#I went all day thinking about pomegranates

[canisalbus]

Machete and Vasco are so pomegranate-and-the-hand-that-slices coded. To me.

Pomegranates are seen as messy, bloody, inconvenient fruits. You slice or tear or bite and in return for your effort you come away underwhelmed, disgusted, and stained too deep to wash. The consumption of a pomegranate is a violent act of defilement, for both the fruit and the eater.

But that is because most do not understand how to open a pomegranate. They have little patience for the precise carving. They see no point in coreing the fruit gently, no reason to be reverent as they pull the quarters apart. When done correctly, opening a pomegranate leaves little mess. Your fingers will still stain, your knife will still slick, but there will be no pool of crimson drowning both you and the fruit.

The seeds are only sweet to those who understand the merit of a light hand and intricate slicing. Why put in so much effort for a food so bitter and clearly armored against consumption? Surely it must not yearn to be eaten.

(^insane about silly catholic dogs)

.

[reds-skull]

CW FLASHING IN THE VIDEO (3rd from the bottom)

This is it. 3 months in the works, the comic (and video) are finally done.

A little over a year ago, I uploaded the first work in Revenant AU, Ghost's origin comic. I never thought I'd write a whole series for this, but I'm so glad I did. I got a whole new hobby out of it, haha.

I already began working on part 2, but this for me marks the start of it. I'm really excited to get back into this world!

Under the cut there are some comments on the comic I thought some people might be interested in (don't wanna make this post longer than it already is lol). I will upload the frames from the video separately, with comments on it there.

Bottom line is, thank you for letting me just go wild with this :)

Okay, I'm mostly gonna talk about the part where Fate shows Makarov the 141+Farah. Makarov doesn't see the Fate of people as literal images, he often has to interpret odd symbolism in the flashes he gets from the Weave of Fate.

I decided to go for a style I saw in a collection of calling cards in MW3, mainly from this one:

You can really see it in the faces and pitch-black cel shading.

I'll be going in order of appearance, starting with Farah.

Obviously, each of the "flashes" shows the Reaping of each person, Farah being crushed under rubble. Behind her is a helo of green gas, which symbolizes the Russian experimental gas. The motifs around her are more interesting imo - they're taken from the Urzik flag (and yeah apparently it's "Urzik" and not "Urzikstani"... according to the wiki at least). Wings, plants (feels to me like a pomegranate and some sort of crop, but I couldn't find what it is specifically), and a moon, upside down.

I'm skipping ahead a bit, but I've had the idea to make a drawing of Gaz in the Hanged Man pose since I started the AU basically. I tried sketching it once, and it went bad so I gave up lol. But I decided to come back to that here, and add some sort of tarot connection to all of them. I know practically nothing about tarot, googled the meanings of each, they fit well enough, I called it a day lol.

So Farah is the Moon, upside down.

Price is next, showing him taking control of the brain of someone. I didn't use the flag of the UK for the 141 (it'd be kinda boring...), instead I took the Taskforce 141 logo, and broke it down to different elements.

I took the laurels for Price, both framing his illustration and sitting above his head like a crown. I decided he will be the Emperor.

Next up is Gaz, the Hanged Man of course. Gaz gets both the wings and the stars (I changed mine to 4-pointed because... I like them better). Pretty clear why, both symbols relate to the sky. The illustrations kinda follow a rough day cycle, if that makes sense. Farah being night, with the moon. Price with his golden and purple color palette, twilight. Gaz being sunrise, and Ghost and Soap, day. This is why Gaz has a sun behind him.

Ghost was fun because he's the only inhuman one out of the group. I'll let you think what that implies, that even in Fate's Weave, Ghost is an outlier... Ghost gets the skull, and the card "Death". That one was easy, but what I did add is blood flowing down the skulls, like tear tracks...

Soap, the problem child, gave me the most issues as always. For once, it wasn't his fucking face, it was the flames behind him, and overall contrast and readability issues. Soap's illustration is probably packed with the most "hidden" details, though they're obvious if you've read the fic and Konchar's side story. The headless man behind Soap is Konchar himself, holding 4 chains with dog tags on them. The 4 soldiers from Soap's squad, who he killed before Soap was Reaped. Soap's pose is from the moment he came to his senses, after getting shot in the head and destroying a large part of Verdansk. He has 4 swords, pointing at him and downwards, so his card is 4 of Swords, upside down.

Between Soap and Ghost is a circle and a triangle. I'll explain that in the post concerning the video, since that's where I got that from.

If you read all of this, thank you so much! There will be another post for you to read in a moment lol

[jackoshadows]

Firstly, why is it that Sansa can only be praised by comparing her to Arya? Secondly, in what world is Arya physically strong and more than Sansa?!

The masculinization of Arya Stark by tradfems in fandom has become so commonplace that I suppose many of them imagine this is how Arya and Sansa are in the books:

In case folks don't know this: ARYA IS TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN SANSA! She's the younger sibling!

Anyone who has read a Jon POV chapter should know that Arya is a skinny, little girl. Jon specifically makes a small, lightweight, thin sword for Arya to handle.

And Arya … he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. - Jon, AGoT

Arya has been on the run for two years, hunted by Lannister men, a slave put to hard physical work and starved for food.

She spent the rest of that day scrubbing steps inside the Wailing Tower. By evenfall her hands were raw and bleeding and her arms so sore they trembled when she lugged the pail back to the cellar. Too tired even for food, Arya begged Weese's pardons and crawled into her straw to sleep. - Arya, ACoK

Often as not, she went to bed hungry rather than risk the stares. - Arya, AGoT

"Lommy's hungry," Hot Pie whined, "and I am too." "We're all hungry," said Arya. - Arya, ACoK

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. - Ary, ACoK

I knew we should never have left the woods, she thought. They'd been so hungry, though, and the garden had been too much a temptation. - Arya, ASoS

"An inn?" The thought of hot food made Arya's belly rumble, but she didn't trust this Tom. - Arya, ASoS

Rabbits ran faster than cats, but they couldn't climb trees half so well. She whacked it with her stick and grabbed it by its ears, and Yoren stewed it with some mushrooms and wild onions. Arya was given a whole leg, since it was her rabbit. She shared it with Gendry. - Arya, ASoS

The biggest toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry. Like me, she told herself. - Cat of the Canals, AFfC

We have the contrast of Arya having to trade some carrots and cabbages they picked from an overgrown garden to get some food and the innkeeper complaining about the lack of lemons to the sumptuous 64 dish feast in the Vale with a 12 feet tall lemon cake made especially for Sansa.

Anguy shuffled his feet. "We were thinking we might eat it, Sharna. With lemons. If you had some." "Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool? Why don't you hop out back to the lemon trees and pick us a bushel, and some nice olives and pomegranates too." She shook a finger at him. "Now, I suppose I could cook it with Lem's cloak, if you like, but not till it's hung for a few days. You'll eat rabbit, or you won't eat. Roast rabbit on a spit would be quickest, if you've got a hunger. Or might be you'd like it stewed, with ale and onions." Arya could almost taste the rabbit. "We have no coin, but we brought some carrots and cabbages we could trade you." - Arya, ASoS

Sixty-four dishes were served, in honor of the sixty-four competitors who had come so far to contest for silver wings before their lord. From the rivers and the lakes came pike and trout and salmon, from the seas crabs and cod and herring. Ducks there were, and capons, peacocks in their plumage and swans in almond milk. Suckling pigs were served up crackling with apples in their mouths, and three huge aurochs were roasted whole above firepits in the castle yard, since they were too big to get through the kitchen doors. Loaves of hot bread filled the trestle tables in Lord Nestor’s hall, and massive wheels of cheese were brought up from the vaults. The butter was fresh-churned, and there were leeks and carrots, roasted onions, beets, turnips, parsnips. And best of all, Lord Nestor’s cooks prepared a splendid subtlety, a lemon cake in the shape of the Giant’s Lance, twelve feet tall and adorned with an Eyrie made of sugar. For me, Alayne thought, as they wheeled it out. Sweetrobin loved lemon cakes too, but only after she told him that they were her favorites. The cake had required every lemon in the Vale, but Petyr had promised that he would send to Dorne for more. - Alayne, TWoW

Arya was already a little, skinny girl smaller than Sansa when they left Winterfell. She has been worked to the bone, sleeping rough and gone hungry. Again, by what logic is this Arya supposed to be physically strong and more than Sansa?!

There is this idea that's often pushed where Sansa is some dainty, fragile princess while Arya is this strong executioner henchwoman and it's just so tiresome and toxic.

Arya is also not Brienne! They are two different characters. If you want physically strong warrior types to compare to Sansa, there is already Brienne. Arya is the smaller, younger sister. In canon and logically, it's the taller, bigger, elder sister with access to good, rich food who would be physically stronger.

The Stark looking Starks tend to be slender and quicker compared to the bigger, stronger Tully looking Starks.

He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast. - Bran, AGoT

The biggest toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry. Like me, she told herself. - Cat of the Canals, AFfC

"Can't you guess?" Jon teased. "Your very favorite thing." Arya seemed puzzled at first. Then it came to her. She was that quick. They said it together: "Needle!" - Jon, AGoT

Arya was always quick and clever, but in the end she's just a little girl, and Roose Bolton is not the sort who would be careless with a prize of such great worth. - Jon, ADwD

This is one of the reasons for why Jon Snow is so protective of Arya Stark - he certainly doesn't see her as some physically strong warrior type, despite gifting her with a sword. He's scared for her because he knows that despite how clever she is, Ramsay can kill, rape and torture her - she's 'just a little girl'.

Arya deserves to be protected, same as Sansa. She is not there to be anyone's henchwoman, she does not have super strength and she is certainly not physically stronger than Sansa.

[cottonlemonade]

Hi hi!! I saw your lemonade stand and I LOVE the concept omg. Can I request a medium watermelon lemonade with pomegranate seeds for Asahi?

Thank you so much if you write it !! I hope you have a great day 🩷

Sharing A Tent With His Crush

word count: 1926 || avg. reading time: 8 mins.

pairing: Asahi x chubby manager!Reader

genre: fluff with spice

warning: mdni, spoilers

request: fluffy-spicy, sharing a tent with pining friend Asahi

“One, two, three, four…”

As Takeda counted in the background, Coach Ukai studied his clipboard, listening with a content smile to the hollering and laughter that was carried up from the beach by an easy sea breeze. The kids were off swimming and building sandcastles and trenches, enjoying their hard earned freedom after weeks of studying and practices.

“Oh no.”

Ukai turned to the teacher.

“What is it, Sensei?”

“Oh nononono - no!”

“What? Did we forget a cooler? What?”

“We are one tent short!”

“What?!”, Ukai’s booming yell made some birds fly out of a tree top, “I double checked it! Are you sure?”

The men stood shoulder to shoulder, counting. Again. And again. But even after the fifth time, Ukai had to admit his mistake.

“What are we gonna do?”, Takeda asked, panic rising in his voice.

“We just… gotta rethink logistics.”, Ukai said, grabbing the clipboard once more and flipping to the page of the sleeping arrangements.

One of the boys was supposed to sleep alone anyway. And one of the girls, too, because both numbers were uneven.

“Maybe we can squeeze Nishinoya, Hinata and Yamaguchi into one and then have y/n take the free boys’ tent.”

“Sensei, we can���t just sort them by size. I think… hm, y/n is a third year. If we put her with one of the other third years they should have the presence of mind not to try any funny business. The first years won’t get a wink of sleep having a girl so close to them at night and the second years are as girl-crazy as they come.”

“How about Sugawara then?”

“Don’t be too trusting, Sensei. I don’t think he is as innocent as he seems.”, Ukai said with a frown, “And Sawamura might do something without even realizing he is flirting. - I hate to say it but … Azumane will be too chicken to even go near her. I think he is our best bet.”

Asahi went pale when the news broke over dinner. He looked at you and was quite relieved to see you equally as shocked.

“It‘s just for one night.“, Ukai said quickly, “Not a big deal.“

Both the ace and third manager would very much beg to differ but the coach already made his way back to Takeda and his plate of chicken.

“No big deal.“, you repeated under your breath.

“No big deal.“, Asahi agreed.

It was, in fact, a big deal to Asahi. He didn‘t know exactly when he started to be hopelessly in love with you but if he had to take a guess, it was probably somewhere around the time when he noticed all of his sketches and doodles of various outfits becoming chubbier until they eventually matched your figure. Skirts for a lovely Sunday date, pantsuits for eventually kicking butt at an office where you undoubtedly would end up as CEO sooner or later, dresses for imaginary galas you‘d attend and even an elaborate gown for a daydream of a royal ball he had during a boring physics lesson. (He also came up with his own outfit for that occasion to match you.)

