#pronunciation stuff should be posted as soon as I have more content to post

[putschki1969]

H-el-ical// Q&A Corner（Vol#2）

Today PART 2 of H-el-ical//’s video project “H-el-ical// Q&A Corner” was broadcast on the official YouTube Channel. Here’s a link to PART 1

VIDEO LINK

SUBSCRIBE to Hikaru’s YouTube Channel!

H-el-ical// Official

Summary

Hikaru is answering questions which she received in the comment section of THIS video.Without further ado, let’s get to the questions:

EDIT: Sorry, I still had the text from the previous video post here so it was a bit confusing, I could have sworn I deleted it but apparently I didn’t. I think I was too exhausted yesterday to notice :P Anyways, it’s gone now so everything should make sense.

How is her fan club coming along? They are still in the process of trying to find something that works for Japanese as well as international fans. But her staff members have seen all the suggestions that fans sent in when Hikaru was asking about content ideas for the fan club on her Twitter account

Any recently purchased items she recommends? She hasn’t really bought anything lately. But she remembers buying some pants from the brand GU which she really likes. They are wide-legged with a sort of boot-cut and they are super soft. [They inserted THIS one here. It’s currently out of stock]

When she feels down or nervous, what does she do to feel better? She tries to take some deep breaths whenever she is nervous (before a live for example).  

If she weren’t a singer, what would she be doing instead? Since she loves small children, she would enjoy teaching them some stuff, like the English ABC song or something. She is obviously not suited for anything super difficult but a few small English classes would be neat. It’s honestly very hard for her to answer a question like this because she can’t imagine a life where she is not a singer.  

Describe yourself in a few words? “My Pace”

Is she left-handed (since she usually holds her microphone in her left hand). Any particular singing style she prefers? She is right-handed but she likes to use her right hand for gesturing while she sings. She finds that movements come easier when she is using her prominent hand. As for style, she is very adamant about fully immersing herself in the world of the song. And during lives she always makes sure to look the people in the audience in the face.

Plans/expectations for 2021? Anything she would like to change? She hopes the pandemic situation will calm down soon so she can finally meet her audience again. There are currently a few things she is preparing which she can’t talk about yet, it’s something that will push her further ahead so she is looking forward to finally announcing it. [Ahhhhh, teasing us again] As for changes, that’s always hard for her because it takes her a long time to accept change.

What would she do if she had a whole day off? Sleep, she would totally want to sleep. And maybe read a bit of manga, watch some anime, play a few games. She could also imagine doing something like go to an onsen but honestly, she prefers to stay at home.

Current favourite song? She doesn’t really listen to a lot of music in her private time so it’s hard for her to name something. However, she has recently started to listen to some K-Pop. Lots of dance music that improves your mood.

Why did she decide to learn English and how did she learn it? She has always loved Disney and she used to own a set of video cassettes with some sort of short films that were in English. She was super young back then but she still remembers the characters talking in English. That inspired her. Later on when she got older and started doing auditions for all sorts of stuff she realised that knowing English would come in handy in her work. That’s when she decided to attend a vocational university that focused on foreign languages. as for her learning methods, she likes to pay a lot of attention to pronunciation. And she focuses on learning how to speak. Grammar and such is not really her forte though. She thinks that first and foremost you have to enjoy the language or else you won’t be able to learn all those new things.

Favourite candy/snack? She prefers salty snacks over sweet candy. She loves everything that you would typically eat with alcohol, crackers and such. When it comes to cakes, she prefers fruit tarts and cheese cakes. Recently she has also liked chocolate-coated dried fruits. Generally she loves all chocolates that are bitter

Any favourite things she likes to do/eat during each season? Obviously she likes seasonal fruits because they taste best when they are in season. She can’t think of a single thing she would like to do during the different seasons. She is the type that doesn’t really go out in the summer because she doesn’t want to get sunburn. The only thing that comes to her mind is going out to take some pictures of cherry blossoms during spring. She wants everyone to comment with their suggestions/ideas. She reads all the comments that she receives on her various social media accounts so everyone, feel free to send in more questions. Eventually she will try to answer all of them.

