#Also first time doing an actual background

[meo-eiru]

I like to imagine Elias as an insane and extremely messy concubine from those historical cdramas PFFT. Especially in his “omg you came to see me!” Sketch. Mc would be the emperor of course! Poor guy would die to palace drama for sure.

Elias would so secretly poison another concubine if you decide to visit them at night instead of him.

This AU kinda goes hard actually I'm getting a lot of ideas.

Imagine he's the son of a normal family but was blessed with incredible good looks by the gods. Due to that beauty he was yearned by all sorts of nobles which made his family get a lot of riches as gifts but he kept refusing all of them.

Until one day you, the ruler of the country, came to personally visit him and he fell in love with you at first time, saying he would marry you even before he saw what gifts you brought for him.

It's all amazing, he's prettied up by the helpers you assign for him and you two quickly go back to your palace. He's so happy the whole way there but little did you know it's the quiet before the storm.

Once you arrive there he becomes aware of the fact that he's not your main husband but a concubine. He's distraught and extremely angry, what do you mean he has to share a rank with other man. He's clearly the most beautiful one here. Okay maybe you two don't have a child yet but so what? Are you really going to prioritize tradition before him? Even though he loves you so much? Do you not love him is that it???

After that it's just constant chaos. Your other concubines getting poisoned left and right, some of them straight up getting assassinated, a few of them returning to their village while crying due to continuous bullying. Elias even breaks into the rooms of the concubines you decide to spend the night with while you're there.

You've considered sending him back many times but you just can't bring yourself to. He's like a rare flower, with a lot of nobles keeping their eyes on him. Just his existence brings you political power, and not to mention when you do spend the night with him he's like a dream.

While he might be hurting the others due to his selfishness it's also true that he loves you in a way no other concubine does. As a ruler most of the relationships you have with your concubines are for politics but it's Elias who wraps his arms around you as soon as you enter his room. Engulfing you in the flowery scents he covered himself in and kissing you like you two are soulmates fated to be together. He's the one who looks at you with those loving eyes while his face is completely red and his body is warm under you. He's the one who holds your head in place through the whole night to make you look at him, like a sweet hypnosis he puts you under.

So it doesn't take too long for him to impregnate you with a child, quickly raising to the imperial consorts status before everyone else. It doesn't slow down his terrible behavior outside of the bedroom though. In fact it fuels it more some might say.

He has this air of superiority to him, knowing he has won against the others even while coming from a lowly background. He spends so much gold spoiling himself, buying the prettiest clothes and hair pieces, receiving the best skincare and makeup.

But you can't say no to him right? He's your beautiful rare treasure after all.

[lunewolf13]

It has come to Bruce's attention that Kon-El might be romantically interested in his son. So of course, he decides to investigate (subtly). Starting with...

Bruce: Tim.

Tim: Bruce.

The following silence lasts for ten seconds.

Bruce: How would you describe your relationship with Superboy?

Tim: Uh, pretty good?

Bruce: Pretty good? Can you be more specific? How does he interact with you?

Tim: I mean, he keeps sending me selfies in the weirdest places. One time, Kon sent one with a thumbs up while the background was clearly during a mission and our teammates were chucking basketballs at these weird alien plant vines. I was there too, so it makes even less sense. Like, why would he send me a selfie of where he is when I was like fifteen feet away?

After taking a moment to...digest what just came out of his kid's mouth, Bruce decides to investigate their relationship some other time.

More pressingly, he needs to know the details of this mission and why this is the first he's hearing of it.

Tim: Actually, Dick was there too. He was wrestling with a vine. And not like fighting wrestling, but arm wrestling. With a vine.

Bruce can't stop himself from asking: Did he win?

Tim: He did! I'll send you the video and you can hear the vine grunting and hissing while everyone was cheering Nightwing on!

Bruce: They were cheering him on, while throwing basketballs at the other vines?

Tim: Yep.

Bruce: And what were you doing during this?

Tim points to the video on his phone: Capturing the moment and giving orders at the same time. Don't worry, I can multitask.

Bruce: So you ordered them to throw basketballs at the vines.

Tim nods: Strategic distraction while we lead the alien plant vines to a trap.

Bruce: And why was Nightwing arm wrestling one particular vine?

Tim: To boost morale. Also, Kon double-dog dared him.

Bruce: Tim.

Tim: What?

Bruce just sighs.

[daydreamgoddess14]

What's it take to get your number?

What's it take to bring you home?

Here she is! My first Bucky fic (😬)

From my Valentine's Lovebomb event, this one is for Emily 💜

Bucky Barnes x F!Reader insert, no use of y/n, no applicable warnings - just some cute fluff while I dip my toe into another fandom.

Masterlist

Of all of the things Yelena had talked you into, this was undoubtedly the worst.

And she had, of course, talked you into some truly awful shit.

If she could see you now, scowling into your margherita, she’d probably throw something at you.

Hey! Smile a little, huh?

As it happens, the thought of it does make you smile.

She's been good to you since you met. Being Valentina's PA was often an utterly thankless existence. The way she'd collected up Yelena, Alexei, John Walker and the others had been admirable.

Adding Bucky Barnes into the mix had been a goddamn coup.

They mostly went about their business as instructed and paid you little to no attention, but Yelena had spotted you still working away late into the night just before Christmas. She'd disappeared and returned twenty minutes later with cartons of Cantonese food which she insisted you shared.

Since then, a tentative friendship had blossomed between you both.

At the bar, there’s plenty of small talk going on in the background. Lots of organising.

The tables have been arranged loosely in a grid with plenty of space between them to move around.

Not that you have to move anywhere.

The instructions have been made very clear.

Yelena read them out with such glee, you suggested that she go instead.

So you sit, and you wait… then they ring a bell and the men come in and also sit down, yes? Hmm… says you have five minutes. Seems not long enough? Then bell goes again and you stay in your seat. The men move around and you have more handsome men to talk to! Fun, right?

Oh yes. Great fun. So much fun.

Next time Yelena suggests speed dating, you’re going to drag her kicking and screaming with you.

You steal a glance at the time, only a few minutes until the shitshow kicks off.

You signal the waiter for another drink, god knows you need it.

A couple of deep, cleansing breaths and the bell goes.

The noise and activity around you does distract you.

You glance around quickly at the couple of people around you, the beautiful women in their barely there dresses, poker straight hair and lashes so long they could be used as a fan.

You’ve made an effort, of course.

A certain blonde pain in your ass made sure of it.

This top, this skirt, these shoes.

She threw them at you.

Girl, the skirt has pockets!

The woman at the table next to you looks completely underwhelmed by her first five minute attendee.

Her eyes wide and her mouth in a fixed line.

The poor guy loosens his tie nervously.

A tie? Yikes.

He seems uncomfortable, clearly aware of the unfavorable impression he's making.

You’re almost transfixed by the car crash about to unfold in front of you.

This has got to be more entertaining than your date, right?

This is the shit you could watch all night long.

A low cough alerts you to your own car crash.

You steel yourself, a fake smile already in place.

“Hey,” he says.

The smile begins to slip.

You know that voice.

Why do you know that voice?

How do you know that voice?

By the time you actually look at him, the smile is long gone.

“Oh fuck.” It could be a whisper. It could be a squeak.

Either way, it’s barely audible so of course he heard it.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he grins, slightly incredulously.

“What are you doing here, Bucky?”

“Same as you, apparently.”

“Did you follow me?”

“Why the hell would I follow you?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Did Yelena put you up to this? I’m going to fucking kill -”

“She didn’t put me up to anything,” he held up his hands in surrender. “And, I’d like to see you try,” he adds disparagingly.

He’s not wrong.

“So, why are you here?”

“Sam thought it would be a good idea. He says I’m too introspective.”

“Nice. He’s such a good friend,” you bite back.

“Right? He’s got enough charm for both of us.”

“So you don’t want to be here either?”

“Does it look like it?” He frowned.

“Fine. So we sit in silence until you can move on.” You tell him sternly, reaching for your drink and taking a long gulp. You signal the waiter again for another.

He scoffed and shook his head.

“I’m not sitting in silence. Sam says I should talk more, so let's talk,” he declares, and you just roll your eyes at his stubbornness.

“What the hell is there to even talk about?” you ask, “you literally have no idea who I am?”

Bucky seems undeterred by your attitude.

“What kind of books do you like?” he asks casually. “What kind of… seriously?” You eye him suspiciously.

“Yeah, you’ve always got your head in a book. You say I don't know who you are but I've seen you. Recommending stuff to Yelena - not to me, though - so what do you like to read?” He leaned forward on the table, making it wobble.

“Anything,” you mutter with a sigh, “everything, really. The classics, fantasy, thrillers, romance.” He nods along as you speak. “What about you?” You ask hesitantly.

“I’ve been reading the classics lately, actually,” he admits.

“Oh sure,” you roll your eyes.

“Hey, it’s true. I just finished Pride and Prejudice.”

“And did you enjoy it?” As you ask your question, the bell rings out.

“Gentlemen, time to move on to the next table please,” the organiser calls out.

