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#When one person is as genuine talented and funny as he is it is only natural to be a fan of his.
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🎉✨🎉✨🎉✨🎉✨🎉
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE AND ONLY, WES BORLAND
🎉✨🎉✨🎉✨🎉✨🎉
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I hope he has an incredible birthday and may this year bring him an overabundance of good health and happiness💗🥰💗
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sailing-ever-west · 25 days
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Thinking about how much the strawhats need Usopp.
His place on the team has always been weird and uncertain for him. He's a sniper but also he's an inventor and he fixes the ship but the thing he gets known for is mostly the long nose and the lying. He calls himself a great captain but he's not the captain and in fact he has very little decision-making power and even less actual confidence. He's the most cowardly. Or maybe he's the bravest. He's pretty sure they only keep him around because he helped them get a ship. He'd die for them anyway.
But the strawhats don't really need a sniper, or a liar, or a guy who gave them a ship. They need Usopp. And the reason has nothing to do with whatever his official role on the crew may be.
They need Usopp because they need a (goodhearted, clever, brave, talented, but nonetheless) regular guy. It's actually so important for the strawhats to have someone who knows what it's like to be weak, who has to really grapple with the consequences of every fight and crazy adventure, who has some semblance of being average and practical about things.
Nami shares some of this role of not being impossibly strong and unkillable the way the others are, but even she has solid close combat techniques and has random bursts of crazy where she'll do things like stab a 3 inch wide spike through her foot to win a fight and help Vivi. She's just pretending to be normal. You can see the glint in her eyes and know she's actually insane.
Also, Usopp is like. Actually nice to people. Regularly. He wants to avoid conflict. They desperately need at least one crew member who wants to avoid conflict. Nami does not serve this purpose quite like Usopp does, either. Sure, she doesn't want to get into fights willy-nilly and she'll often run instead, but she has a harsh and prickly personality that doesn't exactly set people at ease. Chopper also avoids fights but that's mostly for medical reasons and he has very little problem getting into them if he thinks it's necessary. Sanji is kind to people, but he's only nice to women, and will start fights with very little prompting. Luffy is friendly but completely tactless, Zoro doesn't even try to be sociable, and Robin thinks murder is a little funny. So again, between all these weirdos, they need a guy who's just like. Hey what if we said good morning like normal people. What if when some stranger is mildly rude and has a lot of weapons we just ignore it. What if we like. Got along with people. That would be neat.
Anyway I don't have a big grand finish for this post but just. The strawhats were genuinely in need of Some Guy, and Usopp solves that problem even though he thinks he's not special enough. Of course he's unique and talented and strong, but he's still an average human with average physical strength and slowly hard-earned skills. The strawhats without that have no tether.
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darealsaltysam · 2 months
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I JUST GOT BACK FROM SEEING DUNE PART 2 AND HOLY FUCK OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT HOLY FUUUUCK I NEED TO. I NEED TO. I NEED TO TALK SO BAD HOLY SHIT
below the cut because oh boy do i have a lot to say and i dont want my poor followers to suffer when i post this
oh my god okay okay where do i even start
opening with irulan's narration to mirror her notes in the openings of the chapters of the book. oh yeah baby. i ate that right up
watching paul get close with the fremen,,,,, fucking hell that hurts. dune really is a tragedy at the end of the day huh. they go from reluctant allies to friends but the whole time you know the switch will happen any moment now and they will be devotees and he will be messiah and that gap between them will never be as small as it is out in the sand. huddled in those tents. sharing drinks and laughs. im not doing ok
this especially hurts with chani. their love is so genuine and pure and she wears blue for him (which by the way sticks out so much more with how muted the colors of the rest of the movie are... i could talk about this all day) but she can see what he is becoming and he's trying to avoid it for her so hard but there's no avoiding fate. LORD ABOVE!!!!
i loveeee jessica being the manipulator thats pulling all the strings, urging paul towards becoming messiah. rebecca ferguson is such a talented actress she really understands the character so well. also as a hashtag certified alia atreides enjoyer her scheming with her unborn fetus might be the most unhinged thing ever but thats also so fucking funny aka its as dune as it gets. dune is WEIRD and im glad theyre not shying away from that. thank u denis
arrakis looks so much more beautiful in this movie like theres defo been some changes with how its framed and presented it feels so much grander and idk just ??? what it makes me think is that we're not seeing arrakis, we're finally seeing dune. we're seeing the land as the fremen see it as paul becomes one of them. i might be looking too much into it but who cares. god i love this movie
but yes more on the fremen in the first section of the movie. i like how there's this cluster of non-believers almost?? its a nice breath of fresh air. its hard to believe every single person would be just devoted to the prophecy and it adds some depth.
i will say the one thing i didnt like is the way stilgar is characterized?? i dont think he was so blindly devoted to paul in the books, and definitely not alia and leto ii after him as the atreides line went on. he's always been a source of small doubt towards paul but i think they're moving that element of him onto chani, so i think i can let it slide. i'd like to see him question alia more in the future though.
the scene where paul was named muad'dib and usul??? god it was so cute which made it so heart wrenching. all the fremen coming together and welcoming him into their lives. as a brother. as a friend. only for him to turn around and make them all bow before him. ohhhhh i cant do this
OH BOY THE WORMS THE WORMS AND THE WORM RIDING AND THE AHHHHHHHHH OH LORD
jesus christ. what the fuck. how is this allowed on cinema screens how is something so amazing allowed
the tension. the effects. the sound design. the sand rushing past the wind the worm moving forward paul struggling to hold on the fremen all watching and then cheering him on HOLY FUCKKKK HOLY FUCK I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH
all the worm riding scenes were so intense and so well done like. when i first read that stuff in the books i didnt think anything could ever capture how i imagined it exactly and yet. AND YET. DENIS!!!!!!!!
once more dune hits the idea of scale SO well everything is HUGE and they MAKE YOU FEEL IT. that shows especially with geidi prime but ill talk about that in a bit. but yes this applies to the worms too lord above them WORMSSSS ARE HUGEEEE AND I LOVE THEMMMM
rebecca ferguson put her heart and soul into that water of life scene and we all need to thank her for it
the way jessica is so quick to switch up and go all in on the prophecy. it makes me think of leto's "im not asking his mother, im asking the bene gesserit" like. the bene gesserit really come first for jessica and she takes her opportunity to fulfill her duties. to be the reverend mother. to rub it all in the faces of the other bene gesserit. she is the mother of the messiah and by god will she make everyone well aware of that
okay. okay okay. i think i said my peace on the early fremen stuff. i think. okay fuck okay SHIT fuck SHIT
FEYD FUCKING RAUTHA LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
oh my god okay. okay ill admit it. i doubted austin butler. i saw the cast list and i was unsure(tm). i saw him in the trailers and my faith was restored. and holy fucking shit did he DELIVER
stellan skarsgård's baron harkonnen is already such a threatening figure it feels like it would be impossible to make someone even more terrifying and yet. AND YET
just the way he's introduced. killing servants with zero remorse. LICKING THAT KNIFE THE WAY HE DID??? OKAY WHORE. I SEE YOU. GO RIGHT AHEAD. MAKE IT SLUTTY IN HOUSE HARKONNEN. I RESPECT IT
when the arena doors open and that loud ass fucking music BOOMS. makes the room fucking SHAKE. thats a PRESENCE right there. THATS how you introduce your antagonist.
the music playing as he fights being as fucking deranged as he is. chaotic and weird and unsettling. just. oh my god feyd had such a presence from the moment he showed up and he did not lose it for a single second. you could feel him LOOMING over the movie the whole time just as he looms over the whole book from his very first scene. oh my goddddd oh my godd
GEIDI PRIME. THE ARENA. THAT MASSIVE HARKONNEN PALACE. oh my god. once more. that sense of scale. the harkonnens love to flaunt their wealth so ofc they have huge fuck off arenas and castles where everything and everyone feels so SMALL in comparison.
dont even get me started on the black and white. the way it accents those coal black teeth and mouths. the way it makes everything look so much more inhuman and clinical and PERFECT because harkonnen power is so absolute and ruthless.
and the way the baron sits so so high above watching the fighting. literally impossible to picture his elevation above his people above the rest of the universe. the way feyd looks to him for approval after every movement. even as his uncle is trying to kill him they exchange those little looks and feyd knows hes getting his chance to show off while the baron gives him his "gift" what a fucked up family what the hell
speaking of fucked up family! wow! they are SO fucked up! there is something seriously strange being hinted at with feyd and the baron! feyd making his own brother bow and kiss his boot! those constant threats of death against rabban as if theyre nothing! this family is capital f FUCKED up. they hurt each other as much as they hurt everyone around them. theyre made of violence and blood and they could never show each other kindness because they dont know such a thing
what can i say about the feyd/margot scenes that hasnt been said already. like wow just unpack the boy's trauma like that. use him and then throw him to the wolves. once again the bene gesserit make it so clear this is THEIR empire and THEIR bloodlines and THEIR messiah. too bad jessica doesnt see that collective "ours" and instead settles for "mine" when it comes to the messiah
special shout out to dave bautista before i move on. just cause. his rabban doesnt get enough love. he really sells that balance of ruthless power but also incompetency compared to his brother so well. can you guys tell i REALLY like this cast
WE ACTUALLY GOT TO SEE GURNEY PLAYING THE BALISET WE FUCKING WIN Y'ALL
the paul/gurney reunion being the last shred of the old paul. how he gets so happy "i recognized your footsteps, old man" shoot me in the fucking brain stem it would HURT LESS
a bit off topic and it happened earlier (sorry my thoughts are so all over the place) but i like how they actually showed the process of how the water of life is made. it was actually exactly like how i imagined it when i read the books so thats neat !!
anyway. back to the horrors.
i already talked so much about feyd's presence so just another small note. that scene in sietch tabr. he is a MONSTER and i am EATING IT UP
i cant even begin to explain. how much it fucked me up. when paul took the water of life. i knew thats where we were going. i knew it was unavoidable. and yet still. when chani bent over him and screamed at everyone for making him follow this prophecy. when she was forced to shed tears to save his life. when she got him back only to realize she lost him and he wasnt the person she loved anymore. it broke me
chani's utter hatred for the prophecy and what paul is becoming added to it so much. i know some people are unhappy with how much shes been changed from the books but i think its elevated her character and all these scenes so much. and oh my god does zendaya DELIVER when the spotlight is on her. i never doubted her for a moment but all those changes to chani really allowed to let her shine. thats that euphoria acting coming out baby !!!!
