#i can provide the gist in text though

[goldensunset]

i want to properly hit people with the keykid dalia lore but unfortunately i’m a perfectionist and i believe text should be accompanied with pictures in order to have a stronger impact which means i gotta draw which means it’ll never happen

[liyuviq]

So uhh, hey. I'm not good at drawing but I can write decently, and my friend insisted on me asking permission first. So yeah, can I write a short story about Shin and my friend's 'sona?

I would try to follow Shin's personality, and if you want to add more little bits and pieces about their likes, dislikes and the general gist of how they interact with other people, that would be appreciated.

whatt that’s so sweet of you to offer 🥹🥹🥹💕💕💕 of course you can i would be honored 😭😭🙏🙏

(lemme dig up my old notes on shin…)

personality: shin is intelligent, witty, and playfully dramatic. they know when to lie and be cunning when needed, but prefer to be honest. shin is more of an extrovert but has moments where they become a hermit (getting deep into investigation or science). they are the type of person to live in the present, often acting spontaneously and making impulsive decisions that get them into troubles (despite being very smart 😩). also can be quite stubborn and a prankster at times (not as much as ace tho).

likes & dislikes: shin likes science & alchemy, and detective works! they also enjoy playing violin and darts. they crave freedom and like to do whatever they want. on the other hand, they dislike networking and fake people (ex: azul, jamil unfortunately 😔) who hide their true thoughts behind honey coated tongue. also don’t get them started on tea ceremonies, suffocating with so many rules. etiquette and strict manners make them uncomfortable.

how they interact with people: due to their past and more individualistic mindset (me before you), they don’t really care for other people. not in the way that shin would be a bystander if someone needs help but more that others just exist in the background unless they somehow catch shin’s eyes (the twst boys are certainly filled with eccentricities). though, it takes time for trust to be built. shin is friendly to those close to them but rarely let others know about themselves and their past. they are also not good with emotions, so it becomes a struggle for them to provide comfort for others.

i rarely talk abt shin’s character and lore in text form so it’s nice to do so every now and then! i hope this helped ☺️☺️

[pearlescynt]

Back, Better, Rebranding!

This is a bit of long post, not too crazy but a lot of info dumping! I would very much appreciate it if you gave it a thorough read through! I will put the shortened version first though, to give you the gist 🫶🏾

TLDR;

New name. 2 new fics to be posted, hopefully, within the month. New upcoming content for both readerxmember fics & memberxmember fics (chaptered & one-shots). New discord server incoming that is revolved around skz fanfiction recommendations & EPUB file sharing. I am looking for a mod on my discord server to help me work through it all (because I am old and unknowledgeable on discord if I am being honest, but I have picked up quite a bit).

Read below for more info!

You may formerly know me as ‘kaysungshine’, but I have a few updates you 🩷

• I am rebranding myself/my online alias as Pearlescynt, but you can call me Pearl 🫧

• I am still going to be writing out all the ideas I have drafted, outlined and waiting to be edited for reader fics (y/n fics, etc. whatever you want to call them). In fact, I have two almost ready to be posted, but I just have to push through editing them!

However after those two fics, I will be mainly focusing on my member ship fics.

I AM NOT ABANDONING MY READER FICS.

I want to make that clear. This is where I started my journey in writing for kpop groups, (I mean I’ve only written skz so far lol) and I will never walk away from this person view. I just have SO MANY outlines of member ships as well, and I want to work on them more at the moment. I haven’t been able to post any of them anywhere yet.

• I will also be posting regularly (*hopefully*) to AO3. I would like that to be my main fic source, but I know that is unrealistic. I quite enjoy the simple formatting on AO3, and I like the ability to create EPUBS automatically as well. I read fics of all kinds frequently on my kindle, as many others do. If you’d like to know how or would like to learn more about this & EPUBs; stay tuned 😉

• Now this has more to do with chaptered fics than anything. Every fic I write will be on AO3, but not all will be posted here. MEANING: all my one-shots will be posted here. And I have A LOT, of one-shots drafted and outlined as well. But I will not be posting the content of each chapter of a chaptered fic here. As it’s looking like some of my chaptered fics will easily reach 75k-100k+. Not all, but some (most?). And with the way we lay out our fics here on tumblr, it would be too much for me to handle the formatting of the same fic on two different websites, at the same time. But again THIS IS FOR CHAPTERED FICS ONLY. All oneshots, imagines, drabbles, or text fics etc. will remain posted and sourced on here.

That being said, I will still have posts for my chaptered fics on here, and I will still make new posts for each new chapter. (And I will still make things aesthetically pleasing because thas jus me 😏) It is just that the post will not contain the entire chapter, and instead link you to read the chapter on AO3.

• Now back to EPUBS:

It has come to my attention that there is really no space , that I have found at least, that contains links/files of all skz related fics.

For example: my history in reading/writing fics we all know goes back over a decade. We always had group chats, or Facebook groups, or some space that allows us to share recommendations of fics we enjoy and love. Or allows us to even self promote our own fics. For my old band fic days, it was entire tumblr accounts called “networks”. People would code their own themes with TONS of links to provide these files and links to (usually Wattpad, Miba, or ffnet) fanfiction. When I moved into, the HP fanfic world, it was mainly Facebook groups that’s were being used to share them. And I like the idea of the Facebook group the best, because 1. The coding on tumblr isn’t the same as it used to be. I am not up to date with it, therefore my knowledge is basically useless to make a “network”. So it felt like a Facebook group was the way to go. HOWEVER. I’m finding there is not a large kpop following on there, it definitely exists. But not on the same level as tumblr, X (twitter), threads, or instagram.

So this brought the question of: what platform can I use that is widely accessible, somewhat a controllable environment, but still open enough to be a safe space?

Discord.

Most everyone at least has an account. And while I’m learning to properly navigate my own server, and it is a work in progress. It will be going live at some point this year.

When I have more info on that, I will update you with it.

My whole point in creating this discord server, is to have a space to share both links to fanfics to read inline, as well as EPUB files to be able to read on an e-reader. Such as a kindle, the kindle app, google books, or iBooks. There are more devices and apps you can read epub files on.

And the whole point of having a space to share both these things, is 1. Organization, always being able to find what you’re looking for, or find something new to read with like minded individuals that match your interests. 2. Never losing a fic again.

Many fics can become unavailable, whether they get locked, deleted, placed in private collections. Whether an author leaves a fandom, or deletes their accounts. Whether an author decides to publish their works into an actual book, and therefore has to delete their copies of the fanfic. Many things can happen for some fics to disappear from the web altogether.

Saving EPUB files = saving your favorite fic forever.

It’s become such an integral part of many fandoms for me, I was honestly quite shocked that I couldn’t find much on it within this fandom.

I will also do a breakdown/mini tutorial on how to save these files. And how to use them on e-readers/apps. As well as more informational tutorials regarding them overall.

• I am also looking for a mod to help me out on this endeavor. If you are interested please reach out to me! Thank you!

•With all this finally being said:

I hope to receive a warm welcome back. And I hope this discord server can bring us closer. If there’s one thing I struggled with the most in this community, it’s finding friendship. And while I have my close few, I’d love for it to feel like a more positive and bonding (no pun intended) space for everyone. Even if that just means providing a small space for the few of us. I hope you all look forward to the fics I have planned, and the fics soon to be posted! I do work full time, and have other things going on. But all my free time has been going to getting back into things. I also missed you all, and this community so much! And I can’t wait to get back to regularly scheduled posting 🫶🏾🩷

[rpclefairy]

hi !! this might be an embarrassing, noob-y type question but i was wondering how one would link a specific tag/or create a tag page and link it in a post ?? saw it on a blog and thought it was pretty neat !!

hi there! it's not an embarrassing question at all! there are two parts to answering this though, let me explain.

how one would link a specific tag

the same way you add any link to text! just copy the url to the tag you want to link and then write any text you want to append the hyperlink.

create a tag page and link it in a post

this is where you have two options.

first option: you can add links from text posts. for instance i have often linked to other posts in my previous posts or included links to download pages for my resources. just to give an example, let's say i want to link you here to all the tutorials in my blog, you can click here.

you do this just by selecting the text and adding the link.

you can make a post with a list of links to various tags this way.

the second option: making a separate page is a little more involved and you will have to deal with html coding to some extent, although there are ways to do it very minimally.

the easy way:

open the theme customization panel and scroll down to the bottom of the column where you'll find "add a page" and "advanced options", click on add a page. there you can repeat the same steps as the first option! just write tags, link the url to the text and that's it. you can format and decorate this page the same way you would a text post.

the hard(er) way:

find a custom navigation code, you can search for this specific type of pages here. this is where you need to have a basic grasp on html that i don't think i could provide you with briefly in this post. it's not terribly difficult though, just looking at the code you'll find a lot of it is self-explanatory.

the gist of it is, you'll add a page same as in the easy option but click where it says "standard layout" and change it to "custom layout". there you'll paste the code of your navigation page. it should look like this:

you can customize the code to your liking (colors, fonts, images) and add your links from there.

[ragebear]

ok we do NOT need a little word for every action in a comic panel. You do NOT have to write poke when someone pokes another person. In fact, you shouldn’t. This is a huuuuuge pet peeve of mine and I’m going to explain why.

This is a bad adaptation from manga and manhwa; Japanese and Korean have mimetic words. They also have true onomatopoeias - for example, doki doki (どきどき) is the Japanese mimetic for “doing something with a beating heart” and is the onomatopoeia for the sound of two heartbeats. Another example is jiro jiro (じろじろ), which is the Japanese mimetic for staring intently at someone or something. Japanese and Korean (as well as others) are chock-full of them, and you see them in manga and manhwa all the time as these little “sound effects” associated with certain actions, feelings, or environments. As English speakers who read manga and/or manhwa, we’ve been increasingly exposed to them thanks to their rise in popularity - especially as webcomics/webtoons. In their native languages, mimetic sounds have linguistic significance, and add value and information, usually conveying a feeling more than an actual sound.

The issue is that while we do have onomatopoeias in English that add value (think bang, whoosh, splat, click; the difference between slap or smack and thok or pow, etc etc), we do not have many mimetic sounds in the same fashion. The English equivalent of doki doki is surely tha-thump or ba-bump, but think: what is the English “sound effect” for staring at someone intently? If you said stare, that’s not an onomatopoeia or a mimetic sound, and that’s the exact problem I’m talking about. There isn’t one.

Unfortunately, translators - who are often amateurs and/or non-native speakers of the original language, especially in the case of webcomics/webtoons (though we thank them for their service) - come across these and try to patch them into English, perhaps for fear of leaving something out if they’re omitted, but they have no appropriate equivalent. So, one finds oneself looking at a translated comic with a drawing of a person poking someone else and having a little “sound effect” that just says poke. People have become so used to seeing them in manga and manhwa that it’s gotten into many an English-language author’s head that they’re “supposed” to be there in most, if not all, circumstances - that everything needs a sound effect, even when there isn’t anything that makes sense to use.

The reason this bothers me so goddamn much is because it’s so completely and totally unnecessary in so many ways. If one is publishing a comic - a visual medium - one’s readers should be able to tell what’s happening by the images alone, or at least get the gist of it. Yes, there are exceptions, like when one has to provide some kind of insight into a character’s mind, or provide context for a situation, or dialogue, etc. But these things should be as brief as possible because one shouldn’t overwhelm the image with text (looking at you, Warren Ellis) - there needs to be balance. Adding unnecessary “sound effects” clutters a panel and adds no valuable information in English, which is a huge issue in comics because the economy of space matters so much when you have so little room. Moreover, these “sound effects” (when used in English) are indicators of 1) an inability on the artist’s part to visually convey something; 2) a lack of confidence in their ability to do so; or 3) a lack in confidence in the intelligence of the readers. All are bad signs, and more than one can be occurring simultaneously, but the third is the absolute worst. I can’t be only person who sees something like poke as a “sound effect”, rolls my eyes, and goes, “Well, yeah. No shit.” This is not a feeling one wants to instill in one’s readers.

The TL;DR of it is that if you’re publishing a comic in English (originally or translated), do not look to non-English comics for guidance when it comes to this “sound effect” stuff, because much of it simply does not translate. Even if you’re publishing more in the style of manga or manhwa. Look instead to comics originally published in English, by native speakers of English - you’ll very quickly learn what is and is not necessary in order to convey information and value.

[tbg041397]

Crossings

Written by Katy S. Duffield 

Illustrated by Mike Orodan

Genre or category

Informational

Target Age Group

4-8 years; Pre-K-3rd

Summary

Crossings tells the stories of man made structures that solve the problems of animal travel in urbanized areas

Justification

I first saw this book at a library conference during a session highlighting stand out books published in Arkansas. Immediately I wanted to read it not only for its interesting premise and beautiful pictures, but the educational possibilities that could be built on it. For a year I taught STEM to elementary students and this book really hit that part of me. Students would love to solve this real life problem while teachers will appreciate the practice of the engineering design process. Early Childhood teachers can use this book to help students under positional words and older elementary teachers can use it to highlight the importance of prepositions. Most importantly, this book draws in readers because it is relatable. Most readers will have some experience with the problems of animals crossing busy roads and this book offers a unique perspective on how humans can fix it. 

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating the repetitious language, accuracy and detail, and the choice to use illustrations instead of photos. 

Language

Crossings is of interest to a wide range of ages due to its universally loved subject matter. Author Katy Duffield helps to make this book accessible to younger audiences by introducing a pattern in her prose. Early on she establishes the repetition of “Over, under, across, through” (Duffield, 2020, p.1). Then she continues this pattern by introducing structures that go over, under, across, and through in that order while highlighting the preposition used. This pattern repeats through the 12 structures that she shows. This predictability helps to engage younger readers by giving them a structure they can rely on. Young readers will know what to expect from each section of the book and can focus their energy on enjoying the story. It also allows them to feel participatory in telling of the story as they accurately predict what comes next. In doing this, Duffield makes Crossings an information book that even the youngest of readers can follow and enjoy. 

