#I didn't get it before. having an understanding of the basics of Spanish this shit was foreign as hell but boy.

[casekt]

I want nothing more rn than a German speaking lover who will call me 'mein Schatz', something about that hits Right

[listofwhyyouloveher]

Gang x reader who is latina that talked Spanish in front of them for the first time. For example, the reader asked them to bring them something in Spanish and they didn't understand?? Also I love your works

Summary: The reader speaking spanish with the gang for the first time. Warnings: none Author's Note: short today, something bugging out w tumblr... oops PONYBOY CURTIS Pony actually asked you to speak spanish with him before he heard you saying it naturally. He needs to study for his spanish test and asked you to help him with pronounciation. Because of this you're now helping him everyday and testing his knowledge by asking him random questions. He thinks its super cool that you can speak more than one language and finds it really attractive because he really values intelligence. JOHNNY CADE Johnny isn't all that smart when it comes to different languages. He'll pick up on the basics like "hello," and "i love you" (which he never says in spanish because he feels like his american accent might make embarrassing) But everything else that you've tried to teach him just flew over his head. One day, you were completely zoned out and thought you were talking to your parents and asked him for a glass of water in spanish. He looked so confused and you had to explain it to him. he made more of an effort to learn your language after that. SODAPOP CURTIS

Soda took spanish in school too, but he has the most god-awful accent and he rarely uses it so he's lost most of his knowledge. He refrained from speaking spanish with you because he thought he'd mess up and say something wrong or embarrassing. He only started after you initiated it. He vaguely understood what you were saying and completed your task accordingly. You praised him for his understanding and he really enjoyed having you proud of him. he started learning just so you could smile and say that he was doing good. STEVE RANDLE Steve also took spanish with Soda, and he didnt goof off in class, he actually paid attention!! He's pretty good at spanish, he can hold a conversation on his own, which is technically how he met you. But he hasn't heard you speak spanish in a while, so when he does hear you ask for something in your native language he's so happy that you're comfortable speaking with him. He tries to initiate more conversations in spanish and also gets you to teach him a lot more. TWO BIT MATHEWS Two Bit took spanish but he was always goofing off in class and crumpled and threw more papers than he wrote on. He knows the most basic of the basic words, but other than that he's totally clueless. Especially when you talked to him in spanish because you can speak kind of quickly. He's a little ashamed that he cant understand you, and he's afraid to admit it, but you understood and just repeated yourself in english. He made it his goal to learn a little more basic phrases and actually understand you a little bit. DARRY CURTIS Darry's grades had always been at the top, that includes his spanish class. He was really good and could understand a lot. He was pretty keen on trying to be fluent but those plans fell through. He's not kept up his practice so he thought you would help him once and a while, but he's too shy to ask you to start speaking your native language with him. He waits for you to say something in spanish by mistake to respond and make it known that he's actually pretty damn good at spanish. After that, he's always trying to talk to you in your mother tongue! DALLAS WINSTON This man doesnt know shit and you know it. He never showed up to his spanish class, and when ever he did he'd just write obscenities on the chalkboard. The only spanish words he knows are "hola, chica" which he uses to very crudely pick up girls with that DAMN NEW YORK ACCENT. and cuss words, he knows a lot of spanish cuss words. Just to get on his nerves he'll just spew random cuss words in spanish when he feels like it. He once got you soooo pissed that you just started yelling at him in spanish. (do you guys remember that one clip of the goth girl yelling at this white boy in spanish at school or is it just me) he thinks its lowkey really cute and he'll rub it in your face that you don't 'scare' him. HES SUCH A DICKHEAD WHY IS HE SO CUTE RAHH

[livin4woso]

Breaking the media

Chapter 4- moving on in

Your alarm rang at the ungodly hour of 7.30 you quickly shut it off and forced yourself out of bed training didnt start till 9.30 but knowing you its going to take atleast 2hrs to get ready. You wandered into the small kitchen and realised that you needed to go shopping you had been so caught up in being ready for training that you hadn't had the chance to get shopping. Your first thought was to just find the nearest shop and buy what you needed however you thought going to a local cafe was a smarter choice and would be better than your terrible cooking skills.

It didnt take long for you to find a cafe with the help of Google maps and being placed in a busy small town. The cafe you had found was very reserved and ran by an old spanish women which was happy to greet you as you stood with your Barcelona sweats on and a giant backpack filled with your training kit. "Thank you so much, how much is it" you asked after having the best avocado on toast you had ever tasted and a mocha that was brew to perfection "its on the house dear, you're welcome back anytime" she said clearling you plates away "no no please let me pay" you practically begged the older women to let you pay but she refused.

After excepting your fate and enjoying your time in the cafe you forgot to check the time and saw it was 9.10 am you'd spent an 1hr in the cafe "shit" you mumbled to yourself and waved the old women goodbye. Now if miracles exists this was one you were 25 minutes away from the training ground and somehow you had made it there for 9.25. With 5 minutes to spare you walked into the changing room to find that you were the last one in and everyone was waiting for you. You knew that wasn't the best impression but atleast you weren't late "captain im so sorry, i didn't mean to show up so far behind i wont do it again" you pleaded to your new captain as you had a feeling she was ready to snap at you from the gaze she gave you "dont apologise its okay just next time be earlier, its your first day dont stress" she said and put a hand on your shoulder in reassurance.

Training had gone well for you, you had very quickly proved yourself to fit to the rumors of being a promising young talent. If football was a language you were fluent everything made sense to you the way the ball moved at your feet it was natural. Everyone was fairly impressed with your skill "you worried luce" mapi joked digging her elbow into lucys side "don't even" she said deadpanning her face of course lucy was the starter over you but you were definitely a threat you were half of lucys age and developing quicker than ever. You walked back to the changing room and got changed quickly sending everyone a goodbye before heading off the walk home as you needed to shop.

This is when lucy needed to bring up your living suitation but she had no power to get this changed she needed to tell alexia "ale, can i talk to you" she said dragging the spainard to the side of the room "sure whats up" she said back "its about y/n" lucy said trying to figure out whats the best way to word this "whats wrong?" Alexia responded her eyebrows knitted together she cared for you and she didnt understand why she was so protective over you even though the two of you rarely spoke, you rarely spoke to anyone unless it was for a drill. "Ermm so basically she's living by herself the team have bought her an apartment and shes been walking to the training ground.. and like yes i know she probably can take care of herself. But shes 16.. and" lucy was rambling "what? She's living by herself she knows no spanish and probably doesn't know how to wash her clothes... we've got to sort this" alexia said almost shocked in the stupidity of the management team what were they thinking a 16 year old by herself.

Alexia had went to talk to jona after she told lucy she would sort out the issue, "jona were abouts does y/n live?" She questioned him "its in de la tres torres apartment 4b" he said "why?" "Im going to check up on her and tell her she is moving in with me, im not having a 16yr old live by herself in a foreign country" she said back firmly grabbing her car keys out of her bag and storming off to the car park before jona could protest against the captain l, you were living with her she didn't care she had a spare room and was quite happy to share it as she wouldn't mind the company on her days off. She drove to your apartment parking her car outside she was preparing for your stubborn attitude to not be willing to leave as she knows how teenagers can be.

It was 5.30pm when the knock came at your door you were about to head off shopping so you had no idea who it could be. You opened your door to find alexia stood outside "am i in trouble?" You questioned it would be the only reason she was at your door "no course not how about we have a seat" she said as you brought her to your sofa "nice place" she commented glazing around the room it was nicely decorated but it wasnt a home "yeah its alright, just a bit lonely sometimes" you said sitting down next to her. "So i was wondering if instead of living here by yourself, you come and live with me in my apartment i have a spare room and it would be much nicer and you would have less responsibility" she began "ermm i dont know captain i dont wanna crash your place.. honestly im fine here" you said almost believing your own words. You weren't fine in that apartment you had no idea how to live by yourself but you didnt want to burden alexia with your problems or with your presence. "No no pequeña, please come live with me honestly it would put me at peace of mind that you are well fed and rest" she said back "really?" You questioned you almost couldn't believe she cared that much for you "of course but please stop calling me captain and call me alexia or ale whatever one" she said almost jokingly.

You had agreed to stay with her and you began to pack but it was getting late and you hadn't eaten yet "umm ale.. alexia can we just go now im really hungry and have no energy to finish packing" you said walking into the living room where she was lay on your couch "of course pequeña how about tomorrow you come back after training then call me when you're finished packing" she said looking up to you. You just nodded you were so tired and it was only 6.30. She brought you to her car and you slipped into the passenger seat the drive was longer than you had expected it was a 30 minutes away yet thats all it took for you to drift of asleep in her car your head resting against the window. Alexia looked over to you her heart almost melting at the sight she knew how hard this must be for you and yet you still hadn't spoke to anyone. The car had pulled into alexias driveway and just as she turned the car off you had stirred awake from your sleep "we're here amor how about you get your bags from the boot" she said getting out the car and made her way to open the door to her house. Her house was beautifully furnished it was so her stylish yet not over the top you couldn't believe you were going to be staying in her home. "How about you start putting your stuff in the bedroom while i cook us some food" she said as she showed you to your new room.