“Hold that thought, doll. Guess I’ll see you around?” He stood, waiting patiently for the man in the tie to move along.

The woman at the neighboring table suddenly seems thrilled with her new date. Bucky offers her a smile, and she responds with a giggle.

He takes his seat at the next table, but instead of engaging with his new date, he leans back over to you.

“I loved it. I like the chemistry between Elizabeth and Darcy and the layers of their relationship. It’s probably my favourite romance.”

The woman next to you looks a little put out.

“Your favourite romance? Which others have you read?” You can’t help but ask.

The man directly across from you is growing increasingly annoyed, watching the conversation unfold with a sense of irritation, like he's watching a tense tennis match.

“I liked it more than Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights.”

A small, surprised smile curves up the corner of your mouth as Bucky continues to ignore his next date.

“Uhh, excuse me?” she interjected, her voice laced with irritation.

“Sorry ma’am, I’ll just be a minute.” Bucky calmly replies, not breaking eye contact with you.

“I’m not a fan of Wuthering Heights either, I tried to be in my tortured youth.” You admit.

He laughs and it’s… magical.

“Any others you’d recommend?”

“North and South -”

“Gaskell?” He confirms, you nod. He mirrors your nod, a small smirk crossing his face.

“Yeah, another brooding gentleman and headstrong woman.”

“Huh, sounds familiar.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

Meanwhile, your new date grows increasingly impatient, tapping on the table incessantly, while Bucky's date becomes frantic as she attempts to catch the organiser's attention.

The man at your own table finally interjects, addressing Bucky directly.

“Excuse me, buddy, you're supposed to move on after five minutes, you know?”

“Sorry man, just seeing where this goes,” he shrugs before looking back at you. “Got any newer recommendations? Feels like I’m… stuck in the past sometimes,” he grins lopsidedly.

“Romance, or something else?”

“Let’s stick with romance,” he leans in with his elbows on his knees.

“Try Emily Henry,” you tell him as your new drink arrives.

“Excuse me sir, you do need to move on?” The waiter insists as he carefully places your drink down.

Bucky sighs, turning back in his seat to face his actual date.

“Finally, I might be able to grab a quick minute before the bell goes -” your date starts with a smile.

“Emily Henry, huh? Book Lovers author? I saw it but didn’t pick it up,” Bucky leans over again.

“I’ve got a copy, I’ll bring it over.”

“That’s great, thanks.”

“And North and South, too?” You ask.

“I look forward to it.”

“Excuse me!” Your date interjects loudly.

You look down at the table with a blush as Bucky turns away again.

“So, how long have you been single?” You hear your date ask as the bell goes again.

“And move on again please, gentlemen.” The organiser smiles.

Your date does so, following Bucky with an angry frown.

With another table between you, you assume that’s your additional ‘date’ with Bucky over and turn to greet your next date.

Now, from three tables away, Bucky calls down the row to you.

“Hey, doll, there’s a new bookstore opened by Sam’s place. We should check it out?”

You nod to placate him while disgruntled voices around you mutter and curse his interruptions.

The bell rings again and everyone moves on once more.

From five tables away he asks about the recipe for the pasta dish you made for lunch with Yelena last week.

From seven tables away he shouts to ask whether you saw the last episode of Traitors.

“That is enough, sir. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave,” the organiser says with exasperation at the next bell.

“But we're getting along so well,” he protests as two waiters try to lead him to the door.

Giving up, he gives you a half shrug and a wave.

“See ya later, kid.”

He leaves without further disruption.

You turn back to your latest date but your enthusiasm has left the building with Bucky.

Despite the tedious hour that follows, no conversation manages to match the level of engagement you experienced in your initial encounter.

You had been under the distinct impression that he had no idea who you were. Of all of them, Yelena was the only one who made an effort. Alexei occasionally pulled you into conversation, usually when he needed an additional body on his side in an argument, but Bucky walked past your desk almost daily without a word or a glance.

You couldn't help but wonder why he chose tonight, of all evenings, to engage with you.

He could have ignored Sam's suggestion to attend. He could have ignored you completely.

You'd given him an out, offered to sit in silence.

His casual comment to your second date echoed in your mind: “Sorry man, just seeing where this goes.”

Those simple words had hinted at a deeper curiosity or interest, beyond just passing time at a speed dating event.

It had been both impressive and frustrating to see the usually stoic Bucky calling across tables, asking you questions about your job, how long you'd worked for Valentina, with an animated excitement that seemed to be reserved solely for you.

The organiser called time and you wrapped your coat tightly around you, the mid-February nights were cold and you were ready for bed.

You shot Yelena a brief text, letting her know you had arrived home safe and sound, choosing to leave her hanging when it came to details about the event.

After a fitful night, you arrived at the office the following morning, books safely nestled in your bag.

Yelena is parked at your desk, her feet casually propped up as if she'd taken permanent residency.

She raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“So, did you find the love of your life?”

“I'm never doing that again,” you warn with a pointed finger in her direction.

“Really?” A familiar voice behind you asks. “And here I thought you had a good time.”

You turn around to see Bucky standing there, his gaze fixed on you with a cheeky smile.

Yelena can barely contain her excitement, her grin widening even further.

Her feet hit the floor with a thud as she eagerly joins the conversation, eyes darting between the two of you. She turns first to Bucky.

“Wait, you were there?” Her question laced with disbelief.

Bucky shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to have attended a speed dating event.

“Yeah, and?” He asked, his indifference only increasing Yelena's excitement.

“You went speed dating?” She asks incredulously. He doesn't look at her as he answers, he looks only at you.

“I went speed dating.” He confirms.

“And all you got were book recommendations?” You add, reaching into your bag to hand him the two books.

“Well I was kinda hoping I got a little more than that,” Bucky smirks, his expression filled with a hint of mischief.

Yelena's eyes widened, her gaze darting back and forth between you and Bucky.

“Wait, what's this? What's with you two?”

“I mean, I did think you were scared of me-” he began.

“You don't scare me,” you cut in firmly.

His smile widened further.

“Good to know.”

Yelena watches the exchange with wide eyes.

“This is so weird,” she mumbles to herself.

“So, you think you'll do it again?" You ask him brazenly.

Bucky grins at your bold question.

“Maybe,” he muses before adding with a twinkle in his eye, “but only if you're there.”

FIN

[respectthepetty]

Okay, your posts about When it Rains it Pours finally made me start watching today (actually mainly because I just couldn't figure out who all the characters were and I was very confused but wanted to understand). I've finished ep 2 but I have some questions.

First, what's up with two of them being called Kazuaki? I'm sure I've missed something. At first, I was confused because when Hagiwara went to get his new pass card I thought Nakarai would recognise his name from the emails...but he didn't. And then in ep 2 Nakarai stared at Hagiwara's pass card and Hagiwara covered it up... Have I missed something significant around the names?

And second, I know you've written a lot about the 'background noise' of the series so far, but I noticed a water drop sound in ep 1 at a particular moment, and then two water drops sounds at another particular moment in ep 2, both during conversations with Nakarai and Fujisawa - is this a thing? (I guess I mean beyond the symbolism of the rain in general) -> That the water drops signify something changing in the their relationship? (Their conflict/separation increasing?) Do those waterdrops reoccur in later eps and increase each time? (Because I hope they do). -> I'm presuming here that you're watching with the sound on unlike the Thai dramas which I know you watch on mute.

Sorry if this is incoherent but it's late o'clock and I want to understand every opinion and thought you have on this show. I think I might be as obsessed by your thoughts on the show as you are about the show.

DADDY! You can't ask questions like this because it means I'm going to have to give some kind of spoilers, but they won't ruin the show for you, I promise:

What's up with two of them being called Kazuaki?

This is Fujisawa Kazuaki. He is Sei's roommate/boyfriend(?), and Sei is in love with him, hence why Sei's email IS Fujisawa's name (and birthday - 09/27).

This pretty and attractive man is Hagiwara Kazuaki. He is my bias because he has done nothing wrong except feel his feelings, and he is Sei's coworker who is also experiencing frustrations in his relationship.

Since Hagiwara and Sei work together, when Hagiwara went to go get new business cards, Sei noticed Hagiwara's pass HOLDER. Sei didn't pay attention to the card itself. He was looking at the holder because Fujisawa designed it since Fujisawa is a designer of workplace and home items. Sei cares about the pass because it's a connection to the man he is in love with — Fujisawa.

The show tells us Sei wasn't paying attention to the names because Hagiwara actually had to return since his name was misspelled on the cards, which he states is a common issue.

I don't know a lot about Japanese, but 1) neither Hagiwara nor Fujisawa is going by "Kazuaki" IN JAPANESE, and 2) neither name is being written out the same IN JAPANESE, so Sei wouldn't know that Hagiwara Kazuaki is a "Kazuaki" since the name is never really spoken or written.

On Hagiwara's mispelled business cards, "Kazuaki" is romanized, but in Japanese, his name is "顕"

When we see Fujisawa's name, it's "和章"

They are the same romanized, but not in Japanese. Make sense?

Do the water drops signify something changing in the their relationship?