Accuracy and Detail

Crossings is classed as a non-fiction book, therefore it is important that all the information in the book is accurately and clearly given. What is impressive about Crossings is that Duffield maintains her accuracy and satisfying level of detail while considering both her younger and older audiences. For younger readers, Duffield provides accuracy, though slightly vague information about each structure– “Black bear cubs follow mama UNDER a Montana highway” (p.30). Pre-K readers will get the gist of the information in a quick and predictable format. For older readers, Duffield includes more detailed explanations of the structures to give a more accurate picture of the what, where, and why and how’s of each structure. These extra facts are presented on the same page as the simpler prose as a supplement. Duffield also includes facts in the back of her book and information for further reading for readers as old as middle school and high school. 

(an example of both the simpler and more detailed text)

Illustrations

When creating a nonfiction picture book there comes the choice to decide how to present the pictures– as photos or illustrations. Crossings chose to use colored pencil drawing done by illustrator Mike Orodan. This choice makes the book a more interesting and dynamic read. While there are photos of each featured structure available, action shots of animals using these structures are harder to come by in some instances. The salamander passages in North Amherst are too small and dark to photograph in an exciting way. Orodan solves this problem by illustrating the structures instead, allowing him to capture scenes that would be unavailable to a camera. Readers get to experience close up pictures of the structures as they are being used by the animals from angles that would not otherwise be possible. The illustration better allows readers to understand how each structure functions as they see pictures of animals using it in various ways and stages. The illustrations also shift the perspective of the image to the viewpoint of the animals involved. This creates the illusion of readers getting to use the structures with the animals. Orodan’s work is what elevates this nonfiction book past solely informational and into entertaining.  

References

Duffield, K.S. (2020). Crossings (M. Orodan, Illus.). Beach Lane Books.

[insanesanitysparks]

He'll Do Anything For You

This is just a little short drabble that I wanted to do based on my parents. They might have actually already been married, I don't remember for sure because it's been a while since I've heard the story. The gist though is that my dad ate a raw steak to prove that he was meaner and tougher than the other guy, and he did it all for my mom! And my dad did show a picture of my mom to his boss before he married her, though I think it might have been shortly after he met her not right before he actually proposed....

Katsuki was pissed, if that wasn't evident by his perpetual scowl and his hardened eyes then everyone around him-they were all dumbasses! It didn't matter that he always scowled or that he always had a sharp glare to his eyes. They should know that he was in a mood and stay the hell out of his way!

"I want a table with fuckin' [y/n]!" He growled to the hostess as he barged into the restaurant that his girlfriend worked at. She'd texted him less than 10 minutes ago about a guy at one of her tables who was kept hitting on her and was making her uncomfortable. "And make it a table where I can look that dumb fucker in the eyes that's givin' 'er trouble!"

"Uh, s-sure, right this way, sir!" The hostess quickly grabbed a menu and a set of silverware, scurrying away to lead Katsuki to his table as quickly as possible so that she could leave him as soon as possible.

Katsuki flopped down into his seat, staring across his table at the greasy mother fucker sitting at the next table. He was a big guy, bigger than him...not that it scared him. He could take this guy easy! But the dumbass bastard didn't know that. The moron didn't realize that he was sitting across from a pro hero, sitting across from the angry, pissed off boyfriend of the waitress he was giving trouble, sitting across from the guy that could kick his ass without breaking a sweat! Katsuki wanted to punch the bastard, wanted to punch him so, so bad...but, because of [y/n] he couldn't, or rather, he wouldn't.

It was stupid really. She didn't need to work, not when he could provide for her, but she wanted to. And she couldn't make money if he was scaring away all her customers. So how to non-violently, or as non-violently as possible, chase this creep away? For now, he settled on just glaring at the bastard.

Katsuki's girl was hard working and smart, she had a better head on her shoulders than most girls her age. Instead of partying all the time or wasting her money on stupid crap, she put most of it in savings. Even though he was willing to pay for everything, she still wanted to save some money for any "just in case" scenarios. Some partners might find her actions offensive, like saying she didn't trust them or didn't plan on staying with them forever. Katsuki? He found it amazing! He'd learned in his student days at UA that life could end in a heartbeat, the world could change in the blink of an eye. Instead of being upset with her, Katsuki was proud of her. The thought pissed him off, but if something happened and they didn't end up together long term then he would sleep easier knowing that she had the money to take care of herself. The fact that his girl was prepared for the worst...hell, it made him love her all that much more! She'd make one hell of a hero wife!

When she finally made it to Katsuki's table, she looked a mess. The perfect ponytail she put up earlier that morning now had several loose strands. Katsuki thought it made her look even more beautiful, the way the little fly-a-ways framed her face... Her make up was starting to wear off from all the running around and sweating around the restaurant, but Katsuki always preferred her natural skin anyway. There was a tired, hesitant look in her eyes that told him she was uncomfortable and stressed. She was usually a rather fiery woman, one of few people who could match his temper. She only got like this when she was nervous or stressed. He hated it when she was stressed, it made him feel like he was failing her as a significant other and a boyfriend. "I'll take the steak, medium rare, and a coffee, black." He grunted, his voice raspy but lacking the usual growl to it. She quickly scribbled down the order and disappeared to the back and Katsuki returned to glaring at the bastard across from him.

The food came out sooner than expected, pleasantly surprising Katsuki until he realized one crucial error. The steak was cooked rare...like...rare-rare... Blood didn't bother him, he'd be concerned if it did since he was a hero, but even he preferred his meat to be cooked more than this. What the hell did they do? Pull it out of the freezer and just warm it up a little? Fuck! The steak was practically still bleeding! Did they carve out of the cow and serve it straight from the butcher? The fucker sitting across from Katsuki looked like he was about to keel over from laughter. The bastard was just waiting for Katsuki to call his waitress back over to tell her she screwed up, waiting for Katsuki to accept defeat. Like hell! Katsuki didn't even bother with the steak knife. He just grabbed his fork, stabbed the meat, and ripped a piece off with his teeth. He kept his eyes glued to the bastard across from him as he chewed, blood dripping down his chin. It pleased him to see the fucker's expression change from amusement to what the hell?

This continued until Katsuki's girlfriend realized the error, she came running back to his table stumbling over her words as she apologized profusely. The bastard at the other table looked like he was enjoying watching her struggle. "It's fine." Katsuki growled, loud enough for the bastard to hear, "Actually, I think I like it better this way. Thank you." She hesitantly left the table, not quite convinced that Katsuki was telling her the truth but she wasn't going to contradict him while he was a customer.

Each bite of the steak that Katsuki powered through seemed to make the fucker across from him look more and more sick and uncertain about the crazy guy eating a bloody steak. He must have decided that the cute waitress wasn't worth it as he grabbed his ticket to leave after Katsuki's fourth or fifth bite. "Don't forget to tip." Katsuki smirked as the bastard passed his table, jumping a little at the sound of the angry blond's voice.

"Yeah, I wasn't." The man mumbled, voice cracking ever so slightly in fear, "Just needed to get some change." Katsuki watched the freak pay for his ticket and then return to throw a very, very nice tip on the table. The blond smirked in triumph. Victory was his! As always!

***

Katsuki was waiting for his girl when her shift ended, ready to drive her home since he knew she'd be tired. He wanted to driver her to his home, but she had standards and she wasn't budging on them even for him. Could she get anymore perfect?

"How'd the rest of your shift go?" He asked as she curled into the passenger's seat, head resting on the door. If that bastard had come back after he left...

"It was fine." She hummed, "Did pretty good tonight. You know you don't have to leave a big tip like that every time? Especially since I screwed up your order...I'm sorry about that, really. It was all my fault, I mixed up your and another table's tickets. It wasn't the cook's fault at all. They-"

"I told you it was fine didn't I?" He snapped.

"You didn't eat it all though..." She sighed in response.

"Savin' room for your cooking." Katsuki smirked, glancing over at her with a sparkle in his eyes, "Your shit's better than that crap anyway." He loved the small smile that tugged at her lips and the warmth that spread across her cheeks at the compliment.

"I think I've still got some cornbread and turnip green leftovers in the fridge." She offered. Katsuki would never admit it, but on the inside he was cheering with delight! He'd never tasted cornbread as good as hers...and turnip greens to go with it? Hell yeah! It didn't matter if they were reheated a thousand times! He'd eat her cooking all day long!

It didn't matter that she was tired. She invited him into her apartment and reheated the leftovers for him, serving him for the second time that day. While he ate, she showered. By the time she returned, he'd already finished and washed all her dishes, putting away the last of them right as she entered the room.

"You didn't have to-"

"I wanted to." He rolled his eyes, pulling her into his arms and kissing her minty lips. "I'd love to stay, but I work the night shift."

"M'kay." She hummed, wrapping her arms around him to hug him a little longer before she released him.

Katsuki was still thumbing a picture he had of her when he arrived at Jeanist's hero agency. Normally, he wouldn't have cared to share his personal life with the older hero, but tonight was different. He shared the picture of his girl with the same confidence that he presented his hero name with. "I'm gonna marry her." He told his mentor with pride.

"Really?" Jeanist hummed, not sounding like he believed the impulsive, young blond.

The next day, Katsuki was picking out a ring. He'd show that bastard and every other bastard out there that his girl was taken! She'd be his, only his! For as long as he lived!

[julescollins]

Due Date: Week 3 (January 23rd) 

Titles: Tompkins, Chapter 2, “The Reading and Writing Processes”

Tompkins, Chapter 6, “Developing Fluent Readers and Writers” 

Chapter 2

Big Takeaway: Teachers can integrate reading and writing processes simultaneously in the classroom to help students with meaning-making, comprehension, writers’ craft techniques, and varied types of reading. 

Nugget: I loved getting to see the list of online publication sites for kids to display their writing. I would’ve jumped on that in elementary! I wrote so much, and didn’t really feel like there was any way for me to share my writing without being in the spotlight - posting on the internet would offer the anonymity that the shy kids need! 

Chapter 6

Big Takeaway: Teachers can develop students’ reading and writing speed and automaticity through frequent reading and writing, high frequency word instruction, word identification strategies, and authentic activities. 

Nugget: I loved the idea of simulated journals - writing a diary from the perspective of a character in a book. I think it could be a great way to teach about character development.

For my readerly exploration, I chose to reflect on the contributions of reading experiences to reader identity in an effort to better articulate who I am as a reader, by writing a couple of goals for myself as a reader to apply in my next reading assignment. When reading chapter 2, the first thing I did was open to page 1 and start reading word for word. My focus dipped out less than 2 pages in. I decided to try something different in chapter 6 - I skimmed through it using pre-reading before I actually began verbatim reading. I looked at all the graphics, charts, bolded phrases, and the summary section at the end. Once I understood the big picture, it seemed easier for me to go back and read through - and I could also tell what areas didn’t necessarily need to be read verbatim for me to be able to understand and apply the gist of the chapter. The whole section of examples of middle school texts that help students sustain reading was not relevant to me because I am not going to teach middle school, so I was able to jump past those couple paragraphs. This encouraged me to write the reading goal of ‘practicing pre-reading by skimming through a chapters’ big features for a couple of minutes before reading more closely’. Another goal I set was to go back and reread anything in the summary section that I couldn’t recall more about. If a term like ‘prosody’ is mentioned in the chapter summary, and I can’t recall it, I can go back and reread the section about prosody. This will help me to better recall the information I read. Lastly, for my final goal, I consulted the internet for ideas. My search for ‘independent literacy goals’ provided me my last goal: Pausing during reading to check if you understand and remember what is going on. Instead of reading the whole way through, I intend to stop every couple of pages and check my comprehension and recollection. This is helpful to me because sometimes my brain checks out before my eyes do, and then all the sudden I realize I’ve read several pages with just my eyes - I wasn’t really seeing or even reading the text, my eyes just kept on moving. This goal will help limit that. Overall, my three goals were to pre read, reread what I couldn’t recall, and pause to check in with my attention and understanding during my reading. It was easy to develop my pre reading goal; that pattern stuck out to me quickly. My final goal, though, caused me to sit and think for a long time, and then eventually check Google for ideas. I knew my reading wasn’t perfect, but I couldn’t think up a specific goal. It was interesting to me to see the big difference in attention and understanding pre-reading created for me, from chapter 2 to chapter 6. This exploration helped me better comprehend what I read because it helped me to really focus on the text and be an active reader. My mastery of course content was deepened because I learned the importance of setting reading goals and the value of using text dependent analysis tools like pre-reading. 

This chart I found when searching for my final goal helped me identify that I needed to be stopping during reading to check if I can summarize. The ‘when to choose this goal’ section perfectly describes me - sometimes I close the book and then can’t even remember any details in the chapter! I think this would be a really helpful chart to have in my future classroom.

[fereldanwench]

wench's very basic gif tutorial [photoshop]

@screechingtrashbarbarian asked me how I make my gifs, so I figured I'd throw together a little guide. ♥ This won't cover doing any kind of overlays, uniformed aspect ratio for gif sets, or adding text, but it should give the basics on converting a video into a semi-decent-quality gif.

What You Need:

Video capture software (I use the built-in screen capture from Nvidia, but there are so many free options available these days. I know Windows 10 also has an Xbox overlay you can use.)

Photoshop (I use the most recent version of it, but I've been using this process for about 5 years now. Some specific functions might be labeled slightly differently, but the gist of it should be the same.)

1. Record your video. The higher the quality your video, the higher the quality your gif, but you don't need to go nuts here. I record at my default HD screen resolution (1920x1080), but for smaller gifs, 720p will probably be fine, too.

2. In Photoshop, go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers... and select your video. (If you don't see your video, it's probably not in a format that's compatible with Photoshop. I record in .mp4 just to keep it simple.)

3. When you get this popup, choose Selected Range Only and Limit to Every [#] Frames*. (Make Frame Animation should also be selected, but I think this is a default setting.)

Now use the sliders under the video preview to select the specific scene you want to gif. You don't have to be 100% precise here, and it's better to overshoot as you can delete the excess frames once it imports.

* Photoshop defaults this option to 2 frames, but depending on how long the scene is you want to gif, you might need to increase this to 3 or 4. My personal rule of thumb is that 540px shouldn't have more than 40 max frames, and anything smaller can go as high as 50 frames. Typically, though, I shoot for 20-30 frames per gif to keep the file size small while still keeping the quality decent.

