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marvelettesassemblenow · 1 year ago

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The Fake Ring

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x female Reader

Summary: The three times you lied about your relationship status with a ring and one time you don’t have to anymore or - It’s easier to work as a bartender with a fake ring on your finger to avoid situations. But that also means Jake thinks you’re already in a relationship

Word Count: ~2.7k

Warnings: is the beach scene a warning?, discussions about situations when you need to lie you’re in a relationship to get rid of people, me not having a clue about the navy

AN: I started this story a year ago when I bought myself a fake ring for work. I rewrote it 3 times and I wasn't so sure, if I should post it on this blog, but I love TGM and I had fun writing it, so: Hi Jake, welcome to this blog

When you needed to make sure you were off limits

The night had just started for you as you were stacking the clean glasses and had just finished counting the register. Nobody was there so far, but that would change when the naval aviators would come in and the folks that tried to talk to them or get one to sleep with them would arrive. They often arrived after them in the hopes they would see their entry.

You liked the beginning of your shift when you had the room to yourself until the regulars came in and then the aviators. They were nice and often chatted with you until it got crowded. It was how you got to know some of them, and you were especially fond of the group that was currently stationed there.

Right when you thought about it the door opened and a few of them stepped in. They stopped at the bar and waited for you to make their drinks while small talk floated through the room. They took their drinks and went to their side of the bar where the first bets for a game of pool were placed.

“You’re not playing tonight?” you asked Hangman who stayed back at the bar with you.

“I’ll let them a chance of winning before I join them,” he smirked at you and you laughed. He wasn’t wrong though; he was good at pool. And at dart. And at flirting. “I rather keep you company if you have time for me. How was your day?” he asked and took a sip of his beer. You knew that he would quit after the first beer and would switch to something non-alcoholic if the next day was a working day.

“Same old, same old. Nothing as exciting as flying for sure. I bet you don’t want to hear about me going grocery shopping and that my highlight was to pick up a new book that I got lost in until I noticed I had to leave for work,” you teased as you filled a drink for another customer.

When you came back Hangman was still there. “I like to hear about everything that makes you happy.” His eyes quickly went to the piece of jewelry on your hand. “I’ll see you later, darling,” he said and stood up before he joined the others at the pool table. You almost forgot about the ring. You started wearing it when people started hitting on you and for the most part it worked. And it was better this way, because you weren’t sure if you could tell Hangman no.

Hangman flirted all the time, so you wouldn’t be special. Even though he always asked about you and your day and coaxed you into telling more. And people did talk about him a lot and had a certain opinion of him, but he was always respectful and you knew he wouldn’t cross a line.

That’s why you were seeing him flirting a few hours later with two women who were more than willing to do so. Phoenix had slipped into a seat in front of you. “Another round?” you asked her. It was a slow night so you could give her a few minutes.

“Yes please, and a break from Hangman's terrible flirting, so don’t hurry,” she replied and it made you laugh.

“I bet he isn’t that bad,” slipped your lips and you hurried to bend down and grab some bottles, so she couldn’t see your face. But she was still staring at you when you were back on her eyelevel.

2. When you had to protect your heart

Inventory sucked! There was no other way to describe the days when you had to count how many things you still had at the bar and what you needed to order. You stepped out of the cool bar towards the bench where Penny sat outside. “Okay, I counted...” you never finished the sentence as you just spotted what was happening on the beach.

“Take a seat, enjoy the show,” Penny chuckled and patted the bench next to her.

“What is happening?” you managed to get out and stare at the people who were playing some kind of game – shirtless. “Is that Phoenix?”

“Yup and everyone else. Give me the list,” she held out her hand and you put the paper in her hand before you sat down and started watching whatever was happening there. “I bet we could get a lot of money if we would record that,” you said to your boss.

“Yeah, but do we like to share?” was her reply and you shook your head no.

“While we’re at it… what’s going on with Hangman and you?” Her tone was easy, but she looked at you with something that told you there was no escaping that conversation.

“Nothing. He likes to flirt with everyone, that’s it.” You shrugged your shoulders and let your gaze wander back to the game when a loud shout was heard, and someone lifted a guy – Bob? You weren’t so sure – into the air.

“If you would take that thing of your finger, maybe,” Penny started, but you interrupted her.

“There is a reason this is on this finger.” You wiggled your hand, and the small stone caught the sunlight and reflected it. “People won’t accept a no anymore and,” this time it was Penny who interrupted you.

“Did someone do anything you didn’t want to?”

“No! It’s just they see it as a challenge when I decline it. But once they see the ring they kind of back off. It's just easier for me this way.”

“Okay, once they do you tell me. I won’t tolerate anything of that, okay?” She waited until you agreed and patted your hand. Inventory took longer than usual because you were distracted by the game.

Penny had gone inside to place the order and you were busy collecting everything from the table when a shadow fell over the papers. “Enjoyed the show?”

“It was okay,” you replied and eyed the sandwich Hangman was eating. He held a half out towards you. After a short hesitation you took it and bit into it. He took Penny’s seat and you shared the food. You were thankful that he had put on a shirt, because otherwise you would have stared at his body.

“I think I need to have a chat with them,” he said once he finished and licked his finger. You were mesmerized and didn’t catch on immediately.

“Huh?”

“Your partner. They need to take better care of you. But I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious that you should feed your partner. You never even told me a name,” he said and looked at you expectingly.

Suddenly you went hot, caught in your own lie. Never had someone requested a name of you and you couldn’t come up with something. “Maybe because you only talk about yourself,” you said and stood up. You quickly grabbed the papers and threw a “Thank you for lunch” over your shoulder before you went inside the building.

It was a lie; he was always asking about you. But you knew when you came up with something on such a short notice you would be caught in a web of lies. You needed to think about it.

3. When you had to admit you lied

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Bob asked when he saw Jake watching you again at the Hard Deck.

Jake didn’t even bother to look away from you, only when it was his turn at pool. “Because despite all of you thinking I’m an asshole, I’m not hitting on someone who is taken. It’s just a little flirting and as soon as she tells me to stop I will,” he said while lining up his cue and as he didn’t lower his voice the others were also pulled into the conversation.

“Who are we talking about?” Rooster asked and hoped his opponent would be too distracted to sink the next ball.

“His crush,” Coyote jumped in, he had been wanting to bring it up for a while.

“What crush?” Rooster asked confused. The others just stared at him, while Jake mumbled something about not having a crush. “Don’t look at me, he was just flirting with three different people last week,” Rooster defended himself.

“They wanted to be entertained and I just did that. It wasn’t as if I was leaving with them though.” Despite the talking he managed to sink two more balls before it was Bradley's turn again.

“Okay so... if she’s in a relationship, why is she spending her breaks with you? And I haven’t heard her talking about a relationship ever,” Bob thought loudly. “Although she also mostly talks to you and not me.”

This made Jake pause. Not once had he heard a name from you, he saw the ring and assumed and went from there. But you also didn’t deny anything when he mentioned a partner. But Jake was anything but shy that’s why he left the table without an excuse and stalked to the bar. He waited patiently for you to finish your conversation and shooed Penny away when she wanted to take his order. She gave him a knowing look, but he didn’t break her gaze. Only when he noticed you approaching, he looked in your direction. You shot him a smile and showed him you’d be with him soon.

“Want a refill?” you asked once you stopped in front of him.

“Are you in a relationship?” The question made you stop and you stared at him like a deer caught in the headlight.

“Why are you asking?” Your response told him a lot, so he just raised his eyebrow. “No, I’m not,” you admitted as you didn’t want to lie to him.

“Okay, then why this?” he pointed at your finger. Another patron showed you he wanted to order something and Penny was busy at the other end of the bar.

“I’ll join you in my break and explain then, okay? So, about the refill?”

“I’m good, see you then,” he knocked on the bar twice before he made his way to the restroom.

You took your break earlier than you would have usually. After a stop in the kitchen you walked over to the pool table with a plate full of nachos and two cokes in your hand. You pushed one in Jakes hand who was leaning against the wall watching the current game. You held out your plate too, but he just shook his head. It was quiet for a while when you watched the other aviators play.

“How often have you been hit on and the person didn’t back off when you told them you weren't interested? Or were you always interested? Wait, I just realized I asked the wrong person.” You looked around and wanted to ask Phoenix when you spotted Bob. You repeated the question again. Poor Bob looked tortured and admitted it had happened quiet often.

“Some people even see it as a challenge, especially when more people are around,” Phoenix chimed in who had come over when she spotted you with her back seater.

“If someone tells me they’re not interested, why should I humiliate myself and try harder?” Jake wondered.

“Oh Jake, if only everyone would be that way,” you patted his arm and didn’t know why you were surprised that it was quite hard under your touch. “The thing is I’m at work, a little flirting is okay, but people seem to forget that the later it gets. And the easiest way to get them to back off and not cause a scene is this one.” You held up your ring to show him. “This works way better than the I’ve got a boyfriend excuse and don’t even get me started on the girlfriend option.”

“So why not say anything to me?” Jake finally asked.

You shrugged. “How should I have known you’d be different back then? And you already noticed it. I didn’t know if you were really interested and that you started asking questions.”

“Just wanted to make sure you know if you say the word I’ll back down. Will you say the word?” His eyebrow rose while he stared at you, waiting for your answer.

“Jury is still out. My break is over, if you want to see me you must visit me at the bar,” you threw a wink at Jake before you walked back to the kitchen to return the dishes.