Unlike Hagiwara who can hear the rain in his apartment, Sei never hears the rain in his apartment. He also has never gotten any affection from Fujisawa, so think about when you heard the drops?

The first time occurs when Fujisawa tells Sei that Sei isn't a parasite. One drop of affection.

The second drop happens when Fujisawa says he likes Sei just the way he is. Another drop of affection.

Now the series is called When It Rains, It Pours. This meaning will come up in the fifth episode, but normally that saying means that when one bad event happens, a lot of bad events tend to follow.

However, considering what rain means to these two (lack of intimacy and affection), the show's title is layered in meaning.

So if these men are allowed just one drop of affection, love will pour out of them. The floodgates will open.

And you assumed correctly that I'm watching this show unmuted AND at regular speed, so the obsession is strong.

[redsugarx]

青白之魅 3: Hair & Makeup Styling

1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion

If you thought there was gonna be less nerd from here on out you are deeply mistaken.

I was responsible for the hair styling for both the white and green snake, which was super fun. I’ve been doing hanfu hair styling for a year or two now (thank you to everyone who let me practice on them) and have gradually gotten better at it, even though I still struggle with some parts of it—I certainly have the equipment collection to show for it now at least! I have so many fake hair pieces I can’t keep track.

As with any hanfu hair styling, the process involved a lot of fake hair pieces, pins, and hairspray—but of course before the actual styling started, which was mostly only on the day of, I had to spend some time thinking about how I wanted the hair to look on each character.

元 衛九鼎 洛神圖, Taiwan National Palace Museum, 她：女性形象與才藝，2020

As for as snake-like hairstyles go, the first thing that comes to mind is the 靈蛇髻/灵蛇髻/ling2 she2 ji4/Spirited Snake hairstyle, shown above on Luoshen, a women’s hairstyle that went through a lot of changes through the dynasties but generally involved a tall, twisting bun leaning slightly to the side on the top of the head, resembling the body of a rearing snake. It’s a very popular style both historically and among hanfu enthusiasts today, because it looks very ethereal and unique. Often, female spirits or goddesses are depicted with this hairstyle.

That was the style I was originally planning on using, but it came with some limitations: one, it’s… how do we say it in the physics world… stuck in unstable equilibrium? We’d essentially be walking around with the leaning tower of Pisa around on top of our heads. I had to style both of our heads BEFORE setting up the set design, so there was too high of a risk that something would get knocked out of place, since I knew I would have to be running around doing things. Also, because Yulan has brightly colored dyed hair, she had to wear a black base wig under all the fake hair pieces, which is a bit more difficult to pin things to than your actual scalp.

So instead I went with a different design. I knew I still wanted a lot of serpentine loops and strands, and I wanted there to be a significant amount of volume going on—they are ‘spirits’ and ‘goddesses’ after all, they deserve to be fancy!—so I went from there.

The Poetry Vibes

I stumbled upon a few poems last year while looking for names for Cloud9 Hanfu’s Year of the Dragon collection, and a few of them ended up becoming inspirations for this project. 

This is the first part of 張可久 (Zhang Kejiu)’s Yuan Dynasty verse, 醉太平·春情 (Drunken Peace · Spring Romance). It’s a bittersweet poem describing a speaker that is longing for a lost love, likening her beauty to the imagery of the evening spring showers outside his home. I’ll do a slightly more faithful line-by-line translation of the poem’s actual words, then a paragraph-form translation with more stylization that gets at the meaning a little more.

This is mostly just my interpretation though, and my Classical Chinese is... less than amazing, so like... take it with a grain of salt.

張可久 Zhang Kejiu, 百度百科

Line-By-Line

烏雲髻鬆，金鳳釵橫。<- “Her storm cloud hair is soft and loose, the golden phoenix hairpin is horizontal.”

伯勞飛燕自西東，惱離愁萬種。<- “The shrikes and swallows fly their ways to the West and the East, causing ten thousand kinds of sorrowful goodbyes.”

碧溶溶满溪綠水桃源洞，淡濛濛半窗白月梨雲夢，恨匆匆一簾紅雨杏花風。<- “Jade stream water flows to the Peach Blossom Grotto, moonlight is cast cloudily through the pear blossoms to my half-open window as if through a dream; the wind is unforgiving, felling apricot petals like a red curtain of rain.”

把青春斷送。<- “It ruins the spring.”

Stylized

Storm clouds gather loosely outside my window. I can almost imagine that they are strands of her soft hair; I can almost see where her golden phoenix hairpin would have laid, nestled in her black locks.

It’s springtime now—the orioles should be migrating, flying to their summer homes in the west, and the swallows to the east. Imagining their inevitable parting stirs a complicated sorrow in my chest.

As it storms, clear rainwater collects on the ground in rivulets, streaming away like liquid jade. I wonder where the water is going—is it to some forgotten, untouchable paradise? Is that where she is now? I can see through my half-open window where moonlight drizzles through the petals of the pear-blossom trees, misty and clouded as if I’m dreaming. Suddenly, a curtain of red petals fall across my vision like rain: it’s my flowering apricot tree, struck by the wind.

My trance is broken—spring is over.

//

As Chinese poetry tends to be, it’s very romantic with lots of natural imagery, tinged with sadness. When I reread it with this project in mind, it made me think of Xu Xian after the events of the Legend of the White Snake. While it’s commonly accepted that Bai Suzhen later ends up getting freed and there’s some kind of happy ending, the actual legend itself ends with the White Snake being imprisoned under the Leifeng Pagoda. Many years, if not centuries, pass before she gets out. So as many Chinese romances tend to be, the Legend of the White Snake is, by itself, a great tragedy. I can see the Xu Xian as the speaker of the poem.

Bearing this in mind, I imagine that the beauty of the Snake Spirits are much like the scene described in this poem—soft and ethereal like mist, hiding enough power to bend nature to their will.  I decided to lean into the ‘clouds’ theme, especially for Bai Suzhen.

傳 五代 周文矩 仕女圖, Taiwan National Palace Museum, 她：女性形象與才藝，2020 (ft fucked up fat cat)

The comparison of women‘s hairstyles to rainclouds is actually very widespread in Chinese literature, so it was perfect for hairstyle inspiration—in poetry, women are often represented by their features, ex. a poem might say "moth brows" or "cloud hair" to refer to a beautiful lady. Cloud hair and cultivated appearance is integral to the allure of a woman, so much so that the act of putting on makeup or is often viewed in literature as a transformation of identity.

In this instance the transformation of identity is supposed to be in the sense of gender identity, but you could also see it (in the context of this project) as the transformation from snakes to women.

This connection is strengthened by another poem, 好事近·夢中作 by 秦觀/Qin Guan from the Song Dynasty.

清宫殿藏画本. 北京: 故宫博物馆出版社. 1994, Wikimedia Commons

Line-By-Line

春路雨添花，花動一山春色。<- “Rain has filled the road with flowers, swaying in the breeze, filling the mountain with the feel of spring.”

行到小溪深處，有黃鸝千百。<- “I walked far along the mountain stream, where there were hundreds and thousands of yellow orioles.”

飛雲當面化龍蛇，夭矯轉空碧。<- “The flying clouds turned into dragons and snakes before me, stretching across the vast jade expanse.”

醉臥古藤陰下，了不知南北。<- “I lay down, drunk in the shade of the vines, not knowing which way is North or South.”

Stylized

I see where the spring showers have filled the mountainside with flowers. They sway in the breeze, bringing with them the rejuvenating scent of spring as I walk deeper and deeper into nature, following the bubbling mountain spring and the crowds of yellow orioles that have come out to celebrate the season as well. As I look up at the sky, I see dragons and snakes form in the midst of the roiling clouds above, leaping and coiling across the expanse of the clear blue sky. Intoxicated, I stop to rest underneath some vines, lost in the beauty of springtime.

//

So I am aware that it kind of sounds like this guy miiiiight be on acid but I'm pretty sure it doesn’t mean he’s hallucinating snakes in the clouds, it’s just like when you look at a cloud and say “that one looks like an elephant!”

Then again there is an interpretation that says his "walking further and further into the nature" means he's just getting more and more drunk to escape his problems, so like... make of that what you will.

Anyway, dragons also have power over rain and weather, and snakes are often called the ‘little dragon,’ often also associated with flowing water. All this is to say—clouds & coils are good representations of snakes! Also, you’ll notice that both of these poems are about springtime (though the second one is noticeably happier), fitting in with using this project to welcome the Spring Festival :)

Moving onto individual hairstyles. Keeping in mind the shapes of clouds, I wanted Bai Suzhen’s hair to be very tall, voluminous and ethereal to represent her spiritual prowess and strong will. A bunch of loops fan out at the top center of the hairstyle, adding ‘rays’ pointing outwards like a halo. I made sure there were a lot of round, circular elements to ‘fluff out’ the shape like a cloud. There are two strands of circles kind of peeking out at the bottom behind her neck/ears area, which were achieved by pinning a braid to each side and then pulling the outermost hair strands of each ‘loop’ outwards to create little flat circles.