However, if you find that skipping a lot of frames is making your animation look really choppy, you might want to consider breaking the scene up into 2 (or more) gifs.

4. Once you're happy with your range and frame setting, click OK and your workspace will now look something like this (emphasis on the Timeline and Layers windows):

5. Now I play the frame animation (the little triangle icon at the bottom of the Timeline bar) to make sure 1) I got the scene I wanted and 2) to see how I need to adjust the speed.

Photoshop defaults to .02 seconds, which is usually way too fast. Typically, I set my speed around .12 to .15 seconds, but the exact speed can vary depending on each project--Somewhere between .1 and .2 is often the sweet spot. Use the playback option to get a feel for how fast it moves, but don't be deterred if it seems slightly too jerky when you slow it down--I find that it smooths out a bit once you export the gif.

(If you're really unsure about the speed, you can always preview the gif by going to Export > Save for Web (Legacy) and taking a look at how it generates.)

6. If you do have some excess frames in your animation that you want to delete, first select the frames. Then click on the Timeline menu and choose Delete Frames.

7. I also recommend deleting the layers that corresponded with the deleted frames. These layers won't do anything if you don't delete them (provided you don't do anything wonky by accident), but removing them helps keep the file size smaller and your workspace a little more manageable.

To delete the layers, simply select the layers and click the trash can icon.

8. Now I resize the image to whatever I want the gif to be. You can also use the crop tool like normal if you want to adjust the aspect ratio. For the sake of simplicity, we'll just drop this down to 540px in width.

(If you notice that the quality of your images doesn't look right after resizing, play with the Resample options. Certain settings are more suitable for certain color palettes, graphics styles, etc.)

At this point, you have what you need for a finished gif. Just go to Export > Save for Web (Legacy) and choose the gif option that will suit Tumblr's size restriction while still looking good.

However, if you want to make a few more aesthetic changes, read on:

While you can technically edit frame-by-frame and adjust colors using Adjustment Layers stacked on top of all the frames and layers, it can be tedious and clunky and not always worth the effort.

So I prefer to use the Video Timeline/Smart Filter option:

9. In the Timeline menu, go to Convert to Video Timeline.

10. Now select all your layers, and go to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters. (Click OK if you get a popup explaining what the action will do.)

Your workspace should now look like this, with one single item under Timeline and one single item under Layers.

11. The first thing I like to do is run the Smart Sharpen filter: select your layer, go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. These are typically the settings I use, but this is another situation where you might need to tweak settings based on the type of gif you're making.

12. Now I play with some color correction. Again, the exact settings will vary on every project and can require a little trial and error, but I mostly use the Levels and Hue/Saturation options to make them a little brighter and more vibrant. (Lately, I've been on a kick of desaturating yellows a bit and increasing reds and blues. You can isolate the specific colors you want to edit in the dropdown menu of the Hue/Saturation module.)

If I'm doing a gifset, I also prefer to do these edits as layers (Layer > New Adjustment Layer) rather than as direct image adjustments, so I can just copy the layer over to my other gifs. But, since you converted these to a Smart Object, you can use the direct image adjustment options instead (Image > Adjustments > [Choose your poison]).

You do want to be cautious about having too many colors in your palette, however. A lot of color means a very large file size and often a lot of dithering if the gif file type can't support all the colors in your file. I did recently learn about this trick to help clean up color noise a bit, but it's kind of tedious and I don't know that the payoff is totally worth it. (I tried it with this set, and ehhhhh. You can be the judge.)

13. Once you're happy with your colors, you get to export! Go to Export > Save for Web (Legacy) and on this window, choose the 4-Up option to see the choices you have available:

Usually, the choice in the top right is the best option, but not always. And if you're unhappy with all of them, you can cancel the export option and go back and tweak the colors.

This is the end result! It's actually a little faster than I would have liked (granted, that could also be because the scene I'm making a gif of is kind of fast-paced--little things like this can also affect gif quality), and the colors could probably be tweaked a little more, but that's the gist of it!

[tl-notes]

Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 9 Notes

...設立から大分地盤が固まってきており、少しずつだが、業態は改善されている。

One thing to note here is that Kobayashi(‘s narration) isn’t saying the company has already made solid improvements, it’s that the company has finally established itself somewhat (as it was only founded relatively recently, and typically new companies are especially busy while trying to get off the ground) and now is starting to make improvements.

Similarly in the second sentence, it’s not “was” slow going, it’s “is still” slow going, and the working conditions “are” improving, not “have improved.”

This is がんば ganba, short of course for がんばって ganbatte, which I’m sure most of you are familiar with: the (in)famous “do your best.”

I only mention it because I like this shortened version of it. Ganba!

This is a fun little idiom(?)/saying: 鼻で笑う hana de warau (conjugated as hana de warawareta), lit. to laugh using the nose. It’s used to describe laughing at someone you’re looking down on for whatever reason (not necessarily in a super serious way, could just be a friend being dumb etc.; in this case it’s Elma’s being naive).

Typically it refers to like a “heh-but-through-the-nose” kind of “laugh,” but as you can see in this scene (where clearly Kobayashi is laughing with the mouth, even starting with “pff” lips) it works idiomatically even if the laughing isn’t only through the nose.

You may have heard that Japan is/was a “lifetime employment” country, where typically people would get hired right out of school and stay at that company until retirement. While that’s much less true today than it was even a couple of decades ago (and has become kind of controversial in ways), it’s still much more common of a practice than in say the US.

One result of this is that there’s a much bigger distinction placed between hiring people in spring as part of the annual graduation rush (the Japanese school year ends in March), and mid-career hiring. Typically you can’t participate in the fresh grad hiring if you aren’t one, even if you’re new to the field in question. 

For larger employers (i.e. 5k+ employees), roughly two-thirds of all hirings come from fresh grads, and only small employers (<300 employees) hire more mid-careerists than people directly out of school.

Of course, this split tends to apply mostly to “standard” full time jobs, not so much part time, and is not necessarily a thing in every industry/at every company.

Just as a minor point of clarity, this “organized text” in Elma’s document refers to the phrase まとめられた文章 matomerareta bunshou. In a literal sense, matomerareta can mean organized/consolidated etc., and bunshou text/passages, but meaning-wise it’s more like “writing that gets its point across clearly/cleanly.” 

This is a pretty big compliment and a very useful skill to have in organizations like this, as writing such that people can quickly and easily understand exactly what you’re trying to say often saves a ton of time and frustration.

我々はエルマの気迫に押されるがままにその書類を読み始めた。

Another minor point, but where the English could imply that they were overwhelmed by Elma’s intensity through the act of reading her report, the Japanese implies more that they started reading it because of how intense Elma was being. 

It doesn’t really make much of a difference either way, but it stuck out a little for me. 

To justify mentioning it, I guess I’ll explain the grammar point Kobayashi uses: されるがままに sareru ga mama ni. Sareru is a generic verb/verb conjugation for having something done to you (technically here it’s 押される, to be “pushed/pressed/pressured”), and mama refers to a state, condition, or “way” (like “do it this way”).

Put together, the whole phrase is used to indicate “you” do/did something that someone else wants you to, without (meaningful) opposition. (Something similar in raw meaning but with a very different connotation would be “going with the flow.”)

If a friend says “hey let’s go do something,” and next thing you know you’re out bowling despite preferring to stay at home, this is you.

You can stick the mama ni to various other things as well to come up with a similar idea, but without the sareru the nuance may end up different. 

The word for clairvoyance here is 千里眼 senrigan, lit. “eye(s) [that can see] a thousand li”, li being a Chinese unit of measurement for length (shorter than a mile, but for general purposes “eyes that see a thousand miles” is basically the gist).

Despite the perhaps physical-sounding nature of the term, it does actually describe the same power as “clairvoyance” in English: being able to perceive things outside your actual range of vision, including potentially into people’s hearts and minds etc.

Hence why it’s a thousand screen display, when she updates it with tech knowledge:

“Tainted by work” here is 職業病 shokugyou-byou, lit. an occupational disease. The “proper” definition is a disease one gets from working in a particular job, such as black lung for coal miners or even posture-related health issues for desk workers. 

Additionally, it’s used colloquially to refer to noticeable habits or quirks that people in a certain profession pick up, like a baker always waking up super early or a programmer using programming lingo out of context in normal conversation. The latter being especially noticeable in Japanese, as a lot of such terms are English in origin.

“Shocking” here is a fun word: ドン引き don-biki. “Don” here is added just for emphasis; the main meaning revolves around 引き hiki/biki, from the verb 引く hiku, meaning to pull. 

The idea is that someone does/says something that you recoil from. Maybe it’s gross (“I only shower once a week”), maybe it’s mean (“They didn’t smile enough so I didn’t leave a tip.”), maybe it’s creepy (“I sent like 30 texts yesterday but still no reply.”), just anything that has you feeling like you might want to create some distance because... phew. 

It’s kind of similar to the current use of “cringe” as an adjective/noun, though with less of an internet-slang feel* to it, and generally used more as something the speaker is doing rather than describing whatever/whoever is being cringe. 

(*I think it started being used popularly in this way in the early-to-mid 90s, with the “don”biki variant specifically popping up around 2005.)

A “Premium Friday” is the last Friday of the month, where you get to leave work at 3 pm. It is largely theoretical. 

The idea was created by the Japanese government as a way to reduce working hours and encourage domestic spending (boost demand), but it has not been implemented by all that many employers, and especially not many smaller employers. There isn’t, after all, any mandate or government-provided incentive for doing so.

Evidence from the places that did implement it suggests it is actually good for the economy, but good luck convincing bosses to give extra paid time off.

“Last Friday of the month” was chosen because most people get paid on the 25th each month (Japan tends to pay monthly instead of every two weeks), so it would usually be right after payday, when people are more willing to get spendy.

Kobayashi saying eight hours here reminded me of a “fun” fact: the typical Japanese work day is eight hours plus a one hour break. Plus a one hour break, not with. So a typical work day is actually nine hours. Most commonly 8 to 5 or 9 to 6. Not many “nine-to-fives” here.

The characters for Joui are 上井, which usually read as Kamii or Uwai. It’s “Joui” because that means, when written as 上位, “superior.” As in “a superior life-form.” Like a dragon, say.

でも、ゆっくりやる事業改善案を見せてもらえたじゃない？

This one is actually kind of a critical mistake. In the English it sounds like she’s talking about the improvement proposal that Elma made and that the boss looked at. In the Japanese though, she’s talking about a different plan, one the boss showed them*, that is similar in idea but is going to take longer to be fully implemented**. So we’re being told that while Elma didn’t get what she wanted as fast as she wanted it, it is still basically going through at a slower pace.

*In ”見せてもらえた misete moraeta,” the misete vs mite means they were the ones who got shown something, rather than the ones who got someone to look at their stuff. 

**Which you can tell from the ゆっくりやる yukkuri yaru, where yaru is basically “do” and yukkuri means (in this case) at an unhurried pace.

(Re previous note: Hence why she says “immediately” here.)

“Black (ブラック)” and “white (ホワイト)” in the context of Japanese employers refers to how well employees are treated: a company with good benefits/pay, reasonable levels of overtime, and feels safe to work at is “white,” while a company that has excessive overtime, often pays poorly, breaks labor laws, and allows harassment to fester is “black.” 

While “white company” was created simply in contrast to the term “black company,” the latter finds its origins in front businesses for organized crime, which were called “black” in the sense of “illegal” (similar to “black market” or something being in a “grey area”). Given the international reputation of Japanese work life, you can imagine that “black company” as a term sees much more use.

There’s been some discussion about maybe replacing it due to the racial implications (especially since it uses the English word “black”), but while typically English translations drop the color for that reason (e.g. ブラック企業大賞, an “award” given to Japan’s worst employer each year, is officially “Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award” in English), it hasn’t really penetrated to the mainstream at this point.

The rice there is in a 飯盒 hangou, a metal container that looks… like that, and is the stereotypical item of choice for cooking rice while camping. It has its origins in the mess kits used by the military, but these days they’re primarily marketed as portable rice cookers for camping use. 

You can get round ones too, but the bean shape is very popular.

“Settings” here is 設定 settei, lit. exactly that, “setting(s).” E.g. if you open a computer program and look at the settings menu, it’ll be settei in the Japanese language settings (settei). 

I bring it up here because there’s a bit of a difference in how it gets used colloquially like this. In English, the “setting” for a story typically refers to where and when it’s set. In Japanese, “setting” in that sense is usually 舞台 butai. But settei is still used when talking about fiction, just in a different, more expansive way.

Often in these cases settei is used to refer to the various conceits that provide the context in which the story takes place. In this show, for example, one such “setting” is that dragons are real: another is that magic exists. It comes up especially often in fantasy/sci-fi type stuff where there are major distinctions between that universe and the real world—not that stories in a real-world setting don’t have settei of their own, but they often are lumped into descriptions of the plot in that case (”a dragon comes to live with an office worker in her apartment”).

It also refers to the “settings” of characters, like name or age, and things like “they run a bakery that’s going out of business and are trying to save it.” Basically all the details you’d have in a character profile.

It also gets used in conversation to refer to pretend things or (basically) lies: like here, where Saikawa thinks Shouta is playing pretend with his ley-lines talk, or e.g. if someone is trying to tell you some outlandish story (“my uncle works at Nintendo…” or someone asking for love life advice for “their friend”) and you’re just like “Okay so that’s the settei here, I see.”

Not really a big deal, but Elma’s line here in Japanese implies she won’t let Tohru call her that anymore (see her もう mou). Tohru’s response is also more of a “I haven’t been?”, since of course she wasn’t aware of Elma’s-mental-image-Tohru tormenting Elma in the previous scene:

The word for “full of” in the title here is ざんまい zanmai (a suffix form of 三昧 sanmai), usually meaning that there’s a whole lot of [whatever] to immerse oneself in. I mostly bring it up because there’s a famous restaurant chain called Sushi Zanmai that specializes in, obviously, sushi.

And you know, Elma is a water dragon that looks kinda like an eel… I’m just sayin’…

Not really a translation note, but wild that Elma didn’t even touch her parfait. (Not so wild that Fafnir finished his so quickly.) Serious business ahead...

