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#there are only two sounds that are pronounced exactly the same way in both languages!
holmesandwhatson · 1 year
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when will people realize that it’s perfectly normal and natural to speak a foreign language with a foreign accent as long as you are understood
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o-craven-canto · 4 months
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How many different sounds -- reasonably distinguishable by human speakers and listener -- can a language have?
Looking at the table of the International Phonetic Alphabet, consonants are mainly distinguished by place and manner of articulation, which is to say the part of the mouth where the airflow is restricted to produce sound and how that restriction occurs.
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The most restrictive consonants are called stops or plosives, which stop the airflow altogether and release it with a burst. The IPA table divides them into seven places of articulation: bilabial (p & b), coronal (t & d), retroflex (ʈ & ɖ, like t & d, but with your tongue curling backward in the mouth, common in Indian languages), palatal (c & ɟ, roughly like ky and gy), velar (k & g), uvular (q & ɢ, similar to k & g but pronounced further back in the mouth), and glottal (ʔ, the Bri'ish glo'al stop) (there is also an epiglottal stop ʡ which I really don't understand). Sometimes you also see labiodental stops (p̪, b̪) pronounced by touching lower lip and upper teeth, like the first sound in the German Pferd. The coronal t & d can be divided in dental, alveolar, and postalveolar, depending on where exactly the tip of your tongue touches your teeth, but distinguishing those is not common. (Though Dahalo distinguishes laminal and apical t & d, so produced with the blade vs. the tip of your tongue). Oh, and there's the labiovelar stops (k͡p, ɡ͡b) of African languages such as Igbo and Yoruba, which actually combines two places into one; and the linguolabial stops made by touching your tongue against your upper lip (t̼, d̼).
The stops in each of these places, except for the glottal, can also be articulated in different ways. The "basic" way is called voiceless (p t k). Then there is voiced articulation, in which your vocal chords vibrate to make the sound slightly more sonorous (b d g). Then they can be aspirated (pʰ tʰ kʰ, compare "t" in "top" vs. "stop": the first is released with a slight puff of air). They can also be both voiced and aspirated at the same time (bʱ dʱ gʱ, like in the original pronunciation of Buddha). Then there are ejectives (pʼ tʼ kʼ, like in Maya), when air is ejected from the mouth without passing through the throat at all, and implosives (ɓ ɗ ɠ, like in Vietnamese), where air goes the other way creating a "gulping" sound. There's such a thing as "nasal" and "lateral release" of stops, but from what I find they are not treated as distinct sounds from the standard form.
So using only stops gives us 10 places (bilabial, labiodental, linguolabial, laminal dental, apical dental, retroflex, palatal, velar, uvular, labiovelar) x 6 (voiceless, voiced, aspirated, voiced + aspirated, ejective, implosive) + 2 (glottal & epiglottal stops) = 62 distinct consonantal sounds. Good start.
The second-most restrictive manner of articulation is that of nasals, which close the mouth completely and redirect air through the nasal passage. The places of articulation are largely the same: bilabial (m), labiodental (ɱ, the "m" in "amphor"), linguolabial (n̼), coronal (n), retroflex (ɳ, like n but curling the tongue backward), palatal (ɲ, like "ni" in "onion" or Spanish ñ), velar (ŋ, like "ng" in "sing"), uvular (ɴ, the "n" in Japanese san), and the co-articulated labial-velar ŋ͡m (like m and ng at the same time). They can be both voiced and voiceless, even though the latter are rare. That makes for 10x2 = 20 nasal consonants.
Then come fricatives, which make hissing or buzzing sounds. Again similar places: bilabial (ɸ β, pronounced with lips almost touching, e.g. the first sound of Japanese Fuji), labiodental (f v), dental (θ ð, the "th" of "thigh" and "thy") linguolabial (θ̼ ð̼, see earlier), alveolar (s z), postalveolar (ʃ ʒ, like the central sounds of "fission" and "vision"), palato-alveolar (ɕ ʑ, like ʃ ʒ but with the tongue pushing forward), retroflex (ʂ ʐ, like ʃ ʒ but with the tongue curling backward), palatal (ç ʝ, the first like the "h" in "hue"), velar (x ɣ, the first like the "ch" in Bach), uvular (χ ʁ, like the previous but further back in the throat), epiglottal (ħ ʕ, don't ask), and glottal (h ɦ). Each of these can, again, be voiceless, voiced, or (except the last two) ejective. There is also a mysterious "palatal-velar" ɧ that seems to exist only in Swedish. I'm counting 11x3 + 2x2 + 1 = 38 fricative sounds.
Actually, there is a second row of lateral fricatives, in which air passses by the sides of the tongue. The most common is coronal (ɬ ɮ, like "ll" in Welsh), but there's also retroflex (ꞎ), palatal (ʎ̝), and velar (ʟ̝). All voiced or voiceless, so 8 more fricatives for a total of 46.
Approximants are yet looser. We got labiodental ʋ (the Hindi pronunciation of "v", kinda halfway between English v and w), coronal ɹ (a common English pronunciation of "r"), retroflex ɻ, palatal j ("y" in "year"), velar ɰ (an extremely soft sound, sometimes "g" between vowels in Spanish), and glottal ʔ̞, which I'm not counting because I think it's the same as a vowel modification we'll get to later. Oh, and then labiovelars (voiced w as in "wealth" and voiceless ʍ as in "whale") and labial-palatal ɥ (as "u" in French nuit). I think they could all be voiced and voiceless, so that's 7x2 = 14 approximants.
But approximants can be lateral too, with what you could call the "L series": coronal l (and its velarized counterpart ɫ as in "lull"), retroflex , ɭ, palatal ʎ (as "gl" in Italian), velar ʟ (as "l" in "alga"), and uvular ʟ̠. So thats 5x2 = 10 more to make 24.
Then taps or flaps. I'm not familiar with these, except that the coronal flap ɾ is how Spanish -r- and American English -tt- may sound between vowels. Then there's bilabial ⱱ̟, labiodental ⱱ, linguolabial ɾ̼, retroflex ɽ, uvular ɢ̆, and epiglottal ʡ̆. Adding the voiceless and lateral (and both) versions recorded in the chart, I get to 15 taps.
Finally there's trills. We get bilabial ʙ (a kind of raspberry sound), coronal r (the "rolled r"), retroflex ɽr (?), uvular ʀ (French "r"), and epiglottal ʜ & ʢ (which are sometimes among fricatives). Add unvoiced for all, and we get 5x2 = 10 trills.
No, wait. There's affricates too, which are really stops + fricatives (including lateral) of the same place of articulation. Each affricate can also be voiced vs. voiceless (except the glottal) and aspirated vs. not (except the epiglottal), so I believe that makes 15x4 + 2 + 1 = 63 affricates.
No, wait. There's still the clicks. They may be used only in languages from Southern Africa, but that's no excuse not to count them. I don't understand them perfectly, but the basic types seem to be bilabial ʘ (basically lip-smacking), dental ǀ (tsk), alveolar ǃ (like doing a clopping sound with your tongue), palatal ǂ, retroflex ‼ (don't ask me about these), and lateral ǁ (a clicking sound with the side of the tongue). Each of them can be voiceless or voiced, aspirated or not, nasalized or glottalized or have 6 types of pulmonic countour or 5 types of ejective contour, plus a preglottalized nasal type and an egressive only for the labial click (please don't ask me). I believe that makes for... 6 x ((4x3) + 6 + 5 + 1) + 1 = 145 potential click sounds, and some Khoisan languages go pretty close to using them all.
That's not quite all -- I haven't counted nasalization or glottalization of most types of consonants, for example, but by my count we have put together 62 stops + 20 nasals + 46 fricatives + 24 approximants + 15 taps + 10 trills + 63 affricates + 145 clicks = 385 distinct consonants sounds.
To be continued with the vowels.
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feverdreamdrifting · 5 days
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so ever since I saw this wonderful post, i've been wanting to make my own post explaining exactly how gideon's name is transliterated into kiriona, because it's kind of blowing my mind a little now that i've thought about it. keep in mind that i'm not a linguist nor do i speak Te Reo Māori. I'm just a person who has taken several linguistics classes and is interested in this kind of thing.
So the first thing to know is that not all languages have the same set of individual sounds. These individual sounds are called phonemes, and this is what creates accents. For example, Spanish has the phoneme (the flap, if you know IPA) that many people refer to as a "rolled r," but English does not. So when English speakers try to pronounce that phoneme, they often replace it with the most similar sound they can produce, which might be the English "r" or "d" sound.
The second thing to know is that "transliteration is the process of converting texts from one script to another based on the phonetic similarity." So transliteration is essentially the process of replacing sounds with their most similar counterparts in the target language.
Okay, enough background information. Let's take a look at Te Reo Māori's specific set of consonants:
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so you'll notice that Māori actually doesn't have a "g" sound at all! but what it does have is a "k" sound. "k" and "g" are both velar stops; they are literally produced in the EXACT same way in the mouth. the ONLY difference is that "g" has vocal chord vibration, and "k" does not. this means that "k" is as close as you can possibly get to saying "g" in Māori, which explains how you get the switch from "g" in gideon to "k" in kiriona.
now let's talk about the "i" sounds. I don't want to get too technical here because vowels are confusing and this post is long enough already, but keep in mind that these sounds are actually not pronounced the same way, i don't think. the "i" in gideon is like the the "i" in the word kid (for IPA knowers: "ɪ"). Māori does not have this sound, but it does have the "i" vowel sound being used in the English words bead or deed. the "long e" as they say. so that's probably how the first"i" in kiriona is actually being pronounced, if i had to guess.
okay! let's look at the next sound, namely the "d" and the "r." looking at the chart again, you'll notice that Māori doesn't have the English "d" sound at all. but what it DOES have is this sound here: "ɾ." this is referred to as a tap or flap, and it's the same sound that the dd's make in the English word "ladder." it's also used very frequently in Spanish in words like "pero," where it is represented with the letter "r." so that explains that switch; the "r" in kiriona is actually pronounced as a flap, which can sound similar to "d" for English speakers depending on the word. again, this flap sound represented by the letter "r" is probably the closest you could get to saying "d" in Māori.
next up, the "e" in gideon and the second "i" in kiriona. i think these are probably the same sound. they are both that "long e" sound as in bead or deed or meet that I mentioned before. so in kiriona, there's two i's, both representing the same sound. same sound, same letter! if only english spelling could be so consistent.
the o's are not the same sound i don't think, but this post is so long. just know that again, Māori does not have the sound that "o" is making in gideon. but they're written with the same letter here so i'm not gonna get into it, sorry.
the n's are the same! moving on
the last thing to know here is that not all languages have the same possible syllable structures. in English, it is possible for a syllable to end with a consonant. for example, the name "Bob" ends with a consonant. no problem, right? well, Māori has the syllable structure (C)V(V(V)), meaning that a syllable literally cannot end in a consonant. it HAS to end in a vowel. so if we split the name gideon into syllables, it's like this: gi.de.on. you can see that the last syllable ends with the consonant "n." this is simply not possible in Maori, so the solution is to add another vowel onto the end, hence the "a" in kiriona. that way it can be syllabified as ki.ri.o.na, which ensures that none of the syllables end in a consonant.
so there you have it! kiriona is as close as you could possibly get to saying gideon according to the rules of Te Reo Māori.
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naoko-world · 2 years
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La fangirl de Bruno or how close french and spanish can be
How it started
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I received this notification one night (posted with the person's permission) and it honestly took me time understanding why I wasn't finding it in my post's replies.
I quickly figured the person simply thought La fangirl de Bruno was the Spanish version, understood their mistake and deleted it. I received a notification by mail though so...I saw.
My thoughts
I know I happened to saw people thinking french doesn't have anything in common with Italian/Spanish/Portuguese which...Actually isn't true! Just to see what french has in common with Spanish, like La & De, both words these two languages share.
As an example, there I didn't even need to translate to know that person was thanking me for writing a spanish version. Because I happen to know the words Gracias & Hacer, and because other words looks like their french counterpart.
por/pour
una/une
version/versión
en/en
español/espagnol
The mistake is understandable then, and they're not the only one to have made it since my friend @lunaencantada I love a lot and who is Spanish made the same.
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Eh! When watching Encanto in Spanish I realized some words I sometimes use in french (in familiar speech) are actually Spanish words. As an example I think of De Nada & Gratis we can say in french to say De rien (you're welcome) and Gratuit (free).
By the way, in my title I used the English word "fangirl" while I could have used the french word, "groupie", which is a word we don't really use anymore. This is why I chose "fangirl". However, if I had chosen it...Spanish-speakers people would still have been confused because it's "groupie" in Spanish too lol.
To go deeper into the subject:
According to Langfocus's video on how similar French and Spanish are both languages share about 75% of lexical similarity. It's less than Spanish and Italian (85%) or French and Italian (89%) but that's still a lot!
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So why french sounds so different from the other latin language?
Because of pronunciation, some differences in basic conversation and in the word orders.
We french we tend to talk with Guttural and nasal sounds, or even not pronouncing some letters. Thus while Spanish pronounce all letters besides the h.
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The order of some words is different too and Spanish is pro-dropping pronouns which was very confusing when I started learning Spanish.
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Some words aren't the same either like the Langfocus guy talked about Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement/Puede hablar más despacio but if I could take any sentence and you could find one word or two that aren't the same.
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As a much bigger example, coming back to Encanto, that part in No se habla de Bruno (We don't talk about Bruno) has some words I can recognize and some I can't.
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According to @lunaencantada it means
"Terror in his face
rats from behind
when you hear your name, there's no turning back
scream while you tremble when you wake up"
So in french it would literally be:
"Terreur sur son visage
Rats en guise de dos
Quand tu entends ton nom, pas de marche arrière
Cris en tremblant quand tu te réveilles"
Not exactly the same but we can guess because
terror/terreur,
en/en (sur),
Su/son
Faz/face (visage)
Ratas/Rats
por/por (en guise de)
Oír/entends (don't ask how I can easily guess Oír is entendre because I only suspect it's because of ouïe which is for the sense of hearing)
Tu/ton
Nom/nombre
No/non (pas)
Marcha/marche
Tiembles/tremble (tremblant)
While I couldn't recognize:
detrás/derrière (dos)
Al/Quand
Hay (se produire/être)
Atrás/arrière
Grita/cris
mientras/pendant (en)
despertar/se réveiller
Oh and funny thing:
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There! This is roughly how close these two languages can be! For more infos you can watch the video by LangFocus which is much more complete and from which I used some graphics!
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arcsin27 · 1 year
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Took a peek at wikipedias Korean ipa chart and took psychic damage
Disclaimers: I only browsed a chart of possible sounds. I do not know the exact phonotactics of Korean. Also I only took like two cl linguistics college courses, im not a pro and might be mixing up terms or concepts. This is also not intended to make fun of Korean or its speakers, I actually think language differences are cool! Besides, almost every language has different sounds and rules; Korean isnt exactly unique for not being exactly like English. Only English is exactly like English, i wouldnt expect otherwise
I don’t recognize half these diacritics (what are [k̚] and [k͈] what)
Tons of sounds are in the same phoneme in English i.e. [t] and [ɾ] (this means theyre considered the same sound by speakers. Even if theyre technically very different, replacing one with the other wouldnt change the meaning and at most just sound kinda wonky but understandable. Think of pronouncing atom with a strong “t” sound like in tick; weird but still the same word) but those sounds appear to be meaningfully distinct in Korean, which almost guarantees mishearings and heavy accents (the only saving grace is if they have complementary distribution or are in the same phoneme. God forbid they form minimal pairs)
Tons of sounds that English straight up does not have i.e. [x] (like the k sound but scratchier…?) or [ɯ] (“oo” but your lips cant stick out or form a circle, only the tongue placement of “oo” is the same)
Vowel length might be important. Not the way you’re taught in kindergarten mind you, the “a” in cat and the “a” in father are not short or long versions of each other linguistically speaking. I mean that the only difference between [ɛ] and [ɛː] (the “e” in bed) is that [ɛː] lasts longer than [ɛ]. Like literally spending a few more milliseconds making the sound could be a distinction in some words. HOWEVER they are both represented by the same letter (? Character?) in the chart so they may be phonemes. If so, you’d still be understood but native speakers would probably still go “🫵 English speaker” in their brains
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On'yomi, or it's all Greek to me
(I'll describe something really useful for memorizing the on'yomi readings of many kanji at the end of the article, so you might also want to skip ahead. It's the part with all the kanji in it, can't miss it, really.)