The dish was simple it was just some pasta but it was so tasty you had been craving a home cooked meal. "Thank you so much" you said as you moved to wash your plate in the sink, "no worries amor just wash your dish then you can head off to sleep and i will wake you up" she said giving you a smile. You had climbed into bed this time the sheets felt a lot more comforting and your bed felt so much warmer you had fell asleep with ease. Alexia had came up to check on you but as she peeked her head through the door she found you passed out asleep and she decided to let you sleep.

[spectrs]

Okay so Miguel comes back to the spider-society after a mission and he’s like aggravated because you know how no one listens to him or annoys him so he’s basically like that and you come in and you basically tease him about the mission and he gets more annoyed and he’s says “please leave me alone” or some shit like that then you leave the room for a second and he sits on the bed with his face in his hands and then you come in with a stripper outfit and he looks up and sees you and he shakes his head and tries to leave the room but you stop him and your pushing him backwards towards the bed and he’s like “I don’t have time for this” and you just ignore what he says and when falls on the bed and you climb over him, he mumbles something in Spanish and then he just rolls his eyes and you guys…yeah

ANON THIS IS PERFECT OH MY GOD. this scenario is fucking living in my head now and it won't leave, so naturally i had to write for it. thank you sm for this request <33

(NOTE: I CANNOT SPEAK FLUENT SPANISH YET, EVERYTHING THAT'S IN SPANISH WAS TRANSLATED USING GOOGLE TRANSLATE)

WARNINGS - rough play, slight choking, dirty talk, degradation, oral (m receiving), unprotected p in v (this is just fucking filthy so minors DNI)

WORD COUNT - 2.2k

You knew immediately he was pissed off. Just watching the way he walked through the door of your apartment and slammed it made it obvious. His expression was molded into a scowl, and he didn't bother acknowledging you before he walked to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the first bottle he saw.

He took a swig from the bottle and sat down at the kitchen counter, letting one hand rub at his temple while the other held the bottle with a vice-like grip. You stood up from your position on the couch and walked over, observing his demeanor closer. You had a feeling about what he was so mad about, but you still wanted to make sure.

"Miguel?"

He looked up at the sound of your voice, his scowl softening the slightest bit.

"What?"

"What happened today?"

A scoff left his mouth, as if he thought the answer to your question was obvious. You were a bit offended at the action, but ignored it until he gave you a better one.

"What do you think? No one listens to me, and they just had to fuck up the mission I assigned them to."

A slight smirk crept up onto your face; you were right. This was such a common occurrence, for him to come home all pissed off because of what would constantly happen at the Spider Society. If you were being honest, it started to turn you on, and you desperately waited for him to take his anger out on you. Of course, he didn't know because if he did, his cum would constantly be dripping from you.

"Awh, are you hurt because there's finally something you can't control? How sad."

His eyes widened with shock, but they quickly went back to normal as he glared at you.

"You too? Great."

All you did was let the smirk take over your expression completely before grabbing the bottle from his hand and taking a long drink.

He quickly grabbed it back and pushed away from the counter, stalking past you and into your shared room.

"I don't have the time for this."

With a final mutter in Spanish, he slammed the door behind him. You stood in your spot, still leaning against the counter with the strong essence of the liquor burning your mouth. You quickly pushed yourself off the surface and dashed to the bathroom, discarding your sweats and t-shirt. All that was left on your body was a gift Miguel had insisted on buying for you. You didn't get the chance to use it yet, much to your dismay, but if anything you knew this was the perfect time.

Miguel let out a sigh as he held his head in his hands. God, he at least hoped you would understand and help him out, but of course it couldn't have been that easy for him. He grabbed the bottle again, tilting his head back to drink the bitter liquid once again.

"I know how much alcohol you can tolerate, but I still wouldn't recommend drinking the whole bottle."

He almost scoffed at the sound of your voice and looked up to expect you standing there with another quip about how annoyed he was. Instead, his breath caught in his throat to see you standing only a few feet away, that damned lingerie set framing your perfect body.

"What are you doing, querida?" His voice was low as his gaze roamed over your body, the damp patch on your lacy underwear so fucking obvious once he saw it.

"Well, you bought this for me to wear, right? Why should I let it go to waste?"

Another mutter under his breath. It was too quiet for you to understand it clearly, but you knew it was something in Spanish. You slowly walked closer, stopping right in front of him. Your hands found his face, fingers skimming across his rough skin. The gesture brought his eyes to yours, and you were surprised to find them so dark.

Your face dropped a bit as he pushed you away, standing up and moving towards the door. "I told you, I don't have the patience for this right now."

Ignoring his request, your hands pushed against his body, watching him fall back onto the bed. He gave you an incredulous look, but it didn't mask the glint of hunger in his eyes. You slowly moved forward, letting him crawl back to sit up against the wall as you climbed on top of him.

You let out a gasp as he suddenly gripped your wrist, quickly grabbing the other to pin them behind your back. One hand gripped onto your wrists tightly as the other tugged your body onto his lap.

"Your goal is to get me riled up, isn't it? You like it when I'm pissed off, don't you?"

His mouth was right next to the side of your head now, his breath fanning against the shell of your ear. His large hand let go of your wrists and joined the other on your hips, holding you down on his lap.

"I'm surprised it took you so goddamn long to realize." Your voice lowered to a whisper as his face got closer to yours, your lips inches apart. "Now are you gonna do something about it?"

He groaned as you gently dragged your hips across his lap, and a low luagh left his lips.

"Dios mío, cariño, vas a ser mi muerte."

That was the last sentence before his lips crashed against yours. The sheer force of it made you whine, and he nipped your bottom lip before letting his mouth graze your jaw and neck. Your hands found solace in his dark curls, tugging a bit as he teased your skin with littered kisses and bites. His teeth found your collarbone, and you felt the fangs scrape against you before they pierced your skin.

A wanton moan escaped your mouth as you harshly tugged his hair, and his lips gently kissed the bleeding mark. When you felt a small drop of blood rush down your burning skin, his tongue just licked it away.

His hands left your hips, instead sneaking around your back to unclip the bra and throw it behind you. The moment he had access to your breasts, he wrapped his mouth around one of them and let his large hand take the other. Your head dropped onto his shoulder as you let out a groan, feeling his tongue swirl around your nipple.

He let out a dark chuckle, his mouth finding yours again in a bruising kiss. One of his hands found your hip again, while the other traveled lower to graze against the damp patch on the lacy panties. You subconsciously bucked into his hand, craving to feel more of him.

His hand pushed past the fabric to brush against your swollen clit, and he chuckled as you mewled in response. You went to grab his hand and urge him to move more, but he stopped you and grabbed your chin instead.

"Did you really think I'd help you? You know what happens when you tease, querida. Get on your knees."

You gave him a pleading look, the heat between your legs growing to be unbearable. All he did was give you a cruel smile and wait patiently for you to move off the bed. You did, sliding off the edge and sinking to your knees in front of him. He sat himself at the edge of the bed before teasingly pulling out his leaking cock. You started salivating the moment you saw the precum leaking from the tip, and you reached out to carefully stroke him. His head leaned back ever so slightly as he eyed you, silently urging you to continue.

Your hand couldn't fit all the way around him (a fact that still managed to surprise you), but you still spit into your palm and wrapped it around his cock, watching how his chest started to rise more erratically. You smiled, pressing a gentle kiss at the tip before taking him in your mouth.

Your lips moved up and down, your tongue sliding against the skin. His hands were gripping the sheets and quiet groans were slipping past his lips. His eyes, however, stayed glued to you, watching your every move like a hawk. You slowed down a bit, letting your cheeks hollow to take more of him, but a hand suddenly gripped your hair. You felt Miguel move his cock out of your mouth, letting the tip dangle in front of you before slamming himself back into you.

You gagged around him, his hips setting a relentless pace as he brutally fucked your mouth. Your hands gripped his thighs so hard you could feel him shaking from the pressure surely building up inside him.

"You don't get to tease anymore. Good girls get to do what they want, but not you. You fucking take it like the brat you are."

Every couple of words was punctuated by a groan from him, but you could barely hear him over the sound of your own moans. This is what you wanted. You wanted him to use you, punish you for acting like a spoiled little brat. At this point your panties must've been soaking wet from how much this was turning you on.

His grip on your hair tightened the slightest, only giving you a second's warning before he came with a moan, a hot spurt of cum shooting into your mouth. His breathing was ragged and his face was flushed, but his eyes still remained focused on you as he pulled himself out of your mouth. You quickly swallowed his cum, keeping your gaze locked into his.