“Genuinely” here is 素直に sunao ni, where the “ni” is used like “-ly” to make sunao work as an adverb. Sunao itself is an interesting word that falls into that category of “simple concept that is often hellish to translate.”

For some context, the first character, 素, is also used in the word 素顔 sugao, which is a face without makeup and 素材 sozai, basically raw ingredients/materials. The second, 直, is used in words like 直線 chokusen, a straight line, or 正直 shoujiki, honest.

Put them together, and you’ve got a word with connotations of directness and being unadorned. The original definition of the word tends toward “simple, natural” in the sense of e.g. life growing up on a rural farm. 

The more common use for it these days is to describe people and their actions. Positively, it can mean something similar to a person being happy to help, or kind of like the opposite of conniving; open, frank, genuine. Less positively, it can mean someone is too trusting and easy to trick into doing things OR someone who is “too honest” and says hurtful things. 

(If it helps: tsundere characters are often described as explicitly not sunao.)

In this case, the idea is that Tohru accepted the invitation easily as-is, without putting any conditions on it, or doing any “ugh, what a pain, do I have to, jeez” rigamarole—she just accepted. Another way you could put it in this case might be “It’s even more unusual for Tohru to accept an invitation like this without a fuss.”

Just to point out the hand on head thing again.

Also just to point out that this is another example of otsukare, as a reminder of how ubiquitous that word is.

And it makes a good place to end on: thanks for reading!

[tommybaholland]

Hello! I was wondering if you could write a angst oneshot about the whole Izuku leaving UA incident and how his s/o would take it seeing that letter right after the war ark, and maybe their reaction if he came back?

If you've done this already please just ignore this! (ˊ˘ˋ*)

where are you, deku?

featuring: midoriya

recent manga chapter spoilers in this one! i have to admit that i haven’t been the biggest fan of the current arc thus far but this is one reason why i write. so i included some stuff that i feel were missed opportunities. also, if you read the manga, i’d love to hear any predictions you might have. enjoy! x

sitting in a hospital was never fun. it’s already bad if you’re there to be treated but sitting there, waiting for someone to wake up, not knowing that they will? you’d rather be admitted.

you didn’t know how he would recover from this. there’s no way his body could handle everything that he pushed through to stop the evil from winning. was there even a winner in this war? you’re not even sure how or why it started. there were so many things happening, so many twists and turns and surprises that everyone who survived physically wouldn’t have much luck mentally. 

no matter how you spin it, there was no silver lining. and you were not the only one plagued by the lasting effect. 

todoroki’s supposedly dead brother is alive and a mass murder, mirio has his powers again but doesn’t know that tamaki might be dead, midnight’s death was confirmed days ago and no one could just forget about it..

and it had been three days, but deku had not awoken from his unconscious state. 

you were adamant about being the first one he saw when he woke up. he’d say that you’re stubborn but that was one thing you had in common. it was odd for him to stay unconscious for this long when he had always been the epitome of persistence. 

the sound of all might entering the room jerked you awake from what was probably the tenth time you had dozed off. 

“y/n,” he addressed. “you have done a great job keeping midoriya company but i think it’s time for you to get some rest. todoroki and bakugo have awoken, why don’t you go check on them with your other classmates?”

you didn’t even look over to him, not wanting to see the pitiful expression on his face. 

“why isn’t he waking up, all might? he doesn’t even look like he’s in pain,” you observed, looking down at your unconscious partner. 

“that must be a good thing, though, right?” the former hero replied. 

“yes but,” you paused, unsure of how to say it. “it’s odd. he’s not in a coma-induced state, he just looks like he’s taking a nap.” 

all might knew that midoriya and bakugo had kept the secret of ofa between them. now might be a good time to tell everyone, or at least everyone who should know, what was going to happen to him. midoriya was not unconscious nor asleep but was in a similar state, one that allowed him to talk to the previous holders of one for all. 

until he finishes his conversation with them, an explanation would have to wait.

“you have observed well, y/n. i can assure you that he is not in any pain and will wake up eventually. he’ll want to tell you everything when he does. until then, please go tell the other students what you know for now.”

“what if he wakes up?” you questioned, continuing to face deku with your hands over one of his casted arms.

“i’ll have someone send for you but i’m sure you’ll be around when he finally wakes,” all might reassured. 

you nodded, too tired to protest at this point. you stood from your seat before leaning down to press a parting kiss to his freckled cheek. his skin was warm which prompted a tear you didn’t know was there to fall down your cheek. he was alive but you wanted him to be okay. 

you wiped the tear from your face and sniffled before turning around to finally face all might. he patted your shoulder as you walked by, quickly leaving the room. you decided that you would do as you were told and to go check on your other classmates. however, you didn’t get very far when you ran into bakugo who was storming down the hallway while resisting the restraint of sato and mineta.

“Y/N! WHERE IS HE?”

It almost made you smile to see that bakugo was still his belligerent self, despite being seriously injured. however, that doesn’t mean he should be walking around so soon. you stood in front of the door to deku’s room, prohibiting him from entering. once he finally reached you, he tried to push past you with his hands on your shoulders. 

“you better move out of the way or start talking before i kill both you AND HIM,” he threatened when you wouldn’t move. 

“he’s still unconscious,” you replied solemnly. “but all might’s certain that he will wake up.”

bakugo’s demeanor changed as he observed the melancholy expression on your face. he wasn’t an idiot but you were. it was the least he could do.

“well, i agree with him. of course he’s going to wake up, you idiot.”

you looked up at him, waiting for elaboration from his sudden confidence.

“tch. i thought you loved him or whatever. somehow your annoying ass decided to put up with his dumbass so you of all people would know that he wouldn’t just quit. and if he does, i’ll make sure he’s really dead.”

-

once almost everyone was discharged from the hospital, you were instructed to return to UA. you were told that you would receive updates and further instructions the next morning. however, sleep was far from what you would receive. despite the exhaustion, you were restless beyond belief which made you delirious and you couldn’t tell if the shuffling outside your room was real or not. 

you woke up early, just when the sun was beginning to rise. you decided to get up as there was no point in trying to fall back asleep. you didn’t get even a step outside your room after stepping on a folded piece of paper that had been shoved under the door, waiting for you. 

it was a letter from him. 

it turns out that seemingly everyone got a letter from him. all of them varied in contents but they all conveyed the same message:

he had left the hero course. 

they also explained his power and how it passed down from all might which is the reason why the league of villains and all for one were after him. yours, however, included a little extra message written at the end. 

i love you, y/n. please don’t come looking for me. 

he had probably blamed himself for all the strife he had caused with the war but you thought it was dumb for him to leave. how did he think he was going to do this on his own? there was obviously more to this story than he provided but given that he told everyone in the class, he had to keep it simple. 

it was all making sense to you, shedding some light as to why all might was so sure of deku’s recovery. however, you didn’t get to see him when he woke up like you were told. he played it safe in writing these letters because he knew that you and others in the class would only try to stop him if he left. everyone was asking you about what you knew and you couldn’t tell them squat. you tried calling and texting him but he wouldn’t answer.

it was an odd feeling. you didn’t know whether you should be mad or not. if you couldn’t see your boyfriend yourself, you had to talk to all might. however, mr. aizawa was the only thing standing, or rather now sitting, in your way. 

“by now, you all know that your classmate, midoriya, has left the hero course. this does not mean that the rest of you should follow in his footsteps.”

even though he didn’t tower over everyone anymore from his wheelchair, he was still equally as intimidating. 

“now, UA has agreed to use its campus as an evacuation shelter. your families have already begun the moving process. classes will resume as normal but no one will be allowed to leave the campus under any circumstances. we’ve put a pause on all work study-related activities outside of the school until we know that there are no more possible threats, at least, for now. any questions can be directed to me.”

“will all might be returning?” you asked.

“all might will be taking leave from teaching for now,” answered mr. aizawa. “as i said, you can direct your questions to me.”

“right, sir, but i have questions for him about dek-- i mean, midoriya.” 

“well, you’ll have to wait until he finds an opportunity to return then.” 

“when will that be?”

“whenever he finds an opportunity, y/n. any other questions?”

it seemed like you were at a loss until you remembered something from when you were in the hospital with deku. bakugo’s behavior when you told him what all might said changed rather abruptly and you don’t think it’s because all might is his favorite pro hero. although they grew up together, deku and bakugo were anything but close. however, bakugo’s affirmation that he would recover felt odd and like he knew something that made him sure of it. 

this led you to pursue him as your next lead. 

you found him later in the kitchen making something for himself, as he usually cooked for himself than eating the food sent over by the school. 

“what did you think about his letter?”

“what letter? i didn’t get anything from that damn nerd.”

that was surprising but that logic further pushed the idea that he knew something and therefore didn’t need a letter to explain it to him. 

“so you don’t know anything about this?” you asked as you pulled out the folded-up paper that was left at your door that morning. 

bakugo snatched the paper out of your hand and scanned over its contents quickly. his brows raised by the time he reached the end before he grimaced again. 

“that idiot,” he muttered under his breath. 

“so you didn’t know about it?”

“this is almost the same as what everyone else got,” he observed, ignoring your question. 

“okay. but did you know about it?” you asked again.

“of course i did, you dumbass! so are you gonna ask me a billion questions now that his cowardly ass isn’t here to explain it to you like he should’ve?”

“so there is more to it.”

“he gave you the gist of it. that’s really all you need to know.”

“but what do shigaraki and all for one have to do with this?”

“can’t you read? the letter literally explained that.” 

“like you said, it was really only the gist of it.”

“well, you were right in wanting to talk to all might but i guess you’ll have to wait.”

“no. if you know something, i need to hear about it. also, why do you get to know about all this?”

“because that moron originally told me about it back when we started school here. i didn’t take it seriously at the time until he started getting stronger. right after we moved to the dorms, he and all might told me everything,” he explained.

“i need you to tell me what happened then because he and all might aren’t here right now.”

“look, it’s really not my job to tell you! this really belongs between the two of them. dumb deku just promised that he would be strong enough to try to beat me.”

“at least tell me why he felt he had to leave when we could’ve helped him! i know he likes to act like a selfless idiot but i don’t know if he can do this by himself.”

bakugo sighed. “this is his fight and his fight alone. like icyhot said back at the sports festival, he has all might in his corner. that’s all the help he’s gonna need.”

you nodded in agreement.

“plus, that dumb power of his involves more than what you’ve seen of it,” he added cryptically.

“what does that mean?”

“did you even read the letter? it said that the power was passed down from all might to him, moron.”

 “again, that doesn’t really mean much to me,” you pressed.

“tch. yeah. you probably only paid attention to that gross end part. that stupid nerd,” he muttered. 

“what was that?”

“look, i’m done talking with you. either talk to all might or use your damn head.” 

that wasn’t a complete waste of time but it certainly was a lost cause. despite his arrogance, everything bakugo said was true. he’s not someone who goes around lying about things so you felt that you could trust him when he said that deku would be in good hands with all might. 

you left the kitchen somewhat satisfied but it still bothered you that you didn’t know everything completely. you wondered if there was anyone else who knew about it but the chances were slim, given that bakugo also stated that it was between deku and all might. 

while heading back up to your room, you ran into todoroki. you hadn’t talked to him much since the war. out of anyone, he was probably going through it more than anyone. 

“hey, todoroki. how are you holding up?” you asked, grinning softly. 

his voice was still recovering but it was a lot better than a few days ago. “hello, y/n. my family’s okay for the most part and my father is finally doing what he should.”

you didn’t want to pry but you knew what he meant. 

“did you get a letter?”

“from midoriya? yes. i’m not especially surprised since he and all might have been close since school began. however, i do find it odd that he suddenly has another power. did you notice it?”

you nodded. “it first happened during the training session with class B, right?”

“yes. were you ever curious about it?”

“he was probably more freaked out about it than anyone else so i didn’t focus too much on it,” you explained.

“i asked him about it and i agree, he did seem apprehensive about it.”

there was a beat of silence then which had you pondering over what bakugo had said.

“apparently there’s more to his power than we think and it has something to do with the passing from one user to another,” you reported.

“i’ve been thinking about that, as well,” todoroki replied. “it’s possible that midoriya’s power is evolving to beyond what all might could do with it. it would make sense, given quirk singularity.” 

his theory seemed reliable since he would know about something like singularity. 

“thank you for sharing that with me, todoroki. it think it’s quite possible that you’re right. i’m going to try to talk to all might if you want to confirm it,” you offered.

“thank you, y/n, but i believe the answer will be more clear later on. there’s something i have to focus on for myself right now. i hope you find out more soon.”

you thanked him, wished him well, and made the rest of the way to your room. now, you really couldn’t imagine what todoroki was going through. if anything, he had just as much weight on his shoulders as deku right now. 

then again, you still needed answers as to exactly what he was doing.

later that night, bakugo sat on his bed looking down at a piece of paper. it had four simple words on it. words that both excited and annoyed him immensely. 

i’m catching up, kacchan. 

-

months passed and you hadn’t heard from deku. well, you had but not in the way you wanted. you finally got in touch with all might, who showed up to UA in person. apparently, mr. aizawa had passed down the message that you were wanting to talk but you don’t know how long ago that had been. you appreciated his effort but at this point, it was your boyfriend who you needed to see now. you didn’t want to displace your anger onto him but he could see that distress that you are in. 

“i’m sorry that he couldn’t come himself,” all might apologized.

you sighed. “it’s alright. it seems like he has better things to do now.”

“he just needs to work on yielding one for all,” all might elaborated. 

“is that what it’s called? one for all?”

“he didn’t tell you about it? i thought he wrote everyone in the class a letter?” 

“he did but he didn’t go into too much detail which is why i wanted to talk to you,” you explained, your tone rather aloof. 

“right. of course,” all might replied before clearing his throat to fill in the missing pieces.

it turns out that todoroki’s theory was on the track in that one for all had reached the singularity point and the quirks from its predecessors were beginning to manifest. 

“the fact that he was completely quirkless before one for all makes the singularity point easier for him to transition to and use the other six quirks.”

that was news to you. “he was quirkless?”