+ 1 time you didn't need the ring

“Hey darling, okay for me to come in?” you heard Jakes before you saw him. He was standing in the doorway with the sun behind him, so you told yourself this was the reason it was hard to look at him.

“Sure,” you nodded and he stepped inside. “You alone?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed and walked towards the bar where you were stacking glasses. “I’m actually here to tell you we’re leaving for a short while so you wouldn’t worry about,” he kind of rambled at the end it caused you to look up at him and stop your task.

“Are you nervous?” you finally asked.

“Me? Never!” He tried to sound confident, but you saw right through him.

“You know how long you’ll be gone?” The walk around the counter towards him was quick and you put your arms around him and pulled him close to you to your first actual hug. It didn’t take him long to return the gesture and his arms found their way around your middle.

“Not allowed to share,” he mumbled and you noticed how some weight dropped from his shoulder.

“Okay, well come back safe.”

He promised you that and let go after a while. It seemed like neither of you were ready for that.

“Hangman!” He stopped at your yelling just before he was about to leave the place. “Bring back everyone else home too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he saluted and left quickly.

“Keep them coming, sweets. And add whatever you want to and join us.”

“Thank you, I’m working. But I’ll bring a new round shortly,” you said and sidestepped the table and the outstretched arm to go back to the bar. So far this group wasn’t a real bother, but you had to be careful when the night progressed. And three rounds later they got kind of rowdy telling you to join them again. It was more demanding this time.

“Is there a problem here?” you suddenly heard a voice behind you and when you turned around you saw Jake behind you. Before you could think about it your arms wrapped themselves around his neck and you hugged him.

“You’re back! Are you okay, are the others?” Over his shoulder you could see Fanboy, Rooster and Coyote while you spotted a few others making their way over to the pool table.

“You haven’t answered his question. Is there a problem here?” Roosters smile that he sent your way was gone quickly when he mustered the guys at the table.

“No problem here at all,” one man said with his arms raised in defense.

“I sure hope so, we have no problem throwing you overboard,” Jake told them and took your hand and pulled you towards the bar. “Where is your ring?” he asked when he noticed the lack of jewelry.

“Don’t know. Felt kind of wrong wearing it now,” you shrugged.

“How about we make a deal?” he asked and you just realized how close the two of you were. “You don’t have to wear it when I’m around. I’ll take care of everything then. You can wear it when I’m not here and you can tell them that you have someone that already takes care of you.”

“Do I?” you asked cheekily, but you had also noticed that everything had shifted with Jake. And his lack of flirting with others.

“Always had. Let me take you out,” he said and everything else disappeared when his forehead pressed against yours and he stared into your eyes.

“Okay,” you breathed, and your lips almost touched. “But I must get back to work now. See you in my break?” you asked and he nodded which caused you to laugh as your faces were still touching. “See you later, Jake.” You finally walked away and didn’t see the clap Jake got on his back from his friends while he still looked after you with a lovesick look on his face.

#hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #top gun fanfiction #tgm fic #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin x you #hangman x you #top gun one shot #tgm fanfiction

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vintake-ss · 3 months ago

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𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

BACK AT IT AGAIN RAHHHH

→ Pt.1│pt.2 │pt. 3

→ M.list

Raze has a belly button piercing but takes it off before missions for saftey reasons

Cypher can fluently speak at least 30 languages

Neon kins Frozen 1!Elsa. No I will not elaborate.

Sova brings home stories and photos of the others and shows them to his babushka

Harbour has the sickest bike collection back home

KAY/O just straight up powers down when he doesn't want to be disturbed

Clove ironically uses brainrot language on the daily to piss the other younger agents off (mainly because the older agents don't even understand it).

"Gekks! That last shot was so sigma"

"I've threatened you with a court case. What more do you want me to do?."

Neon created squish squish's(her pink octopus) design when she was younger and then proceeded to place it as a custom plush/keychain order when she got older.

Do NOT get KJ to yap about LoL lore. You will be there for hours. In fact, don't even mention the game around her

Jett can, will and does cuss out kids on roblox

Yoru is always more homesick than he'd like to admit

Clove writes diabolical fanfiction. No one can honestly tell if they're joking or not.

"Clove, tf is this?"

"Fanfiction"

*reads title* "Iso x Elmo mafia romance...98k words."

"Oh, I haven't thought of a creative title yet"

"That's not the issue here??"

No one is safe.

Phoenix makes meme and song references every chance he gets. Someone could say something vaguely resembling a lyric and he'd burst into song. He's just like me fr

Astra has the most envy-inducing jewelry collection

Deadlock has an RBF (resting b!tch face) all day everyday despite whatever mood she's in.

Whenever the agents have a beach day, volleyball is life or death. Cook or get cooked.

#Ok but who wants to see the rest of cloves titles? 😋#valorant #VThcsValo #valorant raze #valorant cypher #valorant neon #valorant sova #valorant harbor #valorant kay/o #valorant clove #valorant gekko #valorant killjoy #valorant jett #valorant yoru #valorant phoenix #valorant astra #valorant deadlock #valorant iso

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lesb0 · 9 months ago

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Its so crazy to still see the lasting giant power of harry potter theres no other fan culture thats ever been such a cultural behemoth based on any kind of fiction thing, like I saw the theater show is still on, theres theme parks people go to like disney, I just passed by a specialty jewelry store with custom jewel Ollivander's wands on my walk. and part of it is that there is no other childrens literature that gets kids that actively engaged. it is so so rare to see a child ravenously devour a longform novel in 2024 and part of it is that nobody else is willing to write 800 pages of pure simple high fantasy world building and plot with barely any romance development with a "pick your one personality trait" built in that kids cant get enough of. my heart did a backflip because I saw a kid hyper focusing on order of the phoenix in the park instead of tiktoks.

And percy jackson is similar, and I adore how sweet and centering riordan is with kids but the actual audience is 75% older gen z despite that. the olympian god myths adults who are more obsessed with retellings than classics are so dependent on those books, along with madeline miller to some extent, because their interest in reading olympians as like, fanfiction trope characters is so limited, it has to be delivered in a childrens tone for them

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thatcrazypoppiigirl · 3 months ago

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Okay, so, per my post a few weeks ago, I'm going to start posting more stuff about my book. So for the very first post about it, the pitch notwithstanding, here's the character sheet for my main character Ash at the very beginning of the series. I'm going to do a cut here, because this thing is long as hell. I'm also unapologetically sharing with everyone the character sheet from my Creative Writing degree out of my worldbuilding courses.

THE BASICS:

Character Name: Aisling Caireach Hayes

Nickname: Ash, Phoenix

Origin of Nickname: Shortened first name, vigilante alias

Birthdate: 3/21/1998 (25 in universe)

Place of Birth: Columbus, Ohio

Ethnicity: Irish, Scottish, and mixed Northern European

Religion: N/A

Height:5’2”

Weight: 95lbs

Body Type: Ectomorph, triangular (wider hips than chest)

Eye Color: Amber Gold

Glasses or Vision Enhancements: N/A

Hair Color: Orange-red

Hairstyle: Long, waist-length spiral curls

Grooming: Has trouble upkeeping her hair due to lack of giving a fuck

Skin Tone (pale, tan, olive, brown, etc): Pale Ivory

Face Shape: (round, square, oval, chubby, heart-shaped): Heart-shaped

Prominent Features: Freckles, button nose, roundish-almond eyes

Tattoos or Distinguishing Marks: Watercolor phoenix tattoo across her back, overlapping sun and moon tattoo at the base of her neck

General Health: Never gets sick.

Disabilities, Illnesses, or Weaknesses: Always on the verge of starving due to her high metabolism.

Fashion and Style (what do they wear, how do they wear it?): Dresses in a gothic punk style. Lacy dresses and blouses paired with ripped jeans and fishnets, combat boots, and a leather or suede jacket.

Special Jewelry: A small ring in the shape of an A made of aquamarines

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

Languages Spoken: English, German, Spanish

Accent or Dialect: Newscaster accent

Favorite Phrases: “Oh, for the love of fuck.”

Do they curse: Frequently

Demeanor: calming, severe, solemn, withdrawn (As Phoenix she’s brash, bright, and cheerful)

Mannerisms: Crosses her arms defensively, hums frequently when lost in thought, biting the inside of her cheek when tense

Gestures: Speaks with her hands a lot

Posture: Straight back, shoulders back.

LIVING CONDITIONS:

Place of Residence: 2214 Bridlewood Boulevard

Type of Residence: House

Surrounding Area (city, rural, etc): suburban

Describe Residence: Three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a small living room, and a connected kitchen with an open floor plan

Who do they live with: N/A

Pets: N/A

Overall quality of living conditions: Good, clean, everything in working order

Home Décor: Minimal, but dark colors and low lighting

Important features of the home: A horseshoe hung above the front entrance, left there by her grandmother.

Type of Vehicle: Emerald green Volkswagen New Beetle with seafoam detailing

Age of Vehicle: Made in 2001

Defining characteristics of the vehicle: A custom interior change- the front passenger seat flips up to reveal a secret compartment. There’s a single daisy flower decal near the license plate

Quality of Vehicle: Older but still going strong

Additional information: The Beetle belonged to Alyssa Shaw originally, and was left to Ash by Camilla Shaw.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:

Marital Status: Single

Significant Partner(s): (Future partner) Harley Amin Fadel

How did they meet partner: You’ll just have to read the book for that.

