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geniequestria · 2 years

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((Note: This is Part 2 of a guest story (w/ art by them too) by Nova Spark (Once again, I stress a NSFW warning before clicking the hyperlink)

Please click here for the previous part))

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The wall now has a gaping hole in it, exposing wiring and pipes. Starlight, also realizing what she had just done, rushes over to Nova “Oh no, no no no. I didn’t mean to put that kind of force into that! You just got too close to my lamp and I should’ve just warned you. Nova I’m so sorry, are you alright?” She looks over Nova’s body, the lab coat is torn up and her back looks like it’s been bruised badly judging by the darker blue color. It almost looked as if the bruise was spreading somehow. “ L-let me help…you?” She paused, seeing Nova glaring right back at her. But her eyes were different, as if someone else was looking at her now, her irises red with fury. It was faint, but there seemed to be some kind of markings forming under her eyes as well.

“You…how DARE you!? A WARNING WOULD HAVE SUFFICED!” Nova snarls in a voice that doesn't sound like her own, glaring right at Starlight as she gets up. The shift in tone confuses Starlight but Nova looks away, holding a hoof out as she stabilizes herself “Guess I can mark any strength test off the list if that was an unintentional amount of force.”

“H-hey you shouldn’t be getting up right now! Your body is…..bruised?” As quickly as the dark colors and eye markings appeared, they soon vanished. It was as if Nova hadn’t just been launched into a wall. “What the…” Starlight could see Nova’s eyes go back to normal as well. “What are you?”

“It’s fine, we’re…I’m fine. I’ve taken worse hits. Tch, gonna need to fix this lab coat later…” She looks back at Starlight with a cold expression “Mind explaining why you just assaulted me? Did you think I was going to try and hurt you? Maybe try to force a genie wish out of me because you’re getting impatient?”

Starlight looks hurt by the accusation but considering what she just did, she does understand “No! I’m sorry, I just get very sensitive around my lamp. And it’s because…” She leans into Nova, whispering in her ear.

“You can’t be serious. Is…pfff is that really the case?” Her demeanor turns from cold anger into a fit of laughter “Ok you get a pass this time. But please actually warn me next time, and maybe don’t just attack me because I was unaware of something. Seriously…” she pauses and gives a glare “Don’t do that again” Her voice devoid of any emotion, this seems more terrifying than that angry look from earlier.

Starlight nods, she doesn’t really want to upset or hurt someone who was willing to help her. “Right, sorry. Um what other questions did you have for your experiment?”

Nova readjusts her glasses, fully switching back to her previous tone. It was as if that other personality just vanished. “Yes well, switching from the topic of vessels over to your raw power. I’ve already gotten that exposure to your physical prowess and I’m going to say it’s safe to assume you gained that force post geniefication, yes?”

Starlight nods “Excellent, so next is wishing power. What sort of wishes can we grant? Are they literal where you need to be careful of phrasing and what limitations are there on wishes? For example, if I said give me a million bucks and then you make 1 million deer appear. And I assume genies would be able to grant wishes to other genies as well as just use magic as we already can? Also is genie magic nullified by any outside source, for example the elements of harmony? Actually on that same topic, has there ever been a genification that went wrong?”

“Slow down there, let’s go one at a time” Starlight chuckles. “Despite what some old fictional stories may tell you, all of that is up to the genie’s discretion! As long as they say ‘I wish’, anything after that is up to me! For example when it comes to Twilight and her friends I’ve started a bit of a game with them, any wish they make that can be twisted into a genifying one, will become just that!” She laughs “Oh you can bet they hate it, but eventually they’ll have to slip up. I want them to make their genifying wishes. They will see things my way eventually. In fact I’ve already gotten to one of them. So you don’t have to worry about the elements of harmony un-genifying you. Of course when it comes to this game of mine you don’t need to worry, it’s only for the elements. For wishes in general, I told you that I can’t force love, nor can I bring back the dead or kill. Even if I could with that last one, it’s a line I won’t cross.” She pauses at Nova’s final question “The process of genification is foolproof! Everyone is transformed without an issue…” She hesitates, thinking to one of her most recent genifications. She mutters to herself “Even if I couldn’t make Fluttershy fully listen to me…”

Nova’s ears twitch at Starlight’s muttering, taking note of her hesitance. “Having limits separates us from being genuine monsters. Though I’d be careful with the claim of a spell being foolproof. Trust me, I know full well what happens when a ‘foolproof’ plan goes awry. Especially in this lab. Judging by that expression of yours, you’ve already seen something like that haven’t you?” Nova stops writing notes and gives a shocked look towards Starlight. “You’ve transformed one of them into a genie? Who? You can’t have gotten Twilight already!” Nova then puts a hoof to her chin. “! Actually now that I think about it, why genify them at all? Aren’t we against them? Was it one of their transformations that didn’t go as you had planned?” She pauses to think “I wonder if she’s going to twist their minds in the same way she did to Celestia? Perhaps the elements were so strong that even though one of them is a genie, they couldn’t become twisted? …hmm will I become warped when I transform too? I better start thinking on how to stay myself…I won’t be anyone’s puppet. Even if I do want to have those traits and agree with taking Twilight down a peg. And clearly it’s possible that it can be done given her reaction. Could it be willpower? No…then Celestia wouldn’t have been so willing…so what is it? Could the elements of harmony have inherently prevented such a bend? But then that leaves me defenseless…” These thoughts are troubling for Nova but she keeps it hidden. She’d rather not show any visible hesitance. “I’ve no qualms with the other element bearers, and outside of two of them I don’t really have any feelings positive or negative towards them. But what’s to stop them from going rogue the moment you give them the power? I mean they’re still friends with each other, unless you just erase that when they get transformed?”

Starlight grumbles, it seems Nova had struck some sort of nerve without realizing it. “Friendship…tch I’m still not sure why Fluttershy won’t listen to me like the others, she said something similar too.“ She sighs and keeps this thought to herself choosing to play it off.. “I made sure not to get Twilight first, that would ruin the game if she was taken down early!” Starlight laughs “Granted, you’re half right. See the genification went without a hitch! It’s what came after that frustrates me. Even in genie form the elements of harmony are still too good of friends to fight with each other! But you see, that’s proof that they’re making the decision to genify others of their own will!” She said this hoping Nova would see it the same way, Nova however says nothing and writes something down in her notes. “Back to my game though, if Twilight does screw up and makes an accidental genifying wish, I’m not going to just let it slide either. You know you worry about too many what ifs. I know it may sound like a bad idea, but when a pony sees how good it feels to be a genie, they no longer feel the need to be against my plans. And think about this, if the elements of harmony are on our side, who’s going to question what we’re doing?” This point does make Nova give a nod, easing Starlight’s stress somewhat. “My genies all have an urge to spread the feeling of being a genie to their friends. I’m sure you’ve got some friends of your own you’ll want to transform as well?” Nova paused, thinking of whom she’d genify first, but it was clear Starlight was right. “Don't worry, I’ll let you have your fun and hey when I’m ready to nab Twilight, I’ll give you a call so you can watch. I was originally going to get Pinkie Pie as she had won my first game but she swapped places with Fluttershy!”

Nova looks shocked “Fluttershy? The element of kindness? That Fluttershy?” She looks perplexed.

“The very same! Did you know her?” Starlight asked with a cocked eyebrow “Don’t tell me you have complicated feelings for her like you do Celestia” She teased. “Do I need to invite her and the princess so you can all have some alone time~?”

“I-I don’t have feelings for Celestia!” Nova blushes a bit at the tease but brushes it aside. “No, I didn’t know her too well but I’m familiar with her work with the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures. Something I can get behind as a lover of said rare creatures. Perhaps in another life she and I might have been friends. I’m just a bit surprised you got to one of them already. Seems like they’re already on the path to becoming genies so I guess you won’t need my help there.” She clears her throat before going back on topic. “Wait, what about Discord though? I heard he was quite the fan of hers, do you have a plan in place for dealing with him or should I…”

Nova is cut off by Starlight “Oh don’t you worry about Discord, he’s already on our side! All it took was making him realize that with Fluttershy as a genie, she’s going to be with him forever! He has no intention of stopping our plans!”

“Oh…alright then! Nicely done, that means I could still get a sample from him too when I have the chance since we’ll be on the same side.” Nova smirks. “Now beyond genifying spells, what is the most powerful magic you’ve used to date?”

Starlight puts a hoof to her chin, thinking about what she’s accomplished so far “Definitely aging up every foal in Equestria into adults, it was something both Trixie and I had to do together so I’m not sure if that fully counts but…” She’s cut off by Nova who jumped to attention

“You…did…WHAT?” Nova slams her clipboard down. Her anger bubbling up faster than when she was slammed into the wall. “You went and used that magic on foals!? Are you out of your damn mind?!” A loud smack is heard coming from the ground around Nova, but Starlight can’t pinpoint what caused it “The explanation here better be good because I can cross a lot of lines, Starlight, even some you’re not willing to. But I have one that I do NOT cross, and that is anything to do with foals!”

Starlight holds her hooves up “Wait wait! I know what it sounds like, but it wasn’t my choice! A foal from my town wished for it! Yeah I could have chosen not to grant it but then my old town would never have seen the true power of a genie!” she blurts out defensively “I’m with you on that stance! B-but if you think about it, when a pony is genified, it’s a pleasure unlike any other and would you prefer I did that when they were foals?”

Nova grimaces “No… uugh” She shudders before writing these results down “Wishes like that are ones that should be thought through more. Of course a foal wouldn’t realize what they give up by becoming an adult instantly…I believe you and I know what it’s like to be robbed of a childhood.” Starlight’s eyes widened at this thought. Nova sighs “What’s done is done, but when we work together, how about we put a consensus on large scale wishes like that in the future. Sorry for the outburst” She picks her clipboard back up, Starlight eyeing her closely. These outbursts were getting too frequent for her liking.

Trying to get back to a more cheery mood, a question pops into Starlight’s head. She looks at Nova with a smile. “Speaking of wishes, since we’re on the topic, I’m curious, what would you wish for…besides being a genie anyway?” She circles around Nova “Everypony has at least one wish they’d make on a genie.”

“It’s funny you mention that, because I actually had a wish I wanted you to grant for this part of my experiment.” Starlight’s eyes light up “Of course I ask that you not make this a genie wish as that would skew the results.” Starlight rolls her eyes and sighs, the reservations from Nova are starting to get to her. “I already told you, you’re not part of my game so relax, I’ll grant it normally. But what exactly do you want? A bigger lab? Some assistants?”

Nova shook her head “No, originally I would have wished to have Celestia here and make her my personal test subject. Ohh the things I had in mind for us to…” She stops herself when she realizes it might sound less like a revenge wish and more like just wanting the princess to herself. Starlight just gives her a smug look with a raised eyebrow. “U-uh, but since she’s already a genie, and organizing a plan for you, she’s the last pony I want in here right now. Instead, I want you to make me into an alicorn, not like Twilight Sparkle or Cadance, but like Celestia and Luna. I want the flowing mane, towering height, however, I want my tail to remain as is.” This last bit confused Starlight.

“I can do that, it’s quite simple really. You’re going to have to word that as a wish though. And that’s fine, a bit of an oddly specific request. But…what do you mean keep your tail the way it is? Is it different from a regular tail or something?”

A small smirk comes across Nova’s face as she takes off her lab coat, revealing an elongated, thick tail with 3 tufts at the end. Starlight is taken aback by Nova’s true appearance. “You see, Miss Glimmer, I've been hiding some of my secrets. But if we are to be partners, we shouldn't be keeping them from each other. You asked earlier who I really am, like you, I wanted to advance all of Equestria in my own way, so I experimented on my own body to make me into a new species, a tatzlpony. Granted, my goals were different from yours. I didn’t want to make everyone into a tatzl like myself, rather unlock the full potential they had within them! There’s so much more to this world that I can show you, Starlight. But that can come at a later date. For now, you wanted me to word it as a real wish so, I wish you would turn me into an alicorn!”

Starlight takes a moment to get over what she just saw, for a moment she does think about genifying Nova right now, but she shakes that thought away. “No, I've already got her on my side. I just need to be patient. Her oddities and bit of hesitance can be worked out I’m sure.” She smiles at Nova “Alright one new alicorn princess, coming right up!” In an instant, Starlight grants Nova’s wish, enveloping her in a flash of light. What neither of them saw was that the ankh Nova had in her lab coat was glowing as well. In another part of Canterlot, Sahara had been notified of the change in Nova’s magic signature.

“Hm? ...no, NO she didn’t! She couldn’t have!” Neither Starlight or Nova could tell, but they were now being watched “Nova I’m going to get you for this, but for now…let’s keep you safe” She says to herself, prepping a spell of her own.

The light subsided as Nova was now even taller, her mane flowing despite there not being any wind within the lab. She could feel power coursing through her, and a new pair of wings sitting on her sides. “Incredible, so this is what it feels like to be an alicorn.” She can feel the crackle of magic emanating from her horn as she gets used to the power. She unfurls both wings which sends a gust through the room “It’s no illusion either, this is a genuine alicorn body!” She looks back to see her tail didn’t change though the tips do have a bit more of a shine to them. “This is wonderful, Starlight!” Nova giddily pranced around the room, clearly enjoying the new body. Going so far as to do a test flight as well.

Once the joy subsides, she grabs her clipboard and writes some results down “Alright, that’s enough fun. I wish for you to turn me back into my previous form”

Starlight looks baffled by this second wish “Wha…but you just wanted me to turn you into an alicorn! Now you want to turn back?”

Nova shrugs “I wanted proof beyond a doubt of your capabilities and I got that! Simply put, it’s not going to really matter when I’m a genie right? If anything I can always add wings to my body should I desire. That and everyone will have the same level of power as a genie right? You’re not intentionally making every other genie weaker, so if I feel the need for a purely cosmetic change, I can make it then.”

“I…yeah you do have a point there. An alicorn doesn’t match up to genie magic anyway. My encounters with all of Equestria’s royalty proved that” Starlight chuckles and grants Nova’s wish, changing her back into a unicorn tatzlpony. “Come on now, I can’t be spreading a message of equality if I underpowered everypony else. Granted past me did something like that when I kept my cutie mark despite taking others but this is different! All genies are made equal in geniequestria!”

Nova cocks her head “Is that right? Good to know. But I do have some final questions regarding your endgame here. When we’ve turned everyone into genies what happens then? Do you just put the princesses back in charge, go back to our prior lives just with genie magic? Do you call yourself the grand supreme empress of genies? I mean you still haven’t explained why the equestrian royalty is actively taking orders from you. Sure the transformation makes them realize being a genie isn’t so bad but what are you doing that’s compelling them to listen? Because while you said it’s not mind control…it sounds very close to it. At least that’s what I’ve gathered from what I saw and what I can assume from your stories. Unless I’m misunderstanding, because I don’t mean to offend, but if we are to be EQUAL partners I’d prefer not to be a puppet. Forgive me Starlight, but I want to be 100% sure before I make my wish. I’ve encountered ponies who’ve made promises before only to stab me in the back so I’m sure you understand. You said the transformation makes ponies understand but I’d like clarification on what that means.”

Starlight glares at Nova, this line of questioning clearly getting under her skin. She grits her teeth “Careful with that assumption, as I’ve said multiple times already, my genifications aren’t mind control! Twilight Sparkle made that same claim, but no, they are still themselves! Fluttershy is the prime example that she’s not being controlled! In the princesses case…they just needed their minds to be…twisted a little bit. I don’t know how many times I need to say it!” She huffed before taking a deep breath. But it was this exact phrasing that raised the red flags Nova was worried about. “In your case though because you already align yourself with Geniequestria will not need any sort of twisting. You’ll be you! The transformation just brings your inner desires and feelings out!” She sounds frustrated, Nova touched a nerve one too many times. Internally she’s more upset than she lets on “ugh why does everypony think it’s mind control!? She’s starting to sound like Twilight… But she’s a smart mare, she should understand”

Sahara, who was still watching this exchange, had some kind of spell ready. She watched as the tone shifted. “Oh no, Nova, why did you have to ask that…? Hold on just a little longer, I’m coming!” Sand begins to swirl around the large lamia before she vanishes

A tense silence fills the room, Nova clearly doesn’t appreciate the comparison to Twilight Sparkle. She slams her tail on the ground “So what happens to my friends then? Will their minds change if they don’t agree with Geniequestria? And the same goes for everyone else! You can’t tell me that some will have their minds forcibly changed while others don’t! How is that equal?!”

Starlight gets in Nova’s face “Don’t you start turning on me now! It is NOT mind control! Look, you and I both know there is going to be some resistance to a change like this! So I have to be forceful with them, but the ends justify the means! Geniequestria will be a better place for it! Don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves? What, are you too afraid to do what needs to be done?! Maybe it’s no wonder why Celestia chose Twilight over you. At least she has conviction”

“What did you just say?!” This was the last straw, she slams her tail on the ground, hard enough to even crack the floor. “Afraid? AFRAID?! I AM STICKING TO WHAT I BELIEVE IN! I've met ponies like you before, Glimmer, and they always end up getting what they deserve!” Her fur begins to darken again “Brainwashing, mind twisting, I don’t care what you call it! I’ve gone down that road before, I’m not saying that I’m above it. But it will not create the ideal world you want, it never ends well! If you want to make a new world that’s truly equal, that’s not the way to do it! You are fooling yourself if you think otherwise! You could easily just let the ponies who don’t want to change live on their own and let them live their mortal lives and just wait them out! It sounds to me like you’re using all of Equestria to take your grudge out on Twilight and her friends!”