SPEAKING OF GOOD ACTING
TIMOTHEE
FUCKING
CHALAMET
listen i hate the fact that he gets cast in everything these days as much as everyone but hes such a talented actor and i cant deny this anymore. the water of life scene really sold it for me.
he was such a perfect paul already in the first movie but this was the moment it really came out. the way he wakes up so calm and collected. lifeless. monotone. theres nothing theres literally nothing
paul atreides the boy who became duke far too young is dead usul who was the lover of chani is dead muad'dib the fedaykin fighter is dead only the kwisatz haderach remains and thats what the prophecy was always leading us to and yet the moment it happens its so haunting
like i cannot say this enough. that complete switch is so sudden but so subtle at the same time. its still paul technically but hes so different
what makes dune's weird concepts so easy to take in once you get into the book is all that internal monologue that really leads you through these complex concepts slowly. and yet in a few shots and a few lines of dialogue timothee chalamet somehow manages to express the idea of "i just learned the secrets of the fucking universe and im about to start a holy war" ???? HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THIS???? HOW ARE YOU THIS TALENTED???? OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! IT WAS A FEW LOOKS A FEW MOVENTS JUST THE RIGHT TONE OF VOICE AND THATS HIM!!! THATS HIM BABY!!!! THATS THE KWISATZ HADERACH AND THE UNIVERSE IS FUCKED !!!!!!!!!
also. anya taylor joy alia. we only had you for a split second but i cannot wait for you. im sure youre going to completely slay the third movie. give us our beloved tragic meow meow. alia is my fave character so i will be JUDGING HEAVILY. she better bring her a-game istg
when paul storms the war council and just completely takes control of the room so easily. thats the bene gesserit conditioning giving him his pedestal and he is making the most of it. he knows exactly what the fuck hes doing. and once more oh my goddddd all that shouting all that emotion and yet a complete lack of it. timothee spare a crumb of talent for the rest of us
also the way in that scene gurney is hesitant about it all until paul proclaims himself the duke of arrakis. and suddenly gurney has house atreides again and he doesnt care what chani does anymore. hes a follower to paul just as everyone else in that room. nothing changes. fuck me man i cant do this anymore
have i mentioned yet im so excited for chani in the next movie. her arc is so interesting. children of dune is defo not happening with the way chani has been set up so i doubt we'll see leto ii and ghanima but. lets hope we still get all the cool stuff wit alia at least. and maybe chani can be the one who leads the charge against her
okay i need to really fucking. get along with it im dragging this post on im so sorry this movie is eating my brain alive
chani still wearing blue during the final fight. im not saying more than that i might cry if i think about it too much
THAT. FINAL. FIGHT. OH MY GODDD OH MY GOD
IT ALL CAME TOGETHER SO SO WELL
THE WORMS
THE SENSE OF SCALE
THE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
THE MUSIC HOLY FUCK THE MUSIC HANS ZIMMER YOU OUTDO YOURSELF EVERY TIME
THE SOUND
EVERYTHING FLOWING TOGETHER SO WELL
the way the fremen fight for their messiah but still fly the atreides banner. the way paul leads them as their messiah and as a "fremen" but always proclaims himself duke of house atreides first. oh lorddd im unwell
every time paul menacingly emerged from fog/sand/smoke my life was extended by like 10 years thank u denis
gurney killing rabban with as much ease as he did cleared my skin and watered my crops <3
the way the baron was literally dying and still crawling towards the throne.......... the way at the same time feyd ignored him completely and looked towards the doors reveling in the fight ahead..... if that doesnt tell u everything you need to know about house harkonnen idk what will yall
i also love how no one intervenes as paul walks in and kills the baron. not even feyd. feyd looks like he was a little TOO into it as paul killed him tbh. feyd u little freak. austin butler you talented talented man. im unwell
i AM sad we didnt get to see baby alia stab him but ah well. we got a bunch of other weird dune shit so ill let this one slide. the psychic toddler may be too much even for denis and everything he did give us. we'll always have our 1984 alia <3
OHOHOHOHOHOHOH. OH. HERE WE GO
HERE WE GO YALL
THE SCENE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE READING THE BOOK
THE SCENE THEY SHOWED BITS OF IN THE TRAILER AND THE SCENE IVE BEEN NON STOP YEARNING FOR SINCE!!!
THE DUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh my god oh my god oh my goddddd where do i even start
okay so. the way theres no music. no fancy cuts no slow mo no over the top effects. its just the slashing of the blades and those BEAUTIFUL shadowed shots with the setting sun in the background. this really is the sun setting on the peaceful universe. just pain and suffering ahead marked with the blood spilled from the two who were meant to produce the messiah but who both got thrown off this path by the greed and selfishness of their forefathers. guys im normal about paul and feyd. definitely. i definitely have very normal thoughts about how they are foils and yet two sides of the same coin. yes guys
paul making the emperor kiss his ring is already such an insane fucking scene and it translated to the screen so well. amazing performances all around
i didnt talk much about florence pugh's irulan but she really didnt have much time to shine. im excited to see where she goes next and i definitely think shes a great fit but i need to see more of her to really be able to say more
i will say this. the way chani, irulan and jessica are the only ones who dont kneel for paul. the three most important women in his life who give him his power, everything he has. jessica made him and she made him the messiah. chani opened her life up to him, helped him become and in turn control the fremen, and she shed her tears for him and fulfilled her role in the prophecy against her wishes. irulan is his path to the throne, his key to being emperor. and none of them bow before him because why would they bow before a power they are responsible for, a power they own, a power they gave?
but for chani its different ofc. she also refuses to bow because she despises everything paul stands for.
oh my god i could say so much about the last scene being chani. not paul reveling in his victory. paul leaves for his next bloodshed and chani is left behind crying for the person she loves who she knows is gone. crying for her people, again enslaved. crying those same tears that brought the messiah back into this world.
theres a lot to be said about the role of gender in dune and how it hangs over every facet of this world but thats a whole separate analysis post to be had so ill just throw it down here in this little point
another thing chani does very well in the movies is she really makes paul's villainy explicitly clear. SO many people read dune and completely misunderstand it and walk away from it concluding its a "white savior narrative" and nothing more which. yes!! yes it is!!!! but thats not a good thing!!!! its never stated to be a good thing!!!!
this movie is not gonna let you misunderstand the message of the story no matter how blind you try to be to it. paul is not a good guy. hes never been the good guy. hes the protagonist, but hes not the hero. and chani allows that to translate from book to movie very well. have i mentioned yet i love movie chani
chani fills in the holes left behind by the narration and internal monologues of the book and, bonus points, she holds the people who dont understand what dune is about by the hand and tells them explicitly "PAUL IS A BAD GUY!!! DONT IDOLIZE PAUL!!!! DONT WALK AWAY FROM DUNE THINKING ITS PRAISING PAUL'S ACTIONS!!!"
i think thats pretty much all i had to say. i might reblog with additions as they hit me but yeah i. i enjoyed the movie. so so much. i think i might watch it again sometime soon while its still in cinemas.
sorry for being unhinged hope u enjoyed my rants. kiss kiss night night <3
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a-hazbin-reader · 3 months
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A reader who loves singing? Does Alator let her sing his radio show?
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Alastor X Reader Headcanons
✅️Romantic
❌️Platonic
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TW: Alastor being petty, Alastor eating people, Vox being bullied
Description: ☝️⬆️
Alastor loves having an wife who can sing, any talent of yours he celebrates but singing especially is his favorite
Alastor is the type of husband to brag to a room of strangers about how good his wife sings
Even the other overlords are SICK of hearing about you and your beautiful, heavenly, mesmerizing voice
Except maybe Zestial and Rosie, the two of them actually genuinely interested in hearing you sing
Alastor is absolutely embarrassing to take anywhere that there is a live band/music
Mocks any other singer on stage just to get a reaction out of people so he can get you up there instead
He loves your voice best 👌
"They're a fine singer, sure, I'm only saying that I've heard better~"
Not him throwing you on stage
Is your biggest fan, making sure everyone claps and cheers for you because he will eat them if they don't
You're going to be blushing the entire time on stage because he's going to be giving you the most sinful look while you sing
Even if he doesn't necessarily like the song you're singing, Alastor is content to just admire your vocal talent
He won't let anybody try to make deals or contracts with you over your voice, usually just giving people a terrifying grin as he pulls you close
Vox has asked you a few times to perform for his show, but Alastor is proud to say that his wife has better taste than that
He also exaggerates the story of how you turned him down, claiming you kicked Vox in the groin and shattered his screen
"Alastor! That's not how that happened-"
"No? Funny, that's how I remember it~"
And he usually does something funny to get back at Vox for even trying
In Alastor's opinion, there are only two ways to enjoy your voice
Either in person or on his radio show
Putting you on TV would only dull your natural sparkle and talent, take away how special it is to really listen to you
That's his opinion anyway
Will ask you to sing at the hotel instead, but really what he's asking is if you'll sing for him
Because if you perform at the hotel then he's not missing a single moment of it, each performance from you is a gift
Will have brief intermissions in his broadcast so that you can sing to all his listeners
Treats you as the Lilith figure for his show, believing that your singing does have some power to it but also just so he can rub his woman in Lucifer's face
"Seems as if her majesty wasn't the only one with a pretty voice~ Aren't we all so lucky to have Y/N~?"
Alastor, maybe don't piss off Lucifer by shit talking the mother of his child?
He'll play piano as long as you promise to sing, the two of you would have the BEST DUETS
If you sing him a love song, then he can't resist singing along with you and pulling you in for a dance
"You should serenade me more often, my dear~ I think I deserve such a treat from you every now and then~"
"You ate like six people today, I think you should think again."
Little nose boop for your husband
Not him biting your finger playfully as you go to pull it away
"You two are so fucking sweet it's making me sick, I'm outta here."
Sorry Angel
Sometimes he hums along with you if you're singing while you're working, content to harmonize with you
Lowkey gets jealous when other people sing with you but gets irritated if someone who can't sing tries to sing with you
He has gone so far as to threaten them for singing badly and ruining your song
"If you're going to open your mouth, it would do you well to mind the shit that comes out of it."
"Alastor!!"
If you ask him for it, Alastor will pull all the strings he can to get you a place just for you to sing
It'll be his shrine to your voice
No Mimzy, you can't borrow Y/N for your own business
Only people with refined tastes such as his own will be allowed in, Alastor makes sure it's the proper clientele
Oh and Husk will be the bartender
"You MOTHERFUCKER!"
Alastor likes taking your voice to it's limits, likes hearing all the different sounds you can make
And that includes in bed
Even if you sing a wrong note or mess up, he'll call it an artistic choice and praise you
He still cuts in on just about every song you sing because he can't help himself, music and Y/N? It's Alastor bait
Plus, the two of you get to show off together, compliment each other, and make everyone green with envy
Y'all are just too fucking cute
It's a dream come true for Alastor to have a wife who can sing
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Oops! This became another Wife!Reader one...sorry... 🫡
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mediumgayitalian · 2 months
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“Death Breath! Hey! Wait up!”
Nico bolts. He makes it about ten feet away from his cabin door before Will and his stupid long legs catch up with him, throwing an arm over his shoulder and then immediately tripping over his own foot and sending them both sprawling.
“I hate you,” Nico groans, curling up on the grass.
It’s too early for any of this. He was just trying to get back at Cecil for covering everything he owned in aluminum foil last week — and then he was going to go right the hell back to bed.
He knew he should have fucking shadow travelled.
“Aw, c’mon. You love me.”
Nico pretends to gag. The only thing he gets is Will’s crossed arms and raised eyebrow, so he doubles down and really starts to retch. Whatever. It’s eight thirty in the morning. He fell asleep at five. Rational thinking is a distant, distant memory.
“Whenever you’re done.”
“I will be sick at the thought for the next eight weeks,” Nico informs him. For dramatic effect, he looks up at Will’s face — which he cant even see, since the sun’s in his eyes — and shudders.
“You know, you have a genuine, beautiful talent for the dramatic arts, the likes of which I have never seen. Are you sure you’re not secretly an Apollo kid?”