Nickname for Partner: Lee

Previous romantic partners: None of significance

Important family:

Mother: Abigail Hayes

Age: 56

Living or deceased: Living

Mother’s occupation: Military Surplus Store Manager

Father: Jack Hayes

Age: 58

Living or deceased: Living

Father’s occupation: Tailor

Siblings: Rory Hayes

Describe the quality of relationship with any significant family members: Mother- Not on speaking terms. Father- Not on speaking terms. Rory- Not on speaking terms.

Children: N/A

Friends: Maggie Torres

Best Friend: Formerly, Alyssa “Alice” Shaw

Describe relationship with friend(s): Ash keeps few friends, if any. She self-isolates a lot, especially after Alice’s death. Alice was, as she put it, her “soulmate”.

CHARACTER PERSONALITY AND PSYCHOLOGY:

Any psychological issues or illnesses: Depression, Suicidal Idealization

Meyers Briggs Personality Type: Defender- ISFJ-T

What do they love: Life. Ash loves everything about life and living.

What is their passion: Folklore and linguistics, protecting others, and painting

What do they hate:

What would they die for: The people she loves, the people she protects.

What do they value: Authenticity, Determination, Loyalty, Love, Trustworthiness

Greatest strength: Her determination and strength of will

Greatest weakness or flaw: Her mercurial anger and her loving heart

Their favorite attribute: Her physical ability to help others

Least favorite attribute: Anything about her physical appearance

Biggest secret: Being a metahuman vigilante

Biggest fear: Losing another person she loves

Most likeable trait: Her honesty

Least likeable trait: Her… honesty

How are they perceived by others: Distant and impossible to nail down entirely.

Proudest accomplishment: This implies she’s satisfied with anything she does.

Other accomplishments: Maintaining her honors status at university while patrolling every evening as a vigilante seems like an accomplishment.

Biggest regret: Never telling Alice she was in love with her

Most embarrassing moment: The night her brother caught her trying to have a one-night stand. Trying is the keyword here.

Personality quirks: Makes snap decisions, is a perfectionist, can’t tell a lie to save her own life.

Would they like to change anything about themselves: Everything about herself.

Short term or long term goals: Her only goal is to dismantle the terrorist group Slate and finally get revenge on the man who killed Alice.

Obstacles: A lot of them, and they’re all named after different rocks.

Heroes or role models: Phantom Ox of Montana, and Seraphim and Archangel of New York City

Negative role models: N/A

Biggest life influence: Her parents had the biggest impact on her, followed tightly by Alyssa’s death

PAST HISTORY:

Hometown: Lockbourne, Ohio

Past relationships:

First love: Alice Shaw

First sexual experience: N/A

Major childhood events:

Best memory: Going to the beach in Florida with her parents and brother, and flipping off the camera with him when their father took a picture of them.

Worst memory: The death of Alice, and the helplessness of having to watch her die

Saddest memory: Her fight with Rory that led to the schism in her relationship with her family

Quality of childhood: Really good. Her family was happy and she was well-loved.

Educational experience/level: Junior at University

Significant school experiences: Growing up being “popular” at school- on the softball team, the track team, and a cheerleader, being known by everyone, but everyone being too afraid to be her friend

Special skills or training: Kickboxing, ballet training, Judo, some Muay Thai and Krav Maga.

Hobbies: Painting, reading, researching obscure folklore stories. Is vigilantism a hobby?

DAILY LIFE:

Morning routine: Wakes up at 6:30 am, eats a heavy breakfast, practices her stances and dance positions on days when she doesn’t have early classes, and then heads to school.

Afternoon routine: Spends most of the afternoon at class and the library, or working at the vintage record and book store. Rarely eats lunch.

Evening routine: Eats a heavy dinner, then heads out to patrol. Usually patrols until close to two AM.

Sleep habits: Sleeps between three and four hours a night.

Additional information: On rare occasions, Ash will head out to grab coffee with Maggie and they’ll update each other on their lives. They occasionally go drinking together.

POWERS AND ABILITIES:

Fire Manipulation - Due to an internal process, Ash’s body converts all unnecessary energy into heat. She naturally runs a temperature of about 101 Fahrenheit. Her body can withstand extreme temperatures (she’s handled molten glass with her bare hands before) without any issue, although if she gets too cold, her heat output is drastically lowered. Her heat is tied strongly to her emotions, and thus she burns hotter when angry and grows cold when sad. Through “vents” beneath her skin, she secretes a gas that’s undetectable to the human eye or nose, but that is highly flammable upon contact with air. She can open the “vents” at will and channel fire across her body, which does not burn.

She uses this ability in a multitude of ways, but her two favorites are super heating her hammer and creating hot air vortexes to “fly” inside. She can use heat waves to create mirages, and she can create quick walls of heat that deflect things moving below a certain velocity. This does not deflect bullets. It can slow them, but she can still be shot.

Accelerated Metabolic Rate - Ash has a heightened metabolism, which forces her to eat two to three times the amount of food a normal person needs to survive. While she could survive on the amount of food a normal person eats, she would be unable to use the majority of her abilities. In addition, she sleeps half the time a normal person would and heals at a faster rate. It's not instant, and she can still be injured just as easily as a normal person.

On the flip side, these abilities have left Ash rail thin. She is constantly on the edge of collapse at the end of the day, because she never quite eats enough. Her soft face is graced with heavy under-eye shadows from her pushing her already limited required sleeping to the edge, and her refusal to care for herself properly.

Durability - Through training, and helped by her enhanced body, she is faster and stronger than anyone her size should be. She can take bigger punches than people twice her size, but she suffers just as much damage as they would regardless. She’s more durable than the average human, and can fall as much as four stories without sustaining life-threatening damage. She might break her arm, but she’ll get up and walk away. She can heal fractures in a week, and fully broken bones in the span of a month or two, depending on the break. In the case of some breaks, she still requires medical attention, though she has been lucky to not have that level of damage as of yet.

Enhanced Senses - Although it is to a much lesser extent than her fellow metas, Ash has two enhanced senses. She has what equates to tremor-sense of up to twenty meters. She can sense direction and speed, and it's muffled by the addition of wearing boots. She also has what she refers to as "bird vision". She has telescopic vision and can pick people out for as far as four street blocks.

Vibe Checker - While not a thing she can really prove, Ash has what has been jokingly called the "Vibe Checker 9000". Ash is very good with vibes, and can easily tell when people are lying to her or hiding things. She has "clicks" where she can tell when things have fallen into place the way they're meant to.

EQUIPMENT

A large, solid steel hammer in the form of a meat tenderizer with a full-length handle wrapped in black and red tape. the head weighs thirty-four pounds, and on one side is smooth and flat, while the other side is spiked with quarter-inch diamond-shaped studs. It has a red wristband that Phoenix usually keeps wrapped around her wrist. The hammer has a phoenix and flame print carved into the side. She also has a thigh and waist holster for the hammer, for when she’s flying or not fighting. Some other items on her include a police scanner, zip ties, duct tape, and a first aid kit, all neatly contained in the small backpack she carries with her everywhere she goes.

Her vigilante outfit consists of a black and red ceramic mask designed to look like feathers and a crest, and a black leather and Gore-tex jacket with a deep hood. She wears black Gore-tex pants with armored elbow and knee guards, gathered by her mother from the army manufacturer she works for. Underneath this, she wears a suit crafted with materials from her mother by her father, the tailor. It's simple, red and black, and shows at the edge of her sleeves and when she raises her arms. Her suit and boots are made of Gore-tex Crosstech and Kevlar materials and are made to her exact specifications. The suit is full body and covers all but feet, hands, and head. They took a pretty penny to acquire, but Ash takes safety very seriously.

BACKSTORY:

Ash’s head was spinning when she woke. She felt like a train had hit her head on, her body as achy as if she’d fallen off a building. And she had done that before, so she knew what that felt like. There were hushed voices off somewhere in the distance, but she didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about the bone-deep chill that was suppressing her heat either. Instead, she started tossing her head back and forth as she looked for her friend.

Alice wasn’t immediately within sight. That wasn’t necessarily a red flag, although she would look back on it later and realize it had been intentional. She thought nothing of it and assumed the older girl had simply managed to make it without getting injured this time. She let her eyes close for a moment and fell back unconscious.

Memories swirled through her head, interlaced with dreams. Memories of meeting Alice for the first time, and their first patrol together. Dreams of a hand reaching out to her and a scream. Memories of Alice bringing her meals during finals, of them celebrating her seventeenth birthday. Dreams of Alice’s body lying lifeless on the ground barely out of reach. Memories of the man consumed by shadow as he reached out and touched her, sucking the life and heat from her body.

She bolted awake, jolting upright. It hurt her entire body and she groaned. Hushed voices stopped and then hands were on her face and in her hair.

“Ash? Oh my god, Ash, baby, are you okay?” Her mother’s hands pushed her curls back from her face.

“We thought we were going to lose you, darling.” Her father’s hands tucked her hair back and held it there.

Ash coughed and felt her insides practically crack with the cold that was permeating her body. “Mom, Dad… where’s Alice? Is she okay? What happened to me?”

She saw her mother look over her head at her father, the two exchanging a look. Her mother swallowed, and her rough hands cupped Ash’s face. She had a sad smile on her face. “Your wristband’s automatic monitor sent out an SOS when your body temperature dropped to 80 degrees. We came as quickly as we could. You were so cold when we arrived that we thought you were dead. It wasn’t until we brought you home that you started to warm up. We didn’t know if you were going to make it.”

