#also yea this is a reference to my old blog too

[plastic-not-elastic]

Hey plas, did you know some of your fans have a little crush on you?

[santae-salt]

I wanted to respond to some people giving me grief about my pet names (my UN is Jay).

First of all, censoring names or creativity on a site like this is a verrrrry slippery slope. I, for one, do not want to give staff even more power and arbitrary decision-making over how we each play this game. Also, friendly reminder that PG 13 content is permitted, so it's not like we're operating in a Neopets environment where we must all "think of the children!" and clutch our pearls at mature concepts or themes.

On to the names themselves.

Cyanide (Cy) is my 15+ year old Oblivion dark elf character (and ode to Agatha Christie stories). She's a potion-making mage who looks sweet and innocent but is, in fact, quite a powerful warrior (cyanide is found in almonds of all things). In my opinion, this name is far tamer than "bomb", "dynamite", "gun" and many others, and to me it sounds like it could be an elvish name.

Ecstasy refers not to the drug, but to the feeling of bliss, passion, and transcedence. They are a godlike being and ying/yang counterpart to my pet Depravity (and sadly, the FE "Bliss" was already taken). Truly baffling that anyone finds this offensive.

Slave is based on a character inspired by the Deaths in His Dark Materials. Basically, he's the monster that lives under a little girl's bed, but is actually the personification of her worry and anxiety (the theme being that she's a slave to her own fear). I get why just looking at the name someone may think it could be problematic, but the character and story itself are quite wholesome.

The pet profile customization tools are still too clunky, but my intent was to post stories/art for these guys (though I ultimately decided to put Slave uft since I already have the little girl character as a pet)

Yea, this is long. But I wanted to say that complaining about people's pet names with no additional context as to whether they actually ARE offensive (not just because you think there COULD be malicious intent) sets a really bad precedent and WILL lead to censorship (and in our current geopolitical climate, is that really what we want more of?) First, if anyone finds my names offensive then I invite you to PM me and be mature about it, not call me "nasty" on a salt blog. But also, you can just keep scrolling and ignore me and my pets. They are literally not hurting you, and the block feature exists if you find me distasteful.

I really hope this doesn't inspire a witch hunt for petty people to go report-happy over usernames/pet names/art (and I'd like to point out that my names are hardly the "edgiest" on site, but maybe because I'm not active or popular on Discord, I'm an easy target?). There are a lot of macabre themed names, some with sexual connotations, some of perhaps questionable real life figures, etc. Unless these are glorifying something terrible or spreading messages of hate/indecency, why give a shit?

Truly, why are you so bothered?

☁️

[muthaz-rapapa]

Taiwanese Dubbed Precure Name Translations

First post of the year on this blog. Must I bring weirdness to the table?

YES.

😂 Well, it’s not that weird. This was a way to kill time while I was staying in Guangzhou two months ago. I wanted to watch youtube but since I was in the mainland, nothing would show when you open the app so I had to use a VPN. And cuz I set the location to Taiwan, YT started recommending me Precure in the local dub based on my watch history.

So I got curious, checked it out and this is what that curiosity spiraled into.

Before I get into anything though, this was my first time watching Precure dubbed in another language other than Japanese so I’m not that familiar with it beyond the episodes that are available on YT. I just know (according to the wiki) that in East Asia, it’s primarily broadcasted in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea so it’s not hard to find those dubs online.

Of course, in Taiwan, people speak Mandarin but since it was dubbed in Taiwan, I shall refer to the dub as Taiwanese.

(I am not fluent in Mandarin btw so don’t come for my head if I get any translations or tonal changes wrong, this was just for fun :P)

好了！开始吧！✊😄

Few things to go over before diving into the seasons.

One, there is obviously no direct translation for Precure in Mandarin since “Precure” is a made up word to begin with. Although the Hong Kong/Cantonese dub does use the term “Pretty Cure” (as far as Fresh goes, I don’t know about the rest), the Taiwanese dub chose to retitle the series as “光之美少女” (guāngzhīměishàonǜ) which translates to “beautiful/pretty girls of light”.

I can see why. The other option would be to transliterate “Precure” into Mandarin but the result would end up being more clunky than anything aesthetic.

When it comes to foreign or loan words, Chinese would grab characters (hanzi) based on the sound they make to put it as close as possible to how the original is pronounced.

For example, chocolate is 巧克力 (qiǎokèlì) but when you translate it character by character, it gives you something like “skillful gram power” which is just weird. Even if it kinda makes sense if you think about it long enough, the direct meaning doesn’t give you the idea of “chocolate” right away, yea?

So I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why “光之美少女” is the equivalent of “Precure” in Mandarin. When you hear it, you’ll immediately know it’s referring to that magical girl franchise.

美少女 (měishàonǜ) is also “bishoujo” in Japanese and as far as I know, this is the term that has been used to describe magical girls as far back as Sailor Moon in the Chinese dubs (I can confirm this because I watched the old Canto dub). So it’s also to help identify Precure as part of the genre, I guess.

Two, instead of “Cure”, the girls are called “Angel”s (天使/tiānshǐ) with the variable part of the name preceding “Angel” rather than following after it.

This makes a lot of sense, too. “Angel” connects better with “光之美少女” (pretty girls of light) and children whose first language is Mandarin would find it easier to understand that than try to figure out what “Cure” means and how it relates in context.

明白吗? 👍

Ok, then. I’ll only be translating the Cure names (which I got from the wiki). The civilian names of the main characters along with the names of mascots and a few supporting characters, I’ll just spell out the pronunciation in pinyin.

Because unless they have kanji/hanzi in them, it’s (usually) going to be a transliteration from the original in kana. And as I said above, the combined meaning of transliterated words often don’t make any sense. They can also get very wordy if the name is particularly long so that’s why I don’t want to do it in this post. It drove me crazy enough getting through everyone in my notes 😅

But if you’re curious, you can do it yourself by copying and pasting the characters listed here into MDBG

*Note: The names taken from the wiki may NOT be accurate to script in the Taiwanese dub so if there are corrections that need to be made, I will do them later.

Futari wa Precure/Max Heart - 光之美少女/Max Heart

Cure Black - 黑天使 (hēi - Black Angel)

Misumi Nagisa (美墨なぎさ)- 美墨莎莎 (měimò shāshā/suōsuō)

Cure White - 白天使 (bái - White Angel)

Yukishiro Honoka (雪城ほのか) - 雪城穗乃香 (xuěchéng suìnǎixiāng)

Shiny Luminous - 夏妮露米納斯 (xiànī lùmǐnàsī)

Kujo Hikari (九条ひかり) - 九條光 (jiǔtiáo guāng)

Mepple - 美波 (měibō)

Mipple - 米波 (mǐbō)

Porun - 保倫 (bǎolún)

Lulun - 露露 (lùlù)

Yea, I still haven’t watched the first three seasons and I don’t think I ever will, lol

But since I’m doing this, might as well cover them all, yea?

First season is simple enough since it’s, well, the first.

Nagisa and Honoka’s given names in Japanese are written in hiragana so they can stand for anything. However, there is no phonetic system like that in Mandarin so the Taiwanese dub gave them hanzi. Naturally, they’re gonna sound different.

And I could be wrong but I don’t think Honoka is addressed in her full given name, “suìnǎixiāng” (if that’s really how she’s called cuz I haven’t watched this season’s dub) 😅 It’s probably shortened or converted into a nickname somehow.

Same goes for Hikari, which directly translates to “guāng” (light). It doesn’t sound cute enough for a girl and there’s two ways I know they can go about making a single character name cuter. Either put “小” (xiǎo, “small/little”) in front of it to form “xiǎo guāng” (small/little light) or double the character to “guāng guāng” (光光) <- this doesn’t mean “light light” btw, it’s just a common way to give a cutesy nickname to someone in Chinese (typically girls but can be done for boys too and to make your speech sound cutesy-er)

I dunno, if anybody watched this in Mandarin, can you please tell us how they’re called? lol

The rest are transliterations, with Shiny Luminous having the honor of going first in demonstrating exactly what transliterating means. Again, put together, those characters are just there to imitate the sound of the original word(s). Otherwise, they make absolutely no sense in translation 😂

Precure Splash Star - 光之美少女 Splash Star

Cure Bloom/Cure Bright - 花天使／月天使 (huā/yuè - Flower Angel/Moon Angel)

Hyuuga Saki (日向咲 - rìxiàng xiào)

Cure Egret/Cure Windy - 舞天使／風天使 (wǔ/fēng - Dancing Angel/Wind Angel)

Mishou Mai (美翔舞 - měixiáng wǔ)

Flappy - 弗拉比 (fúlābǐ)

Choppy - 喬比 (qiáobǐ)

Mupu - 姆姆 (mǔmǔ)

Fupu - 芙芙 (fúfú)

Kiryuu Kaoru (霧生かおる) - 霧生薰 (wùshēng xūn)

Kiryuu Michiru (霧生みちる) - 霧生滿 (wùshēng mǎn)

Interestingly, this season was also called “Precure III” but I guess they dropped the numbering when Yes!5 deviated from the partner pair model to introduce the sentai-style groups.

Anyways, still pretty straightforward. This time, the girls have kanji in their given names.

The character for Saki’s name (咲) means “bloom” or “blossom”. But in Chinese, 咲 is also the traditional form of the simplified character “笑” (xiào) which means “smile” or “laugh”. So I guess there’s a double meaning there. when I learned this, all I could think of was Saki’s mouth opening VERY wide when she laughed in DX2

Yes! Precure 5 + GoGo! - Yes! 光之美少女5 + GoGo!

Cure Dream - 夢天使 (mèng - Dream Angel)

Yumehara Nozomi (夢原のぞみ) - 夢原望 (mèngyuán wàng)

Cure Rouge - 火天使 (huǒ - Fire Angel)

Natsuki Rin (夏木りん) - 夏木玲 (xiàmù líng)

Cure Lemonade - 檸檬天使 (níngméng - Lemon Angel)

Kasugano Urara (春日野うらら) - 春日野麗 (chūnrìyě lì)

Cure Mint - 薄荷天使 (bòhe - Mint Angel)

Akimoto Komachi (秋元こまち) - 秋元小町 (qiūyuán xiăodīng)

Cure Aqua - 水天使 (shuǐ - Water Angel)

Minazuki Karen (水無月かれん) - 水無月香戀 (shuǐwúyuè xiāngliàn)

Milky Rose - 妙奇露丝 (Miaoqi Ruth/miàoqí lùsī) - Milk (ミルク) - 米露 (mǐlù) - Mimino Kurumi (美々野くるみ) - 美美野露米 (měiměiyě lùmǐ)

Coco (ココ) - 可可 (kěkě)

Nutts (ナッツ) - 果果 (guǒguǒ)

Syrup (シロップ) - 史洛普 (shǐluòpǔ)

Omg, you don’t realize how big of a leap they went from two MCs to six until you’re going through the dictionary for every single one of them 😅

Nothing really different with the Cure/Angel names except Lemonade which got reverted to “lemon” 🍋

Milky Rose, though…hahaha, oh god, I had such a laugh cuz I google translated it first from my phone and what came up was “Miaoqi Ruth” 😂 The pronunciation is “miàoqí lùsī” but now I can’t unsee it! So everyone, whenever you’re referring to Milky Rose in Mandarin, be sure to call her MIAOQI RUTH, ok?! 🤣

On another note, the translation of “妙奇露丝” isn’t too weird, surprisingly. “Wonderful Strange Reveal Silk”? It almost fits since she’s technically a Purple Cure, mysterious (wonderful, strange) and beautifully OP and all. The “silk” part is ironic though. Cuz rose petals are soft in texture (like silk) but Milky Rose’s elemental attack is a storm of metal splinters 😂

Moving along, this season is also another case of gaining hanzi in place of hiragana. Most of them are quite charming. Urara’s can mean “beautiful” or… “Korea” (errkay 🥴) But I like Karen’s the most. Hers is a combination of “fragrant” and “to long for” so “longing for fragrance”? Hm~ Elegant~ 😊

可可 is cocoa, which is a loan word, while 果 means “fruit” but it can also mean “nut”. It got doubled to make it sound cuter.

Fresh Precure - 光之美少女: 幸福精靈Fresh!

Cure Peach - 桃天使 (táo - Peach Angel)

愛情精靈 - (àiqíng) Love/Romance Spirit

Momozono Love (桃園ラブ) - 桃園愛 (táoyuán ài)

Cure Berry - 莓天使 (méi - Berry/Strawberry Angel)

希望精靈 - (xīwàng) Hope Spirit 

Aono Miki - 蒼乃美希 (cāngnǎi měixī)

Cure Pine - 鳳梨天使 (fènglí - Pineapple Angel)

祈願精靈 - (qíyuàn) Prayer Spirit

Yamabuki Inori - 山吹祈里 (shānchuī qílǐ)

Cure Passion - 熱情果天使/百香果天使 (rèqíngguǒ/bǎixiāngguǒ - Passion Fruit Angel)

幸運精靈 - (xìngyùn) Lucky/Good fortune Spirit

Higashi Setsuna (東せつな) - 東剎那 (dōng chànà)

Eas - 伊絲 (Yīsī)

Tarte (タルト) - 塔多 (tǎduō)

Chiffon (シフォン) - 希風 (xīfēng)

Fresh essentially saved Precure from cancellation so it wouldn't surprise me if overseas dubs thought the series was going in a slightly different direction that they decided to change things up a bit on how they market it to their local audience as well.

幸福精靈 (xìngfújīnglíng) is an add-on to the season title and it means "Happiness Elf/Fairy/Spirit" I'm gonna go with "spirit" here for 精靈 (jīnglíng) cuz I also put this through google translate first and it gave me "elf" and I was like "what elf? they don't have elf ears!" 😂

莓 for berry can also mean strawberry. For Passion's, I'm not really sure if it's 熱情果 (‪rèqíngguǒ‬) or 百香果 (bǎixiāngguǒ). The former is a combination of "passionate/enthusiastic" and "fruit" but the latter is how you say the fruit's actual name in Chinese.

There are additional translations for the different themes each Cure represents. In Japanese, Peach represents love but in Mandarin, it's specified as 愛情 (àiqíng) which means romantic love. Yea, that's quite odd because there was barely any romance element in the show. Passion, on the other hand, doesn't represent happiness but luck or fortune. To be honest, this makes more sense to me cuz the four of them together form the lucky clover so why is nobody representing luck? lol

They all do collectively, I guess.

Heartcatch Precure - 光之美少女: 甜蜜天使!

Cure Blossom - 花蕾天使 (huālěi - Flower Bud Angel)

Hanasaki Tsubomi (花咲つぼみ) - 花咲蕾 (huāxiào lěi)

Cure Marine - 海洋天使 (hǎiyáng - Ocean Angel)

Kurumi Erika (来海えりか) - 來海繪里香 (láihǎi huìlǐxiāng)

Cure Sunshine - 陽光天使 (yángguāng - Sunshine Angel)

Myoudouin Itsuki (明堂院いつき) - 明堂院樹 (míngtángyuàn shù)

Cure Moonlight - 月光天使 (yuèguāng - Moonlight Angel)

Tsukikage Yuri (月影ゆり) - 月影百合 (yuèyǐng bǎihé)

Shypre (シプレ) - 希普蕾 (xīpǔlěi)

Coffret (コフレ) - 可芙蕾 (kěfúlěi)

Potpourri (ポプリ) - 波普莉 (bōpǔlì)

Cologne (コロン) - 可隆 (kělóng/lōng)

Coupé (コッペ) - 可貝 (kěbèi)

Cure Flower - 花朵天使 (huāduǒ - Flower Angel)

Yay~! My first Precure love that got me into this damn franchise 🥰

It's strange that this season is called "Sweet Angel" (甜蜜天使, tiánmìtiānshǐ). I mean, I know there is no translation for "Heartcatch" but when you say 甜蜜 (tiánmì), it literally means "sweet honey" so wouldn't this be more suited for a season that deals with sweets like Suite or KiraPre? 😅

Anyways, Heartcatch has an older character in its cast so I'm gonna talk about that now. Yuri is addressed with "-san" by the girls which makes sense in Japanese context. However, in Chinese, using those honorifics (Mr. or Ms./Miss) to call someone who's only slightly older or within the same generation as you is very strange to the ears. It sounds too formal and distant. So even though I haven't watched the dub for this season, I'm pretty sure they call Yuri "百合姐姐" (Bǎihé jiě​jie) or “百合姐” (Bǎihé jiě​), which would be "Yuri-oneesan" in Japanese. You don't have to be blood related to call an older girl or woman "jiě​jie" (or 哥哥 ("gē​ge" older brother) for an older boy). It’s generally used to help indicate familiarity in the relationship as well as acknowledges seniority between the older person and the younger ones.

