#link: do i loOK LI KE

[marymary-diva17]

A mother sacrifice

Jake x Tsu’tey x avatar reader x neytiri

When it came to being a mother you had learned many things over the years, when it came to raising so many kids that had their own personalities. There was times when you could be easy on your kids and there were other times when you had to be strict with them as well. There are you children no matter how much you love and care for them you had to always be true to them, even if you and them might not like it it most be done. There was something else you had to face and that was a mother sacrifice. Soon you will face a mother sacrifice when your whole world started changing and there was no coming back from the changes that were coming towards everyone.

Jake " look I know either one of you wish to leave but we most leave"

tsu'tey " no we most stay and fight for our home all of us we, can't flee from what we know what the kids all know"

neytiri " tsu'tey is right we can't leave the forest it our home it all the, children know we will be taking away what they love the most" all three adults were in a heated argument together after see the RDA had made recoms of people from the past, and now everyone was in panic about what had happened.

Jake " I'm doing what best for our people and the children ... think of our kids"

tsu'tey " we do think about them every single day don't act like we don't care for them when we do"

Jake " I'm not saying it like that you are taking everything wrong"

neytiri " we cant leave Jake we won't leave"

????? " enough" all three adults soon turn and look at you as you stand there, looking at all of them.

neytiri " ma y/n how long have you been standing there"

y/n " long enough to hear everything going one and I came here to speak to all of you"

tsu'tey " my love"

y/n " enough I was done attend to the children they are all weak spider scars will heal in time, but they are worked up about everything that happened"

Jake " good they are all okay"

y/n " I came to speak with you three and see how everything is going, and coming from what I heard not of great"

neytiri " you husbands wishes for us to flee from our home, the only land we and the kids know and go into hiding"

Jake " I'm thinking what best for the family you have to understand neytiri"

y/n " stop it all of your just stop it please" all three adults looked at you as they stoped fighting, they ke w you hated it when they brought lis this and now they were looking at you.

y/n " we have to keep the children safe we need to make sure they are okay, I can't have any harm coming to them"

neytiri " we are sorry for fighting love we meant no harm"

y/n " I know but we don't need the children to see us fighting they are already worked up enough, you three yelling at each other will not be good for them"

tsu'tey " yes love"

y/n " good now we should listen to Jake idea and think about it" your two other spouses soon listen to Jake, as he started explaining his plan. Once all three had heard Jake words soon the news was shared with the rest of the clan, the humans seem to be upset about the while situation.

norm " we know we can't leave the navi will not be happy to see us"

y/n " yes I know that and the avatar can't be the far from the link without anything messing up"

max " major harm can happen to the avatar or the drivers"

y/n " what are we going to do" you had stated crying the whole day had gotten to you and you had become worried for your family.

norm " y/n don't cry"

y/n " I have to separate from my family"

max " no y/n that to major for you"

y/n "no I need to do it I need to make sure my kids are safe from harm I need to do this for my kids, and my spouse I can't let the rda get their hands on them" norm and max stayed with you as you cried for a while, and soon enough you had to share the horrible news with the family.

tuk " mama you are here" you had come to the family in your human body knowing was best to face them like the verse your avatar body.

y/n " hello sweetie mama came to see you all"

neytiri " my love you came here to see us why didn't you call us, one of us could of come to escort you here"

y/n " I know but I came to speak to you all about something important"

lo'ak " hey mama"

y/n " hello my boy"

Jake " honey is everything okay"

y/n " there is something I need to talk to you all about"

tsu'tey " come sit with us and talk it good you are here the children, seem to be missing you" you soon nodded your head and soon sat down with the family.

Y/n " something has come up that I will love to adress with all of you"

kiri " are you having another baby please let it be sister I don't need another brother"

lo'ak " hey we don't need another sister"

Jake " you two knock it off and let your mother speak ... you are not pregnant right"

y/n " no I'm not pregnant and I don't think we will be having another kid around here for a while"

neytiri " then what the matter my love it seems like you been crying and upset, so if not tears of joy then what is it sweetie"

y/n " I wont be able to come with you all to take refuge with the metkayain" the whole family looked at you none of them speaking, but just looking at like if you said eywa was not real.

tuk " what do you mean you are not coming with us mommy don't you love us"

y/n " oh baby I love you all to the moon and back but I need to stay here"

lo'ak " why mom you have your avatar body"

Jake " she can't stay she the link will not last the far away for a long extension of time"

kiri " what why"

y/n " we don't know sweetie but it not safe for anyone to do with out, last long life effects happening to me or anyone else"

neteyam " then we will stay here with you"

y/n " no you all will leave with the clan and start over somewhere else"

kiri " then come us human we can take enough packs for you and spider it will be good everyone will help, everyone has human mom or dad right and sibling or cousin ... even other family members or friends"

y/n " honey listen I cant as much I wish I can I can't if anyone of us come, all the other clan will reject helping us ... so we need to do what best by staying here until future notice"

lo'ak" then I'm not going I will stay here with you mama and spider"

y/n " no baby you have to go with the rest of our family and stay safe for me"

lo'ak " then who going to protect you from all the danger if we are not here"

kiri " yes who going to keep spider safe and make sure he having fun"

neteyam " yes you will be all alone without us mama"

tuk " who going to tell me bedtime stories"

neytiri " kids enough please"

y/n " children I will be safe I can keep myself safe and I have everyone else here as well, we have plan to make sure everyone saves safe and sound .... I will make sure spider is good and still having fun .... I might be alone without you guys but I still have spider and all my friends here .... you dad will tell all the bed time stories you from earth so everything will be fine"

lo'ak " we are really going to miss you mama"

y/n " I'm going to miss you all as well but no matter we are on here we will always be family" the kids soon joined you for a hug they wish not to let you go, as the fear it might be a long time until they hugged you again. The kids soon had went to bed and Jake was escorting you home.

Jake " you know you are doing something brave my love"

y/n " I know"

Jake " the children are not here you can cry if you wish" you soon started breaking down in tears, Jake soon held your close to him.He knew you so well he could tell that you were holding down your emotions, trying to be brave for the kids and everyone else.

Jake " oh babe"

y/n " I'm going to miss to miss them so much I hate having to be part from them for a long amount of time, I fear I will miss everything and I will not be a good mom anymore"

Jake " oh honey don't cry you are a good mom you are always here for the kids no matter what happens, you are an amazing mom"

???? " he not lying you know that" you soon saw tsu'tey and neytiri show themselves it seems like they came to join the duo.

neytiri " we will respect your discussion love but we will still miss you"

y/n " I will miss you all as well but I need to do this to make sure the kids are safe, I will not have any harm come to them"

tsu'tey " they will be okay love but when the time right we will make sure you come home to us"

y/n " I fear they will grow to hate me for leaving them like this"

Jake " the kids will never hate you hey we think they love you more then us"

y/n " they love us all equal"

neytiri " well maybe but they love you more"

y/n " just make me a promise to make sure the children and all of you stay safe"

neytiri " we will love nothing bad will happen we will be good" you soon smiled towards neytiri, you had went home with them and transfer into your avatar body at was that the lab. Spending one last date night with them, as it will be long time until you have another date night with them.

Day of departure

y/n " are you sure you kids have everything that you will need"

the kids " yes mama"

y/n " look I know your kids are upset about me not coming but I will come right away once it approve"

tuk " what if you forget us mama and get a new family"

y/n " aww baby girl there is no one who can replace you and your siblings, you all will alway be my children and your dads along with mom will always be my loves"

tuk " yes mama"

neteyam " you might want to talk with kiri and lo'ak they are not happy" you soon nodded your head and soon went to find, the children you had the closest bond with soon finding them.

kiri " hey mama"

y/n " hello my loves I came to see you two"

lo'ak " can we please stay we will be good"

y/n " oh my boy"

lo'ak " I just feel bad about leaving you like this mama"

y/n " my son there is no need to worry everything will be okay"

kiri " what if we are seen as freak mama they will call us demon children"

y/n " look my loves I know leaving home and going to a new place, will effect you all majorly and I will not be there for you all but remember your have your mom and dads along with your siblings ... they will make sure you two are okay and defend you all from bullies"

kiri " I'm going to miss you"

y/n " I'm going to miss you as well my sweet girl but I know you and your brother, will do well in your new homes and soon enough we will be together again"

lo'ak " yes mama"

y/n " now I need you both to look out for each other and the family, but also have fun and get ready to tell me all the stories of the adventures you went on when I was away"

kiri " yes mama"

lo'ak " we will make sure to tell you everything" you soon smiled towards the kids and soon brought them into a hug, making them smile towards you. You soon walked towards the village with the kids as everyone was getting ready to leave.

Jake " we love you"

y/n " I love you as well make sure the kids eat enough of good and good get sleep, and Jake be there for kiri and lo'ak they won't have me there to help ... they will need you there for them"

Jake " yes my love please be safe until we can see you again"

y/n " I will"

neytiri " it break my heart to watch the kids say goodbye to spider, they are so close"

y/n " yes they are it going to be hard for everyone saying goodbye like this for everyone, is bring sorrow to everyone" families were saying goodbye kids were holding onto their avatar parents, not wishing to say goodbye just yet.

tsu'tey " let hope happiness will soon bring smiles"

y/n " yes lets hope" the family had gone one last group hug the kids didn't wish to let go, of you or spider but soon came to terms of saving goodbye to you and spider. You and everyone else watched as the clan took off on their ikrans leaving their home and families behind, you soon started crying but felt someone hugged you it was spider. You soon looked at spider and hugged him back you knew it was going to be a long time, until you saw your kids again but right now you are hoping they will all be safe and sound until you see them again.

[monsooninn]

Berakhot 9a: 18. "The Mordant."

For the first time we learn the Mashiach is not the result of one day and one night but several nights. The Mishnah says "a few" and the data obtained during the sequence will alternate like binary code across a total not more than two days and two nights.

Another first, we do not eat food in the Torah of course, we consume data. So as of this Mishnah, I would say it is safe to say one should view prescriptions and prohibitions for food as warnings about the nature of the Kamshema, 'the enemy of the meaning' or 'meaning that is deprived of light or water':

"The verb כמה (kama) appears only once in the Bible, namely in Psalm 63:1, where the Psalmist is in a dry and waterless place and exclaims that his soul ... [yearns/thirsts?] ... for God.

In cognate languages this verb means to be gray, weak-eyed or blind, and thus in general to be deprived of light. There is an obvious link between wisdom and light in the Bible, but also between water and wisdom (see our article on the verb נהר, nahar, which means to flow, both of water and of light).

Our verb expresses a yearning for insight, using the metaphor of water, but the very fact that it's used only once in the entire Bible shows that this verb also uses a highly specialized form of yearning or thirsting, for which no proper equivalent exists in English.

The Hebrews knew that light comes from the sun but water cycles on earth, and water in the Bible always points toward, quite literally, liquidity (i.e. the trade and exchange) of wisdom rather than knowledge itself or the produce that ultimately grows from a well-lit and well-watered society.

The Psalmist yearns not so much for insight or the result of insight but rather the exchange of insight, as opposed to the prolific dispensation of lies he mentions in the Psalm's final verse.

Also note the similarity between this verb and the comparative particle כמו (kemo), meaning like or as if. It combines the more common particle of comparison כ (ke) and the particle of inquiry מו (mo), meaning "what?".

The Mishnah says only in the shadows one can find the true meaning of the Gemara. From Terumah:

17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

Man must live in the shadows of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, "questions and answers" who are the root causes of learning in the cosmos.

The worry in the Mishnah is that man will stop learning about the Torah and create and Anti Christ, an Apocalypse instead of a peaceful, bloodless transition into the Mashiach.

We are seeing this now as rogue elements in the US Government who have taken root all over the world were planning a World War III that would have been over in an instant, handing them total impregnable victory over the planet for the foreseeable future. They too were following scripture but did not read it correctly or second guess their own intentions.

The people of Israel and its friends, allies, and refugees, all Thirteen Tribes cannot make any mistakes as we combat these troglodytes; our victory must also be final and perfect for that our adherence to scripture must be perfect.

The Rambam said Mashiach includes an Atonement. All Israel must repent for failing to obey our ancestors and following the Torah as it was intended. Terumah says the Atonement Cover must be made of gold, of firm understanding by the most learned of Israel who will never, ever forget what it means.

in order to understand how to perform this properly we must revisit a few passages from the Tanakh:

“Anochi signifies the first redemption from Egypt and the last redemption through Mashiach.”5 Anochi is an explicit expression of compassion, consolation and comfort.6 Indeed, Anochi is an acronym with every one of its four letters signifying Biblical prophecies of the Messianic consolations and comfort.7

In view of this legal obligation to await Mashiach, therefore, one of the first questions an individual is asked on the Day of Divine Judgment is “Tzipita liyeshu’ah did you look forward to salvation?”8

To believe in the coming of Mashiach and to await it are two separate concepts. “To believe” is a doctrinal affirmation as for any other part of the Torah: affirming the principle of Mashiach who will come eventually, whenever that may be. “To await” means an active and eager anticipation of the redemption, that it occur speedily: “I await him every day…,” literally:9

“In ikveta deMeshicha (on the ‘heels of Mashiach,’ i.e.,) when the time arrives for the glory of G‑d to be revealed in the world through the coming of our righteous Mashiach, there will surely be leaders of Israel… who will urge the masses of Israel to strengthen the faith and to return with teshuvah, and to arouse the people to prepare themselves with teshuvah and good deeds for the coming of Mashiach…

“In those days there will also be people of little faith who will not believe those words, even as we find that during the Egyptian exile ‘they did not listen to Moses because of anguished spirit and hard labor’ (Exodus 6:9)…

“Each one will argue that he does not question the truth of the possibility of the redemption, but merely doubts the time of the redemption as to when it will occur. Yet there is an explicit verse in Malachi (3:1) that ‘The lord whom you seek (i.e., the king Mashiach) will suddenly come to his palace, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire (i.e., Elijah the prophet), behold he comes…’

At the very least, therefore, one is to consider every day that perhaps he will come that day. We find this reflected in the explicit ruling in the Gemara10 Chafetz Chaim, Chizuk Emunah, quoted in Chafetz Chaim al Hatorah, Vayera, p. 56f., note 2. Note also Torat Ze’ev, quoted in Hagadah shel Pesach Mibet Levi [Brisk], p. 120: “It is incumbent to await the coming of Mashiach every single day, and all day long…

It is not enough to believe in the coming of Mashiach, but each day one must await his coming… Furthermore, it is not enough to await his coming every day, but it is to be in the manner of our prayer ‘we await Your salvation all the day,’ that is, to await and expect it every day, and all day long, literally every moment!”

So in tangled up Torah talk. it is revealed the alternating days and nights and contrasting experiences of Shema and Kamshema appear to have to do with watching and waiting, questioning and answering all the data concerning the appearance of the Mashiach.

= Are you sure, or are you not sure? Is the Mashiach lore and legend or does God really intend for us to rule this planet and bring peace and happiness to it, not just for one day or one year, not just because people like to watch the movie the Ten Commandments or use us as diving boards for Jesus, but for all time as the intended?

19.For a few nights, he is data, Selka Da'atkh Omina: while Passover is light, and Shlamim is light, what peace will we eat for two days and one night Had - on Passover we will eat two nights instead of two days, and it will be eaten for two nights and one day. Kamshema said to us "on this night", on this night it will be eaten and it will not be eaten on another night.

=

For a few nights, he is data, in the shadows he is trustworthy: while Passover is light, and the peace offering is light, what peace will we eat for two days and one night sharp - on Passover we will eat two nights instead of two days, and it will be eaten for two nights and one day. The importance of the meaning said to us "on this night", on this night it will be eaten and it will not be eaten on another night.

The Values in Gematria are:

19a. For a few nights, he is data, Selka Da'atkh Omina: while Passover is light, and Shlamim is light, what peace will we eat for two days and one night Had.

The Number is 9678, טוזח‎, "an ace of clean up."

The Torah is filled with ways to become clean. What is clean is fit for us, what is not clean is not fit for us. The Gemara states there is a "root command" for being clean called ceremonial cleanliness by the Torah. The answer, yea, is the answer to all of life's problems: nice clean underpants.

