big fan of essek thelyss, not the fanon interpretation, which is either "smol bean, tiny fragile elf who's a sweetheart and basically a child" or people mistakenly calling betrayal of one's home country a "war crime" and then proceeding to be flippant about it anyway, but the real Essek
pretentious motherfucker that committed treason bc he though he was smarter than everyone else
learned to float literally just to impress other rich people
canonically neutral evil
basically head spymaster of his country and master of lies but sucks shit lying to his friends
stayed bitchy even after his redemption arc
"there is nothing I would love more than to not be around you all for the remainder of this day"
a space wizard that crushed someone with telekenesis just to show off (the person was already dying)
sexy feet, nice ass, overall hottie
fell in love with a traumatized wizard of his enemy country and it was mutual despite all the betrayal
faggot
gave away state secrets to enemy wizard bc he though he was sexy
discovered time travel with his boyfriend
proceeded to say they shouldn't use time travel (bc now he's a good boy) but was willing to sacrifice everything and help if his bf wanted to use it
once confessed he had such a bad fight with his dad that his dad ran into the demon caves and never returned (essek doesn't feel bad about this at all)
young for an elf but still 120 years old, he called his bf "young man" and flexed on him about how much more evil he is
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“Oh, shoot, sorry. Go back to sleep. Sorry.”
Nico shifts, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. The light in the infirmary is low, and strangely soothing. It’s almost hard to keep his eyes open. But he manages, rubbing his knuckles under the curve of his eyesockets, and searches in the dark until he finds what woke him up.
Will stands a couple feet away from his bed, figure curled and shadowy, owlish eyes wide and almost unnaturally reflective in the dark.
“‘S’okay,” he mumbles. “Couldn’t really sleep anyway.”
“Oh.” There’s a shuffling sound, and suddenly Nico feels warmer where Will has stepped closer. “You in pain?“
“No. Just bad at sleeping.”
“Hey, me too.”
Surprise at Will’s easy admission and a little bit starstruck at the bright flash of Will’s grin, Nico doesn’t have the chance to beat himself up over being so flippantly open. His teeth seemed to glow as much as the whites of his eyes, which would be creepy, except it’s hard to feel anything but calm as a cool night breeze wafts the scent of lavender from the sill planters in every inch of the infirmary, and it’s hard to think of Will as anything but warm. Especially the hand he places, briefly, on the curve of Nico’s knee.
“Insomnia?”
“Something like that.”
“Still. Sorry for waking you up.”
Nico hums, fiddling with his skull ring. “Why were you up, anyway?”
“Oh, I won’t have time to sleep for another couple days.”
There’s a mellow cracking sound, and then all of Will’s knuckles begin to glow a soft, sunset yellow. Nico startles.
“Apollo thing,” Will explains. A smirk is now visible at the corner of his mouth, forcing a dimple on his right cheek. In his hands, almost hard to see under the glow, are three small vials of something Nico doesn’t recognize. “Getting meds and salves in order.”
Hesitantly, Nico drags his gaze away from the clinking glass bottles, forcing himself to meet Will’s eyes. They’re ridiculously bright. Is that an Apollo thing, too?
“Why does that mean you can’t sleep?”
Will gestures to the myriad of occupied beds outside the curtains Nico has pulled up. “Shitton of injured, man. I got way more people than I got stuff. I prepped for the Romans beforehand, obviously, but I didn’t have a good hand on their numbers and didn’t prep enough. I’m short on supplies. Haven’t slept since Gaea did.” At Nico’s look of alarm, he quickly assures, “But don’t worry, I had Cecil brew me something strong. It’s disgusting, so I think it might be his Coffee Redbull Matcha Heartstopper Special, With A Shot Of Crushed Caffeine Pills For Good Measure, but I’m not sure. Hands are only a little shakey, though, feel.”
In a mirror of a few days ago (fuck, Nico hopes he’s kidding; how long can people go without sleep?), he darts out and rests his hands under Nico’s. Sure enough, they’re trembling, although nothing nearly as bad as before.
“Dangerous levels of sleep deprivation aren’t as bad as delivering a baby, huh.”
Will shudders. “Don’t even joke.”
He looks so genuinely horrified that Nico can’t help but laugh. All they’ve seen, all they’ve suffered — and golden boy is gagging at the miracle of life. If Nico wasn’t so sure that he’d seen at least as many gory nightmares as Nico, if not more, he’d tease him for being squeamish.
…Actually.
“What kind of school nurse wannabe is squidged out by birth?”
“Nurse?” Will squawks, snatching his hands away (Nico finds his own hands, strangely and suddenly, cold). “I didn’t go to seven years of med school to be called a school nurse wannabe!”
Nico narrows his eyes. “You didn’t go to med school. You’re fifteen.”
“As I said.” He grins teasingly. “I didn’t go.”
It takes Nico a second, but when he gets it he cannot physically hold himself back from kicking him. Solace, weak from muffled laughter, stumbles sideways into a lamp.
“Ay! Be careful, you wanna kill the camp’s only brain surgeon?”
“If he’s being annoying,” Nico bites back. He can’t quite stop smiling, and he’s embarrassed about it, but thankfully the darkness hides his face. “There’s no way you’ve done brain surgery.”
The shitty cot Nico’s been coerced into camping on for the next three days creaks as Will perches on the edge of it.
“Have so. In the woods, two years ago, removed a brain tumour. Stressful as shit.” He flashes another sideways grin. “Couple dozen more medical emergencies under my belt, and I might actually be as qualified as a nurse in this country’s garbage medical system. Thank the gods for them, honestly. They do a shit lot more than a lot of doctors claim to.”
