trail at the last moment. She was surprisingly elusive, much to his dismay. It had been three years since he’d last seen her in person, the night he asked to join her crew, but she only sailed with women. He’d been crushed by her rejection as he’d spent months hunting her down just to ask that question, but now he sought after her for a new reason.

She was the most magnificent woman he’d ever met with eyes as blue as the sea and hair as dark as the night sky. He longed to see her again and memorize every detail of her face even if she never held any desire for him… Perhaps his crew were right. Maybe he was running a fool’s errand, but he refused to give up. Not after all of this. He trailed his fingers along the red strings with a pensive frown before leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up.

Nights like those were exhausting, and sometimes Chat wondered if he’d ever see her again if he had to keep relying on such inconsistent tales. He closed his eyes painting the image of her face in his mind so that he wouldn’t forget a single detail. A girl like her was worth chasing to the ends of the earth, and soon he lulled himself to sleep with thoughts of their reunion.

***

“Captain!” Chat jerked awake, drawing his gun and pointing it in Max’s face instinctively before releasing a breath and returning it to its holster. He glanced out the window where the first cracks of sunlight were peeking out over the horizon.

“What?” He asked sourly, rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry to wake you, sir, but I have someone with information that might interest you,” Max said, and Chat’s head snapped to face him in an instant.

Chat followed on Max’s heels intently as he led the way to the library with Ivan, Nino, and Theo in tow. He kicked open the door, startling the librarian inside into dropping the books he was carrying. The man straightened his glasses and squared his shoulders, though his eyes widened in fear as they approached.

“You! You have information regarding a pirate named Ladybug?” Chat demanded, leaning into his face.

“I’m not inclined to say,” He said, shrinking back a little and startling once more when Chat pointed a gun in his face. “Okay, okay! My younger sister recently joined her crew a-about a week ago when she was in port. Said they were making a quick stop south of Puerto Rico then setting sail toward Bermuda before she left, but she swore me to secrecy!”

“And you’re sure it was Ladybug?” Chat quirked a brow, and the man nodded frantically.

“I saw her colors myself, and my sister specifically mentioned that this pirate sails exclusively with women which matches up with stories I’ve heard,” He said, and Chat lowered his gun.

“What’s your name?” He asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Jalil, sir,” He said, adjusting his glasses with a shaky hand.

“Nino, Ivan, bring Jalil aboard. He’s coming with us, and if his information proves false then we’ll find a nice island to maroon him on. Max do you still remember how to get to the one infested with cannibals?” He snapped his fingers, and Jalil paled, resisting only minimally as Nino and Ivan lifted him up and carried him back to the ship.

“How long do you anticipate it will take us to reach Bermuda from here?” Chat asked as they walked, and Max tapped his chin.

“About three days if the winds are favorable,” He replied, and Chat nodded thoughtfully.

“Then there’s not a minute to lose. Nathaniel!” Chat called as they boarded, and the redhead stood at attention. “Round up the crew. We’re setting sail.”

“Even Kim?” Nathaniel’s nose wrinkled.

“Do you want to man the guns if we get attacked?” Chat asked pointedly, and Nathaniel groaned, sulking off to retrieve their gunman from his tryst. “Max, get me a heading! We’ve got a Ladybug to catch.”

***

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this fired up,” Nino remarked a couple nights later as Chat peered through his telescope.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a lead,” He said, lowering it and glancing over at his first mate.

“Do you really think we’ll find her?” Nino cocked a brow, and Chat’s eyes narrowed into a glare.

“For the librarian’s sake, we better,” He said with a twisted grin, and Nino gave him a look.

“You and I both know you’re not that cruel, mate.” He smirked, and Chat turned back to scan the dark water.

“I know, but he doesn’t, so it’s fun to watch the color drain from his face,” He said darkly, and Nino threw his head back with a laugh.

“Maybe you are that cruel.” He patted his shoulder.

“Ship sighted to the east, captain!” Nathaniel called from the crow’s nest, and Chat whipped his telescope out as the crew rushed to his side.

“Is it her captain?” Ivan asked. “Is it Ladybug?”

Chat squinted at the colors flying, a semblance of a smile twitching on his lips as he snapped his scope shut. “Douse the lamps and ready a boat.”

“It is her!” The phrase passed excitedly around the deck as his men rushed around frantically to carry out his orders.

“Do you think you can catch up to her in this thing?” Nino asked as Chat climbed into the small rowboat and took hold of an oar.

“The main sail is raised, and she’s just coasting. Her crew has likely gone to bed for the night,” He said. “Raise ours and follow at a distance. If she spots us, she might run. You’re in charge until I get back, Nino.”

“Aye, captain.” Nino nodded curtly as Ivan lowered the boat. “Oi, Chat! Good luck, mate.”

Chat tipped his hat as the boat hit the water, and he unlatched the ropes before beginning his trip. Fortunately the night was still and the waters calm as he paddled, and within a half hour, he was close enough to see her standing at the wheel. Her hair was longer than the last time he’d seen her, and his pulse quickened as he set the oars down gently so as to not make a sound and tied the rope to his waist loosely before beginning his climb up.

He peeked up at her from under the railing, a small smile curling on his lips as he watched her studying her compass, occasionally glancing up at the stars. Her cheekbones were more pronounced than last time, and his memory did her beauty no justice. He could have stared all night, but he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t speak at least one word to her, so he climbed up, tying his rope off quietly before making his move.

“Greetings, m’lady! I hope you haven’t missed me too much.” His voice caught her off guard which was something even the lowest swabbie on her deck knew never to do. She spun around as his leg hiked over the railing, but before his boot could touch the deck, she tugged the loose rope hanging from the mast that laid at his feet and dragged him into the air.  He yelped in surprise as he found himself hanging upside down and face-to-face with Ladybug’s unamused scowl. “Have I ever told you, you turn my world upside down?”

“Captain Chat Noir. How many times need I tell you that men are forbidden from setting foot on my vessel unless they wish to decorate it with their blood?” She stated bluntly with a small sigh.

“If we’re counting honestly, this is only the second time I’ve tried,” He said pointedly.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” Ladybug retorted with a bored frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Because I brought you a gift,” He replied with a cheeky grin, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small jewelry box. “I stole them from a duchess in Spain.”

“How romantic,” She said sarcastically, lifting the lid to reveal a pair of diamond earrings.

“A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things.” He winked, and she rolled her eyes, snapping the lid shut. “You know, you should really pay attention to the stories people are telling about you. There are a lot of details that people get wrong.”

“I don’t particularly care what others say about me,” She said with a shrug. “I didn’t become a pirate for the fame or glory.”

“Me either.” He said, and she held his gaze for a long moment. “I’ve been looking all over for you, ya know.”

“So I’ve heard,” She said with an amused smirk, looking him up and down as if she were sizing him up. “Captain Chat Noir, the pirate on a desperate quest for a piece of ass.”

She chuckled as his eyes narrowed into a glare. “That’s not true!”

“Now who needs to pay attention to their stories?” She asked teasingly, leaning down into his face and causing his breath to hitch when she traced his jaw with her finger. “So why do you spend your days tracking me, Chat Noir?”

“Because you set me free and I am in your debt,” He said gently, pouring every ounce of sincerity and tenderness into his expression, though such feats proved hard with the blood rushing to his head. “And I long to know something.”

Ladybug cocked a hip to the side, leaning against the rope and quirking a brow. “What would that be?”

“Four years ago you attacked my naval fleet. Killed all of my men and sank every last vessel to the bottom of the ocean. You saw me floating on a piece of drift wood and chose to let me live,” He recounted. “Why?”

“Why what?” She shrugged. “Why did I sink you fleet? Because I hate the navy. Why didn’t I kill you?” She paused for a moment and pursed her lips. “You were just a kid playing captain, and I don’t murder children. I do have some sense of decency, you know.”

“I know. It’s one of the many reasons I admire you.” He winked, and she rolled her eyes, flicking the wheel sharply and causing the sail to shift. She released her hold on the rope, effectively flinging Chat into the water then paced over to the railing and leaned down with an amused glint in her eye as Chat resurfaced.

“Farewell, Chat Noir. Until the next time you find me.” She waved.

Chat watched in awe as she retrieved her sword and sliced through his rope before swimming back to his boat. He laid on the floor, panting and adorned with the widest grin. Ladybug remembered him. She knew that he was searching for her. She smelled like flowers.

Ladybug returned to her post at the wheel, restating their course before pulling out the box of earrings Chat had given her. She eyed them for a moment, trailing her fingers over the gems before snapping it shut and looping a rope around one of the rungs then heading below deck.

“What was all that ruckus?” Alya asked, meeting her halfway on the stairs.

“Just a dazed little kitten who tried to sneak on board,” She said nonchalantly with almost a hint of boredom.

“Chat Noir?” Alya’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’ve been giving him the slip for years. He finally caught up to us?”

“I let him,” Ladybug admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s no fun to let him chase us if he gives up, so I suppose I’ll let him ‘catch’ me from time to time to keep his spirits up.”

“You are wicked, lady. That poor boy follows you all over the world because he fancies you, and you dangle just out of his reach,” Alya laughed, stopping short as Ladybug tossed her the earring box.

“Not me. He got those just for you. Said so himself. I think it’s you he’s after,” She said, passing her down to the lower deck as Alya opened the box with an eye roll.

“Most women would be floored if a man brought them a pair like this,” Alya commented with a prying tone Ladybug knew all too well. “We raid countless ships with gorgeous earrings, yet you’re so attached to the ones you’ve got.”

Ladybug touched them thoughtfully, pausing at the base of the stairs for a moment before turning back over her shoulder.

“They’re lucky.”

[wayoutrp-blog]

DETROIT, MICHIGAN SETLIST

Under the read more are the set lists and schedules for the Detroit, Michigan show! Feel free to use the set lists for reference as to who’s sharing a stage, which songs are performed, etc. Each show we’ll be changing up the people who share a stage and orders of performance.

Due to a chance of rain, the Detroit show is going to be an indoor show. There will be three venues, all in the same location, rather than three stages. There are vendors, DJ’s between sets, and etc. Feel free to use your imagination! The show will last from 6-12 PM, and each band will perform for 45-60 minutes.

You can read more about indoor music festivals here!

Below is how you can get points for your band/team!

Each time someone posts/reblogs about the show - photos, instagram, twitter, music posts, etc. - we will give the band/artist ten points.

Each time someone posts about a band/artist, we will give the artist that’s been posted about and the poster ten points. For example: @tinacc tweets: Rachel Berry’s set was great! Almost as good as ours 😉  (Rachel and Tina would each get ten points.)

We will give ten points for every gossip/confession we receive about a band/artist on the gossip blog, on the day of the show.

We will give ten points for each anon answered on the day of the show.

We will give twenty points for every starter - f2f or dash starter - that mentions the show.

We will give thirty points to both bands in the event of a surprise collaboration.

We will give thirty points for every show based self para - watching or performing.

Those with a character not in a group can still get points - and their player decides which band to give the points to!

The bands with the most points will get an encore in the nextshow! If you have any questions about this, message the admin team!

Please tag all posts in regards to this show with #wayoutdetroit ! You can begin using this tag now, and continue to use it up until we post the next set list.