“yes.”

it was all making sense now. everything that seemed off about him and his power was because he never had one in the first place. you also could now understand why bakugo was the most hostile with him when it came to training and deku’s improvement with his power. and this was why bakugo was dead set on deku coming out of this alive. 

however, you couldn’t help but feel naive. you felt like you should’ve listened to your intuition more when things weren’t adding up and he was landing himself back in the hospital with broken arms time after time. but you ended up falling in love with him and it wasn’t because of his power. in the same vein, you weren’t about to hate him for it either, like bakugo or even todoroki at the beginning of the school year. he had worked hard to where he is now and the truth was that he had always been that way, quirk or not. 

but how come he felt the need to hide it all, especially from you? bakugo had only recently been clued in about all of it so why not you as well?

“i made him not say anything to anyone, especially since i had started teaching at the school,” all might explained, continuing to be incredibly perceptive. “and bakugo was only roped in because he was catching on to it.”

“yeah. he told me that deku originally told him a while ago,” you recalled. “so what is he going to do about shigaraki and all for one?”

“we’re not entirely sure yet. right now he’s mostly acting as bait to try to lure out the league of villains while taking care of any stray villains from the prison breaks.” 

“so what you’re saying is you don’t have a plan?” you questioned.

“we’re considering all of our options, y/n.”

“who?”

“deku, myself, endeavor, and hawks. best jeanist has also been helping with recon,” he elaborated. 

of course, he’d have the top three heroes and all might on his side. not to mention all the vestiges talking to him in his head. what about the rest of the class though? surely he was going to need more than that. hero society is hanging by a thread that could snap at any moment if the villains strike again first. 

“why didn’t you let me see him after he woke up?” you asked, changing the subject. 

“we wanted him to stay at UA, as that’s where he’d be most protected. unfortunately, every decision has been his own,” he answered.

that was what you were afraid of. 

since that conversation, the city had been partially recovered, villains were being captured, and there weren’t any threats as of yet from the league. UA fully reinstated work study programs and students were allowed out under heavy supervision. 

todoroki kept coming back from his father’s agency with letters from deku to give to you. you read them, of course, but hadn’t replied to a single one. talking to all might was helpful, it really was, but you couldn’t help this nagging feeling inside you. his letters didn’t help much either. of course, you were happy to hear from him and it did give you that tingling feeling of love that you hadn’t felt in months. 

the letters mostly detailed what he was doing and provided updates on his progress since you had talked to all might. however, if he was freely moving about the city, you didn’t understand why he couldn’t just come talk to you. all might had said that all the decisions made were his own and he was doing it in the best interest of you, the school, and his family. the thought of deku saying that he didn’t want to see anyone else get hurt made you shake your head. he’s very persistent and strong-willed but he too often doesn’t accept the help nor listen to the warnings of others, yourself included. 

you missed him but you were also resentful towards him and you hated feeling that way. you wanted to be supportive rather than selfish but it was hard when he could be too self-sacrificing. it’s not that you didn’t have faith in him. you just wanted to prepare for the worst. 

-

“hey, idiot.” 

“what is it, bakugo?”

bakugo and todoroki approached you one day after they came back from their work study. 

“we’re trying to tell you something important so don’t cop an attitude right now,” he glared.

you gave him an unamused look, unfazed by the irony. “so did you need something?”

todoroki spoke up next. “yes. my father would like to recruit you for work study. you don’t currently have one, right?” 

“no. i don’t,” you replied honestly. “why does endeavor want me all of the sudden?” 

“because midoriya—“

“shut up, you half and half moron!” bakugo interrupted. “look, we need help and thought you would want to be included.”

“okay. but why me?” 

“you’re such a dumbass. just come with us!” 

and now you were here at the endeavor agency in your hero costume with an uneasy feeling. maybe it was because you were standing right in front of the number one himself.

“hello, y/n.” 

it was true that he didn’t have any other expression other than a scowl. lately, that scowl seemed worn down and honestly, you couldn’t blame him. 

“bakugo and shoto have told me about you. of course, i first heard about you from deku.” 

your ears perked up at his hero name. you hadn’t heard it in months. 

“since he has left the hero course, we needed another student apprentice at the agency. the reason why we didn’t contact you sooner was that we were overconfident in thinking that we didn’t need another and for that, i personally apologize.”

endeavor bowing to you was a sight you thought you’d see only in your dreams. 

“so what is this really about then?” 

“the league of villains is on the move and he needs some help.” 

you didn’t have time to even think of a response before the familiar mess of green hair came into view. that was really the only familiar thing about him against his dirty and tattered hero costume. not to mention all the upgrades that you had never seen before. 

“hey, y/n,” he greeted with a soft grin.

you felt like your heart had stopped for a solid three seconds. 

“deku…” you breathed out finally. you let the tears well up in your eyes. you didn’t want him to see you cry. you felt a rush of adrenaline pull you towards him and tackle him to the ground. 

from the view, it looked like you were happy to see him. you were anything but thrilled. 

“why— how— w- what are you doing here?” you questioned, leaning over him on the ground. you face felt hot with rage but you couldn’t stop it. the more you tried to suppress your emotions, the more intense they felt. 

“well, i wanted to see you!” he answered, trying to lighten the mood. 

“you wanted to SEE ME!? what about the previous eight months, huh? or when you woke up? you didn’t want to see me then either?”

“y/n, please i didn’t intend to abandon anyone. i only wanted to protect—“

“everyone, right?” you interrupted him. “what about the rest of us? we want to be heroes too! we’ve fought countless battles and went through a whole war with you! when are you going to get it through your dumb head that we want to help you?”

“heh. they sound like me now,” bakugo quietly commented as he and todoroki watched this whole scene. 

“i wouldn’t get excited about that,” replied todoroki.

“i’m sorry if i’m being selfish but this isn’t fair, deku,” you cried, your tears dripping onto his face. 

if he thought about it, deku had improved immensely in the last several months, most likely at a quicker rate than he had at UA. however, that was because there wasn’t as much restraint on the usage of his powers. he got to fight high-level villains without a lot of supervision. he was essentially a vigilante and the top three of the hero society were allowing him to do it. 

“i’m sorry for leaving, y/n,” he began, sitting up as you leaned up off of him to wipe your tears. 

“i wasn’t thinking about everyone’s feelings but i felt that it wasn’t anyone’s decision. you guys would have stopped me no matter what.”

you didn’t make eye contact with him until his next sentence. 

“but that doesn’t mean i should be treated as a special case. you’re right, i shouldn’t waste all the energy and effort everyone has put into to stop something that i’m mostly responsible for. even though i’ve been figuring things out on my own lately,  i have no idea how i’m going to stop all for one or save shigaraki.” 

you suddenly felt stupid as he looked down solemnly. you were stupid for overreacting. at the end of the day, this was his fight. no one else could do this but him. however, hearing that he needed help was what you needed to hear. 

your boyfriend needed help.

“hey,” you called softly, placing a hand over his cheek. he looked up as you with glossy green eyes. 

“you don’t have to do this all by yourself. you have so many friends and heroes wanting to help you. i know you don’t want to lose anyone but i think everyone involved knows the risks.”

you looked back to bakugo and todoroki for reassurance. todoroki nodded in agreement while bakugo simply, “tch. whatever.”

“you’ve got me, too. you’re never gonna lose me, deku. and i won’t let you lose either. i love you too much even if you can be really dumb sometimes.”

“i love you too, babe,” he reciprocated, his face getting closer to yours. “i did really miss you.”

“i know, baby.”

you completed the reconciliation with a sweet kiss, one that made bakugo roll his eyes.

“can you idiots stop wasting my time already?!”

“i agree,” endeavor spoke up. “we should start telling them what we know.”

“right! sorry, sir!” your boyfriend squeaked before scrambling to get you both off the floor. you stifled a laugh. he’s probably seen some stuff over the last few months but his cute, spastic self didn’t change much. 

“let’s get y/n acclimated to the agency first and then we’ll go over everything,” endeavor suggested. 

“oh my gosh, y/n! i can’t wait to show you how huge this place is! c’mon,” deku exclaimed, grabbing your hand and pulling you around the office.

he didn’t want to let go once but if you wanted to because your hands were sweaty, he’d simply reach for it again. his thumb ran over the back of yours when you were just standing next to each other, giving it an occasional squeeze. even when it was his turn to talk, he didn’t release.

“okay so here’s what i’ve done recently and the information i’ve gathered from those encounters..”

you didn’t know what the end result would be and he was none the wiser. he knows how he wants it to end and now he has people he can count on for that.

heyy bnha night! let’s hear about more of your favs..

[twolonesomestars]

BJYX III

Japan Trip

This is a compilation post explaining the Japan trip and related theories (along with my own thoughts). Most of the theories in here are well-known. If you know the general gist of the Japan trip, you probably won’t see anything new.

Warning: This is all fake. Don’t take what I say to heart. These are just my random thoughts.

Extremely long post. Please beware.

-

All my explanations and thoughts will be bracketed and italicized: [like this]. If you would like to just read about the theories, ignore the bracketed and italicized bits.

I suggest reading all of the theories first and creating your own opinion on the trip before reading my commentary, especially if you’re a new fan. (AKA ignore the bracketed & italicized parts for now).

[One last thing before I start (and a test for those who want to read the theories first… ignore this for now): I believe this Japan trip changed their relationship… In that, I believe they began their romantic relationship after this trip. A quick timeline mention: truthfully, their relationship before and during CQL filming isn’t too important for this theory. However, I do believe that there was some sort of confession from WYB at the end of filming, which may have played a role in XZ’s decision to take the trip to Japan. I’ll provide my reasoning later in the post. All my explanations and thoughts are going to be based on these particular assumptions; although, I will try to include rebuttals & explanations based on countering arguments.]

-

OUTLINE

DATES

PRE-JAPAN TRIP

Character Bleed Changed Phone Number

MID-JAPAN TRIP

XZ’s 180911 Post + Story

POST-JAPAN TRIP

XZ’s 180913 Post & Story XZ’s 181119 Post WYB’s 181119 Post Time Gap WYB’s 190322 Post

FINAL THOUGHTS

-

Let’s get into it!

-

DATES:

180416 - 180823 Filming for CQL

180908 - 180912 XZ’s Japan trip

180913 - XZ posted his 521st Weibo post & 18th Weibo story

181005 - XZ’s Birthday

181119 @ 17:42 - XZ’s Japan trip post

181119 @ 18:47 - WYB’s response post

190322 - WYB’s Rome trip post

-

PRE-JAPAN TRIP:

Character Bleed

XZ’s reasoning behind his Japan trip in this interview @ 9:31

XZ explicitly says, “I told myself I had to walk out of it.” His reasoning being, “[I had to] leave him there. [I had to] return him to the one he loves.”

You can unpack a lot from that. I got two main things from it:

(“I had to walk out of it”): you can assume that XZ took everything from WWX and made it his own, including, and specifically, WWX’s love for LWJ. Essentially, by the end of filming, XZ himself was in love with LWJ.

(“return him to the one he loves”): XZ separates himself very clearly from WWX. He points out his reasoning to walk it off is him wanting to return WWX to the one he loves… the implication is that he figured out he doesn’t love the one WWX loves.

[The reason I think there was some sort of confession at the end of filming that pushed XZ to take this trip and figure himself out is because he already knew he loved LWJ. I think he may have attributed any romantic feelings he felt towards WYB to the fact that he plays the character he loves. So, if WYB confessed to wanting to pursue a romantic relationship with him, it makes sense that XZ would hesitate. I doubt he’d want to lead WYB on just to later realize all of his feelings were for LWJ and not him. I’m sure XZ would’ve walked off WWX eventually, but I think he did it as quickly as he could to give a certain person (and himself) answers.

Obviously, I don’t know how XZ goes about with his acting, so these are all just random assumptions.]

-

Changed Phone Number

I’ve gotten a few asks wanting me to clarify and give my opinion on the rumor about XZ changing his number and WYB asking around for it. I’ve heard two versions of this:

The first version has two variations:

XZ changed his number sometime after his DDU appearance in 2017 and before CQL began shooting, and WYB was asking the CQL crew for it.

XZ changed his number during CQL filming sometime, and WYB was asking the CQL crew for it.

The second version is that XZ changed his number before he left to Japan and WYB was asking around for it for months (who he was asking was undefined).

A related rumor I want to note: a fan who was at the airport when XZ was waiting for his flight to Japan supposedly saw him not answering his phone.

Let me clarify the relationship between WeChat & phone numbers:

In WeChat, every registered user gets a WeChat ID. There are three main ways people can add someone: (1) have the person’s WeChat ID (2) have the person’s phone number (3) have access to the person’s QR code. For (1) and (2), the other person must enable the option to be found via WeChat ID or phone number in order for you to find them. You can also choose to not show your phone number at all, so even if someone adds you via (1) or (3), they may still not have access to your number depending on your settings. To sum it up, you do NOT need to know another person’s phone number to message them on WeChat. Practically everyone in China uses WeChat as their main social messaging application… you can send messages (text & voice) and you can call (voice-only & video). People don’t use their actual given numbers to message or call too much (ex. iPhone messaging/ Facetime); phone numbers are typically used when making accounts on various social media apps, online payment, etc.

There’s a pretty well-backed up theory that WYB asked one of his DDU co-hosts (specifically DZW) if he could get XZ’s WeChat ID for him during/ after filming the episode with XNINE. If this theory is true, we can only be sure that he got XZ’s WeChat ID, not that he got his phone number.

If you do want to change your number or WeChat ID (prior to 2020, you could only change your WeChat ID once per account), you can simply go into the WeChat settings and update; this process won’t change your WeChat account and it won’t affect any of your contacts or chat history. If you want to stop receiving messages & calls from someone, you can either block or delete them from your contacts on the app.

I’m pointing all of this out because I’m pretty sure most of XZ’s & WYB’s communication takes place in WeChat. WYB has said in several interviews that he now prefers his phone and wifi access; he’s also said that he can’t go without WeChat now.

[I honestly don’t think this rumor is real. But, out of the two versions, I’d say the first version (either variation) makes more sense than the second version.

I have three reasons for thinking the second version is the most unlikely:

It’d be easier to block the other person for however long you need (and then unblock them or delete them depending on your choice later) rather than going through the hassle of changing your number. Remember when WYB’s phone number got leaked and he had to change it (August 2019)? He asked people to not use his number to log into accounts; he even mentioned that he would need to change all of them, which would be a large hassle. Sure, there could be circumstances where you’d want to change your phone number… but I don’t think this situation is that extreme, especially since it was supposedly at the airport before his trip and before he decided.