Finally, Cure Flower's name (花朵, huāduǒ) also means a "cluster of flowers" as opposed to Blossom's name (花蕾, huālěi) which just means a "flower bud". Nice distinction there between the two generations, hehe

Suite Precure - 光之美少女: 美樂天使♪

Cure Melody - 旋律天使 (xuánlǜ - Melody Angel)

Hojo Hibiki - 北條響 (běitiáo xiǎng)

Cure Rhythm - 節奏天使 (jiézòu - Rhythm Angel)

Minamino Kanade - 南野奏 (nányě zòu)

Cure Beat - 節拍天使 (jiépāi - Beat Angel)

Siren - 賽蓮 (sàilián)

Kurokawa Ellen (黒川エレン) - 黑川艾蓮 (hēichuān ài/yìlián)

Cure Muse - 謬思天使 (miùsī - Muse Angel)

Shirabe Ako - 調邊亞子 (diào/tiáobiān yàzǐ)

Hummy (ハミィ) - 哈咪 (hāmī)

Suite is called "美樂天使" (měiyuètiānshǐ) in the Taiwanese dub which translates to "beautiful music angels".

(fun note: 美樂 can also be pronounced as "měi​lè" which means Merlot. As in, the type of grape used to make wines, haha)

The transliteration of "Siren" sounds a lot closer to how it's pronounced in English compared to "seiren" in Japanese. Even the first character in her name corresponds with Ellen's backstory (賽 means to compete or surpass which Siren wanted to do against Hummy before her character development)

Muse is also another transliteration and the hanzi (謬思) put together kinda fits her, too. 謬 means "to deceive/confuse" which can be attributed to her disguise before she revealed her true identity while 思 means "to think". What's another term for "think"? Muse.

Don't know if that was intentional or not but if so, it's quite clever.

Smile Precure - Smile 光之美少女

Cure Happy - 快樂天使 (kuàilè - Happy/Joyful Angel)

Hoshizora Miyuki (星空みゆき) - 星空幸 (xīngkōng xìng)

Cure Sunny - 晴朗天使 (qínglăng - Sunny Angel)

Hino Akane (日野あかね) - 日野茜 (rìyě qiàn)

Cure Peace - 和平天使 (hépíng - Peace Angel)

Kise Yayoi (黃瀬やよい) - 黃瀨彌生 (huánglài míshēng)

Cure March - 旋風天使 (xuànfēng - Whirlwind/Tornado Angel)

Midorikawa Nao (緑川なお) - 綠川直 (lǜchuān zhí)

Cure Beauty - 美麗 (měilì - Beauty Angel)

Aoki Reika (青木れいか) - 青木麗華 (qīngmù lìhuá)

Candy (キャンディ) - 糖糖 (tángtáng)

Pop (ポップ) - 波普 (bōpǔ)

This season is rather simple (so easier for me, yay).

There are actually many ways to translate "happiness" into Chinese. 快樂 (kuàilè) is the joyful kind of happiness (I'm mentioning this now to differentiate it from Felice's "happiness" later).

晴朗 (qínglăng) means clear and bright weather so it’s consistent with sunny days. But I dunno, when I hear "clear and bright", I think of blue skies, not necessarily the sun. But eh, whatever cuz you need the sun out to see blue skies anyway.

March has the coolest name change, imo. Whirlwind/tornado gets the image of her element across a lot better than her original name does.

Candy is the most accurate translation for a mascot name atm cuz 糖 (táng) means sugar or candy and again, doubling the character gives it that cute nickname effect.

DokiDoki Precure - 心跳！光之美少女

Cure Heart - 愛心天使 (àixīn - Love/Compassion Angel)

Aida Mana (相田マナ) - 相田愛 (xiāngtián ài)

Cure Diamond - 鑽石天使 (zuànshí - Diamond Angel)

Hishikawa Rikka - (菱川六花) (língchuān liùhuā)

Cure Rosetta - 幸運草天使 (xìngyùncào - Lucky Grass Angel)

Yotsuba Alice (四葉ありす) - 四葉愛麗絲 (sìyè àilìsī)

Cure Sword - 聖劍天使 (shèngjiàn - Peerless/Holy Sword Angel)

Kenzaki Makoto - 劍崎真琴 (jiànqí zhēnqín)

Cure Ace - 王牌天使 (wángpái - Trump Card Angel)

Madoka Aguri - 圓亞久里 (yuányà jiǔlǐ)

Sharuru (シャルル) - 夏露露 (xiàlùlù)

Raquel (ラケル) - 拉克爾 (lā/lákèěr)

Lance (ランス) - 蘭斯 (lánsī)

Daybi (ダビィ) - 達比 (dábǐ)

Ai-chan (アイちゃん) - 艾艾 (àiài)

Cure Empress - 皇后天使 (huánghòu - Empress Angel)

Cure Magician - 魔術師天使 (móshùshī - Magician Angel)

Cure Priestess - 女祭司天使 (nǜjìsī - Priestess Angel)

心跳 (xīntiào) means "heartbeat" so it's an appropriate term to replace "dokidoki"

In a similar vein to happiness, love can be translated in many ways depending on what kind of love we're talking about. Compare Love's 愛情 (àiqíng) from earlier which means romantic love versus Mana's 愛心 (àixīn) which means compassion or love and care for others.

Love and Mana also share the same character (愛, love) for their given names in Mandarin, btw.

There is a a word for (three-leaf) clover (三叶草, sān​yè​cǎo) but for some reason, they decided to go with "Lucky Grass" (幸運草 (xìngyùncào) for Rosetta instead.

And yes, 四葉愛 (àilìsī) is how you transliterate Alice into Mandarin. Directly translated, it means "love + beautiful/magnificent + silk" (ooh, pretty~ 🤩)

The 艾 in 艾艾 for Ai-chan is not related to love but in fact, means moxa or Chinese mugwort which is used in traditional herbal medicine. So that hanzi was probably chosen to imitate the sound of "ai" while trying not to let it get mixed up with the other "愛"s in the show.

Finally, I threw in the legacy Cures just because I wanted to see if the hanzi used for Cure Magician would be different than the hanzi used for Mahoutsukai Precure and it was. But more on that later when we get to it.

Happiness Charge Precure - 幸福爆發！光之美少女

Cure Lovely - 可愛天使 (kě’ài - Cute/Charming Angel)

Aino Megumi (愛乃めぐみ) - 愛乃惠 (àinǎi huì)

Cure Princess - 公主天使 (gōngzhǔ - Princess Angel)

Shirayuki Hime (白雪ひめ) - 白雪姬 (báixuě jī)

Himelda Window Cure Queen of the Blue Sky - 希梅露達・溫豆・藍天之女王天使 (xīméilùdá wēndòu lántiānzhīnǜwángtiānshǐ)

Cure Honey - 甜蜜天使 (tiánmì - Sweet Angel)

Omori Yuko (大森ゆうこ) - 大森悠子 (dàsēn yōuzǐ)

Cure Fortune - 命運天使 (mìngyùn - Destiny Angel)

Hikawa Iona (���川いおな) - 冰川伊緒奈 (bīngchuān yīxùnài)

Ribbon (リボン) - 緞帶 (duàndài)

Glassan (ぐらさん) - 墨鏡 (mòjìng)

Cure Tender - 溫柔天使 (wēnróu - Gentle/Tender Angel)

Cure Mirage - 幻影天使 (huànyǐng - Phantom/Mirage Angel)

幸福爆發 (xìngfúbàofā) actually means "happiness burst"

And HaCha also has a secondary title: 填充精靈 (tiánchōngjīnglíng) If you remember from Fresh, 精靈 (jīnglíng) means “spirit” or “fairy” while 填充 (tiánchōng) means to "fill up" so it can pretty much translate to "fairies that fill you up (with happiness)" or something.

可愛 (kě’ài) is the same as kawaii (可愛い) and it can be translated multiple ways including but not limited to “cute”, “charming”, and “lovely”.

Does the 甜蜜 (tiánmì) in Cure Honey's name sound familiar? Yea, it's the same 甜蜜 as Heartcatch's title in Mandarin so it's probably for the best that these two seasons don't do a collab. Even their abbreviations (HC, HaCha) can make it really confusing in the same space 😅

Fortune (命運, mìngyùn) in this case doesn't mean the luck kind of fortune (which would be 幸運 (xìngyùn), I believe) but more of the future-predicting kind and hence, destiny.

Another interesting case here with the mascots is that their names actually translate to the same meaning as to what the Japanese ones are based off of. 緞帶 (duàndài) means satin strap (ribbon) while 墨鏡 (mòjìng) means sunglasses.

And I was a little intimidated on whether I wanted to try "deciphering" Hime's ridiculously long name but turns out it's very mild compared to say, Fuwa's from StarPre. Now that I look at it after it's been a while, more than half of it is just a title. Her given name is probably just Himelda Window 😂

Go! Princess Precure - GO! 光之美少女公主

Cure Flora - 花神天使 (huāshén - Flower God Angel)

Haruno Haruka (春野はるか) - 春野遙 (chūnyě yáo)

Cure Mermaid - 人魚天使 (rényú - Mermaid Angel)

Kaido Minami (海藤みなみ) - 海藤南 (hăiténg nán)

Cure Twinkle - 閃亮天使 (shǎnliàng - Shining Angel)

Amanogawa Kirara (天ノ川きらら) - 天之川綺羅 (tiānzhīchuān qǐluó)

Cure Scarlet - 赤紅天使 (chìhóng - Scarlet Angel)

Akagi Towa (紅城トワ) - 紅城永久 (hóngchéng yǒngjiǔ)

Twilight - 黛維莱德 (Dàiwéiláidé)

Pafu (パフ) - 泡芙 (pàofú)

Aroma (アロマ) - 阿羅瑪 (āluómǎ)

Miss Shamour (ミス・シャムール) - 夏慕爾小姐 (xiàmùěr xiǎojie)

Kuroro (クロロ) - 庫洛洛 (kùluòluò)

Go!Pri is simply titled 公主 (gōngzhǔ) in the lineup which makes “光之美少女” (guāngzhīměishàonǜ) even a bigger mouthful to say when two more hanzi are added to the end 😅

Didn't understand where the "Flower God" came from in Flora's translation until I looked it up and oh, it's the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, doyy 🤦🏻‍♀️

Twinkle's is an intriguing translation because she and Sparkle wound up sharing the same hanzi. 閃亮 (shǎnliàng) can be translated a number of ways including “brilliant”, “shiny”, “flare”, “to glisten” and “to twinkle”. Basically, if you're blingin' bright, you're 閃亮 😎✨

Kirara's given name in Mandarin, 綺羅 (qǐluó), means “beautiful silk fabrics” or “a person in a beautiful silk dress” and is likely a reference to Orihime which her princess concept is based off of.

赤紅 (chìhóng) are two characters for the color red so placed together, it means really red (aka scarlet).

Twilight got to keep her name as is and this is the translation for it:

“black dye (for painting eyebrow) + preserve/maintain + name of weed plant + virtue”

...it kinda makes half sense at least??

Oh and 泡芙 (pàofú) means cream puff, not the powder puff used for makeup.

Mahoutsukai Precure - 魔法使 光之美少女!

Cure Miracle - 奇蹟天使 (qíjì - Miracle Angel)

Asahina Mirai (朝日奈みらい) - 朝日奈未來 (zhāorìnài wèilái)

Cure Magical - 魔法天使 (mófǎ - Magic Angel)

Izayoi Riko (十六夜リコ) - 十六夜理子 (shíliùyè lǐzǐ)

Cure Felice - 幸福天使 (xìngfú - Happiness Angel)

Ha-chan (はーちゃん) - 小哈 (xiǎohā)

Hanami Kotoha (花海ことは) - 花海言葉 (huāhǎi yányè)

Mofurun - 莫夫倫 (Mòfūlún)

Mother Rapapa (マザー・ラパーパ) - 拉帕帕母神 (lāpàpà mǔshén)

Nobody should be surprised that I enjoyed doing this season's translations the most cuz MahoPre is my true love among the Precure seasons after all, hehehe 🤭💖

Ok, so as opposed to 魔術師 (móshùshī) used for Cure Magician in DokiPre, MahoPre uses 魔法使 (mófǎshī). I'm not sure if there's really that big of a difference between them but breaking both down, 魔術師 is "magic power + art/skill/technique + teacher/master" (translated to "magician") while 魔法使 is "magic power + rule/law + teacher/master" (translated to "wizard/sorcerer"). So I guess it really depends on the context in which they're being used.

For the Cure names, there are no major changes. 奇蹟 (qíjì) can also mean “wonder" or "marvel”. 魔法 (mófǎ) can also stand for “enchantment”. And 幸福 (xìngfú) means happiness. I believe this is the general term used for happiness in Chinese but it also carries a sort of...precious connotation to it? Cuz it also means "blessings" which Felice also represents so there's that. You can compare Cure Happy's joyful happiness vs Felice's blessed happiness and feel the distinction there.

For the civilian names, I didn't mention this before but any girl whose Japanese name ends in "ko" (子) will likely be translated to "zǐ" cuz 子 means "child". Though when I hear "zǐ", I think of "boy" instead of child cuz it usually refers to sons. Anyway, the first hanzi of Riko's given name means “logic” or “reason” which fits her personality since she is the more law-abiding one between her and Mirai. Xiǎo Hā means "little Ha" (the closest you'll get to translating anything with “-chan” in it cuz we don't have those sort of suffixes in Chinese) and �� is the onomatopoeia for laughter (aww~ 🥰) or Pekinese pug (lol 😂)

Mofurun's translation is very hilarious as well. 莫夫倫 means "do not + husband + human relationship" So I guess they really wanted to hammer it in that Mirai and Riko are a lesbian couple 🤣

Finally Mother Rapapa is called 母神 which literally means “mother goddess”.

Kira Kira Precure a la Mode - 光之美少女: 食尚甜心

Cure Whip - 奶油天使 (nǎiyóu - Cream/Butter Angel)

Usami Ichika (宇佐美いちか) - 宇佐美一花 (yǔzuǒměi yīhuā)

Cure Custard - 卡士達天使 (kǎshìdá - Custard Angel)

Arisugawa Himari (有栖川ひまり) - 有栖川陽理 (yǒuqīchuān yánglǐ)

Cure Gelato - 冰淇淋天使 (bīngqílín - Ice Cream Angel)

Tategami Aoi (立神あおい) - 立神葵 (lìshén kuí)

Cure Macaron - 馬卡龍天使 (mǎkǎlóng - Macaron Angel)

Kotozume Yukari (琴爪ゆかり) - 琴爪緣 (qínzhǎo yuán)

Cure Chocolat - 巧克力天使 (qiǎokèli - Chocolate Angel)

Kenjou Akira (剣城あきら) - 劍城晶 (jiànchéng jīng)

Cure Parfait - 聖代天使 (shèngdài - Sundae Angel)

Kirarin (キラリン) - 綺羅鈴 (qǐluólíng)

Kirahoshi Ciel (キラ星シエル) - 綺羅星夏爾 (qǐluóxīng xiàěr)

Pekorin (ペコリン) - 佩科琳 (pèkēlín)

Pikario (ピカリオ) - 皮卡利歐 (píkǎlìōu)

Julio (ジュリオ) - 朱利歐 (zhūlìōu)

Kuroki Rio (黒樹リオ) - 黑樹利歐 (hēishù lìōu)

Lumiere (ルミエル) - 露米爾 (lùmǐěr)

I was afraid of this one cuz how the hell do you translate "a la mode"??