[nightglider124]

Dickkory Week: Day 3

Okay so I am a day late bc I spent yesterday just basically fixated on Titans trailer and venting/chatting about that. Like, I barely even did any stuff at work bc I was like on tumblr about it lmao.

ANYWAY. Here is Day 3 for yesterday. Today’s prompt will be posted later tonight.

I used 3 of the supposed 5 love languages. I used: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time & Physical Touch. I also just happened to use the literal idea of language as well lmao.

Hope ya like it.

Oh and if you couldn’t guess... I based yet another of these in the DCAU world bc I just really love writing them in their cute lil apartment. 

________________________________________

Love Language 

Laughter bubbled up from the characters on screen, some kind of pun having fallen from the main guy’s mouth at a rather inappropriate time. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head as a blush took control over his cheeks. 

Kory and Dick both smiled lazily at the comedy movie they had on the TV as they relaxed in the comfort of their apartment, sat upon their sofa. Dick was sat with one arm leaning against the cushions of the sofa and the other draped across the back of it, behind Kory’s head as she remained huddled in the corner of the sofa.

Her legs were draped over her boyfriend’s lap, crossed at the ankles with a fluffy blanket strewn over their lower halves, protecting them from the slight chill in the air, signalling that Fall would soon be coming to an end if that and the orange leaves that fell from the tree outside were anything to go by.

Kory suddenly shifted, keeping her legs over Dick’s but snuggling into the arm that was just around her shoulders. She deeply inhaled his familiar scent before she rested her head on his chest, her smile widening as Dick played with a few tendrils of her long, auburn locks.

Her fingers found the material of his shirt, playing with it as she idly watched the movie. Dick smirked as he watched her movements, toying with his shirt simply for the want to be in contact with him in some way. 

The thumping beneath the skin of his torso seemed to grow stronger; louder, like her presence alone raised his heart rate in a way akin to if he had just sprinted a marathon. 

He peered down at her, a true swell of contentment inside his chest.

Dick leaned down a little, just enough so that he could press a small kiss to her neck, making her squirm.

Kory giggled and sighed, “Yiv tu daktar…”

He blinked, having grown so accustomed to only hearing her speak English; the random use of her mother tongue had him thrown.

“What?” He chuckled,

Kory inclined her head to look up at him, “Hm?”

“You just said something in Tamaranian.”

Her eyes widened and a blush dripped across her face, like paint spilling down a wall, “Oh? I did not realize… I said ‘you are so sweet’.”

Dick smiled at the compliment but his curious mind and continuous thirst for knowledge had him pause and shuffle away from her a little,

“You know… I don’t think I ever really hear you speak it anymore. The only time really is when we first found you… and sometimes when you sing in the shower or mumble in your sleep.”

Kory raised a brow at him, “I mumble in my sleep?”

“Sometimes and it’s not always in English.”

She shrugged her shoulders and played with a long piece of hair cascading over her shoulder, “I know a selection of languages; some that are of this world and some that are from other planets… English and Tamaranian are the ones I know most… I suppose I cannot help but deviate to my first language every now and then.”

“Seems to be when you aren’t really thinking about it.” Dick surmised,

Kory nodded, “Yes… English is not my first language and… I believe it takes more concentration.”

“I think it’s cool. You’re like some kind of translator.”

His Princess laughed and shook her head, “So, if I get bored of leading the Titans and decide to get a day job like you have… translator is the one I should pursue?”

Dick grinned, “I mean, you could do a lot of things if you wanted to. Modelling would definitely be one for you too.”

Kory rolled her eyes, “Mhm…”

“I mean it. You’ve got the height and the looks. You could do it.”

She smirked and folded her arms over her chest, “Oh? And you wouldn’t mind if I were to model clothes and lingerie and be all over posters and billboards for all men to see?” 

Dick stared at her before he shook his head and waved his hand dismissively, “Okay. Nope. Translator. Do that instead.” 

Kory burst into laughter, letting her hands fall back into her lap, “Do not worry, my love. I think that a translator would be more enjoyable anyway.”