From Tzav:

6 Adonai “Beautiful Master” spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the Torah of the burnt offering. The burnt offering should remain on the hearth atop the altar all night until the morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it. 3 The kohen “manpriest” is to put on his linen garment, with his linen undergarments on his body. He is to remove the fat ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. 4 Then he is to take off his garments, put on other ones, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 5 The fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it—it must not go out. Each morning the kohen is to burn wood on it, laying the burnt offering in order upon it, and burning up as smoke the fat of the fellowship offerings. 6 Fire is to be kept burning on the altar continually—it must not go out.

Once Israel undergoes the Yom Kippur, that has to be it, there can be no relapses into our former ways of life. We must give them up or life on the inside will be consumed by worry, grief and shame, and God said these are not fit for us. We already know how life on the outside goes. We cannot rule the world if our insides are wrong.

19b. On Passover we will eat two nights instead of two days, and it will be eaten for two nights and one day. Kamshema said to us "on this night", on this night it will be eaten and it will not be eaten on another night.

The Number is 13884, יג‎ח‎חד‎, yagah had, "the sharpness will come like a horn in the butt, sharp, keen, mordant, biting, unmistakable."

The mordant is the part we want to focus on as it ties to ceremonial cleanliness:

adjective

(especially of humor) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting."a mordant sense of humor"

noun

a substance, typically an inorganic oxide, that combines with a dye or stain and thereby fixes it in a material.

verb

impregnate or treat (a fabric) with a mordant."mordanting a fiber is simple"

The final Gemara says every Jew must become affixed to his Shoftim, his pure Jewish Self. He can have no regrets about being Jewish, must accept and perform the duties affiliated with his prescribed destiny as one of the rulers of the creation, not one of its unwanted mutts.

Once a habit for this manner of rethinking the Jewish State is completed globally and the Kamshema has been resolved, we will be ready to anticipate the Mashiach and satisfy our Covenant with God.

"You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews."

-John 4: 22.

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

n, o, t, z for the fandom ask game 😁

n: Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

this question had me think for a bit, im mostly content with whats going on in the fandoms i participate in, buuuuuuuuuuut then i recalled:

1) i once watched a video essay on ning yi that really impressed me. (i just searched the internet up and down to link it but i cant!!! find it!!!! whatt iisss thissss) anyway, i want more of that!!! for rise of pheonixes fandom, but also for WOH and for TYK!!! i neeeeeeeeEEEed it

2) generally more academic-approached textanalysis for tian ya ke. im dYING to read something like that!

3) for the fics i would like to request MESSINESS in regards to zhou zishu and wen kexing respectfully, thank u (BONUS IF THEY HAVE AFFAIRS ON THE SIDE OR SLEEP AROUND)

o: Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

i threw a dart and it landed on this which reminds me of wen kexing in that moment in the novel when hes gearing up to slaughter mo huaiyang and hes all exhausted and bleeding but he needs to avenge his a-xiang‘s silly little husband. (i lied i dont have darts. i clicked next in my epic orchestral music playlist and this is what showed up.)

(while im typing this this started playing and now im thinking about elizabeth swan ,, ,,,, im so gay)

t: Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

the headcanon i told u last night, about zzs and ljx! i dare u to reread qiye!!! come fight meeeeeeee!!!!!

z: Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

UM. ive always been very passionate about fictional characters and fictional worlds. when we were kids i would share comics with my brother and we would read them together, when i grew out of my childhood books my sister inherited them and grew to love them just as much as i do. my mom is not a tokio hotel fan per se, and she doesnt watch the same shows or read the same books as me, but we tell each other what we are currently invested in and she loves seeing what i create. fandom can looks like anything, it can be small and offline and familiar and private like what i just described, or it can be subscribing to magazines and read the fan theories and fan letters that are published in it. it can be organizing big events like conventions and forge a bridge between fans and the source material. it can be a community on social media like here on tumblr. but its in its essence all the same, people—sometimes literal strangers— forming connections to eachother simply because they are all in some way moved by the same thing, generating new thought and creativity everyday and cultivating a culture of communication and cultural exchange, entirely seperate from our capitalist society, and i think thats really beautiful

fandom ask game

[plumelost]

a movement across the dense snowy plains catches the wolf's eye, and it cocks its chin, gives one curious wag of its tail. is that... a bird? a human? wandering through the snow? not close but perhaps wanting to investigate further, the beast pads toward the strange creature.

               it’s so cold. so unbearably, unbelievably cold. it’s                         ��  nothing like the brisk chill of rito village, where                            the wind was more crisp air than raw ice, where                            the snow fell in mild wavelets rather than sporadic                            blasts, where the fog could be lifted with a mere                            flap of tiny wings. it’s so, so cold…but he has a                            mission to complete. a purpose to fulfil. so the                            child only huffs in the face of such frigid conditions,                            huffs and shivers and tries shaking off his frosted                            feathers.

               they respond with a painful crack.

               maybe i should turn back, some part of him thinks                            then. maybe i should turn back, maybe i should—

               but what about dad? another part asks, and it’s louder                            than his doubts, louder than his worries, louder than                            all his fears; what about dad, what if he’s lost, what                            if he’s waiting for someone to find him, what if he’s                            waiting for me—

               what is that.

               something moves in the distance, too small to be                            a moose, yet too big to be a fox. he stills, hoping                            that whatever it is (please don’t be a lynel, please                            don’t be a lynel, dad says they have a taste for                            children, please don’t be a lynel) will ignore him                            and go away, but it’s just getting closer and closer                            and closer and—…! 

               he dares to hope.

                                     ❝d-dad?❞

[bakugohoex]

Are your prompts still open? If so can you do 7 from the NSFW for Levi Ackerman?

“so pretty in that maid outfit, now take it off…slowly” 

pairing: levi ackerman x female reader

cw: language, modern au, nsfw (maid outfit, stripping, male receiving oral, restraints, deep throating, praise, dacryphilia, mentions of breeding kink)

word count: 2000+

a/n: hope you liked this my lovely, had a lot of fun writing levi nsfw as i’ve never written him for nsfw.

summary: in which levi buys you a maid outfit as a joke, now a week later you wear it waiting for him to come home, to give him exactly what he’s wanted since he bought it

1k event masterlist

↞ back to attack on titan masterlist

Levi didn’t know why he had ordered the outfit, he had been sent the link by Eren accidentally and had become infatuated with the blacks and whites, the little apron and short frilled out skirt. The white thigh highs, the black puffed out short sleeves and the cute little headband that accompanied it with cat like ears. 

Levi had dismissed the thought of buying it, it wasn’t something he was personally into but imagining you in it, prancing around the apartment. He could imagine you being a good little housewife in it, ready for him to breed and take over. He found himself at work the next day buying it without a second glance. It was something he forgot about until you called his name with the package in front of you. 

“I bought it as a joke.” He lied out as you chuckled at the costume, it was your size and Levi’s mouth almost watered at the sight of seeing you in it, bending out, teasing him with no will. He took a sharp breath before looking at you, you still stared at it waiting for more information, “you don’t need to wear it.”

That was the end of the conversation on the maid outfit, you chucked it into the inner depths of your wardrobe, Levi unable to ever see you wear it. Well that’s what he thought, you could see in his eyes how much he craved to see you wear it, craved for you to give him a show in the outfit. How could you ever resist your boyfriend, he’d been so good for you, always helping you around the apartment, cooking amazing dinners and always making you cum. He deserved a treat.

It had only been a week until you pushed your hand into your wardrobe trying to find the sealed plastic. You finally had it in your grasps before ripping it away, the outfit stood as a set. It was cute, something you hadn’t expected Levi to ever enjoy but his mouth almost salivated just with the outfit in your hand. You quickly undid your clothes, before wearing the costume, the short skirt barely met your lower thigh, traces of your ass peeking out. The square neck leaving your chest on show and the cat ears and thigh highs that suffocated your thighs. You twirled the fake feather duster in your hand, it gave nothing to the look as you easily chucked it away.

Now all you had to do was wait, wait for your lover to come home and see you. You didn’t know what you were going to do, how you were going to surprise him. You couldn’t just be sitting waiting for him on the couch, you needed for it to be special. You quickly went to your bedroom sending Levi a text to come straight to your shared room before grabbing the stuff you needed from a box in your bottom cabinet. 

You waited patiently in the room, you knew he was coming home soon, and he hadn’t responded to your text which made you get anxious. You heard the jingle of the keys before a loud sigh came from his mouth, you heard him shuffle taking his shoes off before dropping his stuff onto the couch. “Y/n, what’s in our room?” He shouted but you gave no reply quickly closing the light and hiding behind the door.

He gave another loud sigh before walking to the door, he almost stumbled inside trying to find the light switch. But you met his hand instead, standing behind him, you wrapped your hands around his eyes as you could hear his harsh breath. “Baby wha…”

“You trust me right?” You whispered into his ear, giving a kiss to just under his earlobe. He nodded as he waited for your next words, “close your eyes.” He did as he was told, shutting his eyes as he felt a cool silk material get wrapped around his eyes. 

You looked at his outfit, the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt, the undone buttons leaving your imagination to go wild. “You gonna show me something good baby.” He spoke lowly as you gave a soft chuckle, he felt your hand on his own before being pushed onto the bed. “Babe…” He trailed off as he felt you straddle his lap, taking one of his hands and tying it to one end of the bedpost before you did the same to his other. 

“I’m going to take this off baby, wait for me to tell you when to open your eyes.” You spoke slowly, kissing his neck as he twitched under you. 

“Okay.” He mumbled out as he felt you take the blindfold off, probably chucking it to the side. He kept his eyes shut hearing rustling in front of him. You had moved right between his legs, kneeling as you sat in a way which you knew he’d love. 

“Open your eyes baby.” Light flashed into his eyeline, the sun was setting as his eyes adjusted to the light, before looking at what was in front of him. 

You kneeled in front of him, mouth-watering to taste him, he stared down at the outfit, eyes flicking between the kitten ears right down to your hand that rested in front of your cunt. “Baby girl, you treating me right tonight aren’t you?”

He hated the restraints, you were going to toy with him, suck him off without even a chance to push your mouth deeper on his cock. He knew you, knew what you were like, that innocent smile that played across your face was a deception that hid your true malice. “I want to make you feel good, baby.”

He craved your touch, craved everything about you, “you gonna be my good girl and do what I tell you.” He watched you eagerly nod your head, even when he was in a submissive position you would never disobey him. Always listen to his words, every action he asked from you, you’d do. You were under his seductive spell and he was loving every bit of it. “So pretty in that maid outfit, now take it off…slowly.”

He licked his lips in anticipation, watching how you stayed kneeling, the way you slowly unzipped the side of the outfit, how the sleeves fell off your shoulder, your exposed breasts right in his eyeline. You easily took the dress off, he watched how your slick seeped out of your cunt, “no underwear baby.” He cooed as he had to suppress a moan from just seeing your cunt and tits on show, “leave them on.” He gestured to the thigh highs and kitten ears, he saw how you stayed kneeling in front of him, his pretty girl, with that pretty cunt that he owned.

Your eyes moved down to the evident bulge in his trousers, you crawled towards his cock. Slowly undoing the belt buckle and zip. You licked your lips waiting to see his cock spring out as you pulled his trousers down, it stayed at his ankles as you found yourself staring at the deeply blushed tip of his cock. It curved towards his stomach and the vein that accompanied the side made you want it in your mouth. “Go on baby.” He spoke as you looked like you were going to suffocate if you didn’t have him inside his mouth. “Pretty girl, use that mouth.”

You obliged hand reaching the base as you took a long lick upwards to the tip, pre cum spilling up as it seeped onto your tongue. “show me.” He groaned out as you lolled your tongue out for him to see the white sit perfectly on your tongue. You had bent forward, to take more of him, your exposed ass high for him to see with the white thigh highs. The kitten ears were right in front of him sitting against your head as you took another lick upwards before swirling your tongue on his tip.

“I’m gonna make you fee…feel good.” You murmured too infatuated with how perfect his cock was, you quickly swirled your tongue against his tip again before taking a deep breath as you pushed your mouth to wrap around his cock. Your mouth barely fit half of him until his cock hit the back of your throat.

“Ke…keep going.” He groaned as he continued to try and thrust his hips further into your mouth, he watched as your eyes watered at the consistent contact. As much as he loved treating you like his good girl he needed to grab your head and push his cock right down your throat. He pulled at the restraints, the rope being loose but still hard to get out of, every time he thrusted into your mouth and wrapped your tongue around his cock sent a wave through him as he tried to get out of the rope.

He watched how the tears fell onto his thigh, one hand gripping the thigh as the other moved your hair to the side to easily deep throat him. He heard gargles from your mouth as you moaned at the impact of it all, he felt one restraint start to give way as his hand easily came out. He saw the concentration in your eyes as you bounced your mouth up and down, trying to fit all of him down your throat. “Good girl, t…taking me so well.” He groaned as he quickly undid his other hand, “let me help you my love.” He cooed as he watched you look up at him with watered eyes, you saw his hands free as he rubbed his wrists. Before tightly wrapping one hand in your hair, making a makeshift ponytail.

“P…please let me h…have you in my mouth.” You cried out hands gripping his thighs as he moved his other hand to your jaw down to your neck before flicking his fingers against your nipples.

“I’ll let you make me cum, princess.” He muttered before you felt him slam your mouth right onto his cock, he pushed your throat further as he thrusted upwards. Feeling the base of his cock reach your mouth as his tip sat comfortably down your throat. You tried to breathe through your nose, but the suffocation made it harder. He moved back and forth using your hair to easily drag your mouth in the same movement. He watched as you babbled out nonsense about being his good girl, which you definitely were. “C…c’mon jus…just a little bit more, you want to make me cum, don’t you, you want to be my good girl…keep going.”

The praise made you continue to swirl your tongue against his cock, you felt stuffed in your mouth, your cunt swelling to feel some contact as well, as you felt Levi’s other hand hold onto your shoulder to push you further down. The evident swell in your throat of Levi’s cock made him groan even more, your movement with your tongue and feel your lips wrap around him made him want to cum in a matter of seconds. “I’m going to cum in that pretty little mouth of yours…make everybody know who this mouth belongs to.” He groaned as he just heard a short yes, his pace quickened as he kept with his hand in your hair, your nose hitting the base at every thrust. “Fuck…baby, su…such a good girl.”

He leant back, tilting his head backwards as he looked at the ceiling, groaning as he felt his cock twitch, “cum.” He heard the single word come from your mouth as you went for some air before his cock divulged back into your mouth. At the word he found the white liquid gush cascade into your mouth, his cock spilling inside your throat as the war liquid stayed on your tongue. He groaned as he felt empty of cum watching how cum and drool dribbled out of your mouth.

“Show me.” He looked up at your frame, your nipples hard and cunt filled with slick, he moved his hand to your jaw, thumb brushing your lips as you opened your mouth. Cum coating your tongue and teeth, your sweety dishevelled look made him seductively joyous. “Swallow.”

You did as he wanted, swallowing the cum and saliva as he wiped your mouth clean, hand on your jaw. “You want to cum as well, baby.” He teased just as he was about to kiss you, eyes flicking onto your frame and swollen cunt. “I’ll make you cum as many times as you want too.”

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[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 131

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 131: Ghosts

Behind the elevator door was a dim corridor that looked no different from normal. Yet, dispersed through the air was the faint, identifiably gamy scent of blood. It was reminding Lin Qiushi that things weren't as simple as they seemed.

Lin Qiushi took a step forward, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. When he got outside of the apartment, however, just as he turned a corner, he saw three identical little girls in dresses standing before him.

They stood around a huge birthday cake, on which was stuck a thicket of white candles. The cake appeared to be on the verge of melting, and the red liquid that kept dripping out of it was precisely the source of the scent that Lin Qiushi smelled. Worse was that on the top of the cake, a woman's severed head had been placed. Her eyes remained open, watching Lin Qiushi and refusing to be resigned to her fate; she even batted her eyes at Lin Qiushi.