Going back to the first poem, if I imagine that the speaker is Xu Xian thinking of Bai Suzhen, it makes sense for the mentioned ‘gold hairpin’ to appear in her hairstyle, doesn’t it? So I also added a few gold hair accessories—U-shaped pins for the most part, plus a small guan in the center to tie things together—to point outwards above her head. 

For Xiaoqing's hair, I wanted something that was a little more youthful, but still resplendent enough to do her justice. Xiaoqing is a younger spirit than Bai Suzhen, but still accomplished in her own right. Her hairstyle don’t extend as far outwards as the White Snake’s, but she has two ‘loop’ buns on each side rather than one peak in the middle. It’s kind of evocative of the double bun look often styled on younger girls, but with more fancy loops and swirls added to represent her high spiritual abilities. Each of the two main buns has two strands of hair looping up from the back of the head to the top. The strands are very loose, so depending on how I moved they separated into several visible strands/just one thicker lock of hair.

The hair accessories I chose for Xiaoqing don’t have as much metal in them, to distinguish her from her sister, as I wanted to emphasize her connection to nature—because she has less experience than Bai Suzhen, she is often portrayed in media (Green Snake 1993 especially) as not yet reaching full human form, still closer to her serpentine origins. She has a white flower with green leaves on each side, standing for spring, youthfulness, and her dedication to the White Snake. There are a couple strands of pearls ‘dripping�� down from the flowers like raindrops, matching with the pearl accessories in the makeup, as well as with the white markings on Dragun’s back.

傳 唐 周昉 內人雙陸圖 , Taiwan National Palace Museum, 她：女性形象與才藝，2020

I also chose to include a pair of green half-moon combs, made to imitate jade (they’re acrylic, I’m working on a budget here ;-;). These were often worn several at a time, inserted into different layers of hair (as seen in the image above). Jade accessories are carved from nature—they are often subject to the colorings and properties of the natural base material they are made from, and they are often used to describe natural imagery. This can sometimes be a limitation, but for those who look further it can be an inspiration (see the Jadeite Cabbage, my favorite thing ever, Taiwan Numba One).

Peking Opera Hairstyles

京劇旦角，百度百科

Peking opera influenced the hairstyle design a lot. Dan roles (旦角）in opera have very specific hairstyle protocols. They wear a lot of fake hair pieces and hair accessories just like modern hanfu hairstyles have. One of the base hair silhouettes shared by almost all dan is the traditional 大頭/大头/da4 tou2/'big head,' with most of the hair wound into a large oval bun on the back of the head, and small pieces added at the edges for decoration. To imitate this look, the back of both of the hairstyles are padded with a large, flat, and round hairpiece (known in the hanfu hairstyling community as the 西瓜包/xi1 gua1 bao1/'watermelon bun'). This helps to add volume onto the back of the head, creating the illusion of very long hair that has been neatly wrapped and pinned up.

Another one of the key parts of these hairstyles is the round loop of hair in the center of the forehead. It’s an important feature that I included to tie the two styles together, to make sure it was clear that it was a ‘matched set’ so to speak, and was inspired by the hair loops seen in Chinese Opera styling.

戏曲旦角化妆、梳大头全过程，新浪博客，2011

Traditionally, a solution made from elm tree sap or kelp was used as hair gel to glue the little contouring base pieces (貼片子/tie1 pian4 zi0) down to the face. Seven loops called 小灣/小湾/xiao3 wan1/'little curves' line the forehead, one in the center and three off to the sides. They look kind of similar to the hairstyle that ballroom dancers have.

This was an artsy hanfu concept shoot, so I didn’t want to necessarily copy the operatic hairstyles—not to mention I don't know how, the motion of making one hair loop alone can take 3-5 years to train—but I did want to include some elements of the opera characters as a nod to their role in popularizing the legend! So each hair design has the central loop. It’s a separate hair piece that I bought for this shoot, whose base I covered with some of the other hair. It isn't glued down like it would be traditionally. I was going to have a few more loops coming down on the sides too, but I found that it looked kind of awkward so I took them off.

There are also two thin strands of hair trailing down each shoulder, another element partially inspired by Chinese opera styling, but it’s very common nowadays to have those there just for the Vibes so it’s not as unique. Most dan roles have a section of long unbound hair trailing down their backs, with two small strands separated out to stream down the front. This is called 線尾/线尾/xian4 yi3/'thread tail' or 線簾/线帘/xian4 lian2/'thread curtain.'

Makeup

Okay so this mostly ended up being about hair rather than makeup because I know a lot more about hair than makeup, but I'll talk a bit about the makeup too lol. I can't speak for the White Snake's makeup—Yulan was in charge of that and she did a marvelous job!—but I did do my own makeup.

The makeup for the green snake came with a great challenge: how do you make my face, arguably the roundest and most nonthreatening thing you’ve ever seen, into something resembling a snake demoness? Also, flamboyant makeup in cool colors can be tricky—too little and it’ll all disappear on camera, too much and it’ll look like a muddy green mess.

Both my sister and I are fairly warm-toned; green has to be very concentrated in a very small area to look interesting, otherwise it just looks like a bruise (I tried it). So I tried to use a lot of long thin lines of color and angles in the eyeshadow to avoid that, and to kind of draw out the snakey vibes. The meager selection of green eyeshadows that I had weren't the most pigmented, so we made a stop at Sephora (my first time in Sephora believe it or not) on the way from LAX to Riverside and bought some supplies. They turned out to be super super useful.

One of my favorite makeup features was a my sister’s suggestion—fake pearl ‘snake bite’ piercings under the bottom lip! It’s a fun little linguistic easter egg that I’m super happy to have been able to incorporate into her styling. 

宋人 宋高宗后坐像，Taiwan National Palace Museum, 她：女性形象與才藝，2020 Look closely and you'll see dozens of tiny women depicted in pointillism on her guan headdress!

Pearl makeup （珍珠花鈿/珍珠花钿/zhen1 zhu1 hua1 dian4）was really popular throughout several dynasties, but especially the Song Dynasty, where it became a huge trend among nobles. Today it mostly appears in hanfu circles, but I believe some Southern Chinese opera styles use them too.

As far as I know, the position that we put them in under the bottom lip is anachronistic, but they did often appear at the corners of the mouth/the dimples (面靨/面靥/mian4 ye4), so if you stretched it a little and imagine they've just been moved slightly, I could probably claim that it's at least historically inspired.

元人 畫梅花仕女, Taiwan National Palace Museum, 她：女性形象與才藝，2020

Other places that pearl makeup often appeared was on the temples, cheeks, or forehead. I also put a pair under my eyes just for funsies (I find that using smaller-sized pearls looks better to me, even though the ones shown in paintings are usually fairly large).

//

Okay that ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be. I am so tired wow. The next one might take a while to come out too, but hope this one was enjoyable :)

1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion

[hanakogames]

Now here is a couple that I take actual fandom credit for.

Like, I'm sure someone would have figured it out eventually! The subtext is so there and so intentional, modern fandom would surely have caught on. But back in the day when I first read the New Mutants (which was *not* when it first came out, the comics ran from the 80s and as you've doubtless noticed most of my Formative Ships are closer to y2k) my immediate reaction was "WOW that's gay" followed by a surprise that the fandom, as I could find it at the time, didn't seem to have any idea! (They're literally soulmates??)

... partly because much more recent comics had split them up and gone in other directions but I didn't care I wasn't reading those.

If you're unfamiliar, super-quick overview: Danielle is Cheyenne and originally has a bit of a chip on her shoulder because she's sick of dealing with racists. Her mutant power is projecting visions of your fears and desires. Rahne is a couple of years younger, a Scottish girl raised by an abusive preacher who therefore has SERIOUS religious guilt issues about absolutely everything. Her mutant power is being a werewolf (which she also fears is a sin). They share a psychic connection when Rahne is in wolf form, they're best friends, they call each other soulmates, they're very protective of each other, they touch a lot, and they got very close to saying "I love-" before being cut off by events.

ANYWAY we assembled our list of "Claremont, who loves lesbians and slipping them past the editors, absolutely intended these two, here's the evidence" and circulated it amidst the mailing lists and usenet groups of the time. Over the years I've seen many people I don't know refer specifically to our list and our evidence, and it has become a pretty standard ship, especially since.... but that's another story.

Because it was basically unknown back in the day I do not have ancient fanfics to share with you on this count. The two enduring-classic old NM fics I can name don't go there (though one does give Dani a girlfriend) and I do not remember even where to find the handful of stories that were posted back in the days when fics had individual fandom archives at best.

I can dig up stories to link now but they aren't stories that I've read and loved over the years, they're just things I'm finding right this moment. Anyway here's a couple that look promising:

Halfway Home (fairly short, just focused on the attraction and the angst)

Where All The Fun Will Be (more story-focused but requires knowledge of the comics as events are constantly moving forward in the background without much signposting)

The New Mutants (archive-locked) Length fanfic series that looks like it's going to build an entire alternate continuity for the comics? I haven't read this.

Artist’s gallery is here but this image doesn’t seem to be online there anymore.