Noya was the only one he confided in. The libero had sworn on his honor to never hit on you and ever since tried to push his best friend to make a move before graduating and possibly losing sight of you. And after much pushing and pestering and strategizing, Asahi, under threat of violence, had agreed to confess his feelings before graduation - as an out, Asahi didn’t tell his friend that he hadn’t actually specified whether it was graduating high school or university so he still had time either way.

After dinner the team gathered around a bonfire to roast marshmallows and make up completely ridiculous, yet confident, remarks about constellations in the clear night sky.

Asahi was torn between wanting to play for time until curfew or savor every second of the increasingly appealing mishap - to share a tent, all night, alone, side by side with his crush.

But of course, as with every good beach episode, there had to be a game of truth or dare involved.

Daichi was forced to admit that he was deadly scared of mice, Hinata had to sit still for a whole minute and, in the meantime, Tsukki was dared to not insult him once. It was fun until Noya turned to you and the glint in his eyes made you gulp.

“So, y/n-san. Truth or dare?”

Quite frankly, both of these were dangerous coming from him but maybe truth wouldn’t be so bad.

Noya gave a victorious grin.

“Who, of the people here, do you have a crush on?”

Asahi wasn’t sure if it was the light of fire that made your cheeks look so pink. His heart quickened. You stammered, kneading your fingers in your lap.

“Alright everyone.”, Daichi said when an alarm went off on his phone, “Let’s get to bed. Lights out in 15 minutes.”

Noya groaned and began to argue but one look from the captain had him crumble. So instead, he and Tanaka pushed each other out of the way, eager to be the one to accompany Kiyoko the few steps to the tent she shared with Yaachi.

Suga and Daichi gave Asahi a nondescript nod Goodnight before heading to bed themselves.

It was quite miraculous, you thought, how Asahi’s massively tall frame could fit next to you, when your plump form occupied a good part of the truly pathetically crammed tent already.

You sat cross legged on your sleeping bag, in your pyjama shorts and oversized t-shirt. Given the sleeping arrangements you decided to keep wearing a bra.

“Just for one night, right?”, you said in a (failed) attempt to make your voice sound light and airy.

You pumped some oil into the palm of your hand before running your fingers through your hair. The pleasant smell filled the tent. You caught his eyes and smiled, then both of you looked away again. The atmosphere was somewhat stiff, even though you’ve been on friendly terms with the fellow third years ever since you switched over from the Sewing Club about a year ago.

“Do you think-“

“So what would you-“

You said at the same time and broke off, laughing awkwardly.

“You first.”, he said.

“Do you think it’s okay if we keep on a light?”, you asked.

“Sure. Do you have one? Cause otherwise, I brought-” Asahi reached for his backpack and so did you.

After a moment’s rummaging you produced a small panda bear figure and turned to see a thing in his hand that looked suspiciously like a round little rabbit with a leaf umbrella.

“Is that… is that the official Totoro night light with 8 different color options and dimming function??”

Asahi nodded and you clasped your hands in delight, leaning closer to inspect it as he held it out to you. You let out a small gasp. This was one of the best night lights on the market right now after all!

“I wanted one of those for ages! But they're always sold out! How did you get it?”

“I set myself an alert for when they’re back in stock.”

He basked in your impressed “Ohhhh” and a few minutes later you both lay on your stomachs, looking at the two soft glowing figures in front of you.

Outside the tent, Ukai nodded approvingly on his last checkup before turning in himself in the room he shared with Takeda in a guesthouse on the border of the camping grounds.

“What was your question?”

“Hm?”, Asahi turned to look at you.

“Earlier when I asked you about the light. You wanted to say something as well. What was it?”

“Oh, not important.”, he said and moved the Totoro night light a little closer to your panda.

“Come on, I wanna know.”, you lightly pushed his leg with your foot to encourage him.

“I was just… I-i was wondering what you would have said if Daichi’s alarm hadn’t gone off.”, he mumbled.

“When? Oh, the game. Uhm.” The pink from earlier returned to your cheeks. Now would be as good a time as any, you thought and after a deep breath you replied, “You.”

Stupidly, Asahi rolled around to check if there was someone else behind him in the tiny tent before moving his attention back to you.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”, you laughed.

“I- I don't know what to say.”, Asahi stammered.

You regarded him with a thoughtful smile, still somewhat hopeful that what Kiyoko and Suga told you was right.

“Well, you could tell me if you feel the same or not, maybe?”

“Oh right! Yes!”, he said, much louder than intended and ducked his head a moment later, “Yes, I do like you. A lot.”

You beamed at him.

“Nice.”

The following giggles were suppressed in your respective pillows.

When you came back up for air he brushed a few loose strands of hair out of his face and cleared his throat, “Would you like to go out with me once we’re back?”

“I’d love to.”

“Great.”

You both looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

“So…”, you began, weighing your words carefully, “Do you wanna make out?”

If Asahi had been drinking water, he would have choked on it. His face immediately turned bright red and he needed a minute to put a coherent word together. You waited patiently.

“Yes.”, he croaked eventually.

He didn’t move.

“I’ll be right there.”, he assured you, his voice and face still not quite back to normal.

“That’s alright.”

Asahi’s eyes widened when you scooted closer and your noses almost touched.

“Hi.”

“H-hello.”

It started out with a peck. You pulled back to check if he had any objections but you didn’t get very far. His lips followed yours as if magnetic. He sighed into the kiss and your smile widened if possible even further. His large hand came to rest on your waist and you slotted your leg between his. The kiss soon became open mouthed, your tongue slipping back and forth to test the waters.

You hummed happily against him, making him squeeze your pillowy hips. He was losing his mind. How could one person feel this good? Your hand brushed down his muscular arm to lay on top of his and began to move it. He was so engrossed in your taste that he didn’t notice until he cupped your breast.

“Y/n…”, he breathed, resting his forehead against yours. He stared at his hand, how it went up and down along with your panting. You, in turn, felt him throb against your thigh that was pushed between his legs.

Your chubby fingers closed around his much larger hand, easing him into the idea that he was free to touch you.

“Y/n…”, he whispered again and was met with your lips on his once more. He had never been drunk before but he was sure this was exactly what it must feel like.

Asahi groaned into your mouth when his palm pressed against your hardened nipple, pushing through the fabrics.

____________________

Picking up a piece of omelet with his chopsticks the next morning, Asahi grinned down at his bowl of rice like an idiot. You sat right next to him, so close that your heavenly thighs touched his, just as dazed from the previous night.

Tsukki frowned and said to no one in particular, but loud enough for you to hear, “Do they realize that tents aren’t soundproof?”

a/n: this one got so away from me xD thank you for your request and your kind words! I hope you enjoy it 🌟

Also I apologize for being so inactive. It’s a mixture of writer’s block, summer heat and a twisted back 🥲

[junabuggy]

Hi! I love your writing! Would you be up for writing a fic where reader has super bad separation anxiety from Al, but he has to go somewhere without them and either Angel Dust or Husk is in charge of taking care of them/keeping them calm while he’s gone? Thanks a bunch!!! ❤️

Separation anxiety! GN! Reader x Alastor/husker?

A/n: Of course !! Honestly this has been super fun and I’m more than grateful for all the people who seem to enjoy my silly little fanfictions/headcanons, many thanks everybody ♥️♥️

Also, if you couldn’t tell from a lot of my writing, I’ve taken quite a liking to Alastor… So I get it, I love him too y’all ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

Warnings: Mentions of separation anxiety, Mentions of alcohol, Alastor being Alastor so light mentions of blood and cannibalism (doesn’t actually happen)

Fluff✔️ Comfort✔️ Angst❌ Smut❌

Hope yall don’t mind a few headcanons first about this :33

📻𖤐 it’s hard to tell how Alastor would realistically react to someone being attached to him in that way..

📻𖤐 Like do I think it would bother him? No, he wouldn’t mind you tagging along wherever he went as long as you didn’t bother him too much or get in the way of things but there are just times where he requires or wants to be alone. Which is where Husker would come in lol

📻𖤐 He probably wouldn’t leave you with Angel, even if Husk wasn’t available for whatever reason he’d just get Charlie to look after you while he was away.

📻𖤐 I feel like he cares/loves in an odd way.. like he wants to tear you apart and lick up all your delicious, sweet blood but in an affectionate way??? If that makes sense?? Remember that pomegranate cannibalism metaphor that went around on TikTok for a bit there? Think that.

📻𖤐 of course, he wouldn’t do that, he wants to keep you around.

Okok I’m done yapping about silly radio man lol, onto the fic

Unfortunately, today was one of those days you couldn’t tag along with where Alastor went, he was attending an overlord meeting and obviously you not being an overlord it meant that you couldn’t go with him despite all of your protests and begging.

Before his departure, he sat you down at the bar with Husker and gave you a little pat on the head, telling you that he’d be back shortly and walking out of the hotel doors.

The grumpy cat demon poured himself a drink as he stared at you, this wasn’t exactly the first time Alastor had left him on “babysitting” duty with you and he didn’t exactly mind it. You were quite sweet for somebody who landed themselves in a place like hell.

“Where’s he off to this time?” Husker asked before taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage he held in his hand, attempting to make some form of conversation with you.

“Oh.. just some kind of silly overlord meeting…” You mumbled out a short reply whilst looking a bit glum. He simply nodded in response, setting his glass down on the bar countertop to mix you up a little something as well.

Husk didn’t understand your attachment to the Radio Demon to be completely frank with you. He and a lot of others viewed Alastor as something to fear, respect, and try to avoid contact with the best they could… so seeing someone who enjoyed his company was a foreign idea to him. But he wouldn’t judge you for it. It wasn’t exactly his business anyways and at least he seemed to treat you decently.

“Don’t stress it kid, he’ll be back soon. He keeps his promises I’ll give him that much.” Husk attempted to reassure you, giving a slight smile as he slid a drink down to you.

You smiled back weakly and nodded, taking a deep breath as you grabbed the drink he had slid over to you. You took a sip and it tasted like a screwdriver, not too bad of a drink and it would probably take your mind off of things a little bit if you had a few of them. Which was probably the goal Husker was trying to reach.. he couldn’t imagine separation anxiety to be very fun.

Later into the night once you got a few drinks in you, you started to forget all about why you were upset and/or stressed out in the first place. Chatting with Husk about random stuff and occasionally mentioning and talking about a person or two.

Husk wished there were more nights like this, more time spent with you… and who knows? Maybe you’ll be visiting the bar more often for him after tonight if he was lucky. He was pretty good at playing his cards right, after all.

(Sorry this was kinda short !! I wasn’t sure what else to write. Lmk if you guys maybe want a part two with Alastor coming back from his little meeting, I might do that :3)

𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨�� 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ◟( ˃̶͈◡ ˂̶͈ )◞

ᯓ★ 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐲

[honey-crypt]

a/n: a request from the lovely @fuerrziah! the rest of my drafts are smut requests and i've been anti-horny soooo... have some short but tooth aching sweet fluff!!

word count: 892

warnings: none

summary: a surprise dinner has elliott questioning what you have up your sleeve. little does he know, you have hidden a mermaid's pendant somewhere at the table.

★ honeysuckles and pomegranates - elliott x farmer ★

Elliott clutched the ornate letter close to his chest, as he approached the entrance to the local farm. He recited the contents of the letter by heart in his mind, as if it was a mantra of good luck. Over and over again, the writer repeated to himself, Meet me tonight at 9pm. I have a surprise for you. Dress up. 

And- oh, boy- did Elliott dress up. His day to day appearance reflected nothing but sophistication and charm in his neatly pressed shirts and bold accents, but his “dress up” attire blew that essemble out of the water. Elliott wore his hair in a low ponytail, secured in an emerald green ribbon. He dressed in a flowy white shirt and paired it with relaxed red slacks, his overcoat shrugged off his shoulders like a shawl. His brown Oxfords echoed against the dirt ground, as Elliott approached his beloved’s farmhouse. 

Outside, the farm was illuminated by bronze lanterns, the core areas sporting at least one. Fireflies filled the remaining darkness out with the occasional flicker of dim light. Elliott knocked on the door and awaited for his beloved. A few footsteps rang out from behind the door, closer and closer until the redhead came face to face with you, his love. 

“Hello, honeysuckle,” the term of endearment rolled off his tongue effortlessly. You beamed up at Elliott, “Hello, pompom~” your tongue, meanwhile, teased out the pet name for Elliott. He let out a snort, uncharacteristically poignant of his usual prim and proper self. Yet, with you, Elliott allowed himself to ‘let loose’ and forgo any formalities. 

“You said in your letter-” he unfolded the precious paper of parchment and double-checked its contents, “That you had a surprise for me?” you nodded and held out your hand, “Lemme show you,” the writer graciously took your hand and followed you towards the surprise. Nested within the lushious orchard on your property, fairy lights shined upon a magnificent scene. A small table with two chairs stood proudly in the center, as soft instrumentals hummed from the radio. A bottle of chilled pomegranate wine rested in an ice box on the table, a plate of freshly steamed crab cakes on each side of the chairs. Elliott could only gawk like a dumbstruck fool at the sight before him.

