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codenamesazanka · 3 months ago

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rant. this was a vent in response to the final chapter, but the anime reaching the heteromorph riot arc got me all whiny again. embarrassingly personal.

On "Peaceful Resolutions" + general heteromorph riot arc stuff

When I was in elementary school - I forget what age - there was a snow day. Children love snow days. Me, my younger sibling, and my grandmother went outside to play. We wanted to use the neighborhood hill to sled. Unfortunately, it was already being used by some older kids. Middle schoolers only a few years older than me?

They didn't want to share the hill. So they pushed and shoved us. They threw snowballs at us. When I cried for them to stop, they laughed. When my grandmother, who didn't know English, who spoke only Chinese, yelled at them to stop, they laughed, and mocked her. "Ching chong ching chong." After that, no matter what me or my sibling said in English, they pretended not to understand and just kept chanting slurs. There is nothing more frustrating than screaming out your pain that you know people can hear and understand, and having it fall on deaf ears; more than that, your pain is enjoyment for them.

Was this discriminatory incident resolved peacefully? Well, me, my sibling, and my grandmother cut our snow day short and went home. Our retreat was 'peaceful', but I guess the incident wasn't exactly resolved.

Would attacking them back helped? No, of course not. (And not that we could. We were two elementary kids and an elderly woman. Understand that bullies nearly always purposefully target those weaker than them, ones who can't fight back without negative consequences.) Indeed, things would've just escalated. But we didn't want to retaliate. We didn't want revenge. We just wanted them to stop.

Did we do anything about it? No, it was just some kids being mean. A very minor thing (even as the incident, only one among others, continues to destroy our perception that this neighborhood was ever safe for us, truly our home. But my town had an active neo-nazi gang that liked to vandalize houses and slip posters into newspapers, so it was never going to be safe.) We didn't know our neighbors well because of language barriers, because we stood out as a Chinese family in a largely white neighborhood and people didn't talk to us much either. We wouldn't know how to alert the parents of these kids. And we thought, even if we did complain - a non-violent method of action - they might just find us annoying. They might hate us more. What if the language barrier leads to more confusion and conflict? We didn't want to risk it. We kept our heads down and let the incident go. My family became more reluctant to go out, to let me and my sibling outside to play. We maintained the peace.

Understand that it doesn't really matter what an discriminated minority does to resist discrimination - the perpetrator can find any act of resistance inappropriate. That is their prerogative by being in the position of power.

Shoji saved a girl, gave the community peace by preventing them from having to grieve her death. His village then bashed his face with a hoe for daring to resist and break the norms of the village, for daring to touch the girl to save her life.

A third party, of course, can come and resolve the incident by de-escalating everything. But for my incident, it was not me that this third party needed to stop. We did not engage in violence. It was the older kids. And had I retaliated - idk how, as a child; tackle them? - to protect my grandmother, my younger sibling - that would be self defense, likely because I wanted the bullying to stop and had to resort to violence when nothing else worked; because I feared the violence they were about to do to us more than my fear and reluctance to engage in violence in the first place. Maybe self-defense is too strong a word here for schoolyard bullying, but the principle is the same.

(It wasn't just schoolyard bullying, obviously. There were other incidents, from when I was younger, when I'm much older. This incident is one that I feel is less revealing/personal/vulnerable to tell.)

There was no peace in that incident that wasn't broken by the perpetrator to begin with. Not that the peace was peaceful for us in the first place. Bringing about true peace is solely on stopping the perpetrator, and ultimately on dealing with the root cause.

“Discriminatory incident” is so vague. An incident can be anything. “Peaceful Resolution” implies responsibility on all parties. What we're told isn't 'Shoji stops the bigots nonviolently'. (Also: The bigots are afforded this. Villains must be put down with violence, but not the people throwing rocks and spraying pesticides on children. I'm of course of the opinion that violence shouldn't be used to stop bigots or Villains except as a last resort, but the manga has demonstrated that no Hero ever stopped a bigot using the same methods they use on Villains. Why is that?) It isn't 'Shoji saves victims of hate crimes'. Judging by Shoji's own statements and how the heteromorph arc plays out, a peaceful resolution is stopping both the heteromorph victim (who may or may not be lashing out - in response to the hate crime) and perpetrator - If anything, more stopping the heteromorphs.

I’m going to suggest that rarely, heteromorphs ever actually retaliate with violence. True, the heteromorphs we see (Shoji, ordinary lady, Koda's mom) aren't part of the rioters but are we to believe all these rioters are people who react with violence every time, and it's their first solution? When they stopped the damn riot themselves because they didn't want to hurt the healthcare workers? (and even the riot wasn’t purposeless, indiscriminate violence - they were solely there to retrieve Kurogiri). Pig Nose guy says he's been beaten up for no reason, so he's already at the receiving end of violence that justifies self-defense, but we can assume he didn't actually lash out any of those times because he's the one who stops everyone, feeling so bad about just the idea of hurting someone.

I can’t say that’s 100% canon that none of the heteromorphs ever lashed out (and of course ‘statistically’ some of them must have), but overall, for most of them, it’s a legitimate assumption to be made. The heteromorphs from the Jeda or 6/6 incidents were fully massacred. Shoji and Spinner were children - Shoji was on the ground, getting bashed in the face with a farming hoe wielded by an adult. Spinner got sprayed with pesticides for walking outside and became a hikikomori, saying that he accepted being a ‘lizard freak’, he was ready to give up. (And he only took action when the extraordinary moment of Stain getting on TV made him realized he hated this suffocating world where Heroes failed him, never protected him.) Ordinary Lady never lashed back out at her attackers. Koda’s mom had to be protected by Koda’s dad.

Even the PLF agitator - his wound is a long deep scar on his head - a head injury that would’ve thoroughly incapacitated him, if not kill him. It is likely not the wound of someone hitting back with self-defense as if the PLF agitator was the one attacking someone and they were fighting back for their life.

These are the ‘Discriminatory Incidents’. What does a peaceful resolution look like, here?

The heteromorphs at the hospital aren’t there to get revenge. They’re there because they’ve been pushed into a corner and probably have become afraid for their lives, their future. During a national crisis where Heroes order civilians to go into hero-guarded shelters, these shelters had the audacity to refuse heteromorphs, leaving them out on the streets, vulnerable to the dangers of jailbreakers and lack of resources.

The peace was broken first by discrimination. The heteromorphs probably took Spinner’s call to action as a life preserver. Heroes had refused to protect them during the collapse of the state; and so they likely found truth in Spinner’s word that if Heroes win the day, nothing will change. They weren’t there to hurt anyone at the hospital - they were there to take back Kurogiri.

But Shoji framed the whole thing as revenge, as being avengers. He accused the heteromorphs of being violent and non-peaceful, without ever naming the first act of violence on the part of the non-heteromorphs. He didn’t want to risk the heteromorphs’ hard-won reputation and status (“You’ll set us back 30 years.* They’ll target your children.”) He wanted the heteromorphs to do what my family did - kept our heads down and let the incident go. Maintained the peace.

Shoji said that those who hurt the heteromorphs weren’t justified, but he then says “there has to be a better way”. We never find out what this was, beyond the vague ‘Shine bright’.

(I shined bright, too. I was a straight-A student. I did extracurriculars - piano, viola, art, softball. As did my sibling. My family were hard-working citizens. My mom worked two jobs. I hate telling these details, because they don't matter. My worth as someone who doesn’t deserve to face discrimination does not and should not depend on my grades or trained skills, how pleasant or cool I seem to someone. None of that matters to the people who wanted to hurt us because they simply saw being visibly Asian American as the offense.)

We don’t find out how Shoji’s better way works in the final chapter either. Just that he resolved the incidents ‘peacefully’. Because he wanted to solve discrimination peacefully. As do everyone, oppressors and the oppressed. But ‘peace’ often means something different to oppressors, and something different to the oppressed.

(Did Shoji resolve the heteromorph riot peacefully? Not really. He shouted a lot to the crowd, but he also fought Spinner (ah, you might say - well, Spinner was using violence! Shoji has to react to that with punching as well! Yeah. That's what I mean.) Koda had birds shoved someone off a building.)

Shoji’s better ways - I will assume it’s stopping the blood cleansings. That is a noble goal. It is a necessary and vital goal. And so, how? How does he cover the large areas of rural land, so that he’s there to stop these hate crimes? How does he know when something will happen? Is it a campaign and community-level action? Uraraka’s tackling of Quirk Counseling is a ‘project’, widespread and implemented on a macro level. Shoji’s efforts are on what’s implied to be individual incidents. But putting that aside for now, I will assume “resolving” is talking down the perpetrator. I will assume it’s protecting the victim while negotiating with the person holding the weapon.

Peaceful implies that he does so without violence (as he should! As a Hero Law Enforcement of the State!); but a blanket label of ‘peaceful’ also implies stopping the other party (the victim) asking them to stand down as well.

I just think - during my Discriminatory Incidents, how can anyone have me stand down, have stopped me, when I haven't done anything in the first place? And if I did have to be stopped from engaging in self-defense, that's not a resolution. That's a save. That's someone saving me from the violence, saving me from having to resort to violence.

Heroes save people. There's no question of 'peacefully' when they fight villains to save people. There’s no framing of ‘peacefully’ when they do so. But it seems heteromorphs are not allowed the same language of ‘peacefully’ and 'save'.

tl;dr. idk. the heteromorph mini-arc’s writing and message is awful.

*re: “set us back 30 years.” I know we don’t know exactly what happened 30 years ago, but we can guess - and so I don’t think guessing one of the named massacres is too wild. From my own experiences, the murder of Vincent Chin was about 40 years ago. I grew up with Vincent Chin as a horror story.

Being told that, due to whatever actions I was doing, would set back all that progress Asian Americans made since then is just cruel and wrong and illogical in all ways. Vincent Chin didn’t deserve to be murdered whatever he did 40 years ago, and he deserved to have his murderers be brought to real justice. The sheer injustice of that case is objective. There is no way someone can tell me that I’m setting time back to when the murder of Vincent Chin happened, that I would be causing injustice like that again, I’m responsible for any more murders that happen, and have that be in any way true.

Related— On Bnha's apparent ideal of "a hero is someone who is willing to suffer in silence" and "we'll get it right next generation!"

From Asian American Dreams, by Helen Zia:

The reaction within the Detroit area’s small, scattered Asian American population was immediate and visceral. Suddenly people who had endured a lifetime of degrading treatment were wondering if their capacity to suffer in silence might no longer be a virtue, when even in death, after such a brutal, uncontested killing, they could be so disrespected.

[...]

Vincent was part of an entire generation for whom the immigrant parents had suffered and sacrificed. Other Asian Americans also found a strong connection to the lives of Vincent, Lily, and David Chin. Theirs was the classic immigrant story of survival: work hard and sacrifice for the family, keep a low profile, don’t complain, and, perhaps in the next generation, attain the American dream. For Asian Americans, along with the dream came the hope of one day gaining acceptance in America. The injustice surrounding Vincent’s slaying shattered the dream.

#nalslastworkingbraincell #i hate using personal anecdotes to argue a point #but can't help it this time

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foster-the-world · 4 months ago

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Best time

Took the girls to a French Fry restaurant/stand in the West Village that I used to go to all of the time when I was in my 20's. Of course, they loved it. Then we went to the Tenement Museum. I love that place. They also liked it. I'm sure somethings went over there head but they still go things out of it. I made them write a passage about it because I'm that kind of Mom. I really want their writing to improve this summer. I was surprised neither of them knew what the word immigrant meant. A third to half of their class is immigrant children. I had booked a tour about a 13year old girl which was geared toward children. Unfortunately, turned out I had booked the wrong day. They kindly let me go on a different tour. We did one called "100 years apart" about a Chinese family in the 1970s and a Prussian/Germany family in the 1870s. The kids got to see a rotary phone and a tape recorder. We've always treated immigrants unfairly/blamed them for our problems and then gotten pissed off when the economy goes to shit when we limit immigration.

Baby boy loved the Danny Go show. He was so into it - my husband and I were dying laughing. We also found a really nice community pool that we took him to three times this weekend. Its free and huge. I'd been to the Central Park pool before I had kids and found it kind of gross. I falsely assumed all city pools would be like that. Was very happy to find out that was not true. Baby boys swimming is getting better everyday.

Don't judge (or do, whatever, we are doing the best we can) but baby boy (4yo in June) still sleeps in a crib with a pop up mesh tent over it. We know we should have gotten him out but there is no way he would stay in a bed if he could easily get out. With this set up he sleeps a solid 11-12 hours per night, without complaint. He knows he can't get out so he doesn't try. He doesn't cry and if he did we would go in. He's very, very bothered when he does not get enough sleep. He's impulsive when he gets enough sleep I cannot imagine his behavior if he did multiple nights without enough sleep. Last night he put a hole in the mesh tent and got right out. Normally he falls asleep within 5-10 minutes. Last night we stayed in the room and it took two hours. Then of course he was up in the middle of the night. He laid in our bed not sleeping for another two hours. I told my husband to warn his teacher. No way he's going to be okay at school today. By the time we see him at 5pm he'll be out of control. I'll sew up the tent tonight. I ordered another one. We should at least try a floor twin bed with a tent over it sometime soon. My Mom/Aunt are coming Wednesday to watch them over the weekend while we go to a wedding. I can't put that on her. I'm sure its like most kid things - someday he will sleep in a big kid bed and I wont even remember worrying about this. We just need to get it over with.