He grabbed your arm, tugging you onto your feet and pushing you onto the bed. Your back hit the mattress and you looked up as his body loomed over yours, large hands pushing your legs apart to see the mess he created. He chuckled a bit, letting his hand shove the flimsy fabric aside and run a finger through your folds.

"All this because I fucked your mouth like the little brat you are? I can't say I'm surprised, querida."

You just stared at him, wanting more, so much more, from him. His hand left your cunt and both gripped your hips, turning you onto your stomach. On instinct, you got on your hands and knees, eliciting another low laugh from him as you purposely stuck your ass out at him.

"Needy, are we?"

You nodded immediately, wiggling a bit to get more comfortable. Instead, that earned you a harsh smack to each ass cheek, a jolt of pain spreading through your body.

One hand held your hip tightly, pulling your ass flush against his waist. The other reached in between your bodies to grab his already hard cock, gently teasing your folds. You careened into him, a small moan slipping past your lips.

"I'm going to fuck you, and you're not going to complain. You're going to take what I give you like the good girl I know you are. If you do, then I'll let you come. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," you said breathlessly.

A moment of stillness, then he slammed into you with no warning. You moaned loudly as he quickly bottomed out, then pulled out and slammed back in just as fast. His pace was fucking brutal, and his vice-like grip on your skin was sure to leave bruises, but you didn't care. All you did was let yourself drown in the pleasure, your veins set alight. The sounds of your breathy moans and skin slapping against skin echoed through the room, and your cunt clenched around him each time his tip grazed that unreachable spot inside you.

His pace grew faster and even more brutal, causing the knot in your stomach to grow more and more. You moved your head to look at Miguel, his hips still moving to meet yours.

"Sir, I'm gonna cum, please let me cum sir-"

He scoffed, your pathetic begging like music to his ears. His free hand glided up and down your back, the most comforting gesture he's given you the whole evening.

"Since you've been so good for me..."

With that, his body leaned over yours as the hand caressing your back started to toy with your clit. Your moans grew louder and more pathetic as you came closer to the edge, your cunt clenching around his cock as he slowed down slightly. One final thrust sent you over the edge and you came with a scream, your cum soaking the base of his cock and the inside of your thighs.

He groaned as he bottomed out, stilling for a second before letting his cum paint your insides white. You collapsed on the bed, him joining you shortly after. The only sound was your panting, your skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat. You turned to face him, watching as he stared at the ceiling. Carefully, you curled up besides him, and he instinctively wrapped an arm around your waist.

"I wasn't too rough on you, was I, querida?"

"Not at all, Miguel."

He hummed in response, lightly kissing your forehead.

"Good."

TAGS - @low-keylover

[im-fucking-baalin]

Tell me . More about your cult of the lamb au :3

I'm specifically curious about the idea that lamb could have been a priest of a religion based around a warped version of Narinder (you could say... a cult)

How did they warp his image? Does he know about it? How long has the religion been around- does it dissappear when the lamb is sacrificed? Grrrr I am so curious!!!

RAHHHH ITS 5AM THE PERFECT TIME TO ANSWER THIS OF COURSE !!!

ok first of all, english is not my first language so if theres something you didnt quite understand lmk pls 🤝

sooo,,, an incredibly long explanation is incoming!

im gonna be honest, this all originated from A Single™️ line that Shamura said in-game. This One:

"The lamb is, after all, the sacrificial beast. Bred to slaughter"

Since the first time i read it, it kept lingering in my mind because, wdym.

In my own madness, that lines existence means that, even before the lamb genocide happened, the bishops considered lambs as some kind of free soul resource they could use for sacrifice with no repercussions. And thanks to that, ive been constantly in a state of Making Things Up In My Mind Until Shit Starts To Make Sense.

And heres where, basically everything comes into play. The lambs were Narinders cult, to some extent. They were assigned to him, courtesy of his siblings, to be literally the pastor of them, yknow, protecting them and guiding them until the time to be sacrificed came. However, those sacrifices were never for him. Those were for the rest of the bishops.

Let me explain! One thing i LOVE with what the community has done in COTLs lore understanding is the way we see the crowns powers. like HELL YEAH they are NOT a single concept they EMBRACE the whole spectrum of said concept! Including everything that may be considered "good" and "bad"!!!

AND NOW, the important thing with this,,,,

In-game, after indoctrinating the bishops into your cult, and completing each individual quest for them, they kind of tell you where they got their crowns? the version of the game ive been playing is the spanish one, and honestly i hadnt read those same dialogues in english to see if they actually translated them faithfully, but oh well!

Thats what i got from it; with the four telling you how they were basically normal creatures before finding the crowns. mind you, finding

We are talking about a culture in wich gods were kind of the basic population, maybe in the timespan before that weird "war" happened; youd think they would be more careful with those things no? Exactly!

The bishops werent properly crowned!!! :000

THIS MEANS, in my mind, that they had absolute zero knowledge of what those crowns fully embrace!!

This, also, is where i have a loose knot, for i still hadnt come to a reasonable explanation on how Narinder got his, for he seems to be the only one who wasnt a crawling creature before the crown, possibly meaning he WAS properly crowned. ill work more on this in the future :P

SO, before i start expanding waaaay more, this is where i wanted to get to, but itll be on giant general terms that i promise ill explain with more detail in the future:

the bishops didn't believe in death having some kind of spectrum to it, one that they used on their own personal gain, receiving offerings and such in exchange of "good things". As a result, they kind of excluded him, in a not so catastrophic way like you might think, but rather in a "your domain is of no use to us" kind of way.

This was a result of Shamuras doing, for they were the only bishop who got to understand what a crown entails, knowledge being in their domain after all

(as a little side note, i FUCKING LOVE what this implies. Yknow? that the contrary of war is not peace but rather knowledge, because the more informed you are the more able to see what kind of shit youre doing, yet also functioning as the greatest weapon to use in the field IS PEAK TO ME)

What Shamura was trying to do was protect him. They were very afraid of him, and in trying to make that fear go away, they decided to kind of "keep" the truth away. This resulted in him never exploiting his full domain, wich then led to ppl believing that praying to death was basically useless, unless you did it to get consolation, wich meant there were no offerings or sacrifices in his name.

Now, as the pastor of the lambs Narinder hated the way the other bishops treated them. The lambs were kept in some kind of village, from where they, whenever they wanted, could choose any lamb and make Narinder sacrifice them in their name. Even kids!

Well, after this half-assed explanation bc i didnt want to make it way longer, here comes the actual answer to your question! (sorry!)

the religion started the moment the lambs managed to escape the place they were kept in. the situation that led to this, was the same one that sparked the conflict between siblings: a resurrection.

even if Narinder was their patron god, the lambs never had contact with him until the time to sacrifice came. here youre gonna meet ellen! shes a missing link i had to write into the story for it to make more sense. she is, also, the culprit for that religion to exist!

Basically, that day they had sacrificed her lover. they were planning to escape that night, but sadly they had no chance on knowing who was to be chosed for slaughter next. instead of praying to their god, she insulted him, with such a burning passion, Narinder knew this was his opportunity.

he made a deal with her. he would revive her lover, and in exchange she would leave and never tell anyone what happened. the only gain Narinder was going to have with this was the knowledge that he could actually revive ppl, so it was a total win-win.

ellen, however, saw this as death being the kindest god to ever exist, and she felt incredibly lucky, for she was the first and only to ever be offered this.

we all know how this went, though. the ritual was interrupted by the bishops, they started arguing, Narinder did what he did etc etc

she escaped, alongside her whole village, and decided to mask her selfish act with sermons about how Narinder sacrificed himself so they could live better lives, and how he had choose her to be the carrier of his word. it was all made up ofc.

so, for a millenia, the lambs were worshipping an incredibly distorted version of Narinder. They didnt even get his name, nor his title. They only knew him as death. This also meant Narinder never got to know about this. As far as his knowledge go, the lambs may all had been sacrificed without any regulation in the next coming days after his imprisonment. None on his name, tho

fast forward and we get to Lambert! theyre the last priest to this religion, both figuratively and literally

the way priests and priestesses (?) work in here is something that in on itself deserve its own post, but on general terms:

in catholicism the priest is a person who got religious preparation to serve god and spread His word. they are meant to be chaste, kind, and just. they are also meant to be "served", to some extent.

in here, priests are more like the leaders of the lamb population, replacing Narinders role back in the day. they were all following a rule that only female direct descendants from ellen could get that title which OF COURSE MEANS IT WAS A TRANS DOMINATED FIELD LETS FUCKING GO (projecting much? LMAOOO)

so, yeah! they guide and serve! so imagine Lamberts pain after the bishops kill not only their family, but their Whole Fucking Species in front of their eyes!!! lads flabbergasted!!!!

and thats it! thats how they got a distorted version of Narinder for worship. No, he had no idea that both the lambs were still alive and that they had been worshipping him in a completely different way than intended. and yes! the religion did disappear once lambert got sacrificed! but to explain what actually happened there i need to make another pointlessly big paragraph and honestly i think i already abused my yapping rights for today!

i promise, all these concepts WILL be treated at their own pace, but it may take time for me to develop them nicely!

if you, however, fancy keep asking questions for me to go apeshit at them, PLEASE PLASE PLEASE DO SO!!!!!!