When you learn Japanese, you learn many facts that sometimes make you wish you didn't. You happily beaver away at learning to write kanji only to pick up on the fact, that Japanese has two predominant ways to read almost any kanji: on'yomi and kun'yomi.
You could on'yomi "the Chinese readings" and kun'yomi "the Japanese readings" and you would be both right and wrong. So very wrong.
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Well, not entirely. The notion is actually useful. On'yomi are readings derived from the evolving Chinese language of different time periods but pronounced wrong. (Remember, Japanese doesn't emulate Chinese pitch and has a limited set of sounds.) And the kun'yomi preserve various readings from various parts of Japan that were the sounds of the original Japanese language predating the Chinese writing system. (Get the deets here.)
Wait. If you have native Japanese sounds, why do that? Who on Earth would do such a thing!?
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Right. It's us! (I'm German.) German uses words derived from Latin and Greek a lot in spite of perfectly usable German words meaning the same or similar things. So I'm the one to talk, huh?
"die Intention" - the intention. Perfectly German word? "das Vorhaben," or better, "die Absicht."
"die Prätention" - basically to give yourself airs. Perfectly German word? "die Anmaßung."
"die Restoration" - the restoration. Perfectly German word? "die Wiederherstellung."
Latin was the language of the Roman empire, but this impacted more the cultures abutting the Mediterranean and their "Romanic" languages - Spanish, Italian (of course), and French, for example. The basic stock of the language took in a lot of Latin words, they are at the core.
Germans on the other hand, thanks to "Herman the German", stayed mostly independent from the Roman empire and played part in eventually bringing it down. These proto-Germans had their own language to start with, and probably some form of sour kraut. So why all the Latin and Greek?
Latin is the language of many academic professions, especially law (Roman law is the historic origin of most western law) and medicine (partially with the intention you don't understand what your doctor is saying about you!). Universities in the middle ages and beyond relied on Latin as the language of exchange. Newton wrote about gravity in Latin. (And lots of other things. A busy bee, Newton was.)
These pesky academics then went on the coin all kinds of complicated words for newfangled technology that the ancient Greeks and Romans surely had envisioned at some point. Now wait. That was Jules Verne.
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Television - far-away seeing. Oh wait, no, that's telescope. My bad.
Automobile - it moves by itself.
Mobile phone - movable sound.
Arithmetic - something about numbers and counting.
Algorithm... Ha! Gotcha! Sounds Greek, right? It's derived from the far more accessible Arabic...
My examples are English but exactly the same words exist in German with minor spelling differences - "Television" oder "Fernsehen", "Automobil" or simply "Auto," "Mobiltelefon" or simply "Handy" (say what?), "Arithmetik" and "Algorithmus."
So, we're a mess, huh? Germans can't speak German without resorting to Latin, Greek, English ("Computer", "Handy"), a bit of French, Italian, Yiddish... and we mangled most of it. We can't help it. Most of it we translated to our own sounds. (That will show our neighbors and compatriots what we think about their invasive words. We'll use them but make you cringe.)
Don't get me started on English. A Celtic language mostly overwritten by Anglo-Saxon Germanic invaders with Frisian partially overwritten by originally Norse French (Norman) invaders, stuffed to the brim with Latin and not even the same root word for an animal and its meat. (Eventually, veganism might take care of that one.)
Deep breath. It's fine now.
Compound words
Now that was a lengthy excursion amounting to nothing, right?
Well, get used to it.
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If you use a single kanji word, you typically use the kun'yomi sound. Because there was already a Japanese word representing that concept when writing arrived. Also, this is true of most verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, and some compound words (featuring multiple kanji). The tell-tale sign is typically the presence of some hiragana when writing it.
There are adjectives that don't have hiragana, like "dislike," one of the meanest little effers in the Japanese language. Its sounding ("kirei") ends in -i, but it isn't an i-adjective. It is an adjective, but it doesn't have any hiragana attached, either. It's a na-adjective that ends in -i. There are good reasons to dislike "dislike."
But in general the presence of hiragana puts you firmly in the territory of the kun'yomi readings. So a lot of common Japanese is unsurprisingly native sounds, just as English has native words for house, car/cart/carriage, like/likable, so does Japanese ("ie", "kuruma", "suki").
The category where you however will be inundated with on'yomi readings is the one of the vast majority of compound words - many of these complex concepts were imported from China. And so was the way to sound them out. Somewhat. Kind of.
In other words, Chinese fills the same role for Japanese that Latin fills (and, to some extent Greek, also) for European languages.
A useful shorthand
So, if you have to learn two or more readings for most kanji, how do you keep track? And do kanji make any sense?
Reading "Remembering the Kanji" originally raised my hopes that kanji were logical only to shatter those very same hopes over time. But it simply approached its subject matter from a limited view. At least the first book. (But that's how you're supposed to memorize the kanji, and I do call bullshit on that.)
Only the most simply kanji are pictograms. They depict the sun and moon for day and month, or the mouth, they clearly express 1, 2, and 3, etc. So I originally thought it might be useful to get a book about their origin to remember them.
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Frankly, kanji (or more correctly, hanzi) changed so much since their time as petroglyphs they've become unrecognizable. Don't bother, really.
But that doesn't mean there is no sense in kanji at all, especially when it comes to the Chinese readings.
More complex kanji were built from simpler kanji - or from alternative forms of writing these kanji. People nowadays mostly learn them through memorization, but the radicals (as the parts of kanji are called) contain clues to their meaning and to their on'yomi reading.
You could go and use this as your method for memorizing the kanji, in fact. The book "The Kanji Code" by Natalie Hamilton lays out one such method. But you can have the benefit a bit easier, I think.
So, if you have a complex kanji, one part might give you the category of its meaning, and another part the sound. You can call them "signal primitives" if you want.
Here's an example:
謝 means "apologize" and its on'yomi reading is "sha."
言 is a hint to its meaning category, it means "say."
射 is a hint to its on'yomi reading, it reads... "sha!"
Here's another example:
養 means "foster" or "bring up" and its on'yomi reading is "you."
食 is a hint to its meaning category, it means "eat" or "food."
羊 is a hint to its on'yomi reading, it also reads "you."
So the original combinations might seem nonsensical at first:
"Apology" (謝) isn't a combination of "say" (言) and "shoot" (射).
"Foster" (養) isn't a combination of "food" (食) and "sheep" (羊).
But if take both these kanji as a way to tie together a broad meaning category with a sound, we do get a good result.
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In fact, look at this example:
寺 is the kanji for "Buddhist temple" and its reading is "ji."
痔 means "hemorrhoids", meaning radical is "sickness" (疒) and pronounced ... "ji." (Hey, they were probably the first culture to spend long days sitting and writing.)
時 means "time" or "hour", meaning "sun/day" (日), and pronounced (you guessed it) ... "ji." (Time is indeed tied to the sun.)
持 means "hold", meaning "hand" (扌), and, yes, "ji."
峙 means "(to) tower" (like "towering over someone"), meaning "mountain" (山), and again, "ji."
Congratulations, you just learned four additional kanji in one go by looking at their components (which you do have to know) and spotting which part is the "meaning category" and which part a clue to its on'yomi sound. (Also, none of these words do in the least relate to the concept of a Buddhist temple.)
If you're interested in learning more about this method, have a look at the book. You might find it up your alley.
But even if you don't use the book, you can always look at each kanji you learn and check if the reading is "hidden" somewhere as part of the kanji already. This reinforces your memory of the original kanji's reading and helps you make sense of complex kanji.
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eabwriting2023 · 5 months
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A Night in Chile - Day Seven
Surrounding myself with unfamiliarity. The city lights blind me as I walk around warily. A beautiful sight, with colours of all shades flashing but still I feel silly, why of all the places and times I would chose tonight to meet him.
Holidays are meant for relaxation, to be as carefree as possible, to explore ancient buildings from a part of the world you’re not used too. Holidays are not meant as a place to meet a date you have only talked online.
As I trod through the winding streets of Chile a country I know little about I start to revalue my decision to fly half way across the globe just to see this stranger I barely know.
Everywhere is so crowded and filled with faces I do not recognise speaking a language I haven’t the faintest, all alone trying to find a vague face I kind of know.
We agreed to meet at a restaurant. Seemed simple enough before I knew that this entire strip was loaded with many other eateries.
“Ana María RestaurantSantiago.” I keep telling myself in my mind reading each sigh I come across.
Many restaurants of all price rages and cuisine rush past me as I walk just not the one I need at this moment.
My feet kill. I shouldn’t have worn these ridiculous high heels when walking around a city I do not know. What was I thinking? Sometimes I doubt my intelligence when moments like this happen to me.
“Ana Maria…” I say out loud pronouncing what I see. “Ana Maria!” Finally, I found what I was looking for.. the next mission, to find who I am dining with.
“Sophie!” A voice calls out my name standing up from the table of two he was sitting upon.
He is sat outside in the cool nights air. I can’t judge how the restaurant looks from the outside apart from the swaying candles that sit on the tables.
I walk around and see him. Just as I imagined him. Tanned skin tone, not exactly muscular but not in bad shape as many people I usually see.
I toddle over in my ridiculous shoes greeting him with a large bear hug and a peck on the cheek. The first contact I’ve had with him in real life.
“Feels strange to meet in real life.” I joke nervously. Hopefully he cannot detect how awkward I feel.
“Great to see you in person though!” He smiles confidently as we both take our seats. “They do the most marvellous food here, not all this tourist crap.. real food, you know.”
I smile nervously but inside I doubt all my life’s decisions. I like tourist crap, it’s the cheapest. What kind of place has he took me too? Before I get to see what expensive meals I will have to pay for he asks me further questions…
“How was the flight here? Not too bad I hope.”
I nodded and smiled some more. “Good, good.” I lied, of course for the flight here was horrendous. Seven hours of screaming babies, obnoxious business men forever tapping on their laptop keyboard while being stuck inside a metal shell flying in the sky.
“You’ve been here a few days, how do you like Santiago? Seen the sights yet?”
Once again I smile and nodded. I lie once again. Since the airport, I have found my hotel where I have locked myself away scared to see new places alone.
“It’s a beautiful city…” I try to say pushing out any small talk I have before braving to look at the menu.
My eyes drift to the overly expensive dishes where everything is written in forgein words staring at it like an abyss for my mistakes.
“So, what are you getting..” I say trying to sound more confident than I’m feeling.
“Ajiaco! Always! They always cook this dish so exquisitely here.”
“Oh.” I say with a slight smirk. I have no idea what he just said.
I run my eyes down the pages of food I have no idea what it will consist of blurting out the first thing that comes to mind, which unfortunately for me happens to be chile.
“Chilli for I am in Chile I have to eat Chili!” I cried feeling my cheeks burn from the heat of embarrassment. “Just shut up.” I tell myself.
My date just smiles politely even though I can tell by his enlarged eyes he feels the same way As I do. I can’t just get up and leave, that would just been rude wouldn’t it?
“Are we ready to order?” A waiter pops up from nowhere spoken in his language.
After my date has told me what he was saying. I begin to tell him I would like to order the Chilli however pathetic it sounds.
“You can chose something else you know.” My date says with gritted teeth.
“No…” I say embarrassed. “I stick with that.”
As I pass the menus back to the waiter a wave of uncomfortably runs through me. Everything that had built up between us was now breaking down in front of me and nothing could stop it.. at least nothing else can be as bad.
We sat staring at each other in silence. Each of us would start to speak then hesitate at the last moment where we were briefly saved by the waiter arriving with our meals.
The Ajiaco looked incredible. A beautiful meat soup I regretted not choosing. Then there was my chilli, even though the glistening beans looked scrumptious and tasty I could feel it judging me for my actions….
I dipped the silver spoon into the mixture ready to eat watching my date judge me heavily even though he didn’t mutter a single word. Perhaps it’s in my imagination but I swear he is flirting with me, his eyes lighting up like the lights I walked past.
I keep eye contact with him as he eats and honestly this chilli isn’t even that bad, I feel better somehow about this entire evening, maybe it isn’t all a disaster.
I’m too enthusiastic, too happy to notice what will happen. My spoon flies into the nights sky as though it were in slow motion and lands right into the bowl like an enormous tsunami covering me in Chilli sauce. My hair, face and clothes. A mess of Chilli.
I gingerly stare at my date who is now drenched in chilli bean sauce. Our eyes meet for a moment looking in a state of shock.
I rise from the dining table, the beans plopping off my now saucy dress.
“I should go…”
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raine-kai · 3 years
Text
Double Meanings in Given
I know that we all know that all the main characters have seasons in their names, and that in their songs and stories, these are used to great emphasis.
(I'm just assuming here that anybody reading this knows full well about the story, spoilers abound.)
A quick summary, just in case anybody is here who doesn't know:
Mafuyu's (冬, winter) love story with Yuki is winter; Mafuyu's love story with Uenoyama (夏, summer) is summer. Haruki's (春, spring) first love story with Akihiko (秋, autumn) and Akihiko's love story with Ugetsu (雨, rain) are both autumn; and Haruki's second love story with Akihiko, and Akihiko's love story with Haruki, are spring.
HOWEVER.
I just want to take a moment to remark on how Kizu-sensei uses double meanings in AkiHaru's story.
(Apologies in advance, this is so chock full of language asides....)
A quick rundown of the names and nicknames
To anyone wondering why—this is double meaning to Akihiko and Haruki and not to Mafuyu and Ritsuka is because of their nicknames. Mafuyu is just called Mafuyu (真冬, which by the way means midwinter, and could be used in the text this way but is not); and Uenoyama's nicknames all come from his last name and not from his first name, much less the 夏 which is pronounced with the "on 音" reading rather than the "kun 訓" reading that we would typically use to refer to the season.
Meanwhile, we have seen Akihiko and Haruki both referred to by nicknames that are just the season parts of their names—Aki for Akihiko, and Haru for Haruki. In the currently published volumes, it's Ugetsu whom we see calling Akihiko Aki, and we only see Akihiko call Haruki Haru once—though as Hanaoka's hair model, Haruki is also referred to as Haru-chan. Actually, in the May edition of Cherie+, the magazine where Given is serialized, we do in fact see Haruki call Akihiko "Aki".
A note on alphabets: It is worth noting that Japanese has several alphabets, and when they use these nicknames, the names are not denoted in kanji. The names are usually written in kanji as 秋彦 (Akihiko) and 春樹 (Haruki), but when they use these nicknames they are in katakana, i.e. アキ (Aki) and ハル (Haru). This is the way nicknames are usually notated in Japanese, though they are as likely to be in hiragana as katakana. But the pronunciation is the same as the seasons.
WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY....
Double Meanings
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As with Mafuyu talking about his story of a winter, Haruki talks about a love he had in autumn.
The above panel will probably most often be translated as something like, "One day in autumn, I fell in love."
But the thing is....you could also reasonably translate it as something like, "Once upon a time, I fell in love with Aki."
Because ある日の秋に can mean ON a day in autumn, or TO a day in autumn. The kanji instead of the kana means the surface meaning is not supposed to be a name—we are supposed to read it first as "one day in autumn, I fell in love". But the double meaning is very much there.
秋に恋をした would be written this exact same way whether you wanted it to mean "I fell in love in autumn" or "I fell in love with Aki"....or, indeed, "I fell in love with autumn."
The fact that it is phrased as ある日の秋に instead of 秋のある日に is what allows this double meaning. Either way works, and even without the double meaning, the first is definitely the version I prefer. But the second would prohibit the double meaning, because the "one day" is now phrased in such a way that 秋 is clearly the season. But ある日の秋 could be a day in autumn, but it could also just mean Aki as he was one day.