I don’t think XZ’s the type of person to leave someone hanging, no matter how much internal turmoil he may be dealing with, and especially not when that someone is close to him. I believe he’d at least inform others that he’ll be out of range and to not message or call him. Not to mention, if he told WYB to not contact him for the next couple of days, I’d like to believe WYB would respect that wish, whether he knew the reason or not. Since I do think that WYB confessed prior to the Japan trip, I believe he knew. But, even if he didn’t, he has integrity and self-respect. He’s going to respect others’ wishes, and even more so if he respects the other person… and he does respect XZ.

The theory specifically points out “months” … WYB literally celebrated XZ’s birthday with him about three weeks after this trip.

As for the first version:

Variation #1 implies that this happened at the start of filming/ bootcamp; it also implies that WYB got XZ’s number after he contacted him on WeChat. One assumption I have is: I don’t think celebrities/ people in the industry exchange phone numbers much, just their WeChat IDs. This is why I don’t think XZ & WYB exchanged numbers when they first met, only their WeChat IDs. As for WYB asking the crew for XZ’s number… if he already had XZ’s previous number, I kinda doubt he’d go around asking others when he could just ask XZ himself.

Variation #2 probably makes the most sense out of all three, and even then it’s a bit of a stretch. This variation implies that it’s a few months into filming, at which point XZ & WYB were extremely close. I doubt he’d be too nervous to ask XZ directly for his new number. The only rebuttal I could think of for this is that perhaps WYB asking around instead of asking XZ himself was him being coquettish.

In the end, this rumor doesn’t make too much sense to me. But take it as you will.]

-

MID-JAPAN TRIP:

XZ’s 180911 Post + Story

We know that he kept deleting his Weibo posts before the number could reach *520. (*520 & 521 are both kadian for “I love you” even though 520 is more widely used.)

XZ posted his 520th post on 180911 (right in the middle of his trip). It was an ad for AHC. AHC is the first brand both WYB & XZ shared and spoke for; I believe WYB stopped his spokesperson duties on 180829 & XZ began his on 180907.

XZ posted his 17th story, also on 180911, of him on a ferry during the trip.

[I burst out laughing when I realized he posted an ad for his 520th post. He kept deleting posts to make sure he stayed away from #520; he could’ve easily deleted another post to make the ad his 519th. A lot of solo fans were looking forward to his 520th post being dedicated to them (exhibit 1), and then he did that. Sly as per usual. And the 17th story... leading up to the 18th. I think XZ pretty much knew/ made his choice/ accepted his feelings by this point, which is why he posted like this.]

-

POST-JAPAN TRIP:

XZ’s 180913 Post & Story

XZ posted this video on Weibo on 180913. It was his *521th post & *18th story. (*52118 = “wo ai ni yi bo” A BXG posted about counting XZ’s posts to find these numbers.)

His caption was:

以为在拍照的找🤣... (夏天的风结束了，假期也结束了🌿🌿🎋)

which roughly translates to:

“I thought I was posing for a photo🤣... (The summer wind is over, the holiday is also over 🌿🌿🎋)”

There are several theories about the caption.

the emojis:

The bamboo emoji refers to WYB. In this behind the scenes footage, XZ compares WYB’s face to a bamboo stick.

the words:

XZ is referring to the season ending and the weather in the video where the wind is blowing across his face.

When XZ states that both the summer wind and his holiday are over, he is implying that he has left the character he became that summer (WWX) behind and moving forward.

XZ is referring to the song Summer Wind (夏天的风) by Liu Rui Qi (刘瑞琦). I’m not going to go too deep into this; the lyrics in question are:

夏天的风 我永远记得 清清楚楚地说你爱我 我看见你酷酷的笑容 也有腼腆的时候

roughly translates to

The summer wind, I will always remember [you] saying clearly that you love me. I saw your cool smile [yet] there are times when you are shy.

Interpretations are: (line 1) “summer wind” & “always remember” - XZ is reminiscing on the things that have happened that summer when CQL was filmed. (line 2) “saying clearly… you love me” - a confession from a certain someone… we know of one on camera: “zhan-ge didi ai ni.” (lines 3-4) “cool smile” & “shy” - these adjectives fit a person we know.

[I didn't find out about half of these caption theories until way later, and once I had already formed my opinion on this trip. A lot of it seems like a stretch, but all the theories make some sort of sense. Meh, there’s a lot you can do with a caption, so just take it all in.

Personally, I didn’t pay attention to the caption too much. I knew about the lyrics, but I purposely avoided them precisely because they were lyrics; you can do a lot with them. I finally explored it for this post, and I actually like it a lot; it’s very sweet. I’m still leaning towards the reference being unlikely; however, XZ is very sneaky, so I wouldn’t put it past him. I also knew about the bamboo reference, but I never gave it much thought. I didn’t think that one scene of them joking around was enough to say that he used the emoji to refer to WYB. Though, if it was actually a reference, there’s definitely more to it that we don’t know about. Ultimately, for this one, my decision was based on the basics: the kadian (and later reinforced by the whole AHC ad post).]

-

XZ’s 181119 Post @ 17:42

A major theory for this post comes from his caption:

“一些存货... 现代人即将拥有姓名 [’silent giggling’ emoji]... ”

roughly translates to

“some stock [photos]... modern man will soon be named...”

The main focus here is the “modern man.”

Once the behind the scenes footage and interviews began releasing, BXG started noticing how WYB got whenever XZ mentioned LWJ. His facial expressions always changed… immediate frowns. BXG speculated that WYB was trying to show himself as separate from his character, but XZ didn’t take notice. The character LWJ is figuratively and literally from the past; the actor on the other hand is from modern society. Thus, XZ mentioning modern man was taken to be a reference to XZ’s love for the actor alone, not the character.

[To those who have sent asks about the “modern man” quote, I hope this clears it up. My interpretation of it is the same. At the end of the day, XZ most definitely separated the two.]

Another theory for this one is that the horizontal middle row pictures spell out “王一博” going from left to right.

王 (“wáng”)

The lines on the building look like the character

He could’ve meant “look towards,” which is what he’s doing in the picture. It is a different character (“望”), and has a slightly different pronunciation (“wàng”)

He could’ve meant “going in one direction,” referring to the arrow on the sign, which is a different character (“往”), and has a slightly different pronunciation (“wǎng”)

一 (yī)

The image looks like the character

博 (bó)

Another meaning for “博” is “extensive” or “rich” which you can take the design on the outside of the to be

The building is a museum, whose word (“博物馆”) begins with “博”

[For the spelling, my interpretations were all of the #1s. (I’ll explain a little bit more when we get to WYB’s 190322 post.)]

One last theory about this post: BXG then witnessed XZ editing his post in real time to change the position of the first two pictures. There’s a theory that he saw this post (below) from the previous day and changed the positions to match.

OP talking about the switch here and below.

[I was so enamored by this theory until I actually went looking for it. The post of WYB’s pictures is from a fan, and while I don’t doubt that they saw more of fans’ posts back then, this one wasn’t tagged or anything. It could easily have been XZ’s artist side popping up. But, maybe XZ was lurking on his private account. Even though it’s one of the more iffy ones, it’s such a cute theory that I actually don’t mind believing it.]

This is a side note and not part of the actual theory: On my search for all things related to this trip, I noticed one of WYB’s posts where he did a similar thing.

This was in June 2018, so before XZ’s post. Mayhaps inspiration.

-

WYB’s 181119 Post @ 18:47

WYB posted exactly *1:05 hours after XZ posted. (*105 = 10/5, XZ’s birthday)

His caption was “冒个泡”

He was using internet slang; it can be vaguely translated to “I am here.” In context, he’s using the slang to refer to him not posting for a long time; he’s ‘showing his presence.’

Notable Things:

He posted the day prior on 181118; it wasn’t an ad, but it wasn’t exactly personal either.

He posted a picture of himself with his DDU brothers during a trip on 181104.

He had not posted a selfie since 181004. (Back then, he updated personal posts once or twice a week, whether it was a selfie or something about his life, such as what show he was watching. The month & a half time gap between personal posts would’ve been unusual.)

The caption & selfie work as a response to XZ’s “modern man will soon be named.”

Another thing fans were intrigued about was the time stamp on the photo, 180525.

WYB never really posts throwbacks, especially with selfies, yet he did one here to a date in the middle of CQL filming. He also usually never adds the date to his photos.

Isn’t it interesting that he captions the post with slang that tells people he’s back from a break, but uses an old photo instead of a new one? If someone’s announcing that they’re coming back from a break (especially a celebrity), wouldn’t it make more sense to post a recent photo rather than an old one (in this case, one from 6 months ago)? And, why even bother including the date in the first place?

[I can’t believe I barely noticed that WYB posted 1:05 hours after XZ. What in the world WYB? I’m losing my mind. It’s down to the damn minute, and their minutes weren’t a “0” or “5” multiple either. I usually try to pass off a lot of things regarding YiZhan (especially kadian) as coincidences, but what even is this? If it wasn’t intentional… What kind of connection do these two share?

Yes, I do think this was WYB’s response. The throwback picture was probably the most telling for me; him including the date he took the photo was like a flashing sign saying: ‘hey look at this date. it’s important.’ And when you add the caption into the mix, it’s taken to another level. I feel the combination of hints in and related to the post is too much and too telling to be coincidental.]

-

Time Gap

There’s an interesting time gap between the two XZ’s posts (180913 & 181119). There are a few theories about what could’ve happened in those two months. Some of the ones I’ve seen and heard are:

XZ & WYB could’ve been taking that time to tell their parents and settle things with their agencies

XZ & WYB could’ve begun dating exclusively after XZ’s return

Both of these theories imply that everything got settled or made official around 181119.

[I never really thought about the time gap between the posts… mostly because I kept forgetting there even was one. They’re both ridiculously romantic so I don’t doubt that 181119 is something of importance to them. I think it’s especially proving that both of them did a throwback to the same seemingly important time period.]

-

WYB’s 190322 Post

This post is pretty similar to XZ’s 181119 throwback post to the Japan trip. The theory for this one is that WYB spelled out “肖战” using the vertical middle row, going from top to bottom.

肖 - The tree looks like the top part of the “肖” character; the branches look like the bottom part of it.

战 - Since WYB placed an image of the entire Roman colosseum (where gladiator battles took place) in the last spot, he may have been alluding to how “战” means “battle” or “fight” (similar to how XZ may have been alluding to the meaning of “博” instead of getting a picture of the character).

WYB filmed the DDU episode on 3/22; I don’t believe there’s another significance to the date.

[WYB spelling out the “肖” using the first two pictures backs up my thinking that XZ spelled out the “王” and “一” characters in his first two pictures. This also leads me to think that both of them alluded to each other’s last character rather than spelling it out in their third pictures.]

-

FINAL THOUGHTS:

[The reason I like this overall theory a lot is because I think the happenings really fit with the things they’ve told us in interviews and suit their personalities. It makes sense to me that XZ would want to take some time to think about it; it makes sense to me that WYB was probably the one who took the first step.

As for the theories about the details… some of them are really out there, but all of them are fun to consider. As usual, take everything with a grain of salt.]

Some of these posts & events have several theories (i.e. XZ’s summer wind caption); they aren’t mutually exclusive… more than one can be true at the same time.

I tried to be as neutral as I could when explaining these theories. I tried to include counters and other possibilities, but I’m sure some bias came out. Just take it all in and take it for what it is.

My intention with this post was to put everything into perspective and give a good timeline. (As well as get everything in one place.) If you’re interested in my thoughts, feel free to go back and read the italicized & bracketed parts (if you hadn’t already).

-

The following is something I want to say about these theories and the BXG community in general:

Every theory has inconsistencies and exaggerations… that’s what makes it a theory. As long as we discuss things knowing this fact, that’s all that matters. We’re here to have fun, not to prove what’s right or wrong.

I love seeing the various theories everyone in this community puts out, no matter how different or similar they are to the ones I like/ believe in. It’s fun to look into these things with different perspectives. Don’t feel burdened if you believe in a less popular theory. Besides, we will never know anything for sure.

Be kind. And, have a good time.

-

Once again, this is all fake. I do not personally know XZ & WYB, and I will never know anything about them; this includes the intricacies of whatever relationship they share. So, CPN.

[jamestrmtx]

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader]

Chapter One | Home

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(Author Note, written in November 2020 and updated on May 2021: For those who've already read the prologue, two changes happened: [1] the story title went from Goodnight, Starlight to Fairytale Complex, and [2] since this's a rewrite of an older work, the main/focus relationship would now be Sans, but there will still be alternate relationships, other main four being Papyrus, Muffet, Grillby, and Napstablook! More info on that can be found on Chapter Sixteen | Dummy! (Part 3 of 3).)

• • •

Your phone lights up and buzzes erratically, waking you up and forcing you to get out of bed when it proves to be too far away for you to reach it. The screen marks an unholy five thirty five in the morning, and you can only wonder over what your aunt wants to discuss with you at such an early hour. There's around two urgent voicemails, eleven text messages, and three missed calls, all from her, so you decide on phoning her back to get things over with.

She answers fast, hardly giving the phone a chance to beep once.

"Turn on the TV right now, honey," your aunt shouts, an indistinguishable emotion between anger and shock displayed in her voice. "Now," she repeats, authority shown in that single word. "And don't forget to call me later. We need to talk." She hangs up after that, leaving you with more questions than you once had.

You raise a brow at the oddity of her call, yet relent with how tired both your mind and body feel. You'd left work at eleven at night, only to arrive home at midnight and fall asleep at one. With barely five hours of rest in your system, you don't exactly feel motivated to watch television, yet that changes when you sit at the edge of your bed, turn it on, and see the first thing there is a breaking news report taking over every cable channel present. No matter which one you switch to, it's there, reporting over the rise of a whole new species of living beings, these capable of human reasoning and conduct, as one of the reporters and even a scientist so claimed based on the little information they've both gathered about the species already. They proceed to display a picture of a large crowd of people gathered near a mountain, these looking straight out of a fantasy novel. They vary greatly, from bipedal, anthropomorphic fish, bears, bunnies, goats, and spiders, to living skeletons, ghosts, and live, humanoid flames. You have to rub sleep away from your eyes and blink a few times to process what's going on, until you see who's standing smack in the middle of them all.