“Mom, where’s Alice? She was with me.” Her voice had a bit of edge to it, and she grabbed her mother’s hands, moving them away so she could look around their basement that had served as her base of operation for the last few years. The second cot had a body in it, and she saw long raven hair. She breathed out, and she reached her hand out to touch Alice’s shoulder.

“Wait, Ash, don’t–”

Her fingers met Alice’s shoulder and cold radiated outward and into her fingertips. A deep cold, a frostbiting cold. A dead cold. She felt her heart stop and she jerked her hand away before reaching back out and shaking the older girl’s shoulder. “Alice? Alice, wake up.”

Her father reached out and took her hand, pulling it back. She struggled against him, trying to reach for the girl as tears filled her eyes. “No, no, Alice, wake up! Alice, please, I know you can hear me, wake up!”

Her parents began to restrain her, and her father eventually slung her over his shoulder and started to carry her up the stairs. Tears fell from Ash’s eyes, warm, but not as warm as they should have been. She pounded weakly against her father’s shoulders. “No, let me go! Why isn’t she waking up? Why isn’t she waking up?”

“Ash… Alice is dead.”

The words froze her and she stopped moving as they left the basement, Alice’s body finally disappearing from view. Her father gently deposited her on the couch and her mother quickly came in to wrap a blanket around her shoulders, curling the edges in under each other to make sure it was secure.

“I’m so sorry, Ash. I’m so sorry. She was already gone by the time we got there. We couldn’t save her.” Her mother gently rubbed her shoulders through the blanket and shot her father a concerned look. “She’s still cold, Jack. What do we do about this?”

“We just wait. There’s nothing else we can do. We don’t even know what they were fighting.”

Ash’s eyes flashed up and she whispered, her voice hoarse, “It was like he was made of shadow. All the lights went out when he came in, and all the warmth disappeared. He was fast, faster than me. He sidestepped me and then reached out and touched me. I felt all the warmth in my body leave me, Mom. I got dizzy and I fell down. I think Alice tried to bend reality and he got to her first.”

Her voice broke when she said her friend’s name. Not her friend, her soul mate, her better half, the truest match for her in the whole world. She was in love with Alice, she loved Alice like the moon. She was the softness to Ash’s angles, the calm to her fury, and the deep night sky to her midday heat. Ash was the sun, and Alice was the moon, perfectly in balance with each other. Her perfect. Other. Half.

Gone now. Gone now, and leaving Ash all alone again.

“Her mother is going to be here soon, Ash. We called Mrs. Shaw.”

“Camilla is coming?” Before the words were even out of her mouth, there was a knock at the door. Ash felt her blood run even colder than it already was. She pushed the blankets aside as her father went to answer the door. Something stuck in her throat and she gasped in softly as the door opened. Camilla Shaw was a tall and regal version of her daughter, the same raven black hair and green eyes as the girl. Right then, those green eyes were sadder than Ash could ever remember them being.

She stepped inside the door, and even at that distance, she heard her softly say, “Where’s Aisling?”

“She’s over on the couch with Abigail. She only just woke up.” Camilla looked up and directly into the sitting room and into Ash’s soul, it seemed. Her eyes weren’t accusatory like Ash had been expecting. No, they were just sad. The woman stepped into the house and slowly walked to the sitting room, and Ash stood, unstable and clutching her stomach. She closed the distance between them.

“Camilla. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have- I should have–”

The woman entered Ash’s space and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. Ash felt tears hitting her shoulder, and the woman’s soft voice rang out in her ear. “This isn’t your fault, Aisling. Alice knew the risks. And she loved you dearly. She would be so happy you survived. Please don’t blame yourself.”

Ash immediately burst into tears and held the woman bone-crushingly tight, before letting up so she didn’t hurt her. She heard Camilla gasp slightly before sighing. She was still silently crying into Ash’s shoulder while Ash now bawled openly.

They held each other and cried for a while, and then they all went downstairs. Ash’s father and mother help Camilla carry the cot out to her van. Ash stayed in the room. As soon as they were past the doorway, she walked up to it and went to close it. She made eye contact with her father as he rounded the corner on his way out. He nodded sadly to her.

She shut the door and engaged the lock. A long time ago, they had rebuilt their basement, adding panels of industrial radiant heat transferring panels as the walls. They had exchanged the door for something heatproof and made sure it was a perfect seal.

Ash walked to the middle of the room and sat down. Her breathing, which had finally come under control, hitched and caught in her throat. She let it out. A blast of fire erupted out from her, lifting her hair into wild tangles in the air and blowing her clothing away from her. The cotton clothing caught fire, blazing up around her and falling away into ash. She screamed, her throat tearing and tasting of iron. She screamed and she screamed as the room got hotter and hotter. The plates of the room creaked as they started to radiate the heat into the earth, but not fast enough. The temperature of the room burned hotter than Ash had ever burned before as she screamed and cried out her despair.

Alice was gone.

Alice was GONE.

Ash screamed until she couldn’t scream anymore. Then she curled up on the floor, her vision blurry. She closed her eyes, and they stayed shut. She felt the last bit of strength in her body leave her, and then there was nothing.

Ash was alone again.

#writing #Phoenix Rising #Poppii's ramblings #Ash Hayes #character sheet #original character

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clericofshadows · 4 months ago

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Shepard aaaaaask!

3, 14, 21 (give me details! hehe), and 33 😉

thanks for the ask :D

fifty shepard questions

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson?

For Regis it's... not great. I've written some fic on it, but the TL;DR is that Hannah wanted Regis to have a good mentor, and he said fuck that to any sort of meddling and mostly just respects the man for his skills alone and keeps him at a far distance. He doesn't quite like that he was blindsided about being evalutated for Spectre status nor does he appreciate his visions being brought up in front of the Council.

He does nominate him for Council since he doesn't really trust Udina either, and in his mind it's a lesser of two evils. Their relationship never really goes beyond, in Regis's mind, "coworkers I have to tolerate."

For Nyx, it's cordial. He doesn't have much of an opinion on Anderson and sees him as a decent ally to have. Nyx, however, nominates Udina as the Council rep since he doesn't like the idea of putting a military man on the seat despite being a First Contact War veteran. Or maybe because he's a FCW vet... :)

14. Any good at flirting?

Regis is pretty good at it and can even ramp up the charm as needed for missions. And he also managed to get Zaeed in his and Kaidan's bed while on Omega during vorcha mafia nonsense and a pissed off merc who's mad that his target was now focused on two alliance idiots...

Bonus gif from same gender romance mod's flirt option for Hock lmao

Nyx is extremely good at flirting and can charm the pants off of anyone (or rather any man). He's very confident and into himself, which can be pretty attractive. He's also quite observant and has a good feel for what a person might like. And he was able to get Kaidan in his bed pre-ME1 for a one night stand, and I typically headcanon Kaidan as not being into that sooooo yeah :)

21. Do you have any AUs for your shepard?

I have a few :)

Regis's canon is technically one big AU in the sense that I get rid of canon things I don't like (Liara as Shadowbroker, for one, Virmire being a no win scenario... etc), but in Nyx's canon, Regis is actually a doctor on Omega with his uncle, Vikram, and leads a bit of a merc life with Zaeed. On the other hand, Nyx in Regis's canon never rejoined the Alliance after an extended time after the FCW and stays as a civilian engineer, who also stays in his relationship with Hackett. In Nyx's canon, he breaks up with Hackett, later enters a relationship with Kaidan pre-ME1, and then later the three of them become a triad.

There's also the fact that Nyx's canon is a sort of No Reapers AU... in the sense that the Protheans failed to fully extinguish most Reapers and a few still remain, but not enough to be a galaxy ending one.

Regis as a doctor/merc also exists in a Kaidan/Hackett fic I've been slowly writing as well. But other than that, I don't really have any modern AUs or anything of the sort since I see my Shepards already existing as big ol' AUs.

33. What skills do they have that are a surprise to the people around them?

Regis is good with metalworking and making jewelry, and he is quite skilled with making custom weapon mods. Not as good as Zaeed, which he gloats about, but it's something he learned on the side. And despite his degree being public, it's always a shock that he knows his way around cybernetics and can talk real technical when it comes to biotic amps and VI and AI...

Plus he can make really good desserts.

Nyx moonlights as a hacker and is well known on many extranet forums as Phoenix, which should be obvious given his callsign in the war being Phoenix, but to the greater 'net it's a mystery. Like, yeah, he's an engineer who is good with tech and is good with cybersecurity, but a hacker who posts tricks and takes down shit in his free time? Not so obvious.

He's also really good with intricate braids and loves braiding his hair and beard and offering his skills to the other long-haired folks on the ship.

#average-mako-enjoyer #ask #nyx shepard #regis shepard

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theformerbastard · 1 year ago

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• I don't mean to sound like the little kid whinin' about how his sister crossed the imaginary line he drew in the backseat but why in the name of Zeus's butthole do people always seem to park right beside me when there are dozens of empty spots around?

• My customer the other day was so goddamn sweet. I won't bore you with the whole story but when I told her that Enterprise called to tell me they didn't have a car for me she was like "I am not leaving here until you have a car" and, sure enough, she stayed until she saw me get into a car. I wish I'd met her a different way. That's another downside to this job that I hadn't quite prepared myself for: I've met a few people that I've thought I hit it off with but it feels unprofessional/creepy to be like "I wanna be your friend!" So I just give em their keys and accept that I'll likely never see em again.