A strange calm comes over Starlight, yet unlike her anger, this puts Nova more on edge “You are just like Twilight. I really thought we connected, Nova.” She grabs a test tube from a nearby table. “Perhaps you’ll understand, once you see things my way, when you’ve truly experienced what I have to offer. I like you, so I'll give you one more chance, what is it you really want here? What is your real desire? Unless you're just going to waste your potential and prove Celestia right.”

“I’M NOTHING LIKE HER!” Nova roars. She doesn’t know how to take this tone shift, she’s still too angry to think properly. “How dare you?! Were you not paying attention to me earlier?! I'm doing this because I believe ponies can be brought to their full potential! It’s because I wish to be better than Twilight ever could be, to prove to Celestia and everyone else who’s doubted me, wrong!” She huffs a few times, a silence fills the room. Her eyes then widen as she realizes what she just said. She starts to back away as Starlight smiles “I really hate you right now…”

“Yeah, but I can fix that” Starlight holds the small test tube towards Nova, her genie spell already starting to pull Nova towards it. “I know you asked for the other flask, but think of it like this, it’s still something science based for your vessel! You wanted to see if vessels can be changed anyway right? Consider this an experiment of my own! Maybe this will teach you to know your place!” She laughed as Nova coiled her tail around a nearby exposed pipe from the hole Starlight made earlier. “Huh you’ve got a bit of dexterity with that tail don’t you? Maybe you should’ve kept those wings earlier, you might’ve stood a better chance!”

“That was not the vessel I chose, nor is that the genie wish!” Nova can feel herself being pulled in, despite holding onto the sturdy pipe. She feels herself being lifted into the air and her body stretching, starting with her hooves. She’s both terrified and intrigued by the process “H-how in the? Fascinating, my body is stretching and…. No! I won’t be a servant! I’m me! Nopony else!”

Starlight shakes her head and starts to laugh “Relax, you’ll come to enjoy the process, everypony does. You need to calm down though. I think you’re gonna pop a blood vessel with those red eyes you’re getting. You should have just kept your mouth shut if you really wanted this vessel. And maybe you weren’t paying attention, any wish can be made into a genie one. You might not be part of my game, but I’m done playing yours!”

It’s at this time when sand starts to swirl in the room, Starlight finds it difficult to see, her eyes squinting “Agh! Hey, maybe you should invest in some time to clean up the place, where’d all this dust come from?!” She tries to make it go away with her magic, but can’t seem to do so. “Whatever, it’s not going to save you, the process already has you in its grasp!” She doesn’t realize that the sand is moving with purpose, Sahara has now arrived on the scene. She stays out of sight while her sand is doing all the work.

“no…I’m too late to stop the transformation…but I can alter it!” The sand flows into the test tube, changing it from the inside out. It now looks more like a blend of the two flasks Nova originally had in mind for her vessel. The neck spiraled, ending in two openings with its base being more conical. With the sand still in the air, Starlight cannot see any of these changes occurring. She can however hear when Nova finally makes contact with the vessel.

“Sahara, I…I should have listened to you, I’m sorry!” She thinks to herself. With her hooves now being pulled in, Nova knew it was only a matter of time. She had shut her eyes initially. But when the sensations started to hit her, she opened them wide. Now seeing all the flying sand around her, it didn’t take long before she realized what was going on. But before she could call out to her lamia friend, her tail uncoiled from the pipe, now being pulled towards the bottle’s second opening. With two points of entry, the process was now faster. All the sensations Starlight spoke of, Nova realized how true it was “oooooh~ This….this feels incredible~”

This is what Starlight was waiting to hear, she may not have seen it properly but she knows when a pony was giving in to the transformation. She let out a laugh “You see, Nova!? I told you it was good! Just let the bottle do all the work and soon we’ll be able to enact our plans!”

“Ooooh yes this is unlike anything we’ve felt before~!” Nova could feel her body being quickly sucked into both openings, her legs and tail were fully elongated and merged into one long tail as she was sucked in. It was making her body shift back and forth between the normal and dark blue colors Though she noticed something off, her mind, her opinions on Starlight and her concepts of equality. They weren’t changing. But right now she was so focused on the sensations of being pulled in, she really didn’t have time to dwell on that fact. Her body was quickly sucked in, leaving only her head, that last pull brought her over the edge as she let out a moan that echoed through the halls “Aaaaaaahhhh~” To starlight it sounded like there were two voices moaning at the end but perhaps it was just the echo. Had she been able to see, she would have spotted what looked like two Novas for a brief moment being sucked in. Followed by a very audible SCHOOOOMP! The bottle’s ends were sealed with toppers that looked like Nova’s cutie mark…her original one anyway. A new cutie mark emerged on the now filled vessel, it was Nova’s spark now being sucked into a flask. The sand subsided as well, Sahara watching from the shadows hoping that what she did, worked.

Starlight, now being able to see again, looked very confused by the bottle she was holding “Heh defiant to the end huh? Well it looks like you got an even better vessel from the one you wanted!” she gave the bottle a little shake “But you see, it ends the way I knew it would. I don’t know how you changed the vessel but that cutie mark means my spell worked! Sorry for being rough but I think you get my point now right? You're a smart mare, but you needed to calm down and see things my way. Now we can talk more about our partnership for Geniequestria” Before opening the bottle she spots the notes Nova had been taking and picks them up “let’s see what you really thought about me…. All these experiment ideas, and what’s this about a unique kind of vessel experiment, with..oh OH” She blushes and puts the notes down “Maybe I’ll let her do that one on her own. I didn’t know her tail was capable of that…” She says to herself before removing one of the stoppers from the bottle.

The bottle shakes and sparks, a laughter can be heard coming from it before Nova re-emerges, now fully genified. Like Starlight she has a veil covering her face along with new leggings but it seems she has some different jewelry as well as maintaining her lab coat, though it flowed more like a cape now, merged with the standard genie attire. Nova doesn’t say anything as she looks herself over before giving a toothy grin at Starlight “Mmm nah I think I'll be doing my own thing thanks. You can keep your geniequestria."

She looks smugly at Starlight. "I asked if a genification had ever gone wrong, seems like Fluttershy isn’t the only one who didn’t go your way! I told you, overconfidence can lead to disaster!” she laughs. “Tell you what though, I can't really do anything to you and you have no power over me so in a sense you gave me exactly what I wanted despite your backstabbing. I'll admit the transformation was far more wonderful than anything I've experienced. The feel of the suction on my body and the magic coursing through me….oooh! But since you tried to pull a fast one on me, I cannot forgive that. So here's a new deal, I won't get in your way as long as you don't get in mine." Starlight doesn't look too pleased

“W-what!? No! You said you’d be on my side! You SHOULD be on my side! You shouldn’t be able to resist wanting to spread geniequality now! There’s no way you could have resisted that! I knew I should have just genified you from the start!!”

“As I suspected, you were just appealing to my curiosity. You never saw me as an equal, you saw me as a tool!” Nova said in a hurt tone. “It’s a good thing I have some friends in high places.There’s no point in fighting, Starlight. We’re truly EQUAL now, my free will is intact. I promise that I won’t go after Twilight Sparkle or go try and ungenify anypony if that’s your concern. But I won’t be helping you either.” She glares at Starlight “So I thank you for the upgrade, but stay out of my way. That is unless you want to become enemies, maybe then I’ll decide to help Twilight and her friends hm? You so graciously told me about how we genies work, I’m sure they’d love to hear it too.”

“You wouldn’t dare..” Starlight can’t believe what she’s hearing, her eyes twitched, she wanted to send Nova flying, teach her a lesson. But she was right, they couldn’t do anything to each other with equal powers. “Fine, but you get in my way, and I’ll bring Celestia and Luna here. Tell them everything you’ve done! Make you an enemy of Geniequestria!” She spat, both mares staring angrily at each other.

Unlike the first staredown, only Nova laughs this time “Then it seems we do have some form of understanding! Don’t you worry one bit, I will keep my promise, Starlight. In fact I’ll be watching eagerly to see how it all unfolds. I do still want to see what happens when Twilight gives into this power…or perhaps she’ll find a way to beat you! Either way it’ll be a fun show for me! With that being said, I know you’re a busy mare and I do apologize for taking so much of your precious time. I’ll be quite busy with experiments myself. I do need to see if my theory on using a dual necked bottle will work. Though I have no need to show you now, besides I don’t think 3 against 1 is really that fair.” She looks to the side of the room “Sahara, would you be a dear and take our former guest outside?”

“With pleasure!”

“Three against one? But we’re the only ones here!” Starlight looks confused before she’s surrounded by sand “And who’s Sahara…aaagh! Not again!! What is this!?” Starlight soon finds herself back outside in Canterlot where she initially met Nova. A large shadow looms over her. She looks back to see the lamia known as Sahara. Her eyes glowing gold, her mane flowing in the wind. She towered over Starlight “You….who are you?! Nopony could have changed my genie spell!” She preps a bottle to genify this newcomer, holding it up but nothing is happening. “Why?! Why doesn’t it work on you!?”

“Can’t you tell? Are you not able to see what I truly am?” She laughs “You can’t genify a genie sweetie. Unlike you, I was born this way. There are more like me as well, we do not take kindly to those that would harm our loved ones. Nor do we try to control the mortal world like you seem to be doing. You remind me of Catrina, you even have her lamp. I wonder, will you end up going mad like her? Only time will tell I suppose.” Starlight glares back at the lamia. “Again with the comparisons to this Catrina! I’m nothing like her! I’m not trying to hoard all this power to myself. I’m spreading it equally! Making this world a better place to be!”

Sahara sighs “Better for the world, or just better for you? You are still shaping the world into what YOU want, not what others want. What gives you the right to decide that? To change the natural order of things?” She pauses, Starlight’s eye twitches but she doesn’t respond. “I have no doubt that you may reach your goal, but be warned, this power can easily corrupt. I can feel it within you too. We will be watching you closely, Starlight Glimmer.” She vanished as quickly as she arrived. Leaving Starlight alone to process what just happened.

“Tch, that is the last time I follow somepony into a random lab! At least she’s a genie now though…” She huffed “As long as she keeps her promise, I’ll keep up my end. Watch your back, Nova. I’m not going to back down, I know what I’m doing is right.”

Back in the lab Nova waited for Sahara to return, expecting to get one nightmare of a lecture. But instead of all that, when Sahara teleported in, she received the tightest hug the lamia could muster “You blue, overly curious, idiot! I almost lost you! You’re so lucky I changed things when I did!”

Nova smiled at Sahara “I had no power that could’ve stopped it, if it wasn’t for you. I’d probably just be her puppet, spouting all this nonsense of geniequestria. I would have even tried to genify you, though I know now that wouldn’t work.” Sahara sighs, knowing her secret is out. “I’m sorry for not listening. But I’ll admit this new form brings new potential for experimentation! And as a fellow genie, I hope you’ll be a part of them? When I saw your sand flowing into the bottle, I finally realized what you truly were. I can’t believe you hid it from me all this time. But now, we can move forward together. This is only just the beginning!”

The End

#Geniequestria #Nova Spark #Sahara #starlight glimmer #genie #oc genifications #genification #guest story #guest art #my little pony #my little pony friendship is magic #lamia #oc #pony oc #Grand Genie Experiment

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hekatekun · 9 days

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yaoi was horrendous this week genuinely great job i am always obsessed with your uncanny ability to put todomatsu under a magnifying glass and burn him like an ant ^__^ cannot wait for chapter 5!!! i noticed a change in direction though particularly in how you characterize todomatsu's interactions w atsushi which i really liked!! i am curious though what prompted it :33

thank you^^<3 there's probably a few different reasons both intentional and unintentional. to start, ccckk will have 10 chapters, however in its original "outlining" i intended to have 9 chapters

i've shared my hyperlinked table of contents on a few different posts now, mostly as cockteasers. but also i literally don't think i could navigate the google doc without it atp

i think theres like 30k of it published? so there's on average at least 1-2k worth of a scene in all 6 of the unpublished chapters that i've chipped away at over the last 3 years, bc ofc some are more developed than others. there's never been a solid outline for ccckk but rather a string of scenes i knew i wanted at certain intervals, like milestones, and i had wanted to retro-engineer the rest around those concepts

with that in mind, ch10 isn't a real chapter but more like a coda i wrote right after publishing ch1 and so the rest has been "how do i move the story from ch1 to this epilogue?" the plot is only in the first 9 chapters, so i structured it with three "acts" in mind and tried to have the chapter titles reflect that - both for my own amusement and to ground the ideas better lest i forget what wasn't written yet. so if ch4 starts "act 2" then it should show off that shift. but also, i never intended ccckk to be a slowburn, more like a...... medium burn ig? it's supposed to be a todomatty character study first and foremost, after all

each chapter should feel episodic to some extent, since i paced it on individual chapter "goals" rather than wordcount or anything (tbh i actually thought i would only ever hit ~50k total but if i'm not even halfway done and i'm at 30k now? jesus fuck. fuck me. what the fuck did i do.) if i've planned/structured the story like i'm fitting individual glass pieces into a metal frame, then by god you're gonna get the yaoi-est stain-glass art you've ever seen outside church in your life. it's why ch4 utilizes something like a montage, to show that ~passage of time~ and what that did to their dynamic now in this act 2

as to what that situationship dynamic actually ended up looking like on the big screen, i definitely blame @moeatsushi's art for that one^^ a lot of it made me realize i could definitely make them..... messier? nastier? gayer? [insert tumblrbait adjective]? for a lack of a better word. and that i could balance That with the surrealist realism that i wanted to achieve when translating the show into prose. also helped me get out of a general writer's block<3

beyond all that, i think part of it comes from me now being 23 writing yaoi instead of writing yaoi at 20. not that my brains developed any more, but my opinions have changed. like, to the point i find it hard to read the previous chapters when i have to reference them. ch1 really is a mark of shame to me ngl only god knows how i wouldve wrote it now. i had a friend look at it a few weeks ago and they called that shit "college freshmen posting on wattpad" 😓 which is already how i felt about it but whatever. post and move on. i (probably) won't repost/edit since that's more work that no one's paying me for, and it (probably) isn't as bad as my perfectionist monkey brain feels. anyway this isn't about being emo it's my precursor to admitting that there's a good chance i went off script bc i refused to look super close at my own goddamn source material/notes and decided winging it was better out of a mixture of laziness and pride at the cost of tighter consistency/characterization

#ask #writing ccckk has been like an exercise in performing improv with past me and future me #theres a homestuck joke here somewhere. maybe i just need to commit to the bit and insert more audience participation #ty for asking btw this is actually something ive been kinda thinking about but never knew how/when to say it^^

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qingxintea · 3 years

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heartbreak avenue (3) || albedo x reader

heartbreak avenue (1) heartbreak avenue (2) -- tell me how, do you do this thing called living? when theres nothing more to gain. gn reader -- ignore the link below idk how tf to hyperlink on mobile but that’s ur part 4 ig

damn. imagine missing mond so much that you visit just for the vibes and accidentally become a one time vigilante for dominating over a couple abyss mages

how oddly specific!

you moment.

TO BE FAIR, you didn't mean to and also ur just strong with that 245% crit damage ugh yeah yeah get it ig

it was night time, like, idk 1am and you were in this cloak because idk look swaggy and comfortable

abyss mage went ŏ̸̡̡̹̘͉̫̬̬̭̘̙̝͐͒̆̈́̒̿̄́͠͝ǒ̸̧̺͕̣̬̝̱͈̭̭̻̮̈̏̔͆̑̀̍ǫ̵̡̜̲̭̠̤̰̹͍̣͎̤̈́̓̍͠ḩ̴̡͍̣̹̯̭̩̮̣̩̭́̔̀̍͊̂͒́̆͘͜͝͝ȃ̷̧̡̢̡̨̛̪͓̤̜͕̳̦̼͊̏̃͆̓̈́̈́̽̈́͌͐̋̚ͅh̸̡̩͍̟͕̥͚̰̰̟̮̖̪̉̈́͛͂̍̾a̸̧̢͕̙̞̳̩͈̲͉͕̒̆̎̐̎̍̀͊͘̚͝h̸̡̼͓̝͕̫̤̰̱̬̣̗͚̙̀͜ and you were like "lmao shut up"

and like it did! because you made it shut up and also mans diluc was watching in his dark knight hero thingy

of course you noticed his presence from the beginning, you just wanted to piss him off and act like he wasn't there at all

you walked. straight past him like he was actually on the bridge in the middle and you just w al ked .

i mean ofc he gonna say something. and he did. dude said "who r u"

stared at him directly in the eye and said "the embryo made of chewed bubblegum."

he stared. sh o ck ed . what were you even saying

"jk im a resident of mondstadt, visiting from my liyue trip."

"and how do i know you arent lying?"

you sighed and grabbed your dendro vision, letting him look at the frame. "its incased in a mondstadt styled frame." after a few seconds, you put it back. "if that is all, i'll be going."