The tableau was grotesque and chilling. Seeing them, Lin Qiushi remembered the door he'd passed with the Fitcher's Bird hint. Without question, these were the triplets that Lin Qiushi had once met inside the door…

The triplets stood in the entrance, heads twisting about to face Lin Qiushi. Stiff smiles tugged up their faces, and from their lips poured the little happy birthday ditty. One of the girls slowly lifted a hand and pointed at the top of his head, and she said, "Xiao-gege, won't you eat cake with us?"

Hearing her question, Lin Qiushi didn't dare answer. He turned around and left for another exit.

Good thing that the triplets only watched him go with no intent of pursuing.

Lin Qiushi ran quickly. It was a moment's work to get to the door, but just as he was about to go out, he recalled what one of the triplets had done—she'd pointed to the top of his head. What did this gesture mean? Could there be something on the ceiling?

Honestly, under circumstances such as these, nobody would be happy to look up at the ceiling. Yet Lin Qiushi still got out his cell phone, turned on the flashlight, and slowly looked up, casting the beam of light in his hand toward the ceiling. He kept his motions slow, ready to run at any moment, but what made him breathe out a sigh of relief was that the ceiling was completely clear. There was nothing on it—

When he saw this, Lin Qiushi put his phone away, exhaled, and left the building. But right before he let the foyer, a sense of danger that was difficult to describe suddenly assaulted the top of his head. On instinct, Lin Qiushi's feet stepped back. And it was precisely at this second that a corpse fell straight down from the building rooftop, smashing onto the ground at Lin Qiushi's feet. It was obvious that had he not stayed his feet right here, he'd have been hit by this corpse.

The corpse fell from above and broke into pieces. The skull looked like a watermelon dropped from up high, splattering all over the ground. But judging from its outer apparel and the thing in its hand, this was precisely the man who'd blockaded the door of Lin Qiushi's apartment with an axe. Lin Qiushi didn't know why he'd fallen.

Lin Qiushi skirted around his corpse and quickly entered the residential district. He stepped across the gravel path and cast a glance back at the apartment behind him. There he saw, crouched against the outer wall of the apartment, a human figure crawling slowly downward from above, unheeding of gravity. Through the faint light coming from the hallways, Lin Qiushi could just manage to make out who the person was…it was Wang Xiaoyi, who'd had her skull split clean in half. Wang Xiaoyi clambered slowly down from the wall to where Cheng Wen's corpse had fallen, burying her face in that body and beginning to chew, as if a beast that had spotted a meal.

Lin Qiushi only took one look before turning away. Perhaps it was the hot weather, perhaps it was the sheer intensity of the developments so far, but all up and down his body he was covered in sweat. Perspiration dripped from his chin as Lin Qiushi walked along the district, taking in his surroundings. For a moment he felt struck; he sensed that there was no safe place here, and out of every shadow-wrapped corner a monster could emerge.

Lin Qiushi headed for the exit, and saw to his surprise two people standing at the district entrance. Lin Qiushi saw their faces, and even clearly remembered their names—Xiong Qi, Xiao Ke. They were two of the people Lin Qiushi had met inside his very first door.

Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke seemed to have spotted Lin Qiushi also, waving their arms at him from afar and calling, "hurry up, get over here!"

Lin Qiushi's footsteps were hesitant. He couldn't be sure whether the two people who'd appeared here were ghosts or not.

"Baijie told us to come get you," Xiao Ke called to him. "It's too dangerous where you live. Baijie had us come to take you to her—"

Lin Qiushi began to frown. He looked behind him, but both Wang Xiaoyi and Cheng Wen had disappeared into the night. The inky black apartment complexes, however, still gave off a strong sense of unease. Lin Qiushi approached, but didn't get too close.

"Baijie had you come get me?" Lin Qiushi asked Xiao Ke.

"Yeah," Xiao Ke said. "She didn't want anything happening to you, so she sent us especially."

"Where is she now?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Her? She's at her home, waiting for us to head over," Xiao Ke answered. "Get in. We'll explain everything in the car." Then she pulled open the car door, gesturing for Lin Qiushi to quickly get inside.

Lin Qiushi got to the car door and glanced inside.

Xiao Ke was still urging him from behind and seemed to be in quite a rush. Lin Qiushi, however, noticed something, and his foot, halfway lifted to enter the car, suddenly halted.

"What's with you?" Xiao Ke asked. "That thing is coming, stop wasting time."

"If you really came at Baijie's request, then you must know her real name?" Lin Qiushi's foot retracted. With his eyes to the ground, his feet carried him slowly backwards.

Xiao Ke's brows furrowed. "I know her real name, I just can't say it here. Something else will hear it. Hurry up already…" When she saw the unmoving Lin Qiushi however, her voice got more and more angry, and in the end was practically roaring as she said, "I'm telling you to get in! There's not much time left!!"

As soon as he saw this, Lin Qiushi turned and ran, ignoring Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi's yells. Xiao Ke could only watch Lin Qiushi go, a sharp screech leaving her mouth. And just as Lin Qiushi turned the corner back into the micro-district, a large shadow appeared on the other end of the street.

It was a gigantic woman. Her figure was strange, and in her hands she dragged along a long-handled axe. Slowly, she approached Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi.

Both Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi looked to be in terrorized despair. They hurried into the car, trying to start the engine and leave, but at this precise moment the car was turned to paper paste. Seated inside, the two naturally couldn't leave.

The woman approached the two and raised her arms, lifting the axe high up above her head. Then, she brought it down, splitting Xiao Ke right into two.

And Xiong Qi was next. The two of them were bisected at the waist, horrible wails coming out of their mouths. Yet they weren't dying. They continued struggling on the ground.

Lin Qiushi hid in a corner of the micro-district and saw it all. He had a hand up to cover his mouth, scared that the sound of his breathing would be too loud and attract the attention of the giant woman outside. This monster was the one that had formed out of the religious statue in the old temple from Lin Qiushi's first door. After she killed Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke with her axe, she looked all around. But failing to discover Lin Qiushi, she took her axe and left.

Split in halves, Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke did not die. They lied on the asphalt road keening. Xiao Ke was spitting all the most poisonous cuss words, and seemed to be cursing Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi didn't know what happened to Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke inside the door after he'd left, but judging by the experience he'd accumulated, these two weren't some do-gooders either. Rather, they seemed like the sorts of veterans who got close to newbies with ulterior motives in mind. But luckily Lin Qiushi and met Ruan Nanzhu, and so had managed to avoid it all. As for their fates inside the door at the end, Lin Qiushi didn't know…

The reason he'd discovered something was off about Xiao Ke was that just now, under the streetlight, he'd seen only his own shadow being cast. Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi underneath the same light did not make any sort of shadow. This was what had tipped Lin Qiushi off, and so he'd decisively turned, and managed to dodge the entire ordeal.

It was in this moment that Lin Qiushi gained a better understanding of what "No Solution" meant in the hint. There was no solution to this door; the path to live hidden inside could be the tiniest detail, yet that was the way to survive. Of course, whether or not they could discover it was based on their own luck.

Lin Qiushi stood there in the residential block not knowing where to go. He knew he ought to go though, because that happy birthday song was getting louder and clearer, rapidly approaching him.

So Lin Qiushi stood up, trotting carefully out of the neighborhood. He glanced back, and sure enough, saw those triplets pushing the cake and heading in his direction. The skull on the top of the cake pivoted in a slow circle and tossed a hateful glower his way.

But Lin Qiushi was already used to such a glare. He stared impassively back, even eyeing back some contempt of his own.

The triplets began to giggle despite this. They stood at the neighborhood entrance and watched as Lin Qiushi disappeared again into the darkness at the other end of the road. Getting up on tiptoes, they hugged the skull at the top of the cake and gave it each a kiss, happily calling Mama, Mama, Mama.

Lin Qiushi walked along the asphalt with only the fuzzy light of the streetlamps lighting the path beneath his feet.

What had been lively shops all around were closed. This felt like a whole other world, one that knew only death and terror.

Lin Qiushi stared at his phone for a good while. He wanted to give Ruan Nanzhu a call and ask how he was doing, but was also worried about Ruan Nanzhu facing down a critical moment—and this call of his could mean Ruan Nanzhu's life, just like that.

After momentary consideration, Lin Qiushi sent Ruan Nanzhu a text, asking how he was doing.

It took a while later for the other side to reply: I'm playing hide-and-seek with something weird.

Though the words were flippant, it was easy to read the deadly intent between the lines. Lin Qiushi laughed, pained: Hide-and-seek? Which door of yours is that?

Ruan Nanzhu: Second.

Lin Qiushi: What was the hint?

Ruan Nanzhu: The hint was…hide-and-seek.

Lin Qiushi, "…" A few simple words sent a layer of cold sweat dotting over his back again. He was even growing agitated; he wanted so badly to go to Ruan Nanzhu's side right now and experience everything with him. This sort of intention though was difficult to manifest at a time like this. Lin Qiushi looked at his watch and saw that it was 2AM—there were still three to four hours before daybreak.

She's coming. Gotta go babe, I love you—this was the last text Ruan Nanzhu sent to Lin Qiushi that night.

Reading that message, Lin Qiushi's heart was filled to the brim with anxiety. But he didn't know where Ruan Nanzhu was, nor what Ruan Nanzhu was going through; how utterly helpless he was in this moment. There was nothing he could do.

Lin Qiushi followed the road and kept moving ahead. There didn't seem to be an end, until Lin Qiushi came upon an intersection. From far away, Lin Qiushi could see a person crouching in the center of the intersection. That person had their back to him, their head down as they stuffed a burning furnace before them full of something.

When Lin Qiushi saw this person he didn't dare get too close. Observing from afar, he discovered that the person was burning hell money for the dead.

The joss paper, burned to ashes, spiraled upwards into the inky night sky. As preparation to enter the doors, Lin Qiushi had learned quite a number of folk lore and legends. He knew that hell money, once burned to ashes, had its specific meanings, like that if it made a spiral, then the people in hell had received it…

As Lin Qiushi hesitantly watched the scene before him and debated whether or not to turn back, he heard a chilling set of footsteps coming from behind him.

Lin Qiushi looked back. Through the darkness of night, he saw coming from the other end of the road a giant figure. The figure was backlit, and though it couldn't be clearly seen, judging by its silhouette it was precisely that female ghoul that had split both Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke in half earlier.

The surrounding area was empty, and there was nothing Lin Qiushi could hide behind. With no other option available to him, Lin Qiushi could only move forward, sticking to the wall as he tried to cross the intersection before him.

As he walked, he kept a careful eye on the old man burning joss paper in the middle of the road. He'd likely seen this person before too, but because it had been such a long time, he didn't really remember.

Just as he was about to cross the intersection, he saw the old man stick a hand into the burning cinders. His body began to charcoal immediately after. Lin Qiushi, however, caught the soft words coming out of his mouth. He was saying: "The dead, the dead…only the dead can escape." Right after, his entire upright body became a charred corpse, and the monster behind them seemed to have sniffed out the odd scent around here, and so quickened her footsteps.

The monster was enormous, and as for the axe in her hand, the head sometimes would glance off the ground, and the noise of metal grinding against stone would sound.

Lin Qiushi didn't dare linger here any longer, sprinting full speed ahead. As he ran, he didn't neglect to keep an eye on his surroundings, and so discovered something changing around him.

White lanterns and flower wreathes had appeared on the front door of the shops, just like at a memorial service.

The thing that halted Lin Qiushi's footsteps was a black coffin placed by the roadside. It had suddenly appeared, lying straight and neat right there on the pavement.

The monster behind him seemed to have detected Lin Qiushi's presence as well, and came running for him. If she continued at the same speed, Lin Qiushi would be caught in minutes.

Panting, Lin Qiushi stared at the black coffin in front of him. A crazy idea surfaced in his mind. He knew there was no time to hesitate, so he walked straight over to the coffin and pushed the top open with all his might.

Lin Qiushi thought the coffin would be empty. Only upon opening it did he discover there was a corpse inside. Strangely enough, the corpse seemed a bit familiar, like he'd seen it somewhere before—but Lin Qiushi couldn't care about all that. With a clench of his teeth he crawled right in, and sealed the coffin lid above him.

Tap…Tap…Tap…

Through the coffin, Lin Qiushi could hear the monster's footsteps grow closer and closer, finally coming to a stop somewhere in his vicinity. Her nose was twitching as she tried to sniff out of the air which direction her prey had gone off in.

Then it seemed like some smell had interrupted her search. With a low, strange call, the monster left, her sounds slowly fading.

Lin Qiushi lied in the coffin, expression mostly frozen. It seemed that the corpse beside him had just died, for its flesh was still soft, and even carried with it a bit of lingering body heat. Lin Qiushi internally chanted pardon me, pardon me as he waited for the sounds outside to disappear.

Just as he got ready to lift the coffin lid above him, however, he felt a hand suddenly catch him by the arm.

"!!"

When he was caught, Lin Qiushi almost yelled, but another hand came up and covered his mouth, keeping the noise contained in his throat.

"It hasn't left yet."

And the corpse behind him was actually speaking. Though it was quiet, Lin Qiushi's eyes still went wide when he heard that voice—he was more than familiar with that cadence, it was Li Dongyuan!

The inside of the coffin was too dark; Lin Qiushi couldn't see anything. He was being held tightly by the corpse that sounded just like Li Dongyuan behind him, and his heart was beating so wildly that it felt like it was going to leap right out of his throat.

"It hasn't left yet," the person behind him said once again. Lin Qiushi kind of understood his meaning this time, that there was no need to keep struggling.

The silence continued for maybe another ten minutes or so, until Lin Qiushi heard a woman's furious roar. Only a thin plank of coffin wood separated them from this roar, so it was obvious that this thing was close—like it was practically right next to him. Had Lin Qiushi climbed out of the coffin earlier, he'd likely have been struck and killed like Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke had been earlier.

Then the woman's voice got further and further away. The corpse holding onto Lin Qiushi from behind also released him, and Lin Qiushi shoved open the coffin lid above his head. Finally, he could see the face of the person lying next to him—it was precisely that Li Dongyuan, who should already be dead.

"It's been a while." The corners of Li Dongyuan's eyes curved up as he showed Lin Qiushi a smile.

Lin Qiushi stared hard at him, like if he stared hard enough, he could force that face to change with sheer willpower.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Li Dongyuan too sat up in the coffin and tidied his hair. "I saved you just now, you know. Are you not going to thank me?"

Lin Qiushi, "so are you…"

"Dead." Though Lin Qiushi hadn't finished speaking, Li Dongyuan had already guessed what he wanted to say, and was laughing heartily. "I'm dead."

Lin Qiushi watched him doubtfully, but Li Dongyuan just grabbed Lin Qiushi by the hand and pressed it to his chest. Sure enough, it was quiet there, with absolutely no sensation of a beating heart.

"You really are dead?" Lin Qiushi wiped at his face with a hand. "Then why are you here? Where is here, anyways?"

Though he heard Lin Qiushi's questions, Li Dongyuan only smiled without answering. He pointed above his head and said, "there's still a while until daybreak. Would you like to sleep some more?"

Lin Qiushi, "sleep where? In the coffin?"

Li Dongyuan, "the coffin's safer than all that running around you were doing."

Lin Qiushi wanted to say something more, but began to hear the sound of footsteps again. This time, without needing Li Dongyuan to do so, he closed the coffin lid on his own.

In the dark, the two people's gazes met. Lin Qiushi had too many questions he wanted to ask; he wanted to question Li Dongyuan about the situation they were in, but Li Dongyuan didn't seem keen on answering any of those questions.

"I know what you want to ask," Li Dongyuan said as such. "But I can't give you answers, because I don't really understand myself."

"Do you remember your own death?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Of course I do," Li Dongyuan said. "I even remember jumping out of the building." A touch of loneliness bled into his voice. "Who knows how that girl's doing though."

"Zhuang Rujiao?" Lin Qiushi said. "She's doing great. She took over White Deer for you."

After a moment's silence, Li Dongyuan's laugh was bitter.

"How is that great?"

Seeing the young girl under his care grow up was not actually anything like a happy experience, because growth inevitably came with a painful price to pay.

So the two quieted down again. Lin Qiushi stared at the coffin lid above his head, spacing out. He didn't dare say too much, because that thing was still prowling about around him.

Time ticked on by seconds, by minutes. Then it was nearly five, and daybreak seemed imminent.