"F- Frisk?!" you shout, breaking the silence of your home and the night.

Almost immediately, you pick up your phone and search for more information on where and when the picture was taken. The sun seemed to be setting in it, and based on when the news had chosen to report on the event, you figure Frisk has to be with that group somewhere around. You access the news channel's main page and see a pinned post asking for information on the child's parents, comment section blocked to prevent a flood in them, along with the share button to keep any second parties from spreading it around more.

>> A goat lady by the name of Toriel has taken Frisk under her temporary care while authorities regain contact with the child's parents. If anyone reading this post happens to know about their location, number, or any other contact information, please do let us know over at private message, so that we may interview them personally. We have searched far and wide for more thorough information on the child, but Child Protective Services have settled upon keeping that information private, while the child refused to tell us anything else after they found out over what penalties their parents would be receiving. They insist that their primary caregiver is a good person, that they do not know about their secondary caregiver's whereabouts, and that they will not allow anything bad to happen to either of them, refusing to so much as give up their last name to us as a result. However, we are still in dire need of said information in order to interview the parents and perform more proper investigations as to why the child disappeared for a period of almost two whole months.

Below the basic gist stands a shorter paragraph and a photo of a different monster, this one a skeleton instead of a goat woman.

>> In addition to the goat lady offering to look after Frisk for the time being, another monster has reached out to us and left his number only specifically for the parents. He states it is necessary they meet and that he would like to offer an explanation as to what happened at the Underground and how Frisk got there. If you are one of the parents, please contact us through private message so that we may provide you with his number and further directions on what to do from there.

You check the time of the post, lock your phone, and set it aside when the news returns from a commercial break, this one much shorter compared to usually. 

"Passerby say it sounded similar to that of a bomb going off, yet there were no signs of destruction and nobody near when they made it to the place where they heard the noise. It's estimated the Barrier broke at late evening, and that the monsters left with Frisk barely an hour after that event, without bothering to inform anyone over the missing child's arrival. Authorities claim they've yet to gain contact with Frisk's secondary caregiver and that they are now on their way to contact their primary one. Given the circumstances and the current hour, Child Protective Services believe it best to visit at noon, as they have already tracked down the parent's location and received further information on the subject through social media. That's all we've managed to cover so far, but remember to stay tuned for more at-"

“(Mom/Dad), I'm home!”

Your eyes shoot open and you almost have to double take when you hear that voice. It's followed by a few persistent knocks on the door, though you still go as far as to check the pulse on your wrist to make sure you're still alive. You turn the television off, hop out of bed, and rush over to the living room, where you're greeted with the sight of Frisk standing by the entrance and looking around, their own set of keys balanced on their finger as they take in their surroundings. They continue to look this way and that, observing the changes you've made to the house since they were gone. 

They meet with your eyes and freeze up, taking a small, precautionary step forward. "I… I missed you," they mutter, voice soft and quiet, a large difference from when they announced they were back home. They fiddle with their hands and face at the floor, casting a guilty look at the worn welcome mat as they say, "I'm sorry for… for disappearing like that. But I promise I-"

Before they can finish speaking, you've already made it to their side. Your arms wrap around them and you bring them in for a strong and lasting embrace, tucking their head against your chest, squeezing them tight, and allowing them to listen to your heart beat. "Oh, sweetheart, forget all that," you reply, stroking their hair and kissing their forehead. "I… I missed you, too." You hold them tight and let some of your worries out through another squeeze. It feels almost bizarre having them in your arms again, but it feels right all the same. Every puzzle seems to fall right into place, and the only thing in your mind right now's their well-being. "H- How are you, by the way?" you ask, breaking the hug apart. "Are you hungry? ...Sleepy? And who brought you here? Did they treat you well?"

"I'm okay," they reply, giggling. "Miss Toriel made me some food before we left, and I'm way too pumped to even think about sleeping!"

"And where is Miss Toriel?"

"She left right after we got here. She said she didn't want to bother you now that I'm back, and that you could meet up with her some other time!"

You hug them yet again, still too stricken to let go of them. "I'm… I'm so glad you're back home, dear," you whisper, holding them close as you mutter more sentences with similar sentiments to the previous one. You still can't shake off your shock nor can you believe this is real. The rational part of your brain insists it's no time to be emotional and that you need answers stat, though the emotional part demands you pour all your attention onto the moment and appreciate Frisk's return. You'd cried countless hours, days, nights, and weeks. And all of that pent up regret, confusion, and relief begins to be let out through whispered words, strong hugs, and gentle caresses. "I… I thought you were gone for good, dear, an- and that you left because you hated me." You hiccup at that last statement and hold them tighter, fearing another disappearance. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel bad about me being your (mother/father). And… And I'm sorry for anything I might've done to upset you. I- I'll try to be a better parent for you from now on, and you can tell me over where I can improve. Alright?"

Frisk breaks the hug apart and faces up at you with a frown. "What are you saying? I don't hate you, (mom/dad)!" they reply, gaze furrowed and eyes wide. "I… I was thinking about something else that day. B- But it has nothing to do with you. I promise!"

"Then why did you disappear?" you ask, placing a hand over their shoulder and maintaining your frown. "Why did you run away? ...And just what do you mean by that? What were you thinking about before you disappeared?"

Looking caught, they face the floor and fiddle with their hands again. "...Can we talk about that later? I think I'm feeling sleepy now."

Your glare finally shows through, the rational part of you taking over now. "Don't you dare change the subject, Frisk (L/N). What did you mean by that? What happened before you disappeared?"

"Please, (mom/dad)! I can tell you later," they whine, tears welling up in their eyes. "I- I don't wanna talk about that right now. I miss you. And I… I really wanna be with you right now. I really miss my home, I miss studying with you, and I... I miss going out on weekends with you, too."

You straighten your posture, cross your arms tight, and frown, still unconvinced. "Can you promise me you'll tell me first thing tomorrow, after we catch up today?"

Slowly, they nod. "I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

Frisk smiles bright and wide at your suggestion and at the gesture you make, pinky finger offered out to them. They interlock theirs with yours and let go when you both nod, sealing the deal. "I promise. Could we go watch a movie now?"

"Didn't you say you were sleepy?"

"I sleep better with the TV on!"

"Yeah, right." Despite yourself, you giggle and smile at them. Then, you place a hand on their head and mess up their hair, poking your tongue out when they glare at you. "Let's go, then. Just... Remember me to call my boss so I can take the day off today and go to work a bit later tomorrow."

"...Can you really do that? I thought you could get fired for that!"

"Probably not." You laugh. "But you're my main and only priority right now. And I can just try to find another job after all this's over with."

You offer your hand out to them and lead the way back to your bedroom when they take it. Your heart's still racing and you've yet to acknowledge the fact they're finally back with you, though your happiness continues to persist through it all; they're here and that's all that matters right now. Worry would come in later.

"Why did you move the TV to the bedroom, though?" they ask, halfway through your destination.

You squeeze their hand and stare down at them, managing a guilty and meek smile. "I, uh, might've... borrowed your dad's Netflicks password, and tried watching some movies since you went missing. I could barely sleep at night, so I just tried distracting myself by finding something new to watch." You let go, finally reaching the door of your bedroom. "I also made sure to tidy up your bedroom once a week, just in case you ever came back, so it's all nice and clean if you want to go there later," you say, smiling. "But... I'm guessing you'd want to be with me for awhile now?"

They nod, not an ounce of reluctance present in their actions. "Definitely!" They flinch back and giggle when you kiss their cheek as a response, "Can I, really?"

"As long as you fulfill your promise, then yes. You can stay in my bedroom for as long as you want, dear."

"But didn't you say I was a big kid just last year?"

"Yes, but I…" You chew on your lip and blink back tears, their return finally dawning on you. "I missed you too much to care about that right now."

You turn on the television and access Netflicks, putting on a movie and climbing into bed. They do the same and rest their head against your lap, cuddling against you. You both stay that way for the entirety of the movie, with them close and with your hand on their head, stroking their hair until they fall asleep halfway in.

When you're sure they're out like a light, you allow yourself to cry again; tears continue to go down the more time you spend with Frisk close to your side.

They were back.

Your prayers had been answered, and now you wouldn't have to lay awake at night, feeling guilty and mourning over their loss for hours on end.

Hopefully, Child Protective Services and Frisk's school would go easier on you now; despite what you said about not minding if they were taken away after their return, you do care. Now that they're back in your arms, you can't imagine not having the right to visit them again; a world without them. At that thought, sorrow overflows your mind and you find yourself crying quietly during what's left of another movie, uncontrolled yet quiet as you try not to wake or worry Frisk over your state. You needed to be strong for their sake and for your own as well, if the time to part ways from them ever became a reality.

That's the last thing you think of as you close your eyes, exhaustion finally taking your body for itself. Faint murmurs of an ongoing movie are the last things you hear and the sight of Frisk sleeping peacefully on your lap is the last thing you see. It all feels right, yet not; cherishing these final moments is the only thing you can do for now.

[Previous] | [Next]

[inventors-fair]

Mutation Recommendation: Type-Changing Runners-up ~

Our runners-up this week are @gollumni, @hiygamer and @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes!

@gollumni - Veil of the Mistborn

You did indeed make me curious about Kaldheim and the whole realm thing, and I admit, I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole determining how this card works in-story. No qualms! There was no need to be picky in the first place, since this card is definitely more of a supplemental inclusion than something hard-and-fast associated with Kaldheim the set. I mean, in my opinion, anyway—and it doesn’t take away from how generally interesting this card is.

Rules-wise, this thing doesn’t seem like as much of a headache as it seems at first glance, provided that people check state-based actions appropriately. Specifically checking for creature spells is important. The methodology of changing how an opponent casts their spells is neat, like, the manner in which you now control the flow of their battle plan. It’s definitely a corner-case card and I think it’s more cute then truly utilitarian, but that doesn’t take away from its general strengths. I’m reminded somewhat of Declaration of Naught, in a way? I guess the difference is that this card is good, so take that for what you will. There’s not a massive amount more to say because the card is so self-evident and neatly packaged. Rogues on Kaldheim might have a hard time escaping, but this one’s got a nice little piece of magic for her trouble

@hiygamer​ — Animus Module

I like this card. Would I ever play with this card? I mean, I would love to, but good lord, can you imagine the headache. Still, now I’m imagining a sword on a sword and the fun that people could have with that. It’s a shame that equipment can’t equip itself, but it’s a good way to get around not having a creature or a reconfigure card on board. A simple poke that makes you want to force equipment isn’t a bad thing. People might be a touch confused, but this thing is designed to be kind of confusing, isn’t it?

Not that that’s a bad thing. This is a card that’s fun for fun’s sake. Again, I like it a lot, because the gist of animation really makes it stand out, and it’s giving a flavorful sense of imbuing a weapon with a life of its own. There’s something that feels like it’s missing that I can’t quite put my hand on, and I guess it’s the fact that this card doesn’t exactly do much by itself, which granted is a terrible argument but I guess it’s just the nature of build-around-me cards that ask for them to have that boost. Equipment cloning that doesn’t double effects feels kinda off to me, maybe? I’m asking way too much from that, though, and I might be nitpicking for nitpick’s sake for now. I’ll sheathe my sword and call it a day there.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ — Camouflaging Chameleodon

Let me start with the very good: this card is perfect at conveying flavor. ‘Oh, no, I’m not a creature right now! I’m blending in.’ Yeah! I totally get that. It’s a way to convey that chameleon-ness in a unique way. The fact that it can’t attack or block for a turn is pretty simple and I don’t hate it. The strength is something that I’m unsure of, because I think five toughness might be asking a bit much for something so crazily repeatable. A 4/4 or maybe even a 4/3 might be best, considering how much this would matter in limited. Even taking care of one creature would be huge! This is a strong and neat card that I think would be a first-pick for its monstrous archetype. It feels like a chameleon beast to be sure as well. Blending in magically is what makes it feel alive and part of a magical world!

The flavor text has that quality I’ve said before and will say again: it still feels like it’s merely repeating what the card is already conveying. What new information we get, about the way they’re born and emerge, is fine, and I don’t hate that particular angle. The writing itself is just plain dry. At this point I suppose we can chalk it up to just how the language works, because it’s nuance that I wish I had better words to explain and simply do not. I suppose that “make it shorter and wetter” doesn’t really help, does it? Breaking down sentence structure would be a whole essay and I’d be BSing a good portion. I’ll be accredited soon, though, and then you’ll all be in trouble.

General commentary will be up as soon as I get back and can sit down to finish. Once more, thank you all for your hard work!

@abelzumi​

[sunseteyes]

MOONLIGHT - S. CHOI

theme/s: bestfriend, confession, makeout, only mild nsfw

this is my second present for my friend because sae is her baby haha. anyway, feel free to listen to the song whilst reading!

You knew you couldn’t be selfish to call him yours.

He’s different; his job, his life, heck even his identity. As much as he kept secrets from you, you knew there was more to him than just that bubbly, slightly cringey, cute guy you met in the net.

You were bored by time when you matched with him in some random dating app, not really knowing you’d enjoy his crazy jokes and eventually, his company. It took you awhile before he actually went by your place and vice versa. However, he preferred the latter since he said he has a lot of work and he’d bring at least his laptop when he comes by your place or he’d have to go home early to finish his work. He’s a very busy man, you realized. That’s also why you two never progressed into something other than that line between friendship and being an official couple.

It was not what you two intended anyway at first. There were some casual flirting—wait, scratch that. There were a lot of flirting especially in texts or calls. However, he tends to shy up and just friend-zone you whenever you see each other in real life. You figured it was just his personality and he was never really interested to get serious so you pushed aside those budding feelings, going to several blind dates setup by your other friends or hookups that only lasted for just one night or at most, a week.

No one was like Luciel—or if that’s really his name.