MAN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK YOU MADE MY WHOLE WEEK!!!! you asked about the EXACT point ive been DYING to expand more on THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

[bougiebutchbitch]

happy izzy headcanons, off the cuff:

ed's adhd ass remembers the most random shit about him that he said one time, like that his favorite color is green, he doesn't like sweets, and he used to feed a stray cat when he was a kid (despite not remembering ostensibly more important things / things that were repeated or told to him directly. RIP iykyk etc)

he called the cat Miss Lady and sometimes to get out of "playing" with "fellow" "children" and other such tedium, he would claim she was his boss and he had to go to work for her in her estate (he's like ≤8yo or something when he pulls this)

still has not gotten much better at lying than that tbh

his parents loved each other and him and his big sister very much. they were as happy as they could be in their level of poverty, and iz's youngest years were filled with unconditional love

he and his sister both got their first jobs at the same little shop, but izzy was immediately and comically fired for being crass and rude to customers lmao (also for wearing pants)

he was part of the navy for an astounding one (1) year before being discharged - equally comically - for being the singular most insubordinate little shit ever seen. regular punishments had absolutely no effect on his behavior, and though they threatened to do worse by that point they could not catch him.

his criminal record is just as long as ed's, but the bulk of his charges are morality based. he fucks so severely it is a crime. (not that hard to do really, at the time, but he's proud of it lol.)

Jewish

was taught to read english and hebrew as a kid (Jewish communities at the time had higher literacy on average than other groups & taught girls as well as boys to read, iirc)

can buy and sell in many languages, but can't really converse. is in the process of learning spanish from jim and french from frenchie (with much more unsavory instruction provided by roach, for surprise use on frenchie lmao)

not necessarily about izzy i guess lmao, but i have a scene that runs in my head of izzy telling jim something private in spanish and jim interrupting (but not fast enough) to yell that oluwande is fluent, to which olu nervously says "no, i forgot. those words. don't use 'em much, so. you know. whoosh. gone. didn't understand any of it."

he and anne fake dated way back, to make ed and mary jealous

he and jack tried this also, after it worked for anne but not for izzy, but in the process they accidentally dated for real (jack... might have had ulterior motives lmao)

takes ye olde hrt, in the form of an herbal tea recipe that he got from a midwife who clocked him at 50 paces. they are still friends.

bottom sub leaning, but still a vers switch!!!

explores his gender further, with encouragement and some minor guidance from wee john. he has a little bit of a crisis at first, wondering if he only felt like a man because he didn't make a very pretty woman, but he talks it all through in fits and starts - primarily in out of context ambushes - with john and jim, learns more about drag, etc, and eventually gets comfortable with being a man who pretends to be a woman sometimes and just happens to be very good at it due to certain biological advantages lol

later functionally becomes ed's drag mom, the way john was for him - featuring many more instances of dressing him up like he did for the party in season one

realizes after being folded into the found family that he LOVES cuddling, and physical intimacy of all kinds. like basically discovers acts of service is actually not his only love language. nothing makes him feel more content than being physically in sync with someone.

at some point pete decides he wants to stop being all talk and actually live up to all the shit he's bragged about, but he doesn't want everyone else to know and/or there to be any witnesses to him being bad at stuff at first. so he solicits secret lessons from izzy, and izzy gives them and keeps the secret without condition.

he's basically the gordon ramsay of piracy. if you're learning and you're working at it, he's patient and attentive. if you act like you don't have anything to learn or make claims you can't back up, he calls you a fucking donkey.

grows his hair out. adores having it played with.

takes his job as "unicorn" very seriously. all of his duties are pretty much assigned to him via his own perception of what the fuck being the ship's unicorn even means, but if he says something is or isn't his job everyone goes with it without question. he sometimes abuses this fact, but only with ed lmao.

has each member of the crew add their own x to his tattoo and ends up with a little constellation of slightly differently shaped stars across his cheek/temple

SHRIEKS IN JOY

oh these are PERFECT. Excuse me while i squeal over each and every one.

I KNOW THAT PAIN, ED, BABYBOY, DARLING, PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER. He is theeeee most ADHD gremlin. He will randomly describe in perfect detail a day from 10 years ago that Izzy only has the vaguest recollection of, down to the precise inflection in whatever Izzy said to make that moment stick in his mind - but he still doesn't know Izzy's birthday sldkfhgklsdfhg

oh no. OH NO. Tha'ts horrifically cute. And I love that Izzy is a gritty old pirate who can kill without a moment's hesitation - but he cannot tell a good fib to save his life lmao. It's the 'tism

:cris and holds happy baby Izzy close:

I'm WHEEZING at tiny angry scowly Izzy getting fired from a shop for being a bastard refusing to wear a dress, saying fuck this, running away to join the Navy where the wearing of dresses is not requisite, and almost immediately getting fired for STILL BEING A BASTARD. :chinhands: it's so him

I am just. Imagining. Lucius getting hold of Izzy's criminal record in S1 before they really get to know each other. And just being supremely confused that Izzy has actually walked the walk lmao

JEWISH IZZY JEWISH IZZY JEWISH IZZY :clutches that headcanon very close to my chest:

ohhhhhh gosh I LOVE the crew teaching each other casual little things.... language tutors Jim and Frenchie and co., my favourite. I wonder if Izzy teaches them a tiny bit of Hebrew, too? Or if he keeps that very close to his chest. (I love the headcanon that he and Ed are both Jewish, and it's part of what drew them together~)

SCREAMS at Izzy accidentally Revealing Things to Olu because he doesn't realise he speaks that much Spanish.... And at Jim warning him! I also imagine that like, AS SOON as Jim gives that warning, they get the fuck in front of Oluwande with a knife, juuuust in case Izzy goes for him - but Izzy just glares at Oluwande, jerks a nod, and mutters 'first time I've given a man amnesia without having to hit him in the head'. Oluwande awkward-laughs and flees, but though Izzy's a tiny bit wary of him for a few weeks, he doesn't stab him?? So, y'know, success?

also, as ever, I am OBSESSED with Jim and Izzy being casual quiet trans buddies and helping each other out now and then. :gently pushes my headcanon of Izzy helping Jim acquire Ye Olde Top Surgery towards the fandom on a silver plate:

FAKE DATING FAKE DATING AHHHHHHHHHHH

CJIZZY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh (I love Jack being like. 'Yeah I'll fake date you to make Ed jealous, Izzy :D Yeah, absolutely no strings attached. Yeah we're not gonna actually fuck or anything. Of course.' then pulling EVERY string available to get in Izzy's pants dsfklghkdsfgkdlsgf

YESSS TO BOTTOM SUB LEANING VERS SWITCH IZZYYYYYY he has the range, darling! I love the idea that he was Ed's service top for ages, and is legit good with a strap~ >:3c Almost as much as I love subby top Izzy who always comes too soon and goes jellylegged so his partner has to sigh and take over and fuck him into the mattress while telling him what a disappointment he is (which, ofc, only makes him wetter). ......Yes, I blame carryme for this one entirely.

TRANSMASC DRAG QUEEN IZZY TRANSMASC DRAG QUEEN IZZY - I vibe with this on a spiritual level. Also: I can imagine Izzy was REALLY rigidly 'I am a man so I have to be masculine' as a result of internalised transphobia/fear of discovery, so this whole process of realising he can do whatever the fuck he wants, actually, involves a lot of unworking of societal assumptions and confronting past traumas and fears, and Wee John only meant to share something transgressive and fun with Izzy but now Drag Hour is therapy hour too. And honestly, it's good for him and Izzy and Jim, and Izzy's expression goes this amazing mix of offended and delighted and terrified and excited whenever he realises that yes, he is allowed to present himself however he likes and he will 'still be a man'. Although I do think he might draw the line at dresses, and keep to more andro drag? Like, he tries on a pretty dress ONCE and it's a bit Too Much when he sees himself in the mirror - but that's completely okay too, and Wee John and Frenchie are more than happy to help with tailoring outfits that he actually likes!

i AM SCREAMING AT IZZY BEING ED'S DRAG MUM YES YES YES YES YES

ohhhhh.... Izzy being just an absolute cuddle magnet.... be still my heart. I like to imagine that he was too awkward to approach anyone at first, but was SUPREMELY touch starved, so he'd sneak into the cuddle pile on deck at night and then try to wake up in the morning before everyone else. But of COURSE, everyone realises and knows and thinks it's very cute and one day when he tries to make his usual escape (moving slow to try and draw out the warmth and the contact, as well as so as not to wake anyone up) Lucius sleepily grabs his wrist and grumbles, "Izzy, staaaaaay". And, well. How can Izzy say no to that?

PETE IZZY FRIENDSHIP AHHH???? I would read that fic in a heartbeat.