Drowsiness coiled around Lin Qiushi. He wanted to stay strong, but had never felt such urge to sleep as this.

"Sleep," came Li Dongyuan's voice. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

Lin Qiushi closed his eyes and fell deeply asleep.

This sleep was spectacularly deep. By the time he woke again, the sky was already bright. He got up and saw that he was lying in his own bed, with Chestnut on the pillow beside him, watching him like a good little pet.

There were no monsters, no blood. The door was also perfectly fine. Everything that occurred the night before was all as if a strange nightmare. Lin Qiushi let out a long breath, picked up his phone, and once again dialed a number.

After a few seconds of waiting, a completely unsurprising voice recording sounded on the other side. The phone number that went through during the night had become unconnected once more. Lin Qiushi flipped through his messages and also couldn't see the text Ruan Nanzhu sent him.

"Fine," Lin Qiushi said to himself. "See you tonight."

[Ch. 130] | [Ch. 132]

[fatefulfaerie]

Honesty Part 7 (Last One)

Part One here

Part Two here

Part Three here

Part Four here

Part Five here

Part Six here

Zelda supposed it was the adventurous spirit in both of them that led them to sit upon the roof, gazing at the stars and yet very aware of the person next to them. Sometimes they shared words, small talk about this or that. Sometimes they shared silence, just as comfortable, just as safe. Either way, Zelda found herself forgetting about her troubles in the company of Link.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week already,” Link remarked, obviously attempting to strike up another bout of conversation. Zelda turned her head. “I feel like I just got here and now we are journeying to rendezvous with Urbosa early tomorrow morning.”

Zelda smiled to herself.

“You did sleep through a pretty big chunk of it,” she jived, Link offering a slight chuckle in reply.

“Damn mushrooms,” he said before their words faded again, Zelda listening to the chirps of crickets and the rattles of cicadas. 

She thought of the words of Link’s mother, the advice that the line between a deep friendship and a romantic relationship was farther away than she thought. Zelda knew she could cross over at any time, but it was that trepidation, that hesitation that seemed to drive them both to pure flustered anxiety when around each other, like one move would cross a line they could never come back from, that they would fall so deep in love that they would fall from a great height, and thus so would Hyrule.

Link’s mother reminded her that shutting him out because of that fear may be just as detrimental. There had to be a balance.

“Hey, Link?” Zelda prompted, keeping her gaze on the stars and her weight on the hands behind her.

“Yeah?”

Zelda didn’t know that Link had taken the opportunity to look over to her, to admire the way the pale light of the stars and the moon made her completely ethereal, the way she outshined them, captured their light and proved herself the better conduit for it.

“I just wanted to thank you,” Zelda said. “For this week...tolerating me, you know, the spoiled princess I am.”

“You’re not spoiled,” Link said quickly. Zelda smiled to herself and was glad the darkness of the night sky hid any blush. “I mean...you deserve a break just as much as I do. I’m glad I got to give that to you, and...well I like having you around.”

Zelda kept smiling. This felt more normal, and even better, it felt more natural.

“I like having you around too,” Zelda said in reply. “I think you...”

Zelda stopped herself. She had to temper her honesty, balance telling him how she felt without pouring out her entire heart and drowning them both in their dangerous love.

“I think you may be the best friend I’ve ever had,” Zelda said, Link hiding his surprise well. “I know you are under orders to protect me, but you were never under orders to forgive me for my prior immaturity, nor were you under orders to befriend me and support me like you have. No one has ever had my back like you do, no knight assigned to me, not even Urbosa or my father...oh gosh this is probably sounding horribly strange...I think I just want to let you know that I have your back too, no matter what. I...uhmm...I care about you a lot.”

She finally overcame her anxiety and looked over to Link, who was looking so intently at the night sky that it seemed quite the oddity.

“What are you doing?!” Zelda asked with a resummoned petulance. “Are you even listening to me?!”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m looking for flying pigs.”

“Goddesses,” Zelda said, playfully shoving him, which made him laugh. “I was trying to be sincere and you turn it into a joke! I can’t believe I li...”

Link looked over to her immediately as her intended word cut short and slowed down, hanging on the syllable as she tried to save it. Her heart burned with panic and embarrassment and somehow the brain she was often praised for failed her, Zelda forgetting every word she had ever learned.

“...ke...you,” she finally finished, closing her eyes filled with regret, and scampering off the roof quickly.

“Princess, wait!” Link said with an outstretched hand, coming to a kneel to watching her run across the bridge towards the center of town.

Link sighed as he followed suit, hopping down to the roof of the stable, as if it was a stepping stone downwards, soon meeting his feet to grass. 

He bursted through the door to his house, nearly scaring his mother half to death where she stood cooking.

“Link!” She said breathlessly with a hand on her chest. “What in Hyrule are you--”

“Do you remember where I put the sword?” Link asked, frantically looking everywhere.

“For goodness sake, Link, I’m sure it’s here somewhere,” Ruth said as Link ran upstairs. She furrowed her brow, looking up at the loft. “Would you calm down?!”

“Can’t,” Link replied, sword in hand and running back down the stairs. “I’ll be back for dinner.” Link slammed the the door behind him with as much haste as he had opened it. Ruth rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Hylia, help that boy.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link knew exactly where she would run, and thus, his legs burned as he ran up the hill to Purah’s laboratory as fast as he could.

Knocking on the door, he panicked with worry. She could have been in danger and even if she wasn’t, she was likely ashamed for something she simply shouldn’t be. Link always assumed she didn’t like him back but now his mind overflowed with possibility that was once a fantasy. Most of all, however, he just wanted to see her okay.

“Linky!” He heard as soon as the door opened, the young Purah standing there with excited red eyes. Link gave a nervous and forced smile before return to his concerned expression.

“Is the princess here?” Link asked.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this serious Link,” Purah observed like she was studying him. “And your face is completely flushed. Tell me, do you have any other symptoms?”

Link sighed.

“Just answer my question,” Link demanded.

“She’s around back,” Purah said, Link immediately walking to find his Princess. “Wait,” Purah said, stopping him and prompting him to turn back around. “I thought you two were past her running from you.”

“We are,” Link said. “Well, we were...there was just a misunderstanding. I’ll fix it.”

“Well then I wish you the best of luck, young knight,” Purah said before closing the door.

Link tread around the lab, finding Zelda hugging her knees and staring out at the vast sea, lit by the moonlight. Link questioned whether or not she knew he was here, whether she would have run and whether he had the courage to make himself known.

“I was trying to bridge the gap without letting that out,” Zelda said suddenly, alerting Link to the fact that she did in fact know. He leaned casually on the outside wall of the lab, his ears penned for her next words. “I don’t want to lose you because of the distance I have to keep to not...get too close. I was trying to follow your mother’s advice to not let this get in the way of still being there for each other.” Zelda laughed at herself. “I did a great job.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Link said. “Besides, I get where you are coming from. When we talked about focusing only on defeating the calamity, I think we both had this in mind...of course thinking that the other person didn’t. And yes, Your Highness, that means I like you back, for better or worse.”

Zelda tried not to let her heart flutter with joy, not to jump up and into his arms. She tried to look at the ocean and forget that his eyes were the same, beautiful color.

“I can’t erase my feelings,” Link said. “Can you?”

Zelda shook her head.

“No,” she replied.

Link finally stepped forward and knelt next to her to match her eye line, Zelda looked over to him once he did. They couldn’t but smile at the sight of the other.

“This is insane,” Link said. “I mean you of all people like like me.”

“The irony is not lost on me,” Zelda said with a slight laugh. Link moved to sit on his heels and took her hands into his. Zelda reveled in the feeling, in the moments, in his touch, in everything about this.

“This is still a bit bizarre for me,” Link said. “And new and scary, but...I’m willing to wait for you until after the calamity is defeated...to wait to truly pursue this. I will support you and care about you sincerely until then but if you feel I’m not worth the wait--”

“You are,” Zelda said quickly with a smile. “You are.”

Link blushed, his head hanging down as he chuckled, filled with disbelief. He was almost tearing up at what he had found in her, how lucky he was. He raised his hand, pinkie outstretched.

“Let’s make a promise then, to pause this budding romance until we defeat the calamity once and for all, to still be there for each other with the same love, care, and support, but not risk our common sense because of it.”

Zelda eyed his outstretched pinkie.

“A pinkie promise?” Zelda asked with a raised brow. “That’s how we are going to seal this?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Zelda smiled as she brought her hands to his, clasping his pinkie back into his fisted hand and holding it.

“How about a kiss?” She asked. “Just this once...for now at least.”

“What?” Link asked, his smile fading and his face reddening as much as Zelda had ever seen it. Zelda laughed.

“Link,” she said. “It’s okay.”

“Are you sure,” Link asked. “I mean you’re royalty and I’m just--”

Zelda surged forward and met her lips to his, Link soon giving in, placing his hand on her cheek as something stoked with their very souls, their silent promise continuing. The passion of their blooming love was balanced by the hesitation of their first kiss.

“You better remember this,” Zelda said as she withdrew.

“Like I could forget,” Link said jokingly.

[potahun]

Some more Qin Shen Shen moments translations (Part 10/?)

2020 S2 Reunion Edition 1/?

Link to other translations so far.

I will just...translate all the cuts from S2E10 and any related materials I can find, since I have been Qin Shen Shen-deprived, and one episode is really not enough. But the cuts are long, so I will divide it into parts.

a. Cuts from the interview with Wen Yu Xin Tian Di prior to the reunion episode S2E10:

ZS: Hel- LKQ, very fast: Hello everyone, hello everyone, hello everyone, we are Qin Shen Shen!!

ZS: *pauses before calmly picking up again* Hello to the viewers of Wen Yu Xin Tian Di. We are (finishing with LKQ: Qin Shen Shen~~)

(...)

ZS: Even though it’s been a long time since we’ve last seen each other, almost a year, (LKQ: Pretty much) after we did see each other again, it was like it hasn’t been that long since we separated. It’s just...fight when we want, act silly when we want, play when we want and laugh when we want -- *gasps at self* it rhymes. 

LKQ: Yeah, actually, at the outset, before I saw you again, I was a little worried. (ZS makes a surprised face) As in, would it feel like we haven’t seen each other in a long time, would it feel a little foreign...? (ZS: Really?) But NOT AT ALL.

ZS lets out a laugh.

LKQ: It’s still the same old....*strikes a pose instead of finishing the sentence* 

ZS:  Your Mandarin is also the same old one. *laughs*

LKQ: *nods* Yes.

(...)

LKQ: We’d often care about each other. (T/N: Sorry, based on what the voice-over said, I don’t know if what he says here is “we’d ask each other how the other is doing”, or “we’d think about the other’s well-being”, as in, it’s not clear to me whether they verbalised the care)

ZS: Yes. We’re...facing special times, so...just hoping everyone can take care of their health.

LKQ: Yes, but also: I’ve seen on the net that Zhou Shen’s done so many shows with different styles. (ZS: Heh. *nods* Mm.) He’s really worked very hard. 

ZS: Eh? It’s not so bad. I’ve simply had lots of fun playing games (in variety shows). (LKQ: The traditional clothing *unintelligible* is not bad!)... I’M NOT TIRED AT ALL~ (Both laugh)

Side-note: The traditional clothing might or might not be a reference to Youth Periplous 2 cosplays, since Zhou Shen did get a traditional outfit in YP2, but who knows what Li Keqin saw online. 

b. Li Keqin’s solo interview with Litchi’s New Year’s Eve. The interview question is “Is there any difference between your collaboration with Zhou Shen this time (in 2020) and last time (in Wo Men De Ge S1)?”

LKQ: His voice fits in the type that goes really high, and is very sharp. Mine is relatively deep, and thicker. We didn’t think the chemistry that would happen (by combining them) would be this strong. No matter what, a duo like ours shouldn’t become one of those “senior-junior” relationships, where we are forever speaking courteously to each other like “Ahhh, big brother Keqin~!” If we are to be a duo, then we’re at the same level of seniority. That’d give the audience a sense of familiarity. 

Side-note: He actually hasn't answered the question. 

c. S2E10: Backed by popular demand, Qin Shen Shen returns to Wo Men De Ge. The camera shows the two walking in the backstage as they head onstage.

LKQ, stopping to look at a placard: Eeeehhh. 

ZS: What, what are you looking at?

LKQ: This wasn’t here last year.  

ZS, grabs him by the wrist to pull him along: Why do you make it sound like we didn’t have anything last year?

LKQ, still wants to stop: Can we take a selfie?

ZS, yelling: We had that!

d. S2E10: Qin Shen Shen make it to the stage, while the other contestants are already seated. 

ZS: Hello everyone, I’m Zhou Shen~ We’re back again!

MC: Welcome! Welcome back to Qin Shen Shen! Welcome Shen Shen, welcome teacher Keqin, welcome!

LKQ & ZS, standing side by side onstage: Thank you, thank you.

LKQ and ZS look at each other, making the latter laugh, while LKQ slowly starts to circle around him. 

ZS, backing away: *laughs* Wait a minute...! What is this supposed to mean, what are you... *changes places with LKQ and puts some distance between them* I’ll use my toad technique: kwak! 

ZS grabs LKQ who is still circling to put him back in place.

LKQ: It’s been a while since we’ve been here. 

ZS: Stand properly while talking. 

LKQ: Right.

ZS: Right, it’s been a while since we’ve been here.

MC: Do you feel like anything has changed on this stage?

LKQ: Well, I do like the dry ice. *motions towards the dry ice on the floor, making the MC laugh* (to ZS) We’ve been talking about this issue all last year.

ZS: Yeah, I noticed there’s this issue in this season too. Some people would get a bridge, some people would get a door, some would get a mountain, and when it comes to us, it’s just ...(LKQ: Dry ice.) ...dry ice.

MC: Everyone knows that Qin Shen Shen is just one group of Li Keqin’s. Teacher Keqin has another group called “Ke Bu Rong Huan”. (ZS: Oooh!) And the ��Rong” of “Ke Bu Rong Huan” is sitting over there (aka Rong Zu Er/Joey Yung).

LKQ (to ZS): Do you want to say hi? To elder sis Zu Er. 

ZS: I already did!! *bows all the same* Teacher Zu Er, hello!

RZE: Hello. *bows too* Fellow student Zhou Shen, hello.

ZS, bowing again: Hello, teacher. Hello.

RZE: Let me introduce you! *points next to her*  Miss Xilinnayi Gao. Zu Er’s little sister. 

LKQ: *waves* Hi. Little sister, hello. (ZS makes a face)

XLNYG: *bows* Teacher Keqin, hello.

LKQ bows again in response. ZS sees LKQ bow and follows suit.

RZE: Next to me is Tai Yi. (TY also stands up and bows silently)

LKQ, bowing back, along with ZS: Hello, hello. I saw on the show that you talk very little.

RZE: He always talks precisely. 

ZS: So both short, and precise. (RZE: Yes) OK.

RZE, continuing the presentations: Teacher A Zhe~

Zhang Xin Zhe and Qin Shen Shen continue with the bowing fest and courteous greetings.

RZE: Teacher Wang Yuan~

WY, also standing up to bow: Hello to both teachers.

Qin Shen Shen, by now synchronised in their bows: Wang Yuan, hello~ *more bows*

ZS (to himself): So polite. *bows again*

RZE: Teacher Chang Shi Lei~

Qin Shen Shen, synchronised again in their bows: Hello, hello.

CSL, standing up: Both of you, you’ve had it hard (referring to all the bowing)

LKQ: It’s already been 15 minutes!

RZE: You wanted me to introduce you!

ZXZ: This...Qin Shen Shen is...you know, before we came to participate to “Wo Men De Ge”, Qin Shen Shen was this tale you’d hear underground. You’d hear all sorts of tales, many of them. And today, we finally see them onstage, after struggling for this long...But I think it’s worth it. Because this kind of stage needs a chemical reaction like yours, to bring us more surprises.

RZE (about QSS): They have so much chemistry. (ZXZ: Yeah!)