He chewed on his bottom lip, eyeing her with a sense of question riddled on his own face, “Hey, babe?”

“Yes?” She asked, her head rested against the back of the sofa so she could watch him,

“Do you think… you could teach me some Tamaranian?” 

Kory sat up straight, her eyebrows at her hairline in surprise, “Really?”

He lifted his shoulders and rubbed his neck in that sheepish way of his, “Well, yeah… I mean, I’ve always liked learning new languages and… what other humans can say they know a language from another planet that isn’t a fictional one?” He paused and smiled, “Sides… I think it would be nice. We always do things that are influenced by Earth since we live here… I’d like to know more about where you come from too.”

She tilted her head and smiled, one that softened her entire facial expression, “Oh, Dick…” 

He grinned and shuffled to get comfortable as he sat opposite her on the couch, “C’mon… teach me a few things now.”

Kory giggled, mirroring his position, “Like what?”

Dick shrugged, “I don’t know… whatever comes to mind.”

Tapping her fingertips against her chin, Kory considered and mulled over what things she could teach him that were simple enough for him to grasp. With a light bulb going off in her mind, she smiled and focused on him, clearing her throat.

“Gultach.”

“Gul-tack.” Dick tested, already knowing his pronunciation was off,

“Gultach.” Kory paused, “Tamaranian is more guttural than English… along the lines of German but more. My language is… aggressive sounding. The end sound should come from your throat… like when you are sick.”

Dick furrowed his brows in concentration and tried it again, “Gultach.”

He peered at her for approval and felt his heart melt when she beamed back at him, looking as though someone had just given her the best gift in the whole world. 

“Was that… better?” 

Kory nodded enthusiastically, “Oh! Much better, Dick. It is a case of grasping the somewhat scratchy roll in your throat.”

He nodded in understanding, “What does it mean?”

“Hello.” 

Dick grinned, “Cool. What else?”

Kory thought for a moment until she straightened her back again, signalling she had one for him, “Shu kareth Gu’anrei… Dick Grayson.” 

He deadpanned, “Seriously? We’re going from ‘Hello’ to something that sounds… way more advanced?”

She smirked, “I assure you, it is quite simple.”

“Easy for you to say, Miss I know a thousand languages fluently.” He scoffed,

Kory rolled her eyes, “I don’t know a thousand… It is more around a hundred.”

He did a double take and chuckled, “Oh, that’s better.” 

She grinned and tapped his knee, “Try it.”

“Shu… kareth... ” He sounded out, his forehead crinkling in confusion, “Uh… what was the next bit?”

“Gu’anrei.” 

“Gunray.”

“Gu’anrei.” Kory prompted, “There is a small pause which changes the words. Gu is like goo. Then, anrei is like… and ree but without the ‘D’ sound.”

Dick nodded and cleared his throat, “Shu kareth… Gu’anrei…” 

Kory smile and looked at him expectantly.

“Was… that not it?”

“You must say your name at the end.”

“Oh… Shu kareth Gu’anrei Dick Grayson.”

Kory gave him one of her thousand watt smiled and lightly clapped her hands together in appreciation for his efforts, “Very good, my love.”

He felt a jolt of pride spiral through him, feeling like he had achieved something special to be able to utter even one syllable of her language. 

“I can probably guess what that means in English but…” 

“It means, ‘My name is Dick Grayson.’” Kory elaborated,

Dick smirked and nodded his head, “Anything else you can think of?”

Her emerald gaze befell him and Kory could feel her heart swelling more and more with how much of an interest he was taking in her language and despite living on Earth for such a long time now, it was still nice to be reminded where she came from; for the right reasons.

She let her mind wander over how many times Dick had asked about Tamaran. From how she grew up, to Tamaranian traditions and even extending to learning about her family; Dick had always made sure to ask about her place of birth, rather than simply expecting her to conform to a lifestyle on Earth, with complete disregard to where she initially came from.

It was one of the things she truly adored about him; the level of respect and care he held for her was astounding and she loved him for it.

That’s when another idea popped into her mind of what to teach him next.