Fortunately, it went the four hanzi route: 食尚甜心 (shíshàng tiánxīn) which means "food sweethearts"

Other than that, I don't have much to say. Beside Whip and Gelato, most of the names are loan words so they don't have specific hanzi for them and are all transliterated.

I think Cream is better than Whip though, don't you agree?

And I'm still dying at the translation for Gelato cuz it reminds me of that John Cena video where he’s repeatedly saying "wǒ xǐ​huan bīngqílín!" (I love ice cream!) in order to appeal to China audiences to go watch one of the Fast & Furious movies 🤣

Oh and the “綺羅” (qǐlou) in Kirarin’s name is the same as Kirara’s given name in Mandarin. So 綺羅 is probably how the translators chose to substitute “きら” (kira) in Mandarin.

Hugtto Precure - 擁抱！光之美少女

Cure Yell - 喝采天使 (hècǎi - Cheer Angel)

Nono Hana (野乃はな) - 野乃花 (yěnǎi huā)

Cure Ange - 聖潔天使 (shèngjié - Holy and Pure Angel)

Yakushiji Saaya (薬師寺さあや) - 藥師寺紗綾 (yàoshīsì shālíng)

Cure Etoile - 星辰天使 (xīngchén -Stars Angel)

Kagayaki Homare (輝木ほまれ) - 輝木譽 (huīmù yù)

Cure Macherie - 摯愛天使 (zhì’ài - True Love Angel)

Aisaki Emiru (愛崎えみる) - 愛崎惠美瑠 (àiqí huìměiliú)

Cure Amour - 愛神天使 (àishén - Love God Angel)

Lulu Amour - 露露・艾莫爾 (lùlù àimòěr)

Hugtan (はぐたん) - 抱抱 (bàobào)

Cure Tomorrow - 明日天使 (mingrì - Tomorrow Angel)

Harryham Harry (ハリハム・ハリー) - 哈利哈姆・哈利 (hālìhāmǔ hālì)

擁抱 (yōngbào) means "embrace" or "hug"

Yell's name makes more sense in Mandarin and should've been “cheer” from the start, to be honest.

And I guess Ange could not be "Angel Angel" so they went with 聖潔 to allude to something saint-like.

星辰 comes up as "stars" in the dictionary but when you break down the hanzi, it stands for "star" + "early morning/5th terrestrial branch"

lol, they didn't bother transliterating Macherie and granted her the title of "True Love Angel" instead (摯愛 can also mean "beloved", apparently) Even the hanzi for Emiru's name is full of love: 惠美瑠 = "favor/kindness + beautiful + precious stone"

愛神 is likely referring to Roman god of love, Amor, and therefore, love god. Amor is also known as Cupid so you can think of Cure Amour as Cupid Angel from now on, hehehe 🤭

And omg, Hugtan has the most adorable name translation! 😆💕 Cuz 抱抱 means "cuddle" and it's just so irresistibly cute to hear that from a baby when they reach out to you and ask for hugs like “bàobào? 🥺”

UGH 😩❤️

Star Twinkle Precure - 星光閃亮 ☆ 光之美少女

Cure Star - 星空天使 (xīngkōng - Starry Sky Angel)

Hoshina Hikaru (星奈ひかる) - 星奈光 (xīngnài guāng)

Cure Milky - 銀河天使 (yínhé - Milky Way Angel)

Hagoromo Lala (羽衣ララ) - 羽衣拉拉 (yǔyì lālā)

Cure Soleil - 太陽天使 (tàiyang - Sun Angel)

Amamiya Elena (天宮えれな) - 天宮愛蓮娜 (tiāngōng àiliánnà)

Cure Selene - 月神天使 (yuèshén - Moon God Angel)

Kaguya Madoka (香久矢まどか) - 香久矢圓香 (xiāngjiǔshǐ yuánxiāng)

Cure Cosmo - 宇宙天使 (yǔzhòu - Universe/Cosmos Angel)

Yuni - 尤妮 (yóunī)

Mao - 瑪歐 (mǎōu)

Bakenyan - 巴凱喵 (bākǎimiāo)

Fuwa (フワ) - 芙娃 (fúwá)

Spegasus Plalan Mofupit Princeywink - 斯佩嘉薩���・普拉蘭・莫芙皮特・普林賽溫克 

Prunce (プルンス) - 普倫斯 (pǔlúnsī)

星光閃亮 (xīngguāng shǎnliàng) means "starlight twinkle"

Kinda nice how the Taiwanese dub was generous towards Star. In Japanese, she's only one star but in Mandarin, she gets the whole sky full of stars ☺️ (also, Hikaru shares the same hanzi as Hikari for their given names in Mandarin and her Angel name has the same hanzi as Miyuki’s surname “hoshizora”)

Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon, hence "Moon God" (月神).

But what makes me giggle is how 🌺nice-smelling🌺 Madoka's name must be since the character for "fragrant" (香) is used twice in it 🤭 In fact, I've seen 香 used a lot in girl's names and I belive it's cuz it's very feminine 😌💅✨

And like me, you may be surprised to learn that Mao's name is not 猫(cat, māo) but another transliteration. The translation for it is "agate/cornelia + Europe" 😅

Ain't touching Fuwa's full name so for anyone who wants to, go nuts!

Healin’ Good Precure - 元氣魔法 ♥ 光之美少女

Cure Grace - 恩典天使 (ēndiǎn - Favor/Grace Angel)

Hanadera Nodoka (花寺のどか) - 花寺和香 (huāsì héxiāng)

Cure Fontaine - 泉源天使 (quányuán - Fountainhead Angel)

Sawaizumi Chiyu (沢泉ちゆ) - 澤泉千優 (zéquán qiānyōu)

Cure Sparkle - 閃亮天使 (shānliàng - Shining Angel)

Hiramitsu Hinata (平光ひなた) - 平光向日葵 (píngguāng xiàngrìkuí)

Cure Earth - 地球天使 (dìqiú - Earth Angel)

Fuurin Asumi (風鈴アスミ) - 風鈴亚莎 (fēnglíng yàshā/suō)

Rabirin - 拉比琳 (lābǐlín)

Pegitan - 佩吉 (pèijí)

Nyatoran - 喵托蘭 (miāotuōlán)

Latte - 拿鐵 (nátiě)

元氣魔法 (yuánqìmófǎ) translates to "vitality magic" which corresponds with HealPre’s health theme.

The "grace" in 恩典 (ēndiǎn) doesn't mean "refinement" but rather like a "favor" or "honor" granted by someone.

Fontaine was already awkward but now it's even more awkward cuz in Mandarin, it really just means "fountainhead" 😭

There doesn’t seem to be a specific word for "sparkle" in Chinese (at least it hasn’t come up in my searches yet) so you go with the closest synonyms like "shining" or "twinkle" and that's how Twinkle and Sparkle ended up sharing the same hanzi. Which doesn't really help the thought that HealPre's designs were lifted from Go!Pri's and now they're even more alike than needed, lol

And I'm amused how the loan word for Latte means "take + iron/strong" cuz if you drink too much coffee, it can actually inhibit your iron absorption 😂

Tropical Rouge! Precure - 熱情閃耀！光之美少女

Cure Summer - 夏日天使 (xiàrì - Summertime Angel)

Natsuumi Manatsu (夏海まなつ) - 夏海真夏 (xiàhǎi zhēnxià)

Cure Coral - 珊瑚天使 (shānhú - Coral Angel)

Suzumura Sango (涼村さんご) - 涼村珊瑚 (liángcūn shānhú)

Cure Papaya - 水果天使 (shuǐguǒ - Fruit Angel)

Ichinose Minori (一之瀬みのり) - 一之瀨實 (yìzhīlài shí)

Cure Flamingo - 紅鶴天使 (hónghè - Red Crane Angel)

Takizawa Asuka (滝沢あすか) - 瀧澤飛鳥 (lóngzé fēiniǎo)

Cure La Mer - 人魚天使 (rényú - Mermaid Angel)

Laura La Mer (ローラ・ラメール) - 蘿拉・拉梅爾 (luólà làméiěr)

Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer - 蘿拉・阿波羅朵羅斯・希吉努斯・拉梅爾 (luólā ābōluóduǒluósī xīj��nǔsī láméiěr)

Kururun - 庫魯倫 (kùlǔlún)

Cure Oasis - 綠洲天使 (lǜzhōu - Oasis Angel)

熱情閃耀 (rèqíng shănyào) translates to "radiating passion"…I think.

Papaya, Flamingo and La Mer are the only ones who went through any changes.

Not sure why they went with the general term for fruit (水果) when there is a word for papaya in Chinese (木瓜, mù​guā) but it still works with the tropical theme, at least.

And sorry, I love Flamingo but "Red Crane Angel" sounds so cool 🤩

La Mer isn't named after the ocean here but is called "Mermaid Angel" instead. So yea, she and Cure Mermaid share the same alter ego name in the Taiwanese dub.

lol, and Laura's full name sounds like straight up alien speak 🤣

Delicious Party Precure - 美味Party♡光之美少女

Cure Precious - 珍味天使 (zhēnwèi - precious/rare/culinary delicacy + taste/sense Angel)

Nagomi Yui (和実ゆい) - 和實結 (héshí jié)

Cure Spicy - 調味天使 (tiáowèi - seasoning/condiment + taste/sense Angel)

Fuwa Kokone (芙羽ここね) - 芙羽心音 (fúyǔ xīnyīn)

Cure Yum Yum - 好味天使 (hǎowèi - Good + taste/sense Angel)

Hanamichi Ran (華満らん) - 華滿蘭 (huámǎn lán)

Cure Finale - 甜點天使 (tiándiǎn - Dessert Angel)

Kasai Amane (菓彩あまね) - 菓彩甘寧 (guǒcǎi gānníng)

Kome Kome (コメコメ) - 米米 (mǐmǐ)

Pamu Pamu (パムパム) - 包包 (bāobāo)

Mem Mem (メンメン) - 麵麵 (miànmiàn)

Rosemary (ローズマリー) - 迷迭香 (mídiéxiāng)

Black Pepper - 布萊克佩帕 (bùláikèpèipà)

Shinada Takumi (品田拓海) - pǐntián tàhǎi

oh thank god, I'm almost done 😩

美味Party (měiwèi party) = delicious party

Notice how there's a 味 (wèi, "taste/sense") in the first three Cure name translations just like in this season's title.

Precious and Finale’s Mandarin names make more sense here cuz 珍 (zhēn) means "delicacies" while 甜點 (tiándiǎn) is "dessert" so you immediately make that connection to food.

And I find that Spicy and Yum Yum don't sound as convincing as they do in Mandarin. 調 (tiáo) seems to cover a wider range of condiments than just spice while 好味 (hǎowèi) just sounds better cuz it's like "good taste! 👍"

包包 (bāobāo) means "bun" (x2), not the same as 抱抱 (bàobào) cuz they're obviously different characters and even their tones aren't the same. And 麵麵 (miànmiàn) is also slang for spineless person (poor Mem Mem 😅)

Also not surprised that Rosemary is a direction translation of the plant, rosemary, but they let Black Pepper keep his alter ego name instead of using 黑胡椒 (hēi​hú​jiāo).

Hirogaru Sky Precure - 開闊天空！光之美少女

Cure Sky - 天空天使 (tiānkōng - Sky Angel) 晴空天使 (qíngkōng) (Clear Sky Angel)

Sora Harewateru (ソラ・ハレワタール) - 索拉・哈雷瓦塔爾 (suǒlā hā/hǎléiwǎtǎěr) 天晴・娃塔兒 (tiānqíng wátǎér)

Cure Prism - 棱鏡天使 (léngjìng - Prism Angel)

Nijigaoka Mashiro (虹ヶ丘ましろ) - 虹之丘真白 (hóngzhīqiū zhēnbái)

Cure Wing - 羽翼天使 (yǔyì - Wing Angel)

Yuunagi Tsubasa (夕凪ツバサ) - 夕凪翼 (xīqi yì) 夕陽翼 (xīyáng yì)

Cure Butterfly - 蝴蝶天使 (húdié - Butterfly Angel)

Hijiri Ageha (聖あげは) - 聖揚羽 (shèng yángyǔ) 聖蝴 (shèng dié)

Cure Majesty - 莊嚴天使 (zhuāngyán - Solemn/Dignified Angel) 公主天使 (gōngzhǔ - Princess Angel)

Ellee (艾爾) - àiěr

Cure Noble - 高貴天使 (gāoguì - Grandeur/Noble Angel)

Ellelain (艾爾蓮) - àiěrlián

Ffffff, the wiki is wrong! Or at least half of it hasn’t been updated. I think what probably happened was the Japanese version of their names was translated in the Chinese wiki first but as the dub progressed, the translators chose to change some words around.

*SIGH* Now I’m doubting everything I wrote down up till now 😓

Anyways, I had to go back to rewatch this dub so I hope I got all the correct names this time.

Starting with the title, they used a Chinese idiom in place of “Hirogaru Sky” which is really cool.

開闊天空 (hăikuòtiānkōng) translates to “wide sea and sky”. Another way of interpreting it is the “whole wide world” or “chatting about everything under the sun”.

Sora seems to have gone through the most shifts in her name. Initially, her Cure name translation was 天空 (tiānkōng) which is just “sky” but it changed to “晴空” (qíngkōng) which is more specifically “clear sky” (空 can also translate to “air”). Her Mandarin given name also takes those hanzi to form “天晴” (tiānqíng) which would also be “clear sky” or “clear heavens”.

The 陽 (yáng) that switched out the 凪 in Tsubasa’s surname means “to expand”, “bright” or “glorious”. Fitting since the image of a phoenix is associated with our little birdie~

Ageha’s given name is just “butterfly” in Mandarin. However, her friends call her “小蝶姐” (xiǎodiéjiě, “Big sis Little Butterfly”) since she’s older than them so that sorta makes up for it.

And for some reason, the dub decided not to use “Majesty” despite the fact that there are characters that exist for that term. Instead, they went with “Princess” which is like c’mooonn… 😩

Cuz now we have another pair of Cures from different seasons sharing the same name/hanzi again in a dub (Cure Princess and Cure Majesty).

Also, it’s weird they changed Majesty but kept Cure Noble as “noble” (高貴, gāoguì) 🫤

Oh well. I guess it’s a matter of using simpler hanzi that kids can understand??

Anyways, it just tickles me pink that Cure Wing/Wing Angel is also called a “bishoujo” in the Taiwanese dub 🤭

Precure isn’t restricted to the female gender anymore (the name itself never was, tbh, cuz it’s not a real word) but even magical boys are considered “magical girls” in the 光之美少女 sphere.

Ageha stills calls him “shounen” (少年, shàonián), though. Haha!

Wonderful Precure - 美妙寵物 光之美少女

Cure Wonderful - 美好天使 (měihǎo- Fine Angel)

Inukai Komugi (犬飼 こむぎ) - 犬飼麥 (quǎnsì mài)

Cure Friendy - 友愛天使 (yǒu’ài - Friendly Affection Angel)

Inukai Iroha (犬飼 いろは) - 犬飼彩葉 (quǎnsì cǎiyè)

Cure Nyammy - 喵喵天使 (miāomiāo - Meow Meow/Kitty Angel)

Nekoyashiki Yuki (猫屋敷 ユキ) - 貓屋敷雪 (māowūfū xuě)

Cure Lillian - 莉莉安天使 (lìlìān - Lillian Angel)

Nekoyashi Mayu (猫屋敷 まゆ) - 貓屋敷真結 (māowūfū zhēnjié)

Toyama Satoru - 兔山悟 (tushān wù)

Daifuku - 大福 (dàfú)

Nico (ニコ) - 尼可 (níkè) 微笑 (wēixiào)

Weird how HiroPre’s translations got all mixed up but WonPre turned out normal. Maybe cuz HiroPre was the anniversary season?

Moving along…WonPre in the dub is 美妙寵物 (měimiào chǒngwù) which translates to “wonderful pet”.

It also has a nickname. Not really a secondary title name but a nickname which is “汪汪光美” (wāngwāngguāngměi) which translates to “woof woof shining beauty”.