[violetlou2020]

Day 5 of @flufftober2021

Watching the Sunrise

Title: In This Moment [CHAPTER 2]

Author: Vividly_Violet

Rating: General

Relationship: Mikey | Sano Manjirou/Takemitchy | Hanagaki Takemichi, Mitsuya Takashi & Takemitchy | Hanagaki Takemichi, Hanagaki Takemichi & Toman Gang

Word Count: 1227

[read chapter 1 here]

[ao3 link]

Takemichi doesn't know how long they've been riding. The pair losing track of time as they continue to ride in comfortable silence with Mikey clinging to Takemitchy's waist. Occasionally they would stop by at some interesting landmarks so that his boyfriend could look or laugh at it or sometimes stopping Mikey from stealing traffic cones.

The pleasant morning cold air and Mikeys warmth against his back rid him of his tiredness as he steadily pedaled down the street.

Ever since he and Mikey crossed paths, where the light blond teen called him his bitch and knocked out Kiyomasa in one kick, his life has been drastically changed. Mikey changed it.

Because even when he had the mizo middle crew, he wasn't much open to them. They would hang out occasionally, try and act cool before getting beaten up but there was still this distance between them when they'll excuse themselves from hanging out because of plans made with their family or previous engagement with friends outside of their little group. Takemichi never really learned to branch out from those four. Growing up alone with no one to talk or turn to can do that to a person.

But Mikey and his gang bulldozed their way through his pathetic little self contained box. Dragged him in situations he never thought he could get in to, pushed him from his comfort zone, made him immediately care for a bunch of rowdy punch drunk teens and showed him how broken people can still fully function and be happy with the shit their life has been dealt with. He was grateful for it.

He found his resolved because of Mikey. He found that spark he was missing that enabled him to live his life the way he wanted it. To live life without regrets. In a way it saved him and he — despite not believing what Draken, Chifuyu or even Mitsuya say that he saved Toman by saving Mikey — Takemichi can't help but feel like he can never be enough for Mikey by being with him. For allowing him to stand by his side, for introducing him to the rest of the Gang. Sometimes he wonders if he truly deserves this.

"—mitchy"

"Ta~ ke~ mitchy~ are you listening?"

"Ahh I'm sorry Mikey-kun, what where you saying?"

"Geez you can drop the honorific ya'know we've been dating for what? Almost a year now? How 'bout calling me Manjirou."

"What! I— I can't! that'll be too embarrassing." the teen spluttered, Mikey just pouted.

"You're thinking to deeply again? about us?"

"Wha— no I'm not." Takemichi lied.

"Yes you are, You were in that type of quiet again."

"Type of quiet?" he can feel Mikey nod against his back.

"You have the 'quiet' where you're fed up and don't want to be bothered by it anymore. The 'quiet' where your head is empty, only Mikey—"

"I don't have that—"

"Yes you do. You also have this 'quiet' where you just like listening to others when Chifuyu starts talking about his manga, or with Takashi about his sisters and new design or with Draken and his motorcycles and even with Hakkai when he gets started on how he thinks Takashi is the greatest. You even listen to Keisuke rant about how 'Tora is being a little shit in his letters." Mikey laughed then in a quiet voice continued.

"and that 'quiet' where you think you don't deserve me." Takemichi didn't refute any of it. A couple of silence passes before Mikey stood from his sit on the bike causing it to wobble.

"Mikey-kun sit down we're gonna fall at this rate." but the light blond teen didn't listen instead he jumped off the bicycle. Takemichi immediately hit the breaks.

"That was dangerous! Mikey-kun!" the Toman leader didn't respond instead he went to the side of the road, in the distance a bridge was visible and Takemichi realized this was the area Mikey and Draken had dragged him to when they kidnap him for their second meeting because Mikey wanted ro play. Takemichi sighed and parked his bicycle up the side of the road before going down the slope where Mikey was already lying down, a blade of grass sticking out from his pouting lips.

The awfully blond haired teen sat himself besides his boyfriend.

"It's not that I don't think I don't deserve you, you kinda threw that notion out a while back when you shouted why you think it's completely the opposite and you're the one who doesn't deserve me but you still wanted to be with me...to the entire student body of my school. That was the talk of the school for months and wouldn't even leave the school papers until Chifuyu blackmailed the editors. Or at least that's what I think he did or Hakkai probably paid them off to stop..."

"Anyway, I was thinking how lucky I was because of you. Sure there's still some insecurities here and there. You're amazing Mikey-kun, compared to me–"

"You're the one that's amazing."

"Not really—" Mikey furiously shook his head and threw himself at Takemichi, burying his face on the younger teens stomach.

"You saved Draken, You saved Baji, convinced Kazutora to fix himself, fixed the Shiba siblings, you're food is amazing, you're really pretty, your eyes and smile and—"

"That's— can you please shut up. I'm gonna burst into flames here!" Takemichi protested, a fierce blush covering his whole face.

"But red suits you." the older teen teased. "plus I've got a hundred couple more things to aay about you, you need to hear it all. As your boyfriend and leader I command you to listen to me rant about how gorgeous and—" Takemichi kissed the older teen effectively shutting Mikey up and just as quickly as he pressed his lips against the shorter blond he immediately backed off, face beet red as he hid his face on his palms.

"Geez You're impossible." Takemichi muttered, face still hidden. "Ok fine, I'm amazing, you're amazing. We both are. There you happy now?"

"Yup!" Mikey pulled Takemichi closer, resting his head on the younger ones shoulder.

The pair sat in comfortable silence and watched as light slowly began to break through the darkness.

"The suns rising, we've been out that long huh?" Takemichi said, enjoying warmth heat from the rays of light that touched his skin.

"Ne Takemitchy~" Mikey tugged at his sleeve. The younger teen turned to face him, a question at the tip of his tongue when he was met with a kiss on his lips. Takemichi froze in surprise before kissing back. They gasped for air and rested their foreheads against each other.

Mikey had his eyes closed, a smile splayed on his lips. "Love you." the older teen said. A soft smile made its way to Takemichi's face.

"Love you to... Manjirou." Mikey tackled his Takemitchy at that and together they continued to watch the sun rise.

🔹🔹🔹

"And where were you two this morning?" Mitsuya asked, arms crossed across his chest, one hand holding a spatula. Both Mikey and Takemichi were kneeling on the floor of the kitchen at the feet of the angry second division captain. Behind him Draken, Chifuyu and Baji were enjoying their stacks of pancakes. Hakkai for some reason was there as well and was seated next to Chifuyu, cheeks stuffed with food lazily waving at them.

"Mikey dragged me out!" Takemichi protested.

"What am I going to do with you two." the pale lavender haired teen rhetorically asked.

Mikey meanwhile was tugging on the second division captains apron.

"Feed me?" Mitsuya sighed.

[tobeornottotc]

Things to look out for in TKEM to know where the show’s going - King Arthur Part 2 (Lee Gon)

Gon as King Arthur 

  The Unbreakable Sword

In the legend of Arthur, Excalibur is the legendary sword that is associated with the right sovereignty of Britain and magical powers. Basically, it claims Arthur as the rightful noble blooded king. Again, this goes back to how fatal Lim’s plan is, it just won’t be because it goes against Fate. Only the pulling of the sword from the stone act could not be performed except by "the true king” again the motif keeps repeating about this, Noble blood. It focuses on the fated and correct heir to the throne. Which is Gon hence why he is given two different swords in the show. One can represent the sword in the stone- I believe this is the actual sword bestowed by his father and the sword he uses to threaten Lim on the phone about the rightful ownership of the throne. Then there’s beautiful Yeong and Eun sup who is my opinion the representation of Excalibur. In Arthurian legend the sword and the stone may be the same and may also be different.  Excalibur was given to Arthur by the lady of the lake (will go into more detail about her later)

 “ Excalibur's scabbard was said to have powers of its own, as the one wearing it would not lose even a drop of blood, Any wounds received while wearing the scabbard would not bleed at all, thus preventing the death of the wearer”

 Yeong as the unbreakable sword, and Eun Sup who protected Gon in episode 10 preventing him from essentially bleeding and dying. Yeong has been assigned by Gon as his protector from their childhood, and he gladly has taken the role, its his sole aim, Eun sup also takes on this role for the good of mankind. Yeong becomes the weapon of Gon, his greatest one, he confidently states happily about how great Yeong is when he’s confronted by the gangsters, and he always feel safe being watched and looked over by his unbreakable sword. The transfer of the sword when they were kids was the transfer of the responsibility to Yeong. In a way the first sword which probably would be used to kill Lim represents the rightful ownership, whilst Yeong (remember as well that Gon uses the sword for protection since he was a little child) is the sword he uses for protection of himself and his monarchy. The ending where Excalibur is thrown back into the lake makes me feel unsettled, I can see Yeong sacrificing his self to save Gon, but we know that is what is in his fate. Yeong has not yet been visited by Fate yet so I will keep hoping that means he doesn’t die. 

 Merlin and the prophecy – Lady Noh 

King Arthur is counselled by the one and only magician also old and always in the know of his tragic fate Merlin. Merlin has powers and is seen as an incredibly wise powerful wizard. This is so easy for me because Lady Noh has been the mischievous elderly magician in Gon’s life. In the first episode she uses talismans to get Gon to fall for a woman and sets people to find him when he disappears. She sets a kid to ask about Gon and love as well during the conversation about Alice in the wonderland which minutes later Gon is chasing after Luna in the same week he meets Taeul. She also knows that Taeul’s id card would be stolen and tries to figure out who did so before we know what’s going on. I think both she and Buyeong who has now died both were in the know of Gon’s fate. She secretly introduces Gon to Yeong and states cryptically that it is meant to be so. She never asks Gon where he goes and leaves him to surrender to his destiny even when she feels sad at the fate he has. He still must succumb to his fate which is to always choose Taeul. She also is the one who held the flute and Taeul’s id card and reintroduces it to Gon when they discuss his need to know who saved him. She reads books foreshadowing all about a man in search of his loved one, waiting hopefully to find her one day. She hires Nair I can see her doing this because she can tell that Yeong is connected to her. The all-knowing, powerful woman who has already pushed Gon to his fate is exactly playing her role in the show as Merlin. It makes so much sense and I’m so happy it finally clicked for me. But what’s more intriguing is she’s following Fate, not fighting it which is another clue that Fate is on Gon’s side, Fate will help him find a loophole to escape his tragic fate.

 The Knights of the round table

I didn’t mention this link with Lee Lim, but it also is connected to him as well. The round table was a symbol of unity of knighthood under Arthur’s reign gifted to him by Guinevere. Its all about people who are aiding Arthur in his quest. This represents the groups of people on both sides that are brewing for both Gon and Lee Lim. For Gon it’s the detectives and Taeul, and his legion of bodyguards that follow him and protect him. For Lee Lim it’s the subjects he’s been grooming endlessly for his final battle formation. Gon has his own knights by being the rightful heir to the throne, and falling in love with the girl who is connected to helping him also protect the world from Lee Lim. Again, Gon’s round table is for protection. Lee Lim on the other hand uses vengeance and envy to groom his people, they kill to be part of his round table, they are in debt to him and stay because of fear. Lee Lim is again using his round table for violence and hate. Lee Lim truly is a warped version of Arthur I think its because he’s convinced him self that by drawing the sword, he had become the right King. Lee Lim’s round table also show up and help him kill his brother, they then faked their suicide and escaped to the other side of Korea lying in wait. His own team is larger and that’s why I think he’s the one who has a round table of ‘knights’ that helps him on his quest. And the interesting thing about this is one person can join the round table of both. And that’s Kang Shin Jae.

Also I just remembered the episode where Taeul pretends be a body guard along side Gon’s team and I think that’s exactly the image I have of the round table for Gon, his body guards, her, and the detective squad are all part of his table.

  Lancelot and Guinevere

This brings me to the next topic again. Shin Jae is the most likely to be Lancelot. I have another theory which I will discuss after this. Shin Jae’s role as a ‘knight’ will be vital in the downfall of the Arthur of the story. He might become warped with jealousy and being upset at his fate that he chooses to betray Gon and Taeul. I don’t believe this because he is at the beginning (our present time, I will explain this in another post) with Taeul interrogating Lee Lim.  So, he like I said can be the Lancelot and Taeul his Guinevere in that equation to Lim’s Arthur. If Shin Jae is not the Lancelot to Gon’s Arthur, then who is it? I’ve read another theory on this and I know that Lancelot must be part of Gon’s round table, he’s his closest confidant. Its not Yeong however because as mentioned Yeong has no reason for jealousy with Gon or betrayal, he’s busy playing the role of Excalibur.

My focus is on Seok. I’ve been told he’s acting fishy; he lies about the library which we know exists, he also acts fishy when Gon tells him to find a 70-year-old man like he knows Lim does not look 70. He has every potential to be the Lancelot that betrays Gon. Anyone in his bodyguard group though could do this too. But the reason I’m still struggling with this is where’s his connection to Guinevere. I can see KES however using Lancelot’s plight of choosing between God (Justice and being good) vs Temptation (Being evil and lusting for wealth instead of Guinevere). He doesn’t have to betray Gon due to jealousy of love but can just be jealous of his ownership to the throne. 

So, this brings us to the next question. If Gon is Arthur who is his Guinevere? Taeul? I disagree I think she’s more of a knight instead as mentioned before. But I almost forgot someone else who’s desperate to marry Gon for the throne, who is so interconnected with Lee Lim’s plans and is being recruited secretly as a pawn. Lee Lim has an eye for Prime minister Koo. Lady Noh also distrusts her intentions with Gon calling her a ‘lunatic bitch’ and telling her that Gon would never be able to love her because she wants to crush not win his heart. Its fascinating no? 

I think this then makes sense to me, Koo is Guinevere in this case because she is also connected to Gon’s monarchy, she’s his right-hand man and has control over affairs of Coria. She’s greedy and covets the throne not for the right reasons, and if she goes against him it would cause Gon to trip like how Guinevere’s relationship with Lancelot causes Arthur to fall. Another person that could also be this role is Luna, but I don’t think she’s evil, so I won’t delve deeper into that theory. Koo acts in my opinion as the most likely to be Gon’s Guin. 

 Who is Mordred then?

This is another one because obviously Mordred is the one who kills Arthur. So obviously Lee Lim can be the Mordred but that doesn’t add up for me. So, this is only a theory in who could potentially end up being the person that causes the downfall of Gon. I think its to do with his mum and his Korean dopple ganger!! I know right? We still have her as a character that is under Lim’s capture, and she seems to be held captive for a reason. We also did not see Gon’s parallel die by the hands of Lee Lim, we were told it. For a show that’s really using the show does not tell rule it doesn’t add up. Why didn’t we see the body like we saw for the father, why was the scene of Lim meeting Gon’s mother so secretive and full of withheld information? Is Gon 2.0 alive? Is he Jaded; has he been raised by Lim to destroy Gon? Also again deep the story of Arthur and Mordred, Mordred as little child was almost killed because of a prophecy that he will cause Arthur’s downfall but failure to kill him ended up causing him to be raised on hate and vengeance against Arthur who is his uncle/father in different stories. So, what if Lee Lim’s failure to again get rid of the little boy who Gon thinks is dead is the closest person to him that can cause his downfall? What’s more like a familial bond, than an actual blood link between both Gon and his Mordred? This is only a theory as mentioned I don’t know if Gon 2.0 exists but if he does, he’s going to definitely play the Mordred character to Gon’s Arthur. Let me know what you guys think about this. 

 The quest for the Holy Grail

This is another brain dump/ theory. But the story revolves around the quest of finding the holy grail an artifact that presents an otherworldly power that even Arthur’s knights are incapable of achieving. This for me makes sense and connects to Gon’s quest and Lee Lim’s to find the other part of the magical flute from their counterpart. The Flute like the holy grail represents a powerful object that has powers that no one fully understands and is seen to show that Arthur’s England is going to last and survive. The title the King eternal monarch again comes back here, because that’s the aim of the end of this story, one person is meant to find the flute and use it when whole to ensure his monarchy and reign lasts forever. However, in the legend this quest ends up as a failure. This is also interesting because it also foreshadows futile attempt at getting that happy ending that Gon is looking for. This made me worried that we might have a sad ending, but I don’t think so. If Lee Lim is the Arthur, then failure to achieve this quest makes sense because it means Gon wins the battle and he never gets to achieve his aim.  If Gon is Arthur, this means that something has gone wrong that prevents him from fulfilling his aim and his monarchy never stays stable. This is where we go back again to the prophesied tragic fate between him and Taeul. Instead of completing the quest for the flute, Gon must keep relieving this whole thing all over again, his quest never ends because he’s always going back in time to find Taeul. Because of this, his monarchy is eternal but not really done properly. In the end the quest is deviated and prevented from being complete because the Flute will always be broken and Gon will always have to go on a quest to find the other half. Like how he’s also searching for his other half, Taeul every single time. The worst we can get as an ending for this show is an open ending where Gon must keep restarting this fate, I really hope we find a way out of this loop though. This also is a reason for why Lee Lim as Arthur also fails this quest too. He never gets to have his reign of the two kingdoms because of this eternal loop.