• Your disposition is more important than your position. Jimmy Carr brought that up more than once in an interview I listened to today. The whole interview gave me a lot to think about, but I especially loved that.

• I was kinda gettin' excited about wakin' up to flannel weather in the midwest but now I'm headin' to Phoenix where they haven't gotten word that it's Fall yet. Weak.

• I saw this dumb thing on instagram the other day that I've let occupy more of my thoughts than I care to admit. I keep tryin' to write it out but I can't quite get the words right. The gist is that I see fragile men moanin' about how men have become feminized but I'm not seein' it anywhere other than on social media. It's like these chicken shit pussies see a picture of Harry Styles in a dress and think that every guy but them dresses that way. I love nail polish and jewelry but I've found myself scalin' back because I don't like callin' too much attention to myself and everywhere *I* go, I see dudes in grunt style shirts with beards that would flip shit if their son wanted pink crocs.

I don't think I'm articulatin' my point as well as I would like. I'm just incredibly fascinated by how we all see this world very differently. I wonder how much of it is based on what we actually see vs. what we see in our phones.

#does that make ANY sense?#what is a horseshoe?#what does a horseshoe do?#are there any horse socks?#is anyone listening to me?

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fictomorph · 2 years ago

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Any Objections? (Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth TF/TG/MC)

This story contains female to male TF, character TF, and identity death as well as Wrightworth shipping/romance.

———————

“Looking for something in particular?”

A voice disturbed Griffin, who was currently hunched over the top of a display case, filled with rings, all of them beautiful, finely crafted….and expensive. He jolted up, meeting the eyes of the clerk.

“Oh...yea.” He rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly chuckling. The clerk looked him over, trying to read him for what he wanted. Decently groomed short chestnut hair, a purple polo shirt and pressed jeans, brown leather dress shoes...probably had something decently important later today. And considering what kind of jewelry he was looking at….

“You’re proposing later, aren’t you?” Griffin paused, nodding.

“How did you?...” He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Ugh, yeah. But everything’s so expensive...I’ve been saving for practically a year and even then I can barely afford any of the good ones!” The clerk watched him as he went back to pouring over the rings, struggling between getting his loved one something they deserved and something he could pay off.

“Actually..” He perked up, holding a finger in the air as his icy blue eyes pondered a thought. “I think we might have a set of rings in the back for decently cheap, $100, $120….but they still look rather nice and are of high craft. Would you like me to see if we still have them?”

Griffin nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “Really? Oh thanks, man, you’re a lifesaver!”

“Ah, no problem. My job is to help people find what they’re looking for, after all! Now if you’ll excuse me…” He walked off, headed into the forbidden parts of the store unknown to the commoner. After a few minutes, Griffin (who had started scrolling through Twitter) was brought back to reality by the sound of something being set on the glass in front of him, along with the clerk’s statement of “Take a look”.

Two small ring boxes were laid in front of him, one coated in red velvet and the other in blue. He lifted the red box, popping it open to reveal the contents inside. A rose gold band, with two small diamonds and one ruby crowning it. The edges of the band flares, giving it a ruffled pattern almost like creased fabric. Ooh...this would be perfect for her! He picked up the blue box, inspecting its hidden treasure as well. It was a similarly simple pure gold band, two sapphires on either side of a diamond tucked away in a golden four-pointed star. He looked back to the clerk, grabbing both of them as he fidgeted his wallet from his pocket.

“You said these were…$120?” The clerk nodded, leading to Griffin slamming the money on the counter. “Oh man, thank you so much! She’s gonna love this, I-I can’t thank you enough!” Placing the ring boxes in a bag for him, the clerk waved as another satisfied customer ran off.

The rest of the day was as normal as it could be for a day leading up to such a big event. Griffin called to double and triple-check his reservations were still in place, re-washed and ironed everything he was wearing for later, and took an intensive shower. Everything had to go perfect for tonight. Soon enough, after what felt like both no time at all and a full eon, his doorbell rang. Answering it, he was met with the face of his beloved Kelly. She had dressed similarly nicely, a long somewhat shimmery orange dress accompanied by a pearl necklace. Her blonde hair had been neatly curled at the edges, letting it frame her face in a rather flattering way.

“You look nice.” Griffin stuttered, eyes darting across the room as she chuckled.

“Thanks. You too.” She grabbed his hand, leading him out the door. “C’mon, we should get going. You said this place was expensive, and I don’t wanna miss our chance to eat $100 steak.”

The car ride over was nice, Kelly looking out the window at the late-night city’s lights. Her eyes drifted over the scenery, soon enough settling on the restaurant they had arrived at. She had known it was a fancy place, but she didn’t expect it to look quite this nice. The building had strings of fairy lights dangling from it, and as they walked in, she took note of how well everyone was dressed. She started to think she might’ve underdressed for the occasion.

“Mr. West? Ah yes, we have your reservation. Please, follow me.” The waitress led the two to an empty table, one which happened to be on the patio. A nice open space, no one else outside, illuminated by the moonlight….it was perfect. Griffin kept a hand on the two ring boxes in his pocket, waiting for the perfect moment.

Whatever was above must’ve taken a shine to them that day, as the dinner went perfectly. Their food was cooked to perfection, the wine the servers brought out was a rich palette, and all night the moon and stars were perfectly visible and bright. As Kelly polished off her second glass of wine, he gripped the boxes tighter than he ever had before and sighed.

“Hm?” Kelly placed her glass down, focusing on her partner. “Something wrong, Grif?”

“No, it’s just….we’ve been together for a while now and...you’re really important to me. I

realized I found something I don’t wanna lose. So….” He took the red box from his pocket and held it out to her, letting her see as he popped it open. “Will you marry me?”

She gasped, grabbing the box as she teared up. “Oh my God….yes!” His heart pounded out of his chest as she slipped the ring on, admiring it. He had taken the shot and hit a bullseye.

“The best part?” He held the blue box in his hands, showing its contents to her. “They’re a set. We match!” Putting his own ring on, Kelly practically pounced on him as she pulled him into a hug that turned into the two holding each other’s hands, rings resting against each other. It felt like a moment that would last forever…..until they withdrew their hands in shock.

“Ow, something shocked me!” Kelly rubbed her hand, surprised by the indignant interruption.

“Yea, me too….might’ve been some static electricity or something in the rings.” Griffin explained to the best of his knowledge. That was a thing that could happen, right? Metal conducted electricity.

“Mhm...probably. Felt a bit stronger than static, though. It was just...weird.” She unconsciously flexed her fingers to fully shake the feeling, although a new, even stranger one replaced it. Her hands began to shift, growing broader and more well-groomed, like they belonged to someone from the upper class. Though the expected tightness of the ring becoming too small for her fingers was strangely never present…

“Maybe you just aren’t taking your wine well.” Griffin chuckled, taking her hand in his in an attempt to comfort her, only to realize how large it was compared to mere moments ago. He gulped, feeling his hands become a bit more comfortable in holding hers, the change nowhere as near as drastic as Kelly’s but still something concerning. His arms tensed, swelling with a slightly toned layer of muscle new to his form. He took his hands from Kelly’s, looking over them. Sure, he admittedly never held his wine the best, but he’d never hallucinated before, and he’d definitely never actually felt it.

“Grif? Do you think someone put something in our food?” She took a longer, more well-built arm to her chest, feeling the fat layered on it melt away and replace with an admittedly not too shabby set of pecs. “Wh-What?” Her face flushed, eyes widening at the realization that whatever was happening to them had decided to shift her sex around.

“I’d like to see whatever drug can do something like this at all, let alone this fast!” He gripped onto a chair’s back, groaning as his back popped, leaving him slightly taller and, as a cursory scan of his new body would reveal, sporting a new set of abs. “Woah...this is...something.”

Kelly, meanwhile, was not as enthralled with her changes as Griffin was. She felt awkward enough in her dress already, and the cracking of her spine and toning frame didn’t serve to help. What only made things worse was the notable pressure she felt from her high heels, confirming her fears as the sides of the shoes gave, leaving her feet exposed in the cold night air. “Ugh….just kill me now….”

“Hey, cmon, don’t be like that.” Griffin pulled her into a hug, grinning in an attempt to ease her fears. “This probably won’t be that bad.” She looked up at him, desperate for some form of comfort. It was probably just the changes, but...he looked so much more handsome than usual. His jawline was sharper, his eyes had cooled to a soft smoky grey, and his formerly chestnut hair had burnt to a dark black, even changing how it was styled into a striking slicked back and spiked look. Something about it was…..familiar and comforting.

Griffin swept a bang from her face, letting him look at her shifted face. He let out a quiet gasp, her heart sinking.

“I-Is it bad?” She clasped her hands together, still feeling the ring.

“No, you’re...you’re gorgeous.” His hand rested against her cheek, taking everything in. Her face had gained this strong stoic look to it, almost statue-esque. His hair had faded to a platinum, combed into a set of bangs that perfectly framed his face and made similarly pale eyes stand out. “I...wow.” He’d never felt this strongly towards...anyone. He took one of her pearls in his hand, only to let go of it as he realized it had gained an odd fabric like texture.

Kelly watched as her pearl necklace flattened and softened, the chain around her neck becoming the same silk as the pearls now were. She brushed over it with her hands, the string now a rumpled scarf of some sort...what was the term? The word “cravat” suddenly popped to mind, albeit she didn’t know where from. Yes, that was right.