“I think I have another.” She murmured, her eyes clouded with warmth for the man sat before her,

“Shoot.” He grinned, oblivious to the inner emotions she was experiencing,

“Aku d’marai.” 

Dick brightened, “That doesn’t sound as difficult as the last one.” 

Her eyes shimmered as she watched him, “It is not commonly used on my world but it is an important statement, nonetheless.”

With a curt nod, Dick went over it multiple times in his head before he lifted his chin, “Aku… d’marai…”

She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself smiling too much but she did nod to him, “Perfect.”

Dick beamed at her like a kid who had just received the seal of approval from their parents or something, proud of himself for managing to get some of her language right. He was still a long way off being fluent, he knew that but it was definitely a start.

He noticed that in all of his excitement of learning a few foreign phrases, he’d absently shifted closer to her, so much so they were merely inches away from one another. With a slight lean, he could be brushing the tip of his nose against hers.

Suddenly breathless, his eyes searched her heart shaped face, printing everything to memory. The gorgeous haze in her eyes, the soft glow of her skin, the perfect line of her nose before he let his eyes drop to her mouth. Her lips were just flawless; a cupid bow shape that was full and completely kissable.

“So… what did that one mean?” He asked, his blue eyes locked on her solid green ones,

Kory smiled softly and tilted her head, gently raising her fingertips to his face and running them along the angle of his jaw,

“It means… ‘I love you’.”

Dick suddenly matched her expression; every feature softening on his face as he reached a hand to her neck, just cupping her face,

“I’ll need to remember that one.”

“Mhm.” Kory murmured before Dick closed the distance, molding his lips to hers and reveling in the spark sensations that made her whole mouth tingle.

As she continued to kiss her boyfriend, Kory couldn’t help but wonder why she had never thought of teaching him until now. But, she decided, better late than never.

[chineselanguageblog]

To Learn Chinese

So you wanna know where to start when learning Chinese, or how to gain momentum and push through to fluency? Read on, dear reader…

Despite being only a mere mortal like yourself (in that I am not yet fluent in Chinese, - but it is only a matter of time) I am quite experienced in learning languages and have developed strategies and techniques that have saved me literally hours, days, months, maybe even years. These I will share with you today, so that you may learn from my past mistakes and less time studying and more picking up Chinese chicks!

Mentality

Okay, so, if I could impart only one thing on you it would be that confidence is half the battle.

If you spend too much time worrying about whether you will ever reach fluency, firstly, that is time you will not be spending injecting Chinese into your brain, but secondly, and most importantly, it will become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy – you won’t enjoy the process, will associate Chinese with stress and essentially never become fluent.

This ‘blind faith’, as an atheist, is something that doesn’t come naturally to me. But you really have no choice but to take my word for it that if you:

Put in the time (listening, writing and, eventually, speaking)

Enjoy yourself

Believe you will become fluent

Then fluency is an inevitable result.

“But, Chinese is such a hard language compared to French or Spanish!”

Don’t get sucked into this idea.

Chinese is not harder, Chinese is just far more different to English than most European languages are. Plenty of Westerners have managed to tame the beast. Off the top of my head, take Steve Kaufmann or Luca Lampariello, for example.

In fact, I would argue that Chinese is actually objectively easier and more logical than any other language I’ve come across (with the exception of Chinese characters – logical in theory, but struggle city in practice for anyone trying to learn it who doesn’t use it every day).

Consider these things:

1, Rather than having completely separate words for related concepts, one character in Chinese will represent a ‘concept’ that will manifest itself in a huge number of multi-syllable words, ie: 工 (gōng) – representing the idea of ‘work’, present in other words such as 工作 (to work), 工厂(factory/plant), 工地 (workplace), 工匠 (craftsman), 工力 (craftsmanship), 工业 (industry), the list goes on.

2, No conjugations. No tenses. No cases. No plurals. No gender. Therefore, no memorising ‘je peux, tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons’. ‘Nuff said.

3, No long words – say goodbye to ‘anticonstitutionnellement’, ‘Unkameradschaftlichkeit’ and ‘electroencefalografistas’.

I could go on for ages about how simple and logical Chinese really is. Also, don’t be afraid of tones. They can be learned naturally through extensive listening.