(To anybody wondering, yes this does mean that you could phrase it 秋にアキに恋をした, "Aki ni aki ni koi o shita", "I fell in love with Aki in autumn" but the double "aki ni" does make it a bit of a funny sentence, especially if you were listening rather than reading. You could rephrase a bit to not make it sound so repetitive. 秋のある日に、アキに恋をした or ある日の秋、アキに恋をした are two way to do this with minimal edits. It's still not great, and if I wrote something like this, I would probably just cut the object or the season depending on which I wanted to emphasize. Anyway, this is just to show that yes, "Aki ni" is how this is phrased in both instances, even in combination.)
The final lines of narration of chapter 28 go thus: とあるありふれた春のありふれた恋の話
Once again, this would probably be translated as something like, "Just the story of an unremarkable love, in an unremarkable spring."
BUT!!! Once again, though the kanji mean that that is definitely the surface meaning, "haru" can be read as a name as well.
"Just the story of unremarkable Haru's unremarkable love."
Which is also exactly how Haruki thinks of himself, it is so perfect.
Have I mentioned that I think Kizu-sensei is amazing lately? I am just in constant awe.
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heyitsyn · 3 years
Text
RANDOM SEIJOH HCs ACCORDING TO GIGI
a/n: this is a thing i cooked up between doing trig exam and ap gov review akdsjfldskfj
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IM PRETTY SURE I ALREADY USED THIS GIF BUT IM WANTING TO RE-DO MY ENTIRE PAGE AND MAKING BANNERS SO THIS IS A TEMPORARY THING AJDJDJJD ALSO I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THE KEEP READING THING ON THE APP BYE
oikawa def listens to indie music just bc he wants to feel unique and the 'iM diFfErENt fRoM oTHeR gUrLs' vibes
i FIRMLY BELIEVE IWAIZUMI HAJIME IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO CHOMPS ON HIS ICE CREAM BC HE LIKES TO FEEL THE COLD ON HIS TEETH AKSJSKSKSK
meanwhile kunimi eats a kitkat like its pizza just CHOMP
makki caNNOT sleep without a pillow between his thighs LIKE LISTEN he has 2 sisters and they all told him its so comfortable and at first he was like,, ??,, then he tried and now cant sleep without it
bUT MATTSUN LIKES TO SLEEP WITH PILLOWS SURROUNDING HIM bc it makes him feel safe and like there are two body pillows on either side of him and hes kinda trapped in the middle aksjskdk
when kyo was younger, he was really short and although he had other pants, he loved this one pair but they were really long on him and he wore it all the time and the part of the pants that touched the ground is torn in shreds
kindaichi steps on the sofa before sitting LIKE puts one foot on the cushion then the other until hes literally standing on the couch before folding to sit with his knees up to his chest (i do this)
watari sniffs his food before eating it no matter if its something he eats all the time or something new, he still sniffs it either way
yahaba is really particular with his feet and he likes to get a really big tupperware (duh one only meant for his feet) and fill it up with warm almost boiling water and he just soaks them
oikawa has sleep paralysis and he oftens hallucinates about aliens in the corner of his room
kunimi does this thing where he makes weird noises with his mouth like sounds of his mouth opening LIKE when youre tastinf something new and you do that sound with your tongue (I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE IT AJDKSKKD)
makki bends his knees just to crack his ankles
iwa sneezes a ton but he has those sneezes where theyre quiet that you dont even notice or really loudly that it just echoes throughout the gym
kyo sleeps with one sock on bc his feet gets cold easily but both socks make him feel really hot so only one sock is perfect
for a tall and hunk of a guy, mattsun is a very light walker like his footsteps are very light and if he wants to, it can be practically silent
watari actually hates vegetables ajssksksk he particularly hates zucchini, eggplants, any vegetables that are that shape
kindaichi likes to stick or lean against walls because to him, they feel cold and can decrease his body heat
oikawa stands and places his feet at V position like \/ instead of ll because his sister did ballet and he was taught that was the right way of standing and it was considered graceful
yahaba has a fear of cactuses
mattsun does so badly in the heat because his body temp runs so high and the hot surroundings make him feel so uncomfortable and so he takes a lot of cold showers
iwa cannot swim like he freaks out immediately when his toetips can no longer feel the bottom and he panics with thoughts of drowning
watari has really small feet that he still buys big kids shoes to save money
kyotani considered playing baseball because he thought baseball bats were cool but he got angry and threw tantrum after missing his first pitch
iwa chomps on a whole raw chili while eating ramen akskksks
oikawa actually hates sweets bc when he was younger, he had cavities and iwa showed him a cartoon of cavities eating his teeth and will make him toothless
kindaichi really really likes hugs but hes too awkward to ask them even from his parents
yahaba chomps on mints so he goes through boxes of them in a week
i feel like theres a boy in the team who doesnt brush their teeth everyday and rubs a towel on their teeth to make it look clean and take mints to hide their bad breath
iwaizumi is actually iron deficient so he bruises super super fast and he even developed iron defiency anemia when he was younger bc his parents didnt catch on which caused him to be put on strong medication for months and still takes it now
WAIT,, OIKAWA IS LACTOSE INTOLERANT BUT HE LIKES MILK SO HE EATS MILK BREAD TO MAKE HIM FEEL NOT SO BAD OR GUILTY OF CONSUMING STRAIGHT DAIRY
seijoh four bonding time is watching gordom ramsey shows and yelling and screaming 'YEA! EXACTLY!' as if theyre also cooking genuises
watari used to eat grapes all the time until his mom got worried and told him if he doesnt stop, he will eventually turn into one. he only eats it every few weeks
when he was younger, kunimi cried because he had befriended a chicken on a trip to a farm and his mom took him to eat fried chicken after and he thought it was Chicky (his chicken friend :"))
kyotani used to stick out his tongue when it was raining so he could taste the raindrops. they taste better than bottled water
one time, during a seijoh sleepover, they dared oikawa to wear his sisters old uniform, skirt and all, and it backfired so everyone turned red and couldnt look at him in the face
their pregame ritual is touching each other's shoe tips
they tried doing yoga at yahaba's house before by watching yoga youtube videos but everyone ended up having to go to the chiropractor after (how did makki even turn into the human pretzel?)
the local gym gets so scared when they see the team coming through the doors bc these men are so LOUD like they HYPE EACH OTHER UP SO MUCH THEYRE SO ANNOYING AKSKSKDK
also never take them to an all you can eat sushi place. if you do, bring them earlier of the day like 30 mins after opening time so the cooks can cook enough for them without running out of ingredients (even then sometimes they still run out)
oikawa used to eat his mom's roses from her garden because he thought it would make his farts smell good like roses
takahiro is a surprisingly good artist like he draws really cool action fighting scenes in the corner of his papers and stuff
in my work: it's canon that iwa is half filo and his nanay used to dress him up in a barong all the time during halloween bc she wanted him to showcase his heritage
yahaba drinks a lot of milk because he hopes to one day grow strong and bulky like the 3rd years instead of being seen as a pretty boy
kindaichi's mom is a hairstylist and she always scolds him for using a lot of gel bc she's always the one who washes his hair
makki never learned how to do taxes and hes had the government knocking on his door a handful of times (BOKUTO AKKDJSKKS)
kyo has a dog: a chiweenie
there's someone on the team who wears those socks with individual pockets for toes
their pinterest is so different from what they look like for example, mattsun has a board of different flower decorations and arrangements
kunimi throws up during intense horror movies
watari's celeb crush is emma watson
the team alternates from different music genres like from ateez and bts to mxmtoon and beach bunny
they still dont know how to pronounce camila cabello's name
theyre all active in social media but only oikawa is on it 24/7 and in all platforms while the others have insta and snap
mattsun has twins as little siblings and he used to get them mixed up all the time that he used to draw a sharpie dot on the girl's forehead to determine she was his sister
watari hates sitting on the floor bc his butt bone hurts really easily so he can only sit on cushions for long periods of time
the team was supposed to have a party but everyone didnt know what to bring so they proved they shared the same braincell by bringing the same thing: a box of pizza
makki's an old soul and prefers to play records on a record player or watch old movies
kyo is surprisingly good at giving massages because he really pushed hard on those tense muscles
kindaichi knows how to crack necks so everyone goes to him a lot to do it (a friend of mine does this and can i say its terrifying yet so good?)
the only one who has a license is matsukawa and thats because granny needs to go to the doctor a lot and he hates her walking by herself and cabs are expensive
kyotani and yahaba are actually,,, lowkey close,,, not like best friends but theyre nice to each other and they got a stick and poke together (yahaba's was: :) while kyo's was: >:))
watari has a collection of mangas (some bl maybe 👀)
WARNING SAD: mattsun’s future job is a funeral person right? he ends up taking care of granny’s funeral free of charge and he had to take a week off because it was really painful for him
oikawa learned spanish SUPER fast to the point he forgets japanese sometimes but there are moments where he forgets both languages and hes just,,,, ???
makki’s unemployed yea but he rooms with mattsun in exchange of cooking because makki’s surprisingly good at cooking
iwa is practically the nutritionist of the team because he knows everything about proteins, carbs, iron, and needed vitamins so they all go to him to know what to eat and what they need
kunimi has lots and lots of shoes but usually only wears 2
kindaichi has a habit of pretending hes chewing gum even though he doesnt have gum, his mouth just chomps and moves with air akasldfjkf
there was a clown phenomenon in america but in their city, they had a mascots and seijoh 4 went around scaring kids :”(
oikawa never manspreads he gets too insecure to spread out like that akdjfkd
kyotani can easily sleep anywhere like he would be standing and just fall asleep or he sleeps with his eyes open
yahaba’s parents own a restaurant somewhere in the city and he works there sometimes
IM REALLY GOING TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS YALL AKSDJFKL
SORRY IM WRITING TOO MUCH I FEEL BAD THAT I HAVENT UPDATED BUT IM IN A CAR RIDE RN AND I WAS ABLE TO WRITE AGAIN AND MY EXAMS HAVE FINISHED THIS WEEK IMMA CRY
PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH ANY OTHER HCS YOU GUYS KNOW OF SO I CAN PUT IT IN HERE AND CREDIT YOU WITH IT SO WE CAN HAVE LIKE A HCS BOOK FROM EVERYONE BUT THIS IS WHAT I STARTED WITH
oikawa screams a lot according to gigi but he’s actually a really quiet guy and not easy to scare
OKAY YOU GUYS DONT KILL ME I SWEAR IVE BEEN SO TERRIBLE AT WRITING BUT YOU KNOW WHO TURNED ONE TODAY? THIS PAGE!!! MY BABY IS ONE ALREADY 😭😭😭 ANYWAYS, HOPE THIS CAN MAKE YOU GUYS SMILE TODAY AND SCHOOL ENDS NEXT WEEK AND IM ALREADY AT 132 DRAFTS AMSJKSDKSK SO OH MY GOD THERES GOING TO BE SO MUCH COMING AND IM SO EXCITED TO GET THEM OUT 😩😩
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Text
If Damian could pinpoint a guilty party, he would.
But the truth was that: there was no one to blame for this. Everyone and no one at all was at fault.
Perhaps Damian should've have asked more questions, perhaps Talia should have been more assertive, perhaps Bruce and Dick could have been more conscious.
The truth was...that he felt loss. And yet at the same times he was overcome with a sense of pride.
What was exactly the blood that ran through his veins?
Religion had been banned in the League, so much so that it was punished with public execution. But every know and then, when he had nothing but his mama's company, he would hear the whispers of his father's Jewish traditions. How he laid down rocks on his parents tombstones every summer, how he and his cousins hadn't celebrated Hannukah together in years. Those little things brought Damian the pieces of the puzzle his baba was...
His first language was Arabic, gulf dialect espefically. He still remembered how he couldn't pronounced certain words which turned into punishment from the part of his grandfather, how his siblings mocked his formal demeanor without thinking "Hey, maybe this isn't his first language" and how those things he could never verbalize to the involved people.
He was ten years old when he saw his eye shape on his maternal grandmother's eyes for the first time.
Damian would absolutely prefer that he didn't had an identity crisis every two years
His mandarin was...Alright, at best. It did caused Cass and Jason to laugh, but not out of malice but about how adorable he sounded when he couldn't pronounced the alphabet.
Sometimes he would look at himself in the mirror, trying to find the factions of every person in his family that came before him, as if he could be the perfect mix and not just...who he was.
Because what if who he was wasn't enough?
Did he had a responsibility to keep his father's traditions alive? Did he needed to speak up at every interview of galas about his heritage? Could he ever be just...Damian?
What if at the attempt to honor every side of him? He ended up failing them?
He hated not having a straight answer.
He hated that because of this or that he didn't felt like he belonged to a specific group.
But most of all...he loathed that feeling of dread on his chest that wouldn't go away.
It was a dark and cold night when he entered his room and saw his Robin tunic waiting for him in his bed.
He didn't knew how it happened, he would have said he was possessed by the way his body moved independently from his brain.
He had sew before, but this project requested for the gentle hand of a seamster. So he drew in his sketchbook exactly how he wanted it to look and passed the flimsy page under Alfred's bedroom door alongside a note.
Next thing he did was to search in his paternal grandmother for jewelery, he found a pretty transparent jewelry box with the Star of David engraved in it. That's where he found the earrings that said "Bruce" in Hebrew. He took one.
And lastly he lastly he took Goliath and went to 'Eth Alth'eban an entered for the first time to Melissandre's chambers when he retrieved a spear, a Fangtian ji from the Song Dynasty.
When he came back to the Manor, his father was furious for him leaving, but before he could open his mouth Alfred interrupted him by coughing into his fist and announcing his attire was ready.
The old man barely showed him the box before Damian grabbed it and went to his room, locking the door behind him although that didn't make him feel any less the curious looks his Father and Grandfather shoot at him.
He took some last arrangements that were only his, like the fact that he ditched the domino mask and just straight up put spray paint over the eye-zone of his face, and went out of the room to confront both men.
He was now in front of both men, wearing a red tunic that reached his hips, with a yellow utility belt and a yellow wrap over his shoulder and neck. Behind him he had his maternal grandmother's spear and in his left ear there was Martha's old earring. He had kept his green gloves and boots.
Damian smiled at himself, feeling good in his own skin.
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meichenxi · 3 years
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Hey, could I ask you how you do shadowing? Like the different ways you do it? You mentioned in your tag that shadowing is good and I'd love to hear how you do it! I do not attempt shadowing much so I don't really know what helps, etc. ToT (my studyblr is rigelmejo)
Hellooo! Thank you for the interesting question!
Tbh I think I do it fairly basically - I don’t use any particularly fancy software, but software like Language Learning with Netflix has certainly made it easier. There’s a whole video on how to get the most of it here: [on mobile, link didn't work - How to study Chinese with Netflix! by Chinese Zero To Hero] (I’d recommend checking out all of their videos actually, they’ve done a bunch of livestreams recently and they place a lot of emphasis on shadowing + the course they are trying to sell you is…actually phenomenally good)
(Also, I have to preface this by saying that I have been very lucky in terms of pronunciation: I learnt about 80% of my current vocabulary by ear without characters or pinyin. I have been in China for eight months in total, and while I didn’t speak Chinese for all of that, I was constantly soaking in info on natural sentence intonation. I still often don’t know officially what the tone of a vocabulary item is, especially if it changes tone like 教, 为 or 相, but I don’t get yelled at so I have definitely internalised a lot of those changes. I definitely would have more trouble with this if I hadn’t had that experience - my other areas are waaaay weaker because of this though- my reading SUCKS lmao and I can literally handwrite about ten characters)
Anyway. How I shadow:
1) Quite simply by playing the line, and repeating it with all the emotion it has!! I usually use Netflix or Viki for this. I try to do it as fast as possible, and if I can’t do the whole thing, I ‘chunk’ it: if I were doing the sentence 我们还不知道他会不会来, I would start from the end with 他会不会来, then 不知道他会不会来, and then the whole sentence. Notice that this isn’t breaking it down into words or even grammatical phrases, but intonational phrases: it would be perfectly sensible to just do 会不会来 without the 他 but realistically, since this is a question, it’s likely that a strong stress will be placed on the first 会, and you wouldn’t be able to replicate that without also included the more weakly stressed syllable before.