Vis-a-vis the Gordon Ramsey comparison: he has ABSOLUTELY called poor Stede an 'idiot sandwich'

LONG HAIR IZZYYYYYYYYY AHHHHHHHH

Izzy wearing each of the crew's little 'x' kissy marks besides Ed's.... oh, be still my heart. This one got to me. That cheek and his neck and chest are just a map of tiny stars and - OHHHHHHHHHHH you know they're all getting gently smooched

[qqueenofhades]

Wait hold up you know SIX LANGUAGES

Like I grew up bilingual (English in school and Spanish at home) and got through my two years of a foreign language in high school relearning (terrible) textbook Spanish, and I genuinely do not think my brain could hold another language in there if I tried and wouldn’t even know where to go about start to learn another one

But holy shit SIX langauges is so incredibly impressive and I dunno if you've talked about it before, but could you share a little more about how/why you have SO MANY?

Aha, thanks. I know that someone (recently?) asked me about this, but I can't be arsed to dig through my archives to find that answer, so the short version is:

I have studied French in some capacity for most of my life (it was the main foreign language in my house; my parents both speak it); this was enough to successfully bullshit a last-minute MA graduate proficiency exam while barely studying (seriously, don't do this) and then I did medieval French history for my PhD. This means I can read most things, including complicated academic texts (I will not understand a certain word here and there, but otherwise fine), and speak/understand enough to get around in France by myself.

My Spanish and Italian is somewhat ancillary to that. I studied Italian in high school and used to remember a lot more than I do now, enough to translate things, but (alas) I haven't practiced it in a while and lost most of it (but if I worked on it for a while, it would probably come back). I live in a fairly bilingual Spanish-English city and also briefly studied Spanish once upon a time, so there are daily opportunities to read and/or hear it. I would not say my current grasp of either one is particularly outstanding, but still generally enough to at least get the sense of things I read.

I am a medievalist, so I had to study Latin. It was kind of unavoidable. Not gonna lie, I Did Not Enjoy It, though if I had actually planned my career trajectory better, I should have taken it in undergrad. But I didn't, because why would you do that to yourself voluntarily? In any event, I can read charters and documents and primary source texts in Latin, although slowly and with a lot of swearing and recourse to William Whitaker's Words. I certainly can't read literary or elaborate poems or whatever, but for what I do, it's fine.

I taught myself how to read Cyrillic and started studying Russian during the first lockdown in 2020. I can understand some basic phrases and a few grammatical conventions, read text, understand the alphabet, and a few other things, though it is (as noted) very beginner-level. I would like to brush up on it, but that is among the many, MANY things I do not have actual time and/or brainpower for.

[radishhqueen]

ao3 questions!

thanks @plothooksinc for the tag 🥺💕 i am always psyched to talk about writing.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Somehow I've reached 10 whole works... 9 of which are completed.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 193,772. Shit I gotta write something to break 200k.

3. What fandoms do you write for? rottmnt pretty exclusively. I never have been so plagued by a media that I felt the need to write it down before. Insane that the ninja turtles got me.

4. Top five fics by kudos?

how to get very good at juggling - 1,079

vigilantism for fun and profit - 410

it's too early for this - 322

the ol switcheroo - 321

stuck between a rock and a hard place - 207

5. Do you respond to comments? Yeah!! At least if there's something to like, reply to. I get very giddy about doing it, so if you've ever received a rambling five paragraph essay from me uhhh enjoy my stream of consciousness.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't think any of them have angsty endings? Mostly bc i need all my little guys to be happy. the ol switcheroo is the fic that I cried the most writing though, hands down.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again, all happy endings, but HMMMM how to get very good at juggling may be the happiest. It's a hard pick tho.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Nah.

9. Do you write smut? Not that anyone gets to see.

10. Craziest crossover? I've never written one! I tend not to seek them out, though there are definitely a handful I'm very fond of.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah! My friend and I have been co-writing a fic on and off since about 2018. It's just for us, really, since it's basically a post-canon fic of an RP that we were in from like 2009-2013ish? Anyway the lore doesn't make sense but the character dynamics compel me so here we are. I've got some snippets and some drawings for it in #rs tag.

14. All time favourite ship? Not a big shipping person!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I intended on writing more for hot girl summer, but considering I haven't updated it in about a year, and I never really had a plan in the first place, and I feel like the last posted chapter ended in a very conclusive place, that ship has probably sailed.

16. What are your writing strengths? The Bit. She's my #1, I never forget. My favorite comments are along the lines of "please stop making me laugh during this very sad section". People have different tastes of course, but I find that consistent, oppressive angst is just not...appealing to me, and if the angst goes on for too long, I'll just drop the fic. I like to add a little levity to the mood, or at least some dark humor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Ough. Planning is a bad one for me. I didn't have an outline for any of my fics, besides some rough mental plans. for the ol switcheroo, I didn't even have an ending figured out when I started writing it. Actually coming up with ideas can be difficult, and I usually need to have something actively eating away at my brain in order for it to make it onto paper.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Depends on if the POV character understands it or not. If they don't, I'll usually just write like "Character B said something in Spanish." If they do understand it, I'd write, "Character B started speaking in Spanish. "Do you drink milk?"" Maybe put it in italics if it doesn't seem super clear? The exception would be like, if a character is peppering words from another language, a bit like Leo and Spanish in rottmnt.

19. First fandom you wrote in? Technically I wrote some Pokemon fic back in like 2008. It was OC fic and I could not tell you for the life of me what it was about though.

20. Favourite fic you've written? vigilantism for fun and profit may be the one that I reread the most, though I do reread all the fics in the mean teen fighting machines series. The fic that single-handedly gave me Foot Clan brainrot. Casey Jones isn't even my favorite character in the show as written.

tagging @witchofthemoss @sroloc--elbisivni @crows-murder o/ i would love to see your words

[fangirltothefullest]

First off, you are entitled to how you feel. We all have things that urk us and I'm not trying to prove anyone right or wrong. I just wanted to share my perspective on language and how it's this beautiful and fascinating ever evolving thing to me.

In response to the word "unalive", I can see why it started popping up. It's a light way to describe a heavy subject, is more broad than a lot of terms (think partner vs boyfriend), works when used against censors that block out a LOT of known optional word choices (like many mobile games), and is a less visceral choice for hyperbole and jokes.

Also, in my opinion, unalive became a word the moment one person gave it a meaning and another understood it. That's how language is. It's constantly evolving. Unalive is no less valid than yeet or laptop or one of the 1700 words that didn't exist before Shakespeare (like critic/critical, gloomy, and eyeball). Language evolution happens SO MUCH that if an average person went 600 years into the past, they would struggle to understand anybody on even a basic level (even written because letters and spellings have changed DRASTICALLY over the centuries). It would be like asking a Spanish speaker to understand fluent Italian! All because a billion someones played with langue and made it fit their needs.

Basically, if I were to tldr this, I'd quote comedian Ben Brainard and say, "If it made sense to you, they didn't say it wrong."

PS: Sorry that it got so long!

Ok, tone indicating here because I am not mad about this response but I need you to understand my Frustration Withg This Mindset when it comes to children!

Like I understand that when it is used it becomes a word with meaning- we do that with EVERYTHING, especially online- but what bothers me is that there were lots of others to choose from that work with proper grammar and stuff and basically I'm only frustrated with it because of my 3rd graders!

All of my 3rd graders use tiktok when they really shouldn't but it's not my choice so they all see it being used and they use it in their school work! They now think it's a proper and ok word to use for their writing and they don't want to listen to me when I tell them no that's not actually proper english which I HAVE to say because they get tested on this shit!

Their tests ARE NOT going to give them credit for using 'the dog was unalived when he was hit by a car' or 'I read an unalived mystery story and it was very cool' or 'When my grandma unalived, I felt sad!'

It's just- I CANNOT teach that word to my 3rd graders..... and until it's properly in the dictionary and acceptable usage in American English on American ELA tests, I just want it to go away!

[imagine-silk]

AtSV; Modern!College!Miguel and Peter w/ a exchange student who speaks little English

》 This kind of relies on you being a man because you will be living with him

Miguel

Was more than a little annoyed because they chose him for speaking Spanish. You spoke Brazilian Portuguese. "Olá, estou muito animado para conhecê-lo."

When you get there he hears you and immediately goes for a transfer. B-lines for the office with you and shows them the problem.

"We don't speak the same language. Look." He turned to you who had no idea why you were there. "¿Me entiendes?" You furrowed your brow at him saying unknown words. "O que você está dizendo?"

Unfortunately, the program was just starting and no one but the teacher spoke Portuguese. Everyone else spoke enough English to get by but you didn't.

He takes you to his classes and uses a translator to talk to you. He says if you're surrounded by the language you will learn it. And as much as it pains him that means he needs to speak English at home.