[rainbowsky]

Anonymous asked: Hi I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask. I guess that you are from Canada or usa based on ur posts. I am planning to go see LOCH in canada. I'm neither chinese nor east asían. I'm Lil nervous since this would my first time a chinese movie in theatre. Like is it OK? Will people look at like I'm out of place or something? Im not sure about the usual crowds . Please ignore if it's not a suitable place to ask this question.

I am in Canada. Definitely not the US. 😑

I understand that for some people it can be scary to go to neighbourhoods and businesses that are outside our normal daily routine and that are primarily populated by people from different cultures and backgrounds. If you feel any of that, that is a sure sign you need to get out there and explore those areas and broaden your cultural horizons.

I can't speak for other countries or what their norms might be, but here in Canada it's something everyone should try to explore. You will meet new people and have new experiences, and in the end you will find that we all have much more in common than any differences we might have.

In my experience, as long as you are being polite, respectful and non-obnoxious, people will welcome you and be grateful for your business and appreciate your interest in their culture. Depending on the demographic makeup of the area you are going to and how often they see people like you, you might get a few curious looks at most. In the vast majority of cases you're just going to be one of the crowd, and no one will make any special notice of you at all. Especially in any major city in Canada, where there is such a mixture of people from all backgrounds.

When you are in an unfamiliar area don't be afraid to strike up conversations or ask questions, but make sure you are doing so respectfully and that your questions aren't based from an assumption. For example, "Where are you from?" can be offensive because it implies the person is a foreigner when they might be a 3rd generation Canadian. It is also more personal than is appropriate for a stranger to ask.

Better questions are more open-ended, and are rooted in your own ignorance rather than in their perceived 'difference'. For example, "I haven't seen anything like this before - may I ask what it is used for?"

Always, always be respectful and remember that you are a guest in their [business, neighbourhood, etc.].

When it comes to seeing a movie from GG and DD, most of the people in the theatres are likely to be fans of theirs, and they will be very excited to see you there. They want GG and DD to be supported by as many people as possible. It can be especially exciting to see GG and DD's broad appeal across cultures and geography.

When I went to see Born to Fly, some Chinese XFX actually came up to me after the movie and asked me how I knew about Yibo and if I enjoyed the film. Of course I dare not tell them I was a turtle, but they were very sweet and friendly, and very happy to fill me in on everything about the movie and about DD (which I already knew but politely smiled and nodded at 😅).

In the extremely unlikely event that someone is awful to you, it is critical that you understand it is because they are an asshole, not because they are from a particular cultural background. There are assholes everywhere, in every shape, size and ethnicity. One Chinese person's behavior is in no way indicative of any other Chinese person's beliefs, attitudes or behavior.

I hope you enjoy the movie, and encourage you to find other excuses to explore your city and find new neighbourhoods and cultures to appreciate.

[megamhafan]

(tw: mentions of csa, abduction, drug usage and domestic abuse) if you were to take away the monsters and fantastical elements in will Byers’s story, you’d straight up get a child struggling with the effects of csa along with it being allueded to that it has happened before. go read the theory made by @greenfiend for extended information https://www.tumblr.com/greenfiend/769426126766522368/lonnie-byers

season 1 part 1

we don’t see much of will in the first season but we do learn some things about him.

in s1 episode 1, we learn from joyce that the town has been insinuating/ suspecting that will might be gay.

we also get from Joyce and hopper’s conversation in the police department that will’s father lonnie, used to call him slurs. (keep a note of that)

in s1 ep 2, we actually see lonnie byers for the first time and we get information about him without it being verbalized when jonathan goes to his house to look for will.

he’s definitely an a abusive father as seen when Jonathan goes into his house and checks the cupboards ( for will)

we see lonnie push Jonathan, and then remark “you’ve gotten stronger” which seals the deal.

(if the bike isn’t evidence for the lonnie kidnapping theory, then. i don’t know what is)

eventually when jonathan is about to leave, he gives lonnie the missing poster of will. and makes a comment

“incase you forgot what he looks like”

and lonnie’s weird girlfriend, cynthia walks out and says this weird line…

“he’s kinda cute, maybe i should trade you in for the younger model” (talking about jonathan)

she also could be talking about will, considering she did glance at the missing paper beforehand.

but i want to click those two stated lines together.

as we can see, lonnie’s girlfriend is very much a young woman in her 20s, while lonnie is a man in his late 40s approaching his 50s. so it is very weird for him to be involved with her.

lonnie has always be interested in people who are barely adults/ still teenagers.

lonnie was 25 when he started dating a then 17 year old joyce.

in child predators, they don’t repeat the actions of going for younger and younger people because they actually are attracted. they do it because it’s taking advantage of someone younger, someone who might not know better.

if we’re going based off the theory that lonnie abused his sons that way, then the pattern of preying on younger and younger people clicks in with the “incase you forgot him” line.

lonnie abused jonathan first, then when will came along, he abused both. and when jonathan reached puberty, lonnie left him alone.

(note: people who prey after children, specifically boys sometimes stop when they reach puberty as they begin to have bodies that don’t resemble girls anymore)

he continued with will, and never stopped. only seeing will as a smaller and younger jonathan, and thus “forgetting what he looks like”

because his sons blended into one person in his head.

in s1 ep3, troy and james walk up to the boys and start joking about will being dead. troy even says that “he was probably killed by some other queer”

he also adds a little bit of context to where he heard that. “at least that’s what my dad says”

troy says that his father told him that. and if you look at the home lives of troy and will, they’re very similar.

abusive dad

worried mom

not too well off financially

now we know that the duffers like to drop hints and clues about characters in the background and also about the lives of certain characters so that i can’t take away from the main story.

so what if troy is being used as a mouth peice essentially to explain why the town came to the conclusion that will is gay.

if you move around the things he says, you get…

“he was probably killed by a queer”

“at least that’s what dad says”

lonnie was the one who started the rumor in town, he’s the one who eventually started saying a queer person killed will.

s1 ep4 & ep5 will’s “body” is found in the quarry and hopper has to tell joyce that they found him.

this is also when lonnie shows up, he plans to sleep on the couch for a few days and attend the funeral.

he does something that always confuses me.

when he is arguing with jonathan in his room, he tells him to take his evil dead poster down because it’s inappropriate.

i assume he means that because the house is grieving, they shouldn’t have anything up on the walls.

but i think it’s more than that.

as stated by other theorists, lonnie’s name means oak tree, and the woman in the poster is being grabbed by a oak tree.

i’ve always seen that it was supposed to represent what lonnie did to Jonathan.

but with all this moment from episode 2 in particular…

it has me thinking that lonnie wants it down because it brings to light what he did to his son, how he took him and what he’s been doing to him for years. specifically it’s Jonathan making it visible what his father did to will.

and now that will is “gone”, lonnie wants it hidden forever. buried with his child.

which makes the moment where Joyce finds the check for the money that lonnie wants to take out because of will’s “death”, even more compelling.

it’s joyce not just confronting what her ex husband is doing via taking money out to pay his debts, essentially using their dead son for money.

it’s her confronting that lonnie has been using his son for things that you don’t use a child for.

she kicks him out, making sure that he doesn’t come back to harm her or her children again.

while all of this is going on, mike and the rest of the boys are at school attending will’s memorial service, when they hear troy and James talking about will.

after this, mike confronts them angrily, because it’s a messed up thing to do.

troy then says these lines

“what’s there to be sad about anyways?”

“he’s flying around with all the other little faries, all happy and gay”

this moment would then cause mike to snap and push troy.

also to note that mike was absolutley ready to fight troy, if it meant protecting the image of his friend.

when troy gets up ready to go and attack mike, he looks like he's going to punch him, but is stopped when el secretly squeezes his bladder with her mind, causing him to pee himself.

(note: troy’s face is of uncomfortableness, rather than embarrassment)

when we get to part 2, we’re going to talk about this first, along with a intermission

[wantedpreferablydeadplease]

Lil' list of out of Character things ol' Vivz has made me do: 🌾

1. try to assassinate my target in a public place, filled with witnesses, not hidin my face in th' slightest, missing my shots, and doing all o' that in front of the lovely lady that hired me while the writin made it obvious she called for my services.

2. The statue. Not only was it introduced in the episode that I was suddenly n' outa the blue decided to be repulsed by anythin sexual, but as one of you lovely little things said: its somethin that vermin "Chaz" would do. Not sumthn i would think up.

But after ol' Vivz thought it was a brilliant idea to say that her deer boy- Alastor, was only Aro/Ace because he couldnt love anyone 'cept himself, im not shocked that i kept the sex repulsed aspect t' myself.

Its also not suprisin t' say that all of Vivz other characters that are Ace ('cause there are no other Aro's) are either shown t' be Jackasses or children.

Pardon, i mean child, 'cause shes the only Ace that isn't shown t' be a complete tool. 'N even then she ain't anywhere near bein one of Vivz favorite characters, she's even gettin damn near harassed by some of the vermins that watch this show.