The following are the points from last show’s contest:

Cool Cool Cool - 150

Mousetrap - 90 + 50 points from Sebastian = 140

Eureka Serpent - 130

Rachel Berry - 110

Puddle of Peace - 100

Reflective Smoke - 70

Santana Lopez - 50

Indigo - 40

Wilde - 20

Mercedes And The Oracle - 10

Les Ladies - 0

VENUE ONE:

ACT ONE - Mercedes And The Oracle

Future People

Dunes

Hang Loose

Shoegaze

Guess Who

Heartbreaker

Miss You

On Your Way

Joe

Be Mine

Don’t Wanna Fight

Gimme All Your Love

Sound & Color

You Ain’t Alone

Over My Head

This Feeling (encore)

I Found You (encore)

ACT TWO - Santana Lopez

New Rules

IDGAF

Hotter Than Hell

Garden

Be The One

No Goodbyes

Begging

Homesick

Last Dance

ACT THREE - Rachel Berry

hummingbird heart ( original )

animal love i ( original )

animal love ii ( original )

if it makes you happy ( cover - sheryl crow )

don’t make me believe ( original )

honey ( original, unreleased )

different colored eyes ( original )

most girls ( cover - p!nk )

i knew you were trouble ( cover - taylor swift )

uuu ( original - unreleased )

skin and bones ( original** )

palisades/storm ( original** )

ACT FOUR - Cool Cool Cool

Turn Into

Gold Lion

Heads Will Roll

Hey (Pixies Cover) 

Black Tongue

Y Control

Runaway

Warrior Woman (Yoko Ono Cover)

Cheated Hearts

Mysteries

Maps

Dragon Queen

Soft Shock

Zero

Shame And Fortune

Despair (Unreleased song from future album) (encore)

Crane Your Neck (Lady Lamb Cover) (encore)

VENUE TWO:

ACT ONE - Bone Apple Tea

Colonic

Gold Chain

Tickle My Taint

Good With My Hands

The Craft

Business Is Pleasure

Prone Cobra

Robot Dick

ACT TWO - Indigo

Cool Girl

Moments

The Way That I am

Symphony (Clean Bandit Cover)

Love Ballad

Got Love

Heroes (we could be)

Not On Drugs

Rather Be (Clean Bandit Cover)

Not Made For This World

Timebomb

High You Are (What So Not Cover)

Talking Body

My Gun

Habits

ACT THREE - Puddle of Peace

Honey

A Dark Congregation

Molasses

City Traffic Puzzle

Tidal Wave (unreleased single)

Don’t Wake Me Up

Lions Roar

The Artist

Magnolia

Crawling Towards The Sun

Unsafe Safe

Not Your Concern

Break The Sky

Hospital Bed Crawl

Wine Red

ACT FOUR - Mousetrap

Everything

Outta My Mind

Chunky

Bulletproof

Sugarcube

Limousine

The Meanest

Old Ways

Freestyle

Professor Booty (Beastie Boys cover)

Wet Brain

Dreamin

We Can’t All Be Heroes

Dispensary Girl

Rosana

Stupefied (Acoustic) (Encore)

None Shall Pass (Aesop Rock cover)  (Encore)

VENUE THREE:

ACT ONE - Les Ladies

Tempt My Trouble

Hallowed Ground

The Chain (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Lyin

Dream

The Fire

Hi-Lo (Hollow)

Wild Horses

Move Like U Stole It (ZZ Ward cover)

Water

White Flag

ACT TWO - Wilde

Gasoline

Alone

Sorry

Ghost

Hopeless

Hurricane

Drive

Devil In Me

Don’t Play

Angel On Fire

Young God

Roman Holiday

Now Or Never

Heaven In Hiding

Bad At Love

Colors

ACT THREE - Reflective Smoke

I Love My Friends

Waste

Coming of Age

Call It What You Want

Broken Jaw

Pay The Man

Pseudologia Fantastica

Houdini

Lotus Eater

Pumped Up Kicks

Loyal Like Sid & Nancy

Don’t Stop

Sit Next To Me

ACT FOUR - Eureka Serpent

Brianstorm

Snap Out Of It

Crying Lightning

The View From The Afternoon

505

Fire Meet Gasoline (piano Sia Cover)

One Point Perspective

Mardy Bum

No. 1 Party Anthem

Do Me A Favour

Cryin (Aerosmith Cover)

Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Do I Wanna Know?

Arabella

One For The Road

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (encore)

R U Mine? (encore)

[sagittariia]

[momzoneonline]

MOVING TO CANADA IS A JOKE...The Economic, Military, and Social Integration of North America

Eh? I can think of scores of reasons to move to Canada (or opt for the Mexican Riviera) . . . any place but Babylon the Great: The USA. The War in Iraq . . . or better yet: The entire Military-Industrial Complex sucking the life-blood out of Americana for starters. Or, how about the whole hedonistic culture of greed, avaricious appetites, and super sizing all things godly and ungodly--from Hollywood to Mega Churches; indeed, ours is a "city set on a hill which cannot be hid" but the closer you get to this glittering jewel, the more it resembles the "Little Shop of Horrors," you know, that flesh-eating plant crying out: Feed me, Seymour! Conspicuous consumption of a nation which spends $1.8 Billion more each day than the whole earth combined and finds herself some $14 Trillion in debt (National Debt + Balance of Payment/Trade Debts) is a bit too much, wouldn't you say?--after all, she represents but 5% of the world's population.

Come on, half the eagle is in a declared state of emergency and the overt identification by Big Brother of all things human is prepared and/or is itching to pounce upon American liberties once thought sacrosanct by both the ACLU and the NRA by euphemistic legislation called Patriotic Acts, and finally, a cashless society where all of us are implanted with chips awaiting true identity and debit through scanning devices at your local Safeway.

The clock is ticking. Peak oil, where American's "zero sum game" is played out--for you to gain I must loose--refuses to share her bounty with the Asian tigers of China and India; and, of course, they are more than pleased with our indulgence. Like Rome, our legions amongst the world's "provinces," are stretched thin--and the draft can't be all that far off if we're to maintain our economic edge and SUV-lifestyle (latest stats for the past two years show that 58% of all vehicles purchased in the USA are SUVs, pickups, or plain old gas guzzlers). And, as if these outrageous consequences weren't enough to abandon ship--toss in the worst natural disaster ever to afflict the homeland: Katrina; man, wait till we finance that one!

So . . . isn't it about time to flee to Canada or head for the Mexican Riviera? Eh? Canada's a safe haven for pot-people and same-sex marriage is the rage. Crime's relatively low compared to the lower 48 and the death penalty's been outlawed for nearly thirty years. Finally, most of the 125,000 Viet-Nam Era draft dodgers who fled to Canada stuck around and now constitute the leading edge of all the above progressive life-style. Wow, we're talkin' about socialized medicine for all--a veritable paradise compared to the inflictions of them patriots down under. Cheap drugs (includes tons of cannabis), affordable housing, tiny military budget, etc., etc.--a little cold, but you'll get used to it.

Finally, if Hollywood's collective apoplexy over President Bush's election can be believed--we're outta here . . . a few of these righteous indignations (unfulfilled) are duly noted, if for nothing else, their entertainment value. Notwithstanding the Hollywood stars and directors who claimed exodus was their only option under Bush--Barbra Streisand, Alec Baldwin, Michael Moore, Robert Altman, Lynn Redgrave, Pierre Salinger (now deceased), and Cher--all found the allure of Babylon on the Hudson irresistible; so much for leftist vibratos. Misquoted or just plain fluff--they all abide within the walls of the crystal palace celebrating the party atmosphere, as they star in a movie sequel to the "Left Behind Series" entitled: Talk is Cheap, Follow Us falling in love with a single mom quotes.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION VIA NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA--Enter the "Three Amigos"

Patriots would exclaim we're selling off and out America; globalists would see dollars galore; socialists would see an on-going rip off; and a whole bunch of people in the middle could care less (a.k.a. "victims anonymous").

Meanwhile Deanna Spingola in "Building a North American Community" (July 15, 2005) keeps telling it like it is:

"While our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers having been spilling their blood in the sands of Iraq under the guise of restoring the country to the Iraqi citizens, our president is in the process of giving our country to the elite One World Order insiders. While our president is requiring protected borders in Iraq, he is obliterating, not only our southern, but our northern borders." Actually, Deanna (and you've got to read her entire article) is referring to the Bush/Fox/Martin meeting (USA/Mexico/Canada) held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas on 23 March 2005, where they were busy about establishing the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" - to wit, the SPPNA's troika:

"We, the elected leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, have met in Texas to announce the establishment of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

"Over the past decade, our three nations have taken important steps to expand economic opportunity for our people and to create the most vibrant and dynamic trade relationship in the world (i.e., NAFTA; my insert). Since September 11 2001, we have also taken significant new steps to address the threat of terrorism and to enhance the security of our people. "But much still remains to be done. In a rapidly changing world, we must develop new avenues of cooperation that will make our open societies safer and more secure, our businesses more competitive, and our economies more resilient.

"Our Partnership will accomplish these objectives through a trilateral effort to increase the security, prosperity, and quality of life of our citizens. This work will be based on the principle that our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary, and will reflect our shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic values and institutions. It will also help consolidate our efforts within a North American framework, to meet security and economic challenges, and promote the full potential of our people, by reducing regional disparities and increasing opportunities for all."

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS--They're at it again!

Now don't go conspiratorial on me . . . hee-hee . . . don't need to . . . let the truth speak for itself:

It was on May 17, 2005 the CFR formalized its "Independent Task Force" to review at length the parameters of such a three-pact agreement among the USA, Canada, and Mexico. This 31-member force de jure was chaired by John F. Manley, Pedro Aspe, and William F. Weld and vice-chaired by: Robert A. Pastor, Thomas P. d'Aquino, Andrés Rozental. Cooperating with the CFR's efforts were the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales.

Indeed, the composite document released by the aforementioned is the very title of Spingola's article . . .

No wonder that Spingola and other American patriots view this as the "Great American Give-a-way!"

Take a gander at their timid prognostications and guess why moving to Canada's a joke . . .for what NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) could not destroy, FTAA (Free Trade Area/Agreement of the Americas . . . a.k.a. "Building a North American Community") fully intends:

"We are asking the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada to be bold and adopt a vision of the future that is bigger than, and beyond, the immediate problems of the present . . . they could be the architects of a new community of North America, not mere custodians of the status quo." (Canadian co-chair, John P. Manley, Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance). CHRISTIANS ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE

Now, listen to Spingola's assessment of all this--and, don't think she's some brainless Libertarian gone amok down in Texas somewhere . . .

"This basically means that Americans must give up their freedoms and hard won sovereignty along with all resources for the greater good of the 'New Community.' It is a socialistic equalization designed to make slaves of everyone in all three countries. This will occur as a result of the secret, subversive activities of our ruling elitist who have never sacrificed anything except their integrity. When it comes time to sell this socialistic venture, Bush will adopt his multipurpose 'Christian' stance and use every possible guilt maneuver to encourage this good hearted Christian country to open our hearts to the less fortunate. This is a ploy to make all of us less fortunate. There will be many who will fall for this scam under the pretext of Christianity. If we think Christians are media maligned now, just wait! We will be the most hated inmates in the camp!" Wow! Powerful projections here, right? I'm sure we'll somehow meet up with Spingola one day--if not in glory, then in some gulag cell contemplating how all of this got out of hand . . . I mean, if Shirley McClain went out on a limb, Spingola's going out on a twig:

"All of this is done under the facade of protecting us - from terrorists? The worse terrorists we face are those who serve in our government. Another day that shall live in infamy, 9/11, has done much to serve the purposes of those whose main goal is to establish the One World Order. What an opportunistic event! It couldn't have worked any better if they had planned it!" O CANADA - VIVA MEXICO - Life is good!