“What do you think? I got this all set up for you,” your voice brought him back into reality. Elliott blinked and turned to you, “What do I think?” he pulled you close and pressed a chaste kiss on your lips, “I believe you have outdone yourself once again, my dear.”

“I’m glad you like it!” you giggled, your smile ever so bright in Elliott’s eyes. You then gestured to the grand dinner, “Let’s eat,” the redhead nodded in agreement and took a seat at the table with you, his mouth salivating at the sight of his favorite meal. 

Goodness, this must have cost them a small fortune, the writer thought to himself while he dug into the heavenly assortment. As the meal went on, the two of you exchanged recaps of your day, the latest town gossip, and so on. It was just like every other dinner date, but in his heart, Elliott knew something was slightly off about this date, as his nose twitched throughout the dinner. 

“I propose a toast,” his ears perked up at the sound of your sweet voice. You held up your glass of wine and Elliott followed in suit, “Just like old times,” the writer mused. Elliott smiled fondly at the memory, the night he felt the spark ignite in his chest, as he proposed a toast to your friendship. The way your smile lit up the saloon, the way you merrily drank your ale, it was no surprise that Elliott fell head over heels for you. 

“I wish to toast to…” your eyes darted to the ice box, “Our love,” you lifted up the ice box, revealing an all too familiar necklace. Elliott’s jaw went slack at the necklace, the vibrant blue pendant glistening under the moonlight. You grasped the Mermaid’s Pendant and held it out to Elliott, “The moment we shared that drink in the saloon was the night I fell in love with you, Elliott. Underneath your elegant persona, I saw a man full of wonder and laughter,” tears began to swell up in the writer’s eyes, “Elliott, will you do me the greatest honor and marry me?”

“Yes!” he nearly shrieked, forgoing any restraint and practically throwing himself at you. The two of you shared a deep kiss, your hands playing with Elliott’s long ginger hair while he held you as close as he possibly could. When you finally pried yourself off one another, Elliott flashed you that million dollar smile of his and hummed, “Do you want to know something funny?”

“Of course,” you answered, eyes twinkling with curiosity. Elliott rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small box, “I planned on proposing to you, too,” he opened the box and revealed an identical Mermaid’s Pendant. You broke out into a grin and kissed your fiancé feverishly, pulling away only to put the engagement token around Elliott’s neck. He returned the favor and stared down at your neck, his chest bubbling up with excitement. 

Guess my nose is never wrong about these sorts of things.

[thereraigoes]

“how to make millions before grandma dies” through my own lenses.

these days, the internet is filled with people recommending this film to be added in everyone’s watch-list. 1) asian family themed 2) people said it’s tear jerking 3) it’s available at the nearest cinema from home— those three points intrigued me to give the film a toss to try. a moment after i went from the cinema, i know well that people who keep recommend this film is not lying at all.

reviewing a film is never my forte but this film makes me want to write something after watching it. i guess it’s the bond of similarity that this film has to me, especially i’m an asian as well.

i would like to give the five stars to,

the color grading.

i am always a big fan of films that have pretty color grading. htmmbgd has a really pretty, i would even say it’s the prettiest color grading from all the movies that i’ve watched lately. if you look closely toward color grading of each film, sometimes several places have its own colour— so does this film, somehow you can know exactly where the film is located just by looking at its color. i don’t really know how to describe it but when i saw that warm, sunny that sun can sting your skin but someplace is kind of shady.. somehow it really screams asia, and it feels so homey.

also a plus point that it is neither over saturated nor under saturated. it’s unpleasant to watch the artist’s skin look so orange where they are not meant to be a tangerine or look so grey where they are not meant to be someone who hasn’t eaten for a week.

it just.. chef kisses. a lot of scenes that show scenery around the setting and it doesn’t lessen the plot, it makes the audience know about the place without too much movement from the camera.

the sound choice.

it adds drama and spices to the films so much and without them, maybe people can survive this film without crying. it plays an important role as well to the plot since we know that m is known as a scaredy cat and amah’s lullaby is the one who relaxed him down and vice versa (i’m not mentioning that scene okay!)

“you can’t leave this cinema without crying buddies.. it’s okay you can cry, okay cry now” that would depict how the sound’s role in htmmbgd.

the plot.

i won’t say a lot about this but kudos to the filmmaker because it’s really good! the plot doesn’t always go like the audience prediction but somehow it’s relieving.. that’s just the same as how the real world does right?

the highlighted-scene and little details that i care for,

a heads up. i might mention some scenes and maybe some of them are spoilers to everyone who hasn’t watched it. so feel free to stop reading if you feel the spoilers are too heavy for you. i’ll try to lessen it!

amah’s paperbag

while watching the film, i realize that amah never wears a proper ‘bag’. we only see that she always wears paperbag that m always carries for. in my interpretation, it symbolizes the humbleness of amah. we know that amah only sells congee for living— three children and herself. those moneys that she get from is always prioritized for her children needs, not her needs— especially for secondary and the tersier one. if it’s enough to carry, then let it be. but we know, there lies a thing that meant a lot for her family inside it.

m and amah talks when m asked why amah always wanted to have a great land of cemetery for her soon.

i can’t help but cry in silence when this scene appears because it’s just so.. ironic. amah always wants to have her children coming together with her, even when she is passed away so she thinks if her children don’t want come when she is alive— a good cemetery would probably help her desire to have a nice gathering without an argument.

pomegranate and amah’s implicit love.

just like common asian themed poem, there will always be mom cutting fruit to symbolize mother love. but i never read (this could be i am the one who never find it, send me one if you ever read it!) a grandma who is cutting the fruit.

even for her own son, amah forbade him to eat the pomegranate because it was meant for m only. she has kept that pomegranate tree for years, water it everyday, cut the rotten branch, wrap the pomegranate with plastic so the caterpillar won’t eat it– she cares it just like she cares m.

even though amah is grumpy toward m (she knows since day one that m is hiding something from her), she still loves and cares for him.

“sons got the assets and daughter got the cancer”

i want to hug ma so bad. she is the most hardworking one between amah’s children yet she assumes that she never receives amah’s love. it just.. i want to hug her so bad.

and finally, the deeds.

i don’t really know about other families but mostly i reckon that this issue is really controversial. family can separate to each other because of this issue only, they highlight the importance of inherited parent’s wealth. i know it is their right to have it but neglecting the fact that their parents need their children’s time and only wanting their wealth is so sickening.

we know that m cares amah only for her deeds at the first but slowly he knows that it is not always about the deeds, it’s about cherishing the memory with her while it lasts.

it’s bearable that m is mad to know that soei is the one who got the house– i mean who doesn’t mad though if the one who got the house is the one who never helps to care about amah, never have a job and a burden to amah, even steal amah’s money. it happens commonly in asian family, my family as well. sometime i don’t really know what on their mind.

but through this, i realize that how old we are, our parents still look at us as a child. that’s why amah apprehends soei, she’s worried that if she doesn’t give soei her house then he could never solve all his problems.

but that mindset is a fatal flaw as well, by then we can see that soei only rely to his mother. he could never stand on his own. i’m relieved that m scolds for him even though soei is much older than him.

conclusion and rating from me, rai,

it’s worth to watch, at least once in a lifetime. you can always rewatch it though but beware running out of your eyecream because it really makes your eyes swollen right after you leave the cinema.

cherish everyone in your life while it lasts. don’t be so bitter to people, sometimes they need help but they are afraid to reach you out.

lastly, it’s a solid nine out of ten.

[astral-cookiery]

Woah! A new writer :0 Welcome and hello! :D

Can I request headcanons/short fic (pick whatever you want!) with Dark Cacao Cookie or Red Velvet? In which Reader decided to braid their absolutely lovely long hair.. thank you!

Hello and thank you for the welcome!

Loved this request~ It took me a little bit to think about!

I'm an overachiever and wanted to do both of them too

Hehehe...

Red Velvet x Reader

You were down in the Cake Factory with Red Velvet, helping him oversee the growth of the Cake Army. You were watching the oven, making sure the tray would be taken out on time. Red Velvet wasn't watching so vigilantly, instead mixing more batter.

He uttered curses to himself, huffing in irritation. looking over, you noticed his hair was disheveled, falling in front of his face and obscuring his vision while mixing. His hands were covered in cake batter, making it so he couldn't get it out of his face.

You shook your head slightly, turning your attention to the oven. It would be some time until the tray was ready to be removed from the oven.

You focused your eyes on the appliance, your back turned as he kept grumbling to himself. You snickered at his predicament, covering your mouth to muffle the sound. Yeah, you should probably stop standing there and do something. A few beats of silence passed, the only sound being that of the oven's flames.

"...I can braid your hair out of your face if you want." You offered offhandedly, not looking back at him. That might've pissed him off more, and you didn't exactly want his anger directed toward you.

Instead, you only received a sigh for an answer. "Make it quick." He muttered.

You walked over, standing behind him. Moving carefully, you pulled his hair out of his face, then started parting it, your hands moving as delicately as possible. Red Velvet Cookie set the oversized spoon he was using to mix the batter down, now just resting his arms against the counter.

Slowly, as if trying to be subtle, Red Velvet started leaning into your hands. Of course, you noticed right away, the extra weight making it harder to work, but it was kind of cute, so you didn't mention it. It was like his inner cake hound had come out, seeing how he was acting like one.

It was comfortably quiet now, as opposed to the pressing silence from before. Apparently, braiding his hair had the secondary, unintended effect of calming him down.

"Is this what you do when you're unattended?" Pomegranate Cookie said in an impassive tone. You jumped, and you both glared at her simultaneously. Since you were almost done braiding his hair, you quickly tied it so that the braid wouldn't fall apart, then stepped away. "It's not like we were doing anything weird. I was just braiding his hair so it stayed out of his way." You defended, turning to pull the tray out of the oven.

Pomegranate huffed, brushing your comment off. Before she could make any further comment, however, a wave of Cake Hound Puppies was unleashed onto the room, filling the air with yips and barking. Pomegranate got the hell out of there, leaving you and Red Velvet as you were mauled, and you both went down in a pool of hounds and giggles.

Apparently, cake hounds were an excellent Pomegranate repellent.

Dark Cacao x Reader

Dark Cacao Cookie has been stressed lately, all of the pressure on him causing him to push exhaustion. In other words, he has not slept in two days, and he is concerning those around him.

"Come on~ Please?" You asked again. Unfortunately for him, you were one of his most persistent servants in the kingdom.

He sighed, trudging through a deeper drift. He lacked any energy required to argue with you right now. It appeared that his tactic to get you off his back (Aka losing you in the snow) was not working as he had hoped.

Before you were able to badger him any more on the topic, he finally gave you an answer that wasn't silence. "For a short period of time, fine."

You cheered triumphantly, then continued panting as you jumped through the snow. How on earthbread were you keeping pace with him? Neither he or you could say. "If you walk through my tracks, it is less tiring to walk through the snow." He advised, setting his path back towards the castle.

You took the advice, and found it easier to keep up on the long trek back.

‗=‗=‗=‗=‗

Evening had come, taking the light of day with it by the time you had returned to the castle, your clothing coated in ice. If Dark Cacao was at all bothered by the cold, he didn't show it at all.

You had quickly retreated to your room for a change of clothes, then found him in the throne room, now without the heavy armor and cape. You followed him to his quarters, standing by as he took a seat on the edge of his bed.

Internally triumphing, you kneel behind him, and tackle the task of dividing his hair into parts, making sure to be gentle.

Dark Cacao hummed, closing his eyes. "I enjoy your presence, [Name]." He commented. You sort of froze for a second, entirely unsure of what to say. What do you say in that case?

"I'm aware you do, too. You're one of the most persistent cookies I've ever seen, I'm sure you'll be a great warrior one day." It was probably the lack of sleep making him like this, because any other day he wouldn't have said anything even close to that.

Soon after, he starts slouching, and you quirk an eyebrow slightly. "Your highness?.." You mumble softly. Did he really?..

You quickly realized that yes, he did indeed just doze off while sitting upright.

Sighing, you finish braiding his hair, making sure that the intricate braid wouldn't slip out in his sleep with a rubber band.

Huffing quietly, you help him properly lay in bed, then quickly sneak off, the door quietly shutting behind you as he was left to sleep.

(I'd like to imagine that you sat guard outside his door to keep visitors away until he woke up, then slipped away before he knew you were there, but that doesn't have to be so if you don't want it to be.)

Put him to bed like a child. Great success.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

Modern Highschool!Klaus M.

Warning:Smut in every chapter after this one

She was the only person in the school besides his family who gave him the time of day, let alone treated him with any kindness, even his siblings struggled with that half the time. She was one of the few popular girls who wasn't a bitch to all of the kids around her and he admired that about her, ever since the day she first spoke to him he hadn't been able to get her off of his mind and even he knew he was a little obsessed.