Griffin coughed as something tugged against his throat, looking down to see a bright red tie had formed around his neck. More notably, where it touched seemed to sap the red from his shirt, leaving it pure white as the still-blue edges tugged away from itself, leaving him with a formal white undershirt topped with a sapphire blue suit jacket. “Guess they have a stricter take on business casual than I thought…” He awkwardly joked as he watched the blue spread down to neatly pressed dress pants, his changes finishing with his shoes expanding slightly and shifting into dark leather.

Kelly brushed her face, slightly flushed from Griffin’s new form. …..Griffin? Was that right? No, that...that wasn’t it. What was his name, though? As she thought, her clothing underwent its own metamorphosis, bleeding into a combination of a black vest and a deep red suit jacket, albeit this one more high quality than her partner’s. The material shared its conquest of her wardrobe with her partner’s changes, as the ends of her dress wrapped around her legs into fanciful perfectly tailored wine red pants. Her shoes even got a second shot as the heels flattened to the ground, a refined pair of leather dress shoes.

“Is...is it over?” The two looked at each other, Griffin pausing at his new voice. It was young, nothing too outstanding on its own but probably could be with some power put behind it, like some form of objection.

“I...I believe so.” Kelly gasped, putting a hand to her throat as she felt her new Adam’s apple. The voice it had given her was a rather pleasing one, deep and proper, the voice of someone who really knew what they were doing. “My...this is all so….” She didn’t get to finish her thought as she trailed off, Griffin taking her hands one again.

“Not what I expected to happen tonight, either. Can’t say I’m too mad though.” Kelly blushed, Griffin’s face equally red as he leaned in for a kiss, which she gladly reciprocated. That simple act sealed the two’s fates as when they pulled back, a different, more fitting set of memories and personality traits belonged to the pair.

“Wright....must you be this extravagant?” He looked around the patio, taking in the almost storybook-like picture the two found themselves in.

“Of course. Nothing else for my Miles.” Edgeworth turned his head, leading Phoenix to giggle.

“You’re an embarrassment.” He tried to come off as his usual stern self, but the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips was his lover’s cue to keep going.

“Hey, you know how I get when drunk.”

“I suppose I do, Feenie.” Miles slipped his hand into his partner’s, only for the two of them to pause and investigate the rings they didn’t remember putting on.

“Guess I was a bit more drunk than I thought….” He looked away, rubbing his neck in that ever-so-Wright way. A pause of awkward silence, before he sighed and reconnected eye contact. “Hey um….even if we don’t remember it...would you still...you know…”

“Of course, you idiot.” Edgeworth full on smiled, a rare sight, and grabbed Phoenix’s hand once again, planting a kiss on his cheek. Even if they didn’t quite remember how they got here, this proved to be the best night of their lives.

#character transformation #character tf #ftm transformation #female to male tf #female to male transformation #ftm tf #Male to male tf #Mtm tf #transformation fiction #transformation #Tf

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thevampiremarie · 1 year ago

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Another treehouse ask!

So, I've been re-reading my favorite parts while wait for the next chapter and the ones I keep coming back to are the snippets of his proposal where he's gifting her two of everything.

I was wondering if we could get a further detailed director's/writer's commentary about all of that because you have so much symbolism, thought, and meaning behind your writing so I was wondering what made you choose to focus and point out the offerings like the tea and the jewelry?

HI ANON

Oh I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me about the proposal!

Buckle up because this is gonna be a long post. It would literally be essay length if I wrote full sentences so I’m just gonna do a list of each symbol and what it means, but no guarantees this won’t be long as shit.

I’m Chinese (and Filipino), and instead of going with a conventional Western proposal, I thought there was something very ancient + modern + romantic + regal + beautiful about the 过大礼 (Guo Da Li), the traditional Chinese betrothal ceremony. Morpheus is old fashioned and a ruler in his own right, and his last marriage would’ve been done in the customs of Ancient Greece, so it made sense to me that he would pick something equally distinguished/with equal history.

I modified it for the story and focused on a few specific items in the basket that I thought would be best for the plot. This is heavily inspired and not meant to be a 100% accurate depiction of this practice.

(Link on Guo Da Li components here)

In Chinese culture, even numbers are viewed as more lucky/prosperous than odd numbers, particularly in the context of betrothal/marriage. A couple is 2 people, so the number 2 represents their unity (among other things). The groom gifts two of every item to the bride and her family as his proposal to invoke that, to show his own wealth and ability to care for her, and to compensate the family for the loss of their beloved child (and show that he recognizes how much she is worth to them).

Morpheus isn’t just interested in pretty words and declarations of love - he intends to marry Reader and give her all that goes along with essentially marrying a King. (Think Hurrem Sultan going from slave to wedded wife of Sultan Suleiman, ruler of the Ottoman Empire). He wants to show her that he can provide for her and their child, he wants to flex his own wealth and power, and (very critically) he sees how important Willow and Diana are to her, as her family, and chooses specifically to propose in this manner that has him giving gifts to them, aka symbolically obligating him to them as he will be taking their beloved family member. He is also *linking their families together* by giving Willow and Diana gifts.

He did personally craft/obtain all of these gifts and all of this symbolism is, in canon, chosen by and made by him.

Alright on to the actual gifts:

The specific basket that the betrothal gifts are meant to come in:

Black wrapping paper - these baskets come in either red or black traditionally

Dragons and phoenixes on the wrapping paper - these motifs pop up frequently in Chinese betrothal ceremonies - The Dragon and Phoenix pair historically, symbolises royalty and the perfect harmony and balance between yin (female) and yang (male) forces. It is said that this coupling complements each other in creating matrimonial bliss and perfection - befitting of their status of a symbol of everlasting and harmonious love. The Dragon and Phoenix - the epitome of the perfect pair, symbolises that the couple will stay together through thick and thin, and that their passion for their significant other will never die. The custom of weaving these motifs into weddings is a way of blessing the newlyweds with both patriarch and matriarch luck, prosperity and fortune in their union, and numerous filial descendants.” (Source)

Basket is made without any nails or adhesive - the art of Chinese wood joinery, or making furniture by carving the pieces of wood so that they hold together without anything else joining them, goes back thousands of years and is the hallmark of Chinese furniture

Lotuses - “The lotus is also known as 莲 lián in Chinese and homophones to lian give it symbolic meanings: 廉 lián ‘incorruptible, modest’; 连 lián ‘joint, continuous, successive’; 联 lián ‘unite, join’. Another name for the lotus hé brings other associations through the homophones 和 hé ‘harmony, union’ so two lotus flowers symbolize the wish for marital harmony.” (Source)

Lillies - “The species of lily most prized in China is the ‘day lily’ (Hemerocallis) whose blooms only last one day. The transitory nature of the flowers is said to help you forget your troubles. Its rapid sequence of flowers makes it a symbol for childbearing and is therefore a suitable gift for newly weds.” (Source)

Chrysanthemums - “The chrysanthemum is a much loved flower in China and is often portrayed in pictures. It is a symbol of joy and a wish for peaceful retirement. It sounds similar to 居 jū ‘to reside, to endure’ and久 jiǔ ‘long time’.” (Source)

Willows - “The widespread willow is a very useful tree. It provides material for all sorts of purposes including baskets, ropes and firewood. It is associated with Spring and therefore also with romance. (…) When people left home they were often given willow twigs as a parting gift as li sounds the same as 离 lí ‘to part’. Willow will sprout readily from cuttings and so a tree can be planted to give a continual reminder of home.” (Source)

Pine needles and cranes - “The pine tree is one of the three friends of winter - together with plums and bamboo because it is evergreen and does not drop its needles. It is a favorite subject in Chinese landscape paintings. It symbolizes longevity, solitude and steadfastness; as the needles grow in pairs it is also a symbol of married bliss. With a crane a pine tree gives the wish for a peaceful and long life.” (Source)

Plum blossoms and cranes - “The welcome blossom of plum trees in late winter has made the plum tree a popular plant. It is one of the three friends of winter with the bamboo and the pine tree. It is also widely known by the character 李 lǐ which is made up of two elements ‘wood’ and ‘child’ suggesting the prolific fruits produced by the tree. 桃李 Táo lǐ ‘peaches and plums’ is a phrase to refer to school children. The four plants plum, bamboo, orchid and chrysanthemum represent the four seasons of the year - winter through to autumn (the 四君子 sì jūn zǐ four gentlemen). Because the flowers emerge before the leaves and it takes a long time to come into flower it is associated with longevity. It is often shown with a crane, another symbol of longevity (…)” (Source)

The caskets holding the tea, one of the traditional Guo Da Li gifts:

Both the caskets and the basket are based off of real antiques that I found online but have now lost the links for rip

Pomegranates - “The pomegranate fruit is brim full of seeds, and as seed in Chinese 子 zǐ also means children, it chiefly symbolizes a wish for many children. This can be emphasized by portraying children with pomegranates in a picture. The pomegranate is sometimes known as the ‘Chinese apple’. The first trees were brought into China from Afghanistan during the Han dynasty. It is an appropriate as a marriage gift with the inscription 榴开百子 liú kāi bǎi zǐ ‘the pomegranate brings forth a hundred seeds/sons’.” (Source)

Roses - “The Chinese monthly rose (月季 yueji) is famous for the fact that it blooms almost every month of the year. For this reason, the Chinese rose is also known as ‘the eternal spring flower’ (長春花 changchunhua), and is thus a symbol of longevity.” (Source)

Ravens and stars - personally representative of Morpheus himself

The tea:

Da Hong Pao is the most expensive tea in the world. Literally. Specifically, when it comes from the original grove of trees that grow Da Hong Pao leaves. Morpheus is flexing his wealth and influence that he can give her not just one casket of this million dollar tea, but two.