I better not be, ‘cause then all the staring I do at your calves would be real weird, he thinks to himself, then considers whether he can convince Kayla to give him a lobotomy. He thinks she might like the opportunity.
“Piss off,” he says instead of that, artfully schooling his face into the aristocratic mask he’s perfected from his father, squaring his shoulders and looking at Will like he’s a pebble lodged in the flesh of his heel.
Will rolls his eyes. “Get up, Sharpay Evans. You’re gonna stain your shirt worse than you already have.”
Nico sniffs haughtily. “My shirt is perfectly fine, thank you very much. I order them in black for a reason.”
He notices a giant grass stain on the side when he stands. He ignores it. Will does not.
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re the Goth King.”
“Ghost King.”
“Right, right. That helps your case.”
Nico shoves him, fighting back a grin. “Whatever, Solace. What are you bothering me for?”
“Oh, yeah!”
Nico is a deeply cheesy person. Down to the core of him, past all the sarcasm and prickliness and trauma, or whatever, he’s made of fucking mozzarella, because what business does he have comparing Will’s eyes to the morning winter sky? Huh? That’s embarrassing. It isn’t even original. If Nico caught anyone saying shit like that out loud in real life, he’s collapse into the shadows from embarrassment. He needs electroshock therapy.
“I was thinking —”
“Rare,” Nico quips, just to watch Will’s eyebrow twitch. It does. Nico smiles.
“I was thinking,” he repeats, mocking glare in Nico’s direction, “that you and me go to the city this afternoon.”
“You chased me across camp for that?”
“Oh, please, Zombie Face. I chased you maybe twenty yards.”
“I think all that time sniffing rubbing alcohol has deteriorated your brain.”
“I think I’m going to shove you in the lake.”
“Feel free to try. You will not wake up the next morning.”
“Nah.” Will shoots him a smug smile. Nico trips over air. “I can be as annoying as I want and you still won’t kill me. I have impunity.”
Nico rolls his eyes, refusing to dignify that with an answer. The less he acknowledges his own shame, the more likely it will go away on its own. Probably.
“Anyways. Guess what Cecil told me today.”
“His last will and testament?” Nico guesses, suddenly remembering his reason for being up this early.
“No, no, not that.” Will pauses. “Well, I mean, he did. I passed it on to Chiron. He has requested that when you maul him, you avoid his face, because he wants to be a sexy corpse and he can’t do that if you destroy his prettiest features.”
“Noted. Please inform him I will come for him within a window of the next fifteen hours.”
Theres a very particular face Will makes when he finds something genuinely funny. A smile a little more crooked than his regular one, teeth working at his bottom lip to hold it back, left dimple appearing in his cheek. It makes Nico want to do stupid things like press his thumb into said divot. He instead shoves his hands deeply into his pockets.
“I’ll let him know.” He clears his throat. “Anyways. You know what day it is today?”
Nico squints. ���Tues…day? No, Wednesday.” He glances at Will. It’s been maybe….three days since their weekly sleepover? No, fuck, four. He thinks. “Thursday. Final answer.”
“Monday,” Will corrects, “and, gods, you need to sleep more. And a calendar. But no, that’s not my point.”
“Feel free to get to it.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Will finally explains. He tries for exasperated, but it doesn’t work — he’s clearly excited, bouncing on the balls of his feet and waving his hands. “And The Five Seasons is doing half off for couples, so you and I need to go!”
He waves his hands, as if tying off some grand reveal. His (blue blue blue blue) eyes are squeezed nearly shut by the force of his beam, which lessons slightly with every second Nico does not respond.
“William,” he says finally. He opens his mouth, then closes it again. “William.”
Will pouts. “What?”
“Explain how this is relevant to me, William.”
“Aw, c’mon, Nico! Don’t be difficult!”
“William,” stresses Nico again. “We are not a couple. Did you hit your head again?”
“Well, duh, Neeks, it’s about the scam!” He flaps his hand in a way Nico assumes is meant to convey something. “We’re gonna — eat! Cheap! By pretending to be a couple!” Now both hands are flopping, paired with wide, imploring eyes. “Obviously!”
“Obviously,” Nico repeats, slowly. He instructs one half of his brain to keep its focus on not melting into a puddle of blushing embarrassed goo, and the other to exercise restraint and not strangle the boy in front of him. A headache begins to press behind his eyes. “Will, what the shit.”
“You of all people!” Will throws his hands up. “You love scamming people! You hate corporate holidays! You frequently throw pebbles at people who look, and I quote, too obnoxiously happy! You’re the best hater I know! You should be on board!”
He makes a compelling point. Not that Nico is going to make that easy for him.
“You seem very invested in this,” Nico points out. He manages to keep his voice tastefully judgmental, which he’s very proud of.
“Of course I am! I want cheap Five Seasons food, godsdammit!” He pauses, switching tactics. “Nico,” he says softly. He puts a gently hand on Nico’s forearm, making him freeze. He is suddenly very, very close, and wow, did his hair always frame his face in gentle waves? Has that always been a thing? “I really, really want to scam a restaurant with you.” He smiles, small and crooked and gods, Will doesn’t look dangerous very often, but holy Hades when he does — “Will you make my Valentines, and scam a restaurant with me?”
His fingers begin to trace little circles in the inside of Nico’s wrist.
“Yes,” he squeaks, voice cracking.
“Yes!” Will cheers, pulling his fist. “Yes, hell yes, Nico! We are going to scam the shit out of this restaurant! Half off for couples? How about half off for heathens! Free money, baby! Fuck yeah!”
He turns back towards Nico, smile still wide and radiant, blinking eyes pools of sparkling excitement. Nico’s knees go a little weak. “I’ll come get you at 2! Thank you, Neeks!”
He runs off back to his cabin, only tripping twice. Nico watches him go, feeling a little like he’s tripping, too, with all the swooping his stomach is doing.
“Dude,” he mumbles to himself, shaking his head. “Be normal. Christo.”
It takes him ten straight minutes to get back to his cabin, even though he’s standing at the porch.
———
The obsidian handle of the Hades’ cabin door rattles.
“Neeks!” calls a voice behind the door, “you ready to go?”
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.” Nico scrambles over to the mirror and stares at himself. He turns a little to the left. He scowls. “Shit!” Tugging the shirt off, he turns back to his closet, tossing the piece of clothing to join the rest of its brethren on the floor. “Shitfuck. Fuckshit. Shit.”
“Nico!”
“Coming!”
Tapping his foot rapidly, he looks harder, as if that will magically make the right shirt pop into existence, perfectly pressed, on a hanger. “Shit.”
“What could possibly be taking so long? You’ve had two hours!”
“I care about my appearance, Mr Flip Flops and Scrubs!”
“Bleh bleh! Hurry up!”
Nico bites his lip. It shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t, really. Five Seasons is not actually a fancy restaurant. He and Will just like to joke that it is, because it has tablecloths. They’ve gone there dozens of times before; they stop every time they’re in the city for supply runs or visits to Olympus or to harass their summer-only friends at school. There is literally no reason for Nico to be stressing about what stupid shirt he should wear. Gods know Will is wearing cargo shorts.
“Nico!”
“I’m coming!“
Scowling, he digs through the pile of discarded clothes until he finds the first shirt he’d put on — a dark green button up that was given to him, along with a bunch of other fancy clothes he never wears, by the Aphrodite cabin. He hastily shoves their buttons through their holes, cursing when he mixes them up and has to start over, and sprints over to the mirror to inspect himself.
The shirt looks good. It’s a little tight on the arms, which he suspects was on purpose, and the colour compliments his skin nicely. The buttons are a dark, shiny brown that match his eyes. They pair nice with his simple jeans and black vans, casual enough that he doesn’t look like he’s going to Prom, or anything stupid like that, but dressy enough that it looks like he put effort in. He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to make the staticky strands sit right, but gives up pretty quickly. It’s okay if one thing is a little messy, right?
“Finally,” huffs Will as the door swings open. He glances Nico up and down, then grins. “You look great.”
Nico was right. He is indeed wearing cargo shorts, although to his credit they are his one pair without various Head Medic stains. His sweater, too, is a pretty blue, V-necked, long-sleeved, and a completely different style than his shorts. It clashes horribly. His shoes are, for some reason, bright solid pink. Nico suspects Hecate magic. His hair is braided in two French braids, his favourite way to wear it. Nico believes he is also wearing a touch of sparkly eyeshadow.
“You look dorky.”
Will grins wider. “Thank you! I wouldn’t let anyone help me choose something.”
“You should have.”
“I wanted it to be authentic, Nico. Also, got something for you.” From behind his back, he pulls out a handful of daisies, black dirt clinging to their roots, like he plucked them straight from the ground. Nico is inexplicably endeared by the image, and prays the smile on his face is less soft than he knows it is.
“You got me flowers?”
“Well, duh, Avril Lavigne. We gotta sell the scam.”
Nico brings them close to his face and inhales deeply. They smell fresh and earthy and sweet.
“That’s a stupid reason to bring someone flowers.”
“Give them back, then.”
“No. Fuck off. They’re mine.”
Will’s eyes twinkle. “Okay.” He holds out his arm. “Ready to go?”
The jump is close enough that Nico can convince him to shadow travel, and not just because he sadistically looks forward to the shade of green Will’s face will get after. As dangerous as he knows it can be, he misses it, sometimes. There’s something comforting about it, something soothing and familiar. Shadow travelling to the restaurant eases any lingering nerves.
“If you’re gonna throw up, do it somewhere I can’t hear you,” he says as they materialize in an alley.
Will’s cheeks puff out. “I’m gonna do it on your fuckin’ shoes.”
“I will leave your ass here, Solace, I swear to the gods.” Despite his grumbling, he rests a cool hand on the back of Will’s neck until he’s recovered. “Good?”
“Yeah.” He straightens, dusting off his sweater. “Let’s go.”
Nico follows him down the alley and onto the street, elbowing past the crowd of pedestrians until they approach the familiar glass doors. He rolls his eyes fondly every time Will apologizes to someone.
“You need to be meaner.”
Will sticks his tongue out and tries to trip him. Unfortunately, he only manages to throw himself off balance, nearly crashing to the floor of Nico hadn’t caught him.
“Good gods, Solace.”
“That was your fault!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The doors of the restaurant are absolutely plastered in cheesy red hearts and bows and cartoon kisses. And, as promised, a giant sign promising couples a fifty percent discount on their meals.
“My love,” says Will dramatically, holding out a hand, “shall we?”
Nico sighs, resting his hand delicately in Will’s. It sparks with electricity, like it always does. “I suppose.”
“Party pooper.”
“I’m not hearing oh, Nico, thank you so much for doing this incredibly stupid thing with me, you are my dearest friend and I owe you one. Or three, for some reason.”
Will’s mouth twitches. “Oh, Nico, thank you so much for —”
Nico shoves him, laughing. “Shut up.”
They’re seated pretty quickly, server smiling when they take notice of their clasped hands. Will orders chicken tenders, like he does every single time without fail, and water. Nico orders from the adult menu and absolutely does not make any kind of show about it.
“There is nothing babyish about chicken tendies.”
“Oh, of course not.”
“Is this about you having a credit card? That does not make you more adult than me. It makes you a nepo baby.”
“Mhm. Sure thing.”
“Nobody likes a nepo baby, Nico.”
“Look, I think your drink comes with a complimentary sippy cup.”