2) I locate (intentionally or subconsciously) the main locus of stress within the sentence, and I focus on that accordingly. Tones may become less extreme if they are not stressed, and may become more exaggerated if stressed. This is always a good exercise. I accompany this with physical actions - I throw my hands down, I sigh, I groan!
3) I put away the text, and don’t look at the tones or even my computer screen - more on this below.
4) Finally, when I think I’ve got it reasonably accurate, I’ll record them speaking the line into my phone with an appropriate pause for copying and play it back to myself at various points throughout the day.
5) I then go and find other words with the same tone contour to slot in, and copy it again. After that, I find words that are slightly different tonally and pop them in too.
6) I finally do fun things like hold a conversation with myself. This can be really simple phrases imbued with some kind of emotion - 这个女子到底是谁呀?为什么不认识我?应该是新手吧。You can do this either really informally, or very formally, or both - trying to speak in the latter way is very fun! So then it’d be idk something more like: 那位姑娘是何人,来自何处?This is fun because you can really slow down your speech and sound as elegant as you like!! (this will sound stilted if you do it for modern speech, but it’s a very fun exercise)
Choosing your media!!
1) Don’t use donghuas. Seriously. The voice actors usually speak at a ridiculous pace and not with the same range of ‘normal’ intonation
2) Your Chinese is definitely good enough to recognise when anyone is quoting poetry or speaking in a paricularly sexy literary way so, uh…don’t do that. That rules dramas like Nirvana in Fire OUT.
3) Modern dramas and reality TV shows CAN be great, but they can also be quite intimidatingly quick and almost too mushy at times. I’d recommend informal speech in guzhuang dramas more, because they have professional voice actors and extensive sound editing, meaning that although it might be fast and the vocabulary harder, it’s actually much more accessible and easier to copy. You don’t want to be stuck with the awfulness of 50% failed foreigner and 50% 12 year old boy who can’t enunciate properly!!
4) CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON WISELY. I try to find characters that speak in a dramatic, whiny or childish way. This is so important! There’s literally no use copying Lan Wangji unless you want to be able to have that particular cadence and tone of voice you get reciting poetry. Childish/whiny/dramatic characters on the other hand stress some words very strongly, and rush others together - this is great for hearing what actual real speech sounds like. Whininess wins. In The Untamed, characters like Wei Wuxian (not yllz!wwx but just…regular wwx), 一问三不知 Nie Huaisang, Jin Ling, and Jingyi are all great. Also Jiggy, who is just very extra constantly and speaks much slower as well, which really helps. In SHL characters like Gu Xiang are good.
5) CHOOSE YOUR VOICE WISELY! If you are really aiming to copy them 100% (which you should try at least sometimes), you want somebody with your pitch range to sound normal. I have a sort of party trick in Chinese that because I’ve spent so much time listening to women in guzhuang dramas I can change my voice and sound like a) a scheming concubine with honeyed words, or b) the voice of the Beijing metro. My teacher found it hysterically funny. But it’s not my natural voice, and if I speak like that for too long it hurts. The women usually are too high for me, and the big burly manly men too low - so I’d recommend finding a man with a higher voice, or an older woman (like some of the female characters in Nirvana in Fire). Again, sorry that this is mostly the Untamed (I’m just most familiar with it) but the voice actors for Wei Wuxian and some of the juniors (+jiggy) has a higher voice. Likewise Chengling in Word of Honour.
On intonation in general:
- The thing is that whilst shadowing is useful it requires prior ability in a whole bunch of other skills that you can train - it relies on your ability to accurately mimic pitch, emotion and other contrasts. Training this in ANY language, including your native one, will help your ability to do this in Chinese - so I’d recommend spending a fair amount of time practicing shadowing (or speaking just after somebody whilst listening to a string of text, like monolingual simultaneous interpreting) in your native language too. Any training copying accents or mimicking other people is going to similarly help, regardless of the language.
So, with that in mind, further tips:
1) Hum / try to copy the intonation without any words. What this does is force you to pay attention to what the intonation actually is, versus what you may think it should be.
2) Don’t look at the text! Do! Not! Look! At! The! Text! If you look at the characters or pinyin you’re telling yourself ‘ok this is a third tone here’ etc, but you want to override the part of your brain that has gotten into bad habits and is supremely self-confident in how you’re pronouncing the third tone, and actually just go straight back to mimicking.
3) Don’t be afraid to do it with vocabulary that is way beyond your level. Actually, I find this can sometimes be helpful, because you don’t have a prior idea about how a particular tone pair should be useful - and you don’t know which tone you should be producing.
4) Learn vocabulary by ear - listen to a vocab podcast or even make one yourself (I often do this; I record my daily Anki and listen back to it through headphones copying throughout the day - if you’re not confident in your pronunciation you can get Google Translate to do it). Similarly, pick unknown vocabulary out of a longer segment and remember it, trying to internalise the tones instead of figuring out which tone it is.
5) Find emotional sentences, and copy them with emotion. This is SO CRUCIAL!!! We remember things when we relate to them, and when we imbue them with emotion - and it also helps in hearing exactly how an angry second tone sounds, for instance.
6) When you’re copying, look up, and imagine you are having an actual conversation. Carry yourself with conviction and poise!! Really try to whine like wwx or slime like jgy. After a couple of turns copying them, try to turn off the audio and keep delivering it in the same manner.
7) Swap individual words out. Once you have a line properly figured out, swap a word or two that has a different tone pair, and focus on delivering it with the same pattern of stress.
8) Finally, practice doing this in your native language too!! It’s a skill that we don’t use often, and it can be trained. Some people are terrible at it at first go even in their native language, but you can work on it!
About intonation in general:
1) I think a lot of pronunciation problems with people sounding unnatural or stiff ultimately come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of what intonation looks like across different languages. In English we mark it by pitch: and we are so used to the rhetoric that Chinese has ‘tone’ and not ‘intonation’ that we try and focus on blindly copying every single word textbook perfect without listening to how it actually sounds.
2) Chinese does have intonation!!! Except that, unlike English, when you stress a word, the pitch doesn’t change, but the tone contour is exaggerated - basically the only time you will ever hear a full third tone is in isolated or very exaggerated speech. If you have a Chinese friend, get them to record a sentence like the English ‘I didn’t ask her to steal his rucksack’, and put stress on the different elements of it - I didn’t ask, I didn’t ask, I didn’t ask, and so on. Notice and copy how the tones change. When shadowing, you should always be paying attention to where the stress is in the sentence: when you speak by yourself, practicing saying a sentence neutrally, and then with stress on one component, the next, and so on. If it feels unnatural, it’s because you might not have practicised like this before - it’ll get better!
Hope that’s somewhat helpful / interesting!
- 梅晨曦
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Blank Space
Loki x Reader
1989, chapter 2
"There once was a girl known by everyone and no one"
Summary: It's hard to find the one, but even if you do find him it's always going to be a daily struggle to make it work. Can you even make it work after he broke your heart? The answer to that is complicated, but it all started when you found each other again in the stark tower- and that's where our story begins.
Word count: 4,864
Warnings: medium level angst I guess, and language as always.
A/N: writing this was challenging and I complained about this for like half of my mutuals lol. However, I did find the perfect song to mix with the title track obv and it was perfect to show their past. You will learn more about their past in future chapters.
A/N: thanks to @chrissquares for making me beautiful dividers especially for this series and @nacho-bucky for beta reading it all! A reminder to check out the song before reading/during!
No one is allowed to repost my writing or steal or copy my work! Reblog on tumblr is fine.
Series masterlist
song on Spotify and YouTube
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 "You know him? Y/N, why didn't you tell us?" Steve scolded you as you sat in one of the rooms, in front of him, Natasha, Thor, and Tony. This felt more like an interrogation than a talk.
"Is this an interrogation?" you looked him dead in the eyes, you saw him falter.
"It doesn't have to be if you don't lie to us again."
"I never lied to you."
"You held back information." Natasha said then.
"Fine, yes I know him, I knew him." You sighed, remembering the night you met him, before everything went wrong.
You were walking through the park in the night, was it dangerous? Of course, but you needed to clear your head. That was when you saw him, sitting on a bench in the rain. He was different, you knew that the minute you noticed him- it wasn't even the weird attire he wore, but rather the feeling that came along with him, you didn't feel threatened and you have mace in your bag, so you approached him.
"You will get a cold if you keep sitting in the rain, don't you have an umbrella?" he looked at you and you got shivers from his blue eyes.
"No, I will be fine. Thank you my lady for your concern." God was his voice enchanting. Curiousity got the better of you then.
"You saw him on earth and you didn't say anything? He is not allowed to be here." Tony said, his fingers fidgeting with his cuffs.
"I knew him long before the invasion happened, it wasn't near the time when I became an avenger, or on shield's radar at all." You tried to explain yourself to them. You never lied to then, you never thought you'd see him again especially in the tower. "Look it is all in the past, there is no reason to talk about it."
"You were mad when you saw him, why was that?" Natasha glanced at you, you knew she would read you if you lied.
"Well, I knew him for a while. But he is the god of lies, I don't like being lied to. So that says it all." You shrugged it off.
"So you won't tell me where you're from?"
"I told you, I'm from England."
"No you're not, you're a pretty lousy liar you know?" you smirked at his taken aback look.
"I think you'd be surprised."
"Nope, I can already tell- you're a bad liar. Or you might be good, but I'm better." He gave you a curious look as the rain kept falling around you, the umbrella you were both sitting under protected you.
"He never mentioned you, or going to earth at all. When was this?" Thor asked you.
"Around 2009" it was so long ago, you now realized, but it still felt close to you.
"You should take my umbrella." You suggested to the man but he just laughed as you sat beside him. "What? You said that you need to go, and I live closer than you, I'll be just fine without it, the thunder doesn't scare me."
"I am not quite fond of it actually. But you should get home, it is getting late." He smiled at you and you got up.
"Let's make a trade then, you will take my umbrella" the two of you stood now. "And you will give me your name."
He eventually took the umbrella with a smile, his fingers were cold when they lightly brushed yours, and you went your separate ways.
"You have no reason not to trust me, I never saw him again after 2011!" you just wanted them to understand that it is all behind you.
"I never said I don't trust you, but kid why would you hide this from us?" Steve asked you, you were pretty close, he was kind of like a protective older brother to you- ironic since he is pretty reckless and Bucky is saner than him, but he cared about you.
"It isn't important Steve, he is a liar that isn't new to any of us. It's nothing personal or important anymore."
"Kid it seems pretty personal-" Tony started to say.
"Well it's not!"
"Okay fine, but just know that he will be here for a while until we figure out and deal with this hydra shit. Then after that Point Break over here will take him away." Tony was sincere now, you could see the worry in his eyes, you knew he was affected by the invasion the most. "So take my advice, and make sure that it really isn't personal."
You nodded to him.
"You are however more than welcome to throw him in a little nightmare, I'll pay you." He smiled and you chuckled.
"What are you saying Stark? My lady," oh you haven't heard that in a while. Fuck. "Do not give my brother nightmares, however you plan on doing that." He looked you up and down, and it was as if you could read him like an open book, you didn't have to use any of your powers because you already knew exactly what he thought in his head.
"I'll stay away from him. Just make sure he does the same."
You looked innocent, not harmful, the kind of girl you would offer help to with even the smallest stuff- a good girl. That's what they all saw before getting to know you, and maybe that was you before you got these dark powers, you knew you missed the old you but you could barely remember her.
 "Are you certain that's what they said?" Natasha asked you from the kitchen table as you made her pancakes.
"I know, it sounds weird but it's Asgardian, they have weird names. Plus I doubt they were lying, they were sleep deprived and I can assure you they have been through a lot of stuff before I started to actually talk to them. Ready?" you looked back at her and she nodded.
You threw the pancake back and by the small 'yay' Natasha let out, you didn't have to turn back to know she caught it with her plate.
"Well, I think I'll go and make them write it down because I am certain we are pronouncing it incorrectly."
"Well I tried! Their accent didn't help at all!" you defended yourself.
"You're still pronouncing it wrongly." You froze, turning around to look at Loki and Thor who walked towards the kitchen. "One would think it was made up by how horribly you ruined the word. How would you know they were truthful after all? What could you have possibly done?"
You held his gaze before deciding to not retort back, you ignored that curious familiar look. He has some nerve to talk. You sat in front of Natasha with your own batch of pancakes, the room was quiet before Thor chimed in to break the tension.
"Are those the cakes from the pan? Oh they are tasty! Would you mind making me and my brother some, Lady Y/N?" Thor was actually nice, how could you say no?
"Of course!" you got up with a smile. "Oh, but I'm afraid there isn't enough batter for the two of you I'm afraid."
You let a small frown take over your face, and you saw Natasha's small smile when you turned to make Thor some pancakes.
"You are a bad liar." Loki pointed out and you didn't have to think.
"I fooled you." Soon enough you turned around to give Thor his pancakes with a smile, pouring the rest of the batter in the sink before sitting down to eat. "Oh and Thor, this is the second warning about what we discussed yesterday, I won't hesitate."
"Very well, however you never did tell me what-"
"It's not important." Thor glared at his brother.
"Brother please be more civil, it's for your benefit." You felt Loki's gaze on you as you ate.
"Do tell me brother, how is it for my benefit?" Loki chuckled.
"Well, you have wronged a lot of people here, and so lady Y/N agreed to not harm you if you stay away. We are here to help my friends!" Thor's booming voice alongside his hopeful smile contrasted his brother's.
You should have known he would test it.
"Oh, and how can she harm me now?" the minute Loki uttered these words you glanced at him for a moment, and the next thing he knew, his heart beat loudly as he fell down from the portal in New York, terrified when he saw the Chitauri around him, one monster opened its mouth and Loki was a moment from dying in its clutches when he heard Thor's voice.
"Enough!" Thor said sternly and Loki was back in the kitchen, disoriented as he took in his surroundings. You only nodded at Thor before you kept eating. Loki disappeared a moment later with a green shimmer.
"I don't like using my powers Thor, but if you care for your brother keep him civil." You said, sorry that Thor had to get offended by it too.
"I understand, but he is here to help right now, mere comments are the least harmful things he could do, there is no need to take it to heart." He put a hand on your shoulder and it was warm enough to get you to agree with him. Stopping hydra should be your top priority.
 "I hate it when he does that." Tony groaned at the marking on the ground just outside of the compound.
Thor and Loki were now back at the palace gates, they heard a call, and Loki turned to see Iyllir walking up to him. She smiled at him and he smiled back, grateful for the lack of observant eyes to tell his fake smiles apart from the real ones.
"Prince Loki, what took you so long? You missed our picnic." The lady put her arm through his and he heard his brother snicker.
"How unfortunate. My brother and I still have very urgent business to tend to. I must go to a court meeting now." Loki gently tugged his hand out of hers.
"I thought you said this won't take long?" she frowned at him. She certainly was beautiful, with red hair and grey eyes, always majestic like a lady, and yet he couldn't follow both of their families' wishes.
"Well I am afraid things have changed, I won't stay here for long this visit." With that he went and followed his brother towards the big doors that opened for them and he saw Odin there alongside trusted advisers and of course- the warriors three. And then the meeting began.
Loki sat in his chair, bored as they talked about the mortals.
"Father, I can assure you that as of now there is no need in sending Asgardian forces there. My friends are handling it well now." Thor explained to his father and Loki couldn't help but get distracted.
"Let me help you, Y/N" he asked you, chuckling and biting his lip when you glared at him.
"I can handle it Loki!" you said as you tried to handle the pile of books in your hands so you could get the key for your apartment. He was thankful that you couldn't see his face now as he watched you struggle to balance the books on your thigh.
You let out a small shriek as the books fell out and were about to hit the floor when they just stopped midair, and you looked at Loki only to see him leaning on the wall, arms crossed with a smug smile on his face.
"I bet you liked my help now." You groaned.
"Yes thank you and your stupid magic Loki." You leaned down to pick up the books and stack them again after opening your door.
"If I remember correctly you were, oh what's the word- petrified when you first saw my magic"
"That is a big exaggeration! I was just a bit… startled maybe." You walked into the apartment and he closed the door behind you when you suddenly stopped, turning to him with an annoyed shocked expression, your mouth agape and your eyes wide and not amused. "You knocked my books down!"