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ash-and-books · 10 months ago

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Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb: A 12-year-old girl wins an invitation to train as an apprentice to immortals in the first book of the new must-read magical series destined to take the world by storm—perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, Skandar and Eragon. Let the competition begin! An outsider in her village above the cloud sea, 12-year-old orphan Yeung Zhi Ging’s only hope of escape is to win the single invitation to train as a Silhouette: an apprentice to the immortals. After her ill-fated attempt to impress the Silhouette scout leads to a dragon attack on the jade mountain, Zhi Ging is sure that her chances, and her life, are over. But the scout spots her potential and offers her protection and a second chance. She’s in.

In her lessons in Hok Woh, the underwater realm of the immortals, Zhi Ging must face the challenging trials set by her teachers to prove that she’s worthy of being a Silhouette—despite her rivals' attempts to sabotage her. But as Zhi Ging’s power grows, so do the rumours of the return of the Fui Gwai, an evil spirit that turns people into grey-eyed thralls.

When the impossible happens and the Fui Gwai attack the Silhouettes, can Zhi Ging use her newly uncovered talents to save her friends and the world beyond? Or will the grey-eyed spirit consume them all?

Review:

A young girl who will do anything to become an apprentice to immortals to escape her life finds herself awakening powers she never knew she had. Yeung Zhi Ging is a 12 year old orphan girl who yearns to become a Silhouette, someone who is an apprentice to the immortals. Despite losing and not impressing the scout, she is determined to find a way to get a spot... even if it means facing a dragon attack. All her life she has been different and she wants nothing more than to fit in. When she is given a second chance to become an apprentice she must undergo extensive trials to prove she has what it takes. Yet the longer she stays in the trials the stronger her powers become... and the more questions of who she is begins to be asked. This started off as a really interesting read but then got a bit messy and dragged on by the end. This is the first book in the series but I don't think I will be continuing on with the rest of the books. It's not a bad series for middle grade readers, in fact, I would recommend it. However I just felt that it could be better, this is very much a "magical school" kind of novel with a "not like other kids" protagonist. I was hoping the trials/journey for Zhi would be more interesting but it just kind of all blended together and there weren't any stand out moments. I did enjoy that this series added a touch of chinese mythology to it though. Overall, this is a good series for young readers who enjoy magical school-esque stories.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #paper dragons

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purplesurveys · 2 years ago

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1665

What’s your favorite amusement park? Feels unfair to call it a favorite when it’s the only one I’ve been to, but to be fair Universal Studios in Singapore wasn’t bad at all. Only thing I hated about the trip was that gross couple in front of us who endlessly made out while my family and I were in line for one of the rides.

Do you know your social security number (or equivalent) off by heart? Nah. Our HR team currently takes care of everything relating to my social security so there isn’t really a reason for me to memorize it, at least for now lol.

What would you take to a potluck dinner? Truffle mac and cheese from my favorite Italian restaurant.

Do you have any sisters? How is your relationship with them? I have a sister, two years younger. We’re pretty tight, but our relationship is very casual more than anything. We’ll rant to each other and occasionally share how our day went, but we’d never confide in one another or have heart-to-hearts.

When was the last time you changed your hair and what did you do to it? I had it dyed to purple and trimmed up to my neck last October. It’s since faded back to a light brown and my roots are awkwardly growing out, but I’ll likely wait til June-ish to dye it back to purple again so that it looks perfect by the time we fly to Thailand.

What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done? Uh. Maybe that time I got an ex-partner a pendant with some pretty significant symbols inside when you open it? I don’t remember 98% of the relationship, but that one sticks out.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, what was the last one you listened to and did you like it? No, my attention span is too awfully short for something like that. Also why I can never get into podcasts no matter how hard I try.

Describe yourself in five words. Loyal, (too) hardworking, passionate, resentful, sensitive.

What was your favorite class in high school? History.

When was the last time you did laundry? Couple of days ago.

Do you own a leather jacket? Do you wear it often? No. No reason to own one considering the climate we experience in this part of the world, hahaha.

Can you get Chinese food from a drive-thru in your town? Yeah, we have a Chowking just right outside the village.

If you could choose your middle name, what would you pick? I’ve always liked my second name (Isabelle). I liked it too much to the point that when I was a kid and was being teased in school about my unisex name, I tried making my second name my main nickname; it didn’t stick though. Partially my fault too because I’d never turn around when I was being called by my second name hahaha

Would you rather see a sunrise or sunset? Sunset. I don’t like waking up early, and I’ve always thought sunsets looked better and more peaceful anyway.

Do you have any plans to buy any furniture in the near future? Nope.

When you go to bed, do you go to sleep straight away? Sometimes, but most of the time I’d continue to use my phone and go through social media and Reddit until my eyes start feeling heavy.

What do you do for a living? I work as an account manager in the public relations industry.

Do you own a suitcase? When was the last time you used it? Where did you go? I do, but I haven’t used it in since 2016 when I went on a cruise and had to pack for three different countries. I don’t plan on using it for my upcoming Thailand and Malaysia trips, either.

How many pets have you had in your life? More than 10, but I don’t remember how many goldfish we owned in total.

Is there any soda in your fridge right now? We may have Coke actually but idk?? I had my birthday dinner with friends last night and my mom asked if anybody wanted soda so apparently we have some.

Do you call it soda, pop, fizzy drink or something else entirely? Soda or softdrink depending on who I’m talking to. Filipinos tend to use ‘softdrink’ so I’m likely to use that when talking to an older friend/relative.

Do you need to get any groceries right now? What do you need? MORE 3-IN-1 COFFEE. I recently ran out :(

If I was visiting your town, what would you take me to see and do? Probably one of the cafés up the mountain so you can see the Metro Manila skyline.

What was the last thing you spent money on? Beer.

What subscription services do you have? Spotify, YouTube Premium, Netflix, Disney+.

Do you like olives? I have my moods for it but otherwise I will take them out if I encounter them in a dish.

Would you rather be too warm or too cold? Too cold. These days the heat index is reaching 50ºC so being ‘too warm’ is at the VERY BOTTOM of my priorities right now.

What’s your favorite name for a girl? Olivia. I like the name Mia too, but one of my clients has the same name so for now it’s taken a backseat as my favorite lololol. I love Elliott for a girl, too.

How do you make your coffee? I rely on 3-in-1 coffee precisely because I’m terrible at making my own coffee and always fuck up the ratios for the add-ons.

Do you know anyone who has a matching tattoo with someone? (including yourself)? Apart from BTS, no not really lol.

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blrush · 3 years ago

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Rec List Request

A personalised list for @jammy-boy 🥰 could be of interest to others, so enjoy!

Basic requirements: - just finished and loved SOTUS - is Arthur/Merlin trash - loves a twist or reversal of classic “power-dynamic” - loves angst with happy ending ______________________________

Theory of Love

Film student Third (Gun) has been secretly in love with his best friend Khai (Off) for three years, but Khai is straight, a massive player, and a total arsehole if we’re being honest. This starts painful, but then they start playing around with tropes and expectations and then it changes POV which just HITS so hard and completely changes your whole perception. You know the movie Flipped? It references that, and then does the flip - so good.

Knowing the level of pining, pain and angst that you love (plus your background in film studies) I feel like this is required viewing. Get out the tissues. But also, it’s still really funny and cute/dumb (cause gmmtv) and the production was excellent. Also, Off/Gun are PEAK natural chemistry and Gun is such an incredible actor that watching him cry or yell at someone is still preferable to other actors being happy.

Watch on YouTube HERE

He’s Coming To Me

Precious baby boi Singto plays Med, a ghost, who is is stuck in limbo for 20 years - until he meets a boy who can see him, Thun (my baby boi Ohm) who promises to help him figure out his unfinished business and cross over. And then they were roommates! And then they start falling in love and it’s ANGSTY because they know Med will have to leave one day. Ouch, my heart.

You will enjoy the mixture of domestic fluff and tragic angst in this. But don’t worry it has a happy ending (kind of, I think, from memory haha). Also, you will enjoy the fact that they can’t touch (cause, ghost) which is *chefs kiss* except for moments of heightened emotions when Thun’s powers become strong enough that he can touch Med (FUCK YES, THIS TROPE IS EVERYTHING)

After much whining from fans, they put it up on Youtube haha so watch HERE.

Until We Meet Again

ANNGST. RE.IN.CAR.NA.TION. ANGST. What else do you need to know?!?! Reincarnated soulmates trope?!!? HELLO!?!? It’s so beautiful. I’m still not over it. And yes it has a happy ending, it starts super sad, then ends up super fluffy and the romantic fluffy moments oh god it’s so romantic. I know you love like soft domestic food sharing etc - this show is ALL about the cooking.

The casting, the characterisation, the acting, the story, the music, even the friendship group and the side-couple, it’s perfection *chefs kiss* PERFECTION

Watch on youtube HERE

A Tale of A Thousand Stars

After the lovely volunteer teacher Torfun dies (RIP poor torfun) in a tragic accident, her heart is transplanted into selfish pretty rich boy Tian (played by the beautiful Mix). After learning of her selfless character, he feels guilt and shame for living (the angst is very real) and makes it his mission to complete her life’s wishes and follow in her footsteps.

As the new village volunteer teacher, he then falls in love with the very handsome and very shirtless chief Phupha (Earth), who lives to protect the trees, we stan an environmental man. Angst, fluff, complications, and many miscommunications ensue. I was tearing my hair out by the end of this show. Yes, it has a happy ending (eventually). Earth x Mix was a pairing we did not know we even wanted or needed until this show happened and now I cry every time I see a picture of them together. Every single time Phupha looks at Tian in this show I literally tear up. HE LOVES HIM SO MUUUUUCHHH *crying again*

Watch on youtube HERE

I Told Sunset About You

Childhood best-friends, turned enemies (for stupid kid reasons), to lovers. This is ANGSTY but so fucking beautiful it’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t even class this as “BL” because it doesn’t have any of the standard tropes, and there’s no silly sound-effects or innuendo jokes. This is like genuine lgbt+ indie-film realness. You can honestly just watch it for the cinematography and the music. The AESTHETIC of this show is what truly makes it special. The symbolism, the colours, this show said CINEMA. And the sexual tension is absolutely WILD. You will live for the angst (with a happy ending). And no, do not bother watching season 2, it’s perfect as a stand-alone mini-series. (I’m still upset).

Watch HERE

and now for some stand-out non-Thai series...

Where Your Eyes Linger

Korea has gotten on the BL train, and has now made a whole bunch of viki mini-series that are all cute but this one is right up your alley. This is VERY merthur. It’s literally servant/master, bodyguard/prince trope. But, I thought the characterisation was nicely thought out and wasn’t what I was expecting. The tension is palpable, the angst is juicy, and the soft kdrama vibes are cheesy and wonderful. Angst with a happy ending (of course).

Watch on VIKI

HIStory 3: Trapped

So the Taiwanese HIStory series has been around forever, and I love the whole series (History 2: Crossing The Line is my all time fav). But for youuuu, I think the most appropriate is Trapped. Police detective single-mindedly obsessed with a gang leader? Yes please. But whatever power-dynamic expectations you would have of a police/criminal couple are twisted and warped immediately! This series is so endearing, it’s mostly comedy/action, and whilst it has plenty of angst, mostly it’s just CUTE as fuck. Also the side couple are adorable too!

The whole History series is on Viki now yay!

The Untamed

Look, I KNOW 50 episodes of plot-heavy chinese historical fantasy is a lot. But there’s a reason this show was soooo popular. It only took me like 3 attempts and a whole ass “guide” pdf to figure out what the fuck was happening in the first ep cause its non-linear. But, if you are in the right mood (ie; sick, or in lockdown) and need something to get completely LOST in for like a week, then watch this haha. I know you couldn’t make it through Guardian, but maybe this one will hit the spot.

This has all the angsty character tropes you live for. And cause it’s censored, there’s no actual romance, so instead it’s just the best kind of UST, character driven, emotional soulmate angst. To summarise: Wei Wuxian is; adopted, a trouble-maker, impetuous, head-strong, fun-loving, has a martyr complex and wants to save everyone. Meanwhile, Lan Zhan is; lawful good to a fault, stoic, shy, and has a martyr complex about saving Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian ONLY. Now throw them into the middle of supernatural / political turmoil and see what happens. Well I’ll tell you what happens, Wei Wuxian becomes the “villain”, gets killed, and Lan Zhan spends 16 years looking for him. FUCKING KILL ME OKAY. (No, that’s not a spoiler it happens in the first episode haha)

Do NOT watch on Netflix the subs are trash. Watch on Youtube or Viki

~ ~ ~

This list may seem long but I was VERY reserved in my selection okay you have no idea how tiny this tip of the iceberg is 😂

Also, knowing your love of no-touching, tension, and angst. I would also briefly draw your attention so School 2013 in my bromance list which is the single most angsty show about friendship ever made.

Enjoy!