You can sense his frustration with you and it off puts you to the point you get a translation app too and try to walk around by yourself. But then he had to save you from a fight you accidentally found yourself in. How you did that you don't know.

He tells you it's not personal, he hates that they gave him a task he's not qualified for and doesn't have the time to learn the qualifications. "It going fine. Trying is something even you are upset." You say trying to assure him, and it works.

He becomes a lot less uptight about you in general and actually goes out of his way to help you, something Jess and Lyla will point out.

He doesn't learn Portuguese, he already knows a Latin language and he just doesn't have the time. But he will always have some sort of translator on him to make up for it.

You both get withdrawls from speaking English all the time so you agreed to speak your language at home and just deal. If you need the other to for sure know what your saying then you speak English.

Teachers both love and hate you. Miguel is one of the best students and he's helping another student therefore furthering the message, but also they can't use him as an example or use him as a TA because he has to walk around a new kid.

The more you learn English the easier your life gets, you still want to speak your language but you do that on your own. But well passed the exit point Miguel doesn't sign off on being your chauffeur. You both know why, you just don't want to say the quiet part out loud.

Peter

He doesn't know how he got chosen to take care of you, he's not known for being responsible. But he doesn't say no.

Even though he was in charge of helping you through daily life he didn't think the language barrier would be as difficult as it was. Turkish was more than a little different.

"Merhaba ve benimle yaşamayı kabul ettiğiniz için teşekkür ederim." He blinks a few times before you realize he didn't understand you. "You are not translate?" "No. We're you supposed to have one?" He's genuinely confused rather than annoyed. You tell him you thought you would but rereading your transfer papers it didn't say you would be supplied with one.

You apologize for your broken English and he brushes it off. It wasn't your fault.

Without any thought he takes up learning it. Seriously, he shows up that night with books, a few academic and a few for children. "I know less than a kid so it's a good place to start."

You will teach each other your respective languages. You told him he didn't need to learn Turkish but he insisted he did, if not to make you more comfortable then to talk shit in front of people.

He's better at academics than he'll have anyone know so it doesn't take long for him to get the basics down and a few key phrases. "Yiyecek almaya gitmek ister misin? Açlıktan ölüyorum." His accent is halfway there because he hears yours.

Constantly speaks to you in Turkish for various reasons. One; to keep it fresh in his mind and make you comfortable while you learn English. Two; to show off he knows another language. Three; to low-key keep you to himself. It's not possessive it's just a quiet 'we have a thing you will never understand' so it's more like bragging.

Will talk about classes, social cues, people to know and stay away from, how the freshmen are adorable, and how much he doesn't like Jess. You can find a safe place with him while you're getting things in order. You can count on him to help you. Who wouldn't find that incredibly sexy?

[cloverlink]

/chin on hands I would like to hear about Jak X and why it's your favorite! If you're up for it/don't mind.

OMG YES *OPENS PANDORA'S BOX*

sO I played this game when I was like 8-9-10 y/o. I met the saga through The Lost Frontier lmao but my English was very bad so I couldn't play much of the game and sent my dad to change it. iirc, the game he came back with was Jak X, if not then I got it another time I went to the store and said "surprise me".

since I had tried googling about TLF to help me pass the game, I got familiarized with the rest of the games as well. I had a (very) vague idea of the story through amvs and fanmade content. so then I got to play the game, the story was much shorter cuz it was only one game, and the playing mechanics were basically Mario kart (which I had played a lot previously) so I had a way easier time understanding things. I guess that made me closer to this game in particular. Also I asked the store for the main trilogy but they could never get them.

Plus I actually replayed it a dozen times cause of the fucking save file corruption bug, it was years of frustration cause I could never reach the end of the game without losing my progress. I eventually got a second memory card and tried again, this time with a strategy of cloning the save on each card. But by that time I had already watched the cutscenes on YouTube cause I genuinely thought I could never do it on my own. Still, getting to finish the game was like a life goal being achieved

Tldr years long frustration + learning to like bad guys lmao

NOW since I was a small kid I haTED Mizo's crew with a passion cause they were evil bad guys and that was all I could see. I had a special hate spot for Razer and UR-86. And the fact that I couldn't beat the game felt like they were winning against me and I was failing to save Jak's team from the poison. But then puberty hit and I admitted to myself that I had a crush on Razer LMAO and I became Mizo's crew #1 fanboy. Before I realized I was thinking of backstories, headcanons, ships, self inserting myself on the team or as their rival who ends up warming up to them

I got to play the other games when I was 15 (it was around this time that I got to beat Jak x too) and that made me appreciate X even more because they really didn't need to go THAT HARD yet they did!!! and I'm so glad!!!! It gave us more time with Jak + a different side to him, a lot of depth in world building, character development for Keira (I had very protective parents so I feel her) AND THEY FINALLY KISSED OMG TOOK YOU BOTH DUMMIES LONG ENOUGH + that plot wist with GT and then the Rayn one at the very end holy shit

IT'S JUST SUCH A MASTERPIECE SORRY THIS IS SO LONG

now a lil on my love for the baddies: we get literally zero stuff from them except for Mizo's daddy issues and Razer's sassyness so this part is mostly me going full delulu. Most of my attention at first was on Razer obviously and I always love/hated him, I feel like I wouldn't stand him but God he's so cool. Then one day I randomly started adoring Shiv?? I just thought he'd be such a chill guy and started picturing us as besties??? Edge I feel would be Shiv's kinda close friend, we see them together most of the time they have in X after all. And then Cutter's the most reserved one, I picture him being actually really sweet but you Have To Get There.

Now I need to draw my self insert so bad omgggg

Also I can recite the Spanish version of the opening scene by heart

OK THAT GOT LONG ENOUGH thank you so much for asking I loved writing all this and would love to hear your thoughts on the game (⁠ʃ⁠ƪ⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠）

[chromehcart]

Under the cut is a partial transcript for a 2017 episode of the podcast "¿Hablas Español? with Soledad Sánchez" ft Cam, Derek John, and Alvin.

Soledad: ¡Hola! ¡Bienvenido! ¡Buenos dias! I'm Soledad and today we have some very special guests: Three of the members of Chrome Heart! And let me just say, I'm a huge fan. I'm, like, obsessed with your music and when I found out there were three Latinos in the group I knew I had to have you on.

Alvin: Thank you. We're glad to be here.

S: Okay, before we begin, please introduce yourselves to the audience. Though I'm sure that's not really necessary for you guys because you're like crazy stupid famous.

A: Hi, I'm Alvin Santiago.

Derek John: I'm Derek John Juarez, and honestly, I'm kind of starstruck right now because I grew up watching your show on Disney channel and I thought you were like, the coolest person alive.

S: Aww, that's so sweet.

Cam: Hi, I'm Cam Perez.

S: For those, who have been living under a rock, Chrome Heart is a boyband who were formed on StarCaster – a singing competition show – and blew up basically overnight because they're a pack of talented cute boys.

C: Okay, wait, before we start.. What was your show?

A: Oh, yeah, I have no clue either.

S: Wow. That's humbling.

C: No, no! I just didn't watch TV growing up and Vin's, like, old.

A: Thanks, Cam.

S: [Snorts.] Okay, well, I was the star of the show "Dreams Come True" where I played Mandy Martinez and I was basically a witch who could make people's dreams turn into reality and I got into hijinks and shit.

C: Wait, I kinda love that. [Turning to Derek John] Can we watch that when we go home?

DJJ: Of course.

S: Okay, so are all of you Mexican or no? Google kept giving me mixed answers.

DJJ: I'm Puerto Rican, but they're both Mexican, yeah.

S: Nice. I'm Colombian and Puerto Rican. And you guys all speak Spanish? Do you all.. Are you all fluent?

DJJ: I'm, like, mostly fluent? I didn't start learning Spanish properly until I was around eight because I lived with my dad, who doesn't speak it. But then I moved in with my mom and grandma and they basically talked to me only in Spanish.

C: Spanish is my first language, so I'm fluent, yeah.

S: Oh, wow, really? We never have people who don't have Spanish as their second language on here.

C: Yeah, um, I was born in Mexico and didn't come to the States until I was five. And I lived with my mom and Grandma my whole life, who only spoke in Spanish to each other and to me.

S: That's so interesting! Did you have to take ESL as a kid?

C: Yeah. But I learned English, like, stupidly fast because I hated all the teachers and the white kids talking to me like I was stupid. [Laughs.]

DJJ: Only you would learn an entire second language to get people to stop bothering you.

S: [Laughs.] And what about you, Alvin?

A: It's kind of like a joke between the three of us that I only know Mom Spanish. Like I only know the things my mom said when she was yelling at me and my brother. My dad refused to teach me because he wanted us to be, like, assimilated, but I still learned some things here and there, through, like, context clues. But when they have a conversation in Spanish, I only understand bits and pieces.

S: Yeah, my parents were the same way. They didn't want me to learn because they didn't want me to be ostracized. But all that did was make it harder to learn as I got older. Now I'm about sixty five percent fluent, I'd guess.