8 oranges:

8 is the specific auspicious number for couples (4 is an unlucky number)

Symbolizes good luck (source)

2 bottles of expensive ass whiskey:

“Gift for father-in-law: 2 bottles of hard liquor or red/white wine Symbolises prosperity and a harmonious atmosphere in the family” (source)

Whiskey is Willow’s preferred alcohol

2 pairs of dragon-Phoenix candles:

See above reference in the dragon Phoenix motif

“Lighting fancy candles is an indispensable part of traditional Chinese wedding customs. Often used in weddings, such candles are mostly adorned with patterns of dragons and phoenixes and flowers to convey good wishes for prosperity and auspiciousness. Therefore candle often used in traditional Chinese wedding is also known as dragon and phoenix candle. According to historical records, there were wedding candles as early as the Six Dynasties. They were used at weddings in the Southern Liang Dynasty (502-557) and became a custom after the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Wedding candles had played a significant role in the marriage ceremonies in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties (1600-1644). Thus, dragon and phoenix candles had witnessed countless marriages in centuries.” (Source)

Gold jewelry (copied from AO3):

Gold jewelry for the bride is part of the traditional Guo Da Li gifts

Reader's crown/necklace/earrings/cuffs are intended to literally be the jewelry found at the archaeological site of Troy as part of "Priam's Hoard." This treasure trove of beautiful gold artifacts predates the Trojan War period by hundreds of years. Morpheus does not dabble in reproductions, especially not for the woman he intends to take to wife. Yes, he used magic/his powers/the Dreaming to secure the originals. https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/treasures-priam-golden-riches-legendary-city-troy-003350

Dowry/bride price (copied from AO3):

“The tradition of Pin Jin stems from the Chinese belief that that when a daughter is married, she leaves the family while the in-laws receives her into theirs. Thus, Pin Jin symbolises the bride’s value to the groom’s family. It is also given to create goodwill between the in-laws.” (Source)

I deliberated for some time over how Morpheus would present her dowry. Gold bars are sort of ugly/modern/don't have that much pizazz. Instead, Dream reached through time and space and collected gold coins from throughout human history; Ancient Chinese coins, Ancient Greek (specifically Macedonian Greek) coins, proto-Indian (Kushan Empire, so 30-375 CE) coins. (There are other gold coins from other cultures, those are just the ones I point out specifically). Not only is Morpheus displaying his wealth, he's showing off his ability to acquire wealth that no mortal could. Every civilization that ever made gold coins is meant to be represented in her dowry, from every corner of the earth. Morpheus' powers are universal, not just restricted to Western Europe.

Reiterating that the point here isn’t that Morpheus is “buying” her. Her worth goes beyond words to him - he is willing to put his money where his mouth is (sprinkle sprinkle). He wants to show her and her family how much he values her in a real, tangible way.

#treehouse #dream of the endless x you #dream of the endless x reader #sandman #the sandman #dream of the endless #morpheus x reader #morpheus x you #lord morpheus #Morpheus #lord morpheus x reader #lord morpheus x you

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thediamondguysjewelrs · 4 days ago

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Diamond Stud Earrings for Grooms That Exude Sophistication

From celebrities to grooms, jewelry is a huge part of any special day, particularly mens diamond earrings. These accessories have become a bold and timeless fashion statement, reshaping men’s jewelry trends in the 21st century.

Gone are the days when men’s jewelry consisted solely of a watch, cufflinks, or a tie pin. Today’s modern man knows that jewelry is a way to express his style and personality.

Men’s diamond earrings, especially studs, are at the forefront of this shift. Here's how to navigate the exciting world of men’s diamond studs.

Finding the Perfect Size

The size of your diamond stud earrings can make a significant difference. Generally, men’s custom jewelry in Phoenix is slightly larger than women’s due to the proportion of the male face and ears.

However, there’s no strict rule, your choice should reflect your personality and confidence.

For understated elegance, go for a smaller solitaire stud. If you want to make a bold statement, larger stones are your best friend. Whether you prefer a subtle sparkle or a more ostentatious glint, confidence is the key to pulling off your look.

Match Your Partner’s Style

Diamond studs can also symbolize connection, especially for romantic occasions like weddings or anniversaries. If you’re shopping for earrings with the intent to complement your partner, matching the metal type and gemstone color can create a cohesive look.

Your Scottsdale Jewelry stores will tell you that if your partner wears rose gold jewelry, opt for rose gold studs to harmonize your styles.

Gemstones don’t have to appear exclusively on earrings to create a visual link. If your partner’s necklace features a sapphire or black diamond, find a stud that mirrors that element.

A Unique Engagement Option

Who says engagement jewelry is only for women? More men are choosing diamond studs as a personal way to celebrate their engagement.

A pair of diamond studs designed to echo the style or color of your partner’s engagement ring can be a powerful and modern symbol of commitment. This trend allows men to mark life’s milestones with a touch of elegance.

In Conclusion

From subtle gold studs to eye-catching black diamond earrings, men’s diamond studs are the epitome of style, sophistication, and personality.

The process of choosing the right pair should be as enjoyable as wearing them. Take your time to explore the variety of styles, sizes, and designs available, and pick a pair that truly resonates with you.

More Information:

Lab Grown Diamond Studs

Diamonds by the yard necklace

#Custom jewelry in Phoenix #Scottsdale Jewelry stores

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aramonta · 5 months ago

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[ ni ni, cis-woman, she/her ] Look who just landed! ARAMONTA XIA WEI , I sure hope you packed all you need. Perhaps you’re not worried as the HEAD OF INTERPLANETARY MARKETS of REDROCK (INVESTMENT COMPANY). The city has plenty of spots for a 33 year old SIGHIR like you. You’ll be known in the city soon enough as THE SPEAR PILLAR, being ASSIDUOUS and SELF-CENTERED.

OOC INFO

Ven, PST, she/they

Muse’s Name(s): Aramonta Xia Wei, Reyna Jazmyn Dizon

Tagging System: HERE

Intro: HERE

STATISTICS

Full Name: Aramonta Xia Wei, 煒霞

Nickname: Monty

Date of Birth: November 1, 2372

Gender: Cis-woman

Pronouns: She/her

Sexual Orientation: Questioning

Romantic Orientation: Questioning

Current Age: 33

Modification: SIGHIR

Affiliation: Unaffiliated

Birthplace: New Jakarta, Mars

Current Neighbourhood: Sora

Occupation: Head of Interplanetary Markets of REDROCK, a multinational, multi-planet, near-galactic investment company

Known Languages: Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesian, Japanese, English, Arabic, French

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: Ni Ni

Height: 5'7"

Eye Colour: Reddish Brown, her near-constant Sighir usage leaves a red colour, like a filter or sometimes a luster, over her brown irises

Hair Colour: Dark

Clothing Style: loves silk, soft and breezy, custom designed clothing, often defaults to business casual/formal, has so many suit variants, reserves dresses and gowns for galas, doesn't understand dressing down, monogrammed everything

Jewelry: multiple rings on both hands, hand chains as everyday fashion, earrings for specific situations, necklace made from family heirloom gold, nipple stuff (cause she was curious and still doesn't understand the hype)

Tattoos: N/A

Marks/Scars: Scarification of three phoenixes over her spine (an homage to Bixia Yuanjun, the Chinese Taoist Goddess of the dawn, childbirth, and destiny)

Modifications: N/A

Scent/Fragrance: Tom Ford Myrrhe Mystère

PERSONALITY

Positive Traits: driven, passionate, adaptable, confident

Neutral Traits: pragmatic, amoral, reserved, realistic

Negative Traits: apathetic, impatient, unsympathetic

Peeves: Scraping silverware, loud people, meetings that should have been an email, being late

Fears: Society’s ruin, failure, losing her fish

Skills: business acumen & development, analytical reasoning, risk management, professionalism, rapport building

Goals: Hostile takeover of Redrock, social stability

FAVOURITES

Likes: Dumdum the goldfish and Alastair the Koi, numbers, watching popcorn pop

Dislikes: Wasting time, condensation that appears on food after you put it in the fridge/leftovers, doctors/hospitals

Hobbies: Football, Piloting, Meditation, Collecting Archival fashion

Habits: Using SIGHIR for pain transference, forgetting to drink water, keeping snacks in her pockets