Approach

Although the sometimes vicious debate present amongst the language learning community would have you believe otherwise (I’m looking at you, Steve and Benny), there is no hard-and-fast rule to language learning. What works for some may work for others. What seems to be unanimous is that a lot of input in the form of listening and reading is needed at some stage, with output (speaking) following either once a good level of comprehension has been achieved or from the start, in addition to input.

Here is what I would advise for those beginning their Chinese studies, and for those already on the path.

Beginners

Learning Chinese can be struggle city. But only if you don’t have fun while you’re doing it!

1, Get some materials. Textbooks are okay, as long as they have dialogs with a recorded version. If you’ve got the dough, ChinesePod is great.

2, Do a significant amount of input (reading and listening) with this beginner material. This is the hard bit, where the language gradually becomes less ‘foreign’ – in other words, you get used to the language. To make rapid progress, try to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day (an hour is better).

3, Work the language into your life. I’m not really an advocate of ignoring your friends and family who don’t speak the language, or listening to the language while you’re talking to them and while you sleep (per AJATT), or changing the language on your computer and phone into Chinese - this is too annoying for me. Instead, make use of dead time. Do you daydream on the train/bus? Now you listen to Chinese. Do you wait in lines? Now you listen to Chinese while you wait in lines. Do you walk the dog? Paint your house? Daydream? Listen to Chinese while you do these things. You’ll see how easy it is. I would estimate that the average person has about 1-2 hours a day of dead time, this meaning time they do NOTHING else. If you studied Chinese only in the time you otherwise would be wasting, you will see massive progress. Now imagine if you fit some Chinese into your free time, too?

4, Two words. Mini goals. Learn 30 words a week, and then step it up after a couple of weeks. Listen to 30 minutes of Chinese a day – then step it up to an hour incrementally. I’m soon to write an entire post over on my own blog dedicated to explaining the importance of mini goals.

5, Characters. Forget about them for the first month. After that though, they are important. Spend 15 minutes a day learning them. Although it may seem tedious, it’s worth learning the radicals first, or as you encounter them – this will enable you to quite accurately guess new characters later on.

6, Get an SRS. Do your reps daily, and add sentences whenever you can. Also, I’ve found sentences are better than words, as you learn grammar and new vocabulary simultaneously – it also seems much less boring than just drilling single words. If you have the option/can be bothered, add sentences with audio so you don’t get a botchy pronunciation (or just do a lot of listening). Where to get sentences? Mine them from the dialogs in your textbook, from ChinesePod, wherever. Just make sure they are correct!

Intermediate Learners

1, Enjoy. This is the best part of the language learning journey. The language is starting to become familiar, and you can start doing fun stuff in the language! Like, watching TV shows from YouKu (the Chinese version of YouTube, but with full episodes) and actually understanding them! Or, reading authentic, interesting content and books. Or making friends, or…

2, Get a girlfriend/boyfriend. Now this may be a difficult and in some circumstances unethical task (if you are just using them to practice your 中文). The truth is, that at the intermediate level you need to actually increase the amount of input you’re getting in the language in order to step it up and push through to the advanced level. At the very least, get some friends! If you live in a cultural melting pot (like my own city, Melbourne, or like, NYC, etc) then you should have no problem meeting Chinese people. Or go study overseas (this may not be practical for you – but if you’re at Uni, go on exchange like I am!) Or, hey, why not get some Chinese roomies? Instant friends that have to hang with you!

3, Everyday. Even more important than in the beginner stage, at this level you need to be having contact with the language every day in order to incorporate it into your psychic. This is because the language needs to become part of the fabric of your mind, which is just not possible if you only study on the weekend. There’s a saying that goes ‘learn a language and gain another soul’. This is because you develop a borderline personality disorder when you learn another language – you will find your thinking and personality will be heavily influenced by cultural elements of the target language.

4, Don’t give up. At this point, you have got it in the bag! The hard yards are almost over. Like I said, this is the best part, it is all downhill from here. You don’t have to agonise over mind numbingly boring hospital-grade artificial learning materials, and can get onto some juicy stuff. It’s simply a matter of continuing to consistently expose yourself to the language, and talk as much as possible. Language acquisition is a natural process, and we are inherently good at it by virtue of being human. Just don’t stress, it will come!