(☀️OOC:// Admin does not HC Striker as ace-spec, but is not anti Ace-spec Striker! If you HC him as Ace maybe this blog's striker just hasnt realized it yet lol IDK. I just think its insane to pretend your show is queer friendly when you tweet dumbass aphobic shit like "Alastor cant love anyone more than himself so thats why hes aro/ace!!!" paraphrasing - i dont have the actual screenshot but if anyone wants to send it to me id love that - ☀️)

3. Kidnappin and tormentin that prissy rich bird instead of jus' finishing the damn job i was bein' paid to do. First of all, why did the Lady tell me to "give 'em the real royal treatment" when the last time we interacted, she told me to just go and off him, no torture needed? If the Lady that hired me had told me to kidnap and torture 'im, why would i take shots at him with a blessed weapon? The fact that they had t' get the Lady to call me and tell me not t' kill him just adds a whole 'nother level of stupid to it all.

4. That scene in Oops where - out o' nowhere, suddenly and inexplicably, i jus' happen to see Blitz and his friend outside the exact buildin that i'm residin in, and i manage to kidnap them too. As well as it being at the exact moment im asked to bring somethin valuable in. What a coincidence.

5. Workin with Crimson in general, What was my motivation, means, an reasoning? What purpose did i have t' be workin with an idiot that doesnt even do background checks on the moron he's marryin off t' his son. It sounded like i was applyin for a job, but what was the job? what was i bein hired to do besides "kill anyone"? What does Crimson even do? Hes barely explained to be a mob boss, but thats about all we know 'bout him.

6. Showin my face in a ransom video that Crimson was sendin off to a Sin. Have i forgotten what being an assassin is? I competed in the Harvest Moon Festival to blend in so i could get my kill, it was also just a bit o' fun for me, bein a cowboy n' all. Plus, i was supposed to have gotten my kill without anyone knowin it was me, thats what the Long range weapon was for. But this aint' a Festival, this is Ransom. Nobody but a damn idiot would show their face to one of the 7 Deadly sins in a ransom video.

7. Gettin distracted by Fizzarolli's performance. I dont really count it as funny when it paints everyone in the room to be a complete idiot that gets distracted by two imps that are clearly trying to distract us. Just t' make us all look like blundering buffoons for a laugh. If i'm s'posed t' be a villain, I should have shot them both down the second they were loose.

8. Losin my mind at th' end of Oops. Not entirely sure why i was so strung up and irritated that whole episode, but i guess being trigger happy makes for an easier joke and more sudden episodic climax.

9. Scars on the wrong side of my face. Someone doesnt pay their workers enough to notice or care. Frankly i wont be blaming any o' the artists for that lil' mishap, 'cause Vivz should be payin and treatin them better. On a kinder note i do think my trial outfit fits me nicely.

Might be updatin this list at some point, 'cause Everything i do seems to be out of character. 🌾

[miwiheroes]

Colours in Severance: Red and Blue

I've never made an analysis post on Severance but I couldn't resist after noticing all these little details to do with colouring and costuming. If you follow me for my usual analyses, enjoy this little window into my other obsessions

I'm honestly sure this has been said before, but Red -- (red costuming, red lighting, red objects) -- symbolises the outside world. Blue -- (blue work suits, blue lighting, blue scenery) -- symbolises the inside, severed floor of Lumon. And this symbolism was part of the wider foreshadowing for the Ms. Casey/Gemma plot twist, and the narrative surrounding Severance as a whole.

Severance does a great job of contrasting the outie life and the innie life in the opening sequence, by having outie Mark wear red pyjamas. In the first episode, his sweater for going to Devon's dinner is also red.

In this shot, we see a blue car and a red car being divided or 'severed' by the white line of snow between them. Mark's car is a neutral silver colour, which is between them. Either this foreshadows his reintegration, meaning he can travel between the two severed worlds, or the fact that his car was on the red car's side just furthers the motif of red meaning the innie world.

This is the most prevalent colour dichotomy in the show, other than green and blue.

The office has red and blue paper.

Petey gives Mark a red envelope, symbolising his return to the surface.

The music dance experience has red and blue colouring.

One way this motif is used is to foreshadow Gemma being Ms. Casey.

In the first scene where we see Mark in his house, we notice how lonesome he seems. In the shot of him looking completely alone, we get the background of the red and blue fish.

This would be a good symbol of the outside world being separate from the severed world, because the red fish seems completely separated from the blue fish by the line down the middle. But this is in a scene that emphasises Mark Scout's loneliness without his wife. After the discovery of the plot twist, this can imply the separation of the memory of Gemma in one world, and the existence of her in the other.

What really drives this point homeward is this:

Rather than wearing blue like Helly R (Mark S's love interest in the severed world), Ms. Casey is wearing red to show that she existed in the outside world. Mark wears red in the outside world. Gemma wears red in the severed world. Mark wears blue in the severed world all the time.

Aside from other obvious clues such as the tree his wife crashed into being gone from Ms. Casey's office, severed Mark recreating this tree in sculpture form, and the candle in Ms. Casey's office literally being his wife's -- this is colour dichotomy is the smallest clue. But it exists.

So, in terms of what this actually signifies and means in relation to the narrative as a whole -- these colours are used as a motif to further show the split between the two worlds.

This can conjure up images of the red and blue pill from the Matrix, in which one pill reveals the true world and the other pill leaves you in ignorant bliss. The innies have no idea what happens in the outside world, and the original idea was to make this a good thing -- no outside issues whilst at work.

But human beings always want to know the truth, no matter how painful. And they should, which is the true essence of Severance. That erasing trauma through ignorance is not the key to healing it.

(if you came from my usual community pls watch this show you'll really really enjoy it)

[uniquexusposts]

Her || Charles Leclerc

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff  Story type: novel  Part: 34/? Word count: 2155 Co writer: @mistrose23

Story summary: Matilde Jørgensen, the new Scuderia Ferrari team principal, faced the nerve-wracking challenge of reviving the team's fortunes and aiming for a championship. Leading a historic team as a 'newbie' and separating her work and personal opinions posed a significant challenge. The big question: is she capable to do so?

Previous chapter

Chapter 32. Work, Noodles, Sleep, Repeat

Galileo and Matilde entered the hotel after a busy first two days during the Singapore Grand Prix. The night was warm and humid, a stark contrast to the air-conditioned coolness of the hotel lobby. It was late. They were living in the Singaporean time zone, but they were operating in the European time zone. Confusing, but also nice because there was no jet lag to deal with.

"I'm gonna go for a cigarette," Galileo announced as they walked across the polished marble floor. Before Matilde could comment, he added, "I'm trying to quit. But I'm longing for it so badly."

Matilde threw her hand up in the air. "I'm not judging you." For a moment, she was deciding if she should join him or not. "I'm actually gonna join you." She pressed the button for the lift. "If you don't mind."

"Sure, you do you," Galileo replied with a shrug.

They made their way to the top floor, where there was a rooftop bar and also a smokers area. They stepped outside into the warm night air. The city was still alive, lights reflecting off the skyscrapers, the faint hum of traffic in the background. Galileo put his bag on the floor and grabbed his cigarettes. Matilde was leaning against the railing, taking in the city. It was a habit from Galileo to offer a cigarette to the person who was with him. As he stuck the package to Matilde, he knew he could expect a no.

But to his surprise, Matilde accepted his offer and took one of the cigarettes. He didn't say anything about the sudden situation. They both lightened the cigarette and both took a drag.

"I did not know you smoked, Matilde," Galileo broke the silence.

"Hmm," she hummed and blew the smoke out. "I don't."

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, right."

"Sometimes... Whenever I feel like it," she answered his question. More like stress. "It's bad, I know."

"Hey, who am I to judge? This isn't my first one."

She smirked. "How's Gino?" Their eyes met, and she spotted a small spark of panic, but also a bit of shyness. "You can bring him more often, if you want to. Just let me know and I will fix it for you."

"How... How do you know about me and Gino?"

"I see you every day, I can see it in your eyes. When Gino walked over to you, the look in your eyes changed." A smile grew on her face. "He is a beautiful man. He looks like he came straight from a runway show."

A soft laugh rolled over Galileo's lips and he looked down. "And your man?"

The topic switch. Matilde noticed he didn't want to share about Gino yet, and it was fine. Who was she to push him to talk about it? He confirmed his relationship. Period. Matilde took another drag from the cigarette, in sync with Galileo, but she let the smoke linger for a moment before exhaling slowly.

"My man?" she chuckled. "I don't have time for a man." Her eyes drifted from Galileo back to the cityscape.

Galileo observed her quietly, sensing the weight behind her words. "No time, or just not the right one?" He was trying to fish for confirmation.

"Both," she blurted. "How do I have time for people when I have to restrain a bunch of men and women?" She looked at him. "This job... it consumes everything. Time, energy, even emotions. There's barely anything left at the end of the day."

"And yet," Galileo mused, "you're here, smoking a stress cigarette with your assistant on a rooftop in Singapore."

She let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Touché. But even then, it's hard to let someone in when you're always running at full speed."

"And someone within the sport?" Galileo quietly asked, raising his eyebrows. "He's at the same place at the same time."