Teasing and joking with Will is so easy that Nico forgets the core of their mission. The pink garlands hanging from the ceiling fade into the background — he’s too busy crying with laughter when Will nearly chokes to death on a french fry, too busy flicking a forkful of food at his shoulder just to make him shriek, too busy kicking his shin under the table. He catches Nico’s foot between his the fourth time he tries it, keeping it trapped for the rest of the meal. Nico finds he doesn’t mind.
“And your bill,” says their server when they’re done, setting down a slip of paper. “Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but do you two qualify for today’s discount?”
Will smirks widely. “We do,” he says, with no small amount of pleasure. He shoots Nico the least subtle wink of all time. Nico rolls his eyes, cheeks going a little pink.
“Great! You guys have a wonderful Valentine’s day.”
“You, too.”
The server hurries away, turning to their other tables. Will’s smile is wide and smug.
“I knew it would work.”
“Duh. Easiest scam in the world, Solace.”
He sticks his tongue out. “And thus the best payout. You’re welcome.”
“Blah, blah. Gimme the bill.”
“Um, no way, di Angelo. I’m paying.”
He opens his wallet before Nico can stop him, mouthing as he counts the bills.
“What? No! I’m paying.”
“Are not.”
“Am too!”
“Are not.” He sets down a couple twenties. Nico snatches them right back up. “You we’re just complaining about my credit card!”
“Exactly. Thus my need to continue to pretend you don’t have one, so we can continue our friendship.”
“Solace, I swear to the gods.”
“di Angelo, I swear to the gods.”
Nico stares him down. Will stares back. He doesn’t even try to hide his lazy grin, his laughing eyes.
“You’re not paying for this by yourself,” Nico says firmly. “You don’t have a job. My father invented being rich.”
“Sure, but I made you come with me.”
“Ugh!” Nico throws his hands up, imagining how satisfying it would be to wrap his hands around that long neck (followed by his teeth and his tongue and his —). “Why are you impossible? I would’ve gone with you no matter what, stupid!”
As soon as he says it he wants to stick his head in wet cement. For a brief second, something like surprise flits across Will’s face, before he schools it back into his teasing smirk.
“Well, obviously, Death Breath. I’m excellent company.”
“You’re literally the most annoying person I know.”
“And yet here you are, hanging out with me, of your own volition.”
“…I’m paying next time.”
Will grins. “Whatever you say.”
They walk around the city for a while before heading back to camp. Will says it’s because he needs the air, Nico knows it’s because he wants him to rest a little longer before trying to shadow travel again. He tries not to let himself get all melty inside.
(Nobody willingly hangs out around the city for the ‘air’. He’s a shit liar. Nico should be offended.)
It’s nearing curfew by the time they melt back out from behind Thalia’s tree, extra shadows of early evening making the trip easier.
“Those fries are going to make a reappearance,” Will grimaces.
“Not if you don’t want me to kick you in the face.”
“You’d never.”
He would indeed never. But he would rather pass away than admit it, so.
“C’mon, dot face. It’s getting late. You have a cabin to run.”
“Oh, Nico,” Will says in a breathy falsetto, “are you walkin’ me to my cabin? How chivalrous!”
“Nevermind.”
“No no no no no I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Nico allows himself to be tugged, weak to Will’s giggles. “Walk me to my cabin. C’mon.”
Sighing, as if he’s so put out, Nico does. Some point in between Thalia’s tree and the amphitheater, Will’s hand slides down from around his wrist to tangled in between his fingers. Coincidentally, his mouth goes dry.
As they approach the Apollo cabin, Will slows to a stop.
“Hey.” He squeezes their fingers together, smile soft in the dying light of dawn. “I had fun today. Thank you for coming with me.”
Nico swallows. One day, those words will be said in a different context, if everything goes well for Nico, and he’s not sure how the hell he’s going to handle it without bursting into flame. “Yeah, well. Anything to scam a restaurant.”
“Right.”
They walk the last few steps to the cabin, rickety porch steps creaking under their feet as they approach the open door. Will doesn’t let go.
“Hey, Nico.”
“…Yeah?”
Quick as a flash, Will leans in and presses the softest of kisses to his mouth. The noise Nico makes is practically punched out of his lungs, spine going rigid in surprise.
“You can pay for our next date, okay?”
He’s gone before Nico can respond, ducking into his cabin with a small smile and closing the door behind him. Nico stands there, like an idiot, for three solid minutes at the very least, distantly aware of the giggles coming through the open window.
His hand comes up, fingers brushing his bottom lip.
“The little fucker set me up.”
Valentine’s day scam. Please. The only scam today was the scam of Will’s sneaky asking.
Nico smiles.
“You’re a mess, Solace!” he shouts, knowing damn well Will is listening.
He’s right. “Goodnight, Nico!”
Shaking his head, Nico runs back to his cabin, entire body tingling and cheeks aching with his grin.
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vampirzina · 3 months
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Pls pls pls earthrealmers with like a washed up musical star turned fighter (srry if its too specific)
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♫ ┆earthrealm heroes quad (raiden, kung lao, johnny cage & kenshi) w. washedstar!reader
tw: gn pronouns, sfw but one (1) suggestiveness in johnnys part, mdni
notes: yes. sorry if this is lackluster. cries
masterlist
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Raiden equated you to another strain of Johnny Cage. Without even trying you seemed to have charmed him into liking you, and now you’re seeing each other… Privately, of course.
That being said: The beautiful concept of privacy is near sacred to Raiden. There’s a hc with popstar!reader where it’s said that privacy is important to him, and that’s true. In most cases when it comes to mentioning what you do or did he’s overtly casual about it, uber humble if he doesn’t mention it at all. If you were to start to put yourself back out there, this feat would only strengthen.
As a fighter, Raiden is constantly doting on you. He doesn’t let up even when you prove to him you can defend yourself. You try to be just as much caring, but sometimes he can make you feel like it’s not enough. He makes sure to remind you that whatever you do, he’s grateful.
Raiden loves it when you sing to him, and he’s not shy about that at all. Serenade him. Please. He already feels like a hopeless romantic around you. Your status, to him, is the last thing on his mind [when it’s just you and him]. He falls further in love with you if you sing to or play an instrument for him.
·········
Kung Lao watched in the distance a sight he would never let Raiden live down for the rest of his life.
Raiden looks so taken by you, but your face is scrunched in focus with a hint of frustration of messing up a few notes. He listens with a glimmer in his eyes and a quirk in his lips indiscriminately.
“Yeah, no. He’s definitely not going for lunch with us. Just look at ‘im…” Johnny starts, watching beside the other male with his hands on his hips. He goes quiet, and he looks around the perimeter.
“…Man…”
Suddenly, he raises his voice.
“Hey—hey Romeo!”
Johnny goes tumbling from a push just as he said it, and Kung Lao curses to himself as he attempts to catch the actor—and his square shades—before the floor hit him. Kung Lao up and hauls him far away, so very far away. The shove of all shoves to save Raiden’s life.
·········
Raiden feels lucky to be able to fight by your side.
─── ♫
Kung Lao actually tried to set you up with Johnny Cage, but at the slightest hint of him starting to feeling funny/differently about it he stopped. He thought you two would hit it off because of your similar pasts, plus it’s some fun when the group is lying low. He started to show out for you in order to undo what he’s done (if it were even working), and when he got you to confess to him he totally wasn’t running laps around the academy.
Kung Lao starts to spar and/or train with you more than anyone else. Sure, he and Raiden still spar, but you are quickly becoming his ultimate partner. He tries to get you into some sort of weaponry if you’re not already. When it comes to physically fighting an enemy, he loves to beat them with you.
Even as a washed up star Kung Lao still would have a sense of pride from being with you. Not because you’re some washed up star but because he’s scored such an amazing, beautiful, good and talented person like you. He genuinely cherishes you. But if anyone asks, he’ll tell them what you do first, before your name. If you’re more orientated on fixing your career, he gives you advice (even if he’s not qualified).
·········
“So,” Raiden nudged Kung Lao rather firmly. Either that, or Kung Lao was too deep in his head that he weren’t properly planted. “You and [Reader], huh?”
It took Kung Lao a moment.
“Yeah… Me and [Reader],” Kung Lao confirmed with a swell of his chest, the corner of his lip curling upwards. “And what about it, thunderboy? Jealous?”
“Oh, no. I’m alright,” Raiden shook his head somewhat, holding a hand up. “Just… Curious. They kind of appeared out of nowhere.”
“T’you.”
“To me? What do you mean to me?”
“Seriously, you never heard of [Reader]?” Kung Lao seemed offended, but couldn’t really hold the feeling. “They were like, the hottest thing… Years ago… But that doesn’t matter. They’re still cute, I’m their man. In fact, I’m the man.”
·········
Kung Lao has enough pride for the both of you.
─── ♫
Johnny Cage immediately looked you up. Nevermind that he recognized you from afar, having already known a thing or two from when you were trending. If you have anything—a wiki, a loyal fanpage, an article, whatever—he’s going to find you. You also knew a thing or two about him. You two clicked a bit more easier than his peers. And, admittedly, his flirting worked.
Privacy is not Johnny Cage’s forte, so don’t think for a second that you’ll get any, if you don’t ask. You’ll get popular again for a hot minute when (not if) your relationship goes public, however if you really want privacy he’ll try to omit some details of your intimacy from the public. But it won’t stop him from wanting to post you two. He wants to show you off, and if it makes a bit of extra cash, why not?
You’ll have to make one of your next projects about Johnny Cage. He’ll beg and plead on his knees if you don’t fold right away, even bothering you on Liu Kang’s missions. But even if you end up not doing so, he’ll commission or make a film/something for the both of you; probably includes some select of the truckloads of photos and videos he’s taken of you two, during some of your more intimate moments.
Other than doing realm business together, Johnny Cage makes a hobby out of trying to restart both of your careers. A first-time director like him could use someone in the industry like you. If you can’t act, he’ll offer to help you and/or pay for classes. If you don’t want to act, he’ll find you a manager (as if he wasn’t acting like one already). Just remember: he’s been your first fan regardless of who actually was. You’re attached at the hip with him.
·········
Absolutely exhausted, is what you felt. You hadn’t had a chance to rest like this ever since Liu Kang had his dealings in Outworld.
You lie on top of Johnny, your arms curled around his torso underneath his arms and your face buried into the warm alley of his neck. Johnny could smell your shampoo, and made sure you knew that. He always tells you how much he loves it; how much he loves you.
You’ve been hearing yourself for at least an hour.
Johnny kept his eyes squinted from amusement trained on his phone, watching back old performances of yours with a small smile on his face. He could watch you for many more hours than just one, but he knows how exhausting it must be to constantly have to hear yourself.
“Pitch perfect, baby. That’s why I love you,” Johnny praised as the video ended, his head turning to give you a long kiss on the curve beside your nape. “You think your fans could ever guess you bash some guys’ head in on the regular? Mine do.”
·········
Johnny Cage makes sure you two are the new hottest couple.
─── ♫
Kenshi instantly might not have wanted anything to do with you at first, I think. He didn’t necessarily avoid you, but he kept it simple and classy with you. Yeah, you’re cute and you may not have been all that famous anymore, but there had to be someone who checked for you every then and again. To him, being seen with you made you both targets. But when he realized that you could fight, something changed.