You figured out it was not his real name when you got to talk to one of his friends—Yoosung, who went by his place one time to pickup some Honey Buddha Chips when he saw you, surprising the hell out of the boy. You could remember how freaked out he was that “Seven”—another name of his—was not telling anyone he has someone who he hangs out every now and then. You two exchanged numbers at that time and became friends. You tried to flirt with him, but you just couldn’t do it.

He’s just not Luciel.

Until one day, you realized you’d been trying to find him in every person you meet, setting up the standards to match the kind of person he is. Ah, shit. You totally fell deep into this one, you cursed to yourself.

“Hey, hey, are you still watching?” a voice pulls you from your train of thoughts, the owner of the said voice being the center of said thoughts. You sigh as you turn to Luciel, gazing at his golden eyes, laced with dark bags underneath, his glasses sitting comfortably under his sharp nose. He seems tired but he still made time for you to hangout today. Why does he have to be so kind? Why is he making it hard for you not to fall deeper into that unfair thing called love—or whatever it is?

“What? What’s wrong?” he asks, his smile falling as he looks at you worriedly. “Do you not like the movie?”

You avert away, avoiding his eyes, afraid he’d see through the hundred bricked walls you’ve built up against him, just like the security gate that he has before you could get in his home.

“It’s not that-“ your voice comes out rushed. “-maybe I’m just tired.” you were—it’s not a lie. You’re tired of hiding these feelings and not acting upon it. How could you? You’re too afraid to break whatever friendship you had with him—the only relationship that mattered to you right now.

“Oh.” he lets out. “Do you want to-uhm-stop watching? Do you want to sleep? You can sleep for awhile, I think. If only you want to though! I’m not forcing you or anything.” he blabbered, clearly embarrassed.

Don’t do that, Luciel, you say to your mind. Don’t make me hope.

“No, it’s alright. Let’s watch.” you say, dropping your hands to fish some Honey Buddha Chips that were settled onto a big bowl in between the two of you. However, before you could even do so, a familiar warmth envelops your hand and your head whips to Luciel, surprised.

He has a blush on his cheeks, almost resembling the color of his hair. “Y/n-I could tell something’s bothering you. What is it? You should not feel this way, it’s your birthday.”

Ah, that’s right. The reason he probably invited you was because he felt bad he couldn’t even go to your birthday gathering, where you gathered several of your friends to a club last night. Your head still spins from all the stuff that went on; all the drinking, kissing, dancing. Have you hooked up with someone else? You can’t even remember. Maybe you did. All you knew was that you hated Luciel’s work—for taking him from you, even if he wasn’t yours anyway.

“It’s nothing.” you brush his question away, but not his hand. His hand felt too warm and amazing against yours. You’re too selfish to push it away.

The look on his eyes made you want to say what’s been bothering you. But it’s not that simple. You can’t really tell him you’ve been in love with him after almost two years of friendship; that you can’t get him off your head even if you’re fucking another person or in another blind date, finding his warmth and touches in other people. Did you though? Nope. Not a single one.

His thumb brushes softly against your hand, butterflies spreading from your stomach, traveling to your heart. He’s not one to initiate skinship and it made you wonder why he’s doing this now. You wanted to question him, you really do. But how could you? You’re afraid he’d stop it altogether.

“It’s not nothing.” he objects, his voice soft. “Today’s your special day. Uh-Do you want to do something else? Do you want to play games? Do you-“

“You can’t-“ you cut him off from his rambling, pulling your gaze away from his eyes to divert your attention back at the television screen. “You can’t give me what I want.”

You tried focusing, despite the distraction that his hand provided. However, your efforts were futile. You can’t even get the gist of the movie by now. Is this an action movie? Or comedy? You’ve got not a single idea.

You felt him remove the bowl in between the two of you without letting go of your hand and move closer, until he was inches away, his whole body facing yours. “Come on, tell it to me! I’m sure I can probably hack my way into it.” he laughs, trying to lift up the mood, probably.

“You can’t, Luciel.” you used his name—fake name, your tone indicating that the conversation was over and you didn’t want to talk about it. You could tell he wanted to push it but he kept his mouth shut. It ached you to act like this to him. But what could you do? One look from him will make you get on your knees if he wanted. One touch and you’d be crumbling down your walls to let him in. Maybe-

Maybe you should stop hiding?

I mean, there’s nothing left to recover, right? If this keeps on going, it would just be the same as being heartbroken from the unrequited feelings. Were you willing to risk Luciel and your friendship?

You were not the one who decided that, however, for a hand grasps gently on your chin, making you face him once again. You noticed how he had leaned closer to you, taking your breath away at the current proximity between the two of you.

“Hey...” you snap, a bit harsher than you intended. “What are you doing?”

He was blushing, but he did not back down. This is not just part of those flirting you’ve done before—it’s different from all of those you’ve done before.

“I...” he trails off, almost like he wanted to say something. But then he lets out a sigh, bumping his forehead into yours while closing his eyes.

You could smell him—it was not the scent from the Honey Buddha Chips he’d probably eaten all day, but rather it was a the sweetness and freshness of his perfume, most likely sprayed earlier on before you came. Bergamot with hints of lemon? You don’t really know much about luxurious perfumes but you could tell that he’d spent a generous money on this one.

You couldn’t hold back. It was your fault for cutting that thin thread of separation between friends and something more. You were the one who held on his jacket, pulling him closer to you and inhaling on his scent.

His eyes shot open, now looking at you with a surprised look. You could feel your heart pound when you met his golden irises, observing his reaction.

You dreaded as the seconds pass by, silence hanging between the two of you despite the distant noise from the built-in speakers that was installed in his living room. Yet, the only thing you could focus on were his eyes, his scent, his warmth, his soft breaths—in short, him.

Until he finally closes his eyes and relents all the restraints that bounded him from doing something more, leaning forward to brush his lips slightly onto yours, testing the waters.

Your heart jumps but you didn’t move away. Instead, you decided to let it all go and met his lips again, this time giving in to your inner desires for once and for all. You knew you should’ve stopped, should’ve pushed him away. But what can you do when you’ve just ached for him that much?

The kisses were light as a feather, and his lips were inexperienced. Yet, it didn’t fail to make your heart flutter like a high-school girl kissing her crush. The hands that gripped on his jacket pulled him closer, deepening the kiss as a result.

You pull away to kiss the side of his lips, a hand raising to cup his jaw, relishing on the way he responds. You did sense uncertainty in his aura however, and it made you stop your actions.

“Is this... okay?” you ask, voice hushed in a whisper, like you’re afraid anybody else will hear despite knowing no on else was there aside from you and him.

He peaks a look at you and nods, a simple action yet it weighed much more than anything else you’ve done your whole life. You caress his cheek, as gentle as a dove flopping its wings as it glides into the air. You adored the way he leans into your touch, resembling a scene of yourself petting a cat.

“There will be no going back.” you spilled the words out of your mouth, as if telling it to yourself at the same time. This time, he looks you straight in the eye behind his Gucci glasses, his messy vermillion locks adoring his head, accentuating more of his sharp but adorable face.

“I know. I just-“ he pauses, his brows furrowing. “I can’t hide it anymore. Whenever I see you sad, it hurts me how I can’t comfort you the way I want to.”

You held the sides of his face and gave him all of your attention, letting him speak further. His expressions told you a lot of his emotions, mirroring the inside with the outside with how exposed he was.

“I want to hug you whenever you’re stressed, I want to kiss all of your tears away. You don’t know how much I want to take your mind away from all the things that brings a frown to your face.” he rattles on, pouring out all of his emotions to you. You’ve never seen him look so broken and desperate, and you just want to hug the daylights out of him.

But you did more than that, pressing your lips to his once again, lasting for a couple of seconds before you lean back and gaze at him lovingly. “You can, you know. You just have to let me in.”

He didn’t respond verbally after that. Instead, he kissed you again, filled with emotions of the moon that chose to show itself in the darkness of the night.

Moments passed by in a blur; his touches making you feel light-headed and his kisses being the only thing that’s keeping you from pushing on. It was finally happening—he’s finally the one in front of you, taking you to bed, not just some random stranger you’ve picked up from the bar or someone who you’ve just had your first date with.

“Luciel, I-“

“I’m not Luciel.”

Your head snapped to look him in the eyes. “What?”

“Don’t call me Luciel.” he says, glancing up at you from his position below you as you straddled his lap, his hands wrapped around you protectively.

“I want you to call me by my real name, Saeyoung.” his golden irises held the sincerity and trust that he felt towards you and you can’t help but gaze adoringly at him, raising your hands to cup his cheeks before grasping upon the temples of his glasses and gently remove it out of his face. You had to stretch a bit to place it on the bedside table but once you came back in front of him, he pulls you once again into a heated make-up session, spreading more butterflies flutter in your stomach.

Both your tops were discarded in a matter of seconds, heat rushing through your blood the more exposed you two were becoming.

He pecks your cheeks and his lips travel down your neck, and then down to the valley of your breasts.

Tracing down on his arms, you grabbed into his hands kissed his fingertips, taking his breath away in the process. You could see the way he looks at you and you then wondered why you even were worried before.

However, a sound of ringing echoed throughout the walls of the house and you recognized it as your own phone. You fish your hand on one of your jeans’ pockets, feeling Saeyoung resume his soft kisses on your neck, pulling you close.

“Who’s that?” he questions, his voice muffled by your skin as he peaks at the screen.

“I don’t know, honestly.” you respond and you were about to ignore the call and turn off the phone when he speaks again.

“Answer it.”

“What? Why?”

He looks at you intensely. “Answer it, babe.”

It might have been the way his tone accentuated with the pet name that slipped out of his mouth or the way he continued giving you open-mouthed kisses on your neck and chest, but you obliged. You felt giddy, and nervous by the time you held the gadget on one ear, making sure you won’t make a single noise that would hint that you were being intimate at the moment.

“Hello?”

A voice greets on the other line and you immediately recognize it. From what you could recall, it was someone you met at the bar last night.

“Hey, I thought you’re free tonight?”

You avert your eyes to Saeyoung, who was busying himself with marking your skin or running his lips and tongue on it. Yet, you were quite certain he could hear the conversation very well with the way he ducks his head and refuses to meet your gaze.

“Oh-uhm, sorry, who are you again?” your voice came out breathily more than you intended.

“You forgot? You slept with me last night.”

Both you and Saeyoung froze, thickness suddenly looming in the air around you. It took awhile but he reaches out to grab your phone from your ear and put it away before tackling you to bed, pulling you underneath him as he hovered on top of you.

“Sae-”

“Do you really want to do this with me?” he whispers and that’s when you noticed the hurt in his golden orbs, gleaming beneath the beauty of its color. You thought he was going to be angry at you, but his reaction pained you more.

You nod at him while softly saying, “I’ve never wanted anyone else other than you.”

Your affirmation was all he needed to hold you tight all night and never let you go from now on.

feel free to send requests~ as for birthday dedications, i’ll post the guidelines probably tomorrow or the day after so please do check it out!

[hatboyproject]

I’m Glad You Asked!

@crescentbunny​ asked a question in the tags...

Well! I’m glad you asked!

So, I have a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of (most of) the dialogue across the Mass Effect games, which gives me a good starting point for trying to remember when people say things tangentially related to other things. However, you don’t have to have that to do what I am doing! For gaps in my knowledge or just general “thing-finding” exercises, I have three enormous spreadsheets which are text dumps of every single spoken line by every single character across all three games. I can set up a filter to isolate a specific character and then CTRL+F words to see if there’s anything worth using. This isn’t foolproof because of technical reasons, but it provides an excellent starting point.

I seem to recall this “Oh yeah?” being a kind of teasing, possibly even passing for sort of sultry response. It could work in a number of different interactions with Joker, so it’s worth saving. The spreadsheet lists what main file I need to access, then what conversation file. From there it’s a pretty simple matter of finding the right node in the Dialogue Editor and extracting the audio file. Then, I give it a name and add it to my database of lines I have saved for her. If there is something distinct or interesting about the line, for example if it contains a laugh or a breath or is read in a particular tone, I mark that down. Over time I’ve ended up with a pretty big database.

So, I try to think of the general gist of what I want her to say. I find a few lines that I think might work... I try slicing and splicing them together in different ways in Audacity. The “Hehe, I already figured that out. It’s not a big deal. I’ll look forward to our next talk.” Line is a splice together of five different lines across all three games, including laugh, words, and different breaths that give the impression of the kind of pauses she’s meant to be injecting. Sometimes, I need to mess with the volume levels of the samples to keep them sounding consistent. ME1′s lines in particular are very inconsistent with the volume so I often have to mess with them to get them to fit together. For Jeff, the process is very similar. I look through my database of lines from the game, and I see if anything works. If it doesn’t work, or if it’s a vanilla line that needs adjusting, I use an AI synth to replicate his voice. The AI was trained on 422 lines of Joker’s dialogue and has a custom made speech pattern synthesizer. It provides a good basis for working on, however, I nearly always need to heavily and extensively edit the lines to make them sound human. I can control the speed, duration, and pitch of each individual letter in a sentence I tell “him” to read out. By moving letters and words up or down I can drastically alter the reading of the line. But, the synth has its limitations, and the process is very time consuming. When the line sounds about as good as I think I can make it, I import it into Audacity and edit it further, cutting sentences apart for better and more natural pauses between words, and adding in breaths, laughs, or other vocal tics sourced from vanilla audio or other samples of the actor’s speech. I probably spend an average of an hour or more on each one of his synth-produced lines. When I started this project, it was Joker’s lack of contextually relevant lines that was the real limiter, here, and now I’m finding it’s the opposite. Jennifer Hale’s Shepard has a massive bank of lines to select from, literally hundreds of romantic or flirtatious reads, teasing jibes, simple inquiries, almost anything I want and that still creates limitations. Not every set of words I want will fit together well. She doesn’t have everything in the tone I want, or the emphasis. She doesn’t say his name very much. At this point, I actually have much more power to make Jeff direct the romance than I do Shepard. I mean... I’ll be real here, I’d love to just hire Seth Green and Jennifer Hale for this, but I sorta... don’t think they’d exactly leap at the chance to help out with this, hahaha! They’re very busy people, and I am just a simple artist with not a lot of power in terms of financial compensation. I certainly could not pay them industry rates. If only I could get a few key phrases directly from them, though... Ah, the dream.