#rec list #bl series #thai bl #taiwanese bl #chinese bl

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firebendingsummer · 2 years ago

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Any headcanons about Wong? From Kyoshi Novels ? He’s not brought up enough by fans. I like that he taught kyoshi how to use the fans. 😇

i gotchu!! i’ve actually got a draft rn of wong hcs for @notsosecrettunnel that i never got around to finishing, but here are some more concrete hcs i’ve settled on :}

his earthbending is based in abhinaya dance

he had a little bit of history watching different kinds of dance, but under hark, he studied opera, both dance and voice, intensively

LOVES romantic tragedies. they are his SHIT

his clothes a mix of old chinese and tamil king robes

has the widest voice range of the current FOC

has really REALLY thick black hair. there’s a bit of a wave to it, but he tends to cut it off when it gets past his shoulders

before he cuts it off tho, he lets lek and kirima have fun playing and braiding with his hair

very much a believer of speaking only when he needs to. but when he talks, everyone listens

unless he’s talking about journey to the west. then nobody listens /hj

very passionate about the arts in general. in another life, he would’ve studied opera exclusively

grew up not eating bull-cow and avoiding sow-pig as much as possible. nowadays, he still tries to avoid it, but he’ll eat it if there’s nothing else.

idolized hark when he joined the FOC, as hark mentored wong in not just dance, but singing as well

was in charge of teaching the newer recruits basic dance and singing

loves gold jewelry, has a lot of bangles on his wrists and ankles, as well as a bunch of rings. kirima scolds him for looking and sounding like a bright flashing target, but wong still insists on wearing them

not afraid to cry. he’s one of those guys who cry when they see a really small puppy.

backstory hcs

wong was the oldest child of 5 siblings total

was born in a small village in the southern earth kingdom

mom liked to tell him that he was descended from ancient kings—that’s where he gets his whole “royalty” aesthetic

when he was about 2 or 3, his family fled from civil war in the province.

grew up in the lower ring of ba sing se—his mom worked the mines (mom was an earthbender) and his dad did cleaning work around the lower ring

wong’s mom’s earthbending is based in abhinaya dance!! wong watched her dance growing up and that’s how he learned his earthbending

joined his dad in working around the lower ring, but when his siblings were born, he had to stay at home to look over them

one of his dad’s clients was a dance studio in the middle ring, a prep school for opera

at night, he’d sneak out to the school to watch the late night rehearsals

sneaking around without being caught + studying the dancers is how he’s so graceful and silent while moving

when wong was about 14, during a particularly harsh crackdown, all lower ring workers were prohibited from entering the middle and upper ring

his dad, along with several others, joined his mom in the mines. wong was also assigned there, but the night before their first day, wong tried to sneak out to visit the dance studio

he was caught, arrested, and thrown in jail

later that day, there was an explosion, and the mines his parents were in collapsed

police let him out so he could go take care of his siblings

the next oldest siblings were 12 and 10, but between them and wong, they struggled to keep food on the table

a few days later, the police came by to take his siblings to the orphanages, which were notorious for sending kids to work in the mines

that night, wong fled ba sing se with his siblings and traveled to the coast to try and find a place for his siblings

lmk if you want more 😩 this post was getting long so i figured i’d end it here lol

#but i think you already know how this ends #considering he ‘had’ younger siblings #‘\_(‘’/)_/‘#andy speaks #wong #tkn hcs

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nctinfo · 5 years ago

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[TRANS] WayV’s interview with ELLE Korea May 2020 issue!

— Kun

A suffering leader, everyone's Kun — With a meticulous personality. The pros and cons would be: I think I am the leader thanks to my sense of responsibility and delicacy. [But] when there is too much to take care of, it is a bit cumbersome. There’s no member who gives me a hard time because they all pick on me one by one (laughs). If I had to introduce my hometown, Fujian Province, it's a quiet city with clean air and few people. Many people come to visit because the mountains and the lakes are beautiful. When I think about nature, I start missing my hometown. At school, I was the head of the student council's entertainment department. I might look like a serious person since the members are so active and mischievous, but I'm also a fun person. Times when I feel like we’re one team are when you know what the others are thinking just by the look in their eyes and, when we dance and the movements are 'synchronised'. WayV to me is the comfort of being able to share everything with each other. All the members worry a lot about music so a lot of ideas come out every time we hear new music. It is certainly an advantage that all seven have a lot of desire. I have a bright young voice, but my desire as a vocalist is to have a thicker and more mature voice these days. Wouldn't it suit dance songs that match our [team's] style more than ballads. I graduated in Practical Music. If there is a song I want to arrange: I'm still trying to look for my style while listening to various songs. I want to challenge not only the arrangement but also the composition. I am a good cook. The dishes I recently made for the members are the dishes that I learned from the main chef of the company while I practiced them [on the members]. The menu with the biggest reaction recently was DongPo Pork. When I can't sleep, I deliberately watch low-rated movies and these days, I watch a four-hour-long landscape video shot from a train driver's perspective. It makes me fall asleep really fast (laughs). The most memorable stage after debuting was as expected, MAMA 2019. When I was giving the award speech, my hand that was holding the microphone was shaking and it was all captured [on camera]. What I want to say to myself in hard times is to be confident! The moment you lose your confidence, everything becomes more difficult. The mindset I don't want to lose is to be grateful. Everything I do right now is impossible to do by myself. This is the most important. To Winwin: who has known me the longest among the members! I hope you always take on challenges with courage because I will always be there beside you to support you. Also, all the members know that you are cute.

— Lucas

Healthy energy, hot Lucas — Between a boy and a man, I feel closer to 100% boy! I don't think I feel mature enough. [Maybe I’m just like] a baby who wants to be a man (laughs). The most impressive man to me is a responsible person. And also, a man who gives everything to his loved ones. Having an attractive rapping sound because of a low and husky voice. My desire to sing is big! I want to sing a sad song. I've heard from people around me that a calm song suits my voice. Like the calm songs of Paul Kim I normally listen to too. My favorite song is "Take Off, The killing point is the dance break, with the powerful guitar riff. Emotion is what is the most important on stage. I believe each song has its own soul, and it is important to immerse yourself. My role in the team is positive energy. Although always looking bright, surprisingly, I have a lot of thoughts. Yesterday too, I had a lot of thoughts before going to bed, so it took me a while to fall asleep. Not long ago, Kun hyung played me a song he had composed and so many ideas came up so I wrote them down and sent it to him. WayV to me is a friendship that feels really deep even though it’s been only a year since I made a debut with the people I love so much. So much that when we come back from a schedule, as we laugh and talk together, the stress will suddenly be gone. The most important thing in a team is to have sincere conversations with each other to understand each other's differences. Only then can we get along well because of the wider understanding. Having appeared in a number of familiar variety shows like the Chinese version of <Running Man> <Let's Run Season 3> I like that I can go to various places the most. It's also a special opportunity to meet people with other jobs and not only artists. I think I'm often called/casted [for these shows] because of my sincere youthful reactions. The mindset I don't want to lose is the promise I made when I debuted to be a good influence on people. That's what I always keep in mind. I want to be a person who always gives positive influence to people, family, and fans around me. To Yangyang: who I know is really smart, you're still a cute little brother to me (laughs)

— Winwin A quiet presence, Winwin — In the reality show <Dream Plan>, mingling well with the elders in the village was impressive. Special trick behind it was thanking them for looking out for me! Since they were all kind natured, I guess treating them with sincerity looked good. When Lucas and I visited their home, we got served a meal and received a warm welcome. A performance video of Ten and I has been released. As a dancer, Ten is a member whose strength is being versatile. He helps the members at dance practices a lot. I’ve learned dancing in a special dance school. At the time I was the shortest and least talkative kid until I grew taller in high school. I’ve spent most of the time practicing alone. Chinese dance is similar to modern dance mixed with ballet. Learning the choreography is fast and it’s an advantage to be skillful in tumbling. I would like to properly showcase a modern dance at a concert someday. When I’m on the stage what I care about the most is my gestures and facial expression. During ‘Take Off’ promotions, the gestures and facial expressions I did during my part varied from stage to stage. I hear that I’m ‘pure’ a lot. A new charm that I want to have: our fans call me ‘Baby Chick’. I want to showcase more of an ‘eagle’ image, so I cut my hair short. Isn’t it similar to Park Saeroy (laugh). Something that makes me angry, although I normally have a good temper is being unsatisfied with stage performance to the point I can’t sleep on that day. But it’s okay to just take a nap. I just need to do better. The most memorable moment in WayV promotions was receiving the Best New Asian Artist Award at the MAMAs, it was the first time we’ve gotten an award together so I was very happy. The reason why I went to Beijing on my own as a middle school student seems to be fate. I passed my exams without much determination, left my hometown and went to school in Beijing where I was noticed and then debuted. Coincidence became fate. To me WayV is a path that we’re talking together, a team with a lot of growth potential. I’d like it if the younger members came to me whenever they need someone. I feel our fans love and support the most when: I’m always amazed and grateful for our fans hearts. All of the people who always look out for us even when we’re not promoting any albums and who support us are an immense source of strength. Success to me is when more people get to know us and we get to perform in many different countries. I want to think about my personal success after my team’s success. To Kun: when members want advice, we reach out to Kun first before our families. He knows a lot, can do a lot, and is a person we can depend on.

— Ten

Ten who is curious about what's next rather than what’s now — The secret to adapting well everywhere is attending an international school. I had friends of various nationalities and I also traveled a lot. Wherever I went, I went to see the common [places] first. Learning an unfamiliar culture is fun. I’m learning Thai, English, Korean, Japanese and now working hard at learning Chinese. I memorize expressions that I can use while watching Chinese variety shows and dramas. Although it's still difficult to read the buzzwords and hanja. The most important thing as a performer, and what makes you an outstanding dancer, is to have your own style while not being trapped by masculinity and femininity. I am different now from a few years ago and I'm trying to challenge myself by being flexible in various aspects. What I've learned since debut is, in the case of WayV, that when you work with various genres the main concern is the vocal style and with SuperM, I learned about the importance of performance through the activities [we did]. 'It's important to dance well, but you must also have your own [style]', 'think about what you want to express in front of the camera, but you must be faithful to your feelings on every stage in order to develop [yourself]' is the advice I received from the Hyungs (Baekhyun, Kai, Taemin). For the dance video that I did together with Winwin, the concept, music, settings, and outfits were all decided by us together without the company's advice. I came to realize the difficulties of being a staff member (laughs). I can [now] see the wider picture and more details. I like poetry too. I think poetry expresses emotions. It helps me understand the world and the society as a person and not as an artist. The lyrics of my 2nd solo song 'New Heroes' feel like an autobiography. If 'Dream in a Dream' was all about the performance then 'New Heroes' is a song about the time spent committing [to something] and I thought anyone can sympathize with that. The [original] lyrics were so great that I asked them not to change it and to just go with it. I want to write lyrics myself someday. The kind of person I want to be is [someone who] always tries to go with the flow as I think that making plans and setting expectations can make it more difficult on yourself. I hope I could be a person who can leave a good impact on others. WayV to me is just like a family who always does everything together and takes care of each other asking ‘have you already eaten?’. Everyone has an open mind to try and accept new challenges. During the 'Moonwalk' promotion period, I was kinda surprised how well we got along. Having received recognition for my skills since debut. The times when the expectations are high are: Art and languages too are ever-evolving disciplines, so it's not easy to keep up. Nevertheless, there are self-expectations and anticipations to show a new side of myself. I will work hard (laughs). I still play Pokemon Go and I'm waiting for the June update. I will catch a lot of new Pokemon again! To Xiaojun: with whom I saw Harry Potter together yesterday! Let's make an appearance in Harry Potter when there is a reboot.

— Hendery

Flexible midfielder, Hendery — Something I’ve gotten into recently is practicing playing drums. Kun hyung is cooking a lot lately so I’ve been reviewing the food too. The other day he made kimchi jjigae so good that it even got an approval from manager hyung. My favourite track is ‘Take Off’. We filmed the music video in Ukraine and spent loads of happy times together, so I feel happier whenever I listen to it. Something I’ve improved on since debut is that recording songs takes less time. When I hear a member of staff say ‘Is this really Hendery’s voice?’ I feel proud of myself. The charm of my vocal is: I’m still looking for it, but I feel like my rap sounds nice when I spice it up with a little melody. Good at giving advice to our members. A tip to giving good advice is: it’s important to have helping and not making decisions in mind. Talk about both bad and good points about the A and B. The secret to always looking like I’m at peace is my parents always telling me ‘Your happiness is the most important. You always have a home to come back to, so work as much as you can enjoy’, thanks to them I grew up as someone with little stress or worries. Mindset that I don’t want to lose is the excitement before going on stage. I think the most important thing for an artist is their greed for performing. When I get on stage the most important is interacting with fans. The most memorable stage was our Korean debut on <Show! Champion>. I couldn’t believe we’re performing Chinese songs in Korea. I was so overwhelmed to see our fans welcoming us so enthusiastically even though they didn’t understand what we were saying. I opened an instagram account recently. My posting plan is ‘This is where I am‘ ‘I am filming today’. I want to showcase my daily self. I hope our fans can smile for a brief moment when they see the pics I had the most fun taking. To me WayV is: I feel empty when I go away to see my family for a little. Every time that happens I facetime them to relieve the sadness. Lucas is the member who picks up the most (laugh). To Lucas: No matter how busy we get, even if we become grandpas, I’ll always be by your side. It’s something I want to say to all of the members, but Lucas is a friend I'm especially attached to so I really wanted to say this.