Shit, shit, shit. Feeling the weight of Galileo's gaze. She took another drag, trying to buy herself a moment to steady her racing thoughts. He knew. She knew he knew. There was no mistaking the subtle shift in his tone, the way his question had cut just a little too close. If she could notice his behaviour around Gino, it made sense that he'd noticed hers around Charles.

"Nah," she finally said, her voice a bit too casual. "I don't date people in F1. I like to keep work and private life separate."

"Hmm-hmm." Galileo's nonchalant response felt like an invitation to continue, but also a challenge. The kind where he knew more than he was letting on.

Matilde forced a smile, trying to regain her composure. "What's the fun of telling each other things when you already know everything about each other's job?" She let out a soft laugh, but it sounded hollow even to her.

Galileo shrugged, his eyes still on her, noticing the slight tremor in her voice. He didn't push further, but the knowing look on his face said enough. Matilde and Charles. Who would have thought?

The silence stretched between them, filled with unspoken truths. Matilde felt her heart race, not from the cigarette or the late hour, but from the fear of being exposed. She wasn't ready to admit it, not to herself, and certainly not to anyone else.

"I get it," Galileo finally said, breaking the tension. "F1 is intense enough without adding personal complications into the mix."

She nodded, grateful for the lifeline he was offering. "Exactly. It's better this way."

"Sure," he replied, his tone neutral, but the way he looked at her made it clear he wasn't entirely convinced.

Matilde quickly stubbed out her cigarette, eager to change the subject again. She liked that her conversation with Galileo turned into personal conversations, instead of the usual work talk. However, this was too personal.

"I think I'm going to get some noodles," she said and took the hair clip out of her hair. Her hair fell on her shoulders. It felt thick and heavy. And curly. The humid night air enveloped her, making her curls spring to life. No one could see the effort she put into blow drying her hair this morning. She disliked her curls, but she took them as they are now. "The mini store in the hotel is closed already, so is the kitchen," she groaned and grabbed her phone to search for a noodle place in the neighbourhood.

To this day, Galileo was still not used to some of Matilde's habits. All the important people, like the head of departments, chiefs, the board, even some managers, expected to get the best service - read: I want something, so the people do it for me. But Matilde was different, she was like every other person. She earned a lot of money, but you wouldn't say or notice that. She was normal. "Do I need to call a security guy to stay close to you? Just in case?"

She was shaking her head. "I will call if something happens." She found a noodle spot just 500 metres away from the hotel. "Do you want to join?"

"No, thank you, I will get some rest," he thanked her for the offer. "Can you send me a message when you're back in the hotel? So I know you're back and fine?" He scanned her hair, not expecting the curls. It made sense why she was wearing her hair up, she barely did that during a Grand Prix.

"Sure."

Matilde wished her assistant a good night and went to her room to drop off her work bag and purse. She was too lazy - and too hungry - to change her Ferrari outfit to a casual outfit, even though it meant she was more recognisable now. Collecting a tote bag with a book, cardholder and her phone with earbuds with some music on, she left her hotel room and walked towards the noodle spot.

The walk was short, but it gave Matilde a good insight of life in Singapore. She spotted three people wearing a shirt of a team in F1, but no one recognised her. Reaching the noodle spot, she stepped inside and was greeted by the comforting aroma of broth and spices. The small restaurant was cosy, bustling, yet modern and neat, with locals, tourists and multiple F1 fans. Matilde joined the line, read the menu on the wall and waited until she could order.

After ordering and waiting for the noodles, she found a free table in the restaurant. One thing she thought was delightful in Asia, was how many midnight spots there were for food. Even some supermarkets were open. And the place was filled with people. Back home, in Denmark, this wasn't a big thing. Of course, there were midnight shops, but those were more for the drunk people who wanted a meal after the club.

She grabbed her book, a new book she bought at the airport. She made a deal with herself to only buy a book once a month at the airport - still a luxury. This time she picked a feel good romance, easy to read. Matilde unwrapped the chopsticks and dug into the steaming bowl while starting to read.

After a while, the music in her ears disappeared, meaning she had a caller. She quickly finished the chapter and answered the FaceTime call from her brother Lars. Expecting to see her big brother, it turned out to be her mother.

"Godaften," her mother said and smiled widely.

"Godeftermiddag," Matilde replied and smiled. "What a surprise." She took a bite of the noodles.

A laugh escaped her mother's mouth. "She's actually eating noodles now." Lars' head popped into the screen and he started to laugh.

Matilde raised her eyebrows. "Yes? And?" She swallowed. "I was hungry."

"It's all over Twitter," Lars said and grabbed another phone, probably of his mother's.

"What have I done now?" She looked at the photo Lars showed her. "Oh, my god, a team principal is eating noodles on her own in the evening. Wow, very special." She was glad no one understood her mother language now, even though she was talking quietly.

He sat down next to his mother, they were sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen. "But look at you; reading, while eating noodles, after qualifying, still wearing your Ferrari outfit and even wearing your paddock pass. I don't see Toto Wolff doing this."

"I was hungry. And I'm in Asia," she chuckled and took another bite. "I'm a normal human being. Let me live."

Her mother only smiled while listening. "How are you doing? Did you not do your hair?" She noticed the small baby curls around Matilde's hair line.

"It's so moisty here, it's incredible," Matilde replied.

"It feels like you are just walking around in a constant bathroom after a shower, right?"

Matilde nodded. "It's weird. When do you fly over to Singapore?"

"Not," the mother replied straightforwardly. "We don't fly to Singapore anymore."

"Oh." A dump smile came on Matilde's face. "What is your next flight?"

"I'm leaving for Vancouver tomorrow."

Matilde pouted. "I was hoping you would say Tokyo for next week. Then I could take you to the Grand Prix."

"The control centre can still change destinations, but don't count on it."

The mother and daughter were catching up with each other for a moment before Lars wanted to speak to Matilde in private. He walked into another room and Matilde recognised the home office of their stepdad.

"So," Lars said. "I know it's late for you, but I have an update about your contract."

Matilde slowly nodded. "Hmm-hmm."

After Monza, she left for Denmark for a week. This week was filled with meetings about media training, and other work related things.

And she dived into her contract about the lines she had crossed.

At first, she didn't want to ask her brother for help, but he was the only one who she could trust. Plus, he owned a company specialised in press and jurists on the workfloor. Matilde knew she fucked it up on many aspects, but she couldn't find out what this could mean according to her contract.

"First off, you made a big fucking mess," Lars sighed.

"How many times will you be repeating this?"

"As many times as I have to, to not let you make this mistake again." He gave his signature disapproving look. "Are you sure you want to do this here?"

"At this point, I fucked it up already, it doesn't matter anymore. Can't turn back time."

"Sure. So basically, if someone finds out and takes legal actions, you are fucked - obviously. If Charles takes legal actions, you are fucked - obviously. My advice: mark your boundaries again and make sure you won't make mistakes again," Lars summed up in his own words.

Matilde didn't have time to panic or overthink about it. She fucked it up, she accepted it and as long no one spoke about it, she should be fine.

It was easier than it sounded. 

Taglist: @itsjustkhaos @crashingwavesofeuphoria @maryvibess @ironmaiden1313 @blodwyn4u @sltwins @heart-trees @npcmia @llando4norris

[zeroseuniverse]

Ready To Love

Word Count: 931 Summry: She glared. "And you’re annoyingly good with them." Kun smirked. "I’m annoyingly good at a lot of things." Pairing: Kun X fem Reader

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She was not built for chaos. Her life was meticulously organized—calendars color-coded, deadlines met weeks in advance, and every meal planned down to the last calorie. Disruptions were unacceptable.

So when her best friend called her in a panic, she should have known better than to pick up.

“___, please, I swear it’s just for a week,” Her friend pleaded. The desperation in her voice was evident, but she was already shaking her head, even though she couldn’t see her.

“ I have meetings, deadlines, I can’t—”

“Nari loves you! And I have no one else. My mom’s out of town, my cousin bailed, and if I cancel this work trip, my boss will actually fire me.”

She hesitated. The thought of caring for a toddler—a whole human being—for an entire week made her stomach clench. But then she heard a soft giggle in the background, followed by Nari’s tiny voice:

“Auntie ___?”

Damn it.

She sighed. “One week. That’s it.”

Her friend exhaled in relief. “You’re a lifesaver. I owe you so much.”

Yeah, she did.

She learned very quickly that a two-year-old had no respect for schedules, efficiency, or the concept of personal space.

Nari was adorable, sure—pudgy cheeks, big eyes, and an alarming ability to wrap her around her tiny fingers—but she was also a menace. She refused to sit still, turned meal times into a war zone, and somehow managed to make her feel like the most incompetent adult in the world.

By the end of the first day, she was exhausted. Her apartment was covered in toys (which she definitely didn’t own before), her inbox was overflowing, and her neatly structured life had been completely derailed.

Then came the final straw.

She was struggling to get Nari into her stroller for a quick grocery run when she heard a low chuckle from behind.

"Need some help?"

She turned and found herself face-to-face with her neighbor—Kun.