"k"

"literally fuck off" you responded and walked inside.

sometimes you forget how rude mondstadt people are lmao loser.

ok so like this donna girl really went up to you like "JFKLSJFLKSDJFL NUMBER ??? HELLO ?? UMM THE WAY YOU SAVED MONDSTADT RLKDFFC" and you resisted every urge to flip her off on the spot.

you just stayed and let her talk, smiling through all of it. your hood was still on but it was quite windy s ooo

its been ten minutes. girl please let us go. you were literally begging for anyone to cut in because ur too nice (or unbothered) to tell her to shut up even though you totally went off on diluc aadahahhshdf

and someone did! not the one you expected though.

"good evening donna, and... oh? who would you be?"

ALBEDO LMAO GET STICKBUGGED? ? ? ?? AH a hjfkahfjah . im so funny .

guys i meant that ironically please

anyway

you got even more uncomfortable lmao and you just looked at him and smiled. what do you respond? "no one of importance."

he heard your voice, saw your eyes and it registered. it was you...

or was that what he wanted to believe?

cause this whole time hes been waiting for you, only using experiments as a thing to pass time. it got... a little more lonelier, because nothing could replace you.

he decided to not believe it. because 1) you knew well they welcomed you with open arms, so there would be no need to hide yourself

(which is also proof of how much the whole situation fucked up your thinking)

a second of silence before he continues on the conversation with normal evening meeting stuff things idk

then ur like "ahhshaaajk i must be taking my leave now for matters i will not disclose ahaha skidoosh"

skidoosh

so you go to the big venti statue next to the cathedral and just stand. stare. yikes

no ones out right now and theres nothing to do. but you remember this place because its where the both of yall would eat together whenever he had free time (which wasnt that often, but he still made the effort)

you look up to the sky, counting all the stars like you used to.

no ones gonna know that you're here, you decided on that. you only visited because you simply missed it, but after this, you were going back to liyue.

no ones gonna know. because no one needs to know. no one needs to know that you were here. that would only cause more trouble to the situation you tried to avoid

albedo ends up catching up to you later, still having some spark of hope left that it really was you

i mean lowkey there isnt really anything saying it wasnt. he wanted to believe that he was just overthinking when he thought it really wasnt you

like you look the same. sound the same. its just the reasoning of you coming here, but he can push that aside

"(y/n)."

you flinch but didnt react with anything else. he doesnt need to know that its you.

"(y/n)?"

you turn around to meet his eyes as he was approaching you. slightly distancing yourself another inch away as you were not used to the proximity, you responded, "i'm afraid i'm not the one you're looking for."

albedo stops for a moment, and was about to apologize,, but then

yknow that wind i mentioned earlier? like right after donna started bothering you

yeah that same wind blew ur hood off! lmao L

okay time to get serious !

you stay composed and sighed, your breath visible in the cold air.

so your features are exposed, and its so obviously you, like theres literally no way it cannot be you

"it really is you..." he doesnt understand why youre not admitting to it. "(y/n), please.."

you shake your head and walk away but mans grabs your wrist gently

"(y/n), whats wr-" he starts, but youre quick to respond

"im not (y/n)." you flat out said it and looked right into his eyes. and you swear there were small tears even if he was deemed nonchalant.

he doesnt understand, its your physical features, and your same energy, there is no other person that completely matches it.

he pulls you closer to examine this black smudge on your hand, a small yelp of surprise coming from you.

"this is... ink," he studied the properties of the substance. "you responded to my letter a day ago. (y/n)... i know by now. there's no reason to hide it."

you step away, freeing your hand from his grasp. your voice broke, tears forming in the corners of your eyes. "i'm not... i'm not (y/n). i never will be. i'll never be so vulnerable again, i'll never be so naive again, i'll never be so lonely again, i will never ever be anything like they were again."

your vision blurred, but you werent oblivious to the tears streaming down his face as well. reaching to brush them away, you paused and let it drop to his shoulder instead.

"albedo. i... the (y/n) you knew... they're gone now. and if i could revert back to them any time, i would, i swear, but... i'm al-... they..." you buried your head in your hands. "i'm broken. to the point that i refuse to identify as the (y/n) you know me by."

doesnt know what to say, so he almost pulls you into a hug before you move out of the way. something you never did.

"don't... please. it never works out in the end." you shake your head, facing the other way. "for me at least."

"..we could work together, no?" he tried, still oblivious about your feelings towards him.

"only if you're willing to cross your moral boundaries," you looked back and tilted your head. taking a deep breath, you continued, "but you know that neither of us are willing to do that."

he couldn't say anything, because as much as he hated to admit something for once, you were right about that. at this point, he would've thought that literally any extent would've been fine to reach to bring you back.

yet in multiple situations where he's doubted himself before, theres always a line he will never cross.

"...i wish you the best. treat her well because i worked hard." you walked away without him stopping you this time. i worked hard. not we worked hard.

even if you had honestly felt that way, there was no chance the old you wouldve actually voiced that.

and so he watched you slip from his grasp again, only this time, he stopped himself from holding you back from his own will.

yet he swears- the next time he meets you again, he will bring you back.

#albedo x reader #genshin impact x reader #albedo #genshin albedo #genshin angst #albedo angst #sucrose #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin headcanons

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collisiondiscourse · 3 years

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on the wonder duo (part 1)

(BNHA Analysis Post Ahead! This isn’t explicitly romantic, but it is an analysis of the relationship between the two most popular characters in BNHA--Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya. Split into two posts because I realized that this was gonna be long as HELL)

yall ever think about the fact that the wonder duo is perfectly set up in so that bakugou and deku together are the better version of all might?

bc like. ive been thinking.

everyone knows the win to save and save to win parallel. How they are supposedly two halves of a whole perfect hero (which, previously, was defined as all might)

but ever since bakugou and deku started working as one—growing together to win AND save and continuously reminding each other that they shouldnt try to do things alone, ive realized that its BECAUSE theres two of them that they surpass all might. its not a case of deku and bakugou both being 50% of an ideal hero, but rather i think that they are 100% of what all might SHOULD HAVE BEEN from the very beginning.

as early as the AM v AFO battle in kamino, we see the effects of all mights flawed existence. the fact that he, the greatest and supposedly infallible symbol of peace, was destroyed—society had begun to collapse. there was suddenly no pillar to hold people together and the impacts were so severe that even in the latest chapters of mha it keeps on getting worse. the truth is, all mights biggest mistake was the burden he placed on his own shoulders

with bakugou and deku... its different.

its different for them because down to their attributions, they seem like two halves of a whole person.

i think that the wonder duo are going to surpass all might because of the fact that they work together.

@bakugoukatsuki-rising @svpercraigus @tybee @isaustraliaathing

(batshit crazy and conspiratorial essay under the cut !)

1. Complementary Colors

I’d like to first preface literally everything I say by the fact that I am not an expert analyzer or literary major in any way. I am literally just some random fan on the internet who has wayyy too much time and looks wayyy too deep into things, but here we go!

A common thing we see when we talk about bakugou and deku is the way they are... sort of an inverse of one another.

Down to the design of their features and the way they move, Deku is the obviously softer of the two. There’s an intentional contrast between the two of them, in the way that Deku’s drawn with round shapes and curvy hair and the way Bakugou is literally all spikes and half-mast eyes and rough muscles. Bakugou’s movements too are languid and showy, with the way he leans when he walks and splays his legs and kicks open doors. Katsuki, in a casual sense, is loud and dramatic.

Deku on the other hand s finicky. He jitters when he walks and he’s often fidgeting and mumbling. Comparatively, the aura he radiates is energetic and frenzied, even self-conscious to a point unlike Bakugou’s calm and confident movements.

the point is, there’s a clear difference in how either of them are designed and what exactly they are supposed to represent. They utterly complement each other down to the way they behave and even their main colors (red-orange and blue-green) being literal complementary colors.

Now, moving to my more ungrounded points, this is quite a bit of a stretch so I’ll try as much as possible to make sense of these with hyperlinked sources because. yeah.

Down to their names, I think Deku and Bakugou both symbolize something deeper. I think that the way Hori expresses characters and what they’re meant to do is something that we have to pay close attention to when we talk about the Wonder Duo’s rise to success.

Izuku Midoriya (緑谷出久), as some of us may know, does have an interesting meaning when broken up. According to a lovely fan translation of his name, ‘Izuku’--while not an actual name used commonly in real life--means to ‘Come out’ or ‘Long time’. ‘Midoriya’ on the other hand means (Midori) ‘Green’ and (ya) ‘valley’. The translator further pointed out that his first name ‘Izuku’ could be a reference to him being the first legendary hero to come out of the long-running All Might Era. (or, if you’ve been reading @/bakugoukatsuki-rising’s posts, the first significant anime protag in a long while to come out as queer, ppfft)

but that isn’t my focus right now.

We know that Hori LOVES telling stories with names, and more often than not in the BNHA universe, names alone tell us a lot of things about the characters. When referring to Izuku’s last name, Midoriya, it’s important I think to step back and realize that hey, maybe there’s something more to Green Valley than just the fact that his motif is all green.

After searching for a lil on the specifics of green valley, I’ve found out that across many cultures, the colour green and valleys in general tend to represent life. From dream analysts, to Christianity, and even old Taoist teachings, valleys are seen as areas of fertility and escape. They are seen as safe havens and often escapes for people to come to after running away from bad circumstances.

(Sound familiar?)

Deku, in essence represents life and peace. He represents being the “salvation” that the world in BNHA needed. To me, it sounds like Horikoshi is trying to say that he is the long-awaited hero in the sense. The one that people can feel will create a society that feels safe for everyone after years of All Might just saving people from themselves as a band-aid solution.

On the other hand, we have Katsuki Bakugou (爆豪勝己), who’s name we commonly know means (Katsuki) Winner and (Bakugou) Explosion Master. He is essentially, the champion. The power. His name means success and power and all the things that make up winning.

When putting them side by side, it then becomes increasingly... interesting to me how their names almost perfectly slot into All Might’s save to win and win to save mantra, and how they are both quintessential parts to what made All Might as a hero.

2. Hero Too!

Now, I’m not even gonna really TOUCH much of what happens in canon. If you want me to do a step by step breakdown of their arcs in regards to the plot of manga and anime, feel free to send me a gratuitous ko-fi tip so I can pay for the headache I get after trying to organize my thoughts into word vomit.

What I WILL talk about on the other hand, is the subtle shift both of them slowly have in regards to how they look. Bakugou and Deku, while growing up, seem to have MANY many parallels--but before I elaborate on all of that, I wanna talk about something else.

Detour: Deku’s Red Shoes

We all know the iconic symbol being Deku’s red shoes. For all his life, save for some outfits like his hero one, we see Deku more often than not wearing his signature red sneakers which have become a running joke in fandom.

But the funny thing is, in Japan, red shoes seem to have an interesting connotation.

In 1922, a popular Japanese nursery rhyme was written, called “Red Shoes”. The interesting part to me about this song was the symbolism that, in my tiny pea-sized brain, I could connect to the story of BNHA.

The story goes that there was a little girl with red shoes named ‘Kimi’. She was from Shizuoka prefecture (which, if you didn’t know, is most likely where Musutafu supposedly is) and was raised by a single mother. When she was young, her mother had to entrust her with a foreigner under the impression that they would give her a better life in America. The stranger is a man named Charles Hewitt (who was described to have blue eyes) and supposedly took her away.

The singer of the song (supposedly the mother, but some argue it was written from the perspective of a childhood friend) believes that Kimi is happy and living a better life away from them, when the reality of the situation was much worse. The young girl with red shoes in actuality had Tuberculosis, and thus the foreigner whom she was entrusted to had left her to fend for herself and eventually left her to go to America while she died alone and orphaned.

“When I see red shoes, I think of her.”

A very interesting story with very interesting implications indeed.

Anyway, moving on to the more... “nuanced” and connected parts of this section, I have every reason to believe that Bakugou and Deku were simply MEANT to be working together down to how they dress. Now, I’d like to discuss their hero costumes.

At the start of their series, using these godawful pics for reference, it’s clear to see that neither of them seem alike in any way--reflecting the dissonance in their relationship at that point in canon.

ough. deku why. (yes we know why its because you love your mom you stupid little bunny <3)

Anyway, we see an immediate gap in how the two of them are. Deku’s first costume is one that reflects how he treated his dream of being a hero. He was still in that childlike idolization phase, the one where his dreams and aspirations were hinged on pure feelings and inspiration from All Might. Katsuki on the other hand was a lot more tactical--professional to an extent. The gap between their respective development with their quirks is something that is clearly felt in every fashion decision they’d made.

(Notice how Deku’s green is a lot brighter and less like the green accents Katsuki has all over his costume.)

As time progressed however... their costumes changed. The colors, the silhouettes, the practical functions, most things.

(Deku’s Gamma Costume and Bakugou’s Winter Costume used respectively)

we begin to notice a few similarities.

As the show goes on and we see more evolutions of their costumes, it almost seems like they begin to look like a matching pair. Deku’s green grows darker and almost teal in nature, while Bakugou’s orange is veering towards red territory. This is important to note because red-orange and blue-green as I said earlier were complementary colors as compared to simply orange and green. The minute shift is something I really wasn’t quite sure was intentional, but something I find interesting to pick up nonetheless as the colors they used to accent their costumes begin to match up.

Secondly, I think and important thing to note is silhouettes. The way that both Bakugou and Deku’s costumes are designed follow a lot of parallels that typically we don’t see with the rest of 1-A. For one, they both have a combination of tight long-sleeved tops with a bulkier set of bottoms. They also share the use of utility belts and metal pieces typically worn around their necks. Deku has his bunny-eared hood that mimics All Might’s hair, while Bakugou has his orange and black explosion ear-pieces that mimic his own quirk.

i don’t think any other people in class 1-A match each other as subtly yet strongly as these two. Uraraka and Deku and Bakugou and Kirishima do come close however.

“But Codi, you fucking knob!” I hear you plea. “This is such a reach and tells us practically NOTHING!” And yes, I’m inclined to agree with you! You’d be sort of right in the idea that this is a reach. Maybe I am looking too much into this, and maybe it really isn’t that deep--but I do think that them subconsciously matching outfits means something quite brilliant.

In the way that their costumes are designed, each aspect of either outfits have a very logical explanation. The changes were strategic and made with their fighting styles vividly in mind, so what that tells me is that BECAUSE these costumes are so complementary or similar in nature (Bakugou’s reinforcing his arms while Deku reinforces his legs), these two are implicitly showing the audience that their combat styles are complementary as well.

The evolution of their design choices and similarities tell us that even unknowingly, their minds line up in strategy on the battlefield--a clear exhibit for why they would be INCREDIBLY POWERFUL as a Hero Duo to begin with.

When I look at their hero costumes side by side, I see a mirror. I see the way that these two are reflections of each other and are strong where the other isn’t. The point I see in BNHA repeatedly is that EVERYONE HAS A WEAKNESS. Nothing is infallible, regardless of how hard you train or how powerful your quirk is. Everyone will always have a weakness, but the significant difference I see when fandom discusses the future of Pro-Hero Society is that the new generation is finally raising itself to be RELIANT on each other.

Observing their fighting styles and the simple use of their quirks, its obvious that they are indeed two parts of a whole hero. Bakugou, who’s quirk emphasized his arms and hands and the power that comes from it, while Deku who’s quirk now emphasizes his legs and lower body and the way he’s always running to save people.

IN CONCLUSION:

As they become heroes, it is easy to assume that if nothing else, Bakugou and Deku will cover each other’s weak spots (especially when you consider the way Deku probably won’t be able to keep using his arms with the way both the anime and manga are going...) (also chapter 285, anyone?)

Part Two: Interactions, OfA

kofi || commission details

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fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years

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Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 3 - The Village Hidden in Hyakumemomiji Part 2

T/N: Dang it, the last chapter left me hanging so I rushed this one with minimal beta. Well, I did my best with my skills, hopefully it’s OK. Also I have a lot of notes and I don’t really care if it’s annoying. Zero regrets lol

As always, I mostly didn’t translate some of the names of the ayakashi/youkai, as well as the proper nouns because uhm... They’re basically nouns. It’s like how some translated manga are done. Plus it irks me sometimes when everything just gets transliterated, it kills off the vibe. But that’s just me. Links to references at the end of the post.