Anyway, that’s all from me, for now.

There is an abundance of resources out there to help learn Chinese, yet it can all be very confusing and time-consuming for the new student to find the best way and the right materials to help.s

Wanting to provide some assistance to students, at one of the regular meetings of the Learn Mandarin Now team, we decided to commission a survey to find out the preferred methods savvy, modern, Chinese language students use. After some thought on how to do this, we agreed to ask 50 or so top bloggers what resources they use to get ahead with learning Chinese - after all…, they should know!

Just who did we ask?

Actually, we asked a wide cross-section of people including teachers of Chinese, native speakers, new and experienced students of the language (both Chinese from overseas and foreign students) and, of course, top bloggers.

The aim: to get a wide variety of opinions and suggestions.

The top 10 recommendations

For reasons such as ease of being able to study whenever the student wanted to and the variety of options on offer, the results, perhaps not surprisingly, showed that the preferred methods to learn Chinese are primarily web based. Other students, however, still preferred to learn and practice with other students or people in their day-to-day lives or via hard copy items such as books.

With 42% of votes Pleco, an integrated Chinese-English dictionary/flashcard system, which not only allows students to learn via Smartphones, but also offers a variety of other features such as being able to look up unknown Chinese words ‘live’, came out on top.

22% of respondents went for human interaction, either learning or practicing with Chinese friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, work colleagues or via other social interaction with native Chinese speakers.

Multi-media captured 20% of the votes, and this included watching Chinese TV programs, dramas, documentaries or movies, or even listening to Chinese songs in order to listen to tones, and learn more common words and colloquial phrases.

The MDBG Dictionary, a comprehensive dictionary which offers the ability to look up a huge number of words in Chinese, Pinyin or English was also a popular choice-easy to use and readily available and it garnered 14% of the votes.

Both also polling 14% were:

(i) WeChat (Weixin), “the new way to connect with friends across platforms”, offering voice and group chat, free calls, video calls and the obligatory message stickers, and thereby especially popular with the younger generation looking to instantly chat in and learn Chinese; and

(ii) Anki, a spaced repetition software programme which makes remembering things easy. As it’s considered more efficient than traditional study methods, time spent studying can be decreased or the amount learned greatly increased. The programme is content-agnostic and supports images, audio, videos and scientific mark-ups.

Skritter which is suitable for Smartphones or PC’s and allows the student to learn how to correctly learn to write Chinese characters—even suggesting corrections to any mistakes if they appear, scored 12%, as did Memrise which offers a wide variety of on-line courses and aims to make learning joyful and exciting.

Rounding off the top 10 with 8% was Line Dict, a very useful on-line Chinese dictionary which translates both words and phrases from Chinese to English and vice-versa, using Chinese characters and Pinyin—plus offering handwriting recognition and the ability to view stroke orders for characters, and also Chinese Pod which promotes itself as a site offering “Chinese learning for busy people”, with over 3,000 short, self-contained, award-winning lessons.

It was both exciting and rewarding for us at Learn Mandarin Now to do this survey and we may well repeat it at some future date. If you’d like to know more about the results in detail you can also read: How to learn Chinese: great tips from 50+ top bloggers, one of our other related articles.

Happy learning!

[embracesadness]

Bluepulse Week 2017 - Day 5: Rumours

(Late post for rumours! Have half of today’s written up and I’ll try to post it for today! Okay, enjoy!)

Bart Allen. Vital signs show that your heart rate has increased tenfold since arriving within the Velocity's vicinity. Suggested course of action: Eliminate him.

"Khaji, for the millionth time, we aren't eliminating anybody. Honestly. You suggested vaporising grandma Iris today just because she didn't fry the pancakes to look like little seals!"

The Iris shows no concern or regard for the Bart Allen's need for seal shaped, battered nutritional contents.