You were sort of out of his league and Kenshi knew that. It took Johnny, of all people, to help him out. Johnny knew bits and pieces of you, but when he saw that Kenshi was dead serious, he straightened up. He even looked you up for him so that they could research together, that way Kenshi could have something to talk about with you the next time you saw each other.
He doesn’t say it, but Kenshi loves the sound of your voice. Pre and post-incident, but moreso post-incident. He lets it guide him anywhere; to the bedroom, to sleep, anywhere, to do anything. You seem to notice his reliance on your voice even with sento and it flatters you incredibly. You make sure to use it as much as possible.
And god forbid you get a sore throat or lose your voice around Kenshi. He’s not letting you out of reach, and any doubts of his ability to cook [post-incident] are disproven that same day. He manually heals you back to health. Even when you’re sure you can still be a competent fighter, Kenshi insists that you rest. He’ll be back before you know it.
·········
Kenshi loves the sound of your morning voice the most.
@𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐀೨
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wotw round 1
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propaganda under the cut!
shen qingqiu:
Okay first a quick intro: Shen Qingqiu / Shen Yuan is the main character of SVSSS, and his deal is that he's a guy from the modern world who wakes up in the novel he read, in the body of one of the characters. Shen Yuan is his name in his original world, while Shen Qingqiu is the name of the character he became - that he uses for himself for most of the novel.
Now, what happened to him… The thing is, at the core of his woobification are his actual canon traits, but some fans really crank them up to the point where it becomes a disservice to the character. So you never know when someone saying "oh Shen Qingqiu is so oblivious" means "due to several intersecting factors Shen Qingqiu has some extremely specific blindspots regarding certain topics" (which is just true) or "haha Shen Qingqiu could get kissed by a man and still not realize that man has romantic feelings for him" (just one variation of the sentiment, but one i find particularly bewildering considering. in canon. a man kissing him was exactly what made Shen Qingqiu realize that man was actually in love with him. like my dudes the bar is low but its there!).
Stumbling into this second version in fic was funny a first few times, but now it's like… I genuinely can't tell whether any particular author is overplaying it for comedy, or genuinely believes the character is That dumb.
Also ppl often severely underestimate his power level. Like idk if that's because they compare him to the characters he often hangs out with, who are those genius top-of-the-world experts (despite him outpacing literally everyone else he ever fought against), or because of how he bungled his first-ever case (like, you know, two weeks after waking up in a whole NEW BODY, in a different world), or because he tends to downplay his own strength and also tries to avoid killing people… but like, this man took a technique that in the original was just "aesthetic and interesting" and developed it into something that could be super deadly within weeks, he's just not using it that way. And he also fixed og Shen Qingqiu's broken cultivation within the first few months of being in that body. So he's actually extremely talented and pretty strong, he just spends most of the book either nerfed by external factors (such as poison that disables his spiritual energy at random times) or surrounded by veritable powerhouses.
And this is for Shen Yuan-as-Shen Qingqiu. But the version that drives me completely up the wall is actually the portrayal of just Shen Yuan - in fanworks where he either never gets transported to the world of the novel, or wakes up as a different character. Because suddenly the traits that already get unduly amplified with Shen Qingqiu version become straight up caricature-like. He's not only oblivious to the extreme, he also gets painted as this completely naive soft babyboi (this is about a guy whose most well-known pre-transmigration canon trait is that he writes famously vitriolic rants about novels on the internet); plus, like, on the physical level, super frail and waifish which uh. wow. nice walking right back into the BL tropes the novel itself avoided?…… So yeah I'm super not keen on this portrayal. I know he doesn't appear as not-Shen Qingqiu version of himself in the novel, if we don't count the rant in the beginning, but like. please extrapolate from the character we actually have instead of writing this mega-woobie who shares nothing with the base version?
Terrible little bastard man who has a sad backstory but is actually genuinely a terrible person. Fans like to act like he is just a soft sad boi deep inside and make him lose all of his edge.
So the thing about Shen Jiu / og!Shen Qingqiu in canon is that we first learn of him as an unquestionably, almost cartoonishly villainous character. As in, he is literally a villain in the book our main character has been reading… before dying and waking up in the world of the book, as that very villain (hence the distinction of Shen Jiu being the "original" Shen Qingqiu, as our main character begins to use the name Shen Qingqiu for himself. Shen Jiu, however, is an old name that only the original has used). The original Shen Qingqiu that our main character knows is a serial child abuser in a teaching position, a murderer (killed his colleague, killed his old fiancee's entire family…), and a lecher (visited brothels and had designs on his female disciple).
Then, over the course of the novel, we learn more about Shen Jiu - in particular, that a number of things our MC "knew" about him were not true. He did not kill his colleague, but rather failed to save him, despite trying to; he killed his "fiancee"'s family because her older brother has abused him for years (and also, Shen Jiu was forced into agreeing to marry her), and also he only actually killed half of them (only men); he visited brothels because he only felt safe in the company of women, and he just went there to get a good night's sleep; and he only ever saw that female disciple he was accused of lusting after as a daughter. And in general, he had a horrible childhood, and was himself a victim of abuse.
However, not everything gets disproved. Shen Jiu still turned from a victim to perpetrator, abusing a child (coincidentally the protagonist of the og book) and trying to set him up to die/be killed several times. Canon is very clear on that point. The situation with Shen Jiu and the og book version of the protagonist is very much an illustration of cycles of abuse.
Also at a certain point, we meet the author of the in-world book, the one our MC was reading - who explains he scrapped Shen Jiu's tragic backstory because it would make him too controversial. Quoting from memory, something like: 'if you said he was a villain, he was also tragic; but if you said he was pitiful, he'd also done terrible things. All in all, a character like this was a hotbed for all kinds of fandom discourse.'
Prophetic fucking words.
Somehow, seeing all that, some 'fans' have decided to jump into a completely opposite direction: making Shen Jiu a poor little misunderstood meow meow who did nothing wrong ever and was a soft princess and totally was never mean to the protagonist ("the protagonist just has inflated sense of ego and misunderstood Shen Jiu's normal teaching as singling him out for abuse" was a take I had to see with my own two eyeballs. Theres btw an extra from Shen Jiu's pov where he laments that the fake manual he gave the kid has failed to horrifically kill him yet).
Which puts the rest of us in an awkward position of having to defend his canon assholery. Like, the whole point of this character is that he's complex! That he's both a villain and a victim! Reducing him to just one is doing him a disservice, and either extreme is equally incorrect! And this is something that happens with many similar characters, I know, but what boggles my mind about Shen Jiu's case in particular is that. it's spelled out. The whole deal with his character is spelled out in canon. And some people still go "oh so Shen Jiu was secretly the most morally pure and good character, got it". Like. how?????????????? ??? ?? ?????
noriaki kakyoin:
Uke-fied to the max so he can be shipped with jotaro lol
Ohmygod where do I even start. Kakyoin's the poster boy for twinkification and woobification of a canonically very capable, interesting (and not twinky at all) character who's so many things at once- a loyal friend, really smart, a bit of a weirdo, infodumping trivia at random times, quick-thinking in dangerous situations, reckless, polite and respectful, vengeful towards enemies but always kind to friends, depressed, determined and motivated in the face of mortal danger despite it all - even when he had the chance to leave the Stradust Crusaders and just come back to his normal life, he decided to stick with them. This decision eventually cost him his life since he got killed by Dio, the main villain. The fandom either calls him a cardboard with no personality (which is not true at ALL, where did that take even come from) or they downplay his canon badassery- Jotaro x Kakyoin shippers are often guilty of this along with twinkifying Kakyoin. The ship is fine, but they're way more interesting if you take into account their canon characterisation as huge weirdos who somehow work pretty well together- they're both different flavors of autistic that sometimes just so happen to align on the same wavelength.
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kitasgloves · 5 months
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One of the reasons SAKUSA KIYOOMI fell for you is your colorful personality. You were a breath of fresh air within a stuffy room. You were genuine, authentic, and unashamed of showing the world your true colors. Your unfiltered personality has attracted his closed heart.
Sakusa wasn't the one who swept you off your feet. You took his hand and brought him for the ride of his life. He has experienced new things and learned how to tear down his walls as he allowed himself to feel. You've changed him while accepting the flaws he had.
He's aware of how captivating you can be. You naturally gained attention without effort. You're witty, funny, pretty, and got all those attractive traits. You were filled with colors.
Months into the relationship, Sakusa begins to think. He can't help but think how lackluster his colors were compared to yours. It was like you're a rainbow and he's...grey. He thinks how you're interested in so many things and all his interests were just volleyball, cleaning, and you. You're good in various things, he's only good at volleyball and cleaning. You're a social butterfly, and he's a wallflower.
Sakusa frowns. Insecurity feels so foreign to him. Sure, he's aware that he's a talented and hot athlete, yet he feels less when he's around you. Compared to you, Sakusa seems so...boring. You shine so bright and he barely lets out a glimmer. Sakusa at that moment felt undeserving to be with you.
You notice the lack of energy in your lover. He seems deep in thought and moving in autopilot.
"What's wrong, Ki?"
"Nothing, why?"
"You seem kinda out of your element recently"
Now, Sakusa felt guilty for hiding his emotions. He knows he can be vulnerable with you but he doesn't want you to know you're the reason why he's feeling bad. As you opened your arms to invite him, he reluctantly crawled to you.
"Please tell me what's bothering you"
"[Name], do you think I'm boring?"
You blinked at him then briefly laughed. Sakusa pouts when you reach to pinch his cheek.
"Why would I? I think you're the coolest person I know"
"But how? You're more likeable compared to me"
"Why do you think so?"
"You can do a lot of things, you get along with people easily..."
"And?"
"Just forget about it, I just feel stupid"
"No, Kiyoomi. You don't feel stupid, okay?"
You look into his onyx eyes with pure honesty and tenderness that Sakusa can feel his heart get full. You tucked a stray curl away from his eyes and smile.
"You will never bore me Kiyoomi. Even if you were boring, I still love you the same"
"Thank you, love"
"Anytime, darling"
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ticklinglady · 11 months
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The Guild's actions during the story are so insane, when you think about them properly, you know? When I first read the arc with them, this moment hasn't really occurred to me, as I was too busy going nuts over finally seeing the names of the familiar writers, but now when I think of that... I am not sure, I comprehend how they managed to achieve such a ferocious reputation. I have already made a little post about how extremely dysfunctional the DOA members are, but at least those guys have a plan, which actually makes sense more or less, even despite the gang using cheatcodes/the Book. The same cannot be said of the Guild however archghhjkn. Like, what the hell were these guys even doing??? XD
So here are just some moments, which weirded me out the most
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At first I'd like to address the entire story with everyone's favorite tsundere, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Her introduction leaves quuuuite an impression in the best way and nothing makes me happier than the fact, that she gets a chance to find happiness in the following chapters and actually becomes a reoccurring character! HOWEVER, her entire involvement with the Guild is super odd... I still can't wrap my head around her getting fired. She is a girl with a hella powerful ability, who got taken to the Guild from a terrible, terrible orphanage in order to fight for them in the war for the Book, so not only is she very strong, but she's also immensely dependant on the organisation and wouldn't do anything outside of its interests. Yet Lucy is also put under extreme pressure. As she herself puts it, the Guild doesn't tolerate failures and will kick her out the moment she screws something up.