Of course most Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans can't stomach all of this unification at once; thus, the GREAT TRANSITION awaits us all:

Unified military command? Listen to what the CFR plans for your future:

1. Establish a common security perimeter by 2010. 2. Develop a North American Border Pass with biometric identifiers. 3. Develop a unified border action plan and expand border customs facilities. The CFR web site is effusive in its sacrifice of sovereignty:

4. Create a single economic space: 5. Adopt a common external tariff. 6. Allow for the seamless movement of goods within North America. 7. Move to full labor mobility between Canada and the U.S. 8. Develop a North American energy strategy that gives greater emphasis to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases - a regional alternative to Kyoto. Hey, and let's shoot the gap - listen, we're talkin' INTEGRATION BIG TIME . . . and we're not whistling Di

[townshipcoins-blog]

Township Cheats

Township Guides

Township guide is a manual for decent new recreation. The game permits you to create a metropolis, develop plants in your farm, interact in trade with the neighbouring special countries, you could also open up various eating places and theatres which shall assist you foster your populace. Each step taken has to be taken if you want to growth the satisfaction of your population. The Township mod apk provides the consumer with an first-rate benefit of having never finishing Cash which allows the user to shop for the satisfactory of the system proper from starting with out for once disturbing approximately the fee element making it a rational and logical desire. Your metropolis prospers in particular on natural crops, and you may need to plant numerous them in case you need a bustling and lively city. Wheat is the most critical of these plants, so that you need to make it a point to test if you've got an adequate supply of it. Through the years, you may also unlock other crops, and that could throw a wrench into things; you could locate your self grasping at straws to find to be had plots. If that is the case, maintain in thoughts your orders in queue and your items in inventory, and use this statistics to plant smartly. Or the undertaking to make ingots from ore (use the supplier to get a large stock of ore). And the ore mining task (the dealer sells up to 15 pickaxes each hour). The residence of good fortune venture and the mining undertaking may be completed in only a few mins! Other rapid tasks (in case you prepared for them) encompass the helicopter mission and the bi-weekly occasion responsibilities. - it's miles endorsed to dump most of the sluggish duties, like plane obligations and train duties and zoo responsibilities. 2 out of the nine chests contain tCash. So visually, the chances to get tCash is two out of nine equals 22% threat, however the real odds might be weighted (one-of-a-kind). The chests might also incorporates production substances or gem stones. - while you assist players, they may be more likely to send you considered one of their each day five presents (similarly to letters with clovers). A number of those presents will randomly yield tCash. The fine source of tCash probably comes from playing (and winning) the bi-weekly events. So how am i able to store my development ???? The mod sport won't connected to google account, and my development is freezed in the unique sport and i were given ban, but i do not care gambling with others to get money and coin so long as i've the moded recreation to revel in the whole lot . A way to maintain the progress whilst you download the brand new mod version ???? Township (mod, unlimited money) - an outstanding board game wherein you may create no longer most effective your beautiful farm however additionally a city. This absolutely became the collusion of british government and the groups that it chartered that whittled away on the rights and dignity of early american society, plus it was the statement of democracy that positioned government and enterprise in their own rightful area. It wasn't till i had nearly finished reading the slender street to the deep north that i was in a position to confess to myself that with a couple wonderful exceptions, even the elements of the story that'd moved me and could in all likelihood stay with me most surely later on had been those told via the japanese factor of view. They may be no longer shy approximately voicing their evaluations approximately your city control talents. As well as building a stunning town, you could additionally open and control your personal zoo. First you open the doorways with some nearby animals, and then make bigger thru a worldwide community. Introduce new species and act as a carer for dozens of different animals. You'll want to manipulate the budget of your zoo and hold the clients rolling via the door. Then you can think about remodeling the zoo into your metropolis's biggest visitor attraction. • constructing all varieties of new homes has one-of-a-kind necessities tied to them. Accomplishing new player levels unlocks new buildings within every class - the ones classes are "homes," "community homes," "factories," "farming," "decorations," and "unique." You'll constantly want Coins with the intention to build something new, so make certain you have got enough in the financial institution before you decide to address that task. A sure number of residents (alongside Coins) is needed earlier than you may building up a new factory or unique constructing. In case you see a chum on fb gambling it, even though, you'll probable have an excellent time if you make a decision to hop in, too. You begin a recreation of Township with a quite nicely-settled starter metropolis and plowed plots of land wherein you can develop vegetation. You begin with wheat but can sooner or later grow other staples like cotton and sugar cane. You get 10 plots at the game's beginning and must unencumber more with the aid of developing your metropolis's population. This includes handling the happiness level of your residents, which determines what number of people can live on your metropolis. I address that by using going into the game a couple times a day to get a few things began, and finsh up different matters i got began a time or two back. So in other phrases, it's not a sport you may just live in....you get a few matters going after which leave for awhile. It is genuine that filling the plane may be a project at times. It is a recreation, so the entirety this is in it may not always make general feel, but it is fun. • via the way, you may want various kinds of construction objects on the way to finalize the process for a modern day network constructing, manufacturing unit, or special building. Send off some items at the "teach station" a good way to gather those construction items. Expecting the ones gadgets to come to you commonly takes some time too, so make sure to additionally installation this assignment earlier than you sign off. By way of the manner, preserve an eye out for random blimps. Faucet on them to receive random presents, along with the ones often-required construction objects! They have yacht races, little mini games, the capability to sign up for coops and chat with buddies and so much greater. I've constantly given the game a 5 star rating and nonetheless might besides for multiple troubles that really need to be addressed. The foremost hassle i've is the shortage of land to layout our cities. The game has the cutest decorations and the designers are constantly including extra, they do deliver land expansions however in no way to the degree that the towns don't look cramped. Gamers in Township can also find themselves having fun playing the game with friends and other online gamers from all over the world. All you need to do is to connect the game with your social accounts like facebook or google+ to connect with friends who're also playing the game. In addition, having your social account connected will also enable the cloud saving feature, which guarantees that your save files are protected. In addition, you are also allowed to interact with many other gamers in Township and visit their towns if you want. Now compared to many other games of this style Township is very fair with its in-game pricing & you won't be struggling for Coins. Unlike many of its bed-fellows you can also earn Coins rorm selling your produce as well as completing missions & tasks set by your townspeople. 2 - the barn - now this is probably my biggest complaint. You have a barn that stores all your crops, produce & materials for building but when full you can't store anymore items without getting rid of some first. While the prices involved are reasonable, you'll have to start making purchases extremely early in your game. Getting far in Township without friends in the game with you would be an expensive proposition. Township is still a solid game offering a strong sense of advancement, well-designed quests, and extremely satisfying visuals. While the game isn't 3d or anything fancy like that, it has a look that's bright and friendly without feeling like a retread of any other game. It also ran very well during the test period, even on low-powered machines. Compare bids, reviews, and prior work. Interview favorites and hire the best fit. Use upwork to chat or video call, share files, and track project milestones from your desktop or mobile. Use upwork to chat or video call, share files, and track project milestones from your desktop or mobile. Create a great profile, advertising your business and helping us match you with ideal jobs. Also search for interesting projects. Create a great profile, advertising your business and helping us match you with ideal jobs. The advises: this is a Township non-official player's guide. The information in this book is for your help and play "Township" game .author is not affiliated to the game creator. Home quick makeovers top tips: learn how to design, decorate and furnish your ideal home - (home improvement, home) backpacking light 101: 18 steps to an easy, comfortable, and light pack for your first hiking adventure! Ielts general training reading practice test #12. An example exam for you to practise in your spare time. Township unofficial player's guide: secret tips, tricks and strategies to share your vision and develop your own town you submitted the following rating and review. We'll publish them on our site once we've reviewed them. In the beginning, you will have only a very small town. In this small town, growth methods are to grow and sell seeds and create plants and factories that process the elements and allow you to sell them for more money. Those of us who have dedicated so many hours will realize how the incredibly complex Township can become without much effort.

[kaialone]

Yokai Watch 2 Translation Comparison

(Masterpost for my Yokai Watch translations can be found here)

Before you continue to read, note that this will contain spoilers for Yokai Watch 2, at least two notable sidequests, to be precise. So if you’d rather not be spoiled for that, don’t read the rest of this.

So, this one is going to be a comparison of the original Japanese and English localized version of the pre- and post-battle dialouge for the boss Hans Full.

This quest, “The Haunted Hospital” is very dear to me, not just cause I’m a fan of everyone involved, but also because it’s one of the first bits of Yokai Watch text I ever translated, so I’ve always wanted to make a comparison of some of its dialouge’s Japanese and English versions.

(Note that while I’m going to use the version featuring Nate as the protagonist for my translation, but in this case there are next to no differences between Nate and Katie’s version. The only real “difference” is that when Nate screams he goes “Uwaah”, while Katie goes “Kyaah”, and Whisper using a different suffix for them.)

First will be just the texts themselves, with simple translation notes by me. After that I will go over notable changes in the dialouge, and my thoughts on them. Then I will go slightly more in-depth with changes to this part of the quest, not just involving the dialouge on it’s own. Lastly I will give my overall opinion on the localization as a whole.

For the translation part, the usual rules apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese; for reference and in case someone who is better at Japanese than I reads this, and feels like correcting something.

Bolded and italicized is my translation. 

Cursive is the offical English translation.

(Number) Indicates I got a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

Please keep in mind that I’m a beginner when it comes to Japanese, so it’s possible that I make mistakes, too.

I also don’t actually own the English version of the game so I´m going by screenshots, so if you are someone that does own it and you notice me making mistakes regarding that version, feel free to correct me.

(You can watch these scenes here in English, and here in Japanese)

Before Battle:

Maddiman:

ふはははははは！！！

Fuhahahahahaha!!!

Mwahahahahahahahaha!

Maddiman:

やはり 私は天才だ！ ついに！ ついに完成したぞ！！

I truly am a genius! Finally! I've finally completed it!! (1)

It is complete! At last, the world shall know my genius!

Maddiman:

いくつもの 妖怪をツギハギで作った まさに 究極の合成妖怪！！

By patching several yōkai together, I created the definite, ultimate Synthetic Yōkai!!

From countless other Yo-kai, I have created one greater than any of them!

Maddiman:

その名も アマテラス！！

And its name is Amaterasu!! (2)

And it shall be called Amatera!

Maddiman:

…と 言いたいところだが この妖怪は 私の想定をも はるかに超えてしまった…。

...Or so I would like to say, but this yōkai has exceeded my expectations by far...

...You know, now that I look at it, it doesn't really look like an Amatera.

Maddiman:

これでは… アマテラスならぬ モテアマスだ…！

This is... Not Amaterasu, it is Moteamasu...! (3)

I shall call it...Hans Full!

Maddiman:

今はまだ 絶対に このカプセルから 出すわけにはいかん…。

For now, I absolutely cannot let it out of this capsule yet...