— Yangyang

Infinite potential, bold maknae Yangyang — I speak Chinese, German, English Korean and Spanish. Great language skills are useful when you travel. Whenever I talk with friends of various nationalities, I think it's fortunate that I can speak many languages. In our team alone, it's full [with people who speak] Chinese, Thai, English, and Korean (laughs). My role in the team is being the happy virus! Although of course, the hyungs think I'm a maknae that requires a lot of energy from them. WayV to me is a high tension team that can deliver strong and positive energy. If someone shows a slight sign of exhaustion, we immediately stick together and somehow infect each other with energy. I think that such energy is conveyed to fans on stage. If I have learned anything from living together with the members [it would be] the habit I have developed to control my greed and to care for others. I'm used to looking at the other's feelings now before doing something. My favorite song is ‘King of Hearts’, because I participated in writing the lyrics. I also love 'Love Talk' from the 2nd mini album. It is a charming song that is sweet and sexy but has a way to make your body move. My ambition as a rapper is the flow. Because I think this is the aspect that determines the impression of a song from the listener's point of view. I want to be a multi-talented person who is good at not only rapping but also dancing, singing, and writing lyrics. I've always had a lot of ambition. The attractive part of writing lyrics is that I can tell my story, since from a long time ago, I wrote lyrics little by little and it's always fun work. I want to steadily keep doing it. I like Virgil Ablo and Demna Gvasalia, and the fashion icon who caught my eye these days is Mike Amirie. I am drawn to people who have a simple yet clear style. The same goes for musicians. I like people who have a clear style like Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky. I’ve said 'I like who I am' before. Instances when I am especially like myself is when I'm confident. When I have confidence and want to show off, I can show much more than my actual skills. I use SNS to check on NBA and fashion news. I see the news on sneakers I'm looking forward to fast. Surprisingly, I don't look up anything about me [but] when a stage or performance is over I do look up the reactions. Most of them are good, so every time I read, I get energized. To Hendery: hyung, you seem to really get into gaming, but don't try too hard (laughs).

— Xiaojun

Warm voice, Xiaojun — Something I’m into these days is practicing the songs that will be included in the next album that we are preparing for. Before debuting, I only sang my favorite ballad song, but nowadays, I want to sing songs of other genres such as R&B. I've been uploading videos of me singing on my personal Instagram. My favorite song is ‘Face to Face’. My heart warms up every time I hear it. I really like the lyrics ‘You won’t be lonely because I’ll be your strength, I won’t let you cope with your wounds alone in silence’. The keywords that describe me are kind. Friendly. Positive. I often say ‘I wish my songs were healing different people’. The way I heal myself is: my heart calms down when I look at pictures with many memories sealed in them. I take a lot of pictures of the scenery and especially when I look at the pictures of my hometown in Guangdong I feel healed. The reason behind my strong sensitivity is the big influence of my dad who’s a singer and my older brother. Ever since I was little we would often watch movies together. I graduated with a musical major. My greed for musicals is: I’ll surely do it again later. I like starring in musicals but one day I’d like to make my own. A musical piece I’d like to recommend is <Dear Evan Hansen> who won at Tony Awards and Grammys. It’s a warm story about a lonely high school boy suffering from social anxiety disorder, who is working on his trauma and healing from the pain. My way of dealing with stress is quiet time on my own. Just like positive energy, negative energy is easily spread to others, so I’d rather be alone. A memory I really want to make is a trip, I promised to go on before debuting, with the members. The destination is still undecided. The kind of team member I want to be is a silent supporter. It would be nice if I can be 'my people/dearest' to others. Something I want to do this year is to have an event for the fans. I like to surprise friends or throw surprise birthday parties. I think fans will love it if we would do a guerilla performance. I told you here so I have to throw [that idea] away and I will prepare something else (laughs). To Ten: You are one of the 'Hyung-line', and you Korean is the best so there are many times you have to lead us. Don't carry everything on your own and sometimes lean on us! The same goes for Kun hyung.

t/n: Due to the structure of this interview there might be inaccuracies as many things only made sense in Korean but sounded kinda awkward in English (more so compared to other translations we did). We tried our best to convey what they meant, but please keep this in mind when reading this interview.

Translation: Alex, Esmee @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: ELLE Korea Scans — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

#NCT #wayv #kun #ten #winwin #lucas #hendery #xiaojun #yangyang #t:trans #t:interview #ELLE #ELLE: May 2020

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brightkidschineseschool · 26 days ago

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brightkidsamerica · 7 months ago

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bihansthot · 4 years ago

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I’m not going to lie lovelies, I’m pretty discouraged, I used to post a fic and get anywhere between 40-90 likes on it, the lower number being on Bi-Han solo fics and the higher number on fics that include Kuai Liang too. After receiving only two likes on this the first time I posted it I’m posting it again, this time with a Kuai Liang version too. Just an FYI the versions are identical except for the name, so if Kuai Liang seems OOC AF it’s because it was originally written as Bi-Han. I’m hoping that maybe you guys will show some interest in it now, if not I’m probably going to just stop posting things I write over here, if I do write more it will most likely end up on AO3 exclusively. I’m not trying to come off as overdramatic or needy, but if there’s no interest here anymore, then there’s just no interest here anymore and I don’t need to make myself feel like shit constantly because there’s no one to like things on Tumblr anymore. So, I’m genuinely asking you lovelies to like, comment, reblog, give me some sort of feedback (positive or negative is fine, I just want to know your honest thoughts on it).

Alright so here we go. My new style OG Sub-Zero (Bi-Han) x F!Reader and/or Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) x F!Reader a little background on it, it’s set about 4 years before the first Mortal Kombat tournament takes place so Bi-Han is around 28 in it and Kuai Liang is about 25.It’s not explicitly stated though so if you like sexy, older bearded Kuai Liang better then is sexy, older bearded Kuai Liang. It’s flexible. You (the reader) have recently moved to China (because ya know the Sub-Zero Brothers are CHINESE contrary to idiotic Adam Driver opinion) to teach English, as fate would have it the company sends you to the remote village at the base of the Lin Kuei temple. I might do a first encounter story at some point but this particular story is set about 6-7 months after meeting the cryomancer. You only know him as Sub-Zero, but don’t know he’s Lin Kuei, or what the Lin Kuei is, you know he’s cold but don’t know why he’s cold, he likes keeping you in the dark. The relationship has been totally casual up until this point, but things start to get a little more serious as Sub-Zero decides it’s time to take your relationship to the next level.

Kuai Liang Version:

You lean back in your chair, stretching your stiff arms above your head as you let out a triumphant sigh. You had just finished up grading the small mountain of tests that laid neatly stacked in the corner of your desk. The week always seemed to last a little longer when you had to grade tests, you didn’t really like giving written exams in the first place, they seem impractical to you. It was more important to you that the kids could speak the language properly rather than be able to diagram a sentence, who the hell needs to know how to diagram a sentence, you think to yourself shaking your head in annoyance. You had moved to China about ten months ago after graduating college, you hadn’t planned on being an English teacher, but you quickly jumped on the opportunity as it meant an escape from your miserable home life. The company that hired you did warn you it would be in a rural area, but conveniently left out the fact that you would be in the absolute middle of nowhere. Surrounded by a sea of endless clouds, rugged snowcapped pillars of stone that were unlike anything you had ever seen and a tiny village nestled at the base of said mountains with a slow, steady river running through it that they claimed was still in Hunan Province.

When you first arrived, you were pretty sure you had stepped back in time, the beautiful little town looked like it was from the Ming Dynasty, it was like living out a childhood fantasy. Adjusting to life here had been difficult at first, you didn’t miss your life back in America but at the same time you didn’t speak a word of Chinese, you didn’t know a single person aside from the school’s principal and you were most certainly the first foreigner most of the village folks had ever laid eyes on which made navigating your new life a challenge to say the least. You gradually made friends with the other teachers and learned a few simple phrases to get by, but with the language barrier is was difficult and often times lonely, or it was until he showed up. There was one person you met about six or seven months ago that had turned your life upside down even more so than moving half-way across the world ever could, someone who made your cheeks feel hot just thinking about him. You smile to yourself as you think about him before hastily clipping all the tests together and dropping them into your filing cabinet as you grab your belongings and head for the door looking forward to spending the weekend relaxing.

You make your way home from work, along the bustling stone streets, exhausted from your long week of trying to teach energetic, Chinese pre-teens English. You love your job now, and the kids are terrific most of the time, a couple of the boys still like to tease you every now and then but it had its down sides too like the long hours and tedious, repetitive grading. You slump against the railing of the rickety wooden stairway leading up the hill to your small, quaint home overlooking the gorgeous river flowing through town. From the outside it appeared ancient and picturesque, matching the landscape of the unchanged little village but the inside was updated enough that you never missed the modern comforts of your forgotten life in America. You heave a long sigh before trudging up the precarious steps, “I’ve been here nearly a year you’d think I’d be used to these by now,” you grumble to yourself before unlocking the door. You are greeted with a wall of cold as you step inside, and all your fatigue seems to melt away as a delicious shiver runs through your body. He’s here, you bite your lip as you feel your heart begin to race.

Cold lips steal your breath away before you’re even able to get your shoes off as even colder hands grip your hair roughly. You part your lips as a startled little whimper escapes you before being swallowed by the cryomancer’s demanding lips. You can’t help but shiver and whine loudly as his cold tongue plunges into your warm mouth and his tall, muscular frame cages your small body against the front door. You stand on your tiptoes as your fingers claw and scratch at the shorn hair of his undercut before tangling themselves in the short ebony locks on top. There are never any slow, gentle kisses like the ones you’ve seen in movies with Sub-Zero, it was always all encompassing and all consuming. You feel like you’re drowning in an ice-cold sea as his incessant tongue twists and curls around your own. You gasp in slight pain and you feel the familiar heat of arousal pooling between your thighs as his sharp teeth tug your lower lip open in his haste.

The groan he lets out when the coppery liquid hits his tongue makes your stomach tighten in the most delicious way possible. He had been gone for a few days now, off on another one of his “business trips” as he liked to call them. It was evident he had missed you from his obvious erection grinding against your clothed core. You weren’t exactly sure what he did for a living, he was very secretive and evasive about it. You had heard whispers from your coworkers and the villagers about him. Accusations anywhere from him being a member of the notorious Triads to something more ancient, more deadly, something the locals refused to talk about freely. You don’t know much Chinese yet, but you knew enough to piece together the words “forest” and “ghost”, but it means nothing to you. You tended to favor the thoughts about Sub-Zero being involved with the Triads mainly because he refused to tell you his actual name. He always said things like it was for your own good or if he told you he’d have to kill you which you were sure he was just joking about.

None of it really bothered you that much you didn’t really care; things hadn’t been serious enough for you to worry about it. Not until recently at least, things were supposed to be casual, no strings attached, just good sex whenever he graced you with his presence. You fucked up and caught feelings though and found yourself falling hard for the cryomancer. It wasn’t entirely your fault though, he was the only man you had ever been with, ever kissed, you weren’t exactly noticed back in the states, it was practically inevitable that you would fall for him. The way he makes you feel, wanted and worthwhile was too intoxicating to resist, being with him just felt right. You aren’t stupid enough to ruin a good thing though, so you play along, you don’t pester him for his name, you don’t ask him to stay the night when you know he won’t and you certainly haven’t told him how you feel. You shiver as his teeth graze your neck brining you back to the present and he yanks your pants and panties down in one fluid motion before hoisting you up against the door easily. Whatever he was or wasn’t, he was strong.

You feel your cheeks flush as you’re suddenly eye to eye with him, bared before his icy gaze, you tremble in anticipation as he licks his lips. He smirks, that cold, confident expression causing your hips to jerk involuntarily as he pulls his massive, dripping cock from the confines of his pants. You cry out as you feel the soft head of his cock rubbing teasingly along your dripping slit smearing pre-cum all over your glistening folds. He flashes his teeth again as his length sinks into your quivering, hot cunt in one swift movement, causing your breath to hitch as you feel his cock stretching you open, and you revel in the addictive discomfort. “S-Sub-Zero,” you start, eyes widening in realization. You try and continue but you’re so torn between the delicious sensation of the cryomancer’s dick filling your tight hole so completely and the burn and discomfort of him entering you so roughly the words escape you momentarily.

He grunts in response as he buries himself deeper in your delicious heat, clearly not interested in your protesting, “fuck, how are you always so tight?” Sub-Zero mutters before silencing your protests with a quick, sloppy kiss before pulling away to curse softly again.

You moan as you feel him filling you to the brim, stretching you to your limit as you’re so full you feel like you can barely breathe, you let out a shaky cry as you try and relax and adjust to the intrusion. “C-condom,” you manage to croak out, “you-you forgot.” You squeeze experimentally around his thick cock despite your dismay, immediately aware of how much colder his cock feels without the thin layer of latex to protect you. Your cheeks flush immediately as you’re suddenly very much aware of each twitch and every little pulse of the cryomancer’s long, thick cock as he works it deeper inside your dripping canal.

He growls as he holds himself deeply inside you, relishing in the intoxicating tightness your fluttering walls provide as your pussy enrobes his dick almost entirely. “You’re mine,” he states, upper lip curling into a slight snarl as the words make you tighten painfully around his length.

The words make your head swim with pride and pleasure. “Yes,” is all you can manage to whimper out as your fingernails bite into his muscular back as he pulls out only to slam himself inside you making you shout with delight. There’s a slight twinge of pain as your body adjusts to the harsh action, but you barely notice due to the delicious pleasure and satisfaction you feel being filled so completely by his cold length.