美好 (měihǎo) is the closest word you can translate to from “wonderful”, I think. It’s a combination of “pleasing” (美) and “good” (好) so the result can be “beautiful”, “fine”, or “great” which can all be synonyms for “wonderful”.

友愛 (yǒu’ài) doesn’t mean friendship but friendly affection. The hanzi for friendship is 友谊 (yǒuyì).

Nyammy’s is a cute one. 喵 by itself means cat. 喵喵 renders it to the more cute-sounding “kitty” and it’s also how Chinese make the sound “meow meow” (like the Japanese “nya nya”).

Lillian’s name is a foreign word so it’s another transliteration. But the translation of it is quite pretty. It doubles the hanzi for “white jasmine” (莉, lì) and puts it together with the hanzi for “calm/peaceful” (安, ān). So it also fits Mayu’s character very well 😊

Ah, and there’s another way you can address someone close to you that’s kinda like a nickname but not as cutesy.

If their given name is just one character, you can put a “啊” (ā) in front of it or after it. 啊 is more of a particle hanzi. It doesn’t have any deep meaning to it but helps express emotions or soften tones in conversations. When attached to someone’s name, it makes you sound friendlier when talking to them as opposed to calling them by their full name (surname + given).

Iroha does this for Satoru (啊悟, ā wù) in place of “-kun”.

You and Idol Precure - 你和偶像 Idol 光之美少女♪

Cure Idol (キュアアイドル) - 偶像天使 (ǒuxiàng - Idol Angel)

Sakura Uta (咲良 うた) - 咲良歌 (xiàoliáng gē)

Cure Wink (キュアウインク) - 耀眼天使 (yàoyǎn - Dazzling Angel) 俏麗天使 (qiàolì - Pretty Angel)

Aokaze Nana (蒼風 なな) - 蒼風奈奈 (cāngfēng nàinài)

Cure Kyun Kyun (キュアキュンキュン) - 心動天使 (xīndòng - Heartbeat Angel) 心跳天使 (xīntiào - Heartbeat Angel)

Shigure Kokoro (紫雨 こころ) - 紫雨心 (zǐyǔ xīn)

Purirun (プリルン) - 普利倫 (pǔlìlún)

Meroron (メロロン) - 梅羅容 (méiluóróng)

你和偶像 (nǐhéǒuxiàng) = You and Idol

The “心動” (xīngdòng) for Cure Kyun Kyun’s name translation is different from DokiPre’s “心跳” (xīntiào). 心跳 (xīntiào) refers to one’s pulse while 心動 (xīngdòng) means “heart movement” in the sense of your heart getting excited or aroused by emotion. Essentially what happens when you’re admiring and fanning hard over your idol.

It seems Kyun Kyun’s name will be 心跳 (xīntiào) instead of 心動 (xīngdòng), after all.