You were met with a mischievous grin.
"You hurt my feelings darling, do you have any proof?" you huffed out a breath.
"You are insufferable!"
"You seem to manage so far."
"From what I gathered so far, the group called Hydra there seemed to have a hold of some old weapons of ours, nothing too big yet but we are looking into it to find out if there is more stuff we don't know about."
"And do you really think the mortals can handle this?" Odin asked the brothers.
"Yes father, they are very powerful." Loki couldn't help but agree with Thor, they really did manage to surprise him this time. He never expected her.
 "What is this A children's playground? Stop pulling your punches and fight me." You grunted as you tried hitting Bucky again, you've been too distracted lately, your training didn't go too well and you ended up on the mat more often than not. At this point you considered just using your powers to make it seem like you're winning but now you were fighting Bucky, and from the day you met him you swore to yourself that you will never use your powers on him. He doesn't need anyone messing with his mind again.
So long story short you were getting your ass handed to you.
"I'm not a supersoldier may I remind you, so I'm sorry if I am a little tired! Bucky come on let's take a break." You ducked another punch.
"Maybe your mind just isn't with us right now." Natasha helpfully provided as she sat on the side with a smoothie.
"Fuck off."
"No, really, what is your deal with Loki?" at his mention you delivered a kick to Bucky that made him fall on the mattress with a thud.
"Nothing. Is this good enough for you now Bucky?" you reached out a hand to help him up.
"Now that we got you riled up about him, yes- let's go again." He laughed at the glare you gave him. Your jaw clenched as the two of you got into position.
"Bring it on, Barnes." He went in with his left arm now.
"I will, how did you know him? It certainly looks pretty personal and in-" you turned him around and pinned him to the ground.
"Shut up, just fight me." You heard Natasha laugh beside you and in that moment Bucky took advantage and got you on the ground instead. And you went back.
"What the fuck!" you screamed when you saw the figure in your room, Loki stood there, his face scrunched up.
"Sorry, my love."
"We talked about this Loki, you can't just teleport here- especially when I am sleeping!" you sighed when you saw his regretful face. "Don't stand there like a creep, come here I missed you."
He smiled and you closed your eyes, you still saw the green light that lit up the room when he changed his clothes and got under the covers with you. His hand was cold, making your skin prickle but it was worth it when he pulled you to him and the warmth spread between the two of you.
You fell asleep content with a smile on your face at the kisses he laid on your neck.
"Y/N?"
"What?" you looked up at Bucky who sat back on his heels, his brow was raised.
"You kind of spaced out, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm- I'm fine. I probably should go though." you got up. "Bruce probably needs help in the lab."
 "You did not tell father about lady Y/N." Thor stated the obvious.
"Don't call her that. Why would I do that? She is of no import." Loki walked towards his chambers, but alas Thor decided to escort him there with preying questions.
"How did none of us know that you spent time in Midgard?" Thor stopped Loki with a hand on his shoulder.
"That was a long time ago brother."
"And yet it seems that you have quite a history, what happened between the two of you? Were the two of you…?" Thor trailed off and Loki groaned.
"Don't insinuate that, there wasn’t anything. We knew each other for a while and then we didn't. Now, if you will excuse me, I'll go to my room. Alone."
Loki shut the door behind him, in his mind he still saw you and your eyes and then the flashes of the battle of New York. The day was tiring; he decided to get some much needed rest, to get you out of his mind.
The day was exhausting; he had to stay back in Asgard. He couldn't put up illusions all the time, it was taking a toll on him, but it was worth it in his eyes.
The palace was now quiet as everybody went to sleep. Loki wanted to rest too, so he snuck out towards the bifrost. Heimdall had already seen him coming, and was ready to open the way.
"Are you going to keep going to her every night, my prince?" Heimdall asked him and Loki let out a smile.
"Yes. Thank you, truly for keeping this a secret for so long." Heimdall only nodded at him.
"If you are going to keep sneaking out to see her, someone will end up seeing you sometime." Heimdall stepped down and came to Loki. "I think I should show you another way to pass through the realms, I think you are mad enough in love for it to work for you."
When Heimdall showed him the way, he thanked him sincerely, it looked impossible at first but soon enough he was there in your room. You already fell asleep. He watched your figure as you rested, your state of calmness washed over him, and then you suddenly screamed at him, maybe he should have tried to wake you sooner, it didn't exactly matter to him much when just a few moments later he was curled up in the warmest bed he'd ever known.
 "So you see, this part here it seems to be controlled by the holder of the gun, that must be the Asgardian tech combined with our own." Bruce told you as you gently examined the weapon.
"Damn, how long do you think they had that then? Like, just the time that it took them to develop it…" you thought. There were probably much worse things out there at their hands.
"I'd say at least a couple of months. It's a shame about those scientists." He hesitated to say that and you knew why.
"I didn't know they had that, no one checked their teeth. I was doing my job. It's okay, you can talk about it." You shrugged it off. With a power like yours, you have to get used to using it, you must fit yourself to it… because it certainly won't happen the other way around. But you were fine. You were different now.
Right?
"Well, next time we will check their teeth, to make sure this won't repeat itself. But at least we got some information before that's good right?" you nodded to Bruce and took out the bullets from one of the guns. There was something red, or was it orange, inside it. You examined it closer, moving towards the microscope to try to see for yourself before you ask Bruce about it.
Curiousity killed the cat.
Before you could reach the table, there was a warm sensation in your hand where you held it and then all you knew was that your hand hurt and you hit the floor, the bullet exploding with whatever was in it. Maybe you should've worn gloves.
Oh well, satisfaction resurrected it.
"Bruce, did you see that?"
"Yes Y/N, are you okay?"
"My head hurts but I'm fine, did you know those bullets do that?" you got up a little too fast for Bruce and your head's liking, but you went to the table nevertheless.
"No, they were fine before, you shouldn't have touched them," he fussed around.
"But I saw something-"
"You need to ice your head, tell me or Cho if you feel anything weird. This isn't something we know about Y/N." he handed you an ice pack for your head and told you to sit down, to which you grumbled but obeyed.
"Ah, Y/N, F.R.I.D.A.Y has been telling me that you've been trying to blow up the lab." Tony laughed at you as he entered.
"No, I would never try to steal your job." You shot back and he winked.
"Okay Elsa, I thought you'd like to know that we managed to make sense of some of the files we found in the warehouse and it looks like they have been making trades and dividing what they found."
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked him.
"That place we found was only dedicated to create a couple of things, but they have more out there, dedicated to building who knows what." Tony groaned, "We will need to divide and conquer this, we can't waste time and there is no way I am letting those Asgardian warriors come here. Don't blow things up kiddo!" you nodded to him, things were getting worse by the minute. You pressed your hand holding the ice pack harder against the back of your head. You were not looking forward to tomorrow, so you kept Bruce company until you were too tired to push it any longer. You went to bed and magically managed to convince Bruce to go to sleep.
 You woke up groaning, you apparently forgot to close the blinds the night before. Going back to sleep will only cause you to oversleep, which will cause Steve to activate the stupid alarm protocol Tony built for him after you annoyed him.
You did not want to wake up to old Captain America songs blasting your ears off.
So you got up and after a short breakfast you reluctantly got on with your duties and important paperwork.
"Miss Y/L/N, you called me? I'm Mike, you asked for an analysis check on some data?" you turned to him then from looking at the board in the small conference room.
"Yes! Hi Mike, thank you. We have some encryptions that probably lead to very specific locations, check radars of isolated places or you know what- scratch that, they could be under our nose in the middle of a city." You looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, I can't narrow it down but we do need those answers as soon as possible. Okay?"
The poor guy looked horrified, his brown eyes were wide and you let out a small sorry when you handed him the big file.
"Yeah, of course Y/N, I will get right to it." With that you were alone in the room once again, going over the information you managed to get from the now dead scientists. This is going to be a long day. You saw it coming and that didn't help at all.
"Oh fuck." You cursed when the cold water from the sink touched your palm, it wasn't badly burned but it still hurt you.
You closed the door to your bathroom and turned around to see him standing in your room. Your eyes locked with blue ones, they certainly were familiar even after all this time, but while you could see the hesitation and the other swirling emotions in his eyes you couldn't tell anymore if you could trust what you thought you knew.
"When?" you felt your blood boil, but you knew you couldn't avoid him forever.
"Sometime after-" you hesitated with your words, walking towards your cabinet to put away the first aid kit you had. "After." You settled with that.
"What are you doing here Y/N?" Loki heard his own heartbeats, seeing you here… After all this time and he never forgot you. How could he?
"I'm an avenger now Loki," his name felt bitter on your tongue and you had to swallow to continue. "A lot has changed you know, you don't need to ask all these questions. There is no point to them."
"Oh but there is," at his angry tone you turned around. It was years of bottling the fight that you never had, he never let you have it. "You never wanted this life Y/N! What are you doing fighting out there with heroes or whatever they like to call themselves?"
"They are heroes, they help people. You however seemed to do the opposite from what I remember seeing on the TV." You laughed and shook your head. "I was still there you know, I was right in that same apartment where you left me. And there I saw you on the TV and I didn't even recognize it was you."
"Did you get hurt?" the question startled you.
"No, but it doesn't matter Loki! I am fighting alongside heroes now, I changed since the last time I saw you, this is my place now!"
"Oh darling you can pretend all you want in front of them, but I still know you." He matched your stare now. "This is not your life."
"Well yes it is!" you shook your head when he got closer now, every emotion you never got to express came back to the surface. "Why are you here? Huh? You're the one who left in the first place!"
"I've come here to help-" you stomped up to him.
"You know damn well that is not what I asked." You hated how your voice wavered.
"I did come here to help with the weapons," he continued before you could try to intervene. "And I didn't expect to see you again. But you're here now, and so am I."
"Damnit Loki, we have been through so much together, we weren't dating for only a month or two. A year. We were dating for more than a year and that is a lot." The tears were brimming now when you remembered your theory, that one little theory that ate your heart out, this one theory you found only a few days after. "Or at least here it is. Maybe in Asgard with all the almost-immortal gods a year is insignificant to you- that sure explains it all."
"No, it's not!" he dismissed it immediately and you felt your defenses shattering when he walked towards you. "I know there's pain inside of you, which was caused by me. But I am here now and I can't deny that I can still feel what I felt all those years ago. Just hear me out, we can call it even, just for a little while."
The last time you played this game it left you with a nasty scar. The more that he said, the less you knew what to think anymore.
So you didn't.
You hated the calmness that took over you the moment his lips touched yours, tongue sliding over the other, it left you breathless. You knew it was still love for you, but it was torture, you knew the high will not be worth the pain but he felt too good, too familiar that it made you question that. You didn't know how long has passed, all you knew was Loki, you still fit perfectly with his body which was pressed against you. Time flew by and you didn't know how you got here.
One moment his lips were on yours, the next you were pressed into the mattress, his figure pressing on yours. Maybe this could be good for the weekend… the next moment your legs somehow were wrapped around him and pulled him more into you. His lips trailed down to your throat, making breathy moans come out of your mouth. Your eyes opened and were focused on one spot on the ceiling, when you managed to break out of this delusional pleasure time flew by.
"No Loki, stop." You pushed him off of you. You sat up, curling your legs.
"What? Darling-" he tried reaching out for your thigh but you shook your head.
"You should go, Loki." You didn't look at him. Your hand covered your mouth as you sank into thought.
"Go? Why would I go? I know you feel exactly like I do." You couldn't deny it. You both knew that.
"You left me before Loki, what is the problem with leaving me now?" While you couldn't see him now, you had to get him out of here, so you could think clearly. This was too reckless. "It doesn't matter, this was just a relapse."
He left you there, and once the door shut you broke down, hating yourself for drowning into him again. You knew you were the one breaking your own heart when he took his warmth from the now cold bed. But it is better that you'll break it before he ever gets the chance to do it again.
Tags: @ayybtch  @buckys-other-punk  @chaoticpete   @madcrazy50   @mishkatelwarriorgoddess
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Post 2: Correcting Post 1
Or: The journey of Japanese is a journey of folly.
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So, I wrote that Japanese has pitch but it's usually not important for meaning, you just sound unnatural.
... Which is something you could say ... Kinda ... sorta ...
Only the Universe has been bombarding me with the importance and prevalence of pitch ever since. So I want to qualify the statement, at least.
Check out this interesting post I found here. Now, if I read this slightly cryptic answer right (it talks about "word-accent" which I assume can mean both "pitch" - Japanese, Chinese - and "stress" - English), pitch is significant to distinguish words with same sounds (homonyms) as follows: Chinese - 71%, Japanese - 13%, English - 0.47%.
Unsurprisingly, in a language (Chinese) using (in its standard pronunciation/main dialect) 5 pitches to differentiate words, pitches are "damn important" (71%). But 13% is actually also quite significant. Your mileage may differ.
Personal bias in skimming information
Now, for me, myself, this is not so surprising. I may have come across the information that pitch exists in Japanese probably twice but my brain may have chosen to willfully ignoring it.
(Textbooks may mention it but then omit it to not overload beginners, I guess.)
Thing is, I have a horrible history with learning how to stress words in other languages. These little accent-y things and squiggles on top of words? They're my nemesis. So I guess I wanted there to be no equivalent of that in Japanese.
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I had three years of Ancient Greek in school, an investment of my time that taught me a valuable lesson: Don't learn Ancient Greek. I'm kidding - or am I? - the valuable lesson was to do my choices in a less knee-jerk way. In hindsight, nothing of value would have come of learning Ancient Greek even if I did well. Your opinion may differ. Fine. I really think it's a colossal waste of time unless you make a job choice requiring it. The best it could have done for me was get better at the learning itself or the learning of languages in general. But it failed in the most important thing that language does: connecting people. If it fails at that, it barely has any right to remotely exist as a subject. Nobody likes you Ancient Greek, go away.
Besides the letters, Greek gave me major problems with the stress accents. Put it on a syllable and I would never manage to pronounce the word. I always put the stress wrong. My brain hasn't unlocked how that works. I notice the same in Spanish. I may emulate a speaker (not that I speak Spanish, but when I repeat after someone), but even then I might not even hear the difference.
I know I've aggravated my Swedish teacher for not hearing the difference between his "ooh" and "uh" sounds he was making for the letter "u." (Ironically a song based entirely on the sound "U" is now playing on shuffle.) Hopefully continued exposure and awareness of the problem might help...
There's some good news, though
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While my chosen learning method of WaniKani doesn't display stress, it features two speakers, Kyoko and Kenichi that say the readings. I wondered on occasion if they were real, but they do use pitch when pronouncing words. (And they might slightly vary between each other.)
So there's a neat little feature:
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You pick your speaker and chose to let pronunciation play out every time the reading is featured - in case of reviews after you transcribed it yourself first.
I have to admit I was in the habit of not playing it when I could do multi-kanji word readings well, but this exposes me to pitch and pronunciation peculiarities I might otherwise ignore.
More exposure!
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[EDIT:] Probably more good news, depending where you come from
So, in researching this I came across this article. It provides two pieces of context that I want to quote .
A reply to a letter to the editor of a manga magazine printed in Romaji (without accent marked) quoted in point 5: "When two or three words sound exactly alike except for pitch accent, context is going to resolve the ambiguity virtually 100 percent of the time. In practical terms, accent is probably the least important aspect of Japanese pronunciation no matter what your level of language skill."
In other words, even bad pitch accent will be understood almost always. This is where I first will employ the most horrible, stereotypical example that's ALWAYS trotted out to justify anything: the chopsticks/bridge example.
Chopsticks and bridge both transcribe to "hashi" (and to the same Hiragana). They only vary in rising and falling pitch. Now you could argue that makes pitch important. But as the above quote states - context usually resolves that quite reliably.
I mean, having browsed reddit and Quora for a while, you will inevitably see this being trotted out, and people ask the rhetorical question: Don't you think it's important to know if the bridge is burning or a set of chopsticks?
Rhetorical questions are, of course, only questions in the most technical sense. They're usually just people being smug or actually making biased or even bad faith arguments.