Truly a fearsome beast... Fortunately, it cannot break free of its birthing tank.

Whisper:

むむ！ あやしげな妖怪が あやしげな実験をしていますよ！

My! A suspicious yōkai is performing a suspicious experiment!

My word! This mad-scientist Yo-kai appears to be performing mad science!

Maddiman:

絶対に このボタンを押したらダメだ…。 絶対に……。

This button must absolutely not be pressed... Absolutely...

Now I being my lonely vigil­—preventing anyone from pressing this button.

Whisper:

ん？ なにを押したらダメなんですか？

Hm? What mustn't be pressed?

Oho! A button that mustn't be pressed?

Maddiman:

だ 誰だ！？ 我が実験室に 勝手に入ってくるヤツは！

W-who's there!? Who has entered  MY laboratory without permission!? 

Wh-who said that?! Who has entered my laboratory?!

Maddiman:

や！ やめろ！ これは押すな！！ 絶対に押すなよ！！

S-stop! Don't press that!! You absolutely mustn't press it!!

NO! Don't press that! Do not, under any circumstances, press that button!

Whisper:

あ もしかして このボタンです？

Ah, do you mean this button here?

What? This button here under my rapidly descending finger?

Nate:

あっ…！ ウィスパー！

Ah...! Whisper!

Whisper, is that a good idea?!

Whisper:

ポチっとな。

Boop.

We're about to find out!

Maddiman:

ぎえーーーーーーー！！！！！

Gieehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Maddiman:

ぎああああああ！！！！ もう どうなっても知らんぞー！！！！！

Giaaaaaa!!!!! You brought this on yourself!！！！！ (4)

You fool! Be this on your own head!

Whisper:

ぎゃああああああ！！ で でたーーー！！！

Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!! I-it's out!!!

Oh no! It's escaped! Who could have forseen this turn of events?!

Nate:

ちょ ちょっと！！ ウィスパー 何してんの！！？

H-Hang on!! Whisper, what are you doing!!?

Whisper, what did you do?!

Whisper:

だ… だって 押すなって言われたら 押しちゃうもんでしょおおお！！！

I... It's just, if you're told not to press something, you just press it anyway, right?!!!

Well, I pressed the button. I'd have thought that rather obvious.

Nate:

うわあっ！ く… くる！！

Uwahh! H... Here it comes!!

We're gonna have a talk about this later!

Notes:

For the purpose of this particular translation, I am referring to Hans Full as “it”, the same way the English version does. Note though that, due to how the language works, in the Japanese version, Hans Full is never actually referred to with any third-person pronouns, from what I can tell. The English version is also potentially inconsistent in this regard, as Hans Full is referred to as “it” in this quest, but in “The Price of The World”, “he” is used instead. In the Japanese version, while no third-person pronouns are used to refer to Hans Full, he is briefly referred to as male by Whisper in “The Price of The World”.

The name “Amaterasu” is taken from the Shinto goddess Amaterasu.

The name “Moteamasu” is taken from 持て余す/moteamasu which means “to be more than one can handle”, “to be more than one knows what to do with”, “to be beyond one’s control”, and the like.

What he says here literally translates to something like “I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore”, but it’s a figure of speech that means something like “Don’t blame me for what’s gonna happen”; “I wouldn’t do that/wouldn’t have done that if I were you”, “If something bad happens, it’s your own fault”, and the like.

--

After Battle:

Nate: びっっっくりしたぁ〜！

That really scared me!

That was a tough one...

Whisper: 危なかったですね ケータくん！

That sure was dangerous, Kēta! (1)

In retrospect, I suppose I was a tad impulsive. My apologies, Nate.

Nate:

ところで さっき一瞬 見覚えのある人がいたような．．．。

By the way, for a second it felt like there was someone I know...

But something just now seems familiar...

Nate:

ウィスパー 覚えてない？

Do you remember anything, Whisper?

Whisper, did anything seem familiar to you?

Whisper:

．．．．．．。

...

...

Whisper:

気のせいじゃないですか？

Aren't you just imagining things?

Probably nothing! Certainly nothing that will come back to haunt us later!

Nate:

そうだよね。 さっ 帰ろ帰ろ！

Yeah, probably. Come on, let's go home!

I guess you're right. Anyway, let's go home!

Note:

In the Japanese version, Whisper uses the suffix くん/-kun when referring to Nate. If it is Katie instead of Nate, he used the suffix ちゃん/-chan to adress her.

Now, with the translation out of the way, I want to go over some changes that stood out to me personally between the two different versions of this dialouge.

For me, the most notable difference between the Japanese original and the English localization is the fact that Dr. Maddiman seems more, let’s say “clueless”, or at least at ease in English, and it's less clear what he is even planning.

Take the passage where he names Hans Full as an example:

Maddiman: And its name is Amaterasu!! And it shall be called Amatera!

Maddiman: …Or so I would like to say, but this yōkai has exceeded my expectations by far… …You know, now that I look at it, it doesn’t really look like an Amatera.

Maddiman: This is… Not Amaterasu, it is Moteamasu…! I shall call it…Hans Full!

Note how the way Dr. Maddiman decides on the new name for his creation differs.

In the Japanese version, Dr. Maddiman shows a better understanding of the situation he is in, noting that Amaterasu far exceeded his expectations, and he makes it clear that he understands it is more than he can handle, by literally naming it "Moteamasu", or “more than I can handle”.

In the English version, he simply comes to the conclusion that it "doesn't really look like an Amatera", and renames it to “Hans Full”.

Thus, in the English version the renaming is a lot more random, which arguably could've been intentional, for comedic effect or the like. Much worse is the fact that we lose information that is clearly given to us in the original, which is Dr. Maddiman being overwhelmed by his creation exceeding his expectations.

This next part also contains some notable differences:

Maddiman: For now, I absolutely cannot let it out of this capsule yet… Truly a fearsome beast… Fortunately, it cannot break free of its birthing tank.

(...)

Maddiman: This button must absolutely not be pressed… Absolutely… Now I being my lonely vigil­—preventing anyone from pressing this button.

For starters, "(...) it cannot break free of its birthing tank.", is simply incorrect, as Hans Full very much can break free, and does so as soon as it wakes up.

Also, in the Japanese version, Dr. Maddiman makes it clear that he merely intends to keep Hans Full within the tank for now, whereas the English wording doesn't make it clear, and could even be interpreted as him intending to keep it inside forever: "Now I being my lonely vigil­—preventing anyone from pressing this button."

In the English version it’s also less clear why Dr. Maddiman would want to keep Hans Full locked up in the tank in the first place, as in that version he hasn’t expressed explicit worry over  Hans Full’s unpredicted power.

More of a minor detail, but the "birthing tank" is also simply called a "capsule" in Japanese. However, in "The Price of the World", Dr. Maddiman likens the creation of Hans Full to a birth in both the English and the Japanese version, thus I don't consider the added birth metaphor here to be too much of tonal change. It’s alright with me, as it’s not something they took from nowhere.

After this, the next notable differences I want to talk about are actually at the very end:

Nate: By the way, for a second it felt like there was someone I know… But something just now seems familiar…

Nate: Do you remember anything, Whisper? Whisper, did anything seem familiar to you?

Whisper: … …

Whisper: Aren’t you just imagining things? Probably nothing! Certainly nothing that will come back to haunt us later!

The changes here feel a bit strange to me. In the Japanese version, Nate specifically mentions that for a moment he felt like "someone he knows" was there, seemingly subconsiously remembering Dr. Maddiman specifically, while the English line could also be interpreted as him remembering the events that occured in Nocturne Hospital during Yokai Watch 1 as a whole.

The added "(...)certainly nothing that will come back to haunt us later!" part is also a bit confusing to me. I guess the "haunt us later" bit refers to the fact that in "The Price of the World", Dr. Maddiman attacks Nate again eventually, and if they had remembered meeting him before, they would've been expecting that? Not sure.

However overall these changes are harmless compared to the changes to Dr. Maddiman's lines above, as they don't really change much about the actual "story" of the quest.

In a similar sense, the various changes to Whisper's lines that I haven't gone over yet aren't bad either.

Take for example this change:

Whisper: My! A suspicious yōkai is performing a suspicious experiment! My word! This mad-scientist Yo-kai appears to be performing mad science!

In this case, the line is pretty much exactly the same, except a little “spicing up” of the wording, to make the line seem more interesting in English.

Another example is this change:

Whisper: I... It's just, if you're told not to press something, you just press it anyway, right?!!! Well, I pressed the button. I'd have thought that rather obvious.

It slightly changes the emotion Whisper gives off, but it conveys the same information: Whisper thinks pressing the button is obvious.

Technically, some of the changes do slightly change Whisper's characterization in this quest, if you get really deep into it, but not to a point where it hurts the quest’s story. These are changes, yes, but they are pretty reasonable and/or harmless changes.

Aside from just going through the dialouge and notable changes to the text itself, there are some more things I could go over, so keep reading if you're interested.

First off, while it doesn't really have to do with the text itself, I really want to make note of the huge difference between Hans Full's English and original Japanese voice. You can listen to them both here.

As you can tell, unlike the adult-like, comedic voice Hans Full has in the English version, his Japanese voice is very high-pitched and child-like.

You may prefer either version of course, but I personally feel confused about this change, as they not only kept the lines that essentially liken Hans Full baby, but actually added some more of those... yet they didn't actually have him sound like a baby, like he does in the original? I guess it's possible they didn't like the idea of fighting a giant baby, but I feel if that was the case, they'd also change the dialouge? I don't know maybe they thought it was funny.

I suppose it’s also possible that the change to the voice was made without the quests being taken into consideration.

Aside from his voice, his name is also something I want to go over.

When it comes to his intended name, I don't really understand why they changed it from “Amaterasu” to “Amatera”, but ultimately this is a minor change and not super important. The allusion to the goddess is still there with the name being so similar (though that makes it feel even weirder that they changed it at all).

As for his actual name, “Hans Full” is a really nice way to adapt “Moteamasu” into English, being taken from "to have one's hands full", but, the quest itself doesn't actually feature the context as to why Dr. Maddiman gives it a name like that. It would have been nice if we had gotten a line where Dr. Maddiman says: “I’m going to have my hands full with this one... Guess I should call it ‘Hans Full’...!”, or something along those lines.

Adding to that, while Amaterasu sounds similar to Moteamasu, thus the renaming also being somewhat of a pun, Hans Full sounds nothing like Amatera. These little details make me wonder if maybe the name was adapted without the quest being taken into consideration or something like that, but I can't know for sure, obviously.

I also can't help but wonder is if this text was translated without the translator actually seeing the scene beforehand? Again, I can't be sure, but the reasons I presume this is the following:

When Dr. Maddiman decides on the new name, he visibly does this animation with those lines that indicate a gloomy mood, I don't know what they're called (I'm sure you've seen them in anime before).

This shows that he is well, gloomy, as he is doing this, which his Japanese text reflects: "This is... not Amaterasu, it is Moteamasu...!". Meanwhile in English, just going by the text alone, it almost seems like he is being more triumphant as he says it: "I shall call it... Hans Full!", which contrasts the animation.

The  overall dialouge in the English version also didn’t give as much of a reason as to why Dr. Maddiman would feel disheartened here.