The first time she talked to him she was commenting on his painting. She had been sent to the classroom to drop something off to the teacher and as she went to leave she walked passed Klaus, seeing his painting. It was a beautiful, dark night sky and she was in love with it immediately.

'Wow. That is beautiful!' He was startled by her voice, usually completely focused when he paints which makes hearing other people a complication, though people don't usually talk to him so it's not often a problem. When he turned to see her he recognized her instantly, who wouldn't? She was one of the most popular girls in the school, though she wasn't completely cruel to those around her. Her boyfriend however, James, was an asshole who had abused Klaus both physically and verbally on many occasions, both that she knew nothing about that. He had never really looked at her before but now that he was his hands were practically itching to sketch those gorgeous eyes of hers.

He realized he had been staring at her a little longer than was humanly acceptable so he immediately stumbled over his words to say something. Anything! 'Thank you.' Thank you? Thank you?! That's all he has? He's pathetic!

'It amazes me that people can paint like that. I can't even draw stick figures.' She leaned closer to get a better look at his painting and he was overcome with her scent, inhaling as subtly as he could when he realized how Wonderful her smell is. Mango and Pomegranate? Along with something flowery that was just perfect and practically had him melting. He wanted to nuzzle his face into her neck and just take in her scent as deeply as he could. 'You're really talented Klaus.' He was instantly stunned. She knows his name? His name?! He was stunned but he surely didn't mean to say it out loud.

'You know my name?' He wanted to slap himself in the face.

'Of course I do. We've had 3 classes together since 9th grade. It's Niklaus, isn't it?' He nodded.

'Yeah, I know, it's a really weird name, I've heard it all before.' He joked but she didn't laugh.

'I don't think it's weird, I like it. My name is Y/n, how boring is that? Why would you want the same name as everyone else? It's unique.' She was sure of herself and he was touched that she liked anything about him, let alone something that he had been embarrassed by since he was 5.

'Thank you...I used to get teased about it by everyone, including my brothers. It's nice to know not everyone thinks it's stupid I guess.' She smiled and god damn if that smile didn't light up his whole world.

'I'm glad. I should go before my teacher thinks I ditched, I hope I get to see your painting when it's finished, it really is amazing. See you later, Nik.' With that she was gone and he was left there staring after her like some love sick puppy...which he absolutely was!

For the rest of the day Klaus could be found with his sketchbook in hand, drawing her beautiful eyes over and over again. He was obsessing over every little detail of her cute little nose and her full, kissable lips and by the time the last bell rang he had drawn her 4 times. He tucked the book into his bag and shoved his notebooks into his locker when he was suddenly shoved from behind, hands pushing him painfully into the locker before shutting the door behind him, laughter from 3 jocks outside for several moments before he could pull the latch and let himself out. That asshole had been abusing him since his first day of high school and now as a Junior the moron should be gone but he is, as he said, a moron and has been held back 3 times yet somehow still allowed to play football and to wrestle. How does a piece of shit like that get a girl like Y/n?

Over the next few weeks his crush grew into full blown obsession and even his brothers had noticed, the brothers he lived with who never notice anything! Kol teased him but he could be shut up pretty easily with a punch to the mouth, Elijah just warned his little brother of the risks of what he's doing. Though Elijah is in college now, he had been in the same class as James for years before the kid started getting held back and he knew very well that his little brother would get crushed if he pissed James off. Finn however just wanted details in the insane chance that Klaus actually got the girl into his bed, which Klaus found offensive. Finn was a dick when it came to women, everyone but his girlfriend Sage who had straightened him out when they started dating 2 years ago, though he was still a pig when it came to anyone else. If Klaus was lucky enough for Y/n to give him the time of day he would Never share details with anyone, especially his asshole older brother.

It was 3 weeks before Klaus spoke to Y/n again. He had finally gotten the painting graded and could take it home, and while he normally would take it home and hang it in his basement bedroom (a room his mother had fixed and given to him to make it easier for her son to avoid Mikael when he's angry or drunk), this time he had no intention of taking it home. He had been watching Y/n for weeks now and knew exactly where she was after school, walking outside and to the side of the building to see her with her Cheerleading friends. She was good friends with almost the entire squad despite never being a Cheerleader herself which Klaus almost thanked God for because if he had to see her in the halls every game day wearing one of those uniforms he would bust a nut in front of everyone multiple times a day. He took a deep breath and steadied himself, walking over and instantly having their undivided attention as he got close, none of these popular girls probably ever having been approached by a nerd of any kind. Klaus was an art nerd, meaning he spent all of his time in the art rooms, he wore dorky glasses sadly and he got incredible grades, he knew it and he was fine with it...most of the time. The only time he had a problem with it was lately because he knew a girl like Y/n (despite how kind she was) would never give him the time of day when it came to dating him.

'Are you lost, dork?' One of the Cheerleaders (that he had been teased by before) asked and he felt his face heat up, ready to just give up on this stupid idea when Y/n spoke up.

'Shut up Stacey! He hasn't even said a single word and you're already being a bitch!' She snapped and she stopped laughing, having the decency to look at least a little bit sorry. 'Hi Klaus. What's up?' He grinned, ecstatic that she was so receptive to him approaching her at all, let alone in front of her friends.

'I um...I just finished getting the painting graded and I remember you saying you wanted to see it when it was done?' Her eyes lit up and she smiled a beautiful grin that Klaus instantly knew he would be drawing later.

'Yes! I can't believe you remembered! Show me!' He turned the canvas around and allowed her to see it, letting her take it from him to inspect it closer, her friends now moving to see it as well. 'Klaus...this is incredible! You are so talented there aren't words for it! Isn't this amazing?' She asked her friends who all looked quite stunned by it.

'It is, it's really fucking good.'

'Truth. You have some serious talent. You should be in like, some special art school or something.'

'Brittany is right. You should be! Tell me you're going to some fancy art college after next year?' Y/n asked and he shrugged, blushing like crazy now.

'I'm going to apply to a few but they're really hard to get into, you know?' She nodded.

'Well I'm sure you'll get in, they would be crazy not to like this. I love it Klaus, really.' He nodded, smiling and not taking it from her when she went to hand it back.

'Good. Because it's yours.' All of them looked up at him in surprise, some of the girls giggling while another poked Y/n in the side, all of them walking away at this point to head to the football field for practice.

'Klaus...I can't accept this. You worked so hard on it, and don't you need it for like, your gallery or something to apply to schools?' He shook his head, smiling at her use of the word gallery.

'No, I have some photos of it for my art portfolio, I've been putting it together for years hoping to get out of this fucking town. I do hope I have a gallery of my own someday, but that's a long way off. Maybe someday when that happens, years and years off you'll let me borrow it to showcase, either way it's yours. I enjoyed how your eyes lit up when you saw it, no one has ever really been interested in my art work before besides my little sister, though I think that's just because she knows my family doesn't care much for my artwork.' Y/n looked saddened by that and he hated it immediately, never wanting to see her sweet face frowning.

'That's fucked up. Your family should be supporting you, especially when you're this good! Why don't they?' She seemed genuinely upset for him and it sent butterflies fluttering through his stomach.

'It's complicated I suppose, my mother had an affair and I'm not my fathers son, my relationship with my parents has been...complicated to say the least but you don't need to hear about that. My siblings just aren't into art, simple as that. My older brother Elijah is supportive, as much as he can be.' He didn't like the look of pity on her face as he told her this and tried to get out of the conversation quickly. 'I hope you like it.'

She caught his arm as he turned to leave before wrapping her arm around his neck and hugging him to her. 'I'm so sorry you have to suffer through that. I can't relate to that exactly but my family is fucked up too, my dad is a drunk and my mom numbs the pain with drugs so I pretty much take care of myself. I can empathize is my point...thank you for the painting. It was very thoughtful, I'll take wonderful care of it, I promise.' He wrapped his arms around her, taking the opportunity to take in her scent and feel her body pressed against his. He had been dreaming of her for a month now and finally feeling her body against him was like he was back in one of his dreams, her breasts pressed against his chest firmly and it was all he could think about, his cock twitching to life in his boxers prompting him to let go before this became embarrassing. 'I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?'

'Yes. Absolutely!' With that she was gone and he happily watched her walk away, desperately wanting to know what her cute little ass felt like in his hands, or pressed up against his crotch as he held her to him tightly...if only he had some kind of a chance with her.

From that day on she greeted him every time she saw him in the halls, and every time it made his day. He had caved for the first time after that hug, practically running to his room as he got home and wrapping his fingers around his cock, trying like hell to imagine they were hers as he could still feel her breasts pressed against his chest.

His fingers had been wrapped around his cock ever since…

It was a week later at the end of the school day that he was grabbed from behind, dropping his bag as he prepared to be shoved into the locker again, but he wasn't. He was spun around and pinned to the locker door, looking up to see James behind him and for once he was alone. The halls were deserted as Klaus had stayed after school to finish his newest painting, wanting it to dry over the weekend so he could hand it in on Monday and he felt a chill run up his spine when he realized no one was going to help him if this jerk decided to beat him to death.

'You know, I've been shoving you into lockers and smacking you around for almost 3 years and until a week ago I had no fucking clue what your name was. So why is it that now it's all I hear?' His eyes widened, not having expected that at all. 'Tell me, Klaus...why is my girlfriend suddenly talking about you as if you're fucking Mozart with that damn 'Night Sky' painting she hung in her room?!' Klaus couldn't decide what his mind wanted to focus on, the fact that she hung his painting in her room, the fact that she's talking about him on such a regular basis that James is this upset, or that James has clearly been in her room quite often and imagining him with his hands all over her naked body makes Klaus want to set him on fire. He's willing to bet however, that he picked the wrong one instantly.

'Mozart was a composer, he wrote music, he didn't paint. Maybe you're thinking of Van Gogh with his painting 'The Starry Night'? Though mine is drastically different in every way so I don't know how you could-' he was cut off by the meat headed Jocks fist straight to his eye, his head colliding with the locker hard.

'You are becoming a complication for me Klaus, and I don't like complications when it comes to my girl. She should be focused on me! When I'm in her bedroom there's only one thing I want and it's not to hear about the complexities of your God Damn Fucking Painting!' The idea that James was not only fucking her, but disrespecting her on top of that when she blessed him with the ability to not only see but touch her gorgeous body set every inch of his mind on fire with rage. He was about to snap some sort of comeback that would probably get him beaten when they were both startled.

'James?' Both of their heads turned to see where Y/n had walked in from the stairwell. 'What Are You Doing?! Let Go of Him!' She shouted and he was honored that she was sticking up for him, making him feel like the king of the world before he suddenly got punched again, this time in the nose making him cry out, feeling and tasting the blood that exploded from his face.

'No! He's gonna learn his fucking lesson! You don't go muscling in on a man's women, especially when you're a little punk who can't fight back!'

'Muscling in on-What are you Talking about?! He's my friend! I shared with you how much I love the painting so you could learn something new about me, yet you still never paid an ounce of attention to anything except my tits! Let. Him. Go!' Her voice was firm and Klaus could tell she was pissed but if James noticed, he didn't care.

'You ain't been putting out like normal, what am I supposed to think, huh?! We've been together for over a year and I know how much of a little slut you are, if you ain't getting it from me then you must be getting it somewhere! I wouldn't have guessed this nerdy little shit could give you any kind of fuckin' that's worth while, but stranger things have happened.'

She hadn't been sleeping with him?

Klaus wanted to think maybe he had something to do with it but his logical mind was telling him it more than likely had something to do with this Morons attitude rather than Klaus.

'I told you that if you didn't start paying attention to me and giving a damn about our relationship that I wouldn't be dedicating myself to this relationship anymore! This shows exactly how much you listen to me, now let him go! You have no reason to hurt him, besides, if it wasn't already clear from this conversation, we're done! You can find a new girl to put out, I hope she's as dumb as you so she won't feel the need to talk! Lord knows she won't be getting any actual conversation from you.' James looked stunned, like he didn't know quite how to respond but he seemed to figure it out when he pulled his arm back to hit Klaus once again. As James' hand came down Klaus was yanked out of the way and he collapsed to the floor on top of Y/n as the Jocks hand collided with the lockers painfully, causing him to howl in pain.

'You Fucking Cunt!' Klaus pulled her up to her feet and she took his face into her hands to look over his injuries, allowing him to see how bad Y/n felt about it. 'Fuck This Shit! You ain't worth it, I mean yeah, you have a tight pussy, but you're so fucking needy! All the snuggling and the pet names and needing me to spend time with you every damn day! She's all yours, freak!' With that James stormed off and Klaus was left with Y/n pulling him towards the bathrooms.

'I can't go in there!' Klaus insisted, seeing she was taking him into the girls room but she just huffed.