Also if you like this translation, you can heart it, share the link, reblog, I just respectfully ask that DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. This is my contribution to the scant English content of this fandom, and I worked really hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just Google-translated this whole sh**.. You can rave about this, rant about this, but if possible please link back to this page. If you’re unsure how to do that, just copy the web address of this page. If you’re on a blogsite just insert the web address as a hyperlink as a link back to here. Honestly if this light novel was officially-published in English, I wouldn’t even be doing this right now... And if it did, I’d take this offline to support the publishers and Yuuma-sensei. Creators support creators, is what I believe in. OK, I may have veered off-course too much, as previously mentioned in my older posts, the 2 seasons of the anime cover most of the plots of volumes 1-5, so if you need a review just rewatch them all. Part 2 starts now. P65 Leaving the large banquet hall where the altar was, we went through a wide passageway, and on the other side of the mountain's stone wall were traces of a solid view of various momiji leaves. We seem to be in a considerably high place, and it was a bit chilly. "The Kaku-zaru's obscured village was made by digging a hole in the wall of rock and making their dwellings there. The solid rock wall was decorated with a lot of momiji, and the passageway as well as the hole were hidden by the leafy branches, which lead to this place being called the Hidden Village." Nearby, Odanna-sama gave explanations to me. Certainly, when you look at the stone wall clearly there was a hole in the passageway. That, was completely hidden by flashy colored momiji. These momiji looked redder and shinier than the usual autumn fallen leaves. The strong wind blowing on my feet made me feel anxious and fluttery, the passageway looks very mystical. The entire place seems to glisten like a red jewel... P66 "The momiji within this vicinity, these are called the precious Hyakumemomiji that decorates the summit of Hyakumeyama. These branches, when burned emits a smoke that can be used to make one drowsy and sleepy." That time when I was taken here I smelled smoke, and that seemed to have happened when they took out a branch and burned it. No wonder, I therefore conclude that was when my consciousness was lost. But the matter regarding the bandits was also a serious thing. I told the Kaku-zaru that we will be preparing to use the piece of Hyakumemomiji as kindling, we will be using the smoke as they normally did. Aside from that, I also explained that the mountain apples were also needed.

"I may have suggested this but.. I wonder if it's really gonna work." After that, I was standing in the the village's kitchen that they allowed me to do my preparations in. The kitchen had a large, wonderful stone kiln, and aside from that there were also old stoneware and other cooking utensils. Odanna told me to make a lot of "recipes using the mountain apples." Because of that, the tactic is that we need to make the bandits eat a lot of the food. "I brought you these, Aoi." Odanna-sama brought his basket that was full of mountain apples, and went inside the kitchen. A while ago we were gathering them in the orchard, now it seems that we were using them to retaliate for the mountain clan. "Say, Odanna-sama. Are you sure that these mountain apples are just fine?" P67 "Ah, saying that, I wonder... If the Hyakumemomiji was used as an ingredient along with the mountain apples and it worked, it's going to be an additive that can easily make them drunk. The sleep-inducing smoke too, it's for that reason that we're using it." The liquor made out of mountain apples could also be added with a lot of pickled chips of Hyakumemomiji branches, but from what I heard from Odanna-sama and Rokusuke-san, that seemed to be an industrial trade secret. I could conclude that I have found out about it while we were talking about it. "Say, can't we make some mountain apple liquor here?" "That is Mizumakinouen's original recipe. I don't think we can make that here. But the bandits seem to like the taste of the liquor they already have here. If they drink that along with the foods, they would leisurely consume it, and your record with the Sea Treasure Appetizers will be surpassed. I want to use the Hyakumemomiji branches to cook the meals made out of the mountain apples--" "Hm, I see..." I bluntly responded with Odanna-sama's request, but in reality I was feeling excited inside. I wanted to try and use the mountain apples immediately. Such cuisines made out of mountain apples, it would feel really awful with those used on those bandits and their territories, but... "I get it. We'll waste no time on that but, what ingredients can we use here? I wonder what do those bandits like to eat up to now?" I looked around, and as I walked across the ashen kitchen, I found it. P68 "Stone pig...” At the entrance of the kitchen stood two little Kaku-zaru children, they brought in a basket. "Stone pig, our village raises and eats a lot of them." "They graze in the forest, and we feed them mountain apples and acorns. The bandits like them." The children wore masks that did not entirely hid their faces, but the corners of their eyes were hidden. "Really-- Stone pig. Don't tell me that the pig's head offering on the altar, came from this? Uhm, is it fine to use this meat, will you not have enough food left?" The children were nodding and nodding a lot, and I realized that their voices were adorable. "At any rate, I have no choice but to use whatever it is for the banquet tonight." "The respectable elder told us that this is for Miko-sama. He also that that you can use anything we have in this village." Inside the basket of ingredients that they brought, there was already a large lump of stone pig. The meat was lovely. Is this the boneless part? It was not fatty, it was just right. Raised by eating the fruits of trees, the nearest vibe that this pork gives off is the Black Iberian pig. There were also some eggs and what look like autumn mushrooms, sweet potato, and there were also a lot of vegetable staples. "Hm? What is this?" I fished out the other ingredients inside the basket. There was cheese, the surface of which was covered in tree ashes. It wasn't easy to find this ingredient in Kakuriyo, P69 but here in front of me, for me to use, I was suprised. "Hey, look at this Odanna-sama! It's cheese, cheese!**" "The dairy industry of the Northern lands have prospered, and because of that it is within their capacity to expand their cheese production methods. If there are those in this mountain who take care of livestock and do pastoralism, it's not surprising that they would be able to discover it." "Oh, so that's it, I see." For sure, the dairy products stocked up in Yugao were ordered from the Northern Lands, and the cheese that the room service in the Southern Lands were also delivered from the Northern Lands. "These cheese were made from the milk of mountain goats." "They're really tasty." The Kaku-zaru child took out a small blade from the bosom, and with a skilled hand sliced cheese from the edges, and offered them to me. I wonder if I have to deal with what's in front of me. But in reality, goat's milk cheese is not my cup of tea. It's smell was very different and unique from cow's milk cheese, and the acrid taste is strong. I was scared as I tried eating it. "What's this?" The goat's cheese had a ripe fermented taste, but it was melty and soft on my tongue. And the acrid taste that I thought it had wasn't there, it felt like it left a milky taste. T/N: Call Aoi a dumbass but if I got hold of some cheese after having none for a long time, I'd go gaga too lol P70 In the end, it was undeniably easy to eat. It was something that I haven't eaten up until now, and it was a bit different. "This.. Is this really mountain goat cheese? It's really delicious..." "It is also covered all around with the ash from Hyakumemomiji wood chips." "I take care of mountain goats!" When I said that the foods in the village tasted good, it made the children glad, and they gleefully started talking. In that situation, they were really like children, and they just look so cute. I couldn't see their eyes through their masks, but from how their mouths moved and spoke, their expressions were visible from their voices. "Thank you, the both of you. Let's succeed together in exterminating the bandits, ok?" I patted their heads, and when the children looked at each other, they went "The Miko-sama patted our heads!" and happily skipped off from the kitchen. The people in this village, somehow they were not quite seized by the bandits, but children are children... Well then, Our plan to drive away the bandits start here. Our strategy to eradicate the bandits is simple. Make them drunk by eating and drinking, then beat** them. That is all. My weapon is cooking, of course. I think I will just operate on the shadows with regards to the "feeding them" part. "With regards to this, what are you planning to make, Aoi?" "Oh, that, it's pizza." "Pizza? That pizza you say, it sounds like it's from Utsushiyo, is that Italian**? T/N: This isn't even a pun. The kanji is literally the kanji for beat, as in "beating a drum, beating them up", that stuff. Also don't ask me how did Odanna-sama even knew that pizza was Italian. No idea about that right now lol P71 "Yeah, I'm bringing that Italian thing from over there. Using the stone pig, this mountain goat cheese, and the mountain mushrooms, I was thinking of making a pizza based on my preferences. I could bake that in the large kiln, and use the Hyakumemomiji branches for that." I could use the ingredients in here, and bake a lot of pizza. There's also just enough flour, it seems that I have all of the the ingredients to make pizza. "By the way Odanna-sama, excuse me but, remove your outer coat, prop up the sleeves of your kimono with a cord, and I want you to help with the other preparations..." "The respectable elder has already given me instructions. If I can do what you're telling me then I will do just that!" Odanna-sama's eagerness is considerably at maximum. He must have reflected for a while now, and his nails were also shortened. This is probably his first time to be forced to help in cooking while in his commoner's look. "I'm thankful for that but... Ai-chan is also here, and it's OK to do other things." After that, I summoned Ai-chan from the pendant, and she instantly came out. Still looking like me, Ai-chan harshly proclaimed "I'm here now, Odanna-sama isn't needed anymore". While having a serious face, cold sweat started flowing from Odanna-sama's forehead.... "D.... Doesn't Ai have other homework to do? Weren't you supposed to be on a training on changing how you look, differently from Aoi?" "Other look? Why so sudden?" P72 Oh well, Ai-chan surely does have her homework but... "Here in Hyakumeyama, in reality I know that Ayakashi train up in this mountain. There was a great Youkai called Nue who exceedingly triumphed in changing appearances, and after practicing in this mountain it was able to learn how to change into it's hundreth form, hence the name of the mountain became Hyakumeyama.** Only Ayakashi with the power to change their appearances into humans have that status. They are displaying their power." "Really? I always thought that was strange. Why is everyone, despite having their original Ayakashi appearances, chose to change to look like humans? That proves the power of those Ayakashi, don't they?" "Yes. When you climb this mountain, there are many Ayakashi who are discovering what apperance they will change into. If Ai is here, it is also possible that the divine blessing of Hyakumeyama will grant you and let you gain information on how you will change your appearance. If you succeed in doing that here, you can also be allowed to work in Yugao." Ai chan placed her finger at the corner of her mouth and immediately started to ponder, and after a bit hit her fist on the palm of her hand. "I couldn't estimate fully what I should do. I see Aoi-sama's face everyday, which is why that's the only one I can change into!" "Oh my...." Definitely, that didn't seem difficult. I tried thinking along with Ai-chan too. T/N: The kanji that forms Hyakumeyama is hyaku=hundred, me=nth, like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, nth. it's also the same kanji used for "eye". And yama is, well, mountain. At least now the reason why it's called with that name has now been explained. even I was wondering why it was like that. Nue is basically a chimera, look it up lol P73 "Oh, I see. If it's Odanna-sama and I, how about combining the features of our faces to make a new one? You see both of us a lot, since there aren't a lot of other people here..." After suggesting what I thought then, Ai-chan and Odanna-sama's eyes went all round as if drawn, and they looked as if they were taken aback. What the.. why such reactions? "Aoi-sama, part-way Odanna-sama, won't it?" "That's it Aoi. She's so much like our child..." "Whaaaaaat? Wh-- Why are you saying it like you're driving that in?" I could understand the meaning behind Ai-chan's and Odanna-sama's reactions, and in an instant I blushed. My face became horribly hot. "Oh well, that's fair Aoi. But that's a great idea. When Ai makes her original face, like that she can play up with a lot of what her eyes see, and among that it's the easiest. She's our daughter who combines and divides both of our faces, I wanted to see myself a bit too..." Odanna-sama put up a calm and composed demeanor, but my face was still burning all throughout. "Don't think about weird thoughts, Odanna-sama..." "I won't, I won't..." I took a huge step back, and Odanna-sama was lightly shaking his head left and right. Ai-chan was murmuring "Hmmmmm" as the corners of her eyebrows wrinkly drew together, and she looked alternately at Odanna-sama's face and mine. P74 "When you do this, there's a bit of merit, OK?" Completely looking at our faces over and over again, after a while she left the kitchen in an instant. Ai-chan was probably going to practice morphing her appearance outside. "I'm going out for a bit to look for it myself!" "Ah--- Ai-chan! Chibi, look out for Ai-chan. This is an unknown place and she might get lost..." "Okaaaaay." Chibi was hiding inside my sleeve, jumping and squirming he went out from there, using the different folds and layers of the fabric to get himself out. After that he left to follow his younger sister-disciple. "Ai-chan, I wonder what appearance she will debut for us..." "You have also outrageously asked Chibi to look after her.." That seemed somewhat a parental thing to do. The dead air calmly flowed through, it's because the cooking must be done. "Well then, Odanna-sama. You're in charge of making the dough, ok? Over there by the stone cookware, add the flour and oil and a bit of water, mix them one at a time. When they're all incorporated together, pull out that tray and please knead it for me." I taught Odanna-sama the basics of making and the quantity of each, and left him to do it by himself. P75 "Haha. I remembered the time that we did this kind of work together. When the Tengu had that feud at Orio-ya, kneading this dough has that feeling." "We aren't making Japanese dango soup here, you know." The pizza dough that we're making right now is just simple. We aren't using dry yeast. It's fine the we aren't fermenting, that would make a crunchy and thin pizza. After that, Odanna-sama gave me all of the many dough balls that he made, and now I have to prepare the ingredients for the toppings. There will be two types of pizzas. The first will be sweet pizza, using the bandits' favorite sweet potato and mountain apples, along with the cheese. "The first one will be a decoy. Because they only ate nothing but mountain apples, we will use the first pizza to pull them in through their hunger. After giving them that sweet apple pizza, everything else should go smoothly." "Ohhhh.. Luring them is ingenious. As expected from Shirou's granddaughter. And that, is my wife." "Ehhhhh, keep quiet, Odanna-sama--" It was indeed a crafty tactic, and I continued explaining my cooking plans without hesitation. "In Utsushiyo because there are no fixed ingredients used, there are teriyaki pizza and grilled meat pizza, and we can combine those to make a Japanese-style pizza. According to the leaflets on the pizza delivered to our house by the delivery people, the most famous was grilled meat pizza, which had the highest ranking." P76 "Ohhhh! There was time I travelled in Utsushiyo, I ate some Italian pizza, it has cheese and tomato sauce and some flavoring they called basil, and because of that I couldn't imagine an image of a Japanese-style pizza." "Pizza Margherita is undoubtedly the king. If there's tomato you can make one easily..." But right now, we have no choice but to make delicious pizza with the ingredients that we have in here. To make the Japanese-style pizza grilled pork will be used, and the stone pig's boneless meat will be used. Boneless pork, mountain-grown onions, I was thinking of maitake** mushrooms and then cutting each one. The boneless pork makes it easy to eat. The onions will be sliced small and thin, and it's appropriate to shred the maitake. "For the sauce, we'll use the usual soy sauce and mirin, sugar and sake, grate up some garlic and ginger, mountain apple juice, miso, then add some red chilli peppers, it's going to be a sweet spicy sauce for the grilled pork..." We're fighting against bandits. It seems that rather than high-end tastes, they prefer flavor that restores their stamina fully. We have achieved the task of adding mountain apple juice. On top of that it's fruity, and the spiciness gradually seeps out, as the expected outcome. The boneless pork gets stir-fried on the stoneware frying pan, and as it cooks the sauce is incorporated. It has been properly browned and cooked well-done when the lovely shiny color comes out. This only takes 10 minutes to deliciously cook the boneless pork. This is also a fiendish pizza topping. "Aoi, these are already kneaded sufficiently." I thought that for quite a while now, Odanna-sama was being a grown-up, encouraging himself quietly while making the pizza dough. T/N: The maitake mushrooms are also called hen-of-the-forest, they look like a whole clump of tall-stalked shrooms, their root-like structures are so close together that they grow together. Yeah I am familiar with the shroom and other things about the fungi industry, thank you. P77 There were so many rounded doughballs. "Oh wow, really, you made so many doughballs, Odanna-sama. That's very good!" "Aoi praised me! Alright!" Odanna-sama closed his fist and pulled it back, like he made an achievement. "Now that's done we let the dough rest for a bit. We have to let it rest for at least 30 minutes in this low room temperature." Despite being tired, Odanna-sama wrapped the dough in some cloth and placed it in a warmer place inside the room for me. "Alright, next is the preparation of the sweet pizza.** It's an apple and sweet potato with cheese pizza." "Would the sweet potato and apples go well with the cheese?" "Well now, Odanna-sama. It's a bit snazzy, they normally go well together." I sliced the apples and the sweet potato thinly, and soaked each in a bit of water. After that I arranged the cheese on the dough and baked it as it is, once the dough is done I can't do anything more than that. "Whew. That concludes it." We have to make a lot, but the toppings that Odanna-sama and I made together, we earnestly used them all. "Aoi-sama--- Odanna-sama--" T/N: Not a fan of sweet pizza. I tried a smore pizza once, maybe that one was a bit OK, but seriously not a fan. Sorry sweet pizza slash pineapple pizza fans. I'll go Margherita any day lol P78 In here, Ai-chan's cheerful voice reached our ears. "Could it be...?" "Could you have achieved changing your appearance by yourself?" Odanna-sama and I looked at each other, and we sprung out of the kitchen. "!??" Over there.. Over there, there was a black-haired beauty with a short haircut! "Didn't you just entirely placed everything in Odanna-sama's taste?" The only thing that I contributed to this was just the femaleness, and what's left in front of me is the likeness of Odanna-sama's beautiful ogre daughter. Be that as it may, she is a girl about 14 years old, her facial expression is cheerful and spirited, but there wasn't much vibe of Odanna-sama's boldness. Regarding her nature, she has the feel of an individual having a personality. "I saw Aoi-sama and Odanna-sama and gave it a thought. When a child that looks like Odanna-sama is born, won't that child be very happy?" "Ai-chan, come here for a bit." "Owww oww owww--- Aoi-sama--- Please don't pull on my ears--- Aren't daughters said to look like their fathers?" My obedient disciple seems to have gotten refreshed. I'm in a mood to polish her crude language. P79 Her kimono has red and green camellia flowers in a black background. When I looked at her face closely, her eyes had my eye color... Oh well, I guess that's OK. "Hee hee hee. I see it now, you have become our child, Aoi and I. Hee hee hee." "Odanna-sama, don't delude yourself, and don't show me that desperate face." But Ai-chan's transfiguration was superb. Chibi, who was with her blinked with surprise and went " I don't know thisssssh child", and he seemed to be unused to the new appearance of his younger sister-disciple. "Alrighty then! Let's make pizza together!" "Hey...." A human girl and a distinguished ogre-god, an ogre-fire girl and a Temari Kappa. All of the employees have come together, and the rested pizza dough was dusted with flour and stretched over a tray. That pizza dough was made by Odanna-sama, who was in-charge of it. "Heyyyy, you're really good at it, Odanna-sama--" "My experience with it has increased! From now on I want to fully become a master who can help with tasks. Today's Odanna is sharing the house work with the wife and listening to her!" "If everyone in Tenjin-ya saw you right now, they're all going to cry..." Nails trimmed, stripped off of his majesty and villainous vibe, becomes delightful whenever he gets praised... Even though in the beginning he had a scary ogre aura, right now the Odanna-sama in front of me is somewhat like a newbie Odanna. I conclude that without knowing anything he's doing his best.** T/N: This is painfully true, when you're just starting your first job or work, you just do it and give it your all, like the enthusiasm is at its maximum. Well, ignorance is bliss so.. yeah. Can't say more lol If you know, then you know. P80 But, even though Odanna-sama seems to be enjoying helping, it's somehow not bad. After this we will be making the bandit-exterminating pizza. Unexpectedly he seemed to have grown to become a good Master-san... No, no, the Danna-san** that I'm with, I couldn't distinguish between them. Well then. I arranged the ingredients I have prepared before, over the dough that Odanna-sama stretched. With this Japanese-style pizza, cooked pork marinated in sweet and spicy sauce, chopped onions scattered all around, and loaded a lot of the maitake on top. Because there's perilla leaves, I used them as replacement for basil and spread them as garnish and to make the taste come out as Japanese-style. On top of that, I asked Ai-chan to make some home-made mayonnaise and thinly add this over everything, and after that he baked it. We're excited to find out how this will go. In making the sweet pizza, just like before, the thinly-sliced apples and the sweet potatoes were arranged alternately. On top of this, a lot of the cheese was evenly and generously placed. While preheating the stone kiln in the kitchen, I peeked at the shelves to find out what is in there and fish out whatever those are. "It seemed like they didn't have honey. After baking this, if we're adding honey before eating it will make it really yummy." "Aoi, there's some Hyakumemomiji honey, you know." T/N: She called him Danna-san instead of Odanna-sama because he was young-ish and looked like a plebe lol