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As mentioned above, people are not dumb. Japanese is already incredibly context-sensitive. You constantly have to keep track of things said before - because omission is common. You can leave out the subject because you mentioned it before as "the topic." Good luck with translating that, AI...
You usually can infer what is being said. But propagators of the burning chopstick dilemma are trying hard to make you think their way. Or are they even trying? It's so tired an example. If there were lots of these, surely people would quote them, too? Who cares what's going on with the damn bridge, anyway?!?
Okay, moving on.
I found this from point 6 a very useful and probably true assessment: "People without hearing impairments can mimic the melody of language, but they can hardly interpret visual accent markers into the oral/aural domain without special training because visual and auditory stimuli are processed very differently in the human brain. In all likelihood, the author of the above-mentioned letter simply feels more comfortable visually with accent markers. But using such markers to speak Japanese creates pronunciations that are worse than a crude synthesizer."
Well, I was notoriously bad at it in one language already. I guess I will hold my horses on trying to make that my method. Thankfully, audio material is available in enormous quantities, so we can learn from the melody of native speakers. And that is good news.
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lettrespromises · 4 years
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> LettresPromises informs you : You have one notification.
> Letter object : the heart’s warmth and the body’s flames.
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> Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki sent you a letter, would you like to read it?
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@bruised-cherry​ sent a letter : ❝Hiya, Nikki! Can I request a one-shot(if you're down) where Todoroki and Bakugou's(poly relationship) s/o got into a little argument with each other and now their s/o is rejecting them and ignoring them. Since it's summer, TodoBaku turned off the air conditioning, AC, etc, knowing their s/o would need them soon. And just, kinky, dirty ass s m U t :) (and lana spelled backwards if you're down with that, if not that's cool). Sorry I'm a kinky hoe 👉😅👈❞
Author’s letter :
❝ dear bruised-cherry,
first and foremost, i would like to apologize for taking so long to write your promised letter! nonetheless, i had a lot of fun writing it, hopefully it will reach your expectations!! it’s 4:05am as i am writing this and my brain is unable to write proper words i’m sorry—
sealed with a kiss,
nikki.❞
Genre : Pure smut, angst if you squint.
Warnings : Cursing, sex, vaginal sex, blow-job, cunnilingus, anal sex, daddy kink. (Please consider that the characters are aged up.)
Word count : 5.8K.
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This day seemed to counterbalance the already established rules of time and space, you were secretly convinced that minutes were hours and each time you would lay your eyes upon any item with the sole purpose of indicating the current hour, you felt as if time had stopped. It was a long, long day. Truthfully, you wished you could have had the opportunity to meet someone whose quirk was time control to ask them to skip the remaining hours of the day.
The root of the problem was deeply imbedded with the increasing attacks committed by the villains in town, you were on a mission with both Bakugou and Todoroki- a clear lack of communication and coordination signed a burning defeat for the three of you. A mission built and perfected during several months had just blown into pieces, your efforts, tears, blood and energy were the combustibles to the pain fueled by this defeat. Each one of you attempted to exude this loss in your own way while making your way back home. Todoroki, sat on the passenger seat, found the cure to his own inner built-up anger by digging his pearly whites into the flesh of his thumb while observing the passing scenery before his eyes. Bakugou, unexpectedly, made a martyr of the steering wheel by squeezing the non-existent life out of it, causing his fingers to turn white in the process. You, on the other one hand, kept on reminiscing the earlier events of today, your mind roaming over and over again to find what went wrong, you weren’t exactly angry : disappointed in yourself was a more precise way to describe the matter.
The silence was deafening, almost agonizing. Truthfully, silence was even more intimidating than noise- a noisy ride would have included the repertoire of Bakugou’s insults flowing freely from his mouth, it was expected. But silence, on Bakugou’s end, echoed to a level of anger rarely ever reached, metaphorically speaking, Katsuki was a living and breathing ticking bomb at this very moment.
The sound of the car door smashing broke the silence as you arrived home, Bakugou was already inside, his hands shoved in his pockets as expected. You freed a sigh you ignored you were holding from your lips, an early sign that you knew there was little to no seconds left on the ticking bomb. Todoroki sent an apologetic glance in your way, you knew he didn’t mean no harm, if anything, it was a silent sign to encourage you before facing the aftermath caused by the explosion of the bomb.
Flower vases left shattered on the floor, a door handle scarred by the scorching hot imprints of Bakugou’s unforgiving hold and a continuous flow of insults as background noise- those were the said aftermath of the explosion. Bakugou’s body language radiated off pure anger, like you or Todoroki had barely seen before, his rage was exuding from the pores of his palms through a dangerous marriage of small explosions and smoke. He was roaming back and forth in the living room, his stare was focused on the explosions emanating from his hands as a way to convince himself that the more explosions would be set free, the less he would feel angry.
« Fuck, fuck, fuck… Goddamnit, fuck! What the fuck went wrong, hah?! We planned this shit entirely, from start to fucking finish. What the fuck went wrong?! You tell me instead of staring at me, do fucking something for once! » The words echoed and morphed into a roar sent directly your way, anger lacing his every word.
« Bakugou, don’t say things you don’t mean. » Todoroki stated, the pseudo comfort embedded in his voice radically clashed with the heat of Bakugou’s words.
« Don’t say shit I don’t mean? Who the fuck are you to tell others what to do when you couldn’t even do shit when we were facing those bastards?! You didn’t do shit, you fucking left us on our own and arrived at the very last second. So tell me, give me one good fucking reason as to why I should take shit from you! Fucking say it to my face, because I’m dying to know what’s your excuse. » The sounds of Bakugou’s explosions slowly adopted the structure of a crescendo, but Todoroki remained unfazed, his facial expression didn’t betray his pseudo serenity. « I was evacuating the civilians, you knew that, I don’t understand why you act so confused. We prepared this plan together, the three of us, you knew what my role was. »
You were stuck in the middle of a battlefield, torn between two sides but the tragic twist of this scene was that you couldn’t find the strength to defend one of them. You needed to remain objective and impartial, something obviously easier said than done. Your eyes darted from one figure to another each time you heard the sound of either Todoroki or Bakugou’s words, truthfully, you felt paralyzed under the lack of options in this crucial situation- on one hand, Katsuki was nothing short of acerbic when anger consumed him, on the other one hand, Shouto’s calm attitude hid a dangerous amount of anger building inside of him ready to explode if Bakugou’s venom stung too hard to Todoroki’s liking.
« Oh yeah, yeah. You were on you own, hah? Evacuating civilians and shit, am I supposed to feel fucking sorry for you when Y/N were busting our fucking asses out there to take down those bastards? You’re trying to play it solo like your old man? You know what, the more I think about it, the more you start to act like him-… »
« Katsuki! That’s enough, shut up! »
It was your turn to let anger lace your words in such a way that they developed their own toxins, purposefully made to sting Bakugou hard enough to cut his rambling. Endeavor was a touchy topic to Shouto, and as soon as Katsuki pronounced the words ‘old man’, a hint of flames appeared on Todoroki’s collarbone- it was only a matter of second before an inferno invaded the living room.
« You never know when to stop, do you? Do you have any idea of how ridiculous this is? You, Bakugou, you should know out of all people that his father his a sensitive topic, and yet you let your anger get the best of you every damn time. Todoroki, were you really ready to blast your flames at him? Aren’t the both of your grown men, or am I mistaken? How disappointing, how fucking disappointing. » You dropped every last ounce of energy in your tirade, every last bit of emotion in the process too. You felt so numb, deprived from your own vigor.
Both Todoroki and Bakugou’s eyes fell on you as soon as your roaring words broke their mutual verbal assaults, their mouths were set agape- they did have words on the tip of their tongue, but they couldn’t find the strength to give life to them. There it was again, the deafening and agonizing silence.
You couldn’t bare standing in the same vicinity as them, disappointment clouded your vision and the more you looked at them, the more your vision became foggy- but it still remained unclear as to whether it was due to the disappointment or the tears gathering at the corner of your eyes. Without wasting yet another second, you went upstairs and locked yourself in your room, giving yourself some privacy to wipe away your tears.
Downstairs, the silence was still suffocating both Bakugou and Todoroki, their stare were still laying upon the spot where you used to be just a few seconds earlier, they just hadn’t processed your sudden disappearance. They blinked once, then twice, and a third time to make sure they weren’t dreaming and once they were convinced it was very much real, they looked at each other and sighed as if they were, too, deprived of their own energy.
« Bak-… Katsuki, it was my mistake to threaten you with my flames, I apologize. » Todoroki’s tone was soft in comparison to his last statement, a sense of compassion replaced the anger laced in his words.
« I shouldn’t have talked about your shitty dad. » A sentence, which, in Bakugou’s vocabulary echoed to an apology, but with the cruel exception of the forbidden word which begins with an ’s’ and ends with ‘-orry’.
« I assume Y/N is not going to talk to us for a while, and, don’t take it personally but her presence is very much needed. » Bakugou frowned as Todoroki’s words connected to his eardrums, needless to say, he knew he was right but didn’t care enough to admit it and grant him this silent victory.
« I might have an idea, half-and-half, use your shitty quirk to lower the temperature of the house, you know how much she fucking hates cold temperatures. That’s gonna make her move her ass out of the bedroom. » Todoroki only quirked his eyebrows in response while Bakugou was adorning his most victorious grin, he knew this plan meant an automatic win- both of them could handle cold temperatures thanks to their quirks, you on the other one hand, were more fond of warmer temperatures.
Todoroki sighed, perhaps already regretting his choice to follow Bakugou’s antics, but if it meant that he had to play dirty to get you, he was ready to deem himself as the dirtier player in the game. Soon enough, a frigid fog invaded mercilessly the first floor, and your bedroom was the first victim of the unforgiving coldness. Little did you know, this was the beginning of a series of crushing defeats on your end : seeking warmth underneath your blankets? Didn’t work. Blow air on your hands? A total fail. Looking through your boyfriends’ closets to find one of their thick hoodies and wear it? Not the solution you needed to cure the problem.
You were running out of solutions, and that’s when your unconsciousness crept in and murmured suave temptations to your ear : the welcoming warmth of Bakugou and Todoroki’s bodies, their arms wrapped around you like a human cocoon to protect you from the cold temperature. It sounded like a dream, and you had the means to make it real- but at what cost? You roamed around the room, not only to create body warmth by moving, but also to accelerate the train of your thoughts. What was more important? Freezing yourself to death with your pride as an inexistent shield from the cold, or embrace the agonizingly tempting warmth radiating from both of your boyfriends?
The answer to your rhetorical question manifested itself rather quickly- in the blink of an eye, you had already wrapped your hand around the doorknob and raced downstairs towards the personifications of your very own personal heaters under Shouto’s puzzled expression and, in contrast, Katsuki’s triumphing grin.
« Hah? Have you finally decided to show up, princess? » Anyone could have noticed the more-than-obvious obnoxious tone dripping from Bakugou’s words, he glanced over at Todoroki who grinned at him in response, silently thanking him.
« Just keep me warm. » You found a perfect spot right between Katsuki and Shouto on the couch, your knees were brought to your chest, your arms were encompassing your legs- if anything, you were pretty close to looking like a sphere, but you were ready to contort yourself in any position to gather some precious warmth. Eventually, you let out a silent sigh as soon as you felt their respective warmth hit the surface of your skin as a sign of satisfaction.
« I think you forgot the magic word, love. » Shouto teased, his warm index gracing the cold flesh on your shoulder, such a tease.
« Ugh, fine! Keep me warm, please. » You emphasized the pleading word, just enough to make them grin even wider in victory.
« ‘Wasn’t so hard, was it, princess? » You couldn’t exactly tell if you hated or were absolutely enamored with the teasing tone of his voice, but once thing was certain- the grin plastered upon his face was a thing of beauty.
Bakugou, as expected of him, took the lead, or rather, sent a silent challenge in Todoroki’s way which dared him to take the upper hand of the situation. He wrapped his arms around your waist in a lion-like manner, ready to protect what’s his, with the help of his strength you were now sitting on his lap. The grip around your frame didn’t move one bit, not only did he want to provide you as much warmth as his quirk allowed, but he also wanted to maintain control. Your head was laying upon the surface of his shoulder, your face was facing Todoroki who admired you as if he had witnessed the renaissance of Venus under your traits.
« I will help you feel a bit more warm, alright, love? » You hummed in response to Todoroki’s one-sided interrogation.
Another source of warmth was more than welcome. Thus, Shouto wasted no time and placed his hand upon the surface of your cheek, daring to cross Bakugou’s self-claimed territory in the process without any ounce of shame. The amount of space between the two of you had dangerously reduced until totally disappearing which cleared Todoroki’s path on his way to show you just how much he could warm you up. His lids fluttered shut in anticipation, and there it was, the oh so fabulous source of warmth- he planted his lips on yours in perfect harmony. After all, a promise was a promise, correct? Regardless of how it’s executed, correct? That was exactly Shouto’s mindset as his tongue grazed your bottom lip to beg for access to the inside of your mouth, a wish quickly granted which allowed him to spread the warmth of his tongue inside your mouth as his pink muscle met yours which only announced the beginning of the dance of pleasure. Your actions corresponded to his, and his initiatives echoed to yours— soon enough, your tongues were melting in each other’s touch. As much as he wanted to keep this going forever, the way you grabbed his wrist was an indicator that you were starting to lack oxygen. Of course he ended the kiss, but not before he dug his teeth into your lower lip to which you responded with a semi silent whimper.
Bakugou observed the scene from the side with the same smirk gracing his facial features, he would be the worst liar on Earth if he were to say that seeing your mouths collide in harmony wasn’t the epitome of poetry in motion. But who was he to let Shouto get the best of you? Who was he to let Shouto make you whimper first? He craved, no, he needed to make you melt under his touch.
« Want us to make you feel hot, princess? Be careful what you wish for. » This sentence was his final warning before flipping you over on your back, offering him the best position to physically tale the upper hand under Shouto’s amused stare. You looked so pure and yet so sinful at once, a paradox which drove of them crazy as they imagined the most unholy deeds they were going to do to you. Katsuki’s index hooked the fabric of your hoodie (more like his, but it’s just a slight detail which turnt him on even more) before to pull it over your head.
Oh, and what a gorgeous sight to behold— your naked upper body, in all its glory, a body worthy of the most descriptive pages of a novel. He couldn’t help but snicker at the ethereal scenery before his eyes, he knew he was going to devour you and make you his, no matter what.
« Don’t give me those eyes, woman, I fucking told you I was gonna make you feel real hot. You won’t need this shitty hoodie to keep you warm. »
The assault was given once his pearly whites dug into the soft flesh of your neck, reflex kicked, you titled your head to the side to give him more room to play with. It was a succession of biting, licking, biting again until your skin adopted a purplish tone which echoed to a mark of both domination and belonging. Of course, you belonged to him… And Todoroki. Once he was satisfied with his artwork, he licked the abused flesh one last time before smirking to himself as a sign of victory.
You couldn’t expect Todoroki to be left out of the party, after all, you did belong to him too. He pushed Bakugou to the side just enough to bask in the glory of your half-naked form. The gleam in his eyes reflected nothing but pure adoration, he was torn between the will to worship each inch of your body and the tempting option to make your legs weak until you can’t form proper words anymore. Oh, well, both were bound to happen.
« Oi! If you wanna touch her, don’t fucking push me! » Bakugou’s rambling was cut short as soon as Todoroki’s lips crashed on his, the blonde eye’s widened in surprise but he eventually allowed himself to crave to the passion.
« I don’t need your permission to touch what’s mine. » Todoroki whispered against the flesh of your breasts, emphasizing the very last word strategically.
The sight of your hardened nipples caused him to lick his bottom lip in anticipation, just a way to warm up his lips before devouring your flesh. Todoroki wasted no time and took this opportunity to let his tongue grace your left bud, the motions were repetitive and hypnotizing— from circular motions right around your nipple, from vertical licks to sucking motions, each deed was designed for your own pleasure while your whimpers falling free from your lips and the hand stuck at the root of his hair encouraged his actions. Your whimpers were cut short once Bakugou’s lips found yours and dragged you in a tongue-led kiss, and to no one’s surprise, you followed his already established rhythm, but goodness, it was deliciously intoxicating, letting you crave for more. And somehow, the sound of your hushed whimpers created an even more attractive melody.