"No comment." Bart sighed, walking up to Jaime's front door and ringing the bell. There was a beat of silence from the alien-thank God-and also within Bart's mind. He had to admit, he was nervous coming here. He was always nervous coming here, though.

Mostly because Jaime was here.

Not that he had a...crush on Jaime or anything. That would be stupid. And dumb. And it wasn't like the older boy could ever like him back.

This scarab's highest functioning and priority depends on reasoning and logical problem solving skills. The Bart Allen's insistence on completing this task is inane.

"Are you upset that I'm doing your job for you in doubting every single one of my decisions made in life?" Bart snickered to himself, then looked around to see if anybody had bore witness to his absolute insanity.

Kill the Jaime Reyes.

Bart sighed in defeat. Then again, he should have expected this from the alien on his back. He was pretty much used to the weird looks and raised eyebrows his ramblings received. And having Khaji Da as a partner-for-life was just normal to him now, even if it was a constant reminder of what Bart had gone through in his life up until that point.

It was sort of funny the way things worked out sometimes. Bart remembered how much he despised the Blue Beetle and his cold, harsh demeanor. How much he hated being a slave to a regime that treated humans like corpses or-even worse-sacks of meat.

And he remembered vowing to kill the monster that had taken so much away from him and his people.

Then the day he arrived in the past to finally find and kill the Blue Beetle he became what he had sworn to destroy.

There was an explosion by a building where the Scarab was located according to the directions he had been following on his tracking device. One minute he was walking towards the building, the next there was a huge explosion, heat and this awful burning pain in his back.

Then everything went dark.

Bart woke up back at his grandfather's and grandmother's, tucked into bed with a bowl of soup laying next to him. Nothing seemed to make much sense at first. Then he realized what was on his back and slowly put everything together.

Honestly, Bart had no idea who the Blue Beetle of the future was. He didn't know if the REACH eventually killed him off and replaced the source material with another or if he truly had despised himself all of those years.

He tried not to think about it.

Still, living with Khaji Da seemed impossible at times. Especially when the damn thing tried taking over constantly at first. However, after a while, the two had both simmered down and seemed to have set some simple ground rules. It was easier to deal with it that way. For the both of them.

The door finally opened and Bart grinned as soon as Jaime came into view.

"What's up, her-ma-no?" he laughed, winking over at the latino boy and then realizing what a stupid thing that was to do, why had he done that?

"Your pronunciation is truly something to be marvelled at, esé." Jaime chuckled, a small smile plastered onto his face. Bart smiled even wider if that was even possible and Jaime tilted his head to the side, motioning for Bart to come in.

"You entering or no?"

Do not trust the Jaime Reyes. He plots to terminate you. Eliminate him at once.

"No!" Bart hissed at the scarab. Jaime's eyes twinkled with confusion. Bart shook his head almost immediately, blushing.

"No! Not yet." he covered, "I have to take my shoes off first."

Jaime looked down and nodded. "Yeah, good call. Mi mama would freak if I got dirt all over the house."

"Aren't you running in here at lightning speeds all the time, though?" Bart questioned, kicking off his shoes and entering the house. Jaime bristled and motioned to Bart to keep it down.

"Dude!" he exclaimed, "What if mi familia was home? They would've heard you!" He looked around and sighed. "Besides," he continued, "I run to your grandfather's house if I need...anything."

"Geez." Bart laughed, "No need to be so secretive!"

The Jaime Reyes' heartbeat is irregular. Possible reasoning for this anomaly is that he is plotting to kill you. Suggested tactic: Destroy him before he can.

"On second thought." Bart spoke aloud, "Maybe some things are best kept secret in your head."

Jaime scoffed. "Duh." He wolfed down about four packages of Chicken Whizees at an incredibly fast pace right before Bart's eyes. The boy smiled.

Jaime had been normal before Bart had come back and all of this stuff had gone down. Sadly, after arriving on earth, the REACH began taking in human prisoners and experimenting on them like there was no tomorrow. They took runaways; people that nobody would end up looking for in the end. Somebody who could just...disappear.

People like Jaime's best friend, Tye, who just so happened to disappear whilst all of this was happening. Jaime, catching wind of what was going down, decided to go on a wild manhunt to find what had happened to his friend. He stuck his nose too deep into somebody else's business and ended up getting himself captured in the end as well.