'Everyone has gone home, and the Cheerleaders have a locker room. No one will come in here.' She pulled him through the doorway and pushed him to sit on the counter. Klaus watched as she wet a paper towel and began cleaning the blood from his face very gently. Even when his mother had cleaned him up after Mikael had beaten him again she was never this tender and careful, he found himself wanting to get hurt everyday if this is the treatment he got. 'I'm sorry he did this to you Klaus, it's all my fault. I should have known he would freak out if I tried to do anything other than take my top off.'

'Y/n, it is not your fault! He's either hit me or shoved me into my locker at least twice a week for 3 years…I'm sorry he treated you like that, you deserve so much better. He should consider himself lucky you let him see you like that, listening to what you say shouldn't be treated like a chore. He's a fucking idiot.' Y/n had stopped cleaning his face and all at once Klaus realized what he had said. 'Not that it's any of my business and I didn't mean-I-well I didn't mean to...I'm sorry-'

'Don't be. You're incredibly sweet Klaus, and you're right, he's an idiot. He's been held back 3 times, plus once in second grade, like how the fuck do you get held back in second grade?!' They were both laughing at that point and for the first time he felt completely comfortable with her, not nervous at all, he enjoyed how carefree she seemed. 'He's right though, I'm definitely needy. He loved it when I called him 'Daddy' but calling me pet names or caring for me or something as simple as snuggling after sex was insane to him. Like, yeah, I have Daddy and intimacy issues, I don't comment on how stupid and childish you are, why can’t you just let me feel safe and small?!' He was stunned, she was talking to him so freely and personally that he didn't quite know what to do, but he didn't want her to stop. He definitely needed to go home and take care of himself now that he's picturing her in baby blue lingerie, calling him Daddy, and snuggling into his chest but he never wanted this moment to end. 'Oh God, I'm so sorry!' He quickly realized that he hadn't said anything after her little rant and he felt bad immediately. 'You didn't need to know any of that! I'm-'

'No! It's fine, I...I think it's even more shitty that you would be so vulnerable with him and he just spat on it. You deserve to be loved and cherished...and a Daddy to take care of you however you need. I...well I would have taken care of you...he doesn't deserve you.' He could see how red your cheeks had become now and he thought it was adorable. 'You can stop if you want. I have plenty of first aid stuff at home, you don't need to-'

'I want to. You deserve someone to take care of you too...I'm almost done anyway. You'll need someone to check on you, you might have a concussion.' Klaus shrugged at that.

'I've had plenty, if I was going to die it probably would have happened by now.' He joked but you did not look entertained.

'I'll do it. Come on, we can hang out and get something to eat. I'm starving.' His eyes widened and he wasn't quite sure how to react. His plan was to go home and jerk off until his balls were surely empty but now Y/n wants to spend time with him? Fuck Yes!

'Yeah...okay. Sure, we can go to my house if you want? The basement is my room but it's so big I made an entertainment center, we can grab some food and...hang out?' Klaus had never 'hung out' with anyone other than his siblings but he was ecstatic at the thought of the girl he is most assuredly in love with crushing on being in his room.

'That sounds like fun! Come on.'

Masterlist

[d-a-r-l-i-i-n-g]

˚ ༘♡ ·˚꒰ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚗 ꒱ ₊˚ˑ༄

Comfort/fluff

You were bored, after coming back from the purgatory hall, you were hanging out with Luke decorating cupcakes with him, scrolling through Devitube on your D.D.D, you came across these stunning paper flowers, it was a tutorial, so you tried it out taking out some old art supplies you didn't use anymore you got to work.

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ Lucifer ࿐ྂ

He was in his office doing some work, he had a shitty day constant arguments with Satan and belphie more work from Diavolo, he felt as if his head was going to explode (poor peepaw), you, on the other hand, felt bad, Lucifer seemed extremely stressed, and yes even though it was normal and even though belphie and satan made you join the 'anti-lucifer club' you still couldn't help but feel bad, so you decided to give your flower to him, sadly you knew that it wouldn't take away the shit load of work, knocking a rhythm on the door, you heard a tired "Enter." behind the entrance, opening the door your hair falls in front of your complexion, peeking in you flash the black haired demon a nervous smile. "Ahh, Mc it's so good to see you, what brings you here?" smirking Lucifer leans back, his stray hairs going in all directions, you could tell he was tired just by seeing the bags under his crimson-red eyes, "Here sit." pointing to the chair in front of his desk he motions you to sit down. "Can I get you some tea?" looking up you shake your head "No, it's okay Luci, you sit down and relax, okay?" smiling you look down in your hands placing the paper flower on his desk, "Here, I made this for you." he lifted an eyebrow, taking the paper rose in his gloved hand, looking at the paper rose you made him, he smiled softly, it's a smile you don't get to see much only when you two are alone, or sometimes he is happy with his brothers. "thank you..mc, I'll cherish this, forever, come here." he motioned for you to sit on his lap, as you sat down he placed his arm around you, you leaned on his chest, the smell of pomegranate, and expensive wine clouding your mind, closing your eyes you two sat there, comforted by each others company.

↳˳;; ❝ Mammon ᵕ̈೫˚∗

"Stupid Levi calling me names." walking to his room with his hands in his pocket the white messy-haired demon quibbled to himself about the harsh treatment he got from his brother, upon entering his room, he sat down on his bed and scrolled through his D.D.D, his unhappy expression not leaving his face, after a while he heard a knock before an annoying sigh could leave his mouth he heard a sweet voice coming from the other side. "Mammon, it's me Mc." his eyes gleamed a bit, and he walked to his door to open it for you, he watched as you went into his room walking behind you, he leaned on the pool table, and your hands were behind your back hiding the yellow paper rose you had made for him. "alright..what are ya hidin' behind your back?" he tilted his head to the side looking at you with suspicion, you looked down on the floor, anxious to give him this paper rose, why are you nervous? You thought to yourself, I mean I've known him for quite a while I shouldn't be nervous I'm not always nervous in front of him- "Yo Human?." mammon snapped his fingers in front of you, seizing you out of your thoughts, "i-um I made you this rose." you let out, as you showed it to him, you could see his eyes had slowly widened, "I know it's not an expensive gift..but I know the others treat you like crap and today it's really gotten to your head, so I wanted to make this rose for you." you tried to explain, your heart felt like it had exploded honestly, mammon gaze was on yours, I don't think I've left mammon that speechless before..you thought, chuckling in confusion, he held the rose in his hand gently, "For me? Seriously?" he gaped at the paper rose in awe, it was enchanting it had such small details, to him this rose had more worth than any of the expensive items he had in his room, feeling a slight blush form on his cheeks, opening his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Mammon pulled you into a hug, your eyes were a little wide and cheeks a bit red but you leaned into his comforting hold.

.·:*¨༺Levi༻¨*:·.

Levi always felt insecure, but today he felt even worse, for some reason his mind just wanted to tournament him, it annoyed him he just wanted to play his games but he couldn't, everything was so difficult when his thoughts were loud, so there he was slumped on his chair, wearing his headset, his game console was in his hand, the blue light from his tank illuminated on his face that had a soft frown on it, hearing a knock, he fixed his posture, "Come in.." *he groaned a bit, you entered the room, you hand was behind your back, the pale demon flashed you a warm smile, feeling a bit better by your presence, you could tell by his face something was a bit off, "what's wrong?" you asked making your way to his bathtub and leaning on it, "Nothing, it's just one of those days you know, mind is all over the place." he replied leaning back on his chair, his eyes were now glued on the ceiling, "You know you can speak to me.." you said as you tilted your head to the side, he didn't say anything, feeling bad you took out the orange paper-rose, looking down on it, he shifted his gaze to the rose, blinking a couple of times, "Eh? What's that?" he got up looking at the paper rose, you smiled a bit, placing the flower on his desk, "I made it for you..." his eyes slowly widened, taking the rose in his hand, he looked at it, it was gorgeous, he could feel himself get emotional, a blush crept up on his complexion, his gaze flickerd to the rose and back to your kind ones, you chuckled softly, taking his other gaming console, "I heard a new game came out, do you wanna play it?" still in a little shock he places the rose on the desk taking his gaming controller and nodding his head, you two spent the entire night playing video games, and talking about each others problems, needless to say Levi feels better when he is around you.

umm ik that i only did the older brothers, im sorry if u wanted to see all of them, this idea is kinda sweet kinda boring? Idk, if someone likes this thats cool. Buy i like it :D

Update: I should've read through this cus there were a lot of spelling mistakes..the fact I use Grammarly too..well I've fixed them now-

[takenbypeter]

Helllloo!! I absolutely love your Todd stories. Could I request a self care day with Todd? He's very stinky so I would love to help him. I love all of your stories, and I would be so grateful if you wrote for him!

Self Care Day

Todd Tolansky x reader

Words: 519

“Face sheets, what’s that?” Asked the green tinted boy. He agreed to do a self care day with you, of course without knowing what it meant exactly. 

“You’ll find out, just come with me.” You instructed holding your hand out towards Todd who he was more than happy to take it.

Guiding him to your bathroom you hold out a fluffy headband for him to take and he watches as you put your own on.

He tried to do the same as you, placing the headband over his hair that was still wet from his bath earlier, you reach over pulling his bangs out from the headband. And then dove your arm into your drawer to pull out a variety of sheet masks. 

“I have honey, good for nourishing and moisturizing, pomegranate, for firming and antioxidants, and green tea for refreshing and pore cleansing. Which one do you want?”

He looked between his options, his face unsure, “which one do you want?”

“Hmm,” you turned them back towards you reading all the descriptions before pulling out the green one, “green tea.”

“Then me too?” You shot him a smile while he returned it with his own goofy twist. 

Pulling out another green tea you handed it to him. And he watched you again, copying your movements as you ripped the top portion off and pulled the sheet out. 

Unfolding the sheet you look in the mirror and lay it on your face, gently pressing the sides down with your fingers until it’s well rested against your skin. Then you turned to him. He was staring at the open sheet in his hand looking a bit confused. 

“Here.”

Spreading the sheet out, you hand it to him again, “hold it like this in front of your face.” He does as instructed while you hold onto his wrists and push them back until it reaches his face. 

With gentle hands you push it to his skin, watching closely and making sure you press every part. You’re so focused on making sure it sits right that you don’t notice the way he’s staring at you with his lovesick eyes. 

“How does that feel?” You ask once done. 

“Good. Cold but good.”

You begin to grin before you straighten your face, your hands going up to fix your own mask, “don’t make me smile.”

It was at that moment that Toad noticed something about your mask, “it’s a cat,” he pointed out before looking in the mirror, “a panda.” He said after viewing himself. He stood staring at his reflection, finding this all actually hilarious. 

“Now we wait for about twenty minutes then we can take it off.”

“Twenty minutes? That’ll take forever.”

“It’s shorter than you think, trust me.”

He stood in silence, doubting your words while you grabbed onto his arm, “c’mon let’s go do something while we wait.” 

And together you went off to find a way to pass the time quicker. Although Toad didn’t care much for this self care day, he did care for you and honestly he’d do anything for you because man was that boy whipped. 

[ghostherlig]

even more random hcs!!