Now, it was Todoroki’s turn to take advantage of the vacant place left by Bakugou who was now bent on your side which meant that your whole body to discover for the umpteenth time. A trail of kisses left from the valley of your breasts to your lower belly indicated which dangerous way Shouto was bound to take. He took a glance at the liplock share with Katsuki who offered you no rest no matter if you craved for oxygen or not, the same amused grin still plastered upon his facial features, and augmented the temperature just a bit more.
His finger drew an invisible line along the edge of your underwear, a pre-meditated deed which only announced in advance what he was bound to do, he was just one step closer to make your legs crumble under his touch. In a swift motion, fueled by his own personal hunger to satisfy his fantasies, Todoroki got rid of your pants and he could already discern the wet patch adorning the cotton surface of your underwear, what a sight to see. A new trail of kiss was left upon your skin by Shouto, this time, he focused on the inside of your thighs and followed a vertical pattern until reaching the climax of his journey : your already dripping heat.
« Are you already this wet for us, love? How kind of you. » The amused tone which embedded his voice hid a hidden sinful tone, such a contrast, but only Bakugou and you could catch the double-tone.
Bakugou, on the other one hand, mimicked Todoroki’s earlier antics (only to outdo him, his own ego was his sole motivation) and made a victim of your breasts. One lovebite on your neck wasn’t enough, he craved to make you his even more, on every inch of your body. This thought was the reason behind his will to bite the generous flesh of your left breast, which clearly isn’t abused enough to his liking. And so it began once more— biting, licking, biting once more just hard enough to make you whimper in response, suck on your flesh until it becomes purple and has his name written all over it. From the love bite, Katsuki kissed his way until your nipple, the motions of his mouth were strategically chosen to make pure sounds of pleasure fall free from mouth mouth, while his thumb and index were twisting your nipple while following the circular motions of his tongue. The harsh grasp you held onto his blonde hair was only one of the first hints that you were on your way to reach a state of pure bliss, the moans echoing in his head were his favorite hint though.
The sensation of a sharp lick across the fabric of your underwear awakened a new whimper on your end, this time, it was higher which only echoed to a higher level of pleasure. Todoroki’s lips curved into a grin at the sound of it, what a marvel to hear. The fabric which separated your core from Shouto’s lips was seen as a taunt to the latter, but fret not, said taunt was quickly taken care of as soon as he got rid of your underwear, throwing them who-knows-where in the room.
And so the temperature augmented yet again— an experimental lick caused you to bite your lower lip to refrain any moan to escape from your mouth as you closed your eyes in anticipation for pure bliss. Your reaction was the best indicator to Shouto who had found yet another motivation to make you come undone— getting to hear your agonizingly breathtaking whimpers and moans fall in cascade from your lips. Your core was wet, much to Todoroki’s delight, and he could almost hear you calling his name, begging him to eat you as if you were his last dinner on Earth.
His mouth married the shape of your core, his tongue danced beautifully against your folds as if your core had been specifically created to welcome the wonders of his mouth. The licks left by his pink muscle were executed differently in several ways— vertical licks, circular shapes, he based his actions on the sound of your shameless moans and whimpers to predict his next move.
« Shouto, S-Shouto! » Your first begging, which didn’t go unnoticed to both of the protagonists of your very own pleasure.
« So eager, aren’t you, love? » He kissed these words into your skin, words embedded with adoration and love in the process.
Well, there was someone whose name hadn’t been begged, and truth be told, it was getting on his nerves. How dare Shouto have the honor of being begged and not him? Oh, well, he was about to change that right away.
« Open wide, princess, I’ll give you something to fucking beg about. » The same usual smirk accompanied his words, he already knew what was bound to happen, and the knew what effect it would leave on you.
By the time you were busy with Shouto, Bakugou had already taken care of his own clothing by… taking everything off. Isn’t it easier that way? His genetically given large hand stroked tentatively his length, just enough to cause a layer of pre-cum to cover his tip, once he was satisfied with the result, he wasted no time to shove his entire member in your mouth in a swift motion. The warmth of your lips was the most delicate welcome he could’ve asked for, regardless if you were to choke or not, he’d find a way to make you beg his name until it becomes the only thing you’re able to say. Your throat grazed the sensitive tip of his grit, earning you a hushed grunt as a reaction which was a rarity coming from Bakugou. Both of his hands held a harsh grip on your hair, and he used said grip as a level of pressure to thrust himself into your mouth under the mesmerizing sounds of your choked whimpers. It was a scenery of beauty, he was the sole holder of all your attention— you were looking at him through your lashes with pleading eyes, silently begging him to keep going until you were to choke on his member. A silent sign he didn’t miss, he knew you like the back of his hand, after all.
Eventually, Shouto complied to your begs, you wanted more? Oh, you were bound to get more, more precisely, you were bound to have exactly what you deserved. Todoroki and tease were very close to being synonymous, hence why he purposefully used the pad of his thumb to create circulate motions on your sweet bundle of nerves which was the key to make you come undone, and, of course, two of his fingers which had already found a shelter inside your folds while pumping in and out, over and over again, until bringing you to the brim of ecstasy.
Under this new pressure, the need to express your pleasure through moans was almost impossible given the fact that each sound coming out of your mouth was rendered hushed by Bakugou’s length. Your wrapped your hand around his phallus to not only catch some cruelly needed oxygen but also set free all the sounds of pleasure trapped inside you, as soon as your mouth was set free, a pure sound of bliss fell free from your lips. A sound so sinful and addicting at once that both Bakugou and Todoroki couldn’t help but repeat said sound in their head over and over again.
« Oi, princess, I didn’t fucking tell you to stop so keep sucking until I say otherwise, did you fucking get that? » It was a one-sided question, your answer wouldn’t matter anyway.
And there he went again, shoving his member inside your mouth as Bakugou began chasing his own pleasure— if he was careful enough, he could picture the shape of heaven when his lids fluttered shut. This time, his thrusts were harsher, clearly designed to attain his climax. But he wasn’t the only one who was close to reach the seventh sky— the addition of Shouto’s fingers pumping in and out, the oh so right pressure on your sweet of nerves and the precise licks left on your wet folds was nothing short of divine, that divine that it was going to make you reach your orgasm sooner than you thought.
Reflex kicked, your grip on Shouto’s hair became gradually tighter as you felt the knot in your stomach grow more and more until it became out of your control, you rolled your eyes back in ecstasy and the pearls of tears on the corner of your eyes were now rolling down the surface of your cheeks. Through choked sounds, you encouraged Shouto to keep going and going until you could touch heaven by the tip of your fingers. And then heaven came to you, the liberating sensation of floating on a cloud overwhelmed you as you reached your orgasm, manifesting the pure sounds of bliss through the hushed sounds caused by Bakugou’s intrusive length.
« You’re such a good girl, love, you came undone for us. Such a good girl… » The end of his sentence was whispered in marvel against your core, it was a sight he could never get bored of.
His tongue found once more its way to your folds, licking each and every drop of your juices to satisfy his own pleasure. Your taste was his favorite, it was addicting as hell, so addicting that before to swallow said juices, he would always make a mental note of how your cum feels on his tastebuds.
« Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, god-fucking-damnit! » Bakugou’s grunts followed the structure of a crescendo, he threw his head back in pure pleasure— he was so close, so fucking close, he wanted to reach the seventh sky as well.
Todoroki grabbed him by the nape of his neck, his fingers digging right in Katsuki’s flesh, and planted his lips still coated with your juices right upon his. Bakugou could taste your sweet nectar on Shouto’s lips, and perhaps it was the last thing necessary for him to come undone— your taste always had the ability to bring him over the edge, and once more, this time was no exception. Bakugou groaned against Shouto’s lips before breaking the contact between them to share a pure sound of ecstasy of his own and eventually, come undone right in your mouth. A string of the blonde’s cum dripped down from the corner of your mouth, and observing you use your tongue to collect the remaining cum on your chin made Bakugou if he wasn’t going to come undone twice in a row at the sight of this.
« Come on, love, we’re not done yet. » This was the final chapter of all of Shouto’s fantasies, a chapter which was finally bound to take form.
Todoroki snaked his arms around your form to place you right on his lap, once the position was comfortable for the both of you, he placed his length right against your twitching core which was already begging for him to fill you.
« Please, j-just fuck me already… Please… » Another auditive wonder— the sound of you begging was worthy of the most beautiful symphony.
« You asked so nicely, love, who am I to refuse? » A rhetorical question, as expected of Shouto when he led the teasing game.
Shouto filled you instantly, shoving his entire length inside you which caused the unexpected appearance of a moan which you could hardly suppress even by biting your lower lip. An initiative quickly ended by Bakugou’s intervention who tilted your head just enough so he could plant a rough kiss upon your lips in order to prevent you from hushing those sounds of pleasure any longer.
« Don’t be fucking shy, let us hear what you gotta’ say, baby girl. » You looked at Katsuki with pleading eyes, you knew that you were not going to be able to suppress or refrain any of your moans or whimpers, you knew you were bound to become a vocal mess.
Shouto’s hands held a strong grip on your waist, so strong that the tip of his fingers turnt white under the pressure. His rhythm was frantic from the beginning, using the combination of his hips bucking upwards and his arms wrapped around your middle to clash against his testicles. You had the best spot to hear up close and personal the ravishing sounds of bliss coming out of Shouto’s mouth like a broken record. Your arms were wrapped around his neck as a desperate cry for support as his hips were pounding deep inside you until reaching your cervix.
Behind you, Bakugou had already made sure to wet his fingers to prep you. Prep you for what exactly? Oh, well, we all know Bakugou doesn’t handle well being left alone, especially when Todoroki has the advantage of him. The tip of his fingers brushed against your rectum until two of them entered your second hole, he expected this reaction but your moans were ethereal, especially when he was the cause of them. His fingers pumped into your rectum just enough for you to get used to the stretch and to the knew (and double) sensation.
« Be a good fucking girl for daddy and let him fuck you from behind, yeah? » He studied your facial expression and the irregular pattern of your breaths to know whether or not you were fond of his new antics, to which you confirmed his doubts by whispering an almost inaudible « Y-Yes, daddy… »
Nonetheless, the elongated moan you let out in his favor once his fingers reached a bit deeper in your rectum was enough for him to get the clue and replace the feeling of his index and middle finger with the width of his length. A pure sound of pleasure with his name written all over it, if you were to ask Bakugou, he would tell you right away that this is what heaven felt like.
« I-I’m going to cum, I can’t-… » Shouto’s hot breath crashed against your equally as hot skin, it became impossible for him to suppress his grunts any longer.
Bakugou mirrored his pace which had suddenly quickened under the pressure erupting in his lower belly, he could already touch the clouds of the seventh sky, and you were the key to unlocking the divine skies of heaven.
« Fuck… Fuck, I’m close too. » Their grunts matched in unison under the melody of your repetitive moans caused by the double pressure.
With one last thrust from both protagonist, you felt two rushes of hot liquids invade your insides as a moan signed their orgasm. That was it, they came undone and touched heaven as they came inside of you, all the pent up pressure in their abdomen had been set free for your greatest pleasure. You rolled your head back on Katsuki’s shoulder, oxygen had become a rarity under the frantic thrusts of the two newfound victims of passion. Once your lungs felt full again, you released an elongated sigh which drained all of your strength in the process.
Bakugou pulled out first, causing you to whimper at the sudden sensation of vacuity replacing the ever so addictive sensation of being filled by the man who held the keys to your heart. As he pulled out, his arms snaked around your middle and he dragged you with him, hot breaths crashing against your blazing skin. Katsuki put your head over his chest while you mustered up the last bits of vigor you could invoke to find shelter in his comforting embrace.
As soon as Shouto evened his breathing pattern, he felt the urge to join you and Katsuki— laying by your side, his arms draped over your waist, he felt at peace with the two most important people in his life, the true definition of perfection to him. Silence came back again, but this time it was comforting, a silence which held all the fierceness of your feelings for one another. A few kisses were planted here and there on your skin as a silent way to show gratitude, but all three of you were absolutely drained because of passion.
« If you’re still feeling cold, I know a fucking way or two to fix this shitty problem, princess. »
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WinterFalcon week 2021 - Day 1
Hi, this is my first time doing this, so please bear with me. Here is the first day of the WinterFalcon week created by @winterfalconweek​. The prompt was “Sam finds Bucky before Civil War”. Enjoy!
Sam thought that after Steve and his frighteningly fast jogging left, he could finally take his morning runs peacefully. He could, once again, slow down a little to see the sunrise over the flowering trees. He could wave and shout a brief ‘good morning’ to all the other morning joggers and dog-walkers. He could finally take a break after his third lap, sitting on one of the benches near the lake and watching the fish. He could finally relax, knowing there wasn’t someone running laps around him - quite literally. But most of all, he was glad that he wouldn’t have to hear that classic, yet almost patronizing “On your left” ever again.
Well, he had been right about one thing. He wouldn’t have to hear that sentence again. Instead, he heard something equally bad, if not worse.
“On your right.”
- - -
The morning had started normal enough. Sam’s alarm rang at exactly six am, signaling it was time for his morning run. He changed into something better suited for jogging, took a swing of water, and put on his running shoes as he set out for the park. He stretched his legs and arms a little on the way there, shivering slightly from the morning cold. As he reached the park, he started picking up his pace until he was jogging lightly. He took in a big breath of fresh air as he took in the morning view.
Sighing happily, he jogged steadily. He looked around, waving and smiling at the occasional passerby. He was on his second lap when he finally heard another pair of feet jogging behind him. He smiled to himself, secretly glad that it wasn’t Steve and his inhumanely fast running. It wasn’t until the person behind him sped up that he paid much attention to them.
Fine, he thought. Two can play that game. He started picking up his pace, still slightly ahead of the other jogger. They must’ve noticed that since they too picked up their pace. The two joggers kept accelerating until they were both running at full speed. To everyone else at the park, they must’ve looked idiotic, but they didn’t seem to care.
Although Sam was super competitive when it came to running, he eventually ran out of stamina and slowed down a little. That was when the jogger overtook him, shouting a quick “On your right,” as they sped ahead. Only then did Sam get a brief look at them. The jogger was a man with chestnut hair that almost reached his shoulders. He had worn a hoodie and shorts, showing off his sturdy legs. His form wasn’t all that great, but his speed and stamina made up for it.
Sam hoped this was the last time he raced with this mystery jogger. He had, after all, wanted to take his morning runs peacefully.
- - -
The next morning Sam woke up at the same time; six am. He drank a little water before changing and heading out. He once again stretched a little before starting his morning run. He started jogging casually for almost 20 minutes before he heard another pair of feet jogging behind him.
Damn it, he thought. The stupid mystery jogger is back. And sure enough, the pair of feet caught up with him. They, once again, started racing to see who could stay ahead. Sam managed to take the lead for almost five minutes before the other man overtook him. And once again the other jogger shouted the dreaded “On your right.”
- - -
Sam was determined to stay ahead of that stupid jogger. He got up at the normal time, heading to the park earlier than usual as he didn’t waste time at home. He stretched more thoroughly and warmed up a little. He started speed walking until eventually, he sped up to a light jog. 
Upon hearing those aggravating footsteps again, Sam didn’t waste time waiting for the other. Instead, he started sprinting at full speed. He knew that was a really stupid thing to do, especially since the mystery jogger would catch up to him eventually and Sam probably wouldn’t have enough stamina to keep up with him. But he ran forward anyway. 
Once he felt that he was far enough ahead, Sam slowed down until he came to a full stop. He doubled over, breathing heavily. He spotted a water fountain, a little ways away, and decided to drink a little before continuing his jog. He walked over to the fountain, letting the cool water splash over his face and into his mouth. 
When Sam had finished drinking, he walked back to the trail, wiping his face. He was about to start jogging again when he heard that stupid pair of feet on the road, along with the snarky “On your right.” Dammit, he had been too slow.