“It wasn’t a question,” the cryomancer counters as he begins to fuck you, his slow but deep, controlled thrusts opening you up and making your toes curl. “You belong to me, and it’s about time you realize that I can fuck you however I want, whenever I want,” his teeth nip and bite at your tender neck as his cold cock brushes against your sweet spot with practiced precision from each nudge of his hips. He thrusts into you patiently, with deep slow strokes driving you crazy as he pulls out entirely, only to press his thick cock all the way into your velveteen heat once more.

Your back arches against the door as you rock your hips in time with Sub-Zero’s teasing thrusts. He shifts slightly to pin your arms above your head and bends his knees slightly to thrust up into your wet heat, driving his cock even deeper inside you. “F-fuck,” you sigh shakily, your exhalation hanging in front of you in a condensed puff brought on by the cold rolling off the cryomancer’s body. You bite your lip as you feel every inch of his cock sliding in and out of your body at a lazy, maddening pace. Despite the aggressive kiss this encounter began with it was clear that Sub-Zero had calculated and complete control over the situation. You can’t help but whimper softly as he continues to thrust slowly, driving himself harder inside of you with each stroke as your walls hug and squeeze his cock.

His arrogant expression only grows as your eyes squeeze close and your pussy flutters around his throbbing cock. He gives you no warning before switching up the pace to start pounding into your dripping cunt. “Look at what a mess you are y/n,” he pauses to lick a cold stripe along your exposed neck, “getting so worked up over me stating a simple fact.” The cold tip of his tongue sends shivers down your spine as it traces along the shell of your ear as his voice drops to a low, throaty whisper, “or maybe you can’t wait for me to use your tight little hole however I want and fill you to the brim with my seed.” The cryomancer doesn’t miss a beat, each word falling from his cold lips punctuated by sharp thrusts focused entirely on your sweet spot.

The words hit you like a punch to your gut and your flush bright red and let out a pitiful whine as an embarrassing amount of moisture gushes from your already sopping cunt as your unexpected orgasm crashes through your body. You thrash and tremble in his hold as stars dance before your eyes, unable to silence your quiet cries as each thrust prolongs your pleasure. “Sub-Sub-Zero please,” you pant weakly as your cunt flutters and quivers around his cock and you find yourself desperate for him to make good on his word.

“Oh?” he raises an eyebrow at your sudden orgasm before letting out a low chuckle. “What am I going to do with you? I haven’t even finished yet and already you’ve made such a mess of yourself creaming all over my pants like that,” he groans as he fucks you through your release, your want soaking through his pants as you watch him force his cock in and out of your sloppy hole. The cryomancer grips your hip tighter, continuing to piston his thick cock inside your unforgiving cunt, his icy eyes practically glowing in the dimly lit entry way.

Your back bows as you grit your teeth in delicious discomfort as his dick pounds into your cervix, rearranging your insides to make room for his enormous length. Tears prick at the corners of your eyes as you shout loudly while the cryomancer slams into you, his thrusts quickly becoming brutal and animalistic. You finally wrap your legs tightly around his waist to have something to hold onto. Your arms begin to burn from his icy hold, but it only adds to your pleasure, “fill me up,” you whisper not entirely aware of what you’re begging for.

“Hm? What was that?” Sub-Zero flashes you a cock-sure grin as he fucks you hard enough to make your ass smack loudly against the door.

Heat floods your face and despite the proximity of his glacial body you feel feverish and overheated. You’re so close to cumming again you aren’t even sure what you’re saying as the words leave your lips in a jumbled mess, “please Sub-Zero, cum inside me. Mark me as your own. I-I need it! I need to feel your cum filling me up! Oh fuck! Nng! Please!” You squeal, hips thrashing wildly in his ironclad grip, as you feel that delicious heat pooling in your stomach about to bubble over as each powerful thrust of the cryomancer’s hips brings you closer and closer to completion.

The cryomancer smiles cruelly as he stops thrusting entirely, just leaving his icy cock buried in your throbbing heat. The hand binding your wrists weaves its way into your hair as he pulls it sharply. “Keep this up and I might let you bare my heir,” he hums the words temptingly as his punishing thrusts resume. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” his ethereal blue eyes narrow as his cold fingertips trail lightly over your flat stomach as if to accentuate the question.

Your mind races at his words, as foolish and naïve as it sounds you had never even considered the possibility of the cryomancer knocking you up. He had always used a condom in the past, but the feeling of skin on skin magnified the sensation of his cold, velvety cock invading every inch of your pussy. The idea of him cumming raw inside your unprotected pussy made your brain short-circuit. On some baser, primal level you wanted nothing more than to be used by him, reduced to nothing more than a tool for his pleasure. You hair strains against his grip as you try to thrash your head side to side, suddenly so eager to agree to whatever he wants in the heat of the moment, needing to give him anything and everything he desired. “Ah! Sub-Zero! Please! Mark me, claim me! I need to feel you cum inside me” you beg and plead with the cryomancer as your heels dig into his back as if you were strong enough to keep him buried in your fluttering cunt if he didn’t want it.

His deep voice rumbles your name as he bites down on your ear lobe, bucking up into your velvety pussy harder, more frantically than before, reading the telltale signs of your body. He bares his teeth at you as you clamp down around his thick length, “Kuai Liang,” he growls, his thrusts seem labored now. Your cunt is so wet, Sub-Zero has to struggle to keep his length inside your squirming body, but it was a problem he was more than happy to have.

You blink back tears as he edges you closer and closer to your orgasm and you try and process what he just said, “what?”

“My name” he groans fucking into you deeply, his balls drawn up tightly as frost creeps along your hip and his rhythm starts to falter. “You belong to me; I want to hear you scream my name as I shoot my icy load into your hot little cunt.”

Your breath catches momentarily in your throat as your hips roll and buck in time with his thrusts. “Kuai Liang,” you whisper feeling positively giddy at the new revelation as your thighs tremble and quiver with your impending orgasm. You squeeze your eyes shut tightly as the first jolt of pleasure races up your spine. “K-Kuai Liang!” you shriek hoarsely as the cryomancer’s cock slams into your sweet spot a few more times as you tumble hard over the edge. You can see your breath hanging in the cold air as you sob his name over and over as pleasure wracks your body. Your legs tremble and jerk as your orgasm tears through your body, the intensity of it forcing you to squeeze your eyes close tightly as your small body continues to thrash against the cryomancer’s large toned one.

“You like how that feels huh? Can’t get enough of having my bare cock stuffed in your tight little hole, ready to burst. Tch. Shit, I’m going to pump you so full of my cum your pussy will be overflowing with my cock still inside it,” he grits out as his hips finally still and he forces his cock painfully inside the deepest recesses of your cunt as pumps his icy load inside your unprotected womb trying to keep his guttural growl contained. “G-good girl,” he practically purrs against your ear as his cock floods your waiting pussy with spurt after spurt of thick, sticky, freezing cold cum.

You moan loud and long as you feel the thick pulses of icy cum painting your insides white. You can’t help but dig your nails frantically into his perfectly bulging biceps, needing to ground yourself as your pussy convulses around his length. The sensation of Kuai Liang cumming deep inside your trembling, over sensitive pussy, pushes you over the edge one last time. As you cum again you scream his name so loudly, you’re sure the neighbors hear your cries as your cunt tenses and your silky walls grip and massage his still twitching cock. Tears of relief stream down your face as your tight walls clamp down on his cock, determined to keep him inside you as you rock shamelessly against him a moment or two before you find yourself overwhelmed with the force of your third orgasm. Your vision blurs as jolt after jolt of pleasure shoots through your body, you can’t breathe as he reduces you to a panting mess. Your body feels boneless as you continue to cling to the cryomancer to keep yourself from blacking out entirely. You shake from exertion and the all-consuming cold as your greedy pussy milks every drop of cum from the cryomancer’s spent cock. You’re left shivering, with your teeth chattering as you feel frozen from the inside out, but the cold is as addicting as it is comforting. You crave more of it as your head lulls forward with content exhaustion, falling on the cryomancer’s shoulder as his unyielding grip on your hair finally relaxes.

He grins at you, looking entirely satisfied, messy hair falling into his handsome face, “you want me to order something for dinner? You’ll need to keep your strength up for round two.”

You smile at him softly as he eases out of your aching pussy his gaze predatory and possessive as you pussy can’t contain the amount of cum the cryomancer has filled it with, He watches intently as his release trickles down your thigh as his cold, strong arms steady you. “Yeah, delivery sounds perfect, I don’t think I can walk to the night market after that, Kuai Liang,” you lower your eyes shyly, still trying to get used to his name.

“I like the way my name sounds coming from your lips,” he smirks, running his thumb over your lower lip before easily hefting you over his shoulder and carrying you inside your home.

Original Bi-Han Version:

None of it really bothered you that much you didn’t really care; things hadn’t been serious enough for you to worry about it. Not until recently at least, things were supposed to be casual, no strings attached, just good sex whenever he graced you with his presence. You fucked up and caught feelings though and found yourself falling hard for the cryomancer. It wasn’t entirely your fault though, he was the only man you had ever been with, ever kissed, you weren’t exactly noticed back in the states, it was practically inevitable that you would fall for him. The way he makes you feel, wanted and worthwhile was too intoxicating to resist, being with him just felt right. You aren’t stupid enough to ruin a good thing though, so you play along, you don’t pester him for his name, you don’t ask him to stay the night when you know he won’t and you certainly haven’t told him how you feel. You shiver as his teeth graze your neck bringing you back to the present and he yanks your pants and panties down in one fluid motion before hoisting you up against the door easily. Whatever he was or wasn’t, he was strong.

Your back arches against the door as you rock your hips in time with Sub-Zero’s teasing thrusts. He shifts slightly to pin your arms above your head and bends his knees deeply to thrust up into your wet heat, driving his cock even deeper inside you. “F-fuck,” you sigh shakily, your exhalation hanging in front of you in a condensed puff brought on by the cold rolling off the cryomancer’s body. You bite your lip as you feel every inch of his cock sliding in and out of your body at a lazy, maddening pace. Despite the aggressive kiss this encounter began with it was clear that Sub-Zero had calculated and complete control over the situation. You can’t help but whimper softly as he continues to thrust slowly, driving himself harder inside of you with each stroke as your walls hug and squeeze his cock.

“Hm? What was that?” Sub-Zero flashes you a cock-sure grin as he fucks you hard enough to make your ass smack loudly against the door.

Your mind races at his words, as foolish and naïve as it sounds you had never even considered the possibility of the cryomancer knocking you up. He had always used a condom in the past, but the feeling of skin on skin magnified the sensation of his cold, velvety cock invading every inch of your pussy. The idea of him cumming raw inside your unprotected pussy made your brain short-circuit. On some baser, primal level you wanted nothing more than to be used by him, reduced to nothing more than a tool for his pleasure. Your hair strains against his grip as you try to thrash your head side to side, suddenly so eager to agree to whatever he wants in the heat of the moment, needing to give him anything and everything he desired. “Ah! Sub-Zero! Please! Mark me, claim me! I need to feel you cum inside me” you beg and plead with the cryomancer as your heels dig into his back as if you were strong enough to keep him buried in your fluttering cunt if he didn’t want it.

His deep voice rumbles your name as he bites down on your ear lobe, bucking up into your velvety pussy harder, more frantically than before, reading the telltale signs of your body. He bares his teeth at you as you clamp down around his thick length, “Bi-Han,” he growls, his thrusts seem labored now. Your cunt is so wet, Sub-Zero has to struggle to keep his length inside your squirming body, but it was a problem he was more than happy to have.

You blink back tears as he edges you closer and closer to your orgasm and you try and process what he just said, “what?”

Your breath catches momentarily in your throat as your hips roll and buck in time with his thrusts. “Bi-Han,” you whisper feeling positively giddy at the new revelation as your thighs tremble and quiver with your impending orgasm. Your eyes flutter shut as the first jolt of pleasure races up your spine. “B-Bi-Han!” you shriek hoarsely as the cryomancer’s cock slams into your sweet spot a few more times as you tumble hard over the edge. You can see your breath hanging in the cold air as you sob his name over and over as pleasure wracks your body. Your legs tremble and jerk as your orgasm tears through your body, the intensity of it forcing you to squeeze your eyes close tightly as your small body continues to thrash against the cryomancer’s large toned one.

“You like how that feels huh? Can’t get enough of having my bare cock stuffed in your tight little hole, ready to burst. Tch. Tā mā de, I’m going to pump you so full of my cum your pussy will be overflowing with my cock still inside it,” he grits out as his hips finally still and he forces his cock painfully inside the deepest recesses of your cunt as pumps his icy load inside your unprotected womb trying to keep his guttural growl contained. “G-good girl,” he practically purrs against your ear as his cock floods your waiting pussy with spurt after spurt of thick, sticky, freezing cold cum.