Also, Wink’s has been changed to “Pretty Angel” (it can also be translated as “handsome”) which isn’t bad but it is more generic than the special trademark she’s originally named for.

~~~~~~~~~

To be updated as series continues.

[back-alley-bardblog]

“Yo!! DUDE STOP RIGHT THERE i gotta talk at you ok i gotta put you onto some shit.” The very loud imp produces a crumpled scrap of paper from his pocket before checking it over, he then pulls out a chewed up pencil from another pocket and crosses it off

“Hook them in… check! Man I’m already nailing this Claire's gonna be so damn proud. ANYWAY hi. Hello. My name’s Tobias but please call me Tobi WITH AN I i know its weird but it makes me happy uh- uhm.”

Tobi checks another, different scrap of paper

“Oh yea… If you’re seeing this post then HOPEFULLY you’re the kind of person that likes it when dudes are silly on the internet. This blog is kind of that? I’m part of this band and we’re trying to get noticed by people n stuff so we were told to maybe make some kind of account somewhere and I suggested this!”

As he throws his hands into the air, Tobi flings the paper scraps as if they were confetti, seemingly without noticing

“Basically uh we’re just gonna hang out here and you, people of the internet, can actually get to know us n stuff.. Just me for now though, the rest of the guys aren’t really into this kind of thing. I’m sure I can sneak you all some peeks of them though! wink”

That wink was spoken. It's not clear if he actually did wink considering his choice of hairstyle

“BUT I’m sure that’s not too much of a tragedy. I’m pretty endearing when I need to be.”

…

“Ok that's all I got ta say, hope to talk more soon, bye!!!”

(vv psst, under here! vv)

Heyyyy it's me, the actual owner of this blog and creator of back alley bard (you can call me box :3 I use he/they pronouns with a HUGE preference for the he as opposed to the they) here to drop some INFORMATION and GROUND RULES for this blog. 

I'm gonna start with some boundaries/rules first though. Just to get them out the way.

Any attempts to start NSFW rp will be ignored, this blog’s lore is that it's a band’s social media so none of the lads will be having e sex on main.. Or at all, really. Also it's just a boundary thing. Flirting is fine though by all means type the foulest thing you can in the inbox if it's for funny reasons, this blog is rated a solid 16+. Speaking of that

IF YOU ARE ANY YOUNGER THAN 16 PLEASE DO NOT INTERACT WITH THIS BLOG. The story this blog is based off is very mature in its content so it's more of a means to deter the hypothetical fanbase from being overrun with young kids than a “I FUCKING HATE LITTLE KIDS” thing. Nothing against you guys, I just don’t really wanna write something with sexuality as a relevant recurring thing with the knowledge it's mainly 13 year olds that’re gonna engage with it. Personal comfort, if anything.

Please don’t send asks that are fourth wall breaks. This is stuff like telling Tobi he isn’t real or trying to tell them that I exist and control what he says on here. I’ll just delete your ask and block you if you try sending anymore like that

Generally just don’t be a weirdo. No Zoos, Pedos, Proshippers or Hate Speech is allowed on this blog. Zero tolerance policy I will block you on SIGHT.

Don’t be rude if it takes a while to get a response, I have a life outside of this and am currently a student and will continue to be one for the next 4 years or so. Basically don’t RUSH ME

If you have any meta questions like “oh how long have you had the boys” or “can i have a reference for tobi” please redirect them to either my art blog @unboxt (where i’m more likely to see it) or my main dump blog @basement-hobo 

DO NOT ADDRESS ME IN THE ASKS. I AM FUNCTIONALLY NOT HERE. I DO NOT EXIST ITS JUST TOBI

Ok that's all my boundaries/rules, onto the fun bit! Actual info on what this blog actually is and how it works.

As summarised by the bio back alley bard is a fictional (somewhat punk) indie rock band I created and are my ocs. They are not a real band and I have no plans to make them the next Gorillaz or Yaelokre - I do still plan to publish something big about them though!

This blog is an experimental side project to me for now so all asks are limited to just Tobi (he/they) BUT if I like doing this you guys unlock full band perms. Should mention though, this doesn’t mean I won’t show them or have tobi give any information about the band. Do with this what you will.

My main goal with this is to get people familiar with Back Alley Bard so that when I get around to really working on my goals for it I’ll have a substantial amount of people to back me up for it. Also because its a fun way to put a bit more meat on the bones of the lads (and practice drawing them)

That's basically it. Happy asking, folks!

[fungertchi-fun]

How are you so cool, talented, and creative?

Genuinely? Practice, too much free time, and too many hobbies. [The next part is joking] Oh, also can't forget bout the horrors. The horrors have been helping in keeping me motivated! [Joking end] /I'm sorry about the long wait time for my response btw, I legit have the memories of a soggy pieces of bread, being repeatedly wrung dry periodically. Oh! And also, I'm sorry about the lack of pixel art, the part of me that likes pixel art was found sleeping in the woods, and it takes a while till she wakes up again. Tee hee,,,

However the me who is doing human stuff right now is indulging in the exciting new hobby of porting visual novels I like to a 12+ year old software for the nintendo ds and a bunch of interpreters to play. (The homebrew app I'm referring to is VNDS btw) Dunno how long that will be my focus, but we'll see how long it takes me to find myself in the sleepy thrall of dormancy as well. Anyway, here's some pixel art the me who created this blog made before she went night night, as a gift for being cool, nice, and awesome as well. :D And yea, all of these are project moon related, she loves those games.

[duck-ism]

Blog Post #00001

01/07/25

Deep Inhale, Deep Exhale “Okay Duck you got this”

*turns to non- existent audience tapping a microphone that squeals irretiably*

B/N: this part was so much funnier to me when I wrote it

Hi, I’m Ducky, or Llewyn, only myself or my friends & family really call me Llew so dont hit me with a “Hey, Llew!”, right out the doors, *processing thought: god, this awful* but you can use whatever, I guess that's a necessary intro to… this.

Where to start, okay… well uhh I’m 20 as of last April & will be 21 this year (2025) I’m not one for complaining so much, but this is a blog where I’m going to I guess just write what I know and what I feel so I’m sorry if anything comes across that way. Just kinda need a place to prove to myself that I’m growing as a person and I’m not horrible or whatever any of my other mental difficulties want me to believe.

 I don't think that I’m the greatest thing in my parents lives, I’m certainly not the favorite, bit of a disappointment if you ask me, I failed & dropped out of the first college I went to for a Law Clerk program. (pretty much people who help lawyers & stuff, they’re over glorified secretaries ngl) The only reason I did was a whole lot of things happened. See a bit of background on me is that when I was three (3) years old my mother and father got divorced & I’ve been in my mom’s custody since (well, until I was 18), anyways my dad died a year prior (2022) to when I had dropped out (2023) & I was still grieving, I still do, but I had also that year prior, lost one of my high-school friends & my grandfather around the same time I lost my dad. You can maybe imagine the emotional stress of it all mixed with an abusive boyfriend of almost 3 years & having to break up with him, he was at the same school as me & being around him scared me too *exhales* okay calm down now…. 

Yea, at the time it was… a lot but, I also took time to heal, I guess what I guess you would consider a gap year to figure my shit out I think for the first time in a while I was able to breathe properly, that’s also the time when I met the men who I now refer to as my older brothers, who I will in future context refer to as (from oldest to youngest), Bat, Pigeon, and Racoon, they’re my safe space the people I trust most in the world along with Bat’s wife, Cat (no, I didn’t intend that they have rhyming names I’m just assigning them animal nicknames for anonymity), I trust them most in the world. In my gap year, I also just didn’t date anyone, I had been with my abusive ex for nearly three years, I needed a break from all of that, & I needed to focus on myself.

As October of my gap year came around I was told by my step-dad (who I don’t much like for reasons of a traumatic childhood) that I “Need to go back to school in January or expect to work full-time and start paying $600 rent a month” which with the chronic pain I have due to a condition that will remain undisclosed for the time, didn’t sound great if I wanted to avoid flare ups so I started looking for anything that I could start in january, thats when I found it in all it's glory, a beginners American Sign Language (ASL) program. Perfect, I’m Hard of Hearing & use hearing aids, this is a perfect chance to learn about the Deaf Community & improve on the little bit of ASL I already knew so I took that as a part-time course, & finished in March, I did well too. Now I’m at a different school, but for the same thing, ASL. I was unable to get one of the courses I needed last semester & I failed part one of a course I needed too, I passed 2 of my courses though at bare minimum, it's not that I don't understand the work, I do, my Attention Deficiet Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD) brain was never taught good study habits & that’s something I’m teaching myself to do now because of late diagnoses. However, the program I’m in didn't kick me out. I just need to retake the necessary courses in September, which I’m okay with.

Anyways, enough background information. I’m more than just my unsteady academic career, I do have what you call hobbies & interests. I for starters play bass guitar, I got it when I turned 16 from my dad, I also come from a baseball family (Go Blue Jays) which I mostly follow but I do kinda follow Hockey & American Football because of Racoon (hockey) & Cat (football) who like those sports. I also do cosplay, & you can find me @/duckystitch.cos on Instagram & Tik Tok. I also like reading, doing digital art, and video games, as well as a whole lot of other stuff. Some very elementary details about me is my favorite color is green, my favorite show is either ‘The X-Files’ or ‘X-Men ‘97’ & my favorite movies are, ‘Army of Darkness’, ‘Pacific Rim’, & ’House of  Wax (2005)’ which Racoon introduced me to when I first met him.

Anyways, this is my introduction and official first blog . Thanks if you stick around, I suppose. I'll see you all later.

-Ducky He/Him

[eddy-n-drew]

Hi ! Hope yall good today/tonight ✨

Earlier on this blog, I said that I wanted to show yall my OCs, remember ? Then here's one of them.

I present you Tallo the throne !

He's the main character of my OP AUs called "Hybrids" (yea I know I'm original).

WARNING SPOILERS ! If you didn't read the last chapter (1105), you'll be spoiled !

In this AU, the MG used the bustercall and destroyed Egghead.

Also this AU is canon with a Kataking french fanfiction made by @lawesculape, where King is living with Katakuri on Whole Cake Island after their captains's death. That's all you need to know to understand this AU.

Tallo was born as a test project, not classified as a seraphim like the ones you know, but as the first generation of lunarian hybrid made by Vegapunk about 18years ago : the Thrones.

But even after years under the control of the scientists, the thrones were still too rampageous and destructive to be used, so Vegapunk choosed to cryogenize them and locked them up on a basement far under the ground, far from the laboratories.

To make a long story short, when the bustercall was declared, an old scientist stayed on Egghead, released Tallo and helped him to run away from Egghead with a strange portal (an old unfinished experiment of the scientist). He was released randomly on one of the little islands of Whole Cake.

Weeks later, he will be discovered by King and Katakuri on Katakuri's island.

Annnd I think that's enought for now. It will be too long if I say everything I want in only one post lol. There's a lot to say about Tallo and also, there's some other OCs I've created for this AU. I'm so exited to talk to you about them.

Hope you enjoyed my little story. Sorry for the bad english by the way. I hope you've undertood everything 😅 Also here's the reference I've used to draw this time. Most of the references I use I found them on Pinterest, and most of the time I don't found the original artists. If you know who made the references let me know. I will, obviously, tag them !

See yall !

[orcelito]

Tally has decided that her job is Professional Plant Killer, so I have moved all my plants to the window in my room. Aka where I can supervise her and make sure she's not going to rip any OTHER plants out of socket

Decision made after i found the fourth plant she ripped up. Allister Junior aka my dick cactus was ripped in a way that he just Died, but 3 of them i was able to put back into the pot. Merrill (pictured on the right) is doing Just fine. Babybell and Linkle r the little ones sandwiched between all the big ones (for their own protection) and they're kinda struggling but I'm hoping for the best.

Tiki, the other small one, is just like. "Fuck you"

[anxiously-sidequesting]

HELLO FELLOW DYVIM ENJOYER i saw youve been thinking abt him for 10 years so i was just wondering. do you have any headcanons youd like to share abt him. also i love your blog your vibes are great

LISTEN YOU ARE A TOP TIER HUMAN BEING FOR THIS KIND MESSAGE?????? THANK YOU ANON HOLY SHIT i love you tooLordy i HAVE been thinking (simping) about Dyvim for 10 years. And you know what, You Know What. It's time I share my Wizard101 headcanons ANYWAY so here YOU go: DYVIM WHITEHART HEADCANONS, courtesy of your boi, anxiously-sidequesting™.

(gonna refer to the young wizard as "you" since we're all just self inserts anyway)

During your time with Dyvim in Khrysalis (specifically Khrysalis Part 2), you and him would sleep together/near each other at night. Dyvim has come to trust you deeply enough that he would share his sleeping space with you as if you'd known each other forever, and would feel comfortable enough to curl up into a ball next to you for the camaraderie and trust bonding that his People also do with each other (bunk beds and shared sleeping pouches are common in Dyvim's culture)

Dyvim is old enough to drink, and enjoys certain types of wine with his cheese and bread from time to time. There was a pleasant interaction between him and King Pyat MourningSword during Dyvim's recovery from the Brood Mother's venom, where the King himself offered to regularly meet with Dyvim for a relaxing evening of wine and cheese after he returned from his journey, they still do it to this day and have a grand old time together

Contrary to when Dyvim is around you or his loved ones, he is actually reserved and quiet in informal and social settings. His training as a soldier has allowed him to be more assertive in battle, but if you take Dyvim to meet your Wizard City friends he will be the physical embodiment of 🧍

Alternatively, Dyvim tends to communicate with his hands as well as his words. Gestures, fidgeting, and pointing are all common when he speaks. He even knows Khrysalis sign language and is notably adept in patrols and training exercises where body language is needed

Dyvim has very pretty handwriting

Dyvim says he prefers sunny days over rainy, but he will occasionally take relaxing walks in the rain and likes to kick his legs through puddles to watch the rainwater splash

Dyvim's two favorite seasons are Spring and Autumn

One of Dyvim's hobbies is woodcarving. If you get the chance, you'll see many wooden figurines of various animals and people in his burrow

SO YEA THOSE ARE MY DYVIM HEADCANONS, sorry if they're boring but i personally like these actually. TYSMMMMMMM FOR THE WONDERFUL ASK AND FOR ASKING ABOUT MY HEADCANONS I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM ❤️❤️❤️❤️ you're always welcome to send another ask too 🙏🏾✨❤️

[420technoblazeit]

anyway masterlist of responses to ppl's random messages on this form

hunters grab ur salt or hwatever. call my blog the winchesters bc we're time traveling in this fuckin car

IS HTIS WHY MY POLLS KEEP GETTING WEIRDLY SKEWED. GOD. FINE ILL ADD A 'DID NOT WATCH SUPERNATURAL' OPTION

im about to write a fix it where htey bring back crowley bc everything the writer's team did post-his death made me so goddamn angry. he adn cas die in the same episode and theyre like teehee. the antichrist brought cas back but not him bc idk. cas is Special. adn then they dont let rowena resurrect him im so alskdhgsadgasdgsadglhaldga

oh fukc are there angel robots in this. i keep making posts about gabriel spn adn people mistake it for ultrakill mayb i WILL play htis

i cant explain but like. hte type of cat that's black and white but the black adn white kinda meld together yk what im saying? lik,e an oreo milkshake

i handed in two of my final assignmetns last night so hopefully soon! im hella behind in one of my classes htough so we'll see

ive stayed up till 3 about 3 times in hte last 5 days. one of htose was bc the spn season 1 finale was a two parter adn i forgot and wanted to get to hte part where they got hit by the truck, another was bc i got really into a session of apex legedns, and the third was bc i had a final assignmetn and pissed away the rest of the day spn postign so. i think ur right

hwy are you the coolest person here what the fukc. like omg what's ur numberrrrrrrrr

WOE, DISCREET SUPERNATURAL REFERENCE IN MY MINECRAFT SMP BE UPON YE. it's a good nickname htough c!aster uses nicknames all the time for ppl anyway lmao. we've already got old man for sleep, princey for lux, dog breath for kota, etc etc. it fits

so fuckign true broski n boy am i having a time. i bought a crowley print a couple weeks ago but hte shipping for a print was too much money so i just bought a bigass sticker adn ykw. it worked. i also found out htat the artist now draws apex legends so im winning here

holy shit wait is htis just. literally a copy of super smash bros fuck yeah ill play that what the hell. why didtn u tell me about this sooner

this was on hte submission for judas. um,,,,, ,,, yeas

no youer so right. somebody did send a drawign in the drawing box of like. their little furry oc with hearts saying 'kys' adn i laughed so fucking hard at it. i didtn post it bc i wasnt sure if they were serious or not, i assume htey werent considering how cutesy it was but uh. yeha

sedn it to me im srs. i used to be hte biggest sabriel shipper back in the day before my brain apparently decided that angsty drowley shippign is superior. i love gabe though he's my fave

also im not puttign it here but someone sent a monologue? from somethign called fictional googology???? ??

LISTEN BITHC. WHEN QSMP GET'S HTE LORE ROLLING ILL DO IT. OR MAYBE GO TAKE A LOOK AT MY FUCKIGN BLOCK PEOPLE U EVER HTINK ABOUT THAT??? ?? anwyay im gonna b on wynne's vault hunters server u should go check them out n give them a follow theyre really cool

jesus fucking hcirst. u might as well just shoot me in hte leg dog

[zoopzopp]

A post for some BAMF Izuku fics <3 (more of these will be added and the list will be updated as i read them)

Fics i've read:

The Secret Ingredient is Crime- Izuku only had a whole month to further prove himself worthy of Yuuei's golden acceptance, and he was going to do whatever it took to make it in. Yuuei would never truly know what hit them until it was too late. (The secret crime AU in it entirety is fucking amazing and what wouldn't i give to read more stuff with it)

Deku the Villain Hunter: Support Hero - We all know the story: After being told he couldn't be a Hero by All Might, Midoriya Izuku still wandered over to a supervillain attack where he could save Bakugou Katsuki. But what if he had made the other turn? The answer is a butterfly effect that would lead him on a path to paving his own future. A path of revenge, finding his own moral compass, and doing the impossible. (OKAY MANY THOUGHTS. Very cool story and aspects. I binged it overnight and lost a bit of sleep the next night as well.)

The Story of How Midoriya Izuku Asserted His Dominance (And Traumatized Japan) - The Sports Festival was supposed to be a break from stress. Shouta should have known there is no such thing as a break with his class.

making it right (for real this time) - - Izuku is a support course student at UA, and Katsuki's neighbor, best friend, and former bullying victim. After Izuku's performance at the sports festival, Katsuki realizes something. He has to make things right. -

Hero Fall (UA Civil War Exercise) - It's now the end of the first year of UA for our students. Nedzu had decided to bring back the annual Heroes vs Villain fight. The fight shall last 5 days and the villain leader is Izuku Midoriya, with the commanding officer of the hero team being Katsuki Bakugo. But, what happens when Izuku is left alone?

Hero Class Civil Warfare - Heroes lead by Bakugo. Villains lead by Midoriya. Seven days prep time. Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

"I Didn't Know You Had It In You." - Midoriya goes feral rage mode in his fight against Overhaul. The beat down still happens, but with Eri no longer at his back, he gets more violent. One For All reacts in an interesting way and Midoriya commits a terrible and unheroic act - the cold blooded murder and maiming of Chisaki Kai. Shigaraki is there to watch it all unfold.

Plan C meets Plan A - Even if All Might is right and Izuku can't be a hero, Izuku refuses to be useless. So Izuku uses his analysis skills to develop Plan C: Consulting in order to help the heroes. Eraserhead is impressed by this mysterious new consultant but alarm bells in Deku's behaviour quickly have Aizawa recruiting help for Plan A: Adoption.