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Later we see that this is exactly what happens, when she messes up her first mission. Fitzgerald himself confirms that, since she failed and revealed her ability to the enemies, she's no longer useful, so now a powerful esper, like Lucy works for free as a... laundress?
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EXCUSE ME??? WHEN HAVE THE GUILD MEMBERS EVER DONE ANYTHING, BUT FAIL AND REVEAL THEIR ABILITIES?
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Let's be real, these dudes were successful like only once or twice...
This fact not only makes Fitzgerald look like an idiot for wasting such a talented and useful worker, because of one mistake, but also as one hell of a hypocrite, cause he is more than fine with everyone else fucking up. And in case of Lovecraft and Steinbeck: fucking up twice. To add to the oddity, we later learn, that Louisa genuinely cares for Lucy and despite her social anxiety actually stood up for her during the entire story, but even that wasn't enough to change Fitzgerald's mind on the issue, though Louisa is one of the few people, whose opinion he respects. Honestly, this is such a waste of a truly useful subordinate. And speaking of which....
The Guild has never even tried to implement Edgar Allan Poe during the war...
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This man is actually rather op when you think of it. He can capture and neutralise literally any ability user in Yokohama (besides Dazai, Mori and Ranpo ofc) just by throwing a book at them. Seriously, as we see with Chuuya, they don't even have to read it, they just need to see the pages. Plus the book can be actually sent via email!!! So why has there been an absolute zero amount of strategies with the use of this ability??? They could actually try to catch Atsushi by sending him such email containing any of Poe's mystery stories and then safely carry him back to their base. And it doesn't have to be just Atsushi, it could be literally any of their enemies. Non-combatant, like Ranpo could use this pretty damn well to his advantage and it doesn't take a genius to understand the potential of the "Black Cat in Rue Morgue". But nooooo, it seems like everyone has just forgotten of Poe!!! (Tho to be honest, I can actually see this situation in a funny extra awfgbfggfjj. Not the main story however) The agency would never even learn of his existence, if he didn't personally decide to try to fuck Ranpo's life up. Like, what does Poe even do in the Guild? He's the master architect and, according to him, the third ranking man in the organization, but we never see him be of any use, so Idk. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Lucy at least got to do something, unlike this poor man.
Then there's the entire drama with the Guild's decision to destroy Yokohama. Where do I even begin...
First of all, Fitzgerald has no way of knowing that Atsushi is going to come to Moby-Dick to fight him. Poor guy is the Guild's primary goal and has already gotten himself captured once, so it would have been safe to assume that the ADA decided to hide him somewhere and not send him on any dangerous missions for the time being. That basically means Fitzgerald could have burned down not just Yokohama, but also the only person, who could actually help him find his precious Book.
But if we're to ignore this, let's also go with Wikipedia then~
"Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area along the Keihin Industrial Zone."
..........................
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Good luck making up for the destruction of THIS, Fitzgerald 🖕
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And if this in itself wasn't bad enough, most people, including me, tend to forget that all Guild members are actually big shots in the American government, which I think is very sad. Because first of all, can you imagine any of the Guild members actually working as politicians?!! The sheer idea makes me hysterical avshbgj. Like, just consider Lovecraft working as a senator or something. This eldritch horror of a man leaves the ocean once in three years at best LMAO. Second of all, I have a feeling, that the destruction of Yokohama at the hands of influential politicians from a foreign country would have resulted in an international conflict or two~ Like as if random deranged rich Americans arriving in Japan, wreaking havoc over there and destroying the second largest city in the country wasn't bad enough, these Americans just HAD to be super influential businessmen and politicians. Louisa, my dear, I understand that it wasn't your intention, but it's as close to a declaration of war as it can get, you know? Fitzgerald may be ready to do anything to resurrect his dead daughter, but I'm not sure, that the execution of himself and the rest of the Guild at the hands of the Hunting Dogs is something he'd like.
(And here's another funny thing that stems from them being politicians 🤭 As @originalartblog wittily pointed out, Fitzgerald wasting all his money fighting sskk has probably resulted in a market crash and recession over in the USA)
I also have some other questions in regards to this entire plan, such as why did they have to waste Moby-Dick just to destroy Yokohama? Yes, it works in the short term, but in the long term they loose a super powerful fortress with the stealth mode and as the practice shows, you better have a safe base, unless you want another lemon freak to blow it all up. I mean, you could just ask Lovecraft to destroy everything for free. Or, if the device is the only way to stop the giant whale from crashing, why didn't Fitzgerald just take it to a far away bunker or something and waited things out there without the need to spend millions of dollars just to survive the explosion? (And it would have been extremely funny, if during the fight with sskk he just threw the device overboard) But I think I have already rambled for long enough already atxhghbgv XD
The Guild is an even bigger mess than the DOA and I think that's glorious 🙌
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reinedeslys-central · 2 months
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kotlc things that I keep thinking about that are never really addressed by canon
there is a complete replica of sophie's bedroom and perhaps countless other rooms just. somewhere in a building in mysterium that the councillors just know about.
alden and other telepaths were instructed to monitor the citizens' minds for signs of dissent around the time the prentice thing was going down
they regularly torture prisoners and dissenters into literal insanity that they can't come back from
they also have a super weird prison only accessible by quicksand (????) to house said prisoners
there is an ENTIRE DUNGEON OF WEIRD LAB EXPERIMENTS DOWN BY THE VACKER HOUSE?
okay. how - how big is havenfield?
the entire thing with - is their name twix? the person dex was working with for something. why do we not get to see that more. why is dex the criminally underrated goated character and WE DON'T GET FLESHED OUT CHARACTER ARCS FOR EVERYONE
linh flooded. atlantis. linh song FLOODED ATLANTIS hello what do people think about that?????????? do they see her on the street and whisper? what's up with "The Girl Of Many Floods"? Where else did she flood?
What is up with the song family (tong? their name changed after their grandmother or smth got famous with their music right?) that both their children not only have two very powerful elemental abilities, but are also crazy skilled with said Talents.
why are music, art, and culture not a bigger thing? like yeah, plot, obviously, but that's just worldbuilding!!! I wanna see!!!! art hanging on the walls! Defying gravity! more sculptures! more music playing in the shopping centres!! If they have imparters why don't they have long distance radio? are there mandatory dance lessons? what's the etiquette like besides what we already know?
more animal husbandry at schools. speaking of schools: we KNOW foxfire and exilium aren't the only schools. are smaller schools more specialised? are their community colleges or academies dedicated to specific career paths? universities?
okay but the polyglot ability is SO COOL???? tell me about the archaic variants of the enlightened language. there's no way that's just the elves' one language and the other species picked it up due to their 'superiority' or wtv. the goblins have cities of gold and metal and the trolls age backwards, you're not convincing me of anything.
secret societies in the other species. that has to exist right?
.....is squall dex's mom or not? I genuinely can't remember.
anyway remember when she froze gethen's fingernails off, yeah that happened (I think)
so instead of rehabilitating teenagers who have dangerous abilities and not much control over their powers, we just do....whatever the council did with gethen, ruy, and linh ig
hey, um...are we just not going to talk about dex casually HACKING INTO A GOV DATABASE WITH SOME RANDOM BITS OF ROCK AND TWINE? he can just do that. okay. okay. that's - yeah, okay.
did he match a frequency or something? how does the signal network even work in kotlc when everyone is technically all over the world in unplottable locations and they get around by LIGHT LEAPING???
ON THAT NOTE. light leaping. yeah haha funny let's just teach our kids to casually break down their very particles and hold onto their consciousness to travel at the speed of light using quantum mechanics and crystals that are specifically cut to project light in such a way that'll take you only to a specific location nvm im not thinking more about it.
flickering? is apparently a skill you can learn even if you're not a vanisher? remember in book two when fitz got prissy at sophie for knowing how to do it apparently b4 we figured out that she's a teleporter
keefe is a fun loveable goofball and I've always been on the sokeefe train but now the more I think about it he's really um.... yeah, uh, sophie? darling, please just don't date any of these people. obv you can make your own decisions but at least not now, okay. take care of yourself hon
the fitz hate is kinda weird ngl. wdym you don't want your problematic traitor brother to move back in to living literally with your family after supposedly losing his memories and that's a bad thing? wdym your close friend/crush is hiding things from you when yall are supposed to be cognates and she's kinda gaslighting you since, forever? wdym your father's been shadily telling you to stalk this girl in the human world since you were a kid? yeah definitely he does pull some weird stints throughout the series. but the bigger things i see ppl hating on him for are. hmmmmm
the council themselves choose to lock away the government secrets and wipe them from their memories. hey, um - recordkeeping is great, obvious, but - wiping those secrets from your minds isn't gonna help you lead while accounting for those parts of history, is it? nevermind how dangerous it is when there are huge species-wide secrets that NO ONE remembers. society-threatening incident waiting to happen.
the concept of vociferators. that's just kinda funny lol even if it is weird
are their schoold for diff abilities?
what's the genetics of talent inheritance? why are 'stronger' abilities rarer? In my opinion, p much every talent is goated, I don't see why more characters aren't more creative about it.
banning talents is just a bad move. like. are you serious? how is that going to make it better? that's how you get brant. brant was a pyrokinetic, without getting into the primary issue of the whole talentless/talented discrimination discourse, the secondary issue is he wouldve been able to marry jolie as two talented elves. would he have cracked if his ability was just a bit better handled by society?
grady is a mesmer. how - that's a really powerful ability???? how do you even train to use that? what do you even use it for?
same with whatever that lady councillor is that tried to seduce alden during his own wedding. fun times, yall.
rainbow fire??? cool????
so we have the sanctuary, do we also have a gigantic library of alexandria-esque thing? a botanical garden?
according to jolie's wiki she died at twenty as a level 8 at foxfire. so... hang on a minute. okay, sure, numerically that could make sense since sophie, at 12, became a level one - but are you telling me she went through the whole matchmaking process and was planning to get married that young????
hey, here's an idea - in a relatively stable society where economy is great, trust funds exist, people work to have something to do with their lives, birth rate is generally low (now through prejudice as well as societal comfort and ease/cost of living), why are they marrying so young? WHY ARE THE KIDS STARTING THE MATCHMAKING PROCESS IN THEIR TEENS???? the elven society has p much every mark of a stage 5 developed country? help? middle-high school human geography??
if they apparently live so long, show me the funny messy family trees with couples having children generations apart.
so, trust funds of lusters??? lustres?? (which we barely ever see. why is there little-to-no use of money?) which equate to roughly one trillion USD (in value? are you. are you - um. are you....serious?) exist. but I guess inflation and relative currency value from mass money printing doesn't count in this world, as well as the fact that there's only one currency for all the elves.
I wanna see a divorced elven couple now. how does divorce law work??????
if there's such a low BR and low population and people are yet still encouraged to have less kids to 'not dilute the genes' (that's my next point btw), I'm guessing matchmaking is encouraged younger to make sure population stays stable/growing? obv you need it to ensure genetic diversity and no incest, but if it's heavily encouraged for elves to have children like this, are queer elves mandated to have children with a surrogate/other couple even if they have a same-sex marriage?
i'll probably edit this or reblog it to include more stuff (character limit lol) as i remember the books bc it's been a hot minute since i read them.
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m-musings · 7 months
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Headcanons: Roronoa Zoro as Your Boyfriend
A/N: can we get a little commotion for the swordsman, i love him sosososo much! anyway have some headcannons of how Zoro would behave with a romantic partner!