You moan loud and long as you feel the thick pulses of icy cum painting your insides white. You can’t help but dig your nails frantically into his perfectly bulging biceps, needing to ground yourself as your pussy convulses around his length. The sensation of Bi-Han cumming deep inside your trembling, over sensitive pussy, pushes you over the edge one last time. As you cum again you scream his name so loudly, you’re sure the neighbors hear your cries as your cunt tenses and your silky walls grip and massage his still twitching cock. Tears of relief stream down your face as your tight walls clamp down on his cock, determined to keep him inside you as you rock shamelessly against him a moment or two before you find yourself overwhelmed with the force of your third orgasm. Your vision blurs as jolt after jolt of pleasure shoots through your body, you can’t breathe as he reduces you to a panting mess. Your body feels boneless as you continue to cling to the cryomancer to keep yourself from blacking out entirely. You shake from exertion and the all-consuming cold as your greedy pussy milks every drop of cum from the cryomancer’s spent cock. You’re left shivering, with your teeth chattering as you feel frozen from the inside out, but the cold is as addicting as it is comforting. You crave more of it as your head lulls forward with content exhaustion, falling on the cryomancer’s shoulder as his unyielding grip on your hair finally relaxes.

He grins at you, looking entirely satisfied, messy hair falling into his handsome face, “you want me to order something for dinner? You’ll need to keep your strength up for round two.”

You smile at him softly as he eases out of your aching pussy his gaze predatory and possessive as you pussy can’t contain the amount of cum the cryomancer has filled it with. He watches intently as his release trickles down your thigh as his cold, strong arms steady you. “Yeah, delivery sounds perfect, I don’t think I can walk to the night market after that, Bi-Han,” you lower your eyes shyly, still trying to get used to his name.

“I like the way my name sounds coming from your lips,” he smirks, running his thumb over your lower lip before easily hefting you over his shoulder and carrying you inside your home.

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alliluyevas · 4 years ago

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Hi! I hope I don't bother you, but would you be so kind and share some historical middle grade fiction reading recommendations? I love reading those! Have a lovely day :)

this is absolutely not a bother, I love doing book recs and I love this genre! Some of my very favorites, in roughly chronological era by the period they’re focused on:

The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence

I happen to love good detective stories, and this series includes that, along with so much else. During the reign of the Roman emperor Titus, Roman preteen and enterprising amateur sleuth Flavia and her three friends Nubia, Jonathan, and Lupus solve mysteries and experience historical events from the eruption of Vesuvius to the opening of the Colosseum. This series has really well-developed characters, both major and minor, and strikes a great balance between enjoyable fun and some pretty heavy dramatic storylines. There are also a lot of actual historical figures depicted, like Titus and Pliny the Elder.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by the always-wonderful Avi

One of the comparatively few children’s historical novels I’ve read and enjoyed with a male protagonist! In medieval England, young peasant Crispin is forced to go on the run for his life after the steward of the estate he lives on declares him an outlaw for mysterious reasons. With the help of a traveling musician who he meets and befriends, he attempts to clear his name and discover why there’s a price on his head to begin with. Beautifully written and thrilling.

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Also set in medieval England! This book is written in a diary format by the narrator, Catherine/Birdy, a young noble girl who records her daily life, her struggles with becoming a proper young lady, and her fears about her upcoming arranged marriage. The narrative voice is really unique, snappy and humorous and deeply engaging.

The Tudor Women series by Carolyn Meyer

This is a four-part series focusing on the childhood/adolescence through young adulthood of women in the English Tudor dynasty: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I. My personal favorites are/were the Anne and Mary books, but I think they’re all very worth reading. They’re quite well-written and the author has a real gift for characterization. These were my introduction to the wild world of the Tudors!

The Lady Grace Mysteries series by Patricia Finney

Another middle-grade historical detective series! (Technically, I think I’d consider both of the Tudor series middle-grade bridging to young adult, but I’m counting them both here). Lady Grace Cavendish is a bright, mischievous young maid of honor in the court of Queen Elizabeth I who solves mysteries, including plots against the queen. The world of the Tudor court is very well realized and a lot of the mysteries are very clever.

The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Isabelle, the young daughter of a struggling family of lacemakers, visits Versailles to deliver lace and is stumbled across by Marie Antoinette, who selects her to be a playmate for her own daughter, Therese. As she travels between the world she once knew and the world of royalty, she has to decide who she is and where she belongs, as outside the palace the French Revolution is brewing. (Note: Marie Antoinette did actually bring ordinary children to play with her kids, but Isabelle is an invented character). I feel like this is a quite compassionate and nuanced take on the time period and the complicated friendship between Isabelle and Therese was very interesting.

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz

Maud, a difficult and awkward preteen orphan during the Victorian era, is finally adopted by a pair of spinster sisters who work as spiritualist mediums. At first, she is thrilled, but as she realizes the two are con artists who plan to use her in their rigged seances to scam grieving parents out of money, she has to decide whether this new family is worth having. I feel like this book really tapped into the spirit of Gothic novels for a middle-grade audience, it was really delightfully creepy as well as quite emotionally affecting.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza, a wealthy young Mexican girl, is left mourning and destitute after her father is murdered by bandits and her uncle forces her, her mother, and her grandmother off the family estate. Along with a family who formerly worked as servants on the estate, her family immigrates to America as migrant agricultural laborers in California during the Great Depression. Esperanza has to adjust to her difficult new life and find strength and hope where she can. This book is very captivating but is also absolutely beautifully written, very poetic. It also provides a very important look at a demographic of people who are not as frequently talked about when we discuss the period of the Great Depression.

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Set in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist-era purges. Nine-year-old Sasha is an ardent admirer of Stalin and thrilled that he’s about to become a Young Pioneer--until his life is turned upside down when his father is accused of crimes against the state and arrested. As he struggles to make sense of these events, Sasha accidentally damages a bust of Stalin at his school and tries to cover it up with the help of other children of “enemies of the state”, who are outcasts at the school, as Sasha has now become. This is a really thoughtful book that combines acerbic, surrealist humor with deep compassion, and it’s a great look at a really horrible period in history that isn’t talked about much in the United States, tailored very well for the developmental level of middle-grade readers. Also, Sasha’s father is an NKVD officer who is later denounced and purged himself, which was a pretty common scenario at this time, and I appreciate the author’s choice to show how the lines between victims and perpetrators weren’t always very clear.

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

This is a coming-of-age story about Louise, a tomboyish teenager living in a fishing village on a remote island on the Chesapeake Bay during World War Two. This is hands-down my favorite children’s novel (I think it bridges middle-grade and YA) and one of my favorite books after. It is an incredibly poetic and poignant story, both uplifting and heartwrenching, about a girl struggling to discover her own identity and carve out a place in the world, as well as a really captivating portrayal of an insular community that is both comforting and crushing.

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord

Nine-year-old Shirley Wong immigrates from China to Brooklyn in 1947 along with her parents. She struggles at first to fit in with her classmates and neighbors and misses her large extended family back in China, but she eventually finds ways to make friends and thrive in America while being true to herself. Also, she falls in love with baseball! This book is partially based on the author’s experience as a young Chinese immigrant. The way that Shirley navigates a very foreign and confusing world is depicted in a funny, poignant and accessible way and the clever, scrappy Shirley is a vividly written character who definitely goes against common stereotypes about Asian American girls.

Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

Eleven-year-old Penny feels caught in between the two sides of her family--her mainstream 1950s Anglo-American mother and grandparents, who she lives with, and her father’s relatives: a large, loud, very Italian, very Catholic immigrant family. As she grows up, she begins to uncover the family secrets that contribute to the tension between the two sides of her family, including uncovering the story of her father’s death when she was a baby. This is a really beautiful, moving story about love, trauma, and the things that families often find too painful to talk about, and it’s also a really vivid picture of 1950s Americana as a whole and Italian-American families in particular. Also, Penny is partially based on the author’s mother as a child and her own family history which I thought was sweet and pretty compelling.

#reference #book recs #thank you sooooo much!!!#a couple of these i havent read in a while but i have fond memories and others i have and they def hold up even to an adult reader

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ranma-rewatch · 4 years ago

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Episode 23: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan

*yawn* Wow, I finally got some good sleep. Back to the Ranma Rewatch, then. Hey there, long time no see, going to try and get back on track. This week we’re still in the middle of the season 2’s opening story arc, and another main character shall be introduced to us. Will I like him better than I did ten years ago? Only way to find out is to look at the next paragraph, from when I’ve watched the episode.

This episode raised my hopes and then gently lowered them a little, but on the whole I’m happier than I thought I would have been.

The story starts with Akane taking Ranma to see Dr. Tofu, under the assumption that as someone with lots of experience with Chinese medicine, he’d be able to fix what Cologne did to Ranma. Sadly, the technique used is something only a master could do, far outside of his wheelhouse. However, there is one thing he could do.

To counteract the Full Body Cat Tongue, Tofu hits a different pressure point in Ranma, one named after old men from Tokyo. Why? Because apparently they’re well known for being able to stand even the most scalding heat in their baths, and this technique gives the user that same ability. Sure enough, it let’s Ranma return to his uncursed state, but there’s a catch. Kasumi calls, turning Dr. Tofu into a bumbler before he can give the warning, so Ranma and Akane just head to school.

After class, Akane harangues Ranma into taking her out for food, which their classmates immediately notice has a lot of romantic energy to it. Then Shampoo and Cologne appear, amazed that Ranma somehow found a way around the elderly amazon’s strategy, but Cologne seems sure anyway that this won’t be an issue.

But wait! Out of nowhere, someone new appears. His name is Mousse, and he’s a man from the amazon village who has been in love with Shampoo since they were kids. He has terrible eyesight, so bad that he frequently mistakes people for the love of his life, and after a series of confusions he learns that Shampoo is dead set on marrying Ranma.

Mousse attacks Ranma, and challenges him to a manly duel for Shampoo. But she refuses that, so instead makes the duel over Akane for seemingly no reason, which Ranma agrees to. Oh, and he’s known for using ‘dark magic’ which is in practice more sleight of hand and weapon-based techniques.

That evening, Akane is doing what she frequently does when pissed off, namely training in the dojo. Ranma shows up, clearly aware he really stepped in it and wanting to make amends by making it clear there’s no way he’s going to lose to Mousse.

But Akane makes it clear that isn’t why she’s mad. The reason she’s upset is that she doesn’t belong to Ranma, and she won’t belong to Mousse. She’s her own person, and this duel doesn’t respect that. Hell, if he loses that’s fine with her, she’ll just beat up Mousse herself. The entire family shows up, interpreting this as kind of a romantic confession to Ranma.

The next morning, it Dr. Tofu calls and gives the warning he’d meant to tell them earlier: the technique he used is a one-use, so if Ranma gets splashed, he’s stuck again. Akane only finds this out after Ranma takes a dip in the pond while sparring with his dad, and they all freak out over what he’s going to do. Why none of them think to just tell Mousse that Ranma has a Jusenkyo curse, I have no clue.

Someone, Cologne probably, turned the match into a huge spectacle, with food carts and seating around the arena and everything, there’s a huge crowd. Ranma’s late, but that’s only because he made a disguise to hide his cursed body. He clowns around a little at first, having prepared a bunch of lame magic tricks, but then ‘does a trick’ by ‘turning into a girl’, giving him an excuse for how he looks.

Mousse buys it, but he’s angry that Ranma’s not taking it seriously. He takes of his...robe? Tunic? Whatever, either way he’s buff as hell under there, and an attack from his barbed footwear ruins the front of Ranma’s stage assistant outfit, bearing his boobies to everyone. This causes a bunch of men in the audience to storm the fighting area so they can sexually assault Ranma and then I paused Hulu and stared at my computer screen for three full minutes before continuing the episode.

*sigh* Anyway, the Kuno siblings show up, interfere with the fight, Mousse gets deadly series, then Akane reminds Ranma he can use his new technique in battle, which he does to win. Then a bunch of his admirers crowd Ranma, and Akane is annoyed. Done.

Let me get into the stuff I found really interesting with this episode, to start with.

The first half was honestly just really enjoyable. Akane and Ranma had a really good chemistry going on, it reminded me a lot of the episode where Shampoo first showed up. There was a casual closeness to them, still tempered with occasional arguments, that was just cute.

I also liked that they thought to try asking Dr. Tofu for help, since his expertise has helped so often in the past. Making it clear this was a problem he could only barely help out with, and only one time, sold how Cologne and what she’s done to Ranma isn’t something that’s going to be solved easily.

What was a bit odd in that scene was we actually got to see the curse take effect, as Ranma’s torso changed, something I’m fairly sure we’ve never gotten that much detail on. It’s usually either off-screen or a cutaway. But I like we saw it with the curse turning him back to his uncursed form, since it emphasized this was Ranma regaining the body that felt right to him.

I’ve talked about this before, but I also couldn’t help noticing throughout this episode the weird dichotomy in who uses Ranma’s preferred pronouns and who doesn’t. Akane, Shampoo, and Cologne all call Ranma ‘he’ even when he’s in a feminine form, but Akane’s siblings call him ‘she’ instead.

The dojo scene was also a treat for me. I just kind of love how it put the focus on how this whole arrangement devalues Akane. Both the engagement from their parents and the terms of this duel take away her say in what she does with her life, and she isn’t having it. It almost sounded like she was comforting Ranma, taking a burden off his shoulders, when she told him he didn’t have to stress over the fight because she’d be fine either way. I am here for Akane stressing her independence and making it clear that no matter what happens in the fight, she is her own person.

That was a lot of nice stuff, but sadly the second half of the episode didn’t really carry it through. It wasn’t terrible, but the fight wasn’t really anything special, and the whole bit with the guys storming Ranma...yeah. Didn’t care for that. But hey! It’s finally time to do another Character Spotlight!