- - -
The silent running competition continued between Sam and the mystery jogger for a couple of weeks. Every day, Sam started jogging, hoping that was the day he would outrun the other. But every day, the man with chestnut hair and big calf muscles overtook him and shouted his stupid “On your right.”
After a while, the other man must’ve gotten a bit bored with his usual phrase because he decided to change it up a little. The first time that happened, Sam became slightly confused as to why the “On your right,” was now suddenly said with a horrible British accent. The next day, it was a terrible Southern accent. Then it was a weird French accent. He kept going until he ran out of accents, at which point he switched to different languages. The first time it sounded like Russian, then it was Spanish, and another time it was Italian. A lot of the languages were spoken with a clear American accent, almost as if the mystery jogger had typed the phrase into Google translate and tried to pronounce the translation. It got to the point where it felt like he was doing it on purpose, as if he was trying to get Sam to laugh. And Sam did laugh, almost every time. 
Soon, the two became unlikely friends. They never saw each other apart from their morning runs, and even then, Sam had only seen a glimpse of his face and didn’t even know his name. Nevertheless, they became good companions, running together every day, without fail. 
- Two years later -
“Okay man, I get it. But who the hell is this Bucky Barnes guy? I’ve never met him.” Sam said to Steve as they walked up the stairs of an old apartment building. Steve had this old friend from the 40s that he wanted Sam to meet. He had previously been brainwashed by Hydra and became the infamous Winter Soldier. But now, he had finally broken free from the hypnosis, and was on the run from the government who thought he was a threat. Sam wasn’t sure if he trusted this guy, but he trusted Steve, so he would have to deal with another 100 and something-year-old. He just hoped Bucky didn’t look and act his age. 
“Don’t worry, you’re about to meet him,” Steve responded as they reached the top of the stairs. He took out a key and used it to unlock one of the doors on that floor. “Hey Buck, it’s me, Steve. I brought a friend. I think he could help us out.” Steve called out.
As they walked into what looked like the living room, Sam could hear the TV and saw a man sitting on the couch. He had chestnut hair that almost reached his shoulders and his face looked familiar. Wait a second-
“You’re the mystery jogger!” Sam realized, pointing to the man on the couch. He looked up from the TV with visible confusion on his face. Then, a look of recognition dawned on his face. 
���Oh shit, you’re the slow dude from the park.” He said. Even though it had been years since Sam saw him last, his voice was so familiar. A rush of memories came as he remembered all the morning runs where they had raced. He had eventually moved away for his job and never saw the mystery jogger again, much to his dismay. 
“I’m not slow, you’re just super fucking fast. What, are you a super soldier too?” Sam replied, secretly offended because he thought of himself as a pretty fast jogger.
“Actually,” Steve interjected, sensing that the two might start arguing. “He is. So, I take it you’ve already met?”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of.” The two responded at the same time.
“Great!” Steve said cheerfully as he clapped his hands together. “Then I’m sure you guys will get along just fine. Bucky, turn off the TV. We have to talk strategy.”
“Fine,” Bucky groaned as he grabbed the TV remote and turned it off. 
“Sounds good,” Sam said to Steve. Then, he turned to who he assumed was Bucky. “Also, I want a rematch. I’m a lot faster than I was two years ago.”
Bucky grinned. “We’ll see about that. I am a super soldier, after all.”
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spooky-z · 4 years
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[1/3]Bombshell Dupain-Cheng: YSSMIAC
Masterlist  Maribat by @ozmav​
Bombshell: The AU // 0, 1, 2, 3
Ships: Lukadaminette, Jondrien, Chlolix, Feligami, Kimax
Warnings: Language
2.6K
Chapter title: you should see me in a crown
You should see me in a crown Your silence is my favorite sound Watch me make 'em bow One by, one by one 
Here's: Marinette and Kagami didn't expect the transformation to be so outrageously obvious.
Of course, Diana had warned the teenagers that it could happen, but- again, they didn't think it would be so drastic. The growing pains had been, well, a pain. A brutal one.
If Marinette was being bitter, she would blame Tikki for this happening to her and her miraculous partners, but she knew for a fact that it was not the fault of the kwamis for this lack of information.
It was the first time since the world was created, that the miraculous were given to literal children. So, for that reason the side effects were something unknown. But they believed that they had already discovered all the effects after five years wielding the jewelry.
Diana was able to destroy any idea they had about it, since none of them noticed the biggest and most obvious side effect of the miraculous:
They were trapped in underdeveloped bodies for seventeen/eighteen-year-olds teenagers. And that wasn't just because their genetics made them look more youthful, no. The active use of Ladybug’s cure was slowing the aging journey of the other heroes, as they were the hardest hit by healing magic.
So, when Diana - Wonder Woman - invited the miraculous female team to Themyscira to correct this problem with the Amazons, Marinette, Kagami, Chloe and Alix did not hesitate to accept.
The men's team had already been invited by Arthur Curry - Aquaman - because men were not allowed on Themyscira, but also because training with Arthur would be more ideal for them than that of the Amazons.
Zatanna encouraging and assuring the heroes that she would maintain a blocking spell throughout Paris to prevent Hawkmoth from acting.
They left their homes with an excuse to travel the world. Adrien was a little more difficult to get out of Gabriel's claws, but in the end, with Bruce Wayne's call, Adrien was able to leave Paris alone with friends. They were ready.
That's when Marinette suffered.
Starting with all the miraculous having to be resigned in order for the effect of magic to expunge faster, the box being kept safe in Themyscira. And then with the infernal training that the Amazons put them through.
Before, Marinette and Kagami prided themselves on being the most agile and sharp in the fights against akumas, but being in Themyscira showed that they did not even reach the feet of the youngest warriors in the island.
So, it was already clear that if Kagami and Marinette were having problems, Chloe and Alix felt death touching their souls with affection.
(The boys also suffered in those months in Atlantis. Arthur was not at all merciful in teaching them.)
Anyway, when the two and a half month mark reached, the physical changes were simply too glaring to go through a simple growth spurt.
Marinette never envied Chloe and Alix so much for not being predisposed to be tall naturally.
Of all four, Marinette grew the most in height without the influence of the miraculous. She may or may not have cried when she reached 5'11” with Kagami and Hippolyta said she would still grow a few inches.
She didn't care much for stretch marks on her joints, but she complained about the growing pains. Kagami was not very vocal, but the grimaces of pain she let out did not let anyone be fooled.
But even with the pain, the teachings and the struggles, Marinette was happy that they were finally having the right mentoring to guide them. Fu had left very early, much of his knowledge was not passed on.
○○○
After almost struggling to free Marinette from Chloe, they left the blonde sleeping on the brunette's bed while she showered.
Alix ate a croissant, Damian and Luka talked about strategies against Hawkmoth and Plume.
"I already talked to Zatanna and she will release the blocking barrier in three days, just so Hawkmoth doesn't suspect anything." Damian looked at Alix, attracting the young woman's attention. "It would be very suspicious if the barrier was broken just on the same day that Dupont's classes returned."
Alix nodded in agreement. "Did she say anything about tracking the miraculous?"
Luka sighed despondently. "No. She will probably only make it when they are active, meaning- “
"We will have to wait for Plume and Hawkmoth to attack again to get any leads."
Marinette came into the room, fully dressed - a black skater dress with the pattern of delicate cherry blossoms, reaching a few inches above the knee, v-neck and short sleeves; white liner socks - and dry hair stuck in a messy bun, leaving the bangs framing the pretty face.
Luka and Damian swallowed at the glorious sight. She managed to be strong and cute at the same time. And it destroyed them so good.
"He should attack as soon as he feels the barrier is gone." Alix replied and it took both of them out of inappropriate thoughts. Marinette's knowing look showed that she knew exactly where the boyfriends' minds ran.
"And that is why we will be making a war council in half an hour." She reached for the pair of white sneakers on the shoe rack and tucked them in her feet, the laces already tied. “Everyone has already been warned. I will be delivering the miraculous and we will make plans on how to take down Hawkmoth for good.”
"... But first we have to wake Chloe." Luka points. "Who's going to be the unlucky one?"
○○○
After managing to wake Chloe without resulting in a murder, they were quick to leave Marinette's home for Fu's massage parlor, the current headquarters of the miraculous team and where Zatanna had lived for three months when they were away.
"We are here, losers!" Alix announced pompously.
Upon arriving, they found Adrien talking to Jon in a corner; Max, Tim and Barbara on the computer browsing documents that appeared to be important; Félix and Kagami sat at the big table - which Adrien insisted on calling the round table and Marinette found it unnecessary - analyzing a detailed hologram of the streets of Paris.
No sign of Kim or Zatanna yet.
The entry of the five drew everyone's attention; Tim and Felix's eyes doubled in size as they focused on Marinette.
"What the hell, Mari?!" Tim choked on his words.
"This is what I call transformation." Barbara commented amusedly.
“Everyone has undergone drastic changes, Drake. I'm sure you didn't react that way when you saw the others.” Marinette replied.
"Of course not! Nobody came here looking like an Amazon.”
Kagami coughed against the fist, eyebrow raised.
"Okay, I take back what I said." Tim raises his hands in surrender. "But you have to agree with me, Marinette is the most surprising change here."
Adrien nodded frantically in agreement. “When you showed up at school earlier, everyone was shocked. I hardly recognized you.”
Max and Felix scoffed. "Yes, we noticed the warm looks you were shooting at Mari." Max pointed out causing Adrien to choke in embarrassment.
“Oh, is that so? Interesting." Damian murmured, a frankly murderous look on his face. He had already taken the seat next to Felix.
"What? No! You got it wrong.” Adrien stammered, his cheeks red.
“Okay, Adrien. I'm not jealous." Luka said. The malicious curve in the corner of his mouth making it clear that the musician was loving seeing the model turn into a hot mess in front of everyone.
"Luka!" Adrien groaned painfully and turned to Jon. “You know it's not true, right? Everyone knows that I only have eyes for you.” He pouted.
The brunette put his arm around the blonde's waist, bringing him a little closer. “Of course, I know dear. I totally trust my charm.” He winked seductively; Adrien's blush only growing in intensity.
The two of them seeming to forget that their friends were there.
"Ugh, nobody deserves to watch these two making out with their eyes." Chloe moaned on the chair, still drowsy and irritated at being woken up.
"Think on the bright side!" Marinette said happily.
"What would it be...?"
"At least this time they are dressed and aware that there are other people in the room." Kim replied upon entering.
"... I think we better split them up before they really forget we're here." Kagami pointed a finger at the two boys who had started a kiss in a way that, in her opinion, should be inappropriate for people under fifty.
"Does anyone have a spray bottle?" Damian asked.
And Marinette stopped to analyze the physical changes in her team.
So, the fact was: yes, Marinette was the person with the greatest physical change among the miraculous group. Because in addition to the height, she got muscles (which she didn't have before). It wasn't something like a body builder would be, but it also made it clear that she had a pretty intense exercise routine.
Kagami had also grown a lot, losing to Mari by just a few inches. Even before wielding the dragon's miraculous, she had already developed some muscle due to the intense fencing routine; so, the only things that had changed was the increase in body mass around the shoulders, biceps and calves.
Alix didn't grow much, just two inches from what she was before, and the muscles in her body hadn't been developed as visibly as the two asian girls. She had a better definition, elasticity and mobility had improved dramatically.
Chloe was the only one of the four parisian heroines who had no visible change. She remained thin and flexible, with no pronounced hard muscles. Diana had said that the blonde's body was the type that hid her power. The deceptive, fragile type, but who was agile and fatal. Which suited Chloe.
Of the boys, the shock had been Damian. Damian, who, like Marinette, was one of the smallest on the team - followed by Alix and Max - reached his desired height of 6’3”; surpassing both Bruce and Jason, the tallest in the Wayne family.
But that didn't surprise Marinette or Tim, since Damian's parents were both quite tall. They hoped that eventually Damian would start to grow like a weed.
Anyway. While Damian did not grow muscle mass like a brick house like Jason, his shoulders grew broad and powerful, biceps pronounced, muscles lean and defined. He achieved a perfect match between raw power and agility.
Luka surprisingly hasn't changed much. He put a few inches more - taller than Marinette by just an inch, but smaller than Damian by four - but his muscles didn't grow. They just became more defined. And Marinette understood that.
Among all of them, Luka, Alix and Max were the ones who least physically attacked akumas; sometimes they even stayed out of the fight, as their powers were only for a very critical situation.
Adrien somehow still had room to grow. You see, it wasn't like he was short before; for a twelve-year-old boy - before wielding the ring - he was already quite tall, so even with the magic interfering, he still had a decent height for a teenager.
Then discover that there was still room for him to reach Damian? That was surprising.
Unlike Luka, Adrien gained muscle mass. The blonde, over the years, showed that there was no mercy when it came to eating. He never refused food, always chewing what he could as if there was no tomorrow, since at home, his diet was strict. But even with that, he never gained weight.
Always the same skinny boy as always. So skinny that Sabine had made it her life's mission to fatten the Agreste boy. (Which did not work, but it did not diminish the determination of the Chinese woman.)
Then, without the interference of magic, Adrien grew up.
The boy who was once skin and bone, now looked like the blonde version with green eyes of Kim. He didn't get uncomfortably muscular, but the muscle tone he got was insane. Even wearing a hoodie that was supposed to be 2x bigger than its ideal size, it was possible to see that some corners of the seams were stretched on the shoulders and chest.
Gabriel probably burst a vein when he saw his son's transformation. The more youthful Adrien looked, the better it was for him to sell the image of "teenage prince".
Kim was the least surprised, as he was already big even for a teenager. In addition to his shoulders - which became broader - he grew a few inches, bumping head-on with Marinette and Luka. The chest remained strong and his body seemed to have no problem staying flexible.
Félix followed the same path as Luka - which Marinette secretly thanked, since finding a bodybuilder Félix would be beyond strange -, remaining tall and elegant. Lean, well-defined muscles. He remembered Chloe's changes. Silent, but fatal.
He was also in the race for whoever got higher with Adrien and Damian.
Max, on the other hand, must not have grown more than five inches. His muscle tone did not grow at an alarming rate either, remaining mostly thin, but looking agile. Like a person who runs five miles every morning without losing his breath or sweating.
Which was good, since Max was never a fitness person and everyone knew it. If he appeared like a damn monster truck out of nowhere - like Marinette, Kagami and Adrien - it would make people ask even more and they didn't want to attract more attention than they were already getting.
All of this, of course, without pointing out the other obvious changes that puberty brought.
The lack of baby fat, sharp jaws, developed curves, deep voices... Marinette managed to get used to her new height, but was not finding peace of mind with the new weight of her chest.
She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention and smiled.
"Let's start?"
And everyone, including the two lovebirds, sat around the table.
They would only leave with a solid plan against Hawkmoth.
BONUS:
"Wow, did you see how some of Ms. Bustier's and Ms. Mendeleiev's students looked different?" Lila heard extra #1 gossip with extra #2.
"I saw it, girl!" Extra #2 responded. "Everyone is saying that they joined a gang."
"Oho, do you believe that?!"
"Well, won't you say that you didn't find Agreste's new appearance strange?"
Lila jumped when she heard the name of one of her enemies. She moved closer to the two girls to hear the conversation better.
It could be something she could use against the ice king.
“Did you see Dupain-Cheng?! That was insane!”
The Italian bristled when she heard Maribrat's name. Still confused about what the two girls were talking about.
She had decided not to go on the first day of school to make a flashy comeback, so what had happened, she didn't know.
"And Adrien?!"
"I know!"
And that was it! Lila needed to know in detail what was going on.
"Excuse me, girls..." She sweetened her voice as much as she could. The two girls looked at her confused. "I wanted to first apologize for listening to your conversation and also to ask what you were talking about..." The ‘poor woman’ expression stuck to her face.
The two girls were even more confused. "Didn't you come yesterday?"
"No. My flight from Achu took longer than expected and I just arrived today.”
"Ah..." Extra #2 waved. “Is that- Ah! In fact, just look back and you will understand!” She said hastily.
Extra #1 looked over Lila's shoulder with a haunted expression. Waving violently.
And when Lila turned... What the fuck was that.
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