They awakened his metagene, thus gifting him the power of superspeed. Jaime was one of their majorly successful guinea pigs. Tye not so much.

But Jaime was one out of two of the most important experiments they had going there.

Bart was the other.

He'd stupidly gotten himself captured after trying to track down the stolen kids himself as well. They quickly noticed who he was and just what was on his back and suddenly they were trying to reboot the scarab in order to get it back on mode.

Bart had never been more terrified in his life.

He and Jaime were stuck in a room together for the majority of their time there. Chained to one another, facing a barren wall. They were even put in pods close together as to not get them mixed up with all of the other "failed" experiments out there.

During this time, Bart and Jaime grew closer than ever. They learnt pretty much everything about each other. Jaime told Bart all about Tye and his family. About how he was terrified of these new powers invested within him. Bart told him about the bleak future ahead of them and having to come to terms with becoming everything you'd ever hated.

They were each other's rock. And Bart could even admit on having a crush on the older boy. Not a big one, though. Just a small one...

Okay, maybe a big one.

Eventually they were rescued by a group of younger heroes known as the "young" justice league. Actually, they didn't really have a name. They were just them. Not like the Justice League, anyways.

A bunch of kid heroes running around saving a bunch of kid screw-ups.

Jaime and Bart were two of the last out since they were kept under maximum security. They'd grown so used to holding each other when things got rough that when these strangers came and tried to separate them they screamed and cried and begged to not be taken away from one another.

They didn't let go of each other. Not even when most of the other runaway kids dispersed. Not even when Jaime went home for the first time after everything had gone down. A member of the Team had had to explain what had happened to his parents. They were very understanding but it was still very difficult to fathom that their son was now so...different.

And then there was also the fact that Bart went with him everywhere. They physically could not be apart.

Therapy eventually undid all the damage inflicted upon them and they could finally go without being with one another constantly, but it was still difficult for both of them to function without seeing the other at least once a week.

Joining the team made it simpler to see one another. Jaime began receiving lessons from Bart's grandfather, Barry, who became his mentor. Just another reason to see the boy. Bart would fly to Jaime's occasionally and Jaime would run to Bart's.

Back and forth across the continent. Just like that.

Bart never would've dreamed that his life would end up as it had. That a person could have that much of an effect on him. But they did. And it was just so incredible.

"Earth to Bart. Heellloooooo? Isanybodyhome?" Jaime was speeding around him, flailing his arms about. Bart blinked back into the world of living.

"Hello! Yes! I am here! And alive."

Only until the Jaime Reyes deems it acceptable to initiate your destruction.

Bart resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stupid scarab. Jaime giggled, grabbing a Chicken Whizee and popping it into Bart's mouth.

"You're so cute when you do that." he admitted to Bart, chewing on his own delicious snack. Bart cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, am I?"

"Yesindeedyouaremygoodsir."

"I don't understand speed talk."

Their faces were getting closer and closer to each other.

"No?" Jaime questioned, "Doesn't your grandfather teach you anything?"

And closer.

"Not much." Bart admitted cheekily, "He spends all his time with you after all, the golden child of-"

The space between their lips suddenly disappeared and all Bart was aware of was just how soft and beautiful Jaime really was. He felt the spanish boy vibrating under the pressure of the kiss and Bart smiled into it.

Warning: Danger detected within the immediate vicinity. The Jaime Reyes is attempting to suffocate this organism.

Bart giggled at that. The two finally separated for air. Bart reached up and wiped the little bit of spittle off from his lips. Jaime blinked, staring at him with these wide eyes.

"I don't know why I did that." he admitted softly, still staring at the younger boy in front of him, "I just felt like doing it, I guess."

Bart grinned seductively. "Then feel like doing it again."

Jaime's eyes widened even more. Bart's eyelids shut softly as he approached the speedster and wrapped his hands around his midsection. Jaime laughed and leaned in closer.

"My pleasure."

For some reason, ignoring Khaji Da became a more simpler task than it had ever been.