bc i probably wont be home until after christmas :')

anyway, take more johnrailaoshi bc ive been thinking about them all day-

(if you saw this early no you didnt- im stupid and pressed the wrong button-)

raiden really loves valentine's day bc it gives him extra reason to show his appreciation for the people he loves in his life- he always hand makes cards and folds origami pieces for his bfs to find around the house- he went all out one year and made each of them a jar full of paper stars

johnny and kung lao's favorite holiday is halloween!! they go all out for costumes and always decorate the house to match- johnny even hires smaller actors to dress up and play characters outside with him and lao to have fun with the kids- they have a scare actor section and a section for cartoon characters

kenshi's favorite holiday is christmas!! he doesnt have a lot of fond memories from childhood, but after johnny first asked kenshi to celebrate christmas with him, oh that man was hooked- johnny was happy to see kenshi beam all throughout december, holding warm mugs and wrapped in blankets since the cold always got to him

jax and johnny still have this kind of strange rivalry, esp when kenshi is around- kenshi thinks it's funny bc most of the time it's them trying to out do each other with history facts, but both just end up having a nice convo.... it's the only time kenshi can get paperwork done without headaches

lao and raiden still have mini bets they place with each other all the time- half the time kenshi and johnny find out abt them bc lao brags abt winning- raiden bets poorly on purpose sometimes bc he knows lao likes to win and it only costs him a little..... sometimes he humbles lao, though (the superbowl is the biggest bet of the year for them)

raiden isnt known to swear, but his favorite song is "I Don't Fuck With You" by Big Sean (thanks kung lao) and he can be heard singing the lyrics, uncensored and all, randomly

kenshi can very easily peel or cut any kind of fruit- apples, oranges, pomegranates, persimmons, pineapple, watermelon, anything- if he is handed a fruit and asked to cut it he will and it will be fast and done beautifully

raiden has johnny do his hair!! braids is usually the most common style outside of his bun, but johnny always insists on doing his hair if they're going out-

kenshi has lao help him cut his hair!! lao does his own undercut and knows his way around a buzzer/clippers- the first time lao asked to cut kenshi's hair the swordsman was unsure, but he decided it wouldnt hurt and lao did it perfectly and has done it since

johnny has a cameo on a sooby doo episode!! he somehow convinced them to put him in an episode with the hex girls and it actually was so awesome-

johnny is super good with puzzles- like insanely good- kenshi, lao, and raiden just started getting him those really fancy puzzle boxes for christmas/his bday and he's cracked every single one without fail-

they have board game nights!! monopoly and uno have been banned- but when everyone is over their favorite game to play is 'one night ultimate werewolf'

for several years johnny has done a Santa Livestream on his insta and has donated a lot of money to charities that buy gifts for kids in need as well as done fundraisers to get others to chip in too- he got tomas, syzoth, kuai liang, lao, and raiden to help him keep people entertained on the live- kenshi even agreed to do a "face reveal" if they hit ten million in a day- they hit the goal in six hours

raiden and tomas are actually pretty close as friends- both bond over their combat abilities and their lives in general, and both have dragged the other into different media- now they watch episodes of different series' weekly and talk over the phone about it- their bf's know better than to interrupt them on the phone with each other

lao is the only Only Child in their polycule- raiden has his sister, johnny his brother, and i hc kenshi as having an older sister and a younger brother-

johnny will randomly start dancing, sometimes bc he just has a song stuck in his head, other times bc he just needs to move- his bf's always smile when they catch him- the most extreme move any of them have seen him do is drop into a split

none of them are fond of using their powers for silly or stupid reasons... however, each of them have definitely used their powers in a way they werent supposed to- kenshi has for sure used his telekenesis inappropriately, raiden has used his lightning to cook smth, kung lao has used his force/air manipulation to throw things at ppl, and johnny uses his weird shadow powers (give him his green back ]:) to scare his bfs-

johnny owns the house, bc it's a five bedroom, six and a half bath, super expensive house- it gives each of them their own room and then a shared room with a big asf bed, a nnice kiving room, incredible kitchen, big dining room for guests, a wine cellar, in home gym, etc- literally a second mansion-

as soon as anyone gets sick, raiden makes chicken congee- he got the recipe from madam bo after he told her him and lao were moving to stay with johnny for a while- she was happy to give him the recipe and even showed him how to de-bone a whole chicken for it

johnny is actually so interested in tarantulas- he thinks they look super cool and that some of the colors and patterns are really pretty- if kenshi and lao werent as insect averse he would definitely get one

lao's favorite reptile (after syzoth) is the arabian sand boa (pls google these guys, they're adorable-)

kenshi really loves reptiles and has always wanted a leopord gecko or a hognose snake- but he fears not having enough time for one with work and his bf's

johnny very lovingly refers to raiden as his wife after kenshi made a joke abt johnny "wife-ing" him by making him his favorite meal- raiden always gets flustered bc johnny is very open abt opening an LLC with them all as a kind of "poly marriage loophole"-

they all have jewelry that they wear as sort of "promise" jewelry that they almost never take off- johnny has his silver bracelet/band, kenshi has a steel ring, raiden has an anklet, and lao has a necklace

johnny, to his personal assistant and manager, refers to his bf's as "The Council" and always answers scheduling questions with "i'll have to consult with The Council"- it's rubbed off on the other three which has to led to raiden telling liu kang he cant give him a firm answer bc he has yet to "speak with The Council" (liu got flashbacks to "I Must Consult With the Elder Gods-")

johnny makes the worst jokes abt US tragedies- the jfk assassination is his personal fave bc he knows he can mess with kenshi with it- "it blows my mind that you can be so childish, cage-" "yknow who else got his mind blown-" "JOHNATHAN CARLTON-"

lao still has his first chakram hat and it's hung up in the mansion living room- all of them will stare at it or remember it's there and think back to lao telling the story of his Inspiration (thanks bi han)

raiden really loves smoothies, especially mango- he will down a mango smoothie if you hang him one-

johnny has all kinds of videos on his phone of all of them doing stupid shit- his favorites are one of kenshi drunkenly eating takoyaki out of the fridge, turning to face the camera with his cheeks full- one of raiden mumbling "i dont fuck with you" under his breath, panning to lao and kenshi who look at raiden like he just vacuumed their hamster- and one of lao dancing for a good minute, really, really well, just to trip at the very end and scream-

johnny has a lot of those videos and goes through them whenever he misses his bf's

raiden will send videos of cats playing or napping together and caption them "us" and send them to whoever or to the gc- all of his bf's always melt and go to find him and give him a kiss if they're in the house together or they'll send back a little emoji if they're apart

you'd think johnny is the worst but kenshi is the most overdramatic abt not getting attention- like "my husband is off to war" levels of dramatic- lao had to get up to use the bathroom and kenshi sighed like a sickly victorian, put his hand over his forehead and monologued until lao came back- he does the same to raiden and johnny, always "why has my love left me?? i am always abandoned by my dearest... beloved, where have you gone? why have you forsaken me??" "i need to pee, ken-" "am i so unimportant?? so easily forgotten???? so unloved??????" "🙄✋️ okay-"

johnny isnt as dramatic but he does pout and sigh and sometimes follow his bf's around until they love on him a little- johnny needs the little pick-me-up's but kenshi normally waits until he needs a full battery recharge

the four of them talk shit like there's no tomorrow- you do not want to be on the recieving end of their judgemental staring- each of their side eyes alone could kill someone, all of them together??? good fuckin luck-

johnny is mesmerized by the snow- kenshi, raiden, and lao all grew up with it, but johnny isnt used to it since he was born and raised in CA and enjoys the sunny weather- so when kenshi or lao and raiden take him to japan or china during the snowy season he's always so excited- the other three love it bc his cheeks get so pink in the cold

raiden gets super flustered when one of them gives him affection and attention, but all three are evil and will pile affection and attention on him to watch him squirm and act all shy- raiden loves it but also knows to tell them when he's overwhelmed

lao knows all of his bf's humor and how to make them laugh- johnny and kenshi laugh at lao's darker jokes- johnny especially likes anti-jokes- raiden likes puns and "a ____ walked into a bar-" type jokes- kenshi also cant help but laugh at people doing stupid things and kenshi and raiden laugh together at children falling- (older sibling moment)

raiden gets super lovey sometimes and will write out in letters how he feels about his bf's and slide them under their doors- all of them have a drawer or folder or smth that stores all of the letters

lao is the only one with a real sleep schedule- he's a morning person and goes to bed by 10 almost every night- raiden tends to get distravted watching tv, and kenshi and johnny tend to overwork themselves and work into the night and wee hours

sleep is usually tough for all of them anyway (lao takes melatonin to be asleep early) bc of all that they've seen and experienced- they all like congregating in their shared room to sleep together but sometimes they go off to their own rooms when they need/want the privacy or peace

that's all for now- wishing everyone a happy holidays!! <333 hopefully im back home soon :') also pls excuse any typos, it is 2 am-

[istumpysk]

OPERATION ICEBERG: THE TIER LIST

THEORY:

Lemongate

TIER:

People's Choice! I swear to god, if you guys screw this up...

Under Consideration: These theories haven't garnered strong or extensive evidence, but they're worthy of discussion.

vs.

50/50: These theories are complete toss-ups.

vs.

Low Probability: While not impossible, these theories are unlikely based on the current evidence.

vs.

Long Shot: These theories are largely speculative, based more on wishful thinking or obscure hints than on solid evidence.

vs.

Debunked: These theories have been directly contradicted by the text, George R. R. Martin, or other authoritative sources.

[Tier list overview]

EVIDENCE:

What is Lemongate?

That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. - Daenerys I, AGOT

The theory argues that lemons can't grow in Braavos, therefore something about Daenerys' childhood has yet to be revealed.

What could it be?

It depends on who you ask. The problem with this theory is that it serves as the foundation for many other theories, making it extremely difficult to cover.

The possibility that Daenerys never actually lived in Braavos has led to various speculations, including but not limited to the following:

The big house with the red door was in Dorne.

Daenerys Targaryen isn't really Daenerys Targaryen, and has false memories of her childhood with Viserys Targaryen.

Daenerys is the daughter of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.

Daenerys is the daughter of Ned Stark and Ashara Dayne.

And that's just scratching the surface.

For the sake of my sanity, we won't delve into all that nonsense. Instead, we'll focus solely on the question of whether lemons can grow in Braavos and, if not, what the hell is going on.

Okay, do lemons grow in Braavos?

Maybe? Daenerys seems to think so.

That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. - Daenerys I, AGOT

But there's some issues.

For starters, trees don't really grow in Braavos.

Beyond the harbor she glimpsed streets of grey stone houses, built so close they leaned one upon the other. To Arya's eyes they were queer-looking, four and five stories tall and very skinny, with sharp-peaked tile roofs like pointed hats. She saw no thatch, and only a few timbered houses of the sort she knew in Westeros. They have no trees, she realized. Braavos is all stone, a grey city in a green sea. - Arya I, AFFC

x

The stony maze of islands and canals that was Braavos, devoid of grass and trees and teeming with strangers who spoke to her in words she could not understand, frightened her so badly that she lost the map and soon herself. - Samwell III, AFFC

Braavos is built on a lagoon at the northwestern end of Essos.

(map!)

It is often described as foggy, with a damp, cool, maritime climate. It draws significant inspiration from the city of Venice, Italy.

The day looked to be a rare one, crisp and clear and bright. Braavos only had three kinds of weather; fog was bad, rain was worse, and freezing rain was worst. But every so often would come a morning when the dawn broke pink and blue and the air was sharp and salty. Those were the days that Cat loved best. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

x

"Winter is nigh upon us. The day I left Braavos, there was ice on the canals." - Jon IX, ADWD

It's not an ideal climate for growing lemons, as the text humorously notes.

"Seven hells, this place is damp," she heard her guard complain. "I'm chilled to the bones. Where are the bloody orange trees? I always heard there were orange trees in the Free Cities. Lemons and limes. Pomegranates. Hot peppers, warm nights, girls with bare bellies. Where are the bare-bellied girls, I ask you?" "Down in Lys, and Myr, and Old Volantis," the other guard replied. He was an older man, big-bellied and grizzled. "I went to Lys with Lord Tywin once, when he was Hand to Aerys. Braavos is north of King's Landing, fool. Can't you read a bloody map?" - Mercy, TWOW

It's nothing like Dorne, a more suitable place for a lemon tree.

Anguy shuffled his feet. "We were thinking we might eat it, Sharna. With lemons. If you had some." "Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool? Why don't you hop out back to the lemon trees and pick us a bushel, and some nice olives and pomegranates too." - Arya II, ASOS

x

There children frolicked naked in the sun, music played in tiled courtyards, and the air was sharp with the smell of lemons and blood oranges. - The Captain of the Guards, AFFC

And to the author's credit, he appears to fully understand the conditions under which lemon trees can and cannot thrive.

Sweetrobin loved lemon cakes too, but only after she told him that they were her favorites. The cake had required every lemon in the Vale, but Petyr had promised that he would send to Dorne for more. - Alayne I, TWOW

So you can see why it's a bit puzzling.

Has anyone ever thought to simply ask George about it?

Of course. If you had the opportunity to ask George R. R. Martin anything, why wouldn't you waste your moment on something as stupid as this?

George was asked about the discrepancy, and surprisingly, he was uncharacteristically forthcoming. He acknowledged that it's very perceptive to pick up on a detail like that and playfully hinted that it points to something else.

Dany remembers a lemon tree outside the house with the red door in Braavos, but citrus trees shouldn't really grow in Braavos's cold, foggy climate. Is this discrepency significant? Does it point to future revelations about Dany's past? Thank you so much. Very perceptive of you. Yes, it does point to . . . well, that would be telling. - George R. R. Martin

In that case, is Lemongate confirmed to be real?

No, not exactly.

Despite what he said, there's really no hints in the text concerning any secrecy around Daenerys' upbringing.

Ser Willem Darry was in Braavos, a fact that could be confirmed by several people.

"It is a secret pact," Dany said, "made in Braavos when I was just a little girl. Ser Willem Darry signed for us, the man who spirited my brother and myself away from Dragonstone before the Usurper's men could take us. Prince Oberyn Martell signed for Dorne, with the Sealord of Braavos as witness." She handed the parchment to Ser Barristan, so he might read it for himself. - Daenerys VII, ADWD

And while trees are rare in Braavos, they do grow in the gardens of the wealthy, where you'd expect Daenerys to be. It's not out of the question that a lemon tree could grow there. Lemon trees can also grow in Venice, Italy.

Trees did not grow on Braavos, save in the courts and gardens of the mighty. - Samwell III, AFFC

Compare one questionable lemon tree to how the author handles Jon Snow's parentage, and you can see why the theory has some issues.