Reincarnation- The once and future King. 

At the end of every legend of Arthur, Merlin believes he’ll come back again by reincarnation. Like I said Lady Noh is our Merlin, she seems to understand that Gon has a tragic fate to keep repeating this cycle. The theory is that Arthur will one day return and save his people. Therefore, although tragic, there’s a hopeful premise to the show, Gon will keep returning and finding Taeul and one day he’ll end up getting out of the loop. Whilst Arthur will use reincarnation to reappear, Gon will use the one thing he’s had by his side! Time, to cross the universe, reopen the gates and meet Taeul. Therefore, his eternity is Taeul, he’ll always keep looking for her, staying king in his own world and time, and fighting Lee Lim. But he will always end up being the one to save the people and his kingdom.

[dweemeister]

2020 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (final round)

(Yet again, tumblr has not fixed bullet indentations. So this post doesn’t look as clean on your dashboards.)

TAGGING (among others): @addaellis, @cokwong, @emilylime5, @halfwaythruthedark, @idontknowmuchaboutmovies, @introspectivemeltdown, @maximiliani, @memetoilet, @monkeysmadeofcheese, @myluckyerror, @plus-low-overthrow, @shootingstarvenator, @themusicmoviesportsguy, @theybecomestories, @umgeschrieben, @underblackwings, @voicetalentbrendan​, @thewolfofelectricavenue, and @yellanimal.

I would also like to tag some followers/previous participants as well who I also would welcome to participate in this final round: @birdsongvelvet​, @bitch-genius​, @dog-of-ulthar​, @loveless422​, @lvl9gay​, @mehetibel​, @phendranaedge​, @poncho-honcho​, @sayaf​, @shadesofhappy​, @thethirdman8​, @uncoolforelimb​, and @wehadfacesthen​. Regardless of whether you were tagged or not, all of my followers can participate if they wish.

Happy Holidays to all! After a fascinating preliminary round, now begins the final round to 2020's Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (MOABOS). This is the eighth time it has been contested and the seventh year it has been open to involvement from family, friends, and tumblr followers. I begin every new year not knowing whether I will be able to share with all of you these songs and the movies they come from around November/December. So on the day that MOABOS becomes viable (usually around mid-year), it's a long stretch of anticipation to this point.

For those who have never participated in this before, my classic movie blog traditionally ends the year by honoring some of the best achievements from movies that I saw for the first time this calendar year (the "Movie Odyssey"; rewatches do not count) with an Oscar-like ceremony. I choose all the nominees and winners from each category, save one: Best Original Song. It is the only category I can think of that does not require you to watch several movies in their entirety. I know some of you wonder why I bother with this quixotic social experiment. But I have always considered it a sort of cinematic-musical thank-you for your moral support in various ways - in the hopes of introducing to all of you films and music you may not have otherwise encountered or sought. A small slice of the 2020 Movie Odyssey, so to speak.

This final will be contested by sixteen songs. As I've mentioned before, for the first time ever, there are no MOABOS entries originating from this year that made the competition - a MOABOS first. I have seen one 2020 film since the prelim (Wolfwalkers... at a drive-in mind you), but this entire final is one of yesteryear. Even without any 1930s songs, this year's final is probably the oldest on average. There are some very recognizable songs that made it straight to the final, bypassing the preliminary; those songs are contained within. Among them, a city anthem and a song that should be a city's anthem. Elsewhere, this is the first final to ever feature two classic Bollywood songs - but no classic Bollywood song has ever cracked the top ten. Elvis has three songs in this final, a MOABOS joint record along with Prince and the Bee Gees (both in 2016). But also appearing in multiple entries are Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. With five non-English-language songs in the final, this year’s final ties 2017 with the largest contingent of finalists not in the English language.

INSTRUCTIONS Please rank (#1-16) your choices in order. The top ten songs will receive nominations. The tabulation method used in the preliminary round is being used for the final only as the second tiebreaker (the tabulation method that will be used principally for the final - aka "single transferable vote" - is described in the “read more” at the bottom). There is no minimum or maximum amount of songs you can rank, but because of the nature of single transferable vote, it is highly recommended to rank as many songs as possible, rather than only one or two. Those who rank fewer songs run a greater risk of their ballots being discarded in the later rounds of tabulation. Again, this is all described in the “read more”.

Please consider to the best of your ability: how musically interesting the song is (incl. and not limited to musical phrasing and orchestration); its lyrics; context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films); choreography/dance direction (if applicable); and the song's cultural impact/life outside the film (if applicable, and, in my opinion, least important factor). Imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song. I encourage you to send in comments and reactions with your rankings - it makes the process more enjoyable for you and myself!

The deadline for submission is Thursday, December 31 at 8 PM Pacific Time. That is 6 PM Hawaii/Aleutian Time / 10 PM Central / 11 PM Eastern. That deadline is also Friday, January 1 at 2 AM GMT / 3 AM CET / 4 AM EET. This deadline has been pushed back two consecutive times due to a sizable non-response rate - but I very much do not want to do so again.

I have compiled most of this final round's songs into this YouTube playlist. Please note that neither of Kaagaz Ke Phool’s two songs are contained in the playlist. You will need to access them using their respective links.

Enjoy the music! Feel free to listen as many times as you need, and I hope you discover music and movies you may have never otherwise heard of that you find fascinating. The following is formatted... ("Song title", composer and lyricist, film title):

2020 MOVIE ODYSSEY AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG – FINAL ROUND

“Angela”, music and lyrics by José Feliciano and Janna Merlyn Feliciano, Aaron Loves Angela (1975)

Performed by José Feliciano

(English-language version) / (Spanish single version)

Played over the opening credits to this teenage drama that is partly a blaxploitation film, partly an interracial coming-of-age romance. The movie wasn't a hit, but the Spanish-language version of this song was received well in Latin America.

“Blue Shadows on the Trail”, music and lyrics by Eliot Daniel and Johnny Lange, Melody Time (1948)

Performed by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers

This is the introductory song to the final segment of Melody Time. That segment is dedicated to the legend of Pecos Bill, and this atmospheric song leads into the telling of that story.

“Can’t Help Falling in Love”, music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss, Blue Hawaii (1961)

Performed by Elvis Presley

(film version) / (single version)

Chadwick "Chad" Gates (Elvis) has just returned to his home state of Hawai'i after a stint in the Army. Not wanting to work on his father's pineapple plantation (seriously), he rekindles his relationship with his girlfriend, Maile (Joan Blackman). This song is sung as an accompaniment to a music box he gives to Maile's grandmother (Flora Kaai Hayes, a former Hawaiian Territorial Representative to the U.S. House). This song is among Elvis' best-known and most widely-covered.

“Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari / Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari”, music by S.D. Burman, lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, India)

Performed by Mohammad Rafi (dubbing Guru Dutt)

Lyrics in Hindi - roughly, "I Have Seen How Deeply Friendship Lies / I Have Seen People Abandon Me One by One"

Part 1 (3:44-8:27) / Part 2 (2:16:29-2:20:42)

Make sure to turn on the video’s English captions

In this romantic tragedy, Suresh Sinha (Dutt) is a washed-up director looking back on his life. In the first part, the song leads into the rest of the film - which is almost entirely a flashback. In brief, Suresh is unhappily married to a woman whose in-laws look down on him because, to them, working in films is contemptible to their social class. Suresh meets a woman, Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), on accident and she is soon cast as the lead for his next film. They fall in love, but it is never consummated for various reasons. Eventually, his career crashes after a box office bomb and her career is ascendant. Leading into the second part of the song, Suresh is penniless and working as an extra at the movie studio. Shanti recognizes him, wants to help, but he refuses to revive his career on the back of her success. Kaagaz Ke Phool has elements of autobiography, and Suresh's fate has parallels with what happened to Dutt after this film was released.

“(Do You Know What It Means to Miss) New Orleans”, music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans (1947)

Initially performed by Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong and his band; reprised by various

(initial film performance) / (Louis Armstrong single version)

Endie (Holiday in her only appearance in a feature film) is a maid to the affluent Smith family, whose matriarch looks down on jazz as a disreputable genre of music. In secret, Endie frequents a gambling and jazz establishment in the historic Storyville district of New Orleans and performs here with Louis Armstrong (playing himself) and others when she gets the chance. The matriarch's daughter (Dorothy Patrick), an classical operatic soprano, is transfixed by this new music she has never heard before.

“ Exsultate Justi”, music and lyrics by John Williams, Empire of the Sun (1987)

Performed by orchestra and chorus under the direction of Williams

Lyrics in Latin

In this historical epic, affluent British school boy Jamie Graham (a young Christian Bale) is living with his parents in Shanghai when the Japanese invade. Jamie is separated from his parents and placed in an internment camp. Soon before the end of WWII, the prisoners are moved elsewhere, but Jamie hides and stays put. This song plays as Jamie bikes around the empty camp and continues to play as he encounters liberating U.S. troops. Jamie is dirty and malnourished when found; one can argue that this song is used ironically. It plays once more over the end credits. "Exsultate Justi" is a variation on a theme John Williams develops over the course of the film and harkens back to Jamie's past, attending Anglican services with parents.

“Farewell to Storyville",  music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans (1947)

Performed by Louis Armstrong and his band, Billie Holiday, and company

In New Orleans, the Storyville district was a den of drinking, gambling, jazz, and prostitution. The district was the home to a heavily black populace. The U.S. military, about to establish a Naval base nearby, forces the city to close the district for good. This song is a swinging dirge to a center of jazz - a musical genre looked down upon by many of the city's upper-class whites due to its ties (real and imagined) to crime.

“Happy Endings", music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York (1977)

Performed by Liza Minnelli and company (that's Jack Haley - who played the Tin Man and was, at the time, Minnelli's father-in-law - roughly seven minutes in)

(use in film) / (soundtrack version)

It is highly recommended one sees how this song is used in the film. Bear with me: this song is part of a movie within a movie. Within that movie within a movie, there is another movie. "Happy Endings" is the title end song to a film called Happy Endings within New York, New York. Singer Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) has made it big as a recording artist and caps off her hit film, Happy Endings, with this song. We see Francine's ex, played by Robert De Niro, in the audience as the film ends. "Happy Endings" is a homage/deconstruction to midcentury Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) musicals. It serves the film as "The Broadway Melody" does to Singin' in the Rain (1952) or the 17-minute ballet does to conclude An American in Paris (1951).

“Here They Come (From All Over the World)", music and lyrics by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Performed by Jan and Dean

The link above provides the entire film. You only need to watch from 0:00-4:11. If you like music from this era or want to hear more, this film is highly, highly recommended.

This is the opening credits song to a concert film recorded over two days in Santa Monica, California on October 28 and 29, 1964. The Teenage Awards Music International (T.A.M.I. - yes, I know it's an awkward name) Show included many of the most popular musical stars of that time - almost all of them name-dropped in this song. Jan and Dean, a surf music duo, served as hosts (and performed during) the show. You folks are lucky that this is the only original song from this film!

“Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?", music and lyrics by Yôjirô Noda, Weathering with You (2019, Japan)

Performed by RADWIMPS

Lyrics in Japanese (translation)

Weathering with You is a romantic fantasy anime about a high school boy who runs away from his rural home to Tokyo, where he meets a girl who can manipulate the weather. It has been inexplicably raining for weeks without interruption in Tokyo, so they form a business to help clear the inclement weather for special events. The melody of this song is heard throughout the film's score. It does not appear with lyrics until late in the film. The song is played under the boy's seemingly impossible attempt to save her from an unwilling human sacrifice.

There is so much plot in this damn film (it's all Makoto Shinkai's fault) - I can't explain the context of the song or this movie in a reasonable amount of space.

“Moonlight Swim”, music by Ben Weisman, lyrics by Sylvia Dee, Blue Hawaii (1961)

Performed by Elvis Presley

In a musical packed end-to-end with songs, Chadwick "Chad" Gates (Elvis) has taken a job with a tour guide agency. On his first day, he drives his first clients - a school teacher (who not so secretly is attracted to Chad) and four teenagers (one of whom becomes smitten) - to their destination.

“Personality”, music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke, Road to Utopia (1946)

Performed by Dorothy Lamour

(in-film performance) / (live radio performance)

In the fourth film of the Road to... comedy series, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby's characters have just overpowered two Alaskan thugs with a history of murderous violence. As they enter a saloon dressed up as those two thugs, all of the patrons - in a town that only knows the thugs by reputation - shut up in terror. They are treated to a performance by Sal (Lamour), who is trying to find a map of a gold mine that the real outlaws supposedly have. A visual narrator (Robert Benchley) interrupts the scene before the song briefly.

“Please Don’t Stop Loving Me”, music and lyrics by Joy Byers, Frankie and Johnny (1966)

Performed by Elvis Presley

(in-film performance) / (single version)

Johnny (Elvis) and girlfriend Frankie (Donna Douglas) work on a Mississippi River riverboat as performers. Johnny is addicted to gambling and believes that another woman is spurring on his recent run of good luck. During a fit of jealousy-as-acting, Frankie accidentally shoots Johnny during a bit of musical theater (someone switched out the blanks for real bullets). This song occurs after Johnny has recovered from the accident.

“Theme from New York, New York”, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York (1977)

Performed by Liza Minnelli

(in-film performance) / (Frank Sinatra single)

For most of the film, saxophone player Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro) is trying to compose a song but cannot figure out the lyrics (this plays out as a subplot). His eventual girlfriend/later ex, Francine Evans (Minnelli) provides said lyrics. Some time well after they have broken up, he finds her singing this song - which he previously brought to the top of the jazz charts - in the nightclub where they first met. This film flopped (musical movies were out of fashion by the mid-'70s, and a musical didn't seem "on brand" for director Martin Scorsese). But the Frank Sinatra single popularized this song, and it has been used in many venues of popular culture.

“Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam”, music and lyrics by S.D. Burman, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, India)

Performed by Geeta Dutt (dubbing Waheeda Rehman)

Lyrics in Hindi - roughly, "Time Has Inflicted Such Sweet Cruelty On Us"

Song begins at 1:03:31 and ends at 1:07:51

Make sure to turn on the video’s English captions

In this romantic tragedy told in flashback, Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a director looking back on his life. Suresh is unhappily married to a woman whose in-laws look down on him because, to them, working in films is contemptible to their social class. Suresh meets a woman, Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), on accident and she is soon cast as the lead for his next film. They fall in love, but it is never consummated for various reasons. This song is the most explicit statement of that love in this film. How much of the scene's set-up is observable by the characters is up to the viewer's interpretation.

“You Make Me Feel So Young”, music by Josef Myrow, lyrics by Mack Gordon, Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)

Performed by Del Porter (dubbing Charles Smith) and Carol Stewart (dubbing Vera-Ellen)

(use in film) / (Frank Sinatra cover)

In this rarely-seen musical (*insert plea to Disney to restore the massive 20th Century Fox catalogue they now own and are almost certainly neglecting*), three chicken farmer sisters decide to travel to Atlantic City in hopes of marrying a rich husband when they learn their aunt's inheritance is not nearly as much as they want. There, youngest sister Myra (Vera-Ellen) - despite the sisters' original intentions of marrying men of wealth - becomes involved with a waiter named Mike (Charles Smith). They go on a date, and they sing this song. A somewhat overly-literal fantastical dancing sequence ensues, complete with Vera-Ellen's dancing skills. This song was popularized by Frank Sinatra years later and has long enjoyed status as a big band/jazz standard.