This is not the only time in this scene where I felt that the English dialouge doesn’t quite match the way the characters are emoting, but this one stood out to me the most.

Another thing that confuses me is this line Dr. Maddiman says in English:

"Truly a fearsome beast… Fortunately, it cannot break free of its birthing tank."

...as, like I stated above, clearly it can break free, it literally does so after it wakes up. That is literally why he doesn't want anyone to push the button in the first place.

The only thing I could maybe think of is that it refers to the fact that Hans Full can’t break free while he is sleeping, but that should go without saying, right?

So, after all this, what is my overall opinion on this localization?

Well, I like it.

I would’ve wished for an adaptation that is slightly closer to the original Japanese version, but the changes aren’t too bad.

Even the ones that I described as “hurting the quest’s overall plot” are not terrible in the gand scheme of things, so I don’t feel like I can’t complain too much.

And changes aside, the English dialouge is fun with a lot of personality still, so it’s really easy to enjoy it regardless.

Also please note that while I made a lot of assumptions like "maybe this translation was done without them actually seeing the scene" and similar stuff, I am not specifically criticizing the localization team for this.

I don't know the situation, I'm no expert on common practices and what is the standard, so for all I know, even if my assumptions are correct, which they could very well not be, it might still be literally normal for a localization to be done in such a manner.

But yeah that's most of what I can say on this little bit of dialouge from this quest, if you've read this to the end, I hope you enjoyed it?

[creative-frequency]

Cinderelia Ch. 5 FINAL: The Search

Rating: SFW Pairing: King!Noctis x OC-ish (Evelia Orelia as Cinderella) Categories: Romance

It’s the last chapter! Thank you for everyone who has read this story. Hopefully you have enjoyed it. I really loved writing this and your kind comments concerning this fic have made my day on multiple occasions.

@singlebecauseofthechocobros enjoy your stay in Noctis hell ;) @lucianhuntress my bae ❤️ also go check out her blog, she is a new writer to the ffxv fandom! I except great things from her. @bleucommelhiver thanks again for your help, it was truly invaluable!

Previous Chapter

The Monday morning graced Insomnia with its warm rays of light. After a poorly slept night, King Noctis dressed in an inconspicuous pair of hoodie and jeans. He headed out with the intention of visiting the café where Evelia worked. He knew it was a very slim chance that she would be on shift at the moment, but it was the easiest place to begin. With any luck, Noctis would actually be able to conclude the search there.

The café wasn’t open yet when he arrived. He peeked inside through the glass door, trying to distinguish Evelia’s form behind the counter. There was someone, so with a trembling hand and a heavy heart he knocked on the locked door.

Caitlin raised her gaze from the cups she had been setting on their place. A dark figure waved behind the door. She glanced at the time; it was still five minutes until the opening time, but since there was someone so caffeine deprived already knocking, she decided to make an exception.

“Good morning,” Caitlin said as she opened the door for Noctis. She didn’t give two glances at him before walking back to behind the counter.

“What can I get for you?” she asked with her working-smile plastered on her face.

Noctis lowered his hood and Caitlin’s jaw dropped. She bowed hastily. “Y-Your Majesty!”

“Please, none of that. I don’t wish to be recognized,” Noctis shushed with a finger on his lips.

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry! How can I help you?” Caitlin said a tad embarrassed. Her eyes travelled curiously over the King, taking in his good looks.

“You’re Evelia’s colleague, right?” Noctis asked desperately.

“Yeah, but she called in sick this morning. She won’t be in for the whole week,” Caitlin said apologetically. She was itching to ask what this was about and why would the King of Lucis ask after her co-worker.

“Damn it,” Noctis hissed quietly. So much for that good luck. A week was too much to wait to catch Evelia at work. “Uh, this might sound strange, but what is her last name?”

Caitlin’s eyebrows rose up and she folded her arms on her chest. “Orelia? May I ask why are you asking me this?”

Noctis studied Caitlin’s face deep in his thoughts. Caitlin was still cocking a questioning eyebrow at him. “Maybe she’ll tell you someday. You wouldn’t happen to know her address?” Noctis said finally.

“No, sorry. I could find it from the office, but the manager is away for the week and she forgot to leave the keys. The door is locked. It’s just me here, all week by myself,” Caitlin said apologizing, but with a bitter undertone.

“Of course. I’m sorry, that must be troublesome. I don’t wish to add to your difficulties,” Noctis said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry about it. But, I know Evelia came to work by the second west subway-line if that helps.”

“I suppose it might. I’m sorry to having bothered you with this. Thank you, uh”–Noctis’s eyes darted on the nameplate on Caitlin’s chest–“Caitlin.”

“No bother at all. You’re welcome, Your Majesty.”

Noctis was back at the Citadel so fast that he might as well have unconsciously warped the whole way. He slammed the doors open into the Council Secretary’s office and made all the workers startle and turn in surprise.

Office workers bowed as he rushed past them to speak with the Council’s main secretary. Noctis gave instructions to find Evelia and offered all the information he had on her. He hesitated a moment before mentioning the unique glass shoe, but it only prompted a raised eyebrow from the secretary as he made notes hastily.

Then it was time for him to play the waiting game. He paced around in his quarters, eyes darting to the door at every sound of steps in the hallway. He had sent everyone, including his Shield away. He couldn’t concentrate on anything at hand. The image of Evelia was spinning through his head; he could almost feel her touch on his hand, smell her perfume and see how her lips curled into a sweet smile. His heart ached.

Fortunately it didn’t take long until Ignis came to deliver the bad news.

“What do you mean there’s no-one by the name of Orelia in the guest list?” Noctis asked shooting up from his work chair.

“What I’m saying is that maybe she doesn’t share her last name with her family. The invitations were sent on family basis,” Ignis said with a voice that spoke volumes about how he was getting tired of this charade.

Noctis frowned. “But that could mean–“

“That she is actually married, yes, or has been. It also means we have really no other way to track her down than to visit all the families in the West side of Insomnia. For starters.”

“Let’s do it,” Noctis said with a stern look.

Ignis paused for a moment.

“Are you that taken with her?” he chimed carefully. He was holding back a fond smile. It was about time the King would become enthusiastic about a lady, though the object of his affections was making them go through some extra effort.

“I guess I am,” Noctis said and a blush creeped to redden his ears.

Ignis sighed. “Very well then, I shall do everything I can. I will arrange for a search party–“

“Wait, I want to be there,” Noctis said walking up to him.

“If that is what Your Majesty wishes. Though it will require more time that way,” Ignis said slowly.

“I don’t care. I want to make sure we find her, and I’m probably the only one who will recognize her,” Noctis said thinking about Evelia behind the café counter. Of course he had then noticed her beauty, but hadn’t thought much about it. He had been too occupied with the upcoming ball to even think about ladies in that moment.

“Very well. I shall call Gladio and Prompto to meet us at the garage.”

A minute later, Noctis tapped his foot anxiously on the elevator floor. What if they wouldn’t be able to find Evelia? What if she had left the city for some reason? No, that made no sense at all. But, what if she didn’t want anything to do with Noctis? Maybe he indeed had misread the whole situation and his advances had been unwanted.

Noctis felt the pinch of desperation in his chest. In any case, he had to try at least, or he would never be able to stop thinking about her. If Evelia never wanted to see him again, he wanted to hear it straight from her. It would break his heart, but it would be better that way.

“Is everything alright?” Ignis asked, sensing his distress.

“Yes, I was just thinking where we should start the search,” Noctis lied. He was not alright before he could lay his eyes on Evelia again. He held the address list of all the families invited to the party in his hand. They would just have to go through them all, starting with the ones living in the west-side of Insomnia. There were over five-hundred names in the list.

“I can’t believe you missed old Cid’s visit,” Prompto whined as he and Gladiolus walked up to Noctis and Ignis.

“Well, you can call him and tell him that he is invited to the wedding,” Noctis said.

Ignis cleared his throat; Gladiolus leaned his hand off the car hood and almost fell. Prompto let out a long whistle.

Gladiolus and Prompto stared at their friend in unexpected awe and Ignis turned his head to his general direction.

“Wow, you’re really serious about her,” Gladiolus said with admiration in his voice.

“Whew, dude. Though I must say those longing gazes between you two were making my teeth hurt,” Prompto said.

“A younger bride is a good investment into the future,” Gladiolus grinned.

“Shut up, Gladio,” Noctis muttered.

Not a moment later, the trio was sitting in the new Regalia while Ignis stayed behind to oversee the Citadel. The black car had been a gift from Cindy and Cid to the Crown, and Noctis still had no idea that his best friends had had part to play in rebuilding it from a scratch.

Prompto was fondly caressing the dashboard in the front passenger’s seat, whereas Gladiolus was driving.

“Man, I love this car maybe even more than your dad’s old one,” Prompto said, but Noctis could barely hear him. He was too anxious. His heart was thumping so loudly it was blocking out all other noises like Prompto’s voice.

Noctis was staring at the guest list, trying to mark down which of the names were surely dead ends and which ones lived the nearest to their location.

“Just tell me where to drive,” Gladiolus said as he saw from the rearview mirror what Noctis was doing.

“Right,” Noctis said and gave the first address.

Hours, many stunned ballguests and as many polite declines for coffee, tea or whatever each household offered later, Noctis was getting desperate. They had not been through even tenth of the list and nobody seemed to know who the girl in the lilac dress on the third evening had been.

Prompto was trying to cheer up his best friend. “C’mon Noct. We’ll find her. She can’t possibly stay away from you and your… charms.”

Gladiolus snorted.

“Thanks Prompto. I feel so much better now,” Noctis deadpanned.

“Who would’ve thought that the King of Lucis would be funny when he’s lovesick?” Gladiolus said.

“So what are you gonna do when you find her? Give her that shoe back?” Prompto snickered.

Noctis glanced at the glass shoe resting on the leather seat next to him. He hadn’t really thought about what to do or say, and now that Prompto had mentioned it, maybe he should have.

“He will confess his undying love for her of course,” Gladiolus said.

“Maybe I will. At least I would beat you two to it,” Noctis’s mouth curled into a sly smile.

Gladiolus stopped the car at the next address. “Hmph. We’ll see about that at this rate. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Evelia was nervously fidgeting with her stuffed moogle toy, sitting on her bed. She had called in sick at work first thing in the morning and leaving Caitlin in trouble made her only feel worse than the initial white lie on the phone. She needed the week off to find someone who would take her as an apprentice. It would be a tough break, but she was determined to succeed. Even without the support of her so-called family.

Encouraged by Noctis’s words, Evelia had decided to finally grasp the nettle and tell her stepmother she wanted to study.

Naturally, she had been most surprised at the decision and attempted to laugh it off.

“You’re silly, Evelia. People go to school to get smarter, so they could get a job. You already have a job so it’s like skipping a step.”

“I know, mother, but I really want to follow in father’s footsteps one day,” Evelia had pleaded, trying so hard to make her understand why beginning medical studies was important to her.

Finally, her stepmother had lost a bit of her temper and snapped.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you, Evelia. You’re not very pretty or smart. People like you should be content with their place in the world, since you obviously have no chance for a better life.”

At that, Evelia had left and called to work, not at all ready to give up yet. As she was contemplating on her next step, Anastasia and Drisella came knocking by her door.