Then what the hell is going on?

I believe one of three possibilities exists.

POSSIBILITY #1

Daenerys lived in a nice big house in Braavos with Ser Willem Darry, and there was a lemon tree outside her window. Nothing weird is happening.

POSSIBILITY #2

We have another instance of an unreliable narrator, who is rewriting a past event that never existed.

Daenerys is chasing a red door and a lemon tree that were never truly there, and she'll never reach her destination. It's a commentary on the futility of her entire objective.

POSSIBILITY #3*

(*also known as the real reason)

At the last minute, George changed the location of the big house with the red door from Tyrosh to Braavos, resulting in a humorous inconsistency in the story.

Yes, it's really that simple.

Blood of the Dragon was a novella published in the July 1996 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. It is based on the Daenerys chapters from A Game of Thrones and was released before the book itself.

Here's an excerpt:

That was when they had lived in Tyrosh, in the big house with the red door. Dany had slept in her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. After Ser Willem had died, the servants had stolen what little money they had left, and soon after they had been put out of the big house. Dany had cried when the red door closed behind them forever. They had wandered since then, from Tyrosh to Myr, from Myr to Braavos, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place.

Whoops! Something's different.

The big house with the red door originally being in Tyrosh isn't surprising, given that ✨ we know ✨ Daenerys speaks with a Tyroshi accent.

The merchant must have taken her for Dothraki, with her clothes and her oiled hair and sun-browned skin. When she spoke, he gaped at her in astonishment. "My lady, you are … Tyroshi? Can it be so?" "My speech may be Tyroshi, and my garb Dothraki, but I am of Westeros, of the Sunset Kingdoms," Dany told him. - Daenerys VI, AGOT

You'd have to spend many of your formative younger years in Tyrosh for that to be the case.

As Irri and Jhiqui helped her from her litter, she sniffed, and recognized the sharp odors of garlic and pepper, scents that reminded Dany of days long gone in the alleys of Tyrosh and Myr and brought a fond smile to her face. - Daenerys VI, AGOT

Amusingly, this now-deleted part of her history was somewhat alluded to when her mirrored image twin from Tyrosh was introduced to the story.

The Tyroshi sellsword was not a good man, no one needed to tell her that. - Daenerys V, ASOS

x

"Is it Daario? What's happened?" In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door. - Daenerys II, ADWD

Many inconsistencies and discrepancies are present throughout the series, but they are especially noticeable in A Game of Thrones.

Lemons grow in Tyrosh, but they don't typically grow in Braavos. It's a detail the author overlooked when making the simple change, and I guarantee you this is him poking fun at himself (and the Lemongaters) for the error:

"Seven hells, this place is damp," she heard her guard complain. "I'm chilled to the bones. Where are the bloody orange trees? I always heard there were orange trees in the Free Cities. Lemons and limes. Pomegranates. Hot peppers, warm nights, girls with bare bellies. Where are the bare-bellied girls, I ask you?" "Down in Lys, and Myr, and Old Volantis," the other guard replied. He was an older man, big-bellied and grizzled. "I went to Lys with Lord Tywin once, when he was Hand to Aerys. Braavos is north of King's Landing, fool. Can't you read a bloody map?" - Mercy, TWOW

So, we can probably put it to rest.

But George himself said it was pointing to something??

Aww, adorable.

If you've been paying attention to George R. R. Martin for any amount of time, you should realize that if there were something truly significant about lemon trees not growing in Braavos as part of a secret plot yet to be revealed, there's no way in hell he would ever answer that question in that manner on LiveJournal.

Allow me to finish his sentence for him,

Dany remembers a lemon tree outside the house with the red door in Braavos, but citrus trees shouldn't really grow in Braavos's cold, foggy climate. Is this discrepency significant? Does it point to future revelations about Dany's past? Thank you so much. Very perceptive of you. Yes, it does point to . . . [my changing the story and overlooking a minor detail, like an idiot.]

Fine, but why did he switch it from Tyrosh to Braavos?

I don't know why, but you should stop overthinking this, and we should move on.

(because of arya.)

STUMPY'S THOUGHTS:

I'd like to think Lemongate has been debunked, but I'll leave it to the people to render their verdict.

Does Lemongate amount to nothing? Absolutely. Do lemons grow in Braavos? Not really. Is the house with the red door a symbol of an idealized past she'll never be able to replicate in her future? I don't doubt it.

Many things can be true here, but one thing that's not is that she lived in Dorne, and Lyanna Stark is her mother.

VOTE:

NEXT THEORY:

Oberyn poisoned Tywin

[Main menu]

[accio-victuuri]

ESQUIRE COVER STORY

Cover Character | Xiao Zhan : The Crack

"There have been two Xiao Zhans for a long time, and one of them is here, and that is me."

Xiao Zhan said while eating in the middle of filming in the Mountain Scenic Area in Chongqing at the beginning of February. "There is another Xiao Zhan, Xiao Zhan in quotation marks, but he may not be me anymore. We all work for him, including myself."

Xiao Zhan put down his chopsticks, opened his hands, palms facing each other, as if he was gesturing for an invisible small box.

Same as before - like most people - nothing special - just want to do this job well - don't think much of it - don't know what else to do - just be alone - In the narration about Xiao Zhan, no matter Xiao Zhan himself or the staff around him, from time to time, they can only end with these sentences when faced with questions floating in the air.

For a star, the mentality of most people may be contradictory. On the one hand, people are used to the world of labels, and they want to summarize a stranger with a few words, and they don’t want to work hard; on the other hand, the impulse to explore the truth often attracts us to question labels and look for more familiar emotions and human nature. . For Xiao Zhan, this contradiction is particularly prominent: he has very few labels, and no one can find out the most accurate ones; at the same time, the closer people are to him, the more they find that his life is the one we are most familiar with - because we are so familiar, we suspect that it is not true. This contradiction is like a crack. Xiao Zhan is doing everything he should do in this crack.

When I was young, usually before Chinese New Year, Xiao Zhan would climb a mountain in order to worship his ancestors. At that time, he felt that Chongqing is really too big, the mountains are so far away, and it takes such a long way to climb the mountains. In the morning, I just woke up, followed the adults, started from home, took the bus to the junction station, changed trains, went from the southern district of Chongqing to Jiangbei, crossed the river, and came to the entrance of the mountain. It was the 1990s, and the mountain road was still a dirt road at that time, and people in the village walked out on their feet I don’t know how many years ago. There are weeds on the side of the road, and the road is narrow, less than one meter wide, and cars cannot drive on it. Xiao Zhan remembers that the mountain road under his feet sometimes appears and disappears, clear for a while, blurred for a while, when it catches up with the rainy day, the road is very slippery, and the children run in front. Children always rush to the front, and adults always follow behind shouting, wrong, wrong, not over there, but over here.

Without coordinates and navigation, Xiao Zhan and his family could only rely on their memory to find the ancestral house on the side of the mountain road. It was a brown-black wooden house. The house may be a hundred years old, and grandma Xiao Zhan's parents or grandma's grandparents once lived there. Of course, no one lives there now. Xiao Zhan walked in the old house. He remembered that there were two bedrooms on the first floor and a small bedroom on the second floor. There was a wooden ladder leading to the second floor. An old stove, burning firewood. The whole house is made of wood. There is a small yard outside the house, and there seems to be a pomegranate tree inside.

This is an essential itinerary for a large family. On the mountain, there were many activities. Xiao Zhan and his brother and sister picked wild onions, pulled radishes, dug wild vegetables, and tried to make a fire to cook together. Tired of playing, sometimes he also tries to stay by himself for a while. He saw there were hills behind the big mountains, so he left his family and climbed up those hills, starting a child's adventure. When he got to the back of the hill, there was no one around, and he stayed there quietly, looking at the blue-black distant mountains. Families often stay on the mountain all day and don't go down until evening.

"Children are not afraid," he now recalled himself at the time, "only grown-ups will." Looking at the hazy distant mountains, he really wanted to walk over—the most important thing a child lacks is courage—— At that time, he felt that no matter how difficult the road was, he could climb up it with both hands and feet. But later, when he got older, went to middle school, went to university, and came to this mountain again, he didn't dare to climb as boldly and casually as he did when he was a child.

The last time I went to this mountain was a few years ago. Now the road has been newly built, and the expressway can directly lead to the foot of the mountain. Xiao Zhan and his family drove to the foot of the mountain, but the mountain still needs to be climbed with both legs. They are walking down the road that they have traveled over and over again for many years. When he was a child, Xiao Zhan felt that adults had long legs and walked so fast, but now, he stayed in Chongqing less and less, and found that his parents were getting old and couldn't walk anymore. He and his brothers and sisters carried their luggage, step by step, and the long and exhausting journey in memory - passing through so many places, such as a bamboo forest and a graveyard, marking a mileage after another - seemed to be shortened this time Without knowing it, I arrived at the gate of the old house without taking two steps. Looking back along the way, the large bamboo forest when I was a child is now just a small pile. There seemed to be only three or two of the horrific clusters of graves. There are also those small hills. When I was a child, it took so long to climb up. Now, it seems that I only need to lift my feet lightly, and I can climb up with one step. As for those steep ridges in memory, it seems that the slope has also dropped now. The dirt road is gone, and the black asphalt winding mountain road is shining in the sun. There are also resorts, farmhouses, and many viewing platforms built on the mountain.

The mountain used to be so far away and so high, Xiao Zhan thinks now, but as time goes by, the mountain is no longer far away, nor is it so high. At that time, he was just an ordinary Chongqing kid, but now, many people know Xiao Zhan. However, what has not changed is that the mountain still has no name.

Now, Xiao Zhan still dreams of the place where he lived when he was a child, the factory area that meant the whole world at that time. The factory area seems to belong to a certain auto parts production company—the first district, the second district, the third district, the fourth district, and the fifth district—he even forgot which district he lived in—the houses in the factory area are very similar, seven or eight The buildings are high and the buildings are dusty in my memory. There are many playmates of the same age in the factory area. When homework is done—as in the rest of the country—the children run downstairs, their cries echoing in the air. "So-and-so come down quickly! So-and-so has already come down!" Playing at eight or nine o'clock, the mothers would stick their heads out of the window again, calling down from a distance in the night: "So-and-so, come home! So, sleep!"

Playing football, playing hide-and-seek, hiding in haystacks or corners, some dark corners. The scariest place in the factory area is an abandoned sewer, with a huge hole and the height of a person, and it’s so dark inside that you can’t see anything. Occasionally a bat flies out. Brave children, light a match and go inside. Xiao Zhan had never been inside the cave, it was too dark, and he watched them from afar.

Falls are commonplace, children will fall to the ground while running, and so is Xiao Zhan, who left a lot of scars on his knees. Now, looking at those childhood scars, he felt that that might be a more real life. Now it's more false, unreal. At that time, there were no mobile phones or the Internet. The life at that time seemed to be still here every moment, like a photo was taken, stopped in the memory, and stayed in the heart. Xiao Zhan still remembers that sometimes his parents would not let him go downstairs, worrying that he would play too wildly. He was alone in the room, leaning over the window and looking down. He can still recall what he saw at that time—the balcony of the neighbor's house, the flowerpots on the balcony, the clothes to dry, the garden downstairs, and the paths in the garden. He remembers everything clearly. When he was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, he folded the plane and threw the paper plane down from the fifth floor. A plane flew so far that it reached the balcony of the next building. He also often dreamed of running around the factory grounds, where he had run as a child. In these dreams, Xiao Zhan doesn't seem to have left here and came back again. He remembered the mood in the dream - he still lived here, but now he was just tired from playing, climbed the stairs, went home, and wanted to go to the bedroom to sleep.

At that time, Xiao Zhan's home was on the fifth floor. When going up the stairs, the corridors are aging, and many lights are no longer on. Every time he walked to the third floor, out of fear of the dark, he would take a deep breath and rush up to the fourth floor with a "bang bang bang", and there would be lights on the fourth floor. Now, every once in a while, he still dreams about the dark third-floor hallway. The dream was pitch black, I couldn't see anything, I didn't know what was in the corner. Another time, he was very impressed. In his dream, he had passed through the darkness on the third floor and came to the fifth floor, but there was still no light. Facing the familiar door, the self in the dream stretched out his hand, struggling to unscrew the door, but he couldn't open it, so he clenched his fist and knocked on the door, but there was no one in the room. He couldn't open that door no matter what, so he stood in vain in the corridor in his dream.

Like everyone else, Xiao Zhan sometimes dreams about exams. Every time he wakes up with a start. Once was a math teacher, a little fierce. In fact, he liked that teacher very much, but in the dream, the teacher looked at him and said, what's the matter with you, why can't you solve a single problem? He looked at the functions in the book and was dumbfounded, "How can I still remember the functions? I can't do a single question, it's over."