Honestly by this time I am still questioning whether or not the hours I spent watching food network, masterchef episodes, any cooking show since I could remember, were all worth it. Right now, maybe? Maybe not? I'll probably find out when I'm done with this series. Lol Yuuma-sensei's story makes me hungry waiiiiii

P81 Odanna-sama was searching in the cabinets in here, and found some honey for me in the spice cupboard. What is this Hyakumemomiji honey.. What kind of stuff is this? "Wooow, it looks like it tastes like maple syrup. Yummy--" "This honey's sweetness is not strong. It's a good product. This is also my first time to try eating it." We tried tasting this stuff that we found, and it was impressive. I would want to buy some and take it home regularly... "Well then, would you want to try one baked piece that we used regular chopped wood as kindling? Let's try it, let's do it." "Ohh, that sounds good." And like before, we tried eating the pizza that we all made together. Even though we were doing this** because we're going to exterminate bandits. Inside the hot, stone kiln were two types of pizzas baking. When the pizzas were done baking, we pulled them out of the kiln, and like a triangular fan**, cut them into slices. The grilled pork Japanese-style pizza has white Welsh onions for toppings. The apple and sweet potato pizza with cheese was entirely drizzled with the Hyakumemomiji honey. "Ohhhh, it looks good." "Let's try some. This part that looks like an earlobe, pull it away and eat it with your hands." Odanna-sama ate the Japanese-style pizza, and Ai-chan tried the sweet pizza, each pulled a slice with their hands. The triangular pizzas were still piping hot. They started biting these from the pointy end. T/N: Honestly I want some pizza right now. Talk about subliminal programming. Dang it lol But really, it’s normal to taste what you’re cooking unless you could nail it without testing the taste first. I sure can’t lol I don't know what shape Byakuya's fan is, but the kanji says triangular so even though one side isn't a straight line then that's it lol. P82 "Hmmm, the grilled pork had a strong and defined flavor. The garlic and soy sauce goes well with the crunchy and plate-like dough. This is probably something that the bandits will like." "This is awesome, this is awesome.. Aoi-sama, the cheese is stretchy---" "Gah, the toppings might fall, they might fall down---" The pizza's taste was the best, and it seems that everyone was having fun while noisily eating it. The cheese was a stretchy and melty thing... "Hmm?" At the entryway the Kaku-zaru children seemed interested and glancing at us repeatedly. For sure, they liked the smell of the baking pizza. "You guys want to eat some?" "Is... Is that fine?" "Yes, of course. You can certainly try some." Scared of the pizza, the children poked at it lightly before pulling them with their hands. After seeing how I did it, they copied what I did and each took the pizza slice, propping it up with both of their hands as they bit on it. Their usual expressions were hidden by their masks so I couldn't see their eyes, but their chewing mouths gave it away. They were silent, but they were licking it as they ate. P83 "It's delicious. Stone pig. There's so much meat sauce." "I was surprised. This is the first time I ate a plate." "What you call a plate, it's pizza dough." Even though they seem uninterested and surprised, when they said that it was delicious, I was happy. Finally, I could try some for myself.** Yeah, the Japanese-style pizza, I ate the thick grilled pork covered with white Welsh onion together, and the greasy taste and texture was halved. This goes really well with the crunchy pizza dough. It looks like it will go well with liquor. I tried the sweet pizza too, I took a bite, and the puffy and flaky sweet potato, the crunchy baked apples, being incorporated with the melty cheese, this gave off a vibe of luxury. When a lot of the Hyakumemomiji honey was used, when this was eaten, despite the contrast between the cheese's saltiness and the apple's sourness it becomes more enjoyable. Indeed, it's like a cheesecake made out of rare cheese, it's an enjoyable taste. "Feed all of these to the entire village." "Even though they haven't eaten something that tasted like this?" Grumbling and complaining, the young ones reacted with lack of sophistication. "Isn't this going to be used to defeat the bandits?" And then, there was a bit of tension in the air. T/N: Not sure if this is a cultural thing or a universal thing but in some cultures, it's traditional to let others taste your cooking first before the one who cooked it. In some cultures the one who cooks tastes the food first before serving. I just do both, the former when I am absolutely confident with whatever I made, the latter when I have no clue how it goes. Again, this is a cultural thing, nothing is more OK-er than the other, it depends on the circumstance. P84 Oh, so that's it. They thought that this food had poisoned apples. Probably, the food that the bandits were interested in must be showed first. When we get notified that the bandits have arrived, we will mix in the kindling from the Hyakumemomiji branches, and bake the pizza. We definitely won't want to inhale some of the smoke, so we will tightly wrap a cloth around out mouths. When the bandits have finally arrived at the reception hall, we will bring in the pizza.

The celebrations and the banquet were in that hole in the rock, the reception hall where previously there was an altar where I was worshipped. Holding the freshly-baked pizza, from the back I peeked and looked around the reception hall. "They're... they're huge..." The bandits were an Ayakashi called mountain men, and I could just imagine that their builts were above average, they give off the feel of robust soldiers. Speaking of their height, everyone could easily surpass two meters. They think that they could immediately intimidate this entire reception hall. The small-statured Kaku-zaru couldn't instantly hit them with a long sword. Even I would get easily overwhelmed by them. "Hee hee, well then, it's time to round up some bandits!" Nevertheless, Odanna-sama was not saying anything that indicates that he's faltering. This looks different from the Good Danna from a while ago, now his face looks like he's aiming at the targets. It looks beautiful and exciting, Odanna-sama now shows the smile of a wicked oni. P85 Me standing by, I was was always surprised with this gap.

"Boss-dono, we have captured the nearby mountain. It was a total takeover." The boss of the Ozuma-gang was a guy with ruffled hair tied in a single ponytail, and the unkempt beard surely gives him that impression. While drinking some liquor, he was attended by countless beautiful girls. "Hey, Old Geezer Monkey! Enough with the pretentious talk. Bring us more food and wine! Our stomachs have shrunk!" The bandits' evilness and anger echoed. After that, they consumed and exhausted the food and liquor in the village, and they definitely got drunk. Goodness, their bodies are huge, and they heartily ate and drank, they'll easily get to the end of the stored food. The Kaku-zaru instantly became worried and anxious. "Because of that, I beat the entire Miguma-clan** of the neighboring mountains, what do you say, I think finally beat those bastard bears! In the afterlife you can't strip them off of their pelts, now they’re gone! Gahahahahahaha! Since they're a laughing-stock now, I can laugh at them and brag about it! "Kyaaa-- Boss is so manly!" T/N: Yes, like I explained in the last chapter, compounding words in Japanese changes the 1st syllable of the second word. In this case, it's kuma=bear, becoming GUMA after adding the prefix. Based on the kanji it's literally Snake-bear gang. P86 "Isn't it? I don't know anyone who can beat me yet!" "Yes, as expected of Boss!" "All of these mountains will be the territories of the Ozuma-gang!" The minions and the women all vigorously praised the Boss, and raised their liquor cups. The boss seemed to be in an awfully good mood. "H-hmmm. I am proud to be the Northern Lands' strongest mountain man! Pretty soon I will be the man who has dominion over all of Kakuriyo's mountains!" "Kyaaaa-- Boss is so cool!" "All of my women be happy! Gahahahaha!" Goodness, they are that guy's HAREM. The Boss clings to the women's thin kimono all over, and it seems that they earnestly praise him, and nobody can tell if they're likely to feel itchy. "Odanna-sama, do you think that you're jealous of that?" "No. When I look at that, I don't remember Shirou that way." Ah, even in Kakuriyo Grandpa was like that. I get it now. "Besides, even though things seem to be this way, I am single-minded. I only want to love just one person and give all of my love. How about being my wife, Aoi?"** "Odanna-sama, you really had to bring all of that up now, don't you?" T/N: Honestly at this point, Aoi should just wed the poor guy. I mean, srsly. Or maybe I just stan them b/c they're great together. Also it's effing canon lololol if you're gonna ask me why, because I ship myself with Ginji wahahahaha Also get ready fam-fans, things are gonna get whirly from here gahahaha P87 Odanna-sama suddenly thought of something, and hit his fist as he went "Oh, that's it", and with a pop transfigured his appearance right here. Wha------ A voluptuous beautiful lady with straight and black hair!** When placed with Ai-chan side by side, they'd look like sisters. "Odanna-sama, you can change your appearance into a woman's?!" "Hee hee. Ginji is not the only one with this specialty. Well, I rarely have a chance to change into a woman." Odanna-sama drew a reddish arc in the air, and an evil smile appeared on his face. I touched and clung on that Odanna-sama. Yes, he may be tall but still a girl. "I've seen those girls that guy likes. I wonder if it's a good idea if Ai and I will deliver the pizza all around.. Aoi, you watch everything from here." "Ehh, but I want to go too." "It's out of the question. You're a human girl. You understand the reactions of the Kaku-zaru, don't you? With regards to human girls, the Ayakashi know the value of their existence. If the bandits found out, it's bad." "B-- But..." "Aoi." Odanna-sama crouched down a bit, stared at my eyes, and made me hear his words. "Aoi, because you're a good girl, listen to my words here." With his hand, he lightly touched my forehead. It was such a cold hand. But his strong intention got sent to me directly , and without saying anything I could only agree with him. T/N: I told you guys, it was gonna get saucy from here. Even I was shocked. I ain't complaining though. Bring on the fanart lololol P88 When he told me to go back, he listened to my selfishness, and allowed me to stay here. That is why when he made his point, I thought that I should listen to him.

"Ohhhh, what's that? That's a nice smell!" "Our stomachs are already shrivelled up! Hm.. A woman?" "Hey, hey there, aren't you super gorgeous---" The bandits have smelled the pizza, and their interests have been piqued greatly. Not really, more than the pizza, it's probably Odanna-sama scene-stealing beautiful womanly look, and it seems that they're aren't wary of the pizza because of it. "An ogre-girl, eh? Such a fine jewel you are, what are you doing here in the Kaku-zaru's village?" The Boss watched Odanna-sama (the beautiful girl) from head to toe, and the bottom of his nose stretched out. That seemed to have also made the ladies of his harem feel offended. That considerably set them in a bad mood. "Us ogre sisters got lost in the middle of the mountain, and we were taken in as prisoners. For sure, we're going to be tributed to the Boss." "Ohhh, aren't you tasteful, Old Geezer Monkey? That's too bad though... But, what's that round serving tray? I want to see that now!" "This thing is called a pizza. A cook from Utsushiyo brought this kind of food here." P89 The luxurious food was explained exquisitely by Odanna-sama. With a more-or-less husky voice, Odanna-sama captivated everyone as they all stared at him in fascination. For a guy, I think he's rather good. "Please, please, help yourselves--" And in the middle of that, Ai-chan cheerfully hustled and bustled about, delivering the pizza to the bandits. The cute and cheerful Ai-chan expertly goaded and egged them on, and with the delicious smell of the pizza wafting, the mountain man did not refuse. First, the Boss took a bite of the stone pig pizza. "Mmmmm..." The Boss's facial expression blatantly changed. "Wh.. What is this? It's... Delicious... This thing on top of the tray... You dare to place a large chunk of meat on it. Most importantly, the flavor you added is groundbreaking. I may have been the undisputed ruler of the Northern Lands' mountains, but I haven't eaten anything with this taste." "Ehhh-- Boss, we want to eat some too..." "Well, you wait all of you. This food was made by the mountain men." Well, not really, that's food from Utsushiyo. I quipped as I hid in the shadows. Odanna-sama also served some pizza to the girls. They didn’t seem to like that the Boss was sniffing the beautiful girl, but without losing interest in the pizza, they eventually held their hands out. P90 "Please have these too. These are sweet fruit pizzas." Odanna-sama surely pressed on offering the sweet pizza filled with apples and sweet potato. Regarding that, it was our intention. "Sweet? Isn't that unmanly food?" "Hee hee. Don't say that. This has.. A fascinating flavor.." Fascinating... when Odanna-sama (the beautiful girl) uttered that word it was rather polished, and with the pizza's alluring color and smell he took it with his hands in bewilderment. "Ohhh... This is certainly... Fascinating.." The baked apples were crunchy, and the sweet potato was fluffy. And with the stretchy and melty cheese, these all go well with the Hyakumemomiji syrup, without knowing nobody would say that they're feeling bad. Even the girls, going "what's this, what's this," more than the Boss were all entranced with the sweet pizza. "Wahhhh--" "!?" That's it. After a bit the apples' poison have started to take effect, and everyone who ate the pizza had been struck by sleepiness, and also that timing a Kaku-zaru child was pouring liquor all around, and everyone's who was drinking the liquor sank and fell down forwards. Somewhat, everyone fell due to the liquor, the bandits, the Boss, the harem of ladies. P91 "Ahhh..." The scene in that place froze. The adult Kaku-zaru held their heads without thinking. That kid, it was the kid that brought the ingredients to me in the kitchen. In that small place, I couldn't move. "Uhhhrghh... I thought all of you adult-ish Kaku-zaru were boring because you weren't resisting, but apparently you brats have no willingness. Thankfully, that's energizing--" After that the Boss's condition got better, and immediately the veins popped on his forehead, he was extremely taking offense. "You shitty brats!!!" "Go Boss! Kill the brats in anyway!" The bandits spat out violent words, and the Boss got spurred on. Evilness flowed. The hunch I didn't like happened. The Boss stood up, and drunkenly hurled the pizza tray with force, and decidedly raised his fists to beat the child. "Stop it!" My hunch was right. Without faltering I ran out, revealing myself and hugged and protected the child. Even though Odanna-sama told me to hide. P92 Even though he was resolute in landing a punch, when the Boss suddenly saw me appear, in a nick of time he stopped his fist. "!? What is this... Looking at you closely... Aren't you a human girl?!" I wonder if I'm feeling uneasy. This is the first time the Boss saw me with a bewildered and surprised look on his face, but as expected he guessed right. The other bandits decidedly reacted "Wh-- What?!" The Boss eventually laughed showing his teeth, and the fists that stopped instantly opened and grabbed my collar, and like that he pulled me up. "M--Miko-sama, Miko-sama!" The Kaku-zaru children were on the verge of tears as they reached out their arms to me. Kicking and violently struggling while hanging in mid-air, my usual powers were nothing but unusable. "Haha--- We have met a human girl in a place like this! You'll fetch a good price! No, in any event you should be my unusual maidservant? For you see, you are my spoils." "Hey--" "Hm?" The Boss's interest got stolen from behind him, a scary and mysterious aura started wafting out. The clamour came from that empty space, from the silence instantly came out a reply. "You, get your dirty hands off Aoi!" P93 "What the... Who the heck are you?" While still holding me in the air the Boss turned his head around, Odanna-sama in front of him opened his eyes wide. "You... didn't refuse Aoi's food..." The Odanna-sama in his girl form, while still in the Boss's line of sight started swaying slowly side to side and warping, and in an instant returned into the usual ogre-god. As he came out standing, he was wrapped around in his aura. He had a cold and piercing gaze. Everyone realized that he was an extraordinary being. "Wh--" The Boss's greasy sweat started to spread, and laughed with his teeth out. He could only laugh. "I have seen you before... You bastard, you're Tenjin-ya's Master!" "You knew it right away... Therefore, I wonder if you realize it. You said that you haven't met defeat, now I will show you what's called defeat!" With his dubious smile, Odanna-sama soundlessly appeared and stood where I was, and forcefully grabbed the Boss's wrist and tightened the grip. "G... Gwahhhhh!" The ogre-fire from the Boss's wrist entered into his body. He was screaming in pain as he was burned, and and the same time I was released by Odanna-sama and he gently held me in his arms. P94 "Are you alright, Aoi?" "Uhmm.. Yeah.." After looking at me with a gentle smile, Odanna-sama's cold facial expression returned, and glowered at everyone else in front of him. With his deep-red eyes, looking like blood rushing in, he can frighten anyone. Normally, that's something that someone like him does. But.. Why is that.. In that time, I couldn't think of being especially frightened. "This.. This is unacceptable!" "How dare you do this to the Boss!" All of the minions simultaneously stood up with swords in their hands. At the worst possible time, a brawl might start... "What the...?" Everywhere everybody started staggering. Oh, I see, the apples just started to kick in. It seemed that we chose the timing OK.. With a thump, without warning were were surrounded by countless standing black shadows. They attacked from in-between the bandit's tall physiques, and without pausing toyed and pushed their opponents around.