Of course it had to be him.

Kun had always been... annoyingly perfect. The kind of guy who helped elderly neighbors carry their groceries, always remembered birthdays, and had a seemingly endless supply of patience. He was also ridiculously charming—the worst kind of person.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, trying to wrestle Nari’s arm through the stroller straps.

Kun raised an eyebrow, then knelt in front of Nari. “Hey, kiddo. You wanna help me out here?”

To her absolute betrayal, Nari grinned and reached for him immediately. Kun fastened her in the stroller in three seconds flat.

She scowled. “How—?”

He smirked. “Oldest of four. I’ve been through this before.”

Of course.

By the third day, she had no choice but to accept defeat.

After another sleepless night—Nari hated sleeping, apparently—she found herself standing outside Kun’s apartment, knocking hesitantly.

He opened the door, eyebrows raised. “Wow. You look—”

“Finish that sentence and die,” she muttered.

He grinned. “How can I help?”

She exhaled. “I need a break. Just an hour.”

Kun didn’t hesitate. “Done.”

She blinked. “Wait, really?”

“Of course,” he said easily. “I like kids.”

“You like everything.”

He laughed. “Not everything. But I do like helping you.”

She ignored the way her stomach flipped at that.

Kun took Nari to the park, giving her an hour of blissful, uninterrupted silence. When he brought her back, she was laughing—giggling—and he looked so effortlessly at ease with her that something in her chest ached.

"She’s an angel," Kun said fondly.

She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. "She’s a demon.”

He just chuckled. "You’re just bad with kids."

She glared. "And you’re annoyingly good with them."

Kun smirked. "I’m annoyingly good at a lot of things."

By now, Kun had somehow wormed his way into her daily routine. He showed up with breakfast, played with Nari when she had meetings, and made her laugh more than she had in years.

It was getting dangerous.

She wasn't looking for romance. She barely had time for herself, let alone a relationship. But Kun made it so easy.

And the worst part? She liked it.

That night, after Nari had fallen asleep, she found herself sitting beside him on her couch, both nursing cups of tea.

“I don’t get it,” she admitted. “Why are you like this?”

Kun tilted his head. “Like what?”

“Nice. Patient. Helpful. Just... good.”

He smiled softly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because life isn’t like that.”

Kun studied her for a moment. “I think you just haven’t let yourself slow down enough to see the good parts.”

She swallowed. No one had ever said something like that to her before.

And the scariest part?

She wasn't sure he was wrong.

When her friend arrived to pick up Nari, she expected to feel relieved.

Instead, her chest felt... hollow.

She handed Nari over, ruffling her hair as she clung to her one last time.

“Bye-bye, Auntie!” she giggled.

She smiled. “Bye, munchkin.”

As they left, she turned to Kun, suddenly feeling awkward. Without Nari around, there was no reason for him to keep showing up. No excuse to let him into her life.

But he lingered.

“So,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What now?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

Kun’s gaze was steady. “I do.”

Her heart pounded. “Oh?”

“Dinner,” he said simply. “With me.”

Her lips parted. “With or without a toddler?”

He smirked. “Let’s start with just us.”

And for once in her life, she let the schedule go.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Kun’s smile was slow, warm, and full of something terrifyingly real.

Maybe—just maybe—this was a kind of chaos she could learn to love.

[soulidarity]

focused on your senses

after the bond between the two gets stronger, rafayel senses the blurred line between them

hurt? maybe???? | mentions of rafayels condition | check my notes at the end!

rafayel felt an agonizing amount of pain on his left knee, waking him up from his slumber. it wasn't unusual for him to feel discomfort there when walking, but he never had experienced this, it felt foreign.

as if the pain wasn't his

his brain was spiraling with a million thoughts as he tried to make sense of this, fearing that the cause of this was her.

as quickly as he could, and in a very clumsy matter, he reached for his phone on the nightstand. 12:08, she should be at work. he didn't know if that relieved him or made him worry more.

a ring...

then another...

the pain became stronger, as if needles were constantly stabbing it. moving it didnt seem to make any difference to the amount of pain, not what he usually experienced when he had bad knee days.

another ring...

a grunt could be heard on the other line

"kinda busy yel!" the familiar sound of her gun shooting was heard in the background

"did you hurt your left knee?!" he said frantically

"thats totally not an oddly specific and not a creepy thing to say out of nowhere" another gunshot "yeah i did- how do you... nevermind, can i call you back?"

"yeah, yeah for sure. just, please, stay safe"

the call disconnected, a deafening silence. rafayel took of his shirt and went to the bathroom mirror, the pain once again didnt seem to react to his movement, just a constant. the image of his reflection confirmed his theory, his bond mark glowing.

"ugh... fuck."

hours later, the sound of his number pad lock being unlocked drew him away from his thoughts, as a very agitated mc entered his home, throwing her bag onto the kitchen counter halfhazardly. he would coo at the domesticity of the action if it wasn't for the situation they were in.

"okay, what kinda lemurian bullshit did you pull?"

taken aback, rafayels eyes widened as he guided mc to the couch, raising her left leg onto the foot rest nearby, "i didnt do anything!"

"then how did you know? the wanderer had literally just attacked me when you called. which by the way, new rule. no more calling during work hours unless you're dying. just text me"

"it sure felt like i was dying" rafayel muttered, pouting.

"...huh"

"okay so remember how I told you that when lemurians bond our senses are focused on our partners?"

"yeah... your point?"

"i now feel the pain youre in, it woke me up"

"you were sleeping?"

"i dont think thats the point cutie!"

"right, you're right. sorry just... deflecting, I guess? this is a lot. like, im in pain most of the time so this isn't good"

"that isnt good by itself" rafayel argued "we can focus on that later, first this. why did it show up now? havent we've been... 'bonded' for a while now?"

he thought for a while, trying to come up with a recent significant event of their relationship "could this be the first big injury you have since our trip to the dessert?"

"actually, yes. but ive been in pain before these days" rafayel looked at her sternly "we'll revesit that later, but i think i could've confused it with pain from my own stuff, like, my bad posture and other stuff"

"so what do we do? i can't just not get injured, it's part of the job, but i don't want to hurt you"

"clearly it only bothers me if its a very significant injury, which I really hope you don't get. I wont stop you from doing your job, we'll figure it out as we go, okay?" he geabbed her hands, a reassuring smile on his face. she looked back at him warmly "alright, get me some ice"

hiiii i have some word vomit to do about this so bear with me or stop reading

1- if you dont know what condition raf has, its been said to a lot of time in canon that he has a hard time running, walking, standing, his resting posture even shows that he puts more weight on his right leg. he is also going blind 🤓☝️. i want to explore him losing his senses and abilities due to this undiagnosed issue and starting to feel more from mc from the bond. it is said that his senses are now focused on her, this is probably not what infold meant.

2- lately ive been dealing with my own health issue, to get better i have to do stuff that cause me the same pain that my illness does so i dont take care of my self much which i know is bad in the long run. so yes i am projecting onto yel leave me alone 😔

3- i think this might be a series! i want to explore other senses, not necessarily angsty though!!!!! i love fluff. life is way too dreadful to not have a bit of wimsy writing about two fictional characters

[wolfgirl-valentine]

Watercolors, watercolors pencils and ink pen.

My entry for Dreamling Nation's House of horrors, I wasn't going to publish it(and I'm still anxious about it) but my friends at the "Dreaming con ñ" server were very supportive about it, so I decided since I spend so much time in it I might as well publish it. I wanted to make a drabble companion for it to give it more context, but I didn't have the time, so I'll write down the general idea...

This was inspired by the Ballroom prompts(all of them)

An AU where things ended differently in 1889, they actually talked, Dream accepted Hob friendship and after a couple years they realized it was more than that. They got together, and loved wach other in a very obsessive and deranged way. So when Burgess captured Dream, it only took a couple months for Jessamy to get Hob to rescue him. Hob arrived in the middle of one of the first parties throw by Burgess, Jessamy wanted to wait for the next night and do it discretely, but Hob wasn't going to make Dream wait even a minute more. Hob promised Jessamy to don't take unnecessary risks, but seeing Dream Ruby hanging from Burgess neck makes him see red. He ends killing everyone in the place, except Burgess, he left him to Dream.

Hob takes Dream out of the sphere, and he finds charming the violence Hob is willing to inflict in his name. Dream gets his things back, punishes Burgess, and shares another tender moment with Hob in the middle of the Ballroom, the gramophone still playing, they end dancing a waltz, the end.

Everything was supposed to be narrated from Alex perspective.

Anyways, close up of the faces before the colors under the cut

[hinamie]

unconditionally

[keferon]

OKAY OH MY GOD THIS FIC IS GREAT I HAVE ONLY READ THREE AND A HALF CHAPTERS AND IM ALREADY IN LOVE

I originally wanted to make both of these pieces in color but I’m gonna be honest I have no fucking idea how to draw Ricochet…he is described as black and red and…mmhhmmm does he have canonical (canonical for this fic I mean) design? Do I need to design him myself? Idk I’ll figure this out later