Sensing the topic change for what it is, Nico doesn’t press any further. “That what you wanna do?”
“Aw, man, I don’t even want to think about it. The idea of someone else running this infirmary gives me a stress ulcer. Y’all do a lot of stupid shit and frankly some of the procedures I have performed exist in no medical textbooks anywhere, medical or no.” He snorts. “Anyways.”
His hands are blazingly warm again, almost like sun through a maginifying glass, when they pat his shin twice. He stands, stretching — more bursts of light appearing along the length of his spine, lighting what his fading knuckles leave out.
“Try to sleep again, Neeks. You’ll need it.”
“Maybe I should be the one to say that to you,” Nico says. Will waves his hand dismissively, and in a fit of impulse Nico reaches out and grabs it, meeting his raised eyebrow with a stubborn set to his jaw. “I mean it, Will. No one’s awake right now. I just woke up. Why don’t you crash for an hour or so? I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
Will hesitates. “If anything happens, that’s on me. It — I can’t let it be on me.”
“Do you trust me?”
Stupid question. Of course Will doesn’t trust him, Nico let someone die in front of his eyes, Nico is the bringer of death and darkness, why would he —
“Yeah.” Will sighs. Nico looks up, startled, but the medic is eyeing one of the few spare cots, face screwed up in consideration. “You’ll wake me?”
“Immediately,” Nico assures hastily. He nods his head at the bunk next to him. “Sleep, man. You look like you need it.”
“Oh, well, just what I’ve always wanted to hear from you. You look stunning, by the way.”
Nico knows it’s a joke, but he flushes anyway. Thank Hades again for the dark infirmary, and the length of his hair.
“Whatever. Sleep or don’t.”
“I’m going, I’m going.”
In seconds he’s out of his flip-flops, slightly-scratchy blankets turned up and wrapped tightly around him all the way up to his neck.
“Thanks, Nico. I owe you.”
In the next breath, he’s out, all that’s visible of him the flutter of his light eyelashes and the tangled mop of blond hair. He snores, slightly, with every puffed exhale; a tiny, stuttered sound, not unlike a cat. It’s kind of cute, and Nico’s smiling before he realising.
“You don’t owe anybody shit.” He shakes his head fondly, leaning back onto his pillows to keep an eye out. “Goodnight, Will.”
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So I rewatched the confrontation scene between Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng, and Lan Zhan in the Jiang Ancestral Hall.
In the novel, Jiang Cheng mocked the fact that what Wei Ying and Lan Zhan have for each other is romantic and not just that of friends. And people kept saying that this scene in the novel has more impact etc etc… because Jiang Cheng really insulted them that they’re in love. I’m not going to invalidate that… but I’m just going to explain why this scene in the drama has a great impact too.
In the drama, Jiang Cheng insulted their great friendship. I haven’t seen people point this out… but what Jiang Cheng really said didn’t mean the usual “friendship.” He could have said “友誼” or “交情” which means the type of friendship we’re all aware of.
But Jiang Cheng didn’t say any of those! He said “知己 (zhiji)” or “confidant” or “soulmate”— the very word that both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan say lovingly to each other (in the drama).
Jiang Cheng said: “为什么要道歉?为侮辱了你们这段伟大的知己之情吗?”
为什么 - why ; 要 - will (I) ; 道歉 - apologize ; 为 - for ; 侮辱 - insulting ; 了 - indicates past tense ; 你们 - your (plural) ; 这段 - this ; 伟大 - great ; 的 - of ; 知己 - confidant/intimate friend/soulmate ; 之情 - feeling/emotion; 吗 - indicating a question.
If we translate Jiang Cheng’s words directly, it would say, “Why will I apologize? For having insulted this great soulmate thing of yours?”
Note that 知己 isn’t commonly used in spoken language. It’s mostly seen in written texts only. But Wei Ying and Lan Zhan made 知己 their endearment for each other. Jiang Cheng used that very special and emotional word and tarnished it with his acrid mouth. He wasn’t just insulting their love but he insulted what they are to each other— the very nature of their relationship. (He wasn’t insinuating that they might be in love. He was outright attacking them for what they are.) He even emphasized the insult by adding 偉大 or ‘great’ sarcastically.
That’s why Wei Ying immediately lashed out. Because how dare Jiang Cheng ruin that special word he has with Lan Zhan?!
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the degree to which Katniss and Peeta’s bodily autonomy is disregarded by almost everyone around them in the series is yet another reason I cannot fathom them not being on the same page about having their babies
for just a shortlist:
they’re given mandatory makeovers on the regular to appeal to Capitol beauty sensibilities
they have trackers inserted into their bodies multiple times
Peeta loses a leg and has it replaced with a Capitol prosthesis as a result of their Games
Haymitch has to fight for Katniss’s breasts not to be surgically altered
Katniss theorizes that the boy tributes were given something to stop them growing facial hair
had the rebellion not happened it is a very real possibility that Katniss and Peeta would have been forced to have children and/or be sold out sexually
even though the rebellion happens, the number of times Katniss is injected with sedation drugs without any hint of consent is uncomfortable
and Peeta is brutally tortured and medically experimented on in unimaginable ways
but no, these two aren’t going to approach the topic of children with consideration of their partner’s agency, feelings, and physical autonomy
Peeta “he wanted it to be real” Mellark pressured his partner into children she didn’t want and she capitulated because? reasons?
be so serious with me right now
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