Q. A. B. - One month after @hawks_unofficial's initial viral post, the blog titled "Quirk Analysis Blog for the Future", otherwise known as "Q. A. B.", has gone from an average of 10 views per post to an average of 20,000 views per post. Midoriya Izuku does not know how to view the impressions analysis for his suddenly popular blog, and only notices that sometimes, people actually comment on his posts now. He does not google himself or his moniker and thus does not see the rise in online articles and speculation. He is unaware that the "kyuu-ei-bee" he begins to hear about in passing refers to his own blog. He does not have a Twitter account. At the time, Midoriya Izuku is 15 years old.

How to murder your father - It's dangerous to be a bad father when you have a life insurance. Just saying.

Negation - Passive Quirks are a bitch. Izuku is reasonably done with the situation.

Thanks For Your Support - Izuku has the talent and the intellect to be the first Quirkless pro hero, and everyone at UA knows it. Unfortunately, his desire to become a hero has long since been buried thanks to the words of his childhood friend and childhood hero.

Policed To Meet You - Izuku takes All Might's advice and becomes a cop.

Vigilante Work And Other After School Activities - Izuku is a vigilante, Aizawa likes cats and therefore kids who help cats, and sometimes breaks must be forced upon overachieving teenagers.

When the Commission Lost Total Control - The hero polls have a small part where one can suggest their own hero. This is done just because of the amount of heroes is to great to name them all. This creates a little problem for the commission because a vigilante is assumed to be a brand new hero by the public- and ranks pretty high. Because of that, this vigilante now is too popular to hide and they can't come out with their mistake either! Think of the chaos that would bring.

Izuku being Badass but like in not that grand of a way but still tearing-people-down-in-some-way kind of way

He Was Quirkless - Midoriya get's sick of discrimination against the quirkless and decides to do something about it. It leads to some interesting situations. A trilogy.

bloody, but unbowed- It's Advocacy Week for Yuuei's hero students and it gives Midoriya Izuku a lot to think about about what kind of hero he wants Deku to be.

Called Out - When Izuku is hit by a quirk that will cause him to call out the first person to be rude to him on the way to school with every mistake they've made in the affected persons presence or have otherwise effected said affected person, Aizawa is in for a rough ride. In other words, with some help from a quirk, Izuku rakes Aizawa over the hot coals until he gives out. (a great fic but i've got mixed feelings on this one because on one hand, izuku is badass but on the other its Aizawa bashing and really like him skhdskdb so yea! Read it as per your tastes!!)

The time when everyone learned that izuku respects Bakugo more than all might. - I didn't like how Bakugo was tied up during the sports festival and so izuku didn't. Badass izuku roasted all might and midnight.

Villainous Sunshine - After an innocent question, Class 1-A learns just how terrifying Izuku's analysis is. Nedzu's along for the ride.

Never understand ( and you can't ) - Midoriya is sick and tried of his classmates bias and prejudice against the quirkless community and finally breaks

Mastermind: Strategist For Hire - Izuku Midoriya never got the chance to save Bakugo from the sludge villain and impress All Might. With his dream crushed, Izuku becomes bitter and angry. It also doesn't help that he faces discrimination at every turn. All he ever wanted was to be appreciated, so when the villains are the ones to recognize his talents rather than the heroes, well, Izuku just can't resist. He might as well help those who actually want him around. Mistakes were made, and now society must face a villain of their own making: Mastermind.

Malignance - Deku is far scarier than anyone gives him credit for.

Fics in my to read list which has/probably has BAMF izuku

Young Midoriya - Izuku Midoriya couldn't help himself when he saw someone in trouble. Even at 12 years old, his instincts drive him to help those in need. So when he sees Kacchan and his goons about to ambush another student, he has to step in, right? It's not like this hasn't happened before. What is different this time though, is that he's never had an audience that consisted of the Number One Hero.

Heroics and Other Things That Don't Require Superpowers - Izuku doesn't have a quirk. That's the long and short of it. After being told his whole life he can't be a hero, General Education at UA is the best he can hope for, right? Wrong. Dead Wrong. So super wrong that his best friend from Gen Ed, all of Class 1A and a whole mess of Pro Heroes are going to prove to him how wrong he is. Izuku has the makings of a hero, and his lack of a quirk only throws those qualities into starker relief. After all, who wants to be as strong as All Might when you can be the cleverest hero in the business?

Cases of More Than - Izuku is known as Deku online. He's an analyst of quirks, sometimes even working with the local detective, Tsukauchi, on a case. He meets new friends, builds a few relationships, and slowly crushes on his best friend. But then he's thrown into the General Studies Course at U.A. It doesn't help that All for One is showing an interest in him at all.

No Regret - In this world there is no hard set villain or hero. No victim and aggressor. Everyone is at fault for something and Izuku, with his own villain group, will make everyone pay. Even the bystanders who did nothing. This is what society gets for abandoning it's people. Deku will manipulate everyone and be the greatest villain, all so the world can be a better a place. With the stakes so high there is no time for regret.

We Are a Different Kind - Mirio doesn’t think he can be a hero anymore now that he’s quirkless, Izuku calls bullshit.

Live a Hero - "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or, you're raised a villain, rebel when you're nine, and fight against the odds to become a hero anyway. That's how it is in Izuku's case.

Prodigal - After being convinced to give One for All to Mirio, Midoriya Izuku must rebuild his shattered dreams with bloody hands.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Vigilante - Izuku is orphaned at the age of four and is sent into the Japanese Foster Care System. After multiple failed attempts at finding a forever home and some unfortunate circumstance, he ends up on the streets. Eventually, the vigilante, Deku appears. Eraserhead must gain his trust to bring Deku back to the right side of the law. If he he does, however, the untrustful but pure-hearted boy may just be a bit more than Aizawa Shota can handle.

From Muddy Waters - - but the sleeve of his tracksuit was bulging, tearing and ripping and a mass of twisted flesh, nearly as big as the boy himself and nauseatingly familiar (the arm of the man that had torn a hole in his side with a grin and left him a frail shadow of himself) swung forward and slammed into the flat face of the giant robot. Izuku wants to be a hero more than anything.

Pieces are easily sacrificed when they're nameless - Nobody ever thought quirkless, weak, weird Midoriya Izuku was dangerous. This perception carried over to his first year high school class, because really despite the super strength Midoriya didn't have it in him to be dangerous. That was their first mistake. And the one that would see them fall.

Not exactly BAMF izuku but i just wanted to rec these fics <3

In the shade of a sunflower - Being biologically quirkless came more with an extra pinkie joint in the toes and a stunning lack of vestiges mutations. It came with smaller things, like extra teeth that did virtually nothing, exploding organs, and weird exposed nerves that weren't designed to feel pain.

Throat Punch - In which Aizawa attempts to teach Izuku how to use various battle tactics and it goes just about as well as you'd expect. At least Shinsou is there with his fantastic commentary. (just a fun lil thing where izuku is really stronk and trains with shinsou and aizawa)

So Be It - He could still do good. Midoriya could show them all what a hero without powers looked like. If he had to break a few rules to do it, so be it. So be it… (as stated not exactly BAMF but its a vigilante izuku so ye-)

Never Enter a Drinking Game with Bakugo or Izuku - Izuku walks in on Kirishima and Kaminari having a drinking competition (no alcohol involved). And it reminds him of an old story.

5 Times Midoriya Taught Class 1A about Memes and 1 Time they Found a Villain that Understood Them - After being diagnosed as quirkless, Midoriya gets into pre-guirk media and finds memes. He shares them with Class 1A. Aizawa doesn't get paid enough for this. (THIS FIC???? FUCKING AWESOME. LITERALLY WHAT I WANTED TO SEE)

Midoriya: JD Version - Nedzu has decided that a play should be put on so that the students can learn how to "go undercover", an idea which Aizawa thinks is utter bullshit. They're putting on Heathers and when Nedzu chooses to cast Midoriya for JD, everyone objects. Midoriya is a much better actor than they thought.

that is a lot!! I hope you have fun reading it!!!

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

don’t let it break your heart - a close reading

does this song have me crying a puddle if i think about it for too long? yea. is that the case with almost any louis or larry-related thing? yes. is that probably my own fault? no wtf how dare you insinuate that, this is their fucking fault for messing with my emotions like this. 

right, track two, let’s fucking go

walls, track 2

On our way to Twenty Seven

“our”: in this together

27 Club - lyrics officially capitalised (one of the writers confirmed this was reference they were going for but i can’t find it rip) - musicians/artists (also accidentally) passing away at age 27 due to substance abuse, mental health issues, etc. 

⟶ both of them were struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse/a high-risk lifestyle as a result of their careers (most probably) and it was so serious that louis actually puts them in that category of celebrities who were led to their deaths that way

Got a place on the other side of London Doing better, doing better

living together, life partners - getting a place together is nothing new 

“other side” - moved away from something?

things are looking up anyhow

And I know you left a part of you In New York under your bed in a box But you're doing better, doing better

reference to something very specific, sth we’ll probably never know about but it was so bad that “you” was never whole again afterwards - the event is stored in a box under the bed like an old memory that gets revisited every now and then

“New York” - parallels to be laid, which i will kindly let you read here on @bluewinnerangel​ ‘s blog, bc i she says it all best (tw/ self-harm and very sad shit and also haylor and honest to god i don’t recommend reading it if you’re having a bad day) + this post is for louis’s lyrics specifically 

repeating of “doing better” almost like a mantra, manifestation, or a soothing reminder - fake it ‘til you make it / sometimes that really is all that helps: remind yourself of the progress you’ve already made

Life gets hard and it gets messed up When you give so much, but it's not enough

“life gets hard” - he is speaking from experience and empathy

ppl taking advantage, only taking and never giving; sucking them dry

“you” as someone who wants to do the most / fix everything / wears their heart on their sleeve, and they get hurt

When the high's too high and the low's too low

(manic) depression in the simplest of terms

When you love someone and they let you go

gender neutral!!!

who let them go? is louis soothing “you” after they were hurt by some previous lover? it doesn’t really sound like it was louis who did the letting go here, since that wording and the overall tone of the song points me away from that conclusion, but hey, who am i to know  

can also definitely be not a lover at all, but someone "you” loved platonically or as family

Don't you let it kill you Even when it hurts like hell

feels like the opposite side of kill my mind: that was him mentioning his darkness and how “you” saved him, this is him soothing “you” and describing their darkness/hell/devil

Oh, whatever tears you apart Don't let it break your heart

“you” is not just going through one single thing - ups and downs of mental state, multiple/no specific causes

“you” is clearly sensitive and things get to them deeply

Time takes time to heal it You can't do it by yourself Oh, whatever tears you apart Don't let it break your heart

be patient, be kind to yourself + don’t shut me out, let me (or others) help you

It comes, it goes

～ “high’s too high, low’s too low” - more allusions to depression 

We're driving down a one-way road

in one direction you mean?

they’re not ever going back (to a prison of a past life) 

always in it together

To something better, something better

hope

What hurts you is gonna pass and You’ll have learnt from it when it comes back You’ll be doing better, yeah, doing better

“when it comes back” - “it” = what hurt “you”? the shit feeling itself, the hurt? are they one and the same?

depression, again: comes and goes, will never fully be away but the shittiest days always pass, the water ebbs away again. and they’ll always be a little better at dealing with the lows and enjoying the highs

it’s definitely something “you” has to deal with time and again and it’ll never not be that way

faith in the future: you will be doing better, trust me and trust yourself - realistic comforting

this verse definitely confirms to me that the hurting was not done by louis - wouldn’t be so blunt about sth he did (“it’ll pass and you’ll learn from it ahah sorry btw”)

SYNTHESIS

This second track on Walls has just the kindest, sweetest song, I love it so much. It deals with deep, real shit, trauma and depression, in the form of lyrics that feel like a tight warm hug. Louis really is saying: I know what you’re going through, I know what you’re feeling, which is all valid and real, but I also know you’ll get through this.

I find it almost startling how in-your-face, black-on-white Louis is about these painful emotions. Again, it’s his ability to hide in plain sight in full force, and his confidence in being honest about his feelings (at least in music or otherwise in cryptic messages). It starts off with giving us a punch in the gut, by aligning him and his loved one with members of Club 27. The implications of this are astounding and I can hardly believe he put that in there. It’s Louis telling us that their lifestyle, their careers, almost were the death of them. I don’t even want to think about it too much. Again, just think about Liam’s recent opening up about his addiction and mental struggles and remember that’s just a tiny glimpse of what all of them went through.

The entire song makes very open, clear allusions to depression or mental illness in general. Something happened - in NY - that seems to have been a catalyst for the highs and lows, the feelings that tear “you” apart so heavily that it could break them. There’s an acceptance of a long-term dealing with this, an acknowledgement that these ups and downs are part of their lives and all they can do is remember that it’ll get better, that it’ll pass. They have each other, and “you” also needs to remember that they’re not in it alone (but ofc depression has a knack for making us shut off from ppl). 

I don’t ever think Louis is positive in a toxic way (mentioning this bc there was some discourse around this a while ago), batting away any negative sentiment, because his lyrics prove the opposite. Sure, the sound of the song is very optimistic and upbeat, but that doesn’t negate the realness in the lyrics.

What I find one of the best lyrics in this song is “You’ll have learnt from it when it comes back” because it shows a realistic understanding of all these emotions. Louis never dismisses them, never says they’ll disappear eventually or they’ll be over everything in the end. He says “you’ll be doing better.” There’s confidence in “you” to be able to handle all of it, because they’re strong - not because “it” is nothing - and they’re not alone, either. Louis also knows that it’ll come back, it’ll happen again, but that’s not a problem. Every time is different, maybe a little better, even, because you grow and learn. Every low teaches you something about how to deal with it, and it won’t prevent another low from coming or hurting any less, but it will give you tools to be patient with and kind to yourself.

In the music video, I also find it interesting to see how this part in the trilogy features them in the pub and playing football. Despite their shitty situation, they’re still enjoying themselves, since they’re still around people they care about and clearly having genuine fun. The main character in the mvs stayed afloat thanks to love and friendship. And then they managed to make their escape. Obviously, the storyline in the mv features them in a group of five doing that robbery being used and manipulated by The Boss, which is also something to think about in relation to these lyrics. “You” was definitely used, they gave their all. For what? And it was so easy to get sucked in, to stay stuck in that lifestyle. But they got out before it was too late.

So yeah. Much to think about. Another song in the books that just means so much more to me now that I’ve picked apart every word. <3333 hey louis if you’re reading this i love your brain

read my other lyric analyses here

[ispyspookymansion]

tagged by lucas @connorswhisk MWAH !!

1. why did you choose your url?

i looooved the ispy spooky mansion computer game as a kid and i felt tht it fit my horror emo vibe :-) also my old url was the one i started tumblr with and it was a reference that was so outdated i needed a change

2. any side blogs?

several! i think there are 6 that you could consider active, 2 that are basically abandoned, and many saved urls

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

since 2013 iirc

4. do you have a queue tag?

i dont use the queue feature, so no

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

who knows! i think i started it after i got into supernatural, i probably knew this was where all that was centered

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

diego is just a little guy and i like him (hes emo and fits my color aes)

7. why did you choose your header?

bc i like adam my friend adam and the red/black is my vibe

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

probably this post i made about the third wave, a social experiment about fascism. but now it says sam winchester is trans

9. how many mutuals do you have?

is this something most people know???? many. i make new mutuals all the time

10. how many followers do you have?

1,389

11. how many people do you follow?

1,364 (wow, i had no idea my ratio was so close to 1)

12. have you ever made a shit post?

yes???? what? havent we all?

13. how often do you use tumblr a day?

lmao…..too many times. i wouldnt even be able to guess. i check it upwards of 10 times a day, probably

14. did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

oh absolutely,,i was an ace discourse warrior when i was like 15. ive also gotten into fights with inc*st shippers, people vagueing me for No reason, and alt right freaks

15. how do you feel about need to reblog posts?

dont guilt me into reblogging things i wont do it

16. do you like tag games?

i do!! theyre so fun sometimes i forget to do them but i like them

17. do you like ask games?

yeas <3

18. which if your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

definitely my beloved chloe @fairycosmos tops that list !! im not sure who else would be considered “tumblr famous”…..i probably have a few mutuals with upwards of 10k followers

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

not right now

20. tags

i’ll tag ummmm @cactusbaseball @abigailswound @boytoyofficial @woundthatswallows @flamejob and @transfagadam if any of u wanna play. mwah!!

[saintqueer]

hi hi hi!!! you don't have to post this (you can just answer in the tags if you want) because i totally get the thing about not becoming a discourse blog 🥴 just wanted to say thank you for typing that post out <33 things i have seen on my dash since yachtgate 2.0 (and add the whole tour drama on top) are not pretty to say the least :3 like, i get that people are angry, frustrated etc. etc. i do!!! but after being in this fandom for more than 4 years it feels like (also read, it is) everytime there is the slightest discourse about h people use it as an opportunity to shit on him 😐

the part where you talked about not believing in tabloid bs about louis should also mean you shouldn't believe the ones about harry too, like, EXACTLY THIS! just because we see less of him on sm (which i actually think is a really good thing! except for times we need answers & get radio silence instead) doesn't mean he's not the person i know!!!!

i am sorry this is really long, but yea. hope you have a nice day xx

hiiii friend!!!

being a discourse blog for a day is a great distraction from the clownery of me being convinced louis was gonna do something today lmao

it truly is the same old shit but a different day. however, the fractures within our fandom just goes to show that management and syco knew exactly what they were doing in sabotaging louis. the gaslighting done to this fandom by way of lies and weaponized media has created the beast we we have now.

louis being chained by syco, kept an underdog and harry going on to be 'the golden child' and cash cow simon always envisioned him to be set up alongside harry's (likely necessary) radio silence created the perfect storm for rads. i personally try to avoid thinking too much about how this fandom is tearing itself apart from the inside because it makes me sad. it's not our fault, we've been manipulated to be the adversarial fandom we are through ten years of marketing genius (genius is you're looking through a profit over people capitalistic lens).

i'm tired of it. we are all tired of it! but at the end of the day, these are our boys. we are here for them because they make us feel seen, heard, known, and loved. seeing harr's dimples pop when he is walking in the vogue dress or come out of his shell when surrounded by other queer people on the set of a film he is passionate about...having louis perform a song like Copy about the experience of closeting and say 'fank you' after we helped raise millions for charity. those are the reasons i can keep putting up with it. with the stunts, with the discourse, with the fandom fractures. it's worth it for me because with them, i feel at home in my queerness.