"Odanna-sama, we have just come to see you right now." Whirling around, with his light green hair he dashed out. P95 It was Tenjin-ya's O-niwaban guards, the Kamaitachi ninjas. "Whew. We have just completely suppressed them." Around his mouth a long scarf hung, and it was obviously the O-niwaban's ace, Sasuke-kun. All of the bandits, mostly everyone had no fight left, in an instant had been stopped, and all around me they have fallen down. "That was splendid. Our O-niwaban sure are strong--" "Eh, how did Sasuke-kun and everyone did it? Ehh.. How did they... They fell down one by one when you told them to, Odanna-sama?" "Ah, yes." Holding me gently, Odanna-sama slowly put me down.** "I previously told them back in Tenjin-ya. Because there was a growing problem in the Northern Lands, I sent out the O-niwaban in secret. There was one person in the village who got hostaged, and we waited for the time when they could simultaneously get hold of them, which was when I saw that the timing of your food's effects came." "I see. That's good. No one got hurt." I anxiously looked at the kid that I protected, we were separated for a bit in that time. But the kid smiled instead. For sure, this was a very frightening experience for all of us. "Well then, one matter has been resolved. Let's tie up the sleeping bandits with heavy ropes." After that, it was the O-niwaban's turn to take them back to jail in the land of Ogre's Gate. T/N: After all of these events, I dare you all not to go whoooo and mushy at how much of a gent Odanna-sama is, to Aoi. I DARE YOUUUUUUU lololol But then again, maybe he wanted a date as well as do some anti-bandit work so... Meh. Still whooo wahahaha asdfgjkukdf;gjg P96 From a fruit orchard date, it enigmatically changed 180 degress into contributing to bandit-suppression in a day, all in one breath. Truly, this is one panic-filled day. "Miko-sama, Miko-sama!" Just as we were leaving, the kid that I protected came running on all fours towards me, and gave me a jar. "This is for Miko-sama." "Hm? Whaat is this?" "That's Hyakumemomiji honey... Because I heard you saying that you wanted one." "No way! That honey? Wahhhh I'm so happy!" I was quite happy, but that kid seemed to be really happy too, and my mouth drew an arc. "Miko-sama, you have saved our village. You're a real Miko-sama!" "It's Aoi. My name is Aoi. But well, it isn't bad to be Miko-sama in one day.." I stooped down to meet the child's eyes. I couldn't see his eyes through the mask, but through those small holes where pure and innocent eyes peeking, and I spoke gingerly. "There are still some unbaked pizzas in the kitchen, ask for an adult to help heating them in the stone kiln, so all of you can eat. It's already nightfall, don't use branches of Hyakumemomiji to burn them, OK?" "OK!" It's a wonderful thought that I was able to feed everyone in the village delicious pizza. P97 Though this was somewhat more difficult than the usual cooking scenarios, it was good that we were able to help people and restore the world's order. "....." The old respectable Kaku-zaru, as well as everyone else again, bowed their heads as they sent us off. Until the end I couldn't capture their figures, the clan has a mysterious aura surrounding them, but if someone gets into this hidden village again, they would surely want to tell the story of what happened today. Right now I do not have the image of a Miko-sama, I am just Yugao's Aoi. "Alright, let's go back to Tenjin-ya, Aoi." "Ohhh, right." We returned to the ship and rode back to Tenjinya, in the middle of the night the sky has cleared up and we proceeded to pierce through it. "Ahh..." From the wooden deck of the airship, I could see the far and distant, countless ogre-fires lighting up Gintengai during this time. And through that, I could see the tall Tenjin-ya floating up high. It's surely a sky-scraper. I found silence in the beautiful night scenery. Somehow, I recalled that time when we returned to Tenjin-ya from Orio-ya. Returning to Tenjin-ya, I thought that I was but only happy... "What is it, Aoi, would you want to come inside? The autumn night's probably cold..." T/N: OK Fam-fans, better hold onto your seats lol j/k no not really P98 "Say, Odanna-sama?" "Hmm?" This timing, there was something that I wanted to ask Odanna-sama. For a long time, even though I wanted to ask him, I couldn't. "Odanna-sama... That uhm..." That time when I was young, the story about the Ayakashi who helped me. Odanna-sama faced me, I used all of my strength to ask him. "Odanna-sama, that thing, have you asked Ginji-san about it? That story when I was young. Ginji-san... Brought me some food, that an Ayakashi was connected to my circumstance..." "Ah, that story.. Yes, even before that I already know..." I saw that Odanna-sama's eyes only flickered for a bit, and it seems that he's flatly going to refuse answering. "Say.. Odanna-sama... Could it be that you.. In some way, have something to do with it?" "...." His lack of reaction continued. I only glanced up at his face fleetingly. Odanna-sama's feelings were unreadable and his face was cold, but while staring at the twinkling ogre-fires from far away, he curtly said "I wonder..." Clearly, that was an ambiguous answer. P99 "If you knew that, Aoi.. What will you do?" "If I knew, well, that I uhm..." "You possess a strong sense of responsibility, Aoi. As soon as you get concerned over an Ayakashi, you take on anyone else's burden. That is why... I do not want you to bear the burden that I already have." "You're saying that..." What does it mean? What is Odanna-sama saying right now? "I wonder why you wanted to know that, but I, do not want you to know about that." "...." Odanna-sama's words, unexpectedly stung and stabbed my heart. Again, I was surprised by that. "I... Only wanted to know... About Odanna-sama.." And, those were the words that went out of my mouth. "Just a little at a time..I am not scared, of Odanna-sama..." "...Aoi?" Not scared. It was something from my heart. I want to know more about you, now. T/N: Me: I have no hecking heart, I have no soul. Also me: ouch my heart my kokoro brokoro T_T I feel you Aoi, I feel you-- Also guys, some fun facts about how I did the translations here, once a girl (or an uke, however you like lololol) starts calling her special other ANATA, you know that things are going down the serious path. Like this is the first time she didn't refer to his public name, it's a Japanese or Asian thing, probably, like when you start calling someone pet names, but in this case she dropped the Odanna-sama in her head monologue and started calling him ANATA, like a WAIFU. Shit's going down guys, I might cry after I do this. DAng it, so much for having no heart. Excuse me while I wipe the stuff that ninjas cutting onions made me do. P100 For the first time, I consciously thought that Odanna-sama wasn't scary. All around him Odanna-sama scares everyone, but I was entirely not dreading him. I was thinking of something good to say about that change. I probably started to trust Odanna-sama. That outward appearance, I couldn't trust it, but I wanted to raise my convictions even if I don't know. Odanna-sama always helps me. While in the shadows, in those times he casually gives me kind advice. But, despite all that, there's still a thread of mystery about him. Among everyone in Tenjin-ya, I understood him the least. "That face, don't give me that, Aoi." While I was shaking, Odanna-sama engulfed me with that huge body. In some way while wavering, he cradled me gently. I was so surprised that my body stiffed up in an instant, I took a long and deep breath, and a long while after talking, the strength from by body was zapped out. I wonder why, in that moment I got flooded with tears, yet I thought that the warmth felt good to abet my horrible mood. "I was shocked by your honesty. I was sure that for a long time I have scared Aoi, and I thought other than that there were no other feelings. That is why, you telling me that you wanted to know more about me, from the bottom of my heart, I am joyful." T/N: dammit ninjas cutting onions not now TT_TT P101 "...." "You sure are a changed person, aren't you?" A changed person. That, was Odanna-sama the same? I don't understand everything at all. Truly, what do you think about me? "Because I have become happy now, even when I jump down from this ship I'll surely live!" "Wait... why are you playing dumb about this now?" It was already all mushy and gooey, but why did he spoil the mood? I pushed myself off Odanna-sama's chest, and I glowered up at him with bulging eyes. Why is he always playing around with important matters like this? I didn't get hurt, but why on earth do I wanna hide myself? "Now, now, Aoi. Don't make that scary face." "Until a while ago I was crying. I will give you a scary face, Odanna-sama." "Sorry, Aoi." I looked at Odanna-sama's troubled yet laughing face, and well, I just gave up. Surely, Odanna-sama's not going to say. Anything. About. Me. Why? I don't know. With regards to that person when I was a child, from my endless conversations with Ginji-san I was thinking surely that there weren't other stories beyond that, and I couldn't be frank about it now. P102 Too bad. But I think that there's no way to ask about that now. I thought that I wanted to know about it, but it was probably just my own selfish wishes. "But, Odanna-sama..." "Hmm?" "Thank you, for today. Didn't you save me from the bandits? You grabbed that huge guy, that was really a bit terrifying." "Oh my, it's because I couldn't imgine that you'd be taken away by that brute. You running and dashing away to protect that child, it was so you, and that's really scary. It's because your human body is so different from Ayakashi, so frail and brittle." "Isn't Odanna-sama so overprotective. I think that is definitely more like having a granddaughter than having a wife, isn't it? But today, you're a bit cool." "R.. Really?" Odanna-sama's cheeks blushed with delight. Usually he sounds so mature, but right now that personality gap seems to have increased. "Because of that, this date has been so much fun. It gets perfect points for the thrill, and I was able to cook as much as I wanted, and I gained a really good item." P103 I wanted the person that I was with, to understand, and I let him know my feelings first. I smiled frankly, I don't want to have a sad nor scary face anymore. "..." Odanna-sama looked a bit surprised, and for a while didn't say anything back. In an instant, he touched my face, the thrill wasn't there immediately, but I drew my eyebrows together and smiled a tiny smile. "Aoi, you're also awesome. And now, you have smiled."

I still don't understand a thing about Odanna-sama. I don't know his favorite things. I don't know his name. I know nothing about his past nor his upbringing. I don't know, if he hides something, if he's involved with the incidents from when I was young. I need to know how to erase all of these.

If I'm going to do it, I wonder how can I get a little bit more closer to him.

End of Chapter 3, Volume 6. Previous - Chapter 2 Next - Intermission 1

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

#kakuriyo no yadomeshi #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 3 #kakuriyo no yadomeshi fan translations #kakuriyo no yadomeshi english fan translations #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 3 english fan translations #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 3 fan translations

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jerepars · 3 years

Text

Throwing Copper Extended Chapter Notes

3 / 5 Why We Ever

Hyperlinks appear in blue (underlined on mobile). The story is posted here. Direct link to this chapter is here.

James contemplated what an early morning of everyday things would consist of if they were different people, in a different life. He wondered if she would make fun of his bedhead and if her laughter would fill up the air in the room when he reached over and pulled her closer, threatening to not let go unless she stopped squirming, until the book they’d been reading toppled to the floor, forgotten. He wondered if they’d let their coffee run cold.

There’s a song called “Everyday Things” by David Usher, which doesn’t mention any of the things James is thinking about here, but I do like the idea of James (or Teresa for that matter) thinking of what everyday things would consist of for them. Also, I hadn’t heard the original version of this song in...years...because the one I always listen to is the acoustic version, featuring Cœur de pirate, whose back vocals are very complimentary. The original version of the song doesn’t even sound right to me and it sounded so off when I listened to it to get the url. Not that any of this matters at all.

A frown settled between Teresa’s eyebrows and she blinked away tears before they could form. She swallowed the lump of emotions blocking her throat. There was an irony to her actions. Doing something for James gave her new lungs, but explaining it to him made it hard to breathe.

The song “New Lungs” by Glacier Veins is what I was thinking of here, because of the line that goes And with new lungs I relearn how to breathe.

“You know why,” she answered simply, unwilling to elaborate what she was sure they both understood.

Making her feel better and being a shoulder to lean on might’ve been things James did out of a sense of obligation. But turning up in New Orleans to warn her about Devon, and then being the overwatch for the meeting Devon had shown up to – those things were about something else. It was the same for Teresa. When the opportunity presented itself, for her to make James’ Devon problem go away, the reason she didn’t hesitate wasn’t because she felt she owed him or had to repay him. She did it because it was James. The things they took on for each other, actions strong enough to shift tectonic plates, they did because they wanted to. The only boundaries of their loyalty and love for one another were speaking about them out loud.

I’ve found the cave metaphor from 1x06 to be something that I continually come back to while writing about James and Teresa. There’s a part of the conversation, which focuses on how far implication goes with them, when James says, “You know what I’m talking about” (1:35). So I wanted there to be a similar thing here, with Teresa saying “you know why” about why they’re willing to do so much for each other. It seems a big part of why they never say how they really feel is because it’s so easy for them to make vague statements with implications that they both understand.

Teresa was right, and James did understand, because when he looked at her again, the warmth of his eyes was ebbing away at the anger held there. “Not sure I can exist without consequence,“ James told her softly.

When I started planning this chapter, I could hear James’ dialogue here so clearly in my mind. The line and the idea of James having grown so uneasy with a life where there’s no retribution against him is inspired by American Football’s “Uncomfortably Numb”. Mike Kinsella (the band’s vocalist) and Hayley Williams (who is featured on the track) do a little call and return with the line: But how will you exist (how will I exist?) without consequence? I’ll let you know.

This song is so hypnotic and I remember listening to it ad nauseum, except that I never got tired of it, when it first came out. I listened to it over and over and over again (again, lol) while writing this chapter, and I still love it. The mood of the song, in my opinion, really matches the mood of the chapter.

Despite the high stakes of their mission, or maybe because of it, the last three days had been better than, perhaps, the last three hundred. Like looking in his eyes and searching for clarity, working with James again was like muscle memory for Teresa.

This part is a call back to the first chapter, where it’s mentioned that for Teresa, looking at James and searching his eyes for their next move, for reassurance, for clarity is like muscle memory she can’t shake. Not that this is a super important detail, but I do like to put earlier ideas into later chapters for cohesion. This is probably why I can’t write something short to save my life, because I think too much about small details. It bugs me, in fic, when it’s obvious time has been spent on certain details but then the idea is never brought up ever again.

Working on an operation with him made Teresa curse the reasons why they’d ever said I’m gonna miss you and I’ll see you around a year ago, when they’d said goodbye. It brought back the feelings of longing, of wanting to coexist in the same space and move in the same direction, at the same time, together.

It was unintentional that the two songs that inspired this chapter most have Hayley Williams in them. But when I listen to them back to back, I can also see why that ended up happening. This chapter is named after the Hayley Williams song “Why We Ever” because of the line that goes And now I can’t seem to remember why we ever felt we had to say goodbye.

I watched the goodbye scene in 3x13 to write these two sentences. There are a lot of scenes from QOTS that I’ve watched over and over again but that’s not one of them because, like, it hurts me. Also it’s super frustrating that that’s the note Jeresa ends on until the last ten seconds of 4x13. I'm thinking S5 Jeresa needs to happen by 5x03. And if not, we riot. Lol.

“For freaking out and needing you the other night. For doubting you and questioning you, when you’re always just trying to help me,” Teresa rambled, then paused to take a breath, because what she really wanted to apologize for cut at her the deepest. “I’m sorry for the things I’ve asked you to do. For the people you had to take out and people you had to bury. Even after I knew about what happened with Suzie, I still asked you to…”

The part of “Why We Ever” that really pulls at my heartstrings is the end, which goes: I just wanna talk about it. I know I freaked you out. I just wanna talk about it. Sorry for freaking out.

That’s simple, sure. But it’s raw. I wanted Teresa to get pretty raw in this scene, letting her honesty come tumbling out without eloquence.

Also, something that has irked me since 3x05 is the fact that James is so clearly not the same after what happened to Suzie, and when we learn what happened, we understand why he’s so affected by the stuff he has to do, even out of necessity. What happened to Suzie takes it to the extreme, creates a breaking point for James, but even going back to S1, James has never liked the part of his job that means he has to hurt and kill people. After finding out what happened in 3x05, 3x04 seemed especially cruel to James, when he’s left to bury the reporter - we just didn’t know how cruel it was at the time.