C: Sorry, I know you're the interviewer so you can disregard this, but were you.. Did your show allow you to be Latina?

S: Oh.. Hmm, kinda. I – My character – had Latino parents but they were both played by Mexican actors, and rarely seen. And I wasn't treated as Latina by the narrative, or the company. I was just.. a girl.

C: That's awful. I– Recently, the three of us were talking about StarCaster and the way it kind of.. racialized us.

S: What do you mean?

C: I'm not sure how to explain it but with us and Ross – another member – it was like we were a zoo attraction, like, this group has four boys of color! You want to support them because you want to support people of color to show just how supportive and socially aware you are! Instead of, like, based on our talents.

DJJ: And they would listen to our private, personal conversations and have a translator there, telling everyone what we were saying.

A: What? I didn't know that.

S: That's insane.

DJJ: Yeah but it's okay. We started lying, fucking with them, saying crazy shit so they started leaving us alone. One time Cam asked the translator dude if he'd be okay with people doing the same thing with him and his family and he refused to translate for the rest of the day because he felt bad.

S: As he should!

-

S: If you don't just sit in his lap. Good grief.

A: Pardon?

S: I've been watching the two of them squish closer for the past ten minutes. It's like they're trying to meld into one body. Just sit in his lap.

[Derek John laughs as Cam plops himself into his lap.]

-

S: What Spanish word or phrase do you use the most?

A: Dejen de hacer eso (Stop doing that) for sure. These two are always making me yell at them for something.

DJJ: It's good practice for your future children.

[Alvin rolls his eyes.]

C: Te amo. (I love you.) I say it to my mom and grandma and Derek John basically everyday.

A: But not me, because I'm his least favorite member.

C: [Laughs.] Shut up. Te amo, te amo, te amo.

DJJ: I think recently mine has been bésame. (Kiss me.)

S: Ooh.. Do you have a little señorita? O señor?

DJJ: [Nodding.] I cannot disclose that information.

S: [Laughs.]

-

S: Sadly, we've reached the end of our interview. It's been so lovely talking to you three. This is the most fun I've had in a minute.

C: Aww, you're sweet.

S: Because it's the end of the show, I leave you all with one final question: What's your favorite Spanish swear word?

DJJ: ¡Cabron!

C: Mierda.

A: Cabron as well.

S: [Laughs.] Fantastic! Okay, thank you guys so much for coming. Today was so much fun.

DJJ: Thank you for having us.

[kattestrophe]

Alright, I've finished Season 3 of The Musketeers

It was... I have some questions. I may just be dumb. I may have missed things while getting a drink. I don't know. Maybe someone will be able to help. Anyway, I'll rant my thoughts into the void for a moment.

How exactly did they go on after the end of S2? Their last scene is literally "Yeah, we're going to go find Aramis and get the gang back together after five minutes apart!" and then they... Don't, apparently? They are surprised to see him at the monastery in S3E1, so they obviously did not know he was there. Did they catch up to him before he got there? Did they not find him? Did he actually turn them down when they asked him to come back or did they just not have that talk?! I feel like that should be mentioned? Feels relevant? Was it mentioned!?

Why is Grimaud so mad at Athos specifically? Why is it stated in the behind the scenes clips that Grimaud specifically gives Athos the heeby jeebies more than any other villain so far? Where did he get his money? How did he get his connections? Do I need to read the book to understand why the show named their villain who has never met Athos before after Athos' lackey??

The other villains didn't quite catch me either this season, idk what it was, they just didn't really do it for me.

Why would you basically put Athos in the Milady Memorial Suit, say as much in the behind the scenes, and then pretty much not use her at all in S3? "The Milady Story", "The writers felt like there was something left to tell", then why didn't they do it?!

Why does the Dauphin not talk?! Like?? He's supposed to be 6?? Give him another line or two and pay the child accordingly, it's kinda creepy how he barely makes any sound at all. Also: Why does he just walk along with anyone who grabs his arm, surely even a child would notice that the guy who just punched the lady he was supposed to stay with in the face is not a nice man?!

Well, maybe he gets his brains from his dad who, for some reason, thought spilling everything about his affair with Anne to Louis was a swell idea. "I know how a dying man acts", oh fuck off, for all you know you may have just turned his terrible inescapable marriage even worse for Anne. 17th century Queens have been exiled away from their kids for this type of shit, Aramis!

Speaking of which: What exactly did Louis do to keep Aramis away from Anne and his son after his death? Like? He says that, but?? Nothing happens?? At all?? No consequences?? He called her a spanish harlot in the episode before his death, it doesn't sound like he feels all that generous towards her??

That was another thing, the whole caricature-print-story started and ended so fast I barely caught up. That really only existed to have Athos yell "to hell with the law", right?

Was Sylvie expecting the people to just get how to read themselves from the flyers they were handing out? Like, they were explicitly handing them out, not using them for lessons.

Oh boy, Feron sure changed his mind about the whole treason thing fast. "I'll conspire against the crown!" "You're family, Philippe, I'm gifting you a grave 🥺" "Can't wait to fill that! Will die for you right away!"

Why do Aramis and d'Artagnan keep switching pauldrons in multiple episodes, I am BEGGING you to label your costumes, BBC!

And why do they only get their new uniforms in Episode 3

And why is Marcheaux's jacket glittery

And what's that added leather thing with the cross that Aramis wears like... Twice? Is it their fancy day uniform? Why does he wear it without anything else when he accompanies Louis? Why does he wear it to the bar battle?

the costumes were kind of hit or miss for me this season, some I loved, some were Marcheaux's jacket or Aramis's final outfit. Or the Dauphin's wigs.

it's also very funny to watch everyone in the behind the scenes say "Oh, the Red Guard is so much more elite now, scary Red Guard" when d'Artagnan throws his weapon away to kill Marcheaux and they're still mostly absolute dunces who get beaten to pulp every other episode and have their bare asses handed to them by Constance

Speaking of Constance: Handing the kid off to her sounds fine at first, but like... Wouldn't everyone know her around these parts? And know she doesn't have a child? If there are two women the people of the area would know it's Madame d'Artagnan of the Musketeers and Sylvie of The Group of Refugees We Hate Sometimes, people would notice them dragging an unknown child around.

Speaking of Constance and kids, that was made to seem important for her and d'Artagnan and then never mentioned again. "Oh, we may never have kids..." "Oh, the kids Constance and I will have someday..." talk to each other!?!?

Aramis in the middle of S2: "Fighting is what I am meant to be doing!" Aramis at the end of S2: "Everything is going to shit, if I get out of this I'll radically turn my life around!"- okay, I get that. - Aramis at the beginning of S3: "The turning around part showed me that I am truly meant to be a musketeer!" - nice, he has grown in his understanding of himself, he knows his place in the world - Aramis at the end of S3: "So, about that-!" - oh come ON!

I didn't really dig the ending overall. We got a taste of Anne's and Aramis's combined diplomatic power in episode 8 and I dare say France is doomed.

Like, I'm glad they're together, making out in the middle of the park as if their relationship isn't still scandalous, raising their son, but A. that blue costume looked really weird on Aramis (is it just me? was something off about the cut?) and B. there must have been a better way. Honestly, the other people on the council who have been navigating politics for ages must be banging their heads on the table in agony whenever the current regent drags in yet another rando who's there for different reasons entirely!

Aramis will get bored and start shooting birds in the palace garden in three days time, I'm calling it

Continuing on about the ending, did Porthos and Elodie truly make such a connection in the cumulative week of knowing each other that they have to get married? Maybe if they had brought her back an episode earlier, but pulling her from a hat right before the end of the series felt a bit cheap...

Where are Athos and Sylvie going?? And why?? Don't the two of you have shit to do in Paris, help the poor, keep your community going?? Do they have a specific destination or are they just hoping to arrive somewhere nice enough with a midwife and a connection to food and water before Sylvie is so pregnant she can't ride anymore?!

Also, did Athos brush and tie up his hair for his final scene? That can't be him, it's his evil clone!

Constance and d'Artagnan are still cute and together, yay for that! Would have loved more conversations

Goodbye Scene in the garrison: Why no last "All for one, one for all"? Why must the last one for all be a note in a hat!?!? You're telling me this group of besties just kind of awkwardly walk away from each other!? Let Porthos and Aramis hug again!

I do love Milady's new paying position, good for my favourite murderous fashion icon. If only she had had like... a lot more proper scenes and interactions with the plot.

I heard that the actress couldn't film due to her being on maternity leave, but... come on, couldn't that have been handled better?