Contact me however you wish if you have questions or comments regarding MOABOS' processes or something specific about a song or a few. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are having difficulty accessing one of the songs (especially if it is region-locked) or if there is an error in the playlist.

Once more, I thank you all for your support for the Movie Odyssey, the blog, and for me personally - no matter how long I’ve known you or in what capacity. There are no hard feelings if you cannot get to this, although I will be checking in as the deadlines get close. Please wear a mask. Practice social distancing. We'll see each other again on the other side of this pandemic.

TABULATION The winner is determined by a process distinct from the preliminary round. For the final, the winner is chosen by the process known as single transferable vote (the Academy Awards uses this method to choose a Best Picture winner, visually represented here - you should really watch this video if the below doesn’t make sense… which it probably won’t):

All #1 picks from all voters are tabulated. A song needs more than half of all aggregate votes to win (50% of all votes plus one… i.e. if there are thirty respondents, sixteen #1 votes are needed to win on the first count).

If there is no winner after the first count (as is most likely), the song(s) with the fewest #1 votes or points is/are eliminated. Placement will be determined by the tiebreakers described below. Then, we look at the ballots of those who voted for the most recently-eliminated song(s). Their votes then go to the highest-remaining and non-eliminated song on their ballot.

The process described in step #2 repeats until one song has secured 50% plus one of all votes. We keep eliminating nominees and transfer votes to the highest-ranked, non-eliminated song on each ballot. NOTE: It is possible after several rounds of counting that respondents who did not entirely fill in their ballots will have wasted their votes at the end of the process. For example, if a person voted the second-to-last place song as their #1, ranked no other songs, and the count has exceeded two rounds, their ballot is discarded (lowering the vote threshold needed to win), and they have no say in which song ultimately is the winner.

A song wins when it reaches more than fifty percent of all #1 and re-distributed votes.

Tiebreakers: 1) first song to receive 50% plus one of all #1 and transferred votes; 2) total points earned (this was the first tiebreaker in the preliminary round); 3) total #1 votes; 4) average placement on my ballot and my sister’s ballot; 5) tie declared

Previous years’ results for reference: 2013 final 2014 final (input from family and friends began this year) 2015 final 2016 prelim / final 2017 prelim / final 2018 prelim / final 2019 prelim / final

[anthropologicalhands]

bro, tell me about three poems you've fallen in love with recently. also, i miss you. also, hi.

hello hello! sorry i’ve been scarce lately!

I’ve been in a wildly romantic mood for the last few months, possibly as escapism, possibly also because I was very preoccupied having feelings for someone from whom I am trying to move on from/have since moved on from, but for those reasons, anything about love or the all-encompassing sense of it has been helping me really sort through all of it.

Onto poetry!

I’ve been reading Rumi recently, and one of his poems that really stands out is called “The Marriage of True Minds”:

Happy the moment when we are seated in the palace, thou and I, With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I. The colours of the grove and the voices of the birds will bestow immortality At the time when we shall come into the garden, thou and I. The stars of Heaven will come to gaze upon us: We shall show them the moon herself, thou and I. Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy, Joyful and secure from foolish babble, thou and I. All the bright-plumed birds of Heaven will devour their hearts with envy In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I. This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook, Are at this moment both in Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.

The footnotes for this poem describe it as a description of a mystical union where lover and beloved become one with the universal essence of love. I’ve been curious about Persian, Arabic, and Sufi traditions in poetry just in general lately. I’ve also read different translations of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám - I have a volume with three different translation versions by Edward Fitzgerald which is supposedly widely reputed to be as beautiful as the original, though it isn’t necessarily the most accurate translation. But even the translator was always trying to get closer and closer, hence the multiple editions. The changes between the translations are very subtle but they change the tone significantly, which is just interesting to think about. I still feel like I’m missing a lot, but I hope to dig deeper here, because damn.

There is also Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness”, which I can link to, so I will. Naomi Shihab Nye has been one of my favorites ever since I started seriously reading poetry, but I’m always re/discovering works by her, and this one has been hitting hard.

And there is “Adore” by Li Young Lee, but I’m going to pull out the section specifically that resonates with me:

You say: We cannot look upon Love's face without dying. So we face each other to see Love's look. And thus third-person souls suddenly stand at gaze and the lover and the beloved, second- and first-persons, You and I, eye to eye, are born. But such refraction, multiplying gazes, strews Love's eye upon the objects of the world, as upon the objects of our room.

I do wish I understood Hindi or Urdu, because many of the Bollywood songs I’m listening to sound like they would be poetry! While the translations give a sense of the beauty, I’m definitely experiencing the songs in a very different way than I would have experienced them if I understood the lyrics. But the ones that just sound beautiful to me include:

Tum Se Hi (linking to a random lyric video rather than the official video because there are these vocalizations in the song itself that you don’t hear in the movie that really add to it.)

Gerua (the visuals for this are just gorgeous. Iceland man!)

Janam Janam (from the same movie as Gerua! I want to give context, but I’m linking these for the SONGS, not the story, otherwise I’ll go into a whole thing about it XD)

Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna (...admittedly as great as this song is, the context makes it EVEN BETTER, but I’ll refrain)

Chaiyya Chaiyya (on a train!!! this song in particular apparently was inspired by an Urdu poem, according to Wikipedia.)

Dil Chahta Hai (best coastal drive music ever)

(Don’t worry about listening/watching these btw! This is more showing where my head has been going. Also, it can be a little weird watching some of these videos if you haven’t seen the movies)

Bollywood’s been great for a lot of my moods, actually,  and I really really wish I could find some critical studies/history of Bollywood books I could sink my teeth into, because calling them musicals doesn’t feel right - like they are very much their own thing and draw from a vast number of traditions that I don’t know, so trying to compare them to western musicals really doesn’t feel right. 

[tigereyes45]

Rwby request, hummingbird au (qrow x summer,, and summer is alive) After Qrow told Robyn many times he wasn't interested, she hasn't given up but after she kissed his cheek, a red portal opened up, with a knife welding summer steps out with a scared Raven and tai, behind Robyn knew she messed up big time

(I just want to make a quick note on this. This request sounded more like a comic request then something for a fanfic, and I couldn't figure out a way for Robyn not to be ooc for it. So it's a little short and Robyn doesn’t speak. Also in this AU piece Ruby is still Tai and Summer's child. Summer and Qrow got together after her birth.

P.S. I’m still taking requests EDIT Here is the Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25212448 )

Like One of His Stories

It wasn't long that he was in Mantle before it felt like one of the stories he would tell the girls came to life. All those jokes of how women can't help but chase him when Summer wasn't around suddenly felt very real. Despite the fact that many (almost all) had been made up. This time it was none other than Mantle's Hometown Hero herself. He didn't think she would be interested in an old crow like him. Tai had always been who had a way with women. He was always in the background just trying to garner the affection of one or two. One of which was Summer. Even when she was with Tai, never thinking the two would break up or he would become a stepfather to Ruby in a way. Now here he was, trapped in Mantle. Halfway across the world from Summer, getting chased by a woman he should've believed Yang and Ruby about.

They had warned him she was interested. Casually he mentioned Summer. Always dropping in her name and the fact they were together. Loudly exclaiming how happy he was that he had Summer. That thankfully it didn't matter he was an old crow to the one woman who's opinion he cared about. Even the girls tried to help.

Yang would often find ways to distract Robyn and guide her away. There was always something happening in Mantle that she could use as an excuse for her attention. Ruby made sure to stick close whenever the woman ended up near them, which thankfully wasn't often. Today Ruby wasn't around. They were on the run from Ironwood now. He was so caught up in getting back to the girls that he hadn't really paid attention to her words. When she kissed him it happened so quickly Qrow blinked and missed it. If it hadn't been for the brief amount of extra pressure on his left cheek he never would have noticed.

Yet he had and she did. Blinking felt like it took an eternity as he stares at her. Disbelief and confusion. What was he supposed to do now? Before he could open his mouth to speak a familiar sound resonates beside him. The world shifts just slightly in his peripheral vision. Red and black swirl as a patch of white flies through his sister's portal. As he turns his head Qrow's shocked to see two others pass through.

Summer's long white robe almost blends in with the snow covered ground. Red flickers back and forth, in and out of view from under her robe. The falling flakes seemingly dance around her. Dots of them decorating her hair. He knows Tai and Raven are there. They were the only other two who would could come through a portal with her. The only ones who could. In all honesty he shoud've been paying more attention to them, but it had been so long. His eyes hungrily take all of Summer in as what felt like years of distance and separation is finally able to be dispelled. So it was a few moments before he took in the old kitchen knife in her hand. A second later and he realizes that she's wielding it in Robyn's direction. His very pregnant wife was visibly furious.

She's shouting something. He knows. Her lips were moving even as the snow starts to fall faster. What it was Qrow had no idea. For some reason he couldn't hear her, and that was when the older man realizes just how inattentive he was with her around. As senses flood back into his control his ears felt oddly warm. Turning around Taiyang held his hands firmly over Qrow's ears. He shakes his head no slowly. As if whatever the blonde was hiding from Qrow was absolutely necessary. All the blood was drained from his face. Tai had always been easy to scare by their teammates. So the bad luck charm turns to his twin. Raven stands barely outside her closing portal. Eyes wide, and a nervous smile on her face. Whatever Summer was saying it had those two thoroughly unnerved.

When his attention returns to Robyn the woman was rightly terrified. It didn't take for her to nod understandingly at Summer. Only then did Tia finally remove his hands. Summer spins on her heels. Swift and graceful even in the snow. It had always been her element. Even more so than it was for the Schnees. Qrow wouldn't even put her second to the winter maiden. As bias as that would be.

Summer was smiling now. Her typical long, bright smile. Hsi hands are around her before she could take another step. Burying his face into her neck he breathes her in. Cookies, and the new baby soft detergent they had brought before he left. Home. Closing his eyes, Qrow knows he's home. Not even the baby's kicking could disturb the daydream.

Carefully Summer pushes him away. Fearful that she was angry he looks down, searching her face for any sign. She was fine. They were fine.

"Let's go save the girls."

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 12

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Link to ongoing Taida Translations

Chapter 12: Key to the Door

The chewing noises continued for a long time, as if steadfastly gnawing at every single bone. The crackling bites through bone were viscerally discomforting to hear, but everybody waited it out in silence.

Finally, just as dawnlight began to emanate over the horizon, the noises stopped. At the same time, the woman who had been silently watching the group this whole time from outside the estate wall too disappeared.

Who knew if Lin Qiushi imagined it, but he thought that right before the woman went, he’d heard a faint burp… like something was full after eating.

Day had finally come. Lin Qiushi, who'd spent the night sitting in the yard, felt like he was returning to another lifetime. He asked, "is it over?"

Ruan Baijie answered a short, noncommittal maybe.

They'd cut the trees, prayed at the temple, and filled the well. All that was left was to fetch the coffin from the carpenter.

There was exhaustion on everybody's faces, but underneath the exhaustion was hidden some excitement. This ought to be the last step. Once they get the key and find the door, they could leave this scary world.

Everybody was thinking this. Even their steps seemed lighter.

The village by day had nothing of the eerie evening terror; it seemed just like a typical mountain village, where typical mountain villagers lived. No ghosts, no deaths.

On their way to the carpenter's, they happened to pass by where Wang Xiaoyi died. But Lin Qiushi saw nothing there, only white snow piled on the ground. Nothing that happened last night left behind any traces.

"Was her body eaten?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Probably," Ruan Baijie said. "That thing's got a pretty big appetite."

They got to the carpenter's, and saw the carpenter languidly smoking in the front door. Lin Qiushi arrived first, and so greeted him: "hello sir, we're here to fetch the coffin."

That carpenter didn't speak—just waved a hand at the house.

Everybody entered the house in succession, and saw a beautiful red coffin sitting in the small room. The coffin was extremely pretty—finely made, with every detail and seam in airtight alignment. It didn't seem like a product made on short notice at all.

Lin Qiushi thought there was something odd about the paint on the coffin. He reached out, and discovered the paint smelled a bit rancid, and felt greasy to the touch.

Ruan Baijie realized far faster than he did, and spoke unflappably, "it's soaked in blood, isn't it?"

"Probably," Xiong Qi said. "What kind of paint looks like that?"

"It doesn't matter, who cares what it's painted with, let's get it back first," Ruan Baijie said. "Come on."

Lin Qiushi had thought this coffin would be heavy, but lifting it, it turned out to be light as a feather; two people quite easily carried it.

Cheng Wen couldn't work at all in his current condition. Of the group, only Lin Qiushi and Xiong Qi were left to do the hard labor. They each took up an end and lifted the coffin, starting off for their living quarters.

"What do we do after this?" Lin Qiushi asked, coffin in hand.

"We'll go back first and see if there's anything inside," Ruan Baijie said. "I'm guessing the key's in the coffin—once we get the key out, everything's smooth-riding from there."

Lin Qiushi mentally hoped that this would be so.

When they got home, Cheng Wen had come awake after being knocked out. He was seated in the living room with a dull expression, not greeting them even as they came in with the coffin. He seemed to have completely lost his mind.

Lin Qiushi saw this and became worried, murmuring, "it's not because I hit him, is it?"

Ruan Baijie, "oof…"

Lin Qiushi, "fuck man, it was just a little smack…"

Ruan Baijie comforted him: "well if he's lost it he's lost it, it's not like anyone's making you take responsibility. Besides, fools aren't scared of ghosts, so didn't you actually do him a favor? You're his benefactor!"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Ruan Baijie why are you such an expert at this.

Due to Cheng Wen's actions yesterday, nobody really wanted to mind him. Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke acted like they didn’t see him.

"Let's open it," Xiong Qi announced as he set the coffin down.

"Okay," Lin Qiushi nodded. He and Xiong Qi each took one side and applied force, lifting the coffin lid.

With a click, the coffin came open. A woodsy humidity came pouring out. Xiao Ke was the most on-edge. As soon as she saw the lid was open, she stuck her head in to see if the thing they wanted was inside the coffin.

"Found it!! The key!!" The next moment, Xiao Ke's joyous calls sounded. She seemed on the verge of happy tears, amped up with emotion. "It's really here, it's really here!"

Lin Qiushi looked, and saw in Xiao Ke's hand an old green copper key. The key's design was quaint, and gave off an antiquated air. The handle of the key was stained with a red liquid. In the past, Lin Qiushi might have thought it was paint or something. But now, he could sense that smear of red was fresh human blood.

"We got the key, we got it!" Xiao Ke held onto that key as her tears fell with vigor. She seemed on the brink of an emotional breakdown as well.

She may act calm day-to-day, but in the end, she still almost couldn't bear the pressure of dying.

"The door should have appeared too, we can start looking for the door." Xiong Qi's tone held fatigue as he continued, "we have to hurry, there's not a lot of us left."

"Where does the door usually appear?" Lin Qiushi didn't have any experience in this area.

"It's often around where we live, and isn't hard to find," Xiong Qi replied. "But I haven't experienced a thirteen-people world either, so… I'm not sure."

"Okay." Lin Qiushi looked at the key in Xiao Ke's hand, and thought at least they found the key.

Ruan Baijie wasn’t overtly emotional. She said, "and the key? Who's in charge of the key? I don't trust her to do it."

On the receiving end of this dubiety, Xiao Ke grew angry. "What do you mean by that? You don't trust me? What, you think we trust you to keep it?"

Ruan Baijie was unruffled. "This doesn't just concern me. If you lost the key, we all die inside this door. Are you sure you want to be in charge of it? Think it through."

Xiao Ke's face went green, then pale. She moved to say something, but then Xiong Qi pressed a hand to to her shoulder. He said, "Qiushi, why don't you take it."

Lin Qiushi started. He didn't think this would fall to him. He was about to refuse when Ruan Baijie openly expressed her agreement, and then got close to whisper in Lin Qiushi's ear, "just take it."

Lin Qiushi frowned. "But it's my first time in a door, I don't have much experience…"

"That's fine," Xiong Qi said. "We all trust you."

"Alright," Lin Qiushi could only agree.

He took the key and examined it closely. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought this was just your regular old copper key.

Xiong Qi said they'd been up all night, and suggested eating something before discussing the door's whereabouts. Lin Qiushi seconded the idea.

And so Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke went to the kitchen to make food. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Baijie remained in the living room to keep an eye on Cheng Wen.