in reference to this

[brglhobbit]

Ciao dear :D Tell us something about yourself, you're THE artist on Bagginshield now, we want to meet you :) A few questions for reference: When did you join the fandom? Why do you only draw Bagginshield? How old are you? Are you self-taught? Do you have other blogs? Cap or Ironman? Pizza with or without pineapples? ;)

Ooohhh the dreaded question tell about yourself, I can try. I just enjoy keeping up a certain aura of mystery because I’m such a scorpio INTP. Or maybe I’m just not that interesting.

Ok ok let’s see I love Eurovision (the nf season was insanely good this year), I love mushrooms (the finding and picking part especially), I love playing the sims 4 (I have bagginshield family there alongside my other creations). 

This little blog I've had going on for only a few months now but I assure you I'm a long term fan, though I sort of rediscovered.. or more like fully entered the fandom in 2020. Back in the day I saw the hobbit trilogy in cinemas, local premiere night and all because a friend was a huge fan of everything Tolkien. I had only seen lotr beforehand but immediately fell in love with the grumpy little hobbit. And THAT HUG that was THE THING.

This kinda leads to why I only draw bagginshield, because bagginshield is just such an emotional support ship full of comfort and warm fuzzy thoughts  and that's what I needed last year when the pandemic was still newish and scary and everything was hard. I distracted myself by drawing the soft little men doing soft things. I do draw other things sometimes but .. nothing really gives me the comfort bagginshield does. 

Also I really relate to both of the characters in many ways and soooo many Bilbos I’ve drawn are very much diary-like self expression, like around Christmas I drew very desperate hobbits because I was so desperately annoyed by my family and all. My family can be such Sackville-Bagginses. 

As an artist I am absolutely not self taught, I have a degree in design and did so many years of art school as a very young hobbit. So yea I studied the fine arts for years and years and look at me now, proudly drawing hobbits and dwarves. 

I'm [redacted] years old, so basically very much an adult in human age but not adult yet in hobbit terms of age. And I am actually a hobbit. Brglhobbit is my legal name. I live in a hole in the ground. And I'm also unreliable. Because all stories deserve a little embellishment.

I’ve had plenty of blogs and accounts around the internet but none of them contained much hobbit content and none of them are active anymore. I recently did make a blog to share my Sims stuff (I thought I'd make pretty funny things there too) but somehow I can not log in and have been unable to access the email to recover the password so I guess that's the universe telling me not to keep other blogs.

Cap or Ironman? Ok I’m not even sure what this means I clearly do not know enough to have a preference. 

Pineapples can you please stay away from my pizza. 

Ok that’s so much information people I know irl might recognize me but I’m pretty sure none of them likes hobbits enough to look at fan art blogs on tumblr AND IF YOU DO OMG YOU NERDS

I said I would draw whatever so here's a photorealistic self portrait it kinda goes with the theme of this post right

Anyway thank you so very much for this interview I feel like a celebrity 🤓

[wordynerdygurl]

Skin Deep ~ Part 4

Author’s Note:  Hi everyone!  As @that-one-person​ reminded me, we were overdue the next chapter of Skin Deep!  I hope this has been worth the wait. As always, if you’d like to be added to my tag list, let me know!  Also, requests are open and I love when you re-blog and like my work!  Thanks for all your kindness!!

This is the 4th Part of our Story with links below to the previous chapters!  ENJOY!

Skin Deep Part 1

Skin Deep Part 2 Skin Deep Part 3

Pairing;  Loki x Reader, Steve x Reader, Bucky, Natasha, Nick Fury, Thor and Valkyrie round out of cast! Summary:  Picking up where Part 3 ended:  You’re on the run with Loki, who wants answers.  Steve comes clean to an old friend, Natasha and Fury make a plan. Warnings:  References to violence, smut, intergalactic travel, and some kissing!

From his vantage point at Steve’s grill Bucky noticed the almost frantic vibration coming off his oldest friend from all the way across the lawn.  And Steve wasn't carrying any champagne.  In fact, he was whispering furiously to Natasha, shaking his head.

Looking to the skies, Bucky smelled the electricity in the air.  It made the hairs on his human arm rise, antenna to trouble, tuning into the wrecked wavelength his friend was putting out.  It was about you, of that Bucky was certain, and with your own strange behavior tonight, he knew trouble was en route. He had let you sneak away, sensing your breaking point, knowing your need for a minute alone.  It was the reason you were such great drinking buddies.  You let Bucky be himself and he returned the favor.   Besides, something in Steve was different these days, something Bucky didn't exactly like.  His friend, Captain America, hero to the weak, was pushy.  Aggressive.  Angry.

And when Steve looked at you, there was a gleam, a spark of possessiveness that gave Bucky pause.  Sure, you were amazing.  Funny, smart, undeniably sexy in a way all your own.  Bucky understood wanting you, he even got the need to have you, hold you, lock you down with a ring.   If only Steve could see how unhappy you were.   Each time Bucky saw you, the strain had pulled more of your joy away.  Sure, you baked pies, smiling the whole way, chirping platitudes and teasing Steve.  That happiness, though, it never reached your eyes.   Telling Steve that an engagement ring was too much, too soon, Bucky had tried in his very stoic way to prove that you weren't ready.  Never fully able to give his buddy his blessing, Bucky had opted instead to provide you a shoulder to lean on.  And lean you did. Slugging back vodka shots at all these parties, in the quiet and seldom used spaces of kitchens and dining rooms, you had talked easily with Bucky.  No topic was too wild or off limits, with the exception of Steve.  Anytime the name of your new love came up, the subject would change.  You'd deflect and Bucky let you. Maybe he should have pushed harder, he thought as Steve stomped his way.  Maybe Bucky should have forced you to talk about whatever issues you and Steve faced, tried his hand at advice, or offered excuses for his best friend’s erratic behavior.  If Bucky had done that, then perhaps the stifling stench of trouble wouldn't be pooling around the party, pulsing through all the high energy people gathered together.  “Buck… come here, would ya?”  Sure, Steve sounded like himself.  Jovial, a little concerned in that serious way he had, but not mad.  For some reason, it reminded Bucky of the way Steve’s father would talk, just before he’d beat the ever loving hell out of Sarah… or Steve.  It soured the stomach of battle tested Sergeant Barnes.  War was coming. “Sure thing, punk.”  Cocking his head, Steve couldn’t quite look his friend in the face, opting instead to focus on the open back door of his farm house.  Would you come strutting out of it, unaware and un-phased?  Steve prayed for that, even if his gut told him otherwise, “Bucky, you said my girl was in the ladies’ room?” Tucking his hands in his pockets, nodding solemnly, “Yea, Stevie.  Yea.  She had to piss.  It happens.”  Waiting for the battle was exhausting and Bucky just didn’t have the patience to stew in the slow burn of Steve’s anger. Clapping a broad hand along the neck of the Winter Soldier, Steve pulled his friend close.  To anyone looking, the embrace would seem brotherly, kind.  What they couldn’t see was the tight grip used to keep Bucky contained, or hear Steve’s heated harsh whisper, “Where the fuck is she, Buck?  I know you know.  So tell me.” Reacting instinctively, pulling against the restraining hook of Steve’s palm, “I don’t know what you’re talking about… she went to the bathroom, I came out here.” “Well she’s gone now and so is Loki-” Stepping back out of Steve’s reach, “Wait.  Loki was here?  I thought you said he left.  Opened the Bi-Frost or whatever.  Disappeared.” Almost growling, Steve ran desperate hands through his blonde hair, ignoring Bucky and turning to Natasha, “We need to let Fury know.  Set a perimeter.  Loki won’t be able to get off the planet, not without help anyway.” “Fury’s involved?  Steve, what is going on?” Jabbing a finger into the chest of his best friend, Steve spun, spitting, “You let Loki kidnap my fiance, that’s what’s going on!  And now I have to find her and rescue her before that greasy alien asshole does something else to the woman I love!” Rearing back, Bucky inhaled, lifting his shoulders.  If you have to fight a friend, fight fair, he thought.  Already Bucky could read violence in Steve’s muscle movement.  The graceful way Steve bounced on his toes to build momentum into his fierce throw was minute but effective.  Dropping his right arm, just a touch before stepping into his swing, Steve's eyes screamed murder and they were locked onto James Buchanan Barnes. A swish of air brushed at Buck's dark hair as the blow missed.  Bucky easily blocked the punch, grabbing his pal at the wrist and twisting until his chest was pressed into Steve’s back.  It was as fluid as the ballet you had forced them to attend a few months back, quick and clean movements, executed flawlessly. Bucky felt Steve spin in his grasp, planting his feet, preparing to toss the Winter Soldier on his ass.  His counter maneuver was a leg sweep, one Bucky was ready to use, when Steve went limp in his grip.  Natasha had sucker punched her mission partner in order to get his attention, “Steve.  You gotta relax.  Bucky didn’t know and you’re drawing attention.  Too many eyes around here, ya know?”   Natasha waved to Tony, a gesture that said, no worries, everything is ok over here.  It was enough to satisfy the playboy, who turned back to his cocktail and conversation with Rhodes. “I'm fine.  It's fine.  I’m just…” unable to find the right word, spiraling, Steve sagged towards the ground. Catching him at the waist Bucky steadied his woozy friend as Natasha brushed off help from the other guests.  Returning to the pair of soldiers out of time, The Black Widow, barely containing her disgust, “Bucky, get him inside.  Steve, I'm sending everyone home, then I’m going to make a call.”   True to her word, Natasha whispered something to Tony and Pepper, Bucky clocking their reaction of concern for both you and Steve.  It was very clear to the Sergeant that The Avengers were not in on this mission.  None of them were permitted to hang around the farm house with Nat going so far as to walk out with Clint and Rhodes.   Bustling Steve into the kitchen, Bucky kicked a chair free from the table, dropping his buddy on his ass.  Still a little amped up from the almost altercation outside, Bucky decided to put a bit of distance between him and his childhood friend, resting his hip against the counter, "What the hell was that, Steve?" "Stay out of it, Bucky." "It's too late for that, punk.  Either you start talking or we take this back outside." Side eyeing the super soldier with a metal arm, Steve tugged at the corner of a pretty place mat sullenly, "Fuck you." "Language!" "You think I give a shit about bad words?  Now?  No… things are too far gone." Waving his hand, begging for more, "Care to elaborate, Cap?" Steve had a second to consider his options.  He could let Bucky in, tell him what was going on, hear his opinions on the situation at hand.  Or… not.   "You don't need to be involved.  Once Nat gets back, it's best if you go." Thunking into the opposite seat, Bucky leveled his grey gaze on his pal, "And if I say no?" "Look, it's an off the record thing.  Tony, the rest of them?  They know nothing.  I don’t need you sticking your nose in-" That was all it took for the dam of Bucky’s own outrage to burst.  With a wood rattling slap to the custom built dining table, open palm connecting enough to make Steve jump, "Damn it, Rogers!  My nose is in this already.  Hell, you were ready to half kill me over this… over her, not fifteen minutes ago!" Sighing, hard and heavy, Captain America pressed back in the wooden chair.  He saw the questions in Bucky's look, the need to unravel this mystery, the desire to find a way out for his friends.  And Steve realized that to accept his buddy's help, Bucky would need the full story. The truth hurts and Buck's words stung Steve.  Bucky was right and in the end, he reasoned, they might need him to help bring down Loki.  After a second of consideration, a rough hand sliding through his blonde locks, "Fine.  FUCK!  Fine.  What do you know?" Crossing his arms over his chest, stern voiced but curious, Bucky started, "Just you and Nat reporting to Fury?  Small team." "Small mission.  At least, at first."  Trying not to give anything away, making Bucky work for it felt good, almost like a return to his life before Loki, before you.   Tapping his metallic finger on the table, Bucky resumed his questions, "So, how does Loki figure into this?" Leaning forward, Steve lowered his voice, “Weapons tech.  Power.  More than when he attacked New York.  He’s been off world gaining followers, an army, and a throne.” “So the plan was to keep Loki away, right?” Nodding, Steve’s inflection solemn, “By any means necessary.” Rocking his head back, as if slapped, Bucky’s eyes widened.  Just the implication of those words, by any means necessary, used by Nick Fury meant that this mission was crossing a line from mundane into murderous.   "And she was your way in."  It started to take shape, the whole sorted plan, Natasha’s involvement and Steve’s role in it all.  Bucky felt that prickly sensation again. Bowing his golden head, Steve shook it yes, "Only… I wasn't brought in… I… volunteered." "Ok, but why?"  Inching closer to the truth, waiting out the Captain, Bucky nodded for him to continue.  When Steve wasn't forthcoming, Bucky nudged his foot with a sharp kick, eager to accelerate the story. For a second that frantic, frenzied energy flashed through the room again, pulling on Bucky's sixth sense, "Because I wanted what Loki had… who Loki had.  I wanted her, so bad Bucky.  So bad."  “Steve… come on, man.  There are other girls out there-” Cutting his friend off with a shout, “Why should that asshole have her?  He doesn’t deserve her.  Before he left, she was always so sweet, so cute… then he… abandoned her!  Left her!  Man, that was… just so hard to see.” “Yea… I know.  I mean, I remember when she and Loki were together.  And I know his leaving was hard on her.” “Hard on her?  She… she stopped eating, stopped sleeping.  God, I could hear her crying all night.  Know how hard it was to keep away?  To know that Loki had forgotten her?”   Steve kept talking, about you, about loving you, and the lengths he went to in an effort to court you.  He followed up with all the ways you denied him, over and over, until Natasha intervened.  That all of it played into Fury’s plan was a convenient cross-point, coincidence, until things had gone wrong this afternoon. Bucky let him tell his story, knowing full well it was merely a version, a fairy tale wrapped around the rotten apple of truth. In Steve’s world he was the hero, wronged by fate, Fury and Loki Odinson.  His path had been paved with good intentions and pure hearted motives.  It was everyone else who misunderstood, miscalculated and mistook his actions.  Could Steve be blamed for that?   Of course, this edition of Steve’s tale didn't include beating up a cuffed prisoner.  It also omitted the fact that Steve had been pursuing you while actively lying about Loki's whereabouts.  Glossing over the details allowed Steve to paint a picture highlighting the best of him, but Bucky had known the little punk a long time.   During a long pause that found Steve with his head in his hands, Bucky took a deep breath and asked, “And how did you and Fury know what Loki was up to?” “He was sending mission reports weekly.  Loki had been tasked with helping promote peace across the Nine Realms.  That he gained so much was the tipping point.  Fury felt like a return to Earth would be 2012 all over again, only this time… total annihilation.” Something was still nagging at Bucky, “Had Loki made any threats?” A guilty look passed over the face of Captain America and his normally solid voice wavered, “Not that I was told about.” “So, Fury...?” “Fury needed… no, that’s not right.  He wanted to keep close tabs on Loki, monitor his return, his mood, his movements, if he ever came back.” “And since she was his lover, she was a potential point of contact… the entry point?” “A possible one.” “If you were dating her and Nat was posing as her friend, then you’d know if Loki reached out, spilling the details on his plans, and be able to head him off at the pass.” “Exactly!”  Oddly proud, Steve was almost happy that he no longer carried the burden by himself.  Sure, Natasha knew, had even engineered some of it, but having a friend on his side made Steve feel better. “But Loki didn’t do that?  He surprised you today?” Blowing out a frustrated snort, “Natasha went to meet him at the base.  Apparently, the high and mighty Prince expected to be greeted by Fury and his forgotten lover.” “That didn’t sit well with the God of Mischief?” “Nope.  Somehow he froze Nat.  Confined her, I don’t know… Anyway, he came here and…”  Trailing off, Steve could still picture his lady’s body, your body bent under his own, your eyes pressed shut in ecstasy.  How you ground against what looked like his own sculpted skin, moaning through an orgasm that appeared amazing, and left you with shaky legs. Going silent, Bucky didn’t push, not this time, but he did feel the moment Steve surrendered fully.  His shoulders let go with a deep inhale, his voice sounding like that scrawny kid from Brooklyn after a bad scrape,  "She loves him, man.  And I fucked up.  Loki’s got my girl and I don't have any way to find her or fight him." Tears?  Sighs?  This wasn't Steve.  No, Captain America was an unstoppable, unflappable hero.  Spinning out was Bucky's move, not Steve’s.  Putting his fleshy hand on Steve’s shoulder, trying to console the broken man in front of him, "Come on, kid.  There's always a way to win.  It's what you and I have been doing for over a century." “Not this time, man.” "Why not?  Did you come clean?  That’s why she left, isn’t it?  You told her what was going on and she went after Loki."    Shame filled Steve’s heart, his cheeks burning, "I… I didn’t get the chance.  She left here, but not alone." "She'll be back."  Words, pathetic platitudes, were all Bucky could offer.  He had seen you tonight, skittish and jumpy.  He saw Steve’s reaction to your disappearance, angry and hurt.  Bucky thought that a snowball in hell stood a better chance than you're returning. "Not happening.  I lost it on her, Buck.  Smashed up mom's dresser, yelled… It was like being outside myself, watching myself do and say these terrible things.  And it wasn't her fault.  Not really.  I mean, yea, she fucked him but he was me, so-" "Whoa.  Stop.  Say that again?" Steeling himself to relieve this afternoon’s nightmare again, Steve swallowed hard, "Loki, you know how he can… shape shift?  Well, he came here as me and I walked in on myself screwing my girl!" Bucky's eyebrows lifted, his full lips curling into a cockeyed grin, "Wait.  You're telling me that you came home and saw yourself banging your future fiancé?" Pausing, catching Bucky barely holding back a smirk, "Yea… why?" And for some reason, after all the incredible things Steve had shared tonight, it was the idea of Steve catching himself balls deep in your naughty bits that made Bucky laugh.  Once he started, Bucky couldn't control the mad giggles from overtaking him, much to Steve’s astonishment.  But then Steve laughed, too, "I guess it is pretty funny, when you think about it." "I mean, your face must have been priceless!"  Clutching his stomach as the laughter grew stronger, Bucky had tears running down his cheeks at the image Steve described.  Sure, it was a horrible thing, but who could say that they watched themselves having sex like that without being in porno?   It took them both a minute to calm down, with Steve settling enough to counter, "Shit, Buck!  I was pissed!  I probably looked crazy." "That I do believe.  What did you say to her?  Them?" Now his face flushed scarlet, burning with embarrassment.  The lie was just easier to get out, "Um… I don't really remember.  I know I surprised Loki and well, my girl fainted from being used by him.  The shock of it not being me, ya know?" Bucky didn't buy it, but he let his friend sell the story anyway, "Must have been scary for her.  And that's when you secured Loki in the locked shed?  And set Nat as your watchdog?" "Yup."  Unable to meet his friend’s stormy stare, knowing that it would undo him completely, Steve focused on the edge of the table, running his fingers back and forth along the rough wood.  If this were an interrogation and Bucky were sitting across from a suspect and not his best friend, he’d have no problem beating the guilty man into submission.  But Steve was his strongest connection to this world, this time, and it was hard to walk away from family, even if they didn’t deserve the benefit of your doubt.  To that end, one thing still bothered Bucky, "Why not cancel the party, man?" "Because I still want to marry her."  Pulling the small black box from his front pocket, Steve toyed with the thing, his vision of a future with you still so close to realized. Whistling at the size of the sparkly rock enshrined in white gold, "Fancy.  What do you think your chances are?  Think she'll say yes?" "My chances went down to zero the second Loki dropped down to Earth.  As for her answer… Dunno.  I… I hope so, but now…", Steve faded off, knowing there was little hope for your romantic reunion if he didn’t have a clear idea of where you were at the moment. "Now Loki’s back." "Right." “And they’re gone, together.” “Right.” “And Fury’s on his way.”  Striding in on impossibly high heels, Natasha folded her arms over her chest, eyeing the two gossiping men in front of her.  