And I get it, he has to do his job. Occupational hazards, right? But he’s changed after 3x05, and he still has to kill for Teresa. He even has to dig the ditch to bury Guero. The experiences of cartel life that Teresa and James have are certainly different, and again this makes sense, because they are in different roles. But S3 is not kind to James, not in the least, and I think that’s why it makes sense to me that he’d want out of the life if there’s nothing or no one to stay for.

I don’t know that Teresa will ever be this apologetic in canon, since she’s the queen so she’s free to give out orders without explanation or sympathy. I wish it would happen though, and I think there’s potential for prime Jeresa content if she does. I wrote it myself since the likelihood of it happening is probably slim to none.

Teresa trailed off without finishing her train of thought. She wasn’t meant to apologize, for she was the queen. She was supposed to stay icy and distant; sensitivity deprived. But she couldn’t help it with James. She couldn’t help the light leaking back in. It was different, because he was different.

The opening lyrics of “Uncomfortably Numb” are sensitivity deprived. That phrase begins the first two verses. As already mentioned, to me the song encapsulates the mood of this chapter so well.

He looked scared, confused about what she’d said. James had grown used to Teresa’s mixed signals; they’d been dancing around each other and their feelings for so long. But Teresa being direct was new. Her dark side scared him, and he didn’t know to which part of her directness belonged to, light or dark.

This is, again, a call back to the first chapter, where it’s mentioned there’s a part of Teresa (the Teresa that she’s become) that scares James a bit. Just trying to tie it back in and keep the chapters cohesive, connected, over the course of the story.

Her heart was already on the floor, but had she been entirely forthcoming? She’d reinforced that he had a choice, and he was free. But had she even given James a reason to want to stay? Had she ever? Did he even know her desire for him to stay had many layers to it?

Heart is on the floor, why don’t you step on it? is the first line in the chorus of “Rocks Tonic Juice Magic” by Saves the Day. I didn’t really realize I was making this reference until I was actually typing it out. And it being the last song reference in the chapter, when I went to get the URL, I ended up with so much sorrow because I have so many fond memories of being at shows surrounded by people with the same feelings for this song and this music as me, and singing these words back with such urgency. I miss shows so much. I think finally being able to go back to shows, in a post-pandemic world, whenever that is, is going to be so emotional and I’m probably going to cry.

Okay, so that was a tangent.

Anyway, I don’t think Teresa has ever let herself be so vulnerable, to just come out and tell James how she feels or what she wants. It doesn’t mean she and James don’t already know. But there is something to be said about, well, saying those things. It takes brevity, but if she can’t be honest where it counts, then they don’t have a chance. That’s why I wanted Teresa to have this moment, with her heart on the floor, thinking...does she need to take it even a step further?

And by the end of it, she does.

#je repars notes

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kn1feinthec0ffee · 4 years

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in too deep (part 6) - jules

jules x reader

warnings: implied drug use, head trauma, choking, death

notes: as i’m typing this i’m SO excited to post it i just really love how this turned out and i hope you guys do too

also idk how to make a hyperlink but if you’re looking for any of the other parts just search #jules on my page and they should come up :)

******************************

everything felt... numb. quiet. miles and miles away.

you thought you had felt silence before, but this was on a whole other level. you could see yourself standing in an empty, pitch black void, mindlessly wandering in circles.

you felt a small tickle underneath your nose, but seemingly nothing caused it. you rubbed at your face, some invisible antagonist causing an irritating tingle across your skin.

suddenly, the air became trapped in your lungs, your throat itching with the need to breathe. you took in a breath through your nose and watched in wonder as the barren darkness around you rapidly morph into a magnificent rainbow of colors.

the colors turned paler and paler as a bright whiteness set in, a searing pain bursting through your chest. you cried out for the light to stop, begging to go back to the comforting darkness.

your eyelids flew open as you began to hyperventilate in panic. your pupils darted around the room, taking in all your blinding surroundings. you tried to speak, but jules held a firm hand over your mouth.

“hey, hey, it’s okay, baby! you’re okay!” she lifted her hand and ran it down your jaw comfortingly. “hey, i have a plan.”

———————————————

“let’s get the hell outta here and find ‘em.” george mumbled, the door slamming behind the couple.

jules peeked our the window, ensuring that they had left before you came out of hiding. she let out a frantic laugh, excited beyond belief that the two of you had finally managed to escape from under their watchful eyes.

“i can’t believe that fucking worked!” you breathed out. you pulled her in for a deep kiss before snatching the keys you spotted during dinner. you busied yourself unlocking the garage, looking over your shoulder to find jules looking at you disapprovingly. “what is it, babe? we gotta get the fuck out of here!”

“y/n, the kid.” she gestured towards the basement door.

“shit, yeah, you’re right,” you sighed. “let’s go get her.” you practically flew down the stairs, pulling the keys from your pocket and unlocking the chains.

“c’mon! let’s go!” you quickly realized she was hesitant because of your earlier actions. “oh, are you still mad about earlier? i was lying, didn’t you see me wink? that’s what a wink is; it means you’re not supposed to believe what i said!”

sweetiepie stubbornly refused to move. “look, hun, i’m really sorry for what i said, alright? i should’ve known you don’t know what a wink is. i get it, this is clearly a very serious household, but we have to get out of here right now, and we really want you to come with us, okay, sweetheart?” you held out a hopeful hand towards her.

she nodded silently, placing a tiny hand in yours. “there ‘ya go, let’s beat it.” you scooped her up into your arms as you ran up the stairs.

the three of you burst through the garage door, placing sweetiepie in the backseat after jules unlocked the door. you slid into the driver’s seat, searching blindly for the garage-door-opener but coming up empty handed.

“shit! where’s the fuckin’ garage thingy?” you panicked. jules opened the console, pressing the button as soon as she found it.

as the door finally peeled open, the air left your body in an instant. george stood in the driveway, your pistol trained on you.

motherfucker.

“get outta the goddamn car, y/n.” he demanded. your brain was racing hundreds of miles a minute, working through every possible way this could end.

“i love you, julie, but please forgive me for just how fucking stupid i’m about to be.” before she could protest, you uttered a simple command. “duck.”

sweetiepie and jules covered their head, bracing themselves for whatever was about to happen. you took a deep breath before stepping on the gas, ducking down behind the steering wheel.

you heard the crack of three gunshots, followed by the thunk of george’s body underneath the car. you slammed on the brake to avoid crashing into the forest, your head whipping into the wheel as the car jolted to a stop.

jules peeked through her fingers, elated to see all the passengers alive and bullet hole-free.

“ah fuck, my fuckin’ head, i-“ your words were muffled against jules lips as she desperately mashed them against yours.

“you’re so fucking brave, baby! i love you so much! i love you so fucking much!” tears slid down her cheeks as she declared her love for you. you smiled at her praises and pulled away from her with a parting peck.

“you alright back there, sweetheart?” you looked in the rearview mirror. she offered nothing but a simple nod and a nearly imperceptible smile. before you could shift into reverse and leave this hellhole, the driver-side door flew open and you fell to the ground.

george threw you into the pavement with impressive strength for someone who had just been run over only moments ago. your head jerked into the unforgiving macadam, stunning you momentarily and giving george enough time to wrap his hands around your throat.

“you thought you could kill me?” he gurgled, blood dripping from his wounds. “i’m never gonna die!” you practically felt the life slipping out of your hands. you so desperately wanted to put up a fight, but you couldn’t find the strength to do so.

“i’m the last thing you’re ever gonna see. time to go.” george growled, squeezing tighter. you could faintly hear footsteps in quick succession, but you had no idea who they were coming from.

“let go of her!” jules yelled, trying with all her might to wrench the psychopathic man off of you. for a moment you thought she might succeed, but you heard another woman’s voice, gloria, you assumed, pull her away from you.

through darkening vision and fluttering eyelids, you caught a glimpse of the older woman brandishing a knife against the neck of your girlfriend as she struggled fruitlessly.

fighting seemed hopeless as you had run out of breath and darkness began to encapsulate your surroundings. this is it, you thought. this is where it all ends.

until,

click.

the sound of a pistol cocking. the pressure eased off of your esophagus and you rolled onto your side trying to catch your breath.

“sweetiepie,” george began with his thick southern drawl. “where’d ‘ya get that gun? c’mon now, give it to daddy. what did these people say about me? d’they tell you i’m a bad man? i’m not a bad man, i’m a good man, bring the gun to daddy.”

sweetiepie stood stoic, refusing to move the gun from it’s place in her hands. george decided to try a different approach. “what’ll make you feel good? you know what makes me feel good? ice cream. mint cho-”

a gunshot rang through the air, it’s bullet making a rapid path straight through his eye socket. his body fell onto the ground with a thud.

“george?” gloria crooned. “are you okay?” the knife clattered against the driveway. jules rushed away from her over to you, helping you from the ground. she grabbed the gun from sweetiepie’s hands and aimed it at the widow in case she made any sudden moves.

“time for us to go! the open road is ahead, george.” she sniffled. “oh, i suppose we could wait a bit longer, if you need.” she continued to mumble some more crazy talk as she stroked her deceased husband’s cheek.

jules lowered her gun, turning to the little girl who saved your asses. she pulled her close, running her ringed fingers through the girl’s matted locks. sweetiepie looked up to you, leaning against the car door for support, and buried her face in your shirt as she wrapped her arms around you. “i wanna go with you,” she murmured quietly.

“let’s go, julie.” you wheezed. she nodded, checking to make sure gloria wasn’t going to pull anything on you.

the three of you made it to the main road. the rush of adrenaline from the coke had finally worn off and the pain and exhaustion from your injuries had caught up to you as you leaned your weight on jules’ shoulder. you weren’t quite sure where exactly you were trying to go, mainly just looking for any means to leave this state.

“when we get out of here,” you mumbled. “are we going back to stealing?” you looked over to your girlfriend who was looking down at the little girl holding your hand.

“i don’t think this one needs any more bad influences in her life, i’m sure we’ll find something. maybe we can start that business like we’ve always wanted to.” she smiled.

before either of you could elaborate any further, the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires filled your ears. jules stuck her thumb out, hoping the driver had enough of a heart to pull over. the red truck slowed to a stop and you watched as the window rolled down, revealing an older woman.

“where you girls headed?” she asked considerately. sweetiepie stood on her tip toes to get a better look at what was presumably the first person she’d seen in what you assumed had been years.

you shared a look with jules, silently coming to the same conclusion. “florida.”

the woman smiled, unlocking the doors with the switch on the door. “well, i’m not exactly a taxi service, so i can’t guarantee ‘ya i’ll get you that far, but i’ll see what i can do.”

jules grinned happily, thanking the woman immensely. you gave sweetiepie a boost into the back seat, jules helping you up next to her before sliding into the passenger seat herself.

some country song started playing at a low volume over the radio while you let your head fall back against the headrest. sweetiepie looked equally as worn out as you, but somewhat excited at the prospect of seeing what anything outside of a dingy basement looked like.

jules turned around to check on you and smiled at what she saw. you were passed out with your head against the cool glass of the car window, sweetiepie fast asleep on your lap, the two of you out cold before you even hit the first red light.

she turned back around, tears welling in her eyes as she imagined the life the three of you would live together.

******************************

HAHA YOU DIDN’T ACTUALLY THINK I WAS GONNA WRITE THE ACTUAL ENDING DID YOU???? jokes on you i am FAR too soft for that!!

if you’re wondering how i came up with this alternate ending, this was the situation that i came up with immediately after watching the movie for the first time when i realized just HOW AVOIDABLE mickey’s death was

and another factor in that is that i think i’m physically incapable of writing anything that doesn’t have a happy ending sooo

tags: @emmyrosee @bill-skarsgard-owns-my-ass @flowers-in-your-hayr @willyourecognisemee

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michaelandy101-blog · 3 years

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19 Social Media Advertising Myths to Depart Behind in 2021

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/19-social-media-marketing-myths-to-leave-behind-in-2021/

19 Social Media Advertising Myths to Depart Behind in 2021

Like every main marketing technique of the previous decade, social media has had loads of time to build up some massive myths.

And even if knowledge has disproven plenty of marketing myths right this moment, some entrepreneurs will nonetheless maintain onto a number of, just because it is onerous to maintain up-to-date on what’s actually happening with social media.

Sure, social media landscapes change dramatically daily. Nonetheless, as a marketer, it is necessary to establish fantasy from actuality to be able to create an efficient social media technique.

That will help you separate reality from fiction, I put my MythBusters hat on and drudged up a number of the most typical social media myths on the market.

Let’s dive into some social media myths we have all most likely heard from colleagues or mates. Then, I am going to clarify why it’s essential to go away these outdated methods of considering behind.

19 Social Media Myths to Depart Behind in 2021

1. My clients aren’t on social media.

In 2021, over 3.7 billion people worldwide are active on social media. As we speak, it looks as if there is a social platform for all the pieces and everybody. Whereas household and mates join on websites like Fb, Instagram, or Twitter, professionals are networking on LinkedIn.

Odds are, at the least one social media platform has an viewers that can align together with your model. Undecided which one is the very best for you? Try this weblog submit to discover which social platform(s) are best-suited in your model — and which most likely will not work in your wants.

2. You need to be part of each single social media community instantly.

Simply because I can identify a whole lot of social networks, it does not imply I ought to arrange a profile on all of them.

By all means, analysis different social networks. Arrange an organization profile or web page and provides ’em the outdated school strive. However it’s possible you’ll discover that some aren’t actually price your time. If that is the case, contemplate eradicating your profile and transfer on. You need to solely commit time and sources to the platforms that align most together with your viewers and marketing techniques.

The most effective entrepreneurs use knowledge to establish which marketing actions yield the very best outcomes — if a social community is not serving to you out, minimize it free.

three. Pinterest is just for B2C organizations.

Pinterest is completely superior for B2C entrepreneurs, to make certain. However normally when somebody says a channel is just for B2C, the B2B marketer in me takes that as a problem to show it isn’t so.

Seems a few of my colleagues really feel the identical approach, as a result of considered one of them wrote a whole information to utilizing Pinterest for enterprise. It’s also possible to take a look at the accounts of manufacturers like GE, Microsoft, Econsultancy, and yours actually for some B2B Pinterest inspiration!

four. You need to solely attempt to get followers and followers that can change into clients.

High quality is necessary, sure, however do not underestimate the ability of a giant social attain. Keep in mind a few of these factors subsequent time you bemoan buying a fan or follower that lives exterior of your gross sales territory or goal demographic:

Extra followers and followers means you are getting access to their followers and followers.

In the event that they’re an influencer, their clout transfers to you by affiliation.

After they share your content material, your search engine marketing improves.

They could nonetheless refer enterprise your approach.

After all, that does not imply you should not additionally goal a particular, high-converting viewers in your social channels — to determine your ideally suited audience on social media, take a look at this submit.

5. You need to solely schedule posts throughout the work week.

When you should not pressure your social media supervisor to work on the weekends, you actually can schedule posts or launch social media adverts on the weekends forward of time — and, relying in your viewers, it may be a good suggestion.

After all, you may must establish when your viewers makes use of sure social platforms probably the most. Whereas pique social media engagement instances happen across the center of the week, most platforms even have excessive engagement instances throughout the weekends and evenings as effectively.

6. You will have wonderful social media engagement when you ask your family and friends “Like” each submit.

You’ll be able to’t simply have your mother and uncle Like each submit you set up on Fb. Though it’d really feel such as you see a whole lot of posts that your folks or relations like, Fb and different social media algorithms are a bit extra subtle than that in the case of figuring out which posts get seen.

To get social media feeds to favor your content material, you may want a selection of individuals interacting together with your content material — each to develop your attain, and to point out up in customers’ information feeds.

So, quite than encouraging simply your folks or relations to Like or coronary heart your posts, encourage your followers to Like, remark, or share to encourage additional dialogue and unfold your model consciousness.

7. It’s important to reply to social exercise instantly.

There is not any doubt a speedy response is appreciated, but it surely is not at all times required. Folks perceive that you just’re operating a enterprise. There are different issues happening. If you happen to get again in a well timed method, however not in mere seconds, it is alright.

There are exceptions, after all. As an example, Verizon runs a number of Twitter accounts. One is @VerizonSupport. Whereas Verizon will share weblog posts and academic marketing supplies on this Twitter, it additionally makes use of it to reply to questions or considerations from prospects or clients.

As a result of Verizon’s assist account is for customer support quite than marketing, reps who handle this channel needs to be responding instantly to inquiries.

One other instance might be when you’re operating a social media account that receives a grievance which is public to all customers and will damage your credibility. In that situation, you need to seek the advice of your service group as quickly as doable and write a considerate reply that exhibits you are taking the suggestions significantly.

eight. Social media is solely about participating dialog — and never a spot to share branded content material.

It is not that conversations aren’t necessary. You’ll be able to’t simply ignore your followers. However, whereas it is helpful to stimulate conversations and discussions together with your viewers, it isn’t the one level to social media marketing.