Unlike Cologne, who I am still holding off on doing a Spotlight for since I don’t feel like we’ve gotten to really see enough of her yet, this one episode basically gave us most of what we need to know about Mousse, so let’s just do it.

In terms of voice acting, his English performer is Brad Swaile. He’s done quite a few things, but he’s most well known for being the voice of Light in Death Note, which is quite a funny comparison. Both characters have huge egos, that’s to be sure, but Light is usually taken seriously, while at least in the dub Mousse is basically just a joke the entire time. Swaile plays him very comedically, which does fit the generally goofy tone of his character.

It is in contrast, however, to his original Japanese voice actor, Toshihiko Seki. Like a lot of the seiyuu, he has done a million things, but of particular note are his roles as Legato Bluesummers from Trigun, another anime I love quite a bit, and as the Japanese Dub actor for the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who. Honestly, finding out the Japanese dub castings is a treat every time I do a Spotlight. But anyway, Seki largely plays Mousse more seriously, as a confident warrior, only going for comedy with how over-the-top some of his attacks get, considering how silly they are. I’m going to tentatively say this is another performance I think works than the dub, which is fairly rare for me as far as anime go.

So, who exactly is Mousse? Well, like I said before, Mousse is Shampoo’s childhood friend, and the first member of their tribe we’ve met who is a guy. His character motivation is literally just that he wants to be with Shampoo, and will beat up/kill Ranma to get her. Pretty simple.

What makes him silly is the combination of his terrible eyesight, a fairly common trope that now that I think about it is kinda ableist, and how he fights. He’s a master of hidden weapons, but more often than not the items he’s fighting with are silly things, like a toilet or a yoyo. Combined with his high self-confidence, and Mousse is fairly Kuno-like, only quite a bit sillier.

Only enough though, he’s more similar to Kodachi than to Tatewaki. Why? Well, because he’s deadly. Of all of Ranma’s primary rivals/reoccurring antagonists, Mousse is easily the one most ready to kill, not unlike Shampoo. When he gets serious, he trades in the silly weapons for genuinely dangerous weapons. He started choking Ranma with his bare hands in their first encounter, then tried doing it again with rope not long afterwards. Ryoga might talk a lot about killing Ranma, but Mousse has done a lot more to actually attempt that.

All of that said, I’m pretty ambivalent on Mousse. I don’t hate him, but of all of Ranma’s primary rivals, he’s easily the most boring. He doesn’t have the je ne sais quoi of Ryoga or the pompous elitism of Kuno, he’s just a deadly joke character who’s obsessed with Shampoo. Maybe my opinions will change over the course of the rewatch, but for right now I’m still pretty meh on him.

But you know what I’m not meh on? This episode! Even with the weaker second half, the first ten minutes or so were good enough that I’m overall pretty sunny on it. Listen, I’m an easy mark, give me some Ranma/Akane fuel and some decent drama, and I’m happy. I’ll put this in the top half of episodes so far between the ending of the fight between Ranma and Kodachi and the climax to Shampoo’s introductory arc.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 23: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 22: Behold! The 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' Technique

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

But once again, this arc still! Isn’t! Done! No, the end of the Phoenix Pill Arc, if you want to call it that, comes next week with “Cool Runnings! The Race of the Snowmen". Most of my memories of this episode come from a YouTuber I used to follow hating on it, but I’m ready to give it a fair shot. See you then!

#episode 23 #Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan #ranma 1/2 #ranma saotome #akane tendo #mousse #anime analysis #anime rewatch

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koala-otter · 4 years ago

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the teacher and the scientist au: worldbuilding

I am writing some original stuff right now, and as a break where I can keep writing, I’m going to explain some of my worldbuilding/choices that I make when it comes to my modern “the teacher and the scientist” AU. The hope is that it will be fun for others to see what goes into a fic, or give people ideas for their own fics!

*a quick note: I am a white Latina! I have no East Asian heritage! I studied for a while in Beijing and speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, so I kind of defer to my experiences there when making worldbuilding choices in fic (because I believe strongly in writing what you know, especially given the damage you might cause by writing what you don’t know), but will also do research online or through friends on other countries and cultures that inspired the four nations in ATLA. But all of this is just to say that while I do put a lot of thought into this stuff, I am by no means the authority on any of it, and I am open to criticism and of course always want to make sure I’m not doing anything harmful with my writing. I promise to listen and adapt if you approach me about literally anything in my fic or in this post.

Ok now let’s get into it!

1. The setting: Ba Sing Se’s Natural History Museum This is based on a combination of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, the American Natural History Museum in New York, and Beijing’s Forbidden City/Gugong. Beijing I think is probably the biggest inspiration for Ba Sing Se with the ring system and centering of the palace (and I mean the Earth King’s palace is pretty directly based off of Tiananmen Square), so it seems like a pretty solid model for a modern Ba Sing Se to me.

2. The field trip I went on so many field trips to the Natural History Museum when I was little, and they were always the absolute most fun of the year. And I feel like we went to the planetarium basically every time? It was kind of fun to recall and try to capture the experience of being a little kid on this trip in this fic

3. The Lower Ring & the Middle Ring I put Zuko and his students as coming from the Lower Ring for a few reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t imagine Katara and Aang living in either the financial district that is the Middle Ring or the ostentatiousness of the Upper Ring. I think if they were in Ba Sing Se they’d work and raise their family in the Lower Ring (I will be getting into their jobs in later installments of this story, so I won’t explain them here!), which means Bumi goes to school in the Lower Ring, which then means Zuko has to work there in order to be his teacher and for this entire concept to work out (and also the reasons explained in the actual fic where he lived there with Iroh and wants to give back). And the museum is in the Middle Ring because I wanted it connected to the university, which canonically is in Ba Sing Se’s Middle Ring.

4. Sokka as an astrophysicist Because Sokka is a smart kid and a huge science nerd, okay??? And Yue and the space sword. It makes sense. Also, because Ba Sing Se = ATLA’s Beijing, I think of Ba Sing Se University as Beida （北大）or Peking University, which is China’s first national university and one of the most, if not the most, selective university in the country (disclaimer: I did not study at Beida!!). But yeah BSSU is the Earth Kingdom’s most illustrious university and one of the best research institutions in the world, and Sokka’s a tenured professor there. My boy’s world-class brilliant.

5. “Teacher Zuko” Ughhh I really struggled with this. Basically, I was taught in learning Chinese to address teachers as “Surname 老师 (lao3shi1),” which is “Surname Teacher.” But! I didn’t want to give Zuko a surname, because that seemed rife with opportunities for missteps (there’s a lot that goes into surnames of literally any country or culture, from geography to family history and occupations, and I didn’t want to co-opt anything that wasn’t mine to use). So I knew the kids would call him by his first name. But “Zuko Teacher” sounded off. And in Chinese, titles like Mr. or Miss or Mrs. go after one’s surname, while in English it’s the opposite, so I figured for this fic it was appropriate to implement the English convention. So! “Teacher Zuko.”

6. Sokka’s appearance Sokka’s one of those hot, young professors that appear only in popular media, or once in a blue moon. He finds out from Katara that white sneakers are an easy way to look in the fashion know while remaining marginally professional for class, and they become a staple of his uniform. I picture him in Stan Smiths. (And of course they’re a little beaten up! It’s Sokka!)

7. The gaang’s ages Okay, so, I can’t find the actual post where this is broken down, but I think canonically it makes sense that Katara and Aang were 22 and 20, respectively, when Bumi was born. I put them in this fic at being maybe a year or two older in this fic, so let’s say 23 and 21, when they have Bumi, in Katara’s second year of med school. So when this fic takes place, as Bumi is six years old, they are 29 and 27, and Sokka and Zuko are then 30 and 31.

oh my god we’re only 700 words into a 4,000-word fic why did I decide to do this to myself

8. Sokka looking at his watch and having a penchant for exact minutes He’s a master scheduler. That’s it.

9. “My Uncle Mushi lives in Chin City” This was just kind of an opportunity to integrate more from the ATLA universe! Obvi “Mushi” is Iroh’s refugee alias, but whatever another kid can have it, and yeah Chin City is that terrible village with all of those wacky people from “Avatar Day.” So we know the kid’s uncle is wacky. Fat chance of going on a field trip to visit him.

10. Zuko calling Bumi talented There’s that scene in the episode where they go to the Sun Warriors that Zuko calls Aang “a talented kid.” Bumi’s Aang’s son, so I figure by the transitive property Zuko would describe him the same way.

11. Zuko’s scar I don’t know why but I often forget to mention Zuko’s scar in other fics! Either way, I find kids usually respond to people’s differences better than most adults do. Kids just see things and comment on them, which, yeah, can be rude by societal standards, but I’d imagine it would be very refreshing for Zuko after going much of his life with people trying to avoid either staring at the left side of his face or talking about what happened. Also, I didn’t really want to get into the cause of the scar. Obviously Ozai did it. I don’t have an idea of how. Other fics have done that better. Explaining it within the fic the way Zuko would explain it to his class seemed like a good way to tell the reader, “Hey yeah it’s the same cause as in the show,” but then not have to get into it.

12. Sokka hates intro classes Ughhh no one likes intro classes, and I’d imagine it’s even worse for professors. Prerequisites are often too easy for the kids intending on majoring or too hard and meant to weed out the kids who can’t stick with the department’s program. College is funny.

13. Aang volunteers in Zuko’s class From what I can tell, parental involvement in schools is only getting bigger. And Aang is a great dad and I think he’d take any opportunity to get involved with Bumi’s school.

14. Zuko’s backstory I should probably take the time to explain this! Basically I think of this story existing in a universe where after they moved to Ba Sing Se under circumstances comparable to their being refugees in the show, Iroh and Zuko actually stayed in the city, and Zuko got his education there. And yeah! My boy went to BSSU, too!

15. Stargazing at the South Pole and seeing the moon at the North Pole Oh my god the pure amount of thought that went into this. I worked with the assumption that A:TLA takes place on Earth, and that then the rotations of Earth, and the rotation of the moon, are the same as what we experience now (I’ve thought about this extensively, especially as it pertains to the hemispheres and the seasons, but I don’t want to talk about it here, we simply do not have either the time or space). So the South Pole is essentially the same as our Antarctica/South Pole, except that it is capable of sustaining human life for an extended amount of time, and in theory has greater biodiversity (clearly I have also thought about this extensively, but again, we have neither the time nor the space for my theories). I had to read a NASA report on the phases of the moon as seen from the South Pole! And it turns out you can’t see much of the moon down there, and it is always in crescent form. but yeah, you see a lot of stars (but in the opposite rotation of what we see in the Northern Hemisphere), and I thought that was intriguing, especially given the importance of moon imagery throughout the show. Thus, Sokka’s first seeing the moon in the Northern Water Tribe, which ties in perfectly with his meeting Yue, his first love: “You could say the moon was my first love.” (Which someone pointed out in a comment on Ao3, and it absolutely delighted me that they noticed!)

16. Pipsqueak Just looking for more people from the show to serve as first graders in this fic. Someone commented that they pictured him the same size as he was in canon, and I laughed out loud.

17. Tuyanjing I was trying to think of constellations that look like badger-moles, and I honestly just thought, “Ursa Major. Badger-moles look like giant bears.” And “Tuyanjing” (土眼睛) is my own translation of “earth eye,” which was meant to be a nod to the animals’ connection to Toph and their blindness and earthbending.

18. All the stars & mentioning the Fire Nation & Water Tribe navigation I was initially going to write something in this scene about ancient constructions, like the pyramids, that were built using the constellations, and then create some elaborate metaphor about them and Zukka. But the only coherent thought I had about it was that it was “Too Much Work.” Instead I realized okay sailors always use the stars for navigation, and the Water Tribes and Fire Nation are the only nations we’ve seen with boats, so let’s go for that, and it works out because if you squint maybe you’ll read something about the stars guiding them to each other. Maybe we’re evoking thoughts of star-crossed lovers. And then we mention the moon again, and Zuko’s really seeing it for the first time, kind of like Sokka did, so hey I don’t know maybe that’s a symbol of something. Maybe.

And that’s really it I think! Hopefully this was at least entertaining if not entirely informative. I don’t normally write stuff out like this, but it is a good reflection of my thought process while writing most fics. Again, I am open to any kind of communication about the above as well as anything else I’ve posted! And I’d love to hear about any of your own ideas that help you with worldbuilding and writing your own fics :)

#atla #writing stuff #my writing #zukka #the teacher and the scientist

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frayed-at-the-seams · 5 years ago

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And then it was him.

(Lan Jingyi x Lan Sizhui)

Jingyi gazed out of the window languidly. In the front of the classroom, the teacher’s voice faded to a monotonous drone as Jingyi watched the leaves sway in the warm spring breeze. He absentmindedly chewed on the end of his pen slightly. The soft early morning sunlight making him doze. He had spent too much time playing mario cart with his friend, Ouyang Zizhen, the night before and the lack of sleep was making itself known.

“Lan Jingyi!”

Jingyi jerked his head up with an undignified yelp. The teacher was levelling him with a fearsome glare. Jingyi hastily wiped the stray drool from his mouth and brushed his curtain of a fringe behind his ear. “Yes Sir?”

“Pay attention. I know that you are still new to this school but I expect better”. Humiliation curled up in his stomach as the rest of the class giggled and Jingyi felt himself blush in shame. He had only been in cloud recess a week but he missed his old school. There had been less rules. ‘And’, he thought as the teacher continued the lesson, ‘the teachers had been nicer too’.