Word Count: 463 Warnings: none, it's all fluffy goodness!!!
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Zoro is quite a dream of a significant other.
He might be kind of a sarcastic butthead at times, but he really would be the sweetest boyfriend to you!
To start, He's so kind in his own unique way. Whether that's reaching something for you that you can't or helping you train in whatever fighting style you use, he's always the one to lend a hand.
Also, while not always physically affectionate, he always makes sure to send a compliment or two your way when he thinks you deserve one.
No matter what you look like and as long as he's sure you're a good person in your heart, he's pretty much smitten with you, always subconsciously gravitating towards wherever you are at the current moment.
Zoro may be a bit quiet and reserved at times, but you're one of the only ones that can make him genuinely smile.
Be it by intentionally doing something that he finds funny, giving him something that he likes or simply being there for him when he needs support, just being around you during those times makes him that much happier to have you around.
Plus, your touch is one of the few things that can instantly soothe him when he's agitated.
And he is so supportive of you! If you have a talent or hobby you enjoy doing, he's watching from the sidelines, silently cheering you on with a hint of a smile on his usually stoic face.
Despite normally being a no nonsense kind of guy, Zoro loves to tease you to get a flustered reaction. He thinks you're so cute when you blush in embarrassment.
But it isn't always sunshine and rainbows between the two of you. There's definitely some fights about some of his habits.
Depending on the exact subject of the arguments, he will either ignore you or avoid you completely for a while, opting to go do other things until he can cool his temper down.
But once he's able to get a grip on his emotions, he's almost always the one to apologize first by knocking on your door with flowers or your favorite food/candy in hand as a way to say he's sorry.
And when all is said and done, Zoro's most favorite thing in the world to do would be spending time with you.
While he would never admit it out loud, he would trade all the money and riches on earth for just one night with you, gazing up at the star-lit night sky and kissing the top of your head while you rest it comfortably against his shoulder.
He'd sit there, cherishing the time alone with you on the deck of the ship and wondering exactly which being blessed him by giving him you to love.
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bird-inacage · 8 months
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Only Friends: Sand is becoming Ray's addiction
Something that leapt out to me from Episode 2 is that Sand is becoming Ray's new addiction, and the motif of fire/smoke is used to mirror the dynamic of their relationship.
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Sand is the fuel to Ray's fire
When Sand lights Ray's cigarette in Episode 1, that was the official kindling of their relationship. They settle their differences and start afresh on a more amicable note. Sand agrees without protest because it's a genuine gesture of making peace. The act of igniting also parallels this being the first encounter where Ray appraises Sand through the lens of attraction. He eyeballs him as he leaves, as if seeing him in a new light.
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In Episode 2, Sand once again lights Ray's cigarette. He is what fires Ray up, and will continue to fuel him. This is in reference to the sexual undertones in their relationship but also the care-taking dynamic which is developing between the two. When Ray feels down or lonely, Sand immediately extends his friendship or tries to cheer him up. He will be a light in the darkness that keeps Ray going.
Ray's nature is closely reflected in his addiction to alcohol. He needs a crutch; something to provide him with solace and reassurance. But due to the way he is, he has a tendency to become unhealthily attached to that very something.
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Sand is very happy to be a source of support for Ray, but I don't think he's fully absorbed the extent of Ray's admission, "If you're my friend, you have to look after me in every way." Ray doesn't require his basic needs met as his circumstances do that already. So what Ray is referring to here is everything else: attention, love and care. Whereas Sand has offered his company within the confines of friendship, but nothing more. Sand doesn't seem to know about Ray's crush on Mew, which would give him an indicator that Ray has precedence of falling for his friends. Regardless, their respective stances on what constitutes a friendship are at odds with one another. 'I want you to give everything' (despite us just being friends) VS 'I'm not offering you everything' (in spite of us being friends).
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Ray struggles to maintain boundaries without getting emotionally involved (because anyone who genuinely cares about him is seen as a form of love). Sand is trying to uphold boundaries whilst his actions say otherwise (his care for Ray derives from his impulse to be considerate, but that's not exclusive and it doesn't mean he intends it to come across as love).
When he's flirting with Ray, he stokes the fire, he quips back like-for-like because he doesn't want to be outdone or out-manoeuvred. But telling an addict "you're gonna keep wanting me" is playing precisely into Ray's weakness. Sand will eventually be both the object and enabler of Ray's addiction to him. And we know this because Sand already finds it very hard to say no to Ray, which means he won't be able to adhere strictly to the boundaries he set. He's going to contradict himself, and therefore seem like he's giving Ray mixed messages.
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Fanning the Flames
Ray has a fiery personality, and his eagerness and passion are contagious. We see this in their love scene. Sand repeatedly hesitates. But Ray has a particular talent for riling and stirring him up through his continual flirting, and Ray knows it too. This fearless, upfront and confrontational quality in Ray is what Sand is massively attracted and drawn to, (which he gladly exploits to get Sand to give in), but is also the source of the fire that could potentially destroy them both.
I mentioned in a response recently that Ray has a 'fuck it' mentality, and Sand has a 'fuck that' mentality. Ray tends to throw caution to the wind and acts first, thinks second. 'Why not? What have I got to lose?' (Funny how the name of the bar is YOLO huh?) Whereas Sand is more rational, his 'fuck that' mentality means he tends to take a step back and observe, to call out behaviour that he doesn't agree with or he doesn't believe is 'right'. But what happens what that person is himself? What if he's not sticking to his own rules? What then?
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"Yes, it's possible. But you need to be careful. Don't feel more than that. It's like playing with fire." Sand looks visibly troubled after he says this, as if he's recalling something specific in his mind. This line can be read in reference to either character. The most obvious being Ray as the source of fire. Which would mean Sand is saying this in response to previous bad experiences he's had and doesn't want to risk repeating. Alternatively, the more unlikely but intriguing option would be Sand as the source of fire. If so, this is a warning. He's aware that someone being entangled with him may end in disaster or self-destruction. Perhaps a sign that Sand can be irrational or unpredictable when in love, a stark juxtaposition to his usual, overly-rational persona.
Foreshadowing: Going up in smoke
Though Ray's attachment to Sand may not occur to him immediately (as Ray is stunted in the emotional maturity department), it will hit him hard when it does. The thing about an addiction is once you've realised you're hooked, it's far too late. It creeps up on you slowly. And that's why it's dangerous. Part of addiction is denial. Denial that you have a problem. Denial that you are drawn to the crutch you've come to rely on. You convince yourself that you can easily quit, that you can easily operate without it. And because of that, Ray is going to hurt Sand first. And when he does, Sand may choose to back off and put some distance in between them as an ultimatum.
If things do lead in that direction and Ray becomes aware of his reliance on Sand, suddenly having that torn away from him is going to cause a huge emotional upheaval. Like an addiction to anything, without it he won't be able to cope. He'll spiral. Withdrawal at it's worst.
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There is the common saying that when something 'goes up in smoke', it's when all efforts have come to nothing. We could see both Ray and Sand's attempts to maintain just a 'friendship' backfire in their faces. And judging by how quickly things are moving in this show, this is going to happen sooner than we think.
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d-targaryenshoe · 3 months
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Asked And Answered - Luke Newton
Word count: 1237
Summary: When questions are being asked, the only thing left to do is answer, no?
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"Hi, y/n! Thank you for having us here. Do you mind if we come in and ask a few questions?"
"Oh hi! No, not at all, come on in." you smiled, closing the door and leading Joe Sabia through the hallway of your house.
"How did you get into acting? Was it something you always wanted to do?" he asked, following you into your living room.
"Well, I have always loved performing. When I was a kid, I used to put on plays for my family in our living room. But it wasn't until high school that I got into acting." 
You took your cup of coffee from your coffee table, turning off your TV.
"Tell us about your journey to becoming an actress?"
"Well, it wasn't easy. I auditioned for countless roles and faced a lot of rejection. But I never gave up and finally got my big break in an amazing Netflix show called Bridgerton." 
You smiled at the male taking a sip from your coffee, opening your blinds, and inviting in the sunlight.
"How did you land the role of y/c/n in Bridgerton?" The man questioned.
"It's quite a funny story. I was in the middle of filming for a different project when I received a call from Chris Van Dusen about an audition for a new period drama." You chuckled.
"At first, I was indecisive as I had never done a period piece before, but my agent convinced me to give it a go. So, I went for the audition, and the rest, as they say, is history." 
 "Speaking of Bridgerton, you act alongside your boyfriend, Luke Newton. Can you tell us more about that?" The interviewer followed you toward your kitchen.
"Yes, we're always together but we try our best to hold our distance on set, but we know each other so well, which made filming even more fun and natural." You answered, tearing off a piece of paper from the 
tear-off calendar.
"What was your favorite scene to film in Bridgerton?"
"That's a tough one as I genuinely enjoyed every scene. However, I think my favorite would have to be the ballroom scene where Colin and y/c/n share their first dance." You placed your cup of coffee in the sink and took a bottle of water from the fridge. 
 "Are you both supporters of each other's careers?" he asked, walking behind you towards the dining room.
"Absolutely. We both understand the demands of this industry and always support and motivate each other," you say, shoving one of the chairs under the table.
 "Can you tell us about your first date?" The male asked.
"Our first date was funny. We went to a Mexican restaurant, and I accidentally spilled my entire and very expensive margarita on his lap, but we look back on it and laugh now." You chuckled, leaning your arms on the chair.
"What is one thing that you're obsessed with at the moment?"
"Commenting on fans their fanart, they're incredibly talented." You said, opening the door towards your master bedroom. 
"If you had a podcast what would it be called?" Joe asked, stepping into the room.
"Dearest Listeners, as a wink to Lady Whistledown." You replied while adjusting the sheets on the bed. "And Nicola Coughlan."
 "what's your favorite playlist you have?"
"Romancing Mr. Newton, sorry not sorry." You laughed, leaving your master bedroom.
"what song have you had on repeat for the past few weeks?" The man asked.
"Spinning out, waiting for ya to pull me in" you softly sang, walking towards your bathroom before looking behind you. "Satellite by Harry Styles."
"what's the hardest thing you ever had to do for a role?"
"Learning how to dance a Quadrille without stepping on my dancing partner's toes." You snorted, closing the bathroom door that was still open.
"do you ever get nervous when being on set?"
"Of course, it means you care and you want to do it good." You shrugged at the man, walking to your walk-in closet.
"Who is your go-to person when you need to talk to someone?"
"Ruth Gemmell, Mother Bridgerton, really knows how to comfort you." You smiled, walking into the room that was filled with clothes and shoes.
"how many awards do you own?"
"One Academy Award for Best Actress, One Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and an Oscar for Best Actress," you replied while inspecting your dresses.
"What is something that recently moved you?" Joe asked
"Last month, Luke and I had a chat with a fan in London and spoke about how essential Mental Health is, that truly touched me." You strode out of your walk-in closet and shut the door behind Joe. 
“Who is the most famous person on your phone?” 
"Meryl Streep? Taylor Swift? Both?" You slightly laughed, pushing the screen of the smart thermometer in the house.
“what's your favorite time of the day?”
"Nighttime, just silence and quality time, it's heaven." You opened the door to your home office.
“Vintage or new?” The male asked.