I really liked the show overall, but the third season felt a bit lackluster. Welp. I might still make that crack vid :'D

[obstinaterixatrix]

regarding women on the verge, sister was saying "I understand why it baffled critics" (which is legit what's written on wiki) (lol) because of how it was basically a farce and you don't see much like that nowadays (which I agree with) (also it makes sense considering it's based on a classic spanish movie kinda deal) and I think she's right BUT ALSO I think what makes it narratively weak is that there IS supposed to be a coherent thread, I think, where the rest of whatever the hell is going on can be as ridiculous as it wants, but as long as there's that coherent narrative thread it has a payoff. right? but the writing absolutely kind of whiffs it lmao. candela's subplot, lucia's subplot, carlos and marisa's subplot, paulina and ivan's subplot, NONE of it matters (some of it matters I'll contradict myself later) except for spectacle and entertainment and setting plot in motion for pepa's character arc, which is to break free from a toxic cycle and make a choice divorced from the whims of someone who won't care for her the way she needs and to prioritize what would be fulfilling to her, which would be her life with her future child. like, it's obvious that's the intention and that would make the show cohere. the eye of the storm, so to speak. however, 1) the scene where pepa meets carlos would have been a GREAT opportunity to highlight the motherhood aspect, and there's a great conversation where she tries to console carlos about his shit dad, but the energy is. extremely off. the show is entirely committed to Being Sexy, which permeates, especially since right before pepa enters, carlos is being Very Interested in candela. so the energy is Very Weird. 2) nothing's really set up during the rest of the musical that allows for this highlight or focus; the taxi driver acts as a narrator and his whole thing is woah! crazy place! it'll be a new day! which barely sets up pepa's whole thing; in fact, I feel like pepa's concierge contributes more to the themes in the two scenes she's significant in compared to the taxi driver who's Always There because the concierge talks about how what you want isn't always what you get but that can be a good thing, and when they're singing the song on the bench, that is setting pepa up for being able to say goodbye to ivan, then reinforcing her decision. it's about pepa focusing on the future that most aligns with her wants, needs, and reality. It's like... okay I feel like half the show thinks it's about 'woah! crazy shit's going on! gotta bounce back and be resilient and continue on!' but what actually makes it cohere is 'woah! crazy shit's going on! when you break free from the chaos and allow yourself to follow that path that will bring you fulfillment over illusory happiness, when you deal with your reality, you'll be able to continue forward in the best way for you (even when the crazy shit's still current and ongoing).' so what I mean by the other subplots don't matter, I mean 1) none of the other characters need to have that breakthrough, they can all keep going nuts, BUT 2) there has to be a continuing thread that highlights and reinforces pepa's overall character arc towards Reality and Fulfillment. anyway, I actually really like the lyrics, but there are a lot of moments some immediate repetitions really weaken it especially since one in particular gets brought back multiple times: "I don't want to know what is real what's solid as steel/realities haunt me" that is not strong enough to carry the real/reality repetition (but it does act as a foil to highlight the actual trajectory for pepa) oh did you know there's a 4k character limit per text block I didn't know that

there was another one that had move/moving pretty close but I forget what. there's also some lines that just feel too unintuitive, like how "wild winter breeze" just is not a phrase people naturally expect and it's not set up with other seasonal indicators so it's really hard to parse unless you're reading the lyrics. HOWEVER, I think the *meaning* of the music is really solid, and there are some really good lyrics and really solid songs; model behavior's really impressive of course, and I do like the descriptors used in lovesick. anyway, one of the reasons I really like invisible is because I actually love bossa nova but I like emotionally fraught lyrics and a lot of bossa nova I've heard tends to be more mild so I do really enjoy hearing lucia outline a 19 year long mental breakdown about her husband abandoning her. also yes she did many things wrong but honestly? she deserves to do whatever she wants. I don't think they even technically divorced

[zombies-aliens]

Work was tiresome today. But overall it was good. Coworkers could tell I was tired or that something was off about me. My eyes felt puffy and were watery at different times during my shift. They probably wanted to ask if I was okay but they didn't for whatever reason. I know I can be stoic at times at work, it's just I'm stressed at work all the time because it's nonstop work I can't even chat with people much. Another coworker told me they have the hardest department in the store and I'm sure they have their days but we have our days like every single day like everyday us runners got to be on top of case calls or else customers get impatient and sometimes they're understanding and very kind, bless those people, but you never know what your gonna get. Idk I don't have much to say about today. Idc who's got it the hardest bc at the end of it all departments suck. Except maybe frozen. It's a one man job and it's doable. I kinda miss it. Way less stressful too. But it does have stressful times for damn sure too. But fuck it was nice to have privacy on the job and I love me my privacy as an introvert. I would be in there and sing my favorite songs. I sang so much Kanye west and practicing singing Spanish songs by bad bunny. And since the freezer was loud bc of the fans that blow cold air it was nice to allow myself to be a little loud myself. It was perfect to even rant about the type of day I was having and blow off steam in there before I came back out to stock the meat. Good times good times. Man I miss them. I've tried getting back into it bc of all the stress it was giving me when I started off because HOLY SHIT was it stressful I almost fainted so many fucking times. I got dizzy so many fucking times it's crazy I didn't just drop. And my supervisor says how is it stressful LMAOOOOOO I wanted to kms bruh. But that same manager turned out to be really cool. I secretly like seeing others stressed out on the job bc why the fuck am I seeing people chilling tf out on the clock? Are they getting paid to bullshit? And that's from the supposed hardest department yeah that's cap bruh lol. Fuck it tho. I just hate to feel like I'm one of the few who busts their ass. You know who has it hardest? The cart pushers!! They work in the fucking heat bruh. The cart pusher wears a hat to deal with the heat lol not a basic hat I mean those hats that look like a UFO. I hope he gets paid well for his troubles. Probably not tho. Nobody does except managers but I guess they earned it since they climbed the ladder and have greater responsibility. So hey I guess that's fair when I put it like that. Anyway I'm out of things to say I'm beat from today I'm tired.. have a good night yall.

[soir-rouges-esprit]

xxvi.e: Son of Salem, He spits on my face ... “NO … You helped him leave The City back then huh, you had old lady blackmail our boss to get you free of your debt huh?” Help escape The City? Old lady? Black Mail and Debt? He slaps my ear again so hard, I can feel it sting and start to bleed. “YOU TRY TO FUCK ME HUH? THINK I'M A STUPID HUH? I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND BITCH” Then … it clicked, a while back, I had helped The Jester escape The City … helped him leave and escape an insane Mexican drug lord we had worked for, well ... The Jester worked for, and I helped to get him off the street, and put a little extra cash in my pocket. You see we didn't exactly leave on good terms … he suspected I helped him disappear out of The City to help escape out of the drug lords influence, so he could stop working for him, he and I both had seen too much you could say, there was no leaving peacefully. And in that, he ended up putting this “Debt” on my head, that I apparently owed him. Me being me … I went to see an old friend and “Other Mother” of mine named Mrs.Van she was a Vietnamese kingpin in the Vietnamese mafia, and had taken care of me and The Jester when we were young little shits, running around The City when we were super poor, me homeless/a runaway. She had offered us housing, food, clean clothes, jobs, and of course … money. All-to-do drug runs for her as kids … no one would expect a child with a school backpack to be carrying around bricks of coke and baggies filled with countless grams of pot to sell to the rich and addicted. I more or less, owed her a lot, we had separated for a few years, about three, one year before my collapse … then the two that were my collapse. After my involvement in helping The Jester escape The City back then, I needed to secure my own safety … so … I went to the only person I knew who'd have the power to actually do that. Mrs.Van. She ended up agreeing to do so, so long I explained my absence and caught her up on The Jester, as well … run a few jobs for her … free of course. And boy did I … and boy did I hate life. But she managed to shake the fucking dirty thug for me, incidentally … by blackmailing him. Never found out what the blackmail was, but she did it. Then life went back to normal pretty much, like I hadn't passed off a crazy drug lord and basically had his life or business or whatever threatened so he'd stay away from me. And well … seems he had caught word of my much-awaited return to The City, and must have been keeping tabs on me. And so now … he was probably gonna have me tortured … laundered off to some high bitter or used as a token to structure some deal against Mrs.Van. Little does he know … she does not do hostage situations, merely drops the hostage as well the drifter trying to swindle her. She'd say “You get caught, you get ransomed, you ruin my business, you are liability and will be cut off like dirty asshole who tries to get one on me” so now … I let this Spanish fuck keep swearing at me while I wait for my indefinite doom. He continues on, saying how you should have never did what I did … I should have known better … and can't fuck over a true mother fucker, etc. Gangster mumbo jumbo really. All the while my head is racing with so many thoughts, I'll never get to tell The Knight about the words his dad had left with me the night after his twenty-first birthday. How I wanted The Jester and I to take that trip to the mountains like we always wanted to, that I was finally ready. And to The Imp … well, there was just too much to say … one of which was to thank her, for when she helped me years ago with Aurora, told me everything I was doing wrong … and how I needed to treat her and everyone else better, and how they had all actually discussed me being a problem, that without her help … I would have lost them all much sooner than I did, that she was so special for what she did, and I needed to thank her. I try to loosen my restraints silently and in an inconspicuous manner, to no avail … [To Be Continued]