It was going to be a long night. --- Somehow you had made it to the treeline undetected, using the orchard as a shield, ducking behind trunks as you and Loki scrambled toward the edge of the property.  You couldn't help looking over your shoulder, checking for pursuit, worrying that Steve or Natasha were going to find the pair of you.  There was no possible way they would let you get away, not after today, not with Loki. It was a bit treacherous, though.  There was only natural light to guide you through twisted branches and raised roots, so your progress was slower than you wanted, but Loki was with you.  Even beaten and bruised, he radiated calm, a soothing balm for your frayed nerves.  Something about that made this whole situation seem better, manageable.  You were no longer alone, Loki was here, holding your hand, not directing you but consulting.  "Pet… the roadway is up ahead.  Stay here, tucked out of sight." Pulling your long lost lover close, a small kiss passed between you, a passionate promise to sit still.  Stepping tentatively out onto the gravel filled shoulder, Loki surveyed the highway quickly.  When he was satisfied that the coast was clear, Loki waved at you, motioning you forward.   Striding confidently at your side, Loki stopped in the dead center of the yellow lines, his grounding arm around your waist.  A car, low, black, expensive, came racing round the bend, barreling towards you.  Tucking your chin to Loki's chest, you gripped him tight, readying for the car's impact.   A roar of wind swirled around you, grabbing at your skirt, whipping around your legs.  For a second you thought you'd been struck.  Breathless, your lungs emptied.    There was nothing solid under you, just the feeling of Loki and a current of warm air.  Next, you felt the impact of hard earth under your feet, vibrating through your shins, then Loki's grip loosening a touch, "Ok, darling?" Peeking from under his arm you saw lights everywhere.  A bar was to your left, filled with noisy drinkers, barely discernible from the traffic around you.  Honking horns made you jump, "Where the hell are we?" "Cleveland.  I can't yet take us off world.  I'm still a bit weak, I'm afraid… but at least we have a bit of a head start on Rogers and Fury." People pushed past you on their way to dinner, chirping happily, not seeing you in their tunnel vision.  Being anonymous was a nice change, welcome even, as your personal life had been lost to Steve's intergalactic presence.  On the busy streets of Ohio no one took notice of the two well dressed people standing on the damp sidewalk. "Um, you changed?", no longer sporting his battle gear, Loki was dapper in a black suit with an ebony tie.  Leaning closer you straightened it, not because it was crooked, but because you needed to feel it… him.  The whole look was just shy of too much, but that was the space Loki filled best and honestly, looking at him made your heart swell. Loki was back, and yours.  After more than two years, having him close again felt natural, easy.  In so many ways, the opposite of your life with Steve.  As if somehow sensing your tug into nostalgia, Loki knuckled your chin up, "Just keeping up with you, love." His nose brushed against your own, so weirdly intimate and innocent for a man who had slapped your ass red only hours ago.  Resting his forehead to yours, you inhaled that magical combination of burning sparklers, broken in leather with just a hint of honeyed citrus, "God, I forgot how great you smell." "Hmm… dove, there is nothing on Asgard that smells or tastes as wonderful as you.  Believe me.  I looked." "Careful Loki… people will say we're in love."  At your cheekiness, Loki claimed your lips, his hands sliding over the soft fabric of your dress.  Clinging to him, unwilling to let go now that he had returned, you puffed out a pouty sigh as Loki withdrew. “Norns.  You know how badly I want you again?  I can barely think straight for wanting you.” Oblivious to everything around you, lost in the sweeping pools of Loki’s desire filled expression, you toyed with his collar, “We have a lot of catching up to do, for sure.” “I’d love to get reacquainted-” here he paused to lick over his full lower lip, hunger for you dripping from every word, “-but we are on the run from the Earth’s mightiest heroes.”  Snickering, you rolled your eyes at the thought of the Avengers, hours away eating charcuterie in Steve’s backyard.  Stepping back, you sighed, “You’re right.  So, have you got a plan?” Hanging in the air, your sentence had just left your mouth, your tongue still savoring the syllables when a sizzling crack snapped next to your ear.  Swinging you away, forcing you to the sidewalk, Loki spun in a blaze of green.  Crouched over you, snarling, “Fury!  Always a pleasure to see you.” Stepping from the blazing golden circle supplied by Dr. Strange, Fury crossed onto the Cleveland sidewalk from your now empty garden party, weapon trained on Loki’s broad chest.  “Wish I could say the same, Loki.  You know it’s time to end this.  Let’s take our… deliberations back to the office.  Talk about this man to man.” A barking laugh left your lover, “Man to man?  I am a GOD!  And you… you are pathetic.  Your attempts to keep me off Earth, imprisoned, away from my woman have all failed.” “Where are you going to go?  You can’t get off the planet without help.  My help.  And it’s yours, Loki, if-” “If I come quietly?  Tail between my legs, submissive and compliant?”  As the words left his mouth, you watched, focused on the way Loki was shifting closer to you.  The long fingers of his right hand were visible, reaching back for you, a silent signal of his escape plan. Fed up and furious, Nick Fury’s voice was flat with frustration, “Loki.  Enough.  Let’s do this somewhere people aren’t.” “Oh, I don’t know, this seems as good a place as any!”  Circling Loki, edging nearer, Fury tried reasoning, “Endangering civilians isn’t going to make things easier.  You know that.” “You know, I’d love to talk about how you betrayed me.  How you stonewalled my lady… how you put Captain America in my place, as if he could ever be worthy of her.  But, I’m a little busy at the moment.”  Snapping his fingers, you jumped to your feet, grabbing for Loki’s outstretched hand.   The second your palm connected that feeling of floating overcame you once more.  This time you were ready for the roar of traveling through space by Loki’s magic, the push of meeting the ground, the curl of Loki’s body against yours.  Blinking, you opened your eyes on new scenery, the chill of a beautiful sea soaked morning breaking around you. Straightening the coat of his pristine suit, Loki smiled at you as his fingers wove between your own, “New Asgard.  My brother’s realm, now ruled by Valkyrie, by his abdication.  We need to find him.  He has a lot to answer for.” --- "Just what in the hell happened?  I thought I was very clear about avoiding this exact problem."   Pacing, hands firmly on his leather belted waist, Nick Fury growled at the bent head of Steve Rogers.  "Now Loki’s on the run, dragging your… Well, what is she exactly Captain?  Girlfriend?  Fiancé?  Mark? along for the ride." At those harsh words, Steve started, ready to focus his own anguish somewhere, anywhere.  Fury was as good a target as any, as far as Steve was concerned.  Pushing off the paving stones, he was stalled from rising by Natasha's firm hand and quiet words, "We have an idea-" "I don't want ideas.  Not from you two.  What I want are answers, Romanoff, and I want them now." Sitting on the emptied bench of the picnic table, still covered with your pretty tablecloth and jars of peonies, Natasha sighed, "I didn't have time to alert Steve.  Loki made it here first and… reconnected-" "Is that what we're calling it?"  Snapping, Nick glared from his good eye, his last name never more appropriate. Exhaling deeply, Natasha Romanoff squared her shoulders, "Sir, Loki… manipulated the circumstances." "Just what in the hell does that mean?" All three available eyes locked onto Steve, “What it means, Fury-” lifting his golden head with a jaw clenched tight, “- what it means, is that the son of a bitch showed up here and had his way with my woman. “After Loki… took advantage of her, I had him.  He was contained, here, in my shed.  It was modified with the restraints Tony provided with Thor’s direction.” “And still, he got away?”  Disbelief clouded every syllable from Fury.  That his two top agents had failed and so badly, had the normally stoic director steaming. Standing now, Steve was almost chest to chest with the man who’d been pulling the strings of this entire operation.  Natasha, watching closely, knowing that she would only be able to subdue one of them if it came to it, gently palmed the dagger concealed in her waist band.  Steve thrust forward, brushing past Fury before facing him once more, “Yea, Nick.  He did.  He got away.” “Do you know how?”  Fury’s fingers were curled around his pocket taser, just in case Captain America needed a jolt, reminding him of who was calling the shots here.  It wouldn’t do much except give Nick a head start, but with the Captain looking so rough and so raw, the SHIELD director would take any advantage available. “We believe that… he was set free.”  Natasha didn’t want to say the words.  You had let Loki go, that much she knew to be true, and she supposed that it made some sort of sense. Steve had been right all along.  You and Loki did have some cosmic connection that even time and distance couldn’t eliminate.  Intervening for the sake of Fury’s mission and Steve’s pining heart, Natasha had no qualms about why she’d guided you into a relationship, in fact, she still believed that he was a better man for you than Loki. But no.  No matter what Rogers did, you had never let go with him like you had with the younger son of Odin.  Not that you complained.  You had taken all of Natasha’s words of praise, her seemingly well intentioned advice, her flat out advocating for Steve in stride.   Sure, your friendship suffered for it.  Natasha, never having been one for close ties to anyone, had enjoyed the talking and gossiping.  It was nice to have a girl around the tower.  One who understood period cramps and cravings.  A person who would put on high heels and makeup for a night of dancing then suggest hoodies and shorts for watching Pride and Prejudice.  That was over now.  When she had been, well, frankly, overpowered by Loki and his new paralyzing weaponry, Natasha knew the plan for a peaceful capture of the prince was over.  Having seen the aftermath of your reunion with the space god, having seen Steve’s seething anger, the Black Widow felt her own ire spike. Didn’t you know how hard she had worked?  How tireless her efforts had been to keep you and Loki apart?  Just how invested she was in joining you and Steve together?  It was like you wanted to throw all of that away, squandering those bonding moments where you had become something more than a mission, those times when you were Natasha’s only real friend. Couldn’t you just go along with the plan, unknowing, quietly?  She knew you couldn’t, wouldn’t.  It wasn’t in your nature.  So, channeling that frustration into the cold facade that so many had seen just before they met their end, Natasha had to compartmentalize the “you” she cared about away from the “you” she was responsible for trailing.  Both had pissed her off. Now, hearing the gruff grumble of Director Fury bearing down on her, Natasha could only accept the berating tone of his hard words.  He wasn’t wrong.  She and Steve had fucked up royally, the whole mission was blown, and while Bucky had certainly aided in your escape, he was blameless collateral damage.  The consequences fell to you and the Captain.  Killing you was going to be hard for them both, but if it had to be done, so be it. Shrugging, Natasha started again, “Nick, we have a tracker on her.  We know that she and Loki made it to Cleveland, but he can’t get away from Earth without some aid.” “Well, that’s good to know, if only it was some new intelligence.  You’re tracking her?  Great!  Where is she now?  Don't know huh?  Well, she and Loki tele-ported from a city sidewalk, in front of me and hundreds of civilians, with no word on their next destination.  “And make no mistake.  Loki will find a way off of this planet and when that happens, there’ll be nothing else we can do.” “So what?  Let him go!  He’s won, Nick.  It’s over.”  Throwing himself down onto the bench, Steve’s dejected voice breaking, he slumped over his feet. “That’s not an option Cap.  Loki is more powerful now than he’s ever been.  You both read the reports.  He wasn’t just hanging around on Asgard.  No, Loki was negotiating peace between his native realm of Jotunheim and his adoptive home.  He was gifted with tools and technology that no human could hope to wield.  Earth ending stuff, Captain.” “Whatever plans you had of making peace are over now.  There’s no way Loki gives us any help… and why would he after all this?” “Rogers, I’ll do whatever I must to keep this planet and the creatures on it safe.  Loki is a threat to that, just by existing.  With his new powers, high placed connections and intergalactic royal title, he had the potential to be unstoppable.” Seething breath puffed out the chests of the two men standing toe to toe.  Machismo made Natasha want to vomit.  Men. “Look, I’ll go after them.  Steve, stay here, in case she reaches out.  I’ll take the quinjet and trace their path.”  Standing now herself, Natasha turned to the depressed super soldier, patting his arm, “Bucky’s still here.  I’ll let you know when I’ve found anything.” “No.  Nat, I can’t let you go alone.  It’s my fault, too.”  “You’re no good to me like this, Rogers.” “But, She’s-” Cutting him off, Natasha stepped closer to Nick, “I know, but you’re too involved.  If tough choices need to be made, can you?” Gulping hard, passing a rough hand over his face, Steve frowned, “I can do my duty, if that’s what you’re asking.” “Steve.”  Her tone said it all the words she wouldn't vocalize.  I don’t trust you, not now, not like this.  I don’t believe you will have my back at the cost of the woman you claim to love.  I don’t think you can do the job. Fury didn't allow her the chance to elaborate, jumping in with his definitive voice, “Natasha’s right, Rogers.  You’re staying right where you are, on the bench.  Romanoff and I are going to resolve this issue without any further problems.”  Half hearted, strength sapped, Steve raised his eyes to the leather clad figures before him, “Please.  Please, Nick… Nat.  Don’t hurt her.” “I promise, Steve.  I won’t.”  And in the second, all three knew she was lying.

--- Finding Thor’s shanty was easier than you expected.  A friendly fisherman was only too happy to point you in the right direction.  What you saw upon arrival was not entirely what you had expected when visiting Loki’s brother. It was a beat up looking cottage, surrounded by empty cases of cheap Midgardian beer, crumpled take out containers, and a collection of well fed seagulls situated near the edge of the village, “Ugh.  What a pig.” “Loki!  It’s… charming?”  Your admonishing whisper turned the statement into a question at the sight of Loki’s disgusted face.  For a second you just stood at Loki’s side, staring at the weather beaten front door, your hand clasped in his strong one. “It’s disgusting.” Agreeing with a small nod, “Um, yes.  Yes, it is.  But, this is your brother’s house and you said we needed to talk to him.  Step one is ringing his bell.” “No.  I won’t do it.” You had forgotten about this side of Loki.  Fastidious, precise and obstinate, Loki could cop an attitude that had the ability to drive someone crazy.  Someone like you. Over the last two years it had been easy to forget all the little things that made Loki prickly.  It was even easier to forgive him.  Since he’d left, you had looked at your life together through rose glasses, through a gentle fog of missing him, and those elements of your relationship that were less than perfect had been abandoned. Now, standing outside the hovel that Thor called a home, as a fresh day dawned over New Asgard, you were reminded of all those imperfect things that came with loving Loki.  A wave of need, love, and longing for him rolled over you.  All of those imperfections made you perfect for each other. Rising up on your toes you pressed a small kiss to Loki’s pout, taking the tall God by surprise, “What was that for?” Shyly grinning, you bit into your bottom lip, “I missed you… missed kissing you.” “Then perhaps you should come over here again?”  That was all the invitation you needed.  Stepping into Loki’s space, your chest resting against his own, you savored the nearness of him, as himself.  He wasn’t playing at being Steve.  Loki was here, he was with you, and if you weren’t mistaken his hands were drifting down your backside.  The rush of it, well, it was familiar and new at the same time.  How Loki seemed to inhale your breath, inhale you, as his mouth opened to accept your lips.  His gentle exhale, a moan, as his tongue licked over your own.  It was overwhelming.  It was wonderful. Stepping back, you started to pull away, only for Loki to wrap his arms around your waist, “Not so fast, darling.” Losing yourself, you focused solely on the firmness of his body, the weight of his hands on your hips, the intensity of Loki’s desire.  Intoxicating, heady, you leaned into those feelings.  Kissing Loki back, you tangled his hair in your hand, earning another one of those sultry sounds that made your legs weak.  How had you lived without the passion and pleasure he provided for so long? A smashing crash broke the quiet morning causing you to jump in Loki’s embrace, “What the hell was that?” Immediately on the defense, Loki pushed you behind him, crouching into a protective stance.  From over his broad shoulder you watched, worried about the new danger coming your way, unsure how to help your reactive lover.  Another rattle had Loki palming his dagger, anticipating an attack.  That’s when a raccoon, bigger than your childhood terrier, scuttled from under an overturned trash can carrying what looked like a half eaten slice of pizza in its mouth. “Appalling!  Mother would be modified!” Loki cursed as he offered you his hand, kicking away an empty glass bottle, "Why is he living like a dirty animal, surrounded by trash?  One would think they were back on Sakaar!"  “I don’t know what’s going on with Thor, but we came here for a reason.  Let’s get it over with, ok?” Loki shook his head, refusing to step any closer, “He’ll have to come out here.  I won’t go inside this… dilapidated shit box.” Sighing, “Fine.  Fine, I’ll do it.”   Stepping around a pile of broken electronics, you carefully picked your way to the front door, gracefully knocking on the splintering wood.  After an answerless few seconds, you tried again, rapping lightly with your knuckles before turning to flash Loki a small smile.  That’s when you noticed the striking woman striding towards you and your returned lover. “My, my… is that pretty Prince Loki I see?”  Even her voice was sexy, you thought, as the sarcastic words dripped from her full lips.  The swaggering stranger radiated cool, calm, sensual energy.  Otherworldly energy that made you feel mortal and boring.  You couldn’t help tugging your skirt straight and fluffing your hair as she got closer. “Ah… Valkyrie!  How are you?” Hugging her tightly when she opened her arms, Loki found that he was genuinely happy to see the fierce, battle tested warrior. Smirking at your man, she countered, “That’s King Valkyrie to you.  Your brother crowned me, or have you forgotten?” “On the contrary.  It seems like he finally realized what I’ve known all our lives.” “Which is what, exactly?” “He’s not fit to be the ruler of Asgard, obviously.” Drawing right up to Loki, hands on her hips, Valkyrie leveled her dark eyes at his, “What would you know about ruling, Mischief?” “Enough to know that you’re good at it.  Enough to know that I no longer want to be the King of Asgard.” “Is that so?  And what’s changed your mind?” At those skeptical words, Loki wound an arm around your waist, tugging you close, “I’ve got more… important concerns these days.” Looking you over with her shrewd, searching gaze, but speaking to Loki, “And she likes you?  Are you sure?” Laughing, the sound deep and rich, “As much as you like fighting and drinking.” “I hardly drink anymore.  As King I have mead only on important occasions, I have to keep my wits about me the rest of the time.” Sharing a laugh, the two shared another small hug before Valkyrie turned to you directly, “Alright.  Who’s this then?” Loki started to respond but you cut him off, extending a hard towards the newly crowned King of Asgard, “Uh, I can answer for myself, thank you, Loki.  Valkyrie is it?  Nice to meet you.  And, yes, I love Loki.” Making a face that was part disgust, part pride, Valkyrie smirked, “Love?  Oh no.  Hasn’t anyone told you yet?  Loving the Odinson boys is hard on a girl.” Pulling Loki in for a small kiss, taking him by surprise, “I’ll take my chances.” Shrugging nonchalantly, “Suit yourself.”  Focusing on Loki once more, Valkyrie shifted on her feet, “Listen, if you’re looking for Thor, he’s not here.” “Oh?  And where exactly is the lovable oaf?” Hitching a thumb over her shoulder, pointing up the hill, “At the palace… the new palace, that is.  You can come and, please, don’t forget your girlfriend.” Falling in line behind the King, Loki couldn’t help but add, “You know Val, I think I liked you better when you were drunk.” Snorting in response, “And I know I liked you better when I was drunk, weird right?” Bringing up the rear, your own sarcastic comment dying on your throat when the Palace of New Asgard came into view.  Banners of gold shimmered in the light of the rising sun, flapping in the breeze of the young morning, beckoning you closer.  You hugged Loki’s arm tighter, excited and exhilarated by the sight before you. “Home is a people, not a place.  Those were some of my father’s last words to Thor and I… and while I can never take you to the place where I grew up, this… this is the home of my people.” “Loki… it’s beautiful!” Valkyrie, stopping so you could both catch up, “It’s getting there.  Thor’s been a huge help.  Come on, let's show you around the palace and let your brother know you’re here.” ---To Be Continued!

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