Other than permitting you to nearly join with individuals, social media is a lead generator, a non-organic visitors instrument, and an ideal place to share your greatest content material.

If you happen to publish priceless posts, they won’t at all times stimulate dialog, however they may lead individuals to your web site and merchandise.

9. Social media marketing techniques do not drive bottom-line outcomes.

Piggybacking off of the final fantasy, you’ll be able to really generate worth past simply “engagement” and “brand equity” from social media. Social media drives leads and clients, interval.

Do not consider me? Listed below are a number of stats you need to know:

In the end, notably by means of promoting or influencer marketing methods, social media could be a viable alternative for rising gross sales. (Simply examine my checking account each time I scroll Instagram and “Swipe Up to Buy”.)

10. It appears to be like cheesy to look relatable as a model on social media.

The content material you publish on social media ought to at all times preserve your audience in thoughts — however that does not imply you’ll be able to’t additionally publish content material that exhibits your model’s persona. Or, frankly, even your group supervisor’s persona.

There are individuals behind your organization; do not be afraid to point out that with your personal particular model of humor, photos of folks that work at your organization, and hyperlinks to information content material that you just discover notably entertaining … even when it isn’t straight associated to your business.

11. Hashtags are important for each submit.

You realize these tweets that seem like this?

Love this text on #socialmedia #marketing that talks about #pinterest and has a picture of a #pet #lol

The purpose of hashtags is that they be part of collectively frequent dialog threads. So whereas it is good to have a hashtag for an occasion, like a webinar or a commerce present, do not lose your thoughts if it would not change into a trending matter. It is not essentially going to blow your leads purpose out of the water if it does … consider hashtags as a technique to be extra user-friendly for these following the hashtag, not a technique to make all of your marketing goals come true.

12. Social media monitoring takes eternally.

One social media monitoring situation: Glue your eyes to your pc display, open 5 tabs for every of your social networks, chug three espressos, click on between tabs, and hit refresh like a maniac.

Alternate social media monitoring situation: Use social media monitoring software program that alerts you when necessary phrases are talked about; examine again to your accounts briefly each hour or two to see if it’s essential to reply to anybody, observe somebody again, and so on.

That second one takes you, in mixture, possibly 30 minutes a day. No massive deal. Everyone breathe. All the things’s gonna be alright.

13. Social media managers needs to be new graduates or have years of expertise.

This is not only a fantasy. It is really an ageist principle that needs to be fully deserted — if it hasn’t been already.

Being good at social media marketing, or any job for that matter, has completely nothing to do with how younger or outdated you’re. You’ll be able to study the instruments and methods at any age, and make errors at any age, too.

As a substitute of contemplating a social media supervisor’s age vary, search for the candidate who’s each inventive and analytically-minded sufficient to handle your presence. To study extra about the best way to rent the very best social media supervisor in your model, take a look at this submit.

14. Solely younger individuals use social media.

Assume that the one individuals on social media are Gen Z and millennials? Assume once more.

Contemplate this: 40% of internet users age 46 to 55 are on LinkedIn by the tip of 2020; roughly 55% of Facebook users are over the age of 35 as of 2021; and in 2019, over 80% of 45-64 yr outdated U.S. web customers watched movies on YouTube.

Greater than possible, your viewers (at any age!) is on social media — the secret’s determining which one they like probably the most.

15. Newer platforms, like Snapchat and TikTok, aren’t price taking significantly.

Snapchat and TikTok are each cell social media apps which have pulled in millennials and Gen Z as a result of their distinctive platforms. Whereas Snapchat thrives on ephemeral content material, AR filters, and Bitmoji options, TikTok highlights goofy, enjoyable, or musical 10 to 60-second movies much like Vines.

Even if these platforms pull in odd content material created by customers, it would not essentially imply that manufacturers cannot use the apps to achieve credibility and consciousness.

At this level, a plethora of manufacturers — from publishers to B2C firms — have created profiles or adverts for TikTok. One of the crucial shocking and oldest manufacturers to construct a TikTok technique is The Washington Put up. Though the publication has a really formal social media presence on different platforms, they use TikTok to spotlight the humorous, but human, aspect of working in a newsroom.

Equally, plenty of bigger companies have additionally launched paid promotions or long-form Tales on Snapchat Uncover. To study extra about these firms and the content material they’ve launched, take a look at this weblog submit.

At this level, you’ll be able to actually take any fashionable social media platform significantly. However, as we famous when debunking earlier myths on this submit, you need to establish which platforms greatest match your viewers and your targets earlier than spending time and money to construct a technique for them.

16. You do not have sufficient content material to have a social media channel.

The factor with social media is that it strikes actually quick. What’s posted right this moment would possibly very effectively be forgotten about tomorrow. It is easy to consider this as an issue by saying, “I don’t have enough content to post.” However, alternatively, you can simply repurpose content material or re-share nice content material repeatedly.

If the subject your submit discusses is evergreen, it is going to virtually at all times be helpful, even when you repurpose or repost it later. This does not imply you need to share the very same hyperlink and replace commentary day after day, but when a number of weeks go by and also you need to re-promote one thing, go for it. Simply do your loyal followers a favor and discover a new fascinating nugget of data to name out in your replace.

17. Social media offers individuals a venue to publicly bash your organization.

The reality is, offended clients have already got loads of venues: phrase of mouth, Google opinions, Yelp opinions, and plenty of different locations on the web that can permit them to present suggestions after they aren’t blissful. Not making a Fb web page merely for worry of adverse suggestions is not defending you from an offended wrath.

As a substitute, get forward of the dialog by being conscious when adverse opinions are going down, studying them, responding to the client, and developing with options for his or her issues. Moreover, when clients are happy, encourage them to share their constructive tales.

18. Social media is simply too “fluffy” to have stable metrics round.

Once more, social media is not about fluffy issues we talked about earlier, like “brand equity” and “engaging conversation.”

Sure, these issues occur, but it surely does not imply you’ll be able to’t measure the effectiveness of your social media actions.

With HubSpot marketing tools, you’ll be able to establish precisely how a lot visitors social media drives to your web site, what number of leads social media generates, and what number of of these leads change into clients.

From there, you’ll be able to even calculate issues like the typical cost-per-lead and buyer — throughout particular person social media networks, and in mixture — similar to you do with each different marketing channel (proper?).

19. Social media is totally free marketing.

It is free to hitch, but it surely’s nonetheless a useful resource funding. Even if you’re posting without cost, you may possible must pay an worker to handle your channels and construct methods. And, as your social media technique grows extra profitable, you would possibly resolve to up time and money investments.

Fortunately, social media remains to be one of the crucial inexpensive methods to spice up audiences, model consciousness, and finally leads. This makes the funding price your whereas.

Navigating Social Media Advertising

Now that you’ve got discovered concerning the falsehoods and myths behind social media, it is time to begin wanting on the precise research-back techniques that would make your model profitable on a given community.

For extra knowledge that backs why you want a social media marketing technique in 2021, take a look at this record of stats. For tactical recommendation on varied social media techniques and platforms, learn our Final Information to Social Media Advertising.

Editor’s Observe: This submit was initially revealed in October 2012 however was up to date in February 2021 for comprehensiveness and freshness.

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gordonwilliamsweb · 3 years

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In Philadelphia, a Scandal Erupts Over Vaccination Startup Led by 22-Year-Old

It started as a group of college friends who wanted to help during the pandemic. They had tech skills, so they used 3D printers to make face shields. Then they organized as a nonprofit, Philly Fighting Covid, and opened a testing site in a Philadelphia neighborhood that didn’t have one yet.

This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes NPR, WHYY and KHN. It can be republished for free.

The organization’s leader, Andrei Doroshin, had bigger ambitions. Even before the first coronavirus vaccine was authorized, the 22-year-old graduate student at Drexel University planned to get involved, even though he has no background in health care.

On the evening of Oct. 7, Doroshin gathered 15 of the nonprofit’s staff members and volunteers for a meeting on a Philadelphia rooftop to show them a fancy PowerPoint. More people joined via livestream to watch him unveil his plan to vaccinate the city of Philadelphia.

In slide after slide, he laid out his vision with colorful graphics and maps, covering all aspects of a vaccination system, from scheduling to staffing to safety protocols.

The marketing plan hinged on inoculating local celebrities like rapper Meek Mill, a Philadelphia native, to attract his fan base.

“This is a wholly Elon Musk, shooting-for-the-heavens type of thing,” Doroshin said. “We’re gonna have a preemptive strike on vaccines and basically beat everybody in Philadelphia to it.”

Doroshin described scaling up until they were managing five mass vaccination sites and 20 smaller sites scattered throughout the city. He claimed they could vaccinate between 500,000 and 1.5 million people. And they would make a lot of money doing it.

“This is the juicy slide,” said Doroshin, clicking over to the financing plan. “How are we gonna get paid?” He explained that the vaccine doses were free, provided by the federal government. But Philly Fighting Covid could bill insurance companies $24 a dose for administering it.

“I just told you how many vaccines we want to do — you can do the math in your head,” he said.

A month later, Doroshin made a similar presentation, complete with colorful maps and a $2.7 million projected budget, to the Philadelphia City Council. He said his team at Philly Fighting Covid had begun submitting plans for building out five high-capacity sites that could each take up to 10,000 patients a day.

Philly Fighting Covid’s promise of efficiently vaccinating the population was an alluring one as city leaders were desperate to pull out of the pandemic. Doroshin told NBC’s “Today” show that his company didn’t think like a traditional medical institution. “We’re engineers, we’re scientists, computer scientists, we’re cybersecurity nerds. We think a little differently than people in health care do.”

“We took the entire model and just threw it out the window,” Doroshin added. “We said to hell with all of that. We’re going to completely build on a new model that is based on a factory.”

By Jan. 9, Doroshin had a deal with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration. The city never signed a formal contract with Philly Fighting Covid or gave the organization any money, but it did provide its unofficial sanction and publicity.

Most important, the city turned over part of its vaccine allotment to the group and helped it find recipients by sharing lists of residents who were newly eligible for the vaccine, based on the city’s own prioritization scheme. The city relied on Philly Fighting Covid’s registration as a vaccine provider with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Jan. 8, Doroshin and Kenney stood side by side at a press conference to kick off the first mass vaccination clinic at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It was targeted at health care workers not affiliated with major hospitals, such as home health aides or doctors, nurses or therapists in private practice.

“What you see here is the problem that we’ve been solving for six months,” Doroshin told reporters. “This is the problem of vaccinating an entire population of people on a scale that has never been seen before in the history of our species.”

Kenney was also hopeful that the arrangement would help diversify the racial breakdown of vaccine recipients. At that point, only 12% of vaccinated Philadelphians were Black — in a city where 44% of residents are Black.

“Equitable distribution of this vaccine is extremely important to our entire administration,” said Kenney at the Jan. 8 kickoff event.

But in an early sign of trouble, Philly Fighting Covid failed to verify its progress on the equity goal. After that first vaccine event, at which 2,500 doses were administered, City Council President Darrell Clarke requested the demographic breakdown of the recipients.

The health department told him that Philly Fighting Covid had somehow lost all the racial and ethnic data for the patients. The group was blaming “a glitch” in the Amazon cloud. Still, the city continued to turn over thousands of vaccine doses to Philly Fighting Covid.

As the startup continued to hold clinics, WHYY began investigating the organization and its founder.

Reporters uncovered other serious problems, and it soon became clear that the group’s logistical strengths and self-promotional flair, which had once made the startup seem so compelling, weren’t working. The investigation revealed that in December, just before Philly Fighting Covid began its vaccination work, it reorganized and became a for-profit company called Vax Populi.

Philly Fighting Covid had spent months organizing city-funded testing events — at which residents reported good experiences. But in January, it abruptly shuttered those operations, leaving partner organizations in the lurch. The group posted this decision on social media, just a few days after the convention center kickoff, at which Doroshin had promised to open two new testing sites and to start offering free rapid testing.

Several groups that had been partnering with Philly Fighting Covid on testing events claim they received little or no notice, jeopardizing plans for testing in communities of color.

“They completely ghosted us,” said Cean James, pastor of Salt & Light church in Southwest Philadelphia, which had been planning a series of pop-up testing events with Philly Fighting Covid.

Michael Brown had been working with the group to organize a testing event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He said Doroshin told his group that testing wasn’t important anymore.

“The statement he made was very clear: ‘I don’t believe that testing is relevant anymore. People don’t follow the instructions, people don’t do what they’re supposed to do, and all it does is … cause panic,'” Brown said later.

There were signs that Doroshin wasn’t that concerned about standard clinical protocols. Employees with more clinical experience than he had said he brushed off technical questions as bothersome and approached the vaccination effort as if he were a tech mogul focused on disrupting norms.

“Stop using best practices,” Doroshin said during a recent interview with HealthDay. “I think the old best practices in health care, in terms of intramuscular injections, were written for a hospital visit that would take 30 minutes, that you needed to do a bill for as a provider visit. Those best practices can mostly go out the window.”

The city soon began to back away from the group. At the initial launch, the city promoted Philly Fighting Covid’s pre-registration website and encouraged everyone to sign up. Just a week later, officials changed course and claimed the city had nothing to do with the website. The conflicting messages caused confusion among the 60,000 Philadelphians who had signed up thinking it was an official city site. Many were left worried about what would happen to their personal information. The city then launched its own pre-registration site.

The process Philly Fighting Covid used to schedule appointments was also flawed. Anyone who received a hyperlink could sign up for a time slot, which prompted many who received it to assume they were automatically eligible, even though at that time the clinic was technically only for health care workers and the elderly.

Some who received the link in error went through with their appointments. Others backed out when they learned it wasn’t their turn. Still more had their doses canceled by Philly Fighting Covid upon arrival.

When Jillian Horn came to get a shot, she said she saw seniors waiting in line get turned away because of booking errors.

“There was literally 85-year-olds, 95-year-old people standing there, with printed appointment confirmations saying, ‘I don’t understand why I can’t get vaccinated,’ ” Horn recalled.

On Jan. 23, volunteer nurse Katrina Lipinsky was helping at one of Philly Fighting Covid’s vaccination events. She said that about half an hour before the event’s scheduled end, staffers started telling volunteers and other workers to call anyone they knew to come in for a shot because there were going to be extras.

Then she saw Doroshin grab a handful of vaccines and stuff them in his bag, along with the corresponding CDC vaccination record cards.

“The idea of somebody who’s not a licensed health care professional vaccinating their own friend, with or without observation, period, that certainly was not the right thing to do,” Lipinsky told WHYY.

Doroshin initially denied Lipinsky’s account but eventually admitted he took doses home during a Jan. 28 interview on NBC’s “Today” show. The following day at a press conference, he said he had vaccinated his girlfriend, but no one else. He did not explain how Philly Fighting Covid ended up with extra doses after it turned away people, including seniors, who were in line waiting for the vaccine that same day.

The city cut ties with Philly Fighting Covid on Jan. 25, citing the company’s abandonment of its testing work and the company’s new privacy policy, which would have allowed it to sell patient data.

Health commissioner Dr. Tom Farley has been asked to explain what happened. Doroshin approached with a vaccine plan, he said, that met the city’s health standards.

“I hope people can understand why on the surface this looked like a good thing,” Farley said. “In retrospect, we should have been more careful with this organization.”

The city had other options for a mass vaccination partner. Philadelphia is home to four major health systems, including the University of Pennsylvania medical system, which said it was prepared to ramp up community vaccination efforts as far back as November, well before the city started working with Philly Fighting Covid.

Kenney called for an investigation Friday, and several state lawmakers called for Farley’s resignation.

In a press conference at his apartment building Friday, Doroshin called the city’s decision to dissolve the partnership “dirty power politics” and alleged it was part of a political conspiracy. He said that if given the chance, he wouldn’t have done anything differently.

This story is part of a partnership that includes WHYY, NPR and KHN.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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In Philadelphia, a Scandal Erupts Over Vaccination Startup Led by 22-Year-Old

This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes NPR, WHYY and KHN. It can be republished for free.

In slide after slide, he laid out his vision with colorful graphics and maps, covering all aspects of a vaccination system, from scheduling to staffing to safety protocols.

The marketing plan hinged on inoculating local celebrities like rapper Meek Mill, a Philadelphia native, to attract his fan base.

“This is a wholly Elon Musk, shooting-for-the-heavens type of thing,” Doroshin said. “We’re gonna have a preemptive strike on vaccines and basically beat everybody in Philadelphia to it.”

“I just told you how many vaccines we want to do — you can do the math in your head,” he said.

“We took the entire model and just threw it out the window,” Doroshin added. “We said to hell with all of that. We’re going to completely build on a new model that is based on a factory.”

“Equitable distribution of this vaccine is extremely important to our entire administration,” said Kenney at the Jan. 8 kickoff event.

As the startup continued to hold clinics, WHYY began investigating the organization and its founder.

Several groups that had been partnering with Philly Fighting Covid on testing events claim they received little or no notice, jeopardizing plans for testing in communities of color.

“They completely ghosted us,” said Cean James, pastor of Salt & Light church in Southwest Philadelphia, which had been planning a series of pop-up testing events with Philly Fighting Covid.

Michael Brown had been working with the group to organize a testing event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He said Doroshin told his group that testing wasn’t important anymore.