One Cherished Item: Dumdum

OVERVIEW

Her father was a rags-to-riches story, who started as a boots-on-the-ground terraformer who rose up the ranks to become the President and CEO of the ASPECT company. Its name is an acronym for AeroSPace, Exploration, Colonization, and Terraforming. ASPECT made significant contributions to Mars colonization, habitation, and terraformation. Her mother became the CFO of REDROCK and was from a family with deep roots in global business which naturally evolved and scaled up to the interplanetary stage. When they met, she was charmed by the silver fox and it didn’t take long for them to embark on a journey to become a family. Aramonta had a warm upbringing and had never been without her parents’ love. She was free to find her direction and experience things independently, but her parents’ busy careers often left her without their gentle guidance. Maybe that was why things sometimes slipped through the cracks of their attention and they missed the initial signs of her illness. She was three when she wished she could tell her nanny that breathing made everything feel like knives stabbing inside of her whole body, but she couldn’t find the words through her screams or sobs. She thought that the pain would never stop, but just as the nanny was ready to call her parents, it did. While she caught her breath, she realized that her nanny was screaming in her stead, and for the first time, her eyes took on their reddish sheen. When her parents came home, they removed the hysterical caretaker and did their best to find a suitable replacement but each one afterwards suffered the same fate. This strange recurring situation wasn’t problematic for the Wei family. Instead, it was a complicated inconvenience. Through a series of secretive tests, Aramonta’s parents learned of her SIGHIR nature and recognized her need for stand-ins. They readily, and at one point, desperately, found staff members appropriate for her condition to buy more time. Still, this solution was nothing close to a permanent cure and not without lasting repercussions. Pain was an excellent teacher but Aramonta couldn't remember the last time she took a lesson from pain in the form of a first-hand experience. While her body tore itself apart, she largely lived her life painlessly by callously utilizing others to move toward the extremes and redefine expectations. Her parents, unable to part with their cherished daughter, did little to limit her. As part of her masquerade, she continued the family legacy and became an emerging leader in finance. Aramonta was quickly named the poster child for bridging the wealth gap and creating accessible avenues for financial well-being. Optically, she was a young and fit thirty-something uniquely positioned to change systems and influence industries toward equitable solutions. However, reality as she understood it was fundamentally unjust, and despite its imperfection, as her parents put it, it was still worth saving. Resources were limited and the systems to procure them were fragile, so her real purpose was to maintain the systems to ensure society's existence while selling market manipulation in a pretty box as inequity reduction. Raised by the belief that she could do anything, she met her family’s greatest expectations and exceeded them. She was already wearing shoes thought to never be filled by her so all that was next was to carry worlds on her shoulders. Between the tasks of caring for society and her race against time, the latter terrified her. After all, who could replace her?

FUN FACTS

The Spear Pillar refers to a spear in Shinto mythology, that was used to create a bridge between heaven and earth.

Dumdum the goldfish is an oranda goldfish with a multi-coloured cap that makes it look dog-like. She received Dumdum from her mother. Alastair the koi fish was given to her by her father. Every birthday, all she asks from her parents is for a fish. She has fish on Earth, in space, on ships, and on Mars.

She has a Filipino nanny turned personal chef named Magdalena Santos, or Maggie for short. Monty respectfully calls her Nanay Maggie, with Nanay meaning "mother" in Tagalog, her nanny's native tongue. She has managed to survive Monty's sighir.

She also has a butler named Walter. He typically handles the less-than-savoury tasks that would leave Nanay Maggie sick.

#about — aramonta #ignitedintro #ignitedtask01 #ooc [i'll return to make a better banner some other time. shakes fist]

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moononmyfloor · 1 year ago

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Hi Producer (正好遇见你) Infodump

Disclaimer: I have no idea about the accuracy of the information shared in the drama, I'm merely transcribing for future reference purposes. Proceed with caution!

Ep 26-27: Stage Costumes and Props

Stage outfits worn when performing Chinese traditional operas, since the Song and Yuan dynasties, a fixed pattern has been established gradually. Characters with different titles, social statuses, and personalities dress up differently so the audience can tell the disparities. Thus, there's a saying in the industry that a torn costume is better than the wrong costume. Following the rapid development of Chinese traditional operas during the Ming dynasty, the quality of headgear, costumes, and boots were improved considerably. Their design focused more on elegance and luxury.

Production of Suzhou stage costumes and props took off during the middle of the Ming dynasty. They're closely related to the development of Kunqu opera.

Designs, also known as outlines- In response to the different characters, various costume designs will be made. Dragons and phoenixes, flowers, Ruyi pattern, flowing pattern, and so on are commonly seen in such costumes.

Stitching, a process to create holes on the paper sample according to the design, to ease the foundation process.

Foundation process, a process where the foundation is applied on the fabric that they're going to embroider on through the holes.

Embroidering, a sewing process that uses threads of different colors. For stage costumes, the dazzling gold and silver threads are commonly used.

Flattening, a process where you apply glue evenly onto the fabric with a glue knife to flatten the embroidered patches evenly.

Cutting, a process where you cut the entire fabric and embroidered patches into desired sizes.

Completing, a process where you employ all kinds of sewing and gluing techniques to complete the costume.

Currently, all the stage costumes and props include headgear, boots, weapons, accessories, and headwear. These six main types cover over 1,000 kinds.

It's a shame that most of the crafts have gone extinct but as much as possible textual research of stage costumes is done, such as visiting museums in many cities to observe the preserved stage costumes in hopes of replicating something up to the standards of which of the Qing dynasty. That's a difficult task as the exquisite and luxurious stage costumes back then were produced by imperial craftsmen.

This episode truly felt like the epitome ofYu Zheng going Nudge, nudge, aren't I the most awesome costume drama producer? especially with the characters saying stuff like this lol🤭

Right now, there are stage prop and costume factories that take custom orders from film production crews. Celebrities may visit for personal requirements and many others out of admiration. To preserve texture and quality, outfits are made by hand for most parts. They have warehouses for costume design manuscripts. Best attempts are made to replicate the stage costumes of the past within reason such copper jewelry plated with silver as it costs too much if made with silver entirely. And handicrafts like velvet flowers take up a long time and has high labor costs. So most costume drama crews prefer a cheaper option like beaded flowers.

When an actor appears on the stage with these outfits on, the audience will know the title and the personality at first glance. It's completely different from some modern TV series. They don't dress in accordance with dynasties or characters. A random and wrong costume may look fashionable, but it won't fit the character and the plot itself. And overdoing the designs brings underwhelming results as when you are performing wearing them, overtly vibrant and exquisite designs will steal the spotlight from you. It's not the glorious look that decides its value. Anyway, we don't understand them.

I liked the following part a lot tho, it felt quite reasonable and moving. Especially as someone with 2x as my NORMAL watching speed, I know I still care for the meta details and the reason I watch fast is not because I don't care for the effort and research that went into a production.

Next year, online video platforms will launch a 4X speed function for all TV dramas. One might think that no one will be interested in Chinese operas is they've never spent time in a traditional Chinese theater before. There are rarely fans of Chinese opera nowadays.

It takes tens of procedures to making a stage costume. We need to focus on every single detail and can't rush things. But people are always in a rush. Making props and costumes by hand isn't efficient, and there's little demand. Many people wonder if the younger generation is willing to pick up this craft? What if such an excellent craft does go extinct? People always say that productions like this are slow and can't adapt to the era of machine production.

Many adapted historical tales are quite interesting not just because it touches on people's sentimentality. If their sentimentality can be used advantageously, that means people are still reminiscing about the past. However, this method will come to an end one day as a show is just a show. It has no way to save all those crafts that are going to vanish soon. Even if all these crafts will disappear after a century, we still hope that people will know that we once spent half a day just to make a fold or spent one and a half years just so we could produce one piece of stage costume.

What do we call this? We call this a craft. We call this a legacy.

China is a country with a big population. As long as there's one person who likes traditional crafts and is willing to learn, the legacy won't disappear.

Rose-purple satin female Kao costume

Embroidered with phoenix and peony patterns in flat gold that was made during the Guangxu period of the Qing dynasty. Every detail has been carefully recorded so the future generation could refer to it. The Chinese opera industry is developing. There are many newly adapted versions of historical operas. When designing costumes, aesthetic standards of the younger audience and the requirements of various kinds of stages both are taken into consideration.

Cixi watching the opera

-Showcasing the contrast of costumes and performances of Southern and Northern operas

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Beijing silk figurines

To make these, one must know sculpting, painting, and design of outfits. Similar to stage costumes and props, it's a fusion of many traditional crafts. But not many are aware of this. Most in the field do this as a hobby because in China, people aren't aware that these are not the work of craftsmen, but artists.

It got the name because the whole figurine is made with premium silk cloth and silk gauze. Beijing silk figurines were invented back in the Tang dynasty in Northern Fujian, when people used paper to make animal dolls. The craft continued to develop until the Song dynasty. People started using silk to make human figurines.

More Misc. Crafts

Featured in the timestamped vid below such as:

Sandpainting, Suzhou Embroidery, Hokkien Lacquer Thread Sculptures

Many consider that sand animation originated in Hungary. Although Ferenc Cako did turn sand animation into a modern performance, traditional sand animation originated in China. During the Song Dynasty, there were stories of people writing on sand and so on.

Suzhou embroidery is one of the Four Great Embroideries of China along with Hunan's Xiang embroidery, Guangdong's Yue embroidery, and Sichuan's Shu embroidery. The Suzhou embroidery is detailed and subtle. In May 2006, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Lacquer thread sculpture originated in Quanzhou of Fujian. It has existed for over 1400 years. The craftsmen must use the fine thread of lacquer and specialized techniques to create these resplendent patterns. Every piece is one of a kind.

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Making Liuli Glass

The ancient process of making colored glaze was very complex. The colored glaze was born in the fire and drowned in water. It takes dozens of processes to complete such as: detailing the wax pattern, casting the plaster mold, coloring, firing in the kiln.

Normally, steps involved in the making of colored glazed are designing, making of silica gel mold, making and detailing of wax patterns, the making of plaster molds, and being fired in a kiln, removing the plaster mold, sanding, and polishing.

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Timestamped Documentary segments:

Props and Costumes Craft

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Of Traditional Opera Theatre

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