Originally, Jingyi had been born and raised within the rich district of town known as cloud recess. But his dad’s company had fallen in to bankruptcy and Jingyi and his parents had moved to the far away Mo village. Jingyi had been six at the time. However, he had adjusted quickly to the poor but friendly village, making friends with Zizhen and joining the local school.

But whilst he had flourished within the small community, his parent’s relationship had grew progressively worse. It started with drinking, then snide comments which progressed into shouting fights and slamming doors. By the time he was sixteen, there were bruises on both his parent’s faces. The fights having turned physical. Jingyi learnt not to step between them after he had gotten his third black eye. It didn’t mean that he didn’t still try though.

It was Zizhen that raised the subject of scholarships. Jingyi, who was beginning to feel suffocated, jumped at the idea and applied to as many sports scholarships he could. It was only luck that he was able to win a Classical Chinese dance scholarship to the prestigious Cloud recess academy. It was given that something would go wrong and ruin his luck. Just one week in and he was already mucking it up. Curse those who decided that he had to take maths and Chinese classes as well as his dance classes. Whoever they are, they were evil.

The slamming of the classroom door made Jingyi jump, disturbing his train of thoughts. Startled, he turned his head to the doorway to watch as two figures bowed to the teacher.

“Mr Lan, Mr Jin, what time do you call this?” The teacher asked. ‘Ah’, Jingyi thought. He eyed the two boys up and down. ‘The princes’.

“I apologise sir”, Sizhui smiled charmingly, as polite as always. “We got held up in traffic. Jin Ling snorted at the excuse but did not speak. The teacher assessed them warily then sighed.

“Just go and find a seat”. Both Sizhui and Jin Ling nodded before turning their faces towards the class. Sizhui’s purple brown orbs flittered across the room before alighting on the empty space next to Jingyi.

Trying to look busy, Jingyi pretend to be reading through his notes as the chair moved beside him. It was only when Sizhui had sat down did Jingyi notice that he had not actually taken any notes and that his notebook was not even open. Glancing up at his new desk partner, he watched as a neat white pencil case and a clear pale blue notebook were placed on the table. The colour of the notebook matched the famous Lan ribbon tied around Sizhui’s wrist.

Before he even came to cloud recess, Jingyi had heard of the Lan family. His father from from a very distant branch, so removed from the main family that the only thing they shared was the name. They were nothing like the twin jades.

Everyone knew of the twin jades, head of the Lan mafia which controlled fifty percent of China. The other half was split between the Jin clan, the Nie clan and the Jiang clan. All the clans got along famously. Especially due the the fact that the head of the Lan clan, Lan Xichen, was married to Jin Guangyao and sworn brother’s with the fearsome Nie Mingjie. But a more famous story, one that everyone knew, was the love between the Yiling Patriarch and the Second jade. It was Wei Wuxian, adopted brother of clan leader Jiang Wayin, and Lan Wangji who were the most feared.

It was their adopted son who was sitting next to Jingyi now.

As if he could hear his thoughts, Sizhui turned and gave Jingyi a stunningly warm smile. Feeling the blood rushing to his face, Jingyi hurriedly broke contact and turned his head towards the front. It stayed like that for a few minutes before he heard the click of a pen and the sound of Sizhui taking notes, that Jingyi could relax his stiff posture slightly.

Despite being the child of the mafia, Sizhui was an elegant student. Ever since they had first met as kids in preschool, Jingyi had admired him. Sizhui never let his reputation affect him. The guy was as charming and gentlemanly as a fairytale prince. He was the president of the student council and had the top grades of the year. People ignored that he was the heir to the largest mafia in China, and instead treated him like an idol. Jingyi had even heard a rumour that Sizhui had beaten up a gang of bullies single handed, only to then scold them on bullying and assist them to the infirmary.

But despite having been fierce childhood friends, honestly, the guy was a conundrum. They had lost contact when Jingyi’s family had moved away, which his younger self had cried about. He gazed at his new desk partner. Sizhui’s black hair was cut short and neatly against his head. His skin was smooth and unblemished, almost matching the pristine white of his shirt. His uniform was ironed and fresh. Compared to jingyi’s rumpled and still sleepy state, Sizhui might as well have just walked out of a fashion magazine.

“Is everything okay?” Sizhui’s calm voice asked. Jingyi blinked to find Sizhui watching him.

“Oh um yes!” His voice cracked. “Yes! I’m fine. You just have blood on your...” Jingyi broke off, his hand moving to catch Sizhui’s sleeve. He caught the end of the blue Lan ribbon between his fingers and began to absentmindedly rub at the small stain.

There was a beat of tense silence as Jingyi realised what he was doing. Colour drained out of his face. Mercifully, the bell rang. Dropping the ribbon, Jingyi hastily gathered up his stuff and fled the classroom, leaving Sizhui alone at the desk.

“What the hell was that all about?” Jin Ling barked, having watched the scene from his desk a short distance away. He was obviously spending too much time with Jiang Cheng and his potty mouth was increasing because of it.

Sizhui let out a hum, fingers toying with end of the ribbon on his wrist. “Nothing”, he decided finally, despite Jin Ling’s assessing gaze. “Let’s go”.

——

“Good! Again!” The instructor called with a clap of his hands.

Jingyi paused to wipe the sweat off his forehead before taking his position at the beginning of the mats. The mats covered a long line across the floor of the gym, almost like a runway. A runway and Jingyi was a pretty awesome plane.

Grinning, Jingyi started his run up. One flip, head over heels into a forward somersault. He flipped into a series of five forwards somersaults before using the last of his momentum to launch himself up into the air, body twisting sideways before landing on his knees. The mats cushioned his landing, so when he got up it was only with a slight ache.

“Excellent Jingyi!” The instructor, Mr Lee, called with delight. He was a large heavy set man with a encouraging grin. Jingyi liked him the best out of all his teachers. He clapped him hard on the back, almost sending Jingyi stumbling.

“Thanks Mr Lee”. Jingyi grinned and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. His fringe, which was long enough to graze his jaw, was pushed back by a white sweatband. The rest of it was cut short for convenience, but Jingyi still wished that he could grow it out.

Catching his breath, he walked over to the side of the room to grab his water bottle. He took a swig as footsteps sounded behind him. As Jingyi turned around, he choked in surprise. Hurriedly, he wiped at the water dripping down his chin.

“What are you doing here?” He gasped.

Sizhui smiled at him. He was still immaculate in his pristine white and blue uniform. Jingyi felt inappropriately embarrassed. He was sweaty and gross and probably smelt. Sizhui smelt of sandalwood and orange blossom. Even his damn scent was perfect.

“I came to speak to you”, Sizhui’s smile was like dawn light, innocent and pure. Jingyi fought the urge to snort. “Is this a bad time?” Sizhui looked like a kicked puppy.

“Um”, Jingyi glanced around at the rest of the class. “I’m in the middle of practising at the moment. But we should be done by four”. Why did he mention the time?

“Oh”, Sizhui perked up. He beamed at Jingyi. “I’ll wait then”.

“Oh um sure. You do that”, Jingyi averted his gaze and tried to quell his flaming cheeks. He set his water bottle back on the ground. Sizhui lowered himself into sitting cross legged beside it, smiling pleasantly. Jingyi tried not to make it look like he was running away.

“Why is Lan Sizhui waiting for you?” Zizhen hissed as Jingyi preformed a windmill turn. He transitioned out of the movement into a vertical split, holding his position.

“I don’t know”, He muttered back, focussing on maintaining his balance.

Zizhen did not answer for a moment. Throwing himself forward into a travelling straddle jump. Once he had landed, he circled back to Jingyi’s position. “Dude, he’s Lan Sizhui! You must know something”.

Jingyi let his foot touch the ground. Rolling his shoulders, he spared Zizhen a sheepish look. “It may have something to do with the fact that I touched his ribbon earlier”.

Zizhen gasped. “Jingyi! You know how important those ribbons are”. Jingyi winced with the scandalised tone. He did know. Every member of the Lan family had one. They represented restraint, only to be touched by your family or significant other. It was a family tradition that had been held for years. Even Jingyi had been given one at birth like all Lans, but his parents didn’t care much for the traditions. He had lost his as a child and never received a new one. When they had moved away and the Lan family had cut ties with his parents, it didn’t matter anymore.

Jingyi felt a small amount of dread settle in his gut. Those ribbons were held within the highest esteem by the main family. So much so that there were rumours that the last person to try and forcibly touch Lan Wangji’s ribbon had died a gruesome death. Jingyi shivered.

“It can’t be that bad right?” He asked. Zizhen, who was preforming his cooling down stretches, shrugged and patted him on the shoulder. Jingyi put his head in his hands and sighed.

——

Once the class was over, Jingyi reluctantly made his way back over to where Sizhui was sitting. The boy smiled at him and handed him his water bottle, which Jingyi drank from greedily.

“I can talk now if you want”, Jingyi said as nonchalantly as he could. Sizhui stood up, causing Jingyi to mentally curse the few centimetres that the older boy held over him.

“That’s good. Shall we get drinks? I know a coffee shop nearby”, Sizhui asked. Jingyi eyed him warily but nodded.

Together they walked out of the practise room. They made their way through the building, only pausing long enough for Jingyi to pull on a jumper and a pair of shoes in the changing room. Sizhui insisted on taking his bag.

“You shouldn’t have to-“, Jingyi started, hands itching to pull his backpack from the other boy’s shoulder.

Sizhui smiled in that disarming way and shifted the strap up higher. “I insist. Your muscles must be aching from all that practise. Let me do it”. Jingyi grumbled a bit more but eventually gave up with a huff, pouting as they walked to the coffee shop.

The coffee shop was only a few blocks away luckily. The silence as they walked was so awkward that Jingyi felt like crying. When they got there the scent of coffee and the pleasant sound of chatter and clinking cups washed through Jingyi like a wave of calm. The cafe was warm and cozy. The walls were accented with wood and photos. A sign above the door named the place ‘ghostly scent’ and Jingyi found himself feeling a bit better.

“Uncle Ning”, Sizhui greeted as they neared the counter. A frazzled and nervous looking man looked up from the coffee machine and beamed at them. He had long black hair tied away from his face in a low ponytail by a red hair tie which matched his red apron.

“Sizhui”, he greeted in a quiet, stuttering Voice. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a black coffee and he’ll have a honeycomb hot chocolate”, Sizhui answered. Jingyi blinked. How they hell did he know his favourite drink? His mind faltered for a moment as Wen Ning turned to make their drinks.

“Wait, I can pay”, Jingyi said, scrambling for his wallet.

Sizhui shook his head dismissively as Wen Ning waved a hand. “No need. Sizhui and his friends always get free drinks here. Just go and sit down. Xue Yang will bring you your drinks in a moments”.

Sizhui thanked him and took Jingyi gently by the wrist. He lead him over to a table in the corner, removed from the main hubbub of the cafe. Jingyi felt like he was going to spontaneously combust right there and then. He didn’t. Instead, he obediently sat down opposite Sizhui, ignoring how he still had his wrist within his grip.

“Um, is this about your ribbon?” Jingyi stuttered. “If so then I’m really sorry. I was half asleep and I didn’t realise what I was doing-“. Sizhui shook his head, cutting him off. Jingyi fell silent as a scowling teenager with badly cut black hair set their drinks on the table.

Sizhui took a long gulp of his tar like drink and Jingyi nervously followed his example. The flavour of honey and chocolate eased his aching body and he found himself relaxing in his seat with a moan. Sizhui watched him.

“To not about the ribbon”, Sizhui smiled. Jingyi blinked slowly at him, not computing.

“Then why am I here?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you”. Sizhui’s grip on his wrist had travelled down to his hand without Jingyi noticing. He linked their fingers together with a smile that had Jingyi blushing as red as Wen Ning’s apron.

Sizhui squeezes his hand and continued. “I want to ask you on a date”, he stated. Jingyi must have died, how could this be happening?

“What?”

Sizhui used his free hand to pull something from his pocket. He unfolded a piece of white material to reveal a embroidered Lan ribbon. With shock, Jingyi watched as Sizhui let go of his hand to tie the ribbon around his wrist.

“Remember when we were kids and you were moving away?” Sizhui asked. Jingyi nodded numbly, brain trying to absorb what was happening. “You had come running to me crying about leaving. I told you that we would see each other again and you gave me your ribbon and made me promise”.

As Sizhui talked, the memory surfaced in Jingyi’s mind. He had been distraught that he would have to leave Sizhui behind and had runaway to his house. He had cried and dropped his ribbon onto Sizhui’s palm before running home.

“I thought I lost it”, Jingyi breathed. Sizhui smiled warmly at him and unravelled the ribbon around his wrist, stretching it out to show the embroiled characters of Jingyi’s name sewn amongst the cloud design.

“Jingyi”, Sizhui asked once he had retied the ribbon. He took his hand again, palm warm against his skin. “We found each other again. Will you go on a date with me?”

Jingyi found himself laughing slightly hysterically. All doubts and fears left his mind as he giggled. He grinned, squeezing Sizhui’s hand. “Yeah. Let’s go on a date”.

#wangxian #jin ling #lan jingyi #lan sizhui #lan juniors #ouyang zizhen #fanfic

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