“Oh, poor Evelia! We heard what mother said about your dream of becoming a doctor!” Drisella said sympathetically and sat down on the bed next to Evelia.

“That was so unfair of her to lay it out for you like that!” Anastasia continued.

Evelia blinked in surprise of the uncharacteristic kindness from her stepsisters. “Why, thank you for understanding. Maybe you could talk to her then? Please?”

Anastasia and Drisella exchanged looks. “We could, of course!”

“Yes, anything for our dear sister!”

“Really? Thank you so much! I mean, it would mean a lot to me,” Evelia said with a spark of hope in her voice.

“But it wouldn’t change anything,” Anastasia said carefully. Her too darkly painted mouth curved into a mischievous smile.

Evelia frowned at her and pulled the moogle plushie closed to her chest. “What do you mean?”

“Mother is right, naturally, you’re just not smart enough to pull something like that off,” Drisella explained matter of factly.

“You, becoming a doctor? Patient death statistics would spike!” Anastasia said, barely biting back her malicious giggle.

Evelia’s eyes fell on the floor.

“Maybe you should set some more achievable aspirations, like getting a promotion to a manager at that café you work in.”

“A manager? Her? It would go bankrupt in the matter of days!” Anastasia laughed.

“I would like to be left alone now, please,” Evelia said firmly, holding back the tears welling in her eyes.

“Whatever you wish, Cinderelia,” Drisella cooed and stood up from the bed. They left the room, snickering cruelly.

Evelia threw herself on the bed. She took the flower necklace from under her pillow to her palm and stared at it in longing. Her heart was aching after Noctis. She felt so silly for pining after the King of Lucis. A single tear fell on the flower, making it glow hardly noticeably, but at the same time Evelia closed her palm around it.

She cried inconsolably until her stepmother would come to yell at her because she had not left for work.

If Noctis had not been desperate earlier, he surely was now. The day was turning into evening, and still they had not the slightest clue about who Evelia was or where she lived.

Prompto and Gladiolus did their best in trying to reassure the King that matters would turn out alright, but Noctis was inches away from falling into the dark pit of regal sulking.

They were already in the neighborhood where Evelia lived, looking around, seeking out the next address on the list. Prompto was still trying to encourage Noctis with words which were already starting to fall on deaf ears.

Then Noctis felt something stirring within him. It was a sudden rush of sadness. The emotion was so strong it felt alien. He felt many things in that moment, but deep sorrow was not one of them. He straightened his posture in the back seat so quickly that Gladiolus and Prompto turned to look.

“What now?” Gladiolus asked. He knew the look on Noctis’s face. He was unto something, probably something to do with magic.

“You okay there, buddy?” Prompto asked concerned.

“Stop the car,” Noctis said, looking wildly around to outside. The streets were empty.

As soon as the vehicle halted, Noctis was out.

“Dude!” Prompto yelled after him, but he had already dashed towards the alien pull in his chest. Prompto and Gladiolus followed as quickly as they could.

Noctis’s insides were coiling. What was the strange feeling? Could he possibly feel Evelia’s presence? Even the concept was ridiculous. Besides, why would he feel so crushingly sad if she was near? Fear and excitement were building up in his stomach.

Led by his intuition, Noctis soon encountered an iron gate leading to the backyard of one of the grander houses in the area. A single maple tree was lightly shaking its branches in the wind. He was about to step in, but Gladiolus’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Noct, you can’t just barge into someone’s backyard,” he said with a grimace.

“Right,” Noctis said distantly, letting Gladiolus pull him back and lead them to the front door.

Noctis’s hear was racing. The pull of magic was strong, almost urgent inside him as he stood before the wooden front door, staring at the label on it.

“Prompto, is this address on the list?” Noctis asked.

“Yeah, I think so. How did you know?” Prompto replied.

Noctis’s pulse spiked higher, before he forced himself to calm down by exhaling slowly.

“You sure this is the right place?” Gladiolus asked with a frown.

Noctis nodded once and inhaled deeply.

“I-I’ll go grab the shoe!” Prompto said and ran back to the car.

“You sure about this?” Gladiolus asked.

“Yeah. More sure than I’ve ever been about anything in my life,” Noctis said breathily.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Gladiolus smirked and rang the doorbell.

They heard the soft chime echo from inside the house.

Noctis was going to protest for not having enough time to mentally prepare, but the sudden rush of footsteps from inside and a familiar-sounding “I’ll get the door,” made the words hitch in his throat. He gave Gladiolus a wide-eyed glance and braced himself.

Noctis saw in slow-motion as the door opened before him. In the doorframe was standing entirely dumbfound Evelia. She gasped.

“Who is it Evelia?” her stepmother asked on her way to see who the guest was.

“It’s–“ Evelia could only say before her stepmother let out a scream.

“Your Majesty!” she gasped and pushed her away from the doorway. Evelia stood back, her eyes locked with Noctis, both pairs thoroughly stunned.

Prompto came back with the shoe, huffing out of breath. Mechanically, Noctis reached out to take it from him. “Good evening,” Noctis said, his eyes quickly darting at the woman standing in front of him, trying to hide Evelia behind her.

At the combination of the doorbell and the scream, Drisella and Anastasia flew down the stairs.

“Mother, what is it–“

“Who is there–“

Both sisters stopped on their heels after bumping Evelia’s sides in their rush to get past her.

“Oh, good evening, Your Majesty,” their mother purred, while shooing the girls away from gawking, “What brings us this unexpected pleasure?”

Evelia had fallen back to lean on the railing of the stairs. How on Eos had Noctis found her? What was he doing here? And what was with that shoe in his hand? Evelia could not think straight and her heart was beating in her throat.

Noctis coughed to clear his throat. “I’m looking for her.” He nodded behind the stepmother who was effectively blocking the doorway. She quickly stepped aside to offer the King a clear view at her daughters.

“Oh, what a lovely surprise! Which one of my girls you wanted to speak with?” the mother sang in excitement.

Drisella and Anastasia quickly smoothed their clothes and swiped any stray locks from their faces.

“Uh, actually, I meant her,” Noctis said motioning towards Evelia, who had sat down on the second lowest stair.

Drisella, Anastasia and their mother looked at each other in confusion. “Her? Your Majesty must be mistaken; she is just our simple-minded servant girl. I let her live in the house, because she has no other place to go. I always try to be kind to those less fortunate, don’t you agree, Your Majesty? Hmm, Your Majesty?”

Noctis had stopped listening before halfway through to her monologue and stepped inside the house. Drisella and Anastasia stepped away from his path, confused gazes still darting between their guests and their mother.

Noctis crouched before Evelia, who was staring at him at loss of words and biting her lip to keep away the tears threatening to well up.

“Hey,” Noctis husked.

“Hey,” Evelia managed to whisper in a dry voice.

Prompto and Gladiolus were curiously peeking inside to see what was happening. Drisella and Anastasia were being shooed away by their mother, to whom the obviously occurred events were starting to make sense. Evelia had disobeyed her and managed sneak into the ball to seduce the King somehow. There was no other reason he would’ve possibly wanted to see her and disregard her two lovely daughters so coldly.

“I believe this is yours,” Noctis said, offering the shoe for Evelia.

She stared at it, completely stunned. She had kicked the shoes away so she could make her escape without tripping, and there the glass-made heel glinted at the King’s hand. Shouldn’t it have disappeared like the rest of her attire at the stroke of midnight?

Evelia tilted her face up to see Noctis’s eyes and the hint of smile playing on his lips.

”I’m sorry it was such a stupid thing to do!” she yelped, “Leaving my shoes behind…”

Noctis chuckled. “No, it was not stupid at all…” his eyes seeked Evelia’s in a tender gaze, “It led me back to you.”

Evelia didn’t say anything. With a shaky hand, she took the shoe, wondering where the other one was.

“Evelia!” her stepmother almost screamed, “Would you care to explain what is going on with our charming guests here?” The furious undertone in her voice made Evelia flinch and turn her eyes at her from Noctis.

Her stepmother’s eyes bulged from restrained rage. Evelia had never seen her looking so enraged. The sight froze her blood.

Noctis turned to look at her as well and as fast as the rage had risen on the stepmother’s face, it disappeared just as quickly as she got her emotions back under control. However, the inviting smile never returned and still traces of extreme irritation laced her features.

“Could we talk for a moment? Alone,” Noctis said standing up. He offered his hand for Evelia, who took it a bit shakily.

“Let’s go out to the garden,” Evelia said, taking one final glance at her stepmother, who was glaring at her murderously.

“Just–, give a holler should you require me,” she said desperately.

Anastasia and Drisella stared in disbelief when Evelia led Noctis to their backyard, still holding his hand.

They stopped under the maple tree. Noctis was chasing Evelia’s gaze, but she persistently kept looking elsewhere.

“So, uh, Ignis is going to be either pissed or impressed,” Noctis said awkwardly to fill the silence.

Evelia’s eyes snapped into his. “Yes, he should be. You shouldn’t consort with someone as lowly as me–“

“Please don’t talk like that about yourself,” Noctis pleaded, making Evelia fall silent. She was still holding his hand and gripping the glass heel in the other.

The light touch had made the coil of emotions unwind inside Noctis and he felt like he could finally breathe again after a long time. As he inhaled, the familiar smell of Evelia’s perfume filled his nostrils.

“I, uh, I’m sorry for deceiving you,” Evelia said quietly.

“You did not deceive me, someone as gentle as you couldn’t possibly manage something like that.”

A hint of a smile played on Evelia’s lips. “Well, I’m obviously not a princess,” she said gesturing towards her old t-shirt and leggings.

“I never expected you to be, Evelia, even though you dress like one,” Noctis said calmly and finally got a proper smile out of her.

“Well, I had help,” Evelia confessed, biting her lip.

Noctis’s brows shot up. “From who?” As the question hanged in the air, he realized he already knew the answer. It was obvious now that he thought about it.

“There was a spirit, called Gentiana. She magically transformed my clothes into those beautiful gowns,” Evelia explained with a trace of sadness in her voice.

“Gentiana… I see,” Noctis said. His tone was so even and not at all surprised that it piqued Evelia’s curiosity.

“Sounds like you’re familiar with her,” she said carefully.

“You could say she is… a family friend.” Noctis made the mental note of summoning Shiva soon to thank her for what she had done for him – For them.

“Oh, I see. Well, maybe you could thank her for me then?” Evelia said sheepishly.

“I’ll make sure you can do it yourself one day,” Noctis said with a smile.

A moment of silence followed.

“So what happens now?” Evelia asked, afraid of the answer, “I mean, you found me.”

Noctis inhaled before talking. He was very conscious of his pulse rising again and Evelia’s insecure stare did nothing to soothe it. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her she had nothing to be afraid and that she would be alright. Noctis wanted to offer everything he possibly could for her, but realized he should hold back a bit for now, lest he might scare her away.

”Evelia, would you give me the honor of going out with you?” Noctis asked carefully. From the way Evelia’s eyes studied his face, the sudden fear of her declining tightened into a lump in his chest.

There it was. The subject Evelia had been dreading for. The exact reason she had been afraid to see Noctis again.

“I’d like nothing more, but…” Evelia said, tears forming in the corners on her eyes, “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Noctis asked softly, searching her eyes.

“Mother would throw me out on the street and my sisters would love to see me dead if I did that,” Evelia said and sniffed.