"Vintage," you answered as you sat down behind your desk.
“What are three things you can’t live without?”
"Acting, friends, and Luke." You leaned back in your chair, smiling at the man.
“When was the last time you were starstruck?”
"I'd say, the table read for Bridgerton, season 3." You said, getting up from the chair and getting out of the room. 
“Best gift you’ve ever received?”
"All of this, Bridgerton, everyone I got to know, the fans." You answered, adjusting a painting that hung in the hallway.
“Best advice you’d give your teenage self?” He asked`
"Dare to take the risk, no matter how scary it may seem." walking into your home theatre, you took a seat on one of the huge pillows.
“What’s your wakeup ritual?”
"Sunny weather, the smell of coffee, and a lot of food." You chuckled, running a hand through your hair.
“who’s someone you’d like to work with again on set?"
"There's no good answer to that, anyone from the Bridgerton family." you got up from the chair and walked towards the giant black screen.
“What’s your current TV obsession?”
"The Originals." You smiled, walking out of the room.
“Rate your met gala outfit 1 to 10.”
"A decent 9." You winked at the camera, coming to a halt in the hallway. "You will see."
“Do you have a favorite room in your house?” 
"I surely do! Let me show you." You walked up to the black-colored door, revealing your wine cellar.
“you have 4.2M followers on Instagram, is there something you'd like to say to them,”  Joe asked, while you were inspecting the dusty bottles of wine.
"Never think twice when you want to do something, take a leap of faith." You wiped off the dust from the bottle and placed it back.
“Have you ever googled yourself?”
"Multiple times, the first time was when Bridgerton was being released." You answered, getting closer to your garage.
“Diamonds or pearls?” Joe asked
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" You winked at the camera, chuckling to yourself.
“Favorite accent to do?”
"British, everything just sounds better in British," you answered, opening your garage gate, and stepping outside in the sun.
"Then this was all we've wanted to ask you today, thank you for having us, Y/n."
"Thank you for being here today." you waved one last time at the man before closing your garage gate.
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comradekatara · 2 months
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I keep thinking about Ty Lee in the beach scene, and how much of her personal venting was genuine. She strikes me as the sort of person with like, layered vulnerability, like she can peel back one and keep the others hidden. I wonder how much catharsis she was actually feeling
yes!!! i love when she says "i feel all smoothed" because there is simply no way that's true, i think she just wanted the conversation to be over. like "okay you're all disasters, we get it, please shut up now."
i definitely think that there's a part of her that resents her family for whatever reason, but you're right in that she's definitely strategically only scratching the surface. like to what extent was her running off to join the circus a way to escape from her stifling home life, and not, perhaps, a way to escape the stifling command of a certain princess.
i am always thinking about the fact that they went to that academy together, because obviously azula would be worshipped by the other girls for being their princess, but her social skills are not the best when trying to make small talk with her peers, whereas ty lee is effortlessly talented and smart and sociable and pretty and everyone likes her. so in terms of popularity, azula definitely commands respect, but ty lee simply has the respect of her peers. was their time in school together in any way similar to their time at the beach? obviously the fact that they would all know who azula is (and there are no guys to impress) changes the dynamic, but the student body would still get along with ty lee better. but she can't really befriend them, because she's azula's.
and then they graduate, and she gets to leave. she's happy to see azula, perhaps, but she doesn't want to go back. azula has to coerce her, and not subtly either. so the entire time, they both know that ty lee isn't here by choice, that ty lee would be elsewhere if she could. but not once does she criticize azula. her family, her sisters, mai, even, but never azula. so we know that her performance is feigned. she is an acrobat, an entertainer, a circus freak; she contorts herself to suit her needs, to appease those around her.
never once is she truly, fully honest with azula. the only time she ever actually reveals anything meaningful to azula is when she says "if you want a boy to like you just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says, even if it's not funny." she's literally telling azula her exact strategy for how she handles her and azula doesn't even realize it. she dismisses it as "shallow and stupid," not getting that appearing shallow and stupid is quite literally the point.
the only time ty lee is truly honest with herself is when she sacrifices herself for mai. and she stays behind. the girl who ran away to join the circus willingly lets herself be thrown in prison in a show of solidarity with her best (and only true) friend. we've seen her take out a platoon of earth kingdom soldiers with a smile, we've seen her run on the cables moving the gondolas over the lake. she had azula incapacitated, she could've easily taken on those guards, run to the top of the volcano before they could stop her, and steal azula's airship. but mai freezes in shock, and so ty lee stays by her side. she runs, she evades, she deflects, she hides behind masks. but here, she stays. she sacrifices her own comfort and her own survival, which until now has been her primary goal, for mai. it's her first truly honest moment in the show. her confession in the beach was devised and feigned. only at the boiling rock does she finally remove her mask.
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Haikyuu x Bilingual!Reader (1:Atsumu Miya)
(This may become another lil' mini series, purely self indulgent as I am bilingual with no accent in either language and people's reactions are pretty funny.)
Atsumu Miya
He got absolute whiplash.
He's known you since you were brought on as a manager for MSBY, and a lot of people know more than one language these days, but that doesn't prepare him for how easily you flipped the switch.
It was pretty quiet for a morning practise, probably because Hinata and Bokuto were yet to arrive, and you got a call from your father.
Normally, you never took personal calls during practise, but with half the team still on their way and the others just warming up, you pressed the phone to your ear.
Atsumu swore he wasn't trying to listen in, but you'd just finished speaking to him in absolutely perfect, fluent Japanese, and then picked up the phone in a completely different language.
His jaw dropped as you carried on the conversation, your tone energetic and free, no hesitation in a single word.
Your voice even sounded slightly different, lighter, maybe a little airy? Especially when you laughed at something your father said.
The call wasn't long, but by the time you hung up, Atsumu's still staring at you, this time, with that infuriatingly perfect smirk on his face.
'So, you got a talented tongue, (Y/N)?'
You made a face, ready to hide your obvious attraction with some snarky remark, but caught yourself, and thought better of it, and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine instead.
'Wanna see what else I can do with it, blondie?'
Your own boldness has your stomach turning and you can only hope that your smile isn't as awkward as it could be, but as soon as you watch that cocky facade crumble and be replaced with the adorable stuttering dork he hides under there, your confidence isn't just bluster.
'Uh...well-' he cleared his throat, trying to recover. He wasn't ready for the taste of his own medicine. He'd been flirting with you for months, seemed to know exactly when to back off to make sure he never made you uncomfortable. You knew he'd stop if you told him, but you didn't want him to.
'Well, if you're offering.' His smile is more sincere now, less puffing his chest, more of the genuinely kind person you know he is. 'I could, buy you dinner?'
You weren't expecting him to take it that way, you've both noticed the other's lingering glances, you just weren't expecting Atsumu to be the one to break the stalemate.
'Is that a date you're offering, Mr. Setter?'
Atsumu took a deep breath, straightened up, and smiled hopefully at you, flashing puppy dog eyes that threatened to melt your heart.
'Yeah, pick you up at 7?'
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glossglamour · 24 days
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The Doctor is in the House: A 2011 Article on House M.D.
BY SHERI LEVINE, POSTMEDIA NEWS NOVEMBER 17, 2011
LOS ANGELES - Paging Dr. House. After eight years, Hugh Laurie is still keeping House's heart beating. And while the medical mysteries may serve as plots for the long-running medical drama, it's Laurie's alter ego, the man himself, Dr. Gregory House, who keeps people tuning in for their weekly fix.
Laurie, who made a name for himself as a comedic actor in his native England, was relatively unknown to North American audiences when House first aired. Of course, that's no longer the case. The multi-talented Laurie -- who recently released a fine album of New Orleans-inspired blues music -- has become a huge star across the pond, as well as one of the highest-paid actors on TV.
"I highly doubt that," says a modest Laurie, who actually seems embarrassed by the very notion that he would rank so high on the actors' payroll. Clearly, he doesn't take his good fortune for granted. Laurie calls himself "a lottery winner" with the great success he's achieved on House.
Dressed casually in a blue, button-down shirt, black pants and black and white sneakers, or trainers (as the Brits would say), Laurie rests his cappuccino cup and saucer on the table in front of him. The charismatic Englishman playfully takes on the group of international journalists who have invaded his turf.
In person, the affable Laurie smiles easily, laughs frequently and seems to never be at a loss for a witty response or anecdote. He is adorably charming, with piercing, blue eyes -- an intense blue not picked up on camera.
It's oddly amusing to see the man -- who plays such a cynical, depressive, perpetually grumpy person, week in and week out -- so happy. Of course, that's the mark of any good actor. But as creator and executive producer, Canadian David Shore, says: "He didn't become House, he WAS House."
Laurie's strong comedic roots may have been what resonated so strongly with Shore upon seeing Laurie's audition tape.
"I venture to guess that, actually, that's part of the reason that I'm here," says Laurie. "Unless this character had a sort of grace and a wit about him, he would be just too much of a pain in the ass, really. The elegance of the way his mind works, and the speed at which it works, is part of his charm, if he has any. Now, lots of people would say he doesn't have any. I disagree. I find him immensely charming.
"I'm not sure I would put up with him as a best friend, but I do find him endlessly entertaining. And I find . . . the references he draws on, the way he seeks out people's weaknesses in such a cruel and horrible way, I find he does at least do it with wit."
House has become an iconic character, largely due to Laurie's flawless portrayal of a brilliant doctor with a horrible bedside manner whose asinine qualities are overshadowed by his brilliance. He's not really an ass, he just acts like one . . . a lot.
The antithesis of House is his best friend, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). One might even go so far as to say it's their friendship that humanizes House, and is a big part in sustaining the show's success.
"One of the things I'm proudest of in the show is that relationship," says Shore. "I think that it's something you don't see on TV very often -- the male friendship explored," he says.
Leonard weighs in: "His actions are what count. It's the only relationship on the show that's not tied to any employment. I don't work for him and he doesn't work for me, and it's not true of any other character on the show. So we're the only two characters that have actually chosen to be together."
The onscreen pals are also good friends off-screen, a likely contributing factor to the genuine House-Wilson dynamic.
"Well, now that we've stopped sleeping together, it's a lot more comfortable in every way, physically, as well," jokes Leonard. "I don't know. He's very complicated. He's a very strange guy. He's very funny. He's like most of the people I like in my life: tortured, miserable, and just a pain in the ass," Leonard says (referring to Laurie, not House, just in case you were confused).
As to whether this is the show's last season, David Shore says he's undecided.
"I'm not being coy, I'm just honestly not that well ordered," admits Shore. "I would love to and I would hate to (continue the show). It's been a wonderful opportunity for me. It's just been amazing on so many different levels, and I'm continuing to find new and interesting things to do with it. But it's been eight years. It's a long time to do a show. And so I really am not sure what's going to happen."
In the end, Shore says the show is ultimately about "trying to change, but we inevitably fail."
"But if we don't keep trying to change, we're just going to slide completely backwards. I think House would like to be the type of person who could do things differently. But he's not, and he will never (be)."
What does this mean for the fate of Dr. Gregory House?
"I'm not going to change his character for the end of the show," says Shore. "It may not be a miserable ending, but (House) is not going to ride off into the sunset with love."
--- (source) ---
this one surprisingly only took me like twenty minutes to find. my favourite part is when shore says that house is not going to ride off into the sunset with love and yet .
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