"Why did they give the key to me?" Lin Qiushi still couldn't understand.

"Because the key's not a good thing," Ruan Baijie said. "The people holding it die particularly fast." She smiled, and prodded Lin Qiushi's forehead with the tip of a finger. "Of course, you don't have to worry about that."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

Ruan Baijie suddenly lowered her head and caught the rim of Lin Qiushi's ear in a nibble, murmuring, "I found the door."

Lin Qiushi's eyes went wide. "What?"

Ruan Baijie, "shh, keep it down."

Lin Qiushi quickly tamped down his voice, asking hoarsely, "what did you say? You found the door?"

"Yeah." Ruan Baijie was grinning, and she seemed to have developed a great interest in Lin Qiushi's ear. Her fingers glided up and down and up and down the rim, and Lin Qiushi kept feeling the itch. "You wanna know where it is?"

If this were under normal circumstances, all of Lin Qiushi's attention would surely be on the hands that were fondling his ears. But right now, Ruan Baijie's words were too shocking—he couldn't care about anything else. "If you know where it is, why didn't you say… ah??"

There was a sudden sting in his earlobe. Lin Qiushi drew in a sharp breath. "What are you doing?" He reached up and touched, only to find that Ruan Baijie had stabbed his right ear clean through with an earring.

"Nothing." Ruan Baijie kept up an innocent expression. "I just thought you'd look good with this earring, that's all."

Lin Qiushi kept touching the piercing in shock. For a moment he didn't know whether to ask more about the door or the earring. Ruan Baijie didn't give him a chance to react either, and continued, "that door is actually very close to us. We can go back tonight."

"Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Them?" Ruan Baijie didn't seem to have a very good impression of the two. "Depends on my mood I guess."

Lin Qiushi said, "if we can… let's bring them back with us." Though Xiao Ke's temper was poor, Xiong Qi treated them well at least. Plus, they'd all been through a lot together.

"You," Ruan Baijie said, "you're just too soft-hearted." She smiled. "But I like you this way."

When he heard this, Lin Qiushi felt his face go red for some reason. He said, "stop teasing me already."

Ruan Baijie smiled, but didn't speak.

After Ruan Baijie's interruption, Lin Qiushi completely forgot to ask about the earring; all his thoughts were on the evening ahead. It wasn't until Xiong Qi returned and asked why there was something extra on his ear, that he realized Ruan Baijie had distracted him again.

"Do you think it looks bad?" Ruan Baijie said. "Why are you blowing me off? Do you have another woman?"

Lin Qiushi, "…don't be unreasonable."

Ruan Baijie instantly became champion whiner: "oh my god you called me unreasonable, you're so mean, uwaaa…"

Lin Qiushi, who had never had a girlfriend before, could only look on in despair.

Author's Note:

Ruan Baijie: first mark all the stuff that's yours.

Lin Qiushi, confused: stuff? What stuff?

Ruan Baijie: ♂ stuff you can eat.

[Ch. 11] | [Ch. 13]

[kakasaku-shipper]

Natural Progression (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7

Sakura ran through the rooftops. It felt good to be able to soar high in the sky. It made it seem like she could fly, could do anything even. As she looked around, she noted that Konoha's rebuilding seemed to be progressing very well, with most of the skeletons of structures destroyed from Pein's attack re-erected. Only some finishing touches were needed, and Konoha would look as if it had never been attacked.

"Yamato-taicho!" Sakura greeted the man sitting on the rooftop.

"Ah, Sakura-chan," Tenzo turned around to wave at her. Sakura's smile dropped immediately as her heart leapt to get throat.

"Taicho! You shouldn't work yourself to death like this. It was bad enough that Kakashi-sensei scares me half to death on a regular basis, I don't need you to do the same," she admonished as she immediately went to replenish his chakra supply. 

"Well, it's an honour to be compared to senpai.." Tenzo began, but quickly shut his mouth at the deathly glare Sakura was giving. Tenzo was a smart man. So he knew that keeping quiet and nodding appropriately was the best option he had.

"Well, you're all done now, Taicho. Please refrain from overusing your chakra in the future. I know Naruto's running around, please just grab him and get him to transfer you some chakra."

"Noted, thank you, Sakura-chan," Tenzo said with a smile. "Are you going to a party? That's a lot of ice cream and goodies right there."

"Ah.. I'm just going to Ino's to keep her company. Her father's death still affected her really badly."

"Please send my condolences for her too. Inoichi-san was a great man."

"I will," Sakura replied. "By the way, I'm planning to have a gathering soon with team 7 members. You have to come along."

"But I'm not a part of team 7."

"You are. You and Sai both are," Sakura said firmly. "I haven't managed to track down Sai since I'm still busy at the hospital. But if you see him, would you please let him know too, Taicho?"

"Will do, Sakura-chan." 

Sakura gave Tenzo one last smile as she leapt through another building. Ino first, and then she'll worry about dragging her teammates to sit down together through a meal.

...

"Ah, Sakura-chan," Ino's mother greeted as Sakura landed in front of Ino's house.

"Oba-san," Sakura replied as she gave the older woman a hug. "How's Ino?"

"She hasn't came out of her room. And she barely eats," Ino's mother said as she shook her head sadly. 

"I'll do my best to drag her out of bed," Sakura joked weakly. "How are you holding up?"

"It's hard, but I'm a kunoichi of Konohagakure. I have been prepared for this to happen the day I married Inoichi. I understood my duty to my family and the village."

"Yes, of course," Sakura replied. Although Ino's mom spoke with such poise, Sakura could see the sorrow in her eyes. She just lost her husband after all. "Well, my mom is in town for a while. I think she would be happy to have company over tea."

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Ino's mother replied kindly as she drew Sakura into another hug. "I'll be on my way to the flower shop first. It's going to be a busy day as we are having the funeral procession tomorrow."

"I'll do my best to drag Ino to help you," Sakura promised. "But if she's still not up to it, I'll come along to help. I'll bring some friends over too."

"That would be lovely. Thank you, Sakura-chan," Ino's mother said as she released Sakura from the hug. 

Sakura watched as Ino's mother disappeared from her line of sight as she quietly made her way into Ino's house. She set down grocery bag she brought on the coffee table before making her way up to Ino's room.

"Ino," Sakura called out softly as she stood in front of her door. There was no answer, but Sakura could hear the rustling of sheets. "I'm coming in, Ino," she tried once more. When there wasn't any answer, Sakura gently opened the door.

Ino was lying in bed, cocooned inside her blanket. Sakura made her way towards Ino's bed and sat on its edge as she gently ran her hand through her hair. 

"It still hurts, Sakura," Ino rasped as tear began to trickle out of the corner of her eyes. Sakura's heart broke for her best friend. Sure, she did not know how it felt losing a parent, but when Sasuke left it had hurt her and left her numb for weeks. And at the time, she knew that he was still alive and that there was hope of him coming back. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Ino was feeling.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I really am, and I don't know what to say or do to make it better," Sakura admitted quietly as she knelt down beside Ino's bed to be at eye level with her.

"At least you're not telling me that it will get better with time," Ino said bitterly as she sat up. "I know it's true, Kami, I hope it's true. But it still hurt so fucking bad right now. I don't need to hear it!" 

Sakura nodded her head, just listening to what the blonde had to say. Ino then drew her beloved bunny stuffed toy and hugged it close. It was the first stuffed toy Inoichi had gotten her, and Ino said that she had the bunny since before she could remember anything.  As the silence stretched, Ino huffed and patted the space beside her. Sakura complied and sat beside her best friend as Ino laid her head on Sakura's shoulder. 

"Can you believe that the elders came right after I got home, before I could cry in my mom's arms and demanded that I started the training to take over as the clan's head?" Ino said seethingly as she chewed on the ear of her bunny.

"Hmm. You can always give me their names and I'll work something out with Naruto, Sasuke and Sai," Sakura replied as she gently removed the poor bunny from the abuse of Ino's teeth.

"I'll give you the list. And I want to watch their faces when they suffer."

"That settled it then," Sakura said. "Your kaa-san is really worried about you, and I've brought lots of ice cream, chocolates and cookies. All your favorites. Could you try to eat something for us?" Sakura added quietly.

"Yeah. I'll eat. I haven't had anything for a while so all those calories shouldn't ruin my figure," Ino joked weakly.  

"Good. Because we're stuffing ourselves with all of it and we're going to help your mom run the store," Sakura said as she got up from the bed. "I'll grab the food and you'll choose the movie?"

"Hmm." Ino nodded as she slowly crawled out of her cocoon. Before Sakura could exit the room, Ino called out to her. "Thank you, Sakura."

"This is what friends are for, pig."

"Forehead," Ino retorted back fondly.

...

5 pints of ice cream, 2 boxes of cookies and nth pieces of chocolates later, both Sakura and Ino were in sugar induced commas. With the latter swimming in so much more endorphins than she had been for the past week. 

"This is a bad idea," Ino moaned as she stuffed yet another cookie into her mouth.

"I feel like I've gained 10kg," Sakura groaned as she lied down flat on the bed. 

"Uh, I feel like I should join Team Gai's training session for a whole month just to lose everything I've gained today."

"Ah, you probably haven't heard, but Gai-sensei may never walk again," Sakura said soberly, as she sat back up in the bed. 

"What, no way! What happened?" Ino asked, flabbergasted. Gai-sensei was one of the strongest jonin in the village. And he was posted in Kakashi-sensei's batallion. And if Gai-sensei was strong, Kakashi-sensei was straight up a monster. He was able to fight against two Akatsuki members, one an undead zombie and another, a creepy ragdoll who can split himself into what, 4 or 5 pieces of himself? While protecting both her and Chouji. And although Ino was not on Kakashi's battalion during the war, she was linked to another Yamanaka who was the sensor in his battalion. Her cousin had told her that he was glad that Kakashi was on their team because a rampaging copy-ninja carrying a massive cleaver was the most terrifying thing he had seen since the Yondaime Hokage's rampage on Kumo during the third war. So how could he let his best friend got hurt to that extent?  

"Gai-sensei fought Madara and activated his eight's gate. He broke his leg kicking Madara."

"Now, that's a cool story on how you broke your leg."

"I know right?" Sakura laughed. "But I really wish that there is something we can do, to at last allow him to walk again."

"Me too. How's the team though?"

"Neji woke up for five minutes yesterday before going back to sleep. But otherwise he seemed fine. Tenten had been busy being the convoy guard for our rebuilding materials and I think Kakashi-sensei had been training with Lee."

"Hmm.. Chouji and Shika had been dropping by every day to check on me and shooing the elders." Ino mused. She would treat them to BBQ after the funeral, but she's only paying for 5 servings for Chouji. "How's your team? Any luck with Sa-su-ke-kun?" Ino asked as she wagged her eyebrow suggestively.

"I just saw Yamato-taicho this morning, and he asked me to pass you his condolences," Sakura said. "Taicho said that your dad was a good man."

"He was," Ino said as she took a deep breath. "I'll thank him tomorrow in the funeral procession if I see him." Ino said. "Well, enough of that. I want some tea on how your team is doing, especially with you and Sasuke-kun."

"Well, Taicho looked exhausted when I saw him. I think they worked him to the bone for the rebuilding effort."

"Hmm. I bet Naruto's roped in too?"

"Yep. He's surprisingly been more help than hindrance so far," Sakura commented fondly. "Oh, and before you asked about Sai," Sakura added conspiratorially.  "I haven't seen a head nor tail about him. But I'll probably try to find him after the funeral. You're very welcomed to come along," Sakura said as it was her turn wagging her eyebrow at Ino.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer," Ino said with a giggle. "But how about Sasuke-kun?"

"I think Kakashi-sensei's roping him into something," Sakura said with a shudder, remembering the sadistic smile on Kakashi's face.

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh but Sensei caught him sneaking out of the compound."

"Do you think he'll be at the funeral tomorrow, as the fallen?"

"From the look on Kakashi-sensei's face I say that it's a pretty high probability," Sakura said with a cringe.

"You should help him then."

"Nah, whatever Sensei is doing to him, I figured it will not even be sufficient punishment for him leaving us years ago."

"Forehead?" Ino called with a surprising quietness in her voice. At Sakura's head tilt, Ino drew a deep breath. "You don't sound so.. enamoured with him any more."

Sakura sighed as she sagged back into Ino's bed. "I've started having this confusion about my feelings for him since the war ended."

"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't there to listen to your love adventures," Ino commented idly, her exact words prompted Sakura to turn her head and groan into Ino's pillow. 

"You know who I talked to about this instead?"

"Tsunade-sama? Shizune-san? Your mom? Tenten? Hinata?" Ino grew more and more puzzled as Sakura shook her head to every names Ino suggested. "Naruto?" Ino asked incredulously. While Naruto was a great friend, he was just too dense. 

"It's worse than Naruto."

At Sakura's words, Ino's eyebrow furrowed. "You talked to Gai-sensei?"

"I think it's even worse than Gai-sensei," Sakura said grimly.

"Well, I'm running out of options here. I would start throwing in Ibiki-san and Anko-san just for the sake of it."

"Well, it's not that bad. It's not that he's a bad person to talk to, but it just felt so mortifying."

"Were you drunk?"

"I was completely sober," Sakura said dryly. At Ino's eyebrow cock, Sakura caved. "I somehow talked to Kakashi-sensei about my feelings for Sasuke."

Sakura shot Ino a scowl as the blonde howled in laughter. "You asked Konoha's number one most aloof bachelor for love advice?"

"We talked, and it just came up."

"So what did he say?"

"I have time to figure all this out, since Sasuke-kun's not going anywhere for a while."

"That is a surprisingly good answer."

"He's aloof and reclusive. He's not socially inept, Ino. Thats's Sai."

"I suppose he always have a knack to assure everyone that things are going to be okay," Ino replied nonchalantly to not bite into Sakura's bait. 

"He does. And it's reassuring because we know that he will try his hardest to keep his promises."

"How is he though? I heard he lost his sharingan?"

"He managed to make me feel like a genin again from a taijutsu spar," Sakura replied with a pout. 

"Well, it's Kakashi-sensei. The fact that he even spars with you means that he recognises your skills."

"I supposed so," Sakura said as a smile tugged on the corner of her lips. She may not be good enough now, but she could always train harder. After all, the thing she did best was playing catch-up, right? "By the way, I told your kaa-san that I would help her drag you out of bed to help in the shop. But if you're not feeling up to it, I'll grab Naruto in your stead to help?"

"I'll come. I know she's been suffering too," Ino said with a sad smile. "Besides, can't have my family business be ruined now, can we?"

At that, Sakura laughed as she exited Ino's room to give her some privacy to get ready.  

...

A/N 

1. Ino's mom's name has never been revealed, and I don't think she would come up again in my fic, so I don't think I need to create a name for her

2. She might sound a little cold from her interaction with Sakura, but I imagined Ino's mom as a sort of noble lady. The Yamanaka clan, although not as prominent as even the Akimichi (because there are 4 noble clans in Konoha: Uchiha, Hyuuga, Aburame and Akimichi) would still be an old clan along with Nara clan. So I expect the patriarch and matriarch to have a sort of noble air around them. Sooo for Ino's mom, since the Yamanaka are also florist, I imagine her to be someone gentle, but with a lot of inner strength. So she would not usually sound cold and detached, but in this circumstance, since her husband had just died and her daughter is still in a state of emotional turmoil, she have to be the strong one (cos that's also what moms do). So the 'detachment' is probably her way of coping.

3. Endorphin is a 'happy' hormone (basically an endogenous opioid/ opioid produced naturally by the body). There's some research that suggests that eating chocolates causes endorphin release because of the chemical compound found in chocolates. So, eat chocolates and stay happy! :) 

4. In a lot of fics, Kakashi is often depicted as someone who's not very good with social interaction. But I think Kakashi, being a ninja, would know how to act and what to say, since acting the right way and saying the right stuff goes a long way in the shinobi world, especially when it helps you to not get killed in the job. I think he would no doubt be awkward in a setting where he is in a big crowd and is the centre of attention of said crowd. But if it's a smaller group of people, I think he would know how to position himself (especially literally positioning himself in a way where extricating himself from said situation would be easiest).