“Is that what you’re concerned?” Noctis asked incredulously. He stroked Evelia’s cheek and lifted her chin to see her eyes. A tear fell down on her cheek.

“We’ll figure something out for you,” Noctis continued and wiped the tear with his thumb.

Evelia swallowed. “No, I couldn’t ask–“

Noctis shushed her to quiet. “I’ll help you find a place to stay. In the meanwhile you can come live at the Citadel.”

Evelia laughed at his surreal suggestion, but was at loss of words.

“Just one proper date. And I’ll help you out of this place even in case you don’t want to see me anymore after today,” Noctis said softly, “Please.” His hand still rested on her chin, tilting her head up to meet his eyes.

Evelia’s heart melted. “I-if you’re sure,” she said in a shaky tone.

“I am, don’t worry about that, Evelia.”

Evelia breathed out lightly and tried to muster a thankful smile. Her body relaxed and she squeezed Noctis’s hand lightly.

“May I kiss you?” Noctis asked quietly and tugged a few strands of hair behind her ear.

Evelia blushed heavily, well conscious of the possible prying eyes, and nodded.

Noctis cupped her cheek and his lips gently pushed against hers in a chaste kiss.

The End

Writing Masterlist

[notgoingtohappen]

Revenge, Interrupted (Part 12)

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11

A/N: shoutout to @mysterolineheart444world for helping me with a plot point for this chapter!

Stefan watched affectionately as Caroline did a small jig around the pool table as she exclaimed “I won, I won, told you I’d win!”

And then he wiped the smile off his face as he could practically hear Lexi’s voice in his head: pathetic, Stefan, stop looking so whipped.

And the Lexi in Stefan’s head was right. He still had to figure it what was real and what was part of the pretence, but he wasn’t going to go and develop a crush on her and make the whole situation awkward. The fact that he really couldn’t distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t meant his “feelings” were nothing but the after-effects of a drunk hook-up. She was adorable, as a friend, he told himself.

Caroline was next to him again and looked up smiling, her hair coming undone, eyes bright, cheeks flushed and panting a little.

“Tired from your victory dance?”

“Being a winner. It’s exhausting.”

“So is being serious. I wouldn’t know, of course.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure.”

“I plan to pay you back for that game, by the way.”

They stood there smiling at each other and on an impulse, Stefan reached out to tuck a lock of hair falling in her eyes behind her ear. 

Their friends were around, after all. It had nothing to do with the fact that he’d been wanting to do that for days.

Her cheeks seemed to get redder and she looked down. He stepped back quickly and was just about to open his mouth to say they should get back to the others when someone else beat him to it.

“Caroline Forbes?” came a voice from behind him.

The accent wasn’t exactly British but something about the voice was strangely familiar. Caroline froze and Stefan turned around to see a light-haired, lean man walking over to them, grinning from ear to ear.

“Klaus, hi.” Caroline mumbled.

“Hello, love. Fancy seeing you here!”

“You too…”

“I was certain the next time we would run into each other would be at the Palace of Versailles—one of my favourite locations in the world, of course—under a painting we both admired greatly and stopped to marvel at…” he trailed off with a slightly manic smile.

“France, huh? Maybe someday.” Caroline said, clearly at a loss for words.

Who was this dude? Stefan realised that his name was kind of familiar.

“Splendid! How are you doing, then?”

“Good, good… graduated, got a job.” Caroline wasn’t chatty for once and it struck Stefan as surprising, and he moved slightly closer to her.

“Excellent! And who is this fellow?” he motioned to Stefan.

“Stefan Salvatore.” He held out his hand.

The man shook it, somehow looking both pleased to meet him and annoyed that he was standing protectively next to Caroline. Then his eyes widened and he clapped Stefan on the shoulder. “Young Salvatore!”

Stefan looked at Caroline, perplexed, and she shrugged with a don’t-look-at-me-man-I-don’t-know look. “Excuse me?”

“Klaus Mikaelson! Do you not remember? It was high school, I believe, when I first made your acquaintance.”

Everything came back to Stefan and he wanted the ground open up and swallow him, and Caroline didn’t look that different.

“Oh god, yeah, sophomore year, you were a senior and my-“

“Supplier of herbal sensory enhancers, yes.” Klaus cut in. “A self-made businessman at so tender an age, no wonder I control my family’s fortune.”

Caroline looked from Stefan and Klaus and then back to Stefan, dumbfounded.

“Er, you can call it that.” He said.

Her mouth fell open slightly. “Wait, herbal enhancers… were you… his drug dealer?”

Stefan cringed and he knew she instantly knew the answer.

“Ah, that is so base and crude a term, love. The profession is far more than that.”

“Uh… okay then.” Caroline didn’t look like she wanted to contradict him.

Stefan turned to Caroline. “After my last summer there, I lost touch with V but whenever I wanted some, Klaus sold it to me that year.”

Klaus smiled fondly at Stefan. “How shattered you must have been when I graduated. My sincerest apologies.”

“No, it was good, I got sober pretty quick after.”

Klaus nodded, looking moved. “Good for you, friend.”

And then he turned to Caroline. “You, my dear, are light. I have not forgotten that night at the fraternity house’s annual party. If you ever want something more, do come to me, for I will show you the allure of art and culture and passion and darkness and you shall be a queen among women.”

Stefan felt incredibly uncomfortable listening to this and was growing increasingly more annoyed at Klaus. He was aware of the urge to punch him but instead turned to check on Caroline, who looked mortified.

He hadn’t said anything before because this guy seemed to be an ex of some kind, but her expression made him step ever closer to her. “Back off, man.” Stefan looked Klaus squarely in the eye.

She moved so close to Stefan she bumped into his side and slipped her hand into his. “Actually, Klaus, I’m with Stefan, and I told you the last time, I was drunk and mad at my ex-boyfriend and it was nothing.”

Klaus nodded gravely. “I understand. Nothing gives me greater joy than to see two dear friends deeply in love. I wish you all the joy. I have only one request, invite me to the wedding. Farewell.”

He turned around and left, leaving a stunned Stefan and Caroline in his wake.

Caroline sighed, sounding relieved, and her head slumped against his shoulder as loosened her tight grip on his hand.

“What the fuck was that?” Stefan said, astounded.

“Wedding?” Caroline spluttered.

“Paris?” Stefan added.

“I cannot believe you bought drugs from him!”

“I can’t believe you… you know, had sex with him!” He hoped his cheeks weren’t red as he remembered that they’d almost had sex last night, and probably would have if no one had knocked.

“He was just this guy at the party who kept checking me out and telling me nice things and seemed like a bad boy…”

“Still, him?” Stefan was aware that on some level he was jealous but a part of him was relieved they were back to their easy banter again.

“I was new to college and mad at Tyler, okay? Might I remind you Stefan, you let him sell you drugs.”

“I missed getting high after that summer with Vicki, okay!”

She stared at him and then they burst out laughing and couldn’t stop. They looked drunk but it was amazing how they didn’t even need alcohol to laugh hysterically.

“Oh my god, what even was that?” she gasped, visibly trying to stop laughing.

“I have no idea.”

Stefan rubbed his eyes and then led her back to the table, holding hands.

“Hey guys!” The others greeted them.

“Don’t you look chipper.” Enzo commented.

“Your phone was buzzing like crazy, Steffy.” Damon said.

Stefan grabbed it, read the email and his face split into a huge smile. “I got the job!”

Before he knew it, Caroline’s arms had flown around his neck and he was holding her, her perfume that reminded him of flowers at the estate and now her, sent a pang of longing through him. What for, he wasn’t sure.

She landed on his feet and pulled back. “Congratulations!” she said softly and then he did what he’d wanted to all night. He cupped her face and pulled her close with his other hand, and kissed her. Again. In front of the others. Again.

For show, of course.

He could hear some hooting and laughter from their friends but all he could think about was Caroline. The way her fingers snaked into his hair, the way she gently pulled him closer, her kisses that he could never get enough of.

They finally pulled away and sat down with their friends.

Stefan was kind of relieved that kiss had been a far more casual one than the previous few. He had been starting to fear he wasn’t capable of kissing her without it turning into a full-blown makeout session. 

“Uh, congratulations, Stefan.” Elena patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Knew you had it in you, mate.”

“Awesome news!” said Bonnie.

“I’d hug you, but you still look dazed,” Damon smirked. “You and Blondie are interesting, to say the least.”

Stefan shot him a puzzled look, aware of Caroline’s gaze on him.

They were supposed to be believable, not ‘interesting.’

“What do you mean?” he asked his brother.

“Well, for starters she’s not insane like Katherine, or annoying like Valerie, or dull like Ivy, or my type like Rebekah.”

Stefan scoffed, relieved. “Wow.”

“Or mean like Lexi.” Enzo muttered.

Elena laughed. “You just think she’s mean because she rejected you that time when she dropped by to visit Damon.”

“It was unkind.”

“You were being an idiot. And everyone could tell you liked Bonnie.”

Bonnie and Enzo smiled at each other.

“She was taken then.”

“I’m taken now too. By you.”

They kissed and Damon rolled his eyes. “Never stops being weird. It’s like seeing my parents kiss. Anyway. I’m just saying. It’s different.”

“Don’t worry, you’re cute!” Elena reassured them.

Caroline smiled at Stefan and the hint of nervousness didn’t escape him. It was an odd thing for Damon to say. He moved closer to her and put his arm around her to somehow ease her.

“DAMON! BONNIE! ENZO!” Elena yelled suddenly.

They all stared at her, a little alarmed.

She looked elated, grinning at her phone. “Liam and Nadia and Kai are gonna be in town tomorrow!”

Damon looked like he was going to pass out from excitement, Bonnie was giggling with Elena, and Enzo sat back with his arms crossed, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

“You okay?” Stefan asked him.

“This Kai, he was always hitting on Bonnie. I loved the gang, but never particularly him.”

Caroline, also excluded from the excitement, leaned over. “You have nothing to worry about Enzo, take it from her best friend. She’s crazy about you. Go and enjoy, I would give anything to have my college friends in town.”

“I would give anything to have Lexi in town.” Stefan muttered.

“Not helping.” Enzo sighed and then cheered up when Damon mentioned something about Liam and the four went outside to talk to him on Damon’s phone so they could have the “best signal possible”.

“Who is Lexi?” Caroline asked him curiously.

Stefan grinned. “She’s my best friend.”

“Enzo said she was your ex, right?”

Stefan looked at her, shocked, and then started laughing. “What?”

“Yeah, he said, “Or mean like Lexi” when Damon was listing your exes.”

Understanding dawned on Stefan. “Oh, he didn’t mean anything. He probably just said that because she’s the first girl most people associate with me, but she’s like my sister.”

Caroline nodded quietly, and sipped on her coke, looking around.

Wait, why was she asking? Like, she remembered Damon and Enzo’s exact words on his ex-girlfriends. Was it interest… or maybe jealousy?  

He pushed the thought away, chalking it off to wishful thinking.

And it became even clearer it was nothing of the sort when she leaned over and softly asked him something that made him feel far more uneasy than he should have.

In fact, he shouldn’t be feeling anything, least of all uneasy or sad.

“Stefan, I was thinking, what if we meet someone we actually want to date?”

Stefan swallowed his feelings and forced himself to answer, wondering if seeing Klaus had inspired this. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just a hypothetic scenario. We should cover all our bases, right? I mean, you should see the way that girl is checking you out.” She nodded to a dark haired, leather jacket clad girl who was sitting at the bar and sipping a martini.

She looked a vaguely familiar, and he tried not to stare as he racked his brains. He realised it was because she looked like Katherine and looked away.

Caroline had been watching him and her expression was different, more vacant. She wasn’t cheery anymore.

He hated not being able to gauge what she was thinking.

“I guess we… date them in secret? Until this is over.” he said, wondering if Caroline wanted to date some guy she’s seen at her interview or maybe the building or mall or- wow, he needed to chill.

She nodded and he could feel her pulling away somehow, the dynamic between them shifting from playful to something far less intimate.

He was about to say something so things would feel normal again when someone behind him cleared their throat. He turned around and it was the girl from the bar.

“Hey.” She said confidently, looking at Stefan from behind her lashes. She was pretty, but weirdly resembled Katherine, which unnerved him a bit.

“Hi” he replied.

He found himself thinking Caroline, with her wavy hair like sunshine and bright, expressive blue eyes and easy smile, was so much more beautiful.

“I’m Rayna.” She held out her hand.

He was pretty sure he knew where this was going. “Stefan.”

“Nice to meet you. Are you free tomorrow night?” she asked.

So she was direct.

He hesitated, wondering if he wanted to go out with her. She wasn’t really his type… if he had one. His ex-girlfriends had nothing in common. She was hot, but…

He looked at Caroline without meaning to.

Caroline saw him looking at her and seemed to think hard about something for a few moments and then turned to the girl, her expression resolute. “He’d love to, he was just telling me how hot he thought you were.”

The girl smiled seductively at Stefan her smile reminded him even more of Katherine. “Great.” She said, handing him a napkin. “Here’s my number. Call me.” She said and then walked right out of the bar.

Stefan turned to Caroline. She’d really wanted him to go on that date for some reason. She obviously didn’t feel anything for him, and he owed it to himself to give it a chance. And he probably didn’t feel anything for Caroline either. If you spend that much time with someone cute and pretend to be a couple, some confusing feelings are bound to emerge. He was just going to have to get a grip until this was all over and they could go back to being just friends.

Maybe he’d like Rayna anyway. Maybe he’d like her because she reminded him of Katherine. It had been years anyway. Who knew?

“I’ll totally help you sneak around,” Caroline said, her expression still serious.

He was supposed to be the serious one.

“Okay, thanks.” 

“Pinky promise.” She added and held out her little finger.

He gazed at her. 

Who was this adorable? 

His last pinky promise had probably been when he was three, with Damon over not confessing to spilling kool-aid on the sofa.

He held out his pinky too. “Same. If you want to date Klaus, my help is at your disposal.” He said dutifully, trying to make her smile.

She looked at him incredulously and then laughed. “What? No! Have you seen him, Stefan, or heard him? Honestly, my taste is way better, give me some credit.”

He’d succeeded in making her smile and in making things normal again, but that’s not why his mood shot up.

13

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Three Writing Rules to Disregard

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Three Writing Rules to Disregard

I have nothing against rules. They’re indispensable when playing Monopoly or gin rummy, and their observance can go a long way toward improving a ride on the subway. The rule of law? Big fan.

The English language, though, is not so easily ruled and regulated. It developed without codification, sucking up new constructions and vocabulary every time some foreigner set foot on the British Isles—­to say nothing of the mischief we Americans have wreaked on it these last few centuries—­and continues to evolve anarchically. It has, to my great dismay, no enforceable laws, much less someone to enforce the laws it doesn’t have.

Certain prose rules are essentially inarguable—­that a sentence’s subject and its verb should agree in number, for instance. Or that in a “not only x but y” construction, the x and the y must be parallel elements. Why? I suppose because they’re firmly entrenched, because no one cares to argue with them, and because they aid us in using our words to their preeminent purpose: to communicate clearly with our readers. Let’s call these reasons the Four C’s, shall we? Convention. Consensus. Clarity. Comprehension.

Also simply because, I swear to you, a well-­constructed sentence sounds better. Literally sounds better. One of the best ways to determine whether your prose is well ­constructed is to read it aloud. A sentence that can’t be readily voiced is a sentence that likely needs to be rewritten.

A good sentence, I find myself saying frequently, is one that the reader can follow from beginning to end, no matter how long it is, without having to double back in confusion because the writer misused or omitted a key piece of punctuation, chose a vague or misleading pronoun, or in some other way engaged in inadvertent misdirection. (If you want to puzzle your reader, that’s your own business.)

As much as I like a good rule, I’m an enthusiastic subscriber to the notion of “rules are meant to be broken”—­once you’ve learned them, I hasten to add.

But let’s, right now, attend to a few of what I think of as the Great Nonrules of the English Language. You’ve encountered all of these; likely you were taught them in school. I’d like you to free yourself of them. They’re not helping you; all they’re doing is clogging your brain and inciting you to look self-­consciously over your own shoulder as you write, which is as psychically painful as it is physically impossible. And once you’ve done that, once you’ve gotten rid of them, hopefully you can put your attention on vastly more important things. 

Why are they nonrules? So far as I’m concerned, because they’re largely unhelpful, pointlessly constricting, feckless, and useless. Also because they’re generally of dubious origin: devised out of thin air, then passed on till they’ve gained respectable solidity and, ultimately, have ossified. Language experts far more expert than I have, over the years, done their best to debunk them, yet these made-­up strictures refuse to go away and have proven more durable than Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Put together. Part of the problem, I must add, is that some of them were made up by ostensible and presumably well-­meaning language experts in the first place, so getting rid of them can be a bit like trying to get a dog to stop chasing its own tail.

I’ll dispatch these reasonably succinctly, with the hope that you’ll trust that I’ve done my homework and will be happy to see them go. I’m mindful of Gertrude Stein’s characterization of Ezra Pound as “a village explainer, excellent if you were a village, but if you were not, not,” and no one wants to be that guy. Also, if you persist in insisting that these nonrules are real and valid and to be hewed to, all the expert citations in the world won’t, I know through experience, change your mind one tiny little bit.

An admission: Quite a lot of what I do as a copy editor is to help writers avoid being carped at, fairly or—­and this is the part that hurts—­unfairly, by People Who Think They Know Better and Write Aggrieved Emails to Publishing Houses. Thus I tend to be a bit conservative about flouting rules that may be a bit dubious in their origin but, observed, ain’t hurting nobody. And though the nonrules below are particularly arrant nonsense, I warn you that, in breaking them, you’ll have a certain percentage of the reading and online-­commenting populace up your fundament to tell you you’re subliterate. Go ahead and break them anyway. It’s fun, and I’ll back you up.

1. Never Begin a Sentence with “And” or “But.”

No, do begin a sentence with “And” or “But,” if it strikes your fancy to do so. Great writers do it all the time. As do even not necessarily great writers, like the person who has, so far in this essay, done it a few times and intends to do it a lot more.

But soft, as they used to say, here comes a caveat:

An “And” or a “But” (or a “For” or an “Or” or a “However” or a “Because,” to cite four other sentence starters one is often warned against) is not always the strongest beginning for a sentence, and making a relentless habit of using any of them palls quickly. You may find that you don’t need that “And” at all. You may find that your “And” or “But” sentence might easily attach to its predecessor sentence with either a comma or a semicolon. Take a good look, and give it a good think.

Let’s test an example or two.

Francie, of course, became an outsider shunned by all because of her stench. But she had become accustomed to being lonely.

Francie, of course, became an outsider shunned by all because of her stench, but she had become accustomed to being lonely.

Which do you think Betty Smith, the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, chose? The former, as it happens. Had I been Smith’s copy editor, I might well have suggested the second, to make one coherent, connected thought out of two unnecessarily separated ones. Perhaps she’d have agreed, or perhaps she’d have preferred the text as she’d written it, hearing it in her head as a solemn knell. Authors do often prefer their text the way they’ve written it.

Here’s another, in two flavors:

In the hospital he should be safe, for Major Callendar would protect him, but the Major had not come, and now things were worse than ever.

In the hospital he should be safe, for Major Callendar would protect him. But the Major had not come, and now things were worse than ever.

This is E. M. Forster, in A Passage to India, and I suspect you’ll not be surprised to learn that version 2 is his. For one thing, version 1’s a bit long. More important, version 2, with that definitive period, more effectively conveys, I’d say, the sense of dashed expectations, the reversal of fortune.

These are the choices that writers make, and that copy editors observe, and this is how you build a book.

One thing to add: Writers who are not so adept at linking their sentences habitually toss in a “But” or a “However” to create the illusion that a second thought contradicts a first thought when it doesn’t do any such thing. It doesn’t work, and I’m on to you.

2. Never Split an Infinitive.

To cite the most famous split infinitive of our era—­and everyone cites this bit from the original Star Trek TV series, so zero points to me for originality—­“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

There’s much more—­much more—­one could say on the subject, but I don’t want to write about the nineteenth-­century textual critic Henry Alford any more than you want to read about the nineteenth-­century textual critic Henry Alford, so let’s leave it at this: A split infinitive, as we generally understand the term, is a “to [verb]” construction with an adverb stuck in the middle of it. In the Star Trek example, then, an unsplit infinitive version would be “Boldly to go where no man has gone before” or “To go boldly where no man has gone before.” If either of those sounds better to you, be my guest. To me they sound as if they were translated from the Vulcan.

Otherwise, let’s skip right to Raymond Chandler. Again, as with the Star Trek phrase, everyone loves to cite Chandler on this subject, but it’s for a God damn [sic] good reason. Chandler sent this note to the editor of The Atlantic Monthly in response to the copyediting of an article he’d written:

By the way, would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-­down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.

Over and out.

3. Never End a Sentence with a Preposition.

This is the rule that invariably (and wearily) leads to a rehash of the celebrated remark by Winston Churchill that Winston Churchill, in reality, neither said nor wrote:

“This is the kind of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.”

Let me say this about this: Ending a sentence with a preposition (as, at, by, for, from, of, etc.) isn’t always such a hot idea, mostly because a sentence should, when it can, aim for a powerful finale and not simply dribble off like an old man’s unhappy micturition. A sentence that meanders its way to a prepositional finish is often, I find, weaker than it ought to or could be.

What did you do that for?

Why did you do that?

has some snap to it.

But to tie a sentence into a strangling knot to avoid a prepositional conclusion is unhelpful and unnatural, and it’s something no good writer should attempt and no eager reader should have to contend with.

If you follow me.

Benjamin Dreyer is vice president, executive managing editor, and copy chief of Random House. He began his publishing career as a freelance proofreader and copyeditor. In 1993, he became a production editor at Random House, overseeing books by writers including Michael Chabon, Edmund Morris, Suzan-Lori Parks, Michael Pollan, Peter Straub, and Calvin Trillin. He has copyedited books by authors including E. L. Doctorow, David Ebershoff, Frank Rich, and Elizabeth Strout, as well as Let Me Tell You, a volume of previously uncollected work by Shirley Jackson. A graduate of Northwestern University, he lives in New York City.

Excerpted with permission from the new book Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, by Benjamin Dreyer. Published by Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Copyright © 2019 by Benjamin Dreyer. All rights reserved.

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Three Writing Rules to Disregard