The factory area is the whole world, it is almost vast and boundless. If you want to go to the factory area, you have to report to your parents in advance, just like going abroad. At that time, he was reading encyclopedias, a set of four, one of which was about the earth and the universe. There was a picture in the book, which was a cross-section of the earth, and there were many layers under the surface. He thought the earth was like this, so he remembered that there was a particularly large stone in the garden downstairs. He later called his friends to come to the rock together, and suggested that we move it away, and the magma is underneath, which is the real appearance of the earth.

Thinking back now, such thoughts at that time were naive and ridiculous, but he savored it carefully, and still didn’t know why he was so obsessed with that stone and the true appearance of the earth at that time—it was just an ordinary stone, a child, but he wanted to learn from it. See the whole universe behind you.

Chongqing in Xiao Zhan's memory is very old and very new. In the movie theater, he remembers that in the 1990s, his parents took him to watch "The Yellow River", "The Lotus Lantern" and "The Disaster of the Python". When going to Jiefangbei, you have to squeeze the bus. It's really hard to squeeze in. Presumably everyone wanted a seat. He couldn't remember exactly which bus it was - maybe it started with 3 - and after getting on the bus, people would quarrel and sometimes fight over the seats. There was so much traffic on that road, there was always something like that going on. Standing in the car, Xiao Zhan looked out of the window. The bus passed through a long section of quiet and peaceful road in the lower city, and the two sides of the window showed the appearance of a somewhat old old city. However, after crossing the Yangtze River Bridge, he immediately entered a cheerful, modern modern city. It was already Shangcheng District. At that time, Chongqing had already started to build high-rise buildings. As for the lower urban area, the old houses used to be the most adjacent to the river, and most of them have been demolished long ago. Such a cityscape is very charming, Xiao Zhan thinks now, as if he is in the history, in the calm past that can't go away, when he looks up, he can see the dazzling glass curtain walls on the high-rise buildings, like those mysterious Things that go to the future have to take themselves away.

There is also Datianwan Stadium in Yuzhong District. A era. Chongqing's home court was popular all over the country at that time. His father took him to watch football, Chongqing Lifan, in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 - the best years of the Chongqing team - the stadium was often filled with tens of thousands of people, and everyone shouted "Chongqing, Xiongqi!" Xiao Zhan was young at the time, so he couldn't understand, looking at the dense crowd of people's heads, he just felt lively.

That was the age of reading newspapers. When he was young, Xiao Zhan’s family had always subscribed to the Chongqing Commercial Daily. He liked to read newspapers, and he would almost finish reading the newspapers with so many pages. Later, a few years later, when he grew up, there was a free "Chongqing Morning News" on the subway light rail, and he also took a copy habitually. Usually, he reads social news first, and reads it from beginning to end. Sometimes, when the newspaper is finished and the subway has not arrived, he turns to the front page and reads it from beginning to end.

It was also the era of pen pals. In school, the teacher encouraged the students to make pen pals—perhaps to improve their ability to write essays—he also made one, and communicated with each other, chatting about the weather, sunshine, and rain in Chongqing. However, there are only two correspondences. However, he still remembered the state of waiting for his letter. After writing the letter, only a week later, he came to the school's reception room to check the class mailbox. Cracking his hand upwards, he opened the iron box, and looked for the letter with the word "Xiao Zhan" written on it from the thick stack of envelopes.

Time moves forward in a certain flowing order. junior high school. high school. University. He took the college entrance examination and filled in the art volunteers. His score exceeded the Chongqing score line, and he could also take the school examinations of other schools across the country. The teacher asked Xiao Zhan, are you sure you want to choose Chongqing? Do you want to go out and try it, for example, go to Beijing or Zhejiang, and go to Gome to see it.

He said no. Xiao Zhan is very clear that Chongqing is very good. He likes Chongqing so much. If he hadn't been an actor and didn't have to go to so many places, he might have stayed here forever. However, he also thinks now that everything is unknown, if there is a parallel world, he might not be in Chongqing long ago. It's not that he deliberately wants to leave, nor does he deliberately want to stay, it's just that he doesn't have a clear destination, and he doesn't have to go somewhere.

Now he has forgotten the name of the road to work. Introduced by a friend, he submitted his resume and passed the interview. The design company was in an industrial park in Chongqing, and he couldn't remember whether it was on the second or third floor. Walking in, there are rows of workstations. The company is not big, with about ten people. Go to work at nine o'clock in the morning and leave work at six o'clock in the evening, clock in twice. He went out from home, took a bus, and crossed a bridge. Sit when available, stand when not available. Sometimes it blocks, sometimes it doesn't. In a meeting at work, he sits sideways—like most people—he wants to sit furthest away from his boss. The work is mainly to make pictures and draw pictures. They wear headphones, listen to songs and draw pictures. The whole atmosphere of the office is relatively dark, with a dark industrial style, and the air conditioner makes a muffled sound in the room. On a rainy day, the room gets even darker. He doesn't smoke, and he doesn't care if the air is a bit smoky when he is close to his colleagues who smoke at his work station. Sometimes, if customers want something urgent, they have to stay up all night and work overtime. When he came out in the morning, his head was a little heavy, Xiao Zhan went to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks.

If it's raining when you get off work, it's a bit annoying. Xiao Zhan had to walk uphill to take the bus. The rainwater flowed down the road. He walked up against it, which was equivalent to going up against the current. After a few steps, his shoes were completely wet. Tired already, his whole body was sticky from the water, and now water got into his shoes, and he stood there anxiously waiting for the bus. There are many people leaving get off work, and the first bus may not be able to get on, so continue to stand and wait for the next one.

After the salary was paid, he gave part of it to his parents and kept some for himself. He doesn't smoke or drink, and he goes to KTV with his friends at most, and rarely goes shopping. He was really short of clothes when the seasons changed, so he thought about buying two. This habit has been maintained-what is missing, what to buy, and to buy directly, never go to the mall first.

Now, after waking up, Xiao Zhan stood in front of the mirror. In the mirror, his hair is messy, and sometimes his face is a little swollen. He thought, what would they think if they were seen like this? He is responsible for his own image. As an artist, you have to care about appearance. He loves to eat bread, but carbohydrates make people swollen, and filming will cause single eyelids to become swollen. Then restrain the desire. There is a play where skewers are to be eaten, so he will be hungry for a while in advance. For a while, he stopped drinking water after six o'clock every night. For a while, he was so thin that he lost 20 catties than his usual weight. But he felt that there was nothing to say about these, just for work needs.

His face looks small. Many people saw him and asked how old he was. He likes to pretend to be vicissitudes and say that he is over thirty. But people always think that this person is in his early twenties. He said thank you. But being small isn't always good. When you want to play some roles that relatively need to control the age span, looking younger is an obstacle to the shaping of the characters. Once, he met several older actors in the play, and he observed their expressions and facial movements. He noticed that the corners of a person's mouth will go down a little with age, and he also deliberately learned to face down. There is also eyes to learn - it turns out that he always looks at things with focus and concentration, which are the eyes of young people - when he observes those older actors, he finds that they are squinting when they see people. Focus, don't care, don't bother - he learned it, and looked at himself in the mirror, it seemed that he finally looked alike. Of course, he is not just pursuing a sense of age, but because of the needs of the plot, he wants to shape the character more completely and prevent the audience from jumping.

He started exercising and consciously training his muscles in the second half of 2020. In the past, he only ran regularly. Later, because he wanted to play a strong man in a play, he started to exercise. This habit has been retained until now. Now, even in the dressing room, he finds time to do some high-efficiency workouts, or go for a run. But always, there are always some voices who worry that he will destroy the image he once had. He also didn't want to grow his hair longer, and he didn't want to keep bangs when he made up. The team will always tell him, you listen to everyone's voice, you look better that way. Sometimes, he made himself rough on purpose, and people would indeed be angry—and many people would be angry—sometimes, there would be voices from outside telling him, you don’t want to exercise—this face is his, but Countless people looked at it, and countless people asked for it—this face, the face in the mirror, Xiao Zhan looked at it, sometimes thinking that it belonged to him, and it seemed to belong to other people.

Being considered good-looking, will this become a stumbling block in his acting career? More than once, someone asked him that. It may be the same dilemma for good-looking stars. He would think so too. But he can't do anything on purpose. Everything depends on the script, the plot, and the needs of the characters. If you're playing a young man in an urban drama, he thought, it's not right to be ugly on purpose. If the plot is worthwhile and requires him to change this face, then he also has enough enthusiasm and willingness to change for the role. This face can help him, but he also knows that sometimes he has to pay more.

Now, he thought, perhaps it was more important to find balance. Some of the people who like him will stay forever, and some will leave. He just walked forward step by step, just like climbing a mountain when he was a child, with this ever-changing Xiao Zhan's face.

When reading the script, Xiao Zhan always thinks a little carefully—if he is an audience at the moment, and he looks at it from the perspective of a third party, can this story, this script move him, and can he empathize with this character? ——He was very afraid of just becoming a wandering spirit on the scene, just standing and reciting lines. There's no point in saying lines in vain, he knows. In an emotionally charged costume drama, those days, he was always figuring out how to speak in order to make the audience worry about him. The best class, of course, is playing with those better actors. He is not afraid of the audience saying that he is not as good as those senior actors. What he cares more about is whether he has made progress in the play and whether he has learned new things

When he first started acting, Xiao Zhan did what the director said. But in fact, until now, he still doesn't know which expression or which action of himself in the camera is "good"-he really doesn't know where the standard is, and no one has discussed such issues with him-what is it like? face is right? The so-called actor face, movie face, model face, idol face, these mysterious words, what is the difference between them? His criterion for judging is very simple, that is, to only look at the picture itself, and see if the face in the picture can move him.

Now, Xiao Zhan will have dreams every time he arrives at a new crew. He often dreamed that the director came to him and asked him how to perform a scene. "But I can't even remember the lines" - he thought in a panic in the dream - and then woke up suddenly. He couldn't fall asleep, got out of bed, came to the table, took a pen to mark on the script, looked for those unreasonable places, and continued to recite the lines.

One way to relieve stress is to run. Now running is not as convenient as before, and now there are always people following. In 2016, he just debuted and lived in Moon River. In order to be photogenic, he always runs along the small river next to him. Later, there was a drama, and he went to Xiangshan, Zhejiang. Every night, as long as there was no night drama, he would go for a run. The summer was very hot. At that time, Xiangshan was empty and far away, and there were some vast and endless farmlands—unlike when he went to Xiangshan a few years later, it completely turned into a bustling scene—there were wheat fields and rice fields in the countryside, which were very beautiful. After dark, he ran along the concrete road at the edge of the field. There are often big cars coming on the road. For safety, he will turn on the flash of his mobile phone so that passing vehicles can see the lights and notice people. Sometimes he runs alone, sometimes with other actors. After running for a while, the body will be soaked, but it is very comfortable, hot and cool. Sometimes while running, it will rain in the sky—Xiao Zhan is Xiao Zhan at this time, he feels—at this time, he completely belongs to himself.

From his debut, from his first play to now, every role of Xiao Zhan is not repeated. Every time, when receiving a new script, whether he or the team, always ask, do you really want to take this role? Are you really going to make this movie? They repeatedly screened and considered, hoping that each character will have new progress, and each character is also different from Xiao Zhan.

What does he think of himself? There doesn't seem to be an easy answer. Filming, filming commercials, and some public events, other than that, Xiao Zhan stays alone most of the time. On the set, like a bat burrowing back into a cave, he burrows into a hotel room, and won’t come out until he can; usually, he stays at home, of course, except for the driver who picks him up at work, few people know where he lives— ——It's like a habit, more like an instinct—he estimated that if he switched to another job, he wouldn't like sitting in a cafe or bar. He didn't go to crowded places before, but his current job is surprisingly suitable for him—he can stay alone after work—watching dramas, playing games, doing push-ups, and thinking about things by himself.

There are many problems that you want to understand when you are alone - of course there are those that you can't understand - Xiao Zhan's method is to not think about it for the time being. Problems had to be solved by himself, and he hardly ever opened his mouth to others. Confidence is a word that is far away from him. A friend told him that if you are under pressure, you should tell others, talk to others, and vent. He disagrees. You can figure out the problems that can be solved by yourself, and talking about the problems that cannot be solved will only increase your troubles. He would rather do something new. It's an experience. People are constantly encountering problems. When new things encounter new problems, the old problems are forgotten. At this time, the answer is obvious: this shows that the previous problem is not so important. Even if those important issues are forgotten, they will resurface in the dead of night—like a big wave coming, a lone lost ship, at this time, Xiao Zhan feels that there is still no way.

It's not a question of telling, he thought. Even after talking to a hundred people, the problem is still there, unresolved, and it floats back in the middle of the night.

He has been like this since he was in college, because he does not confide and is unwilling to express, but he becomes a safe object, and he will be caught by his friends and confide in him. His character is a living tree hole. However, on the one hand, in order to help his friends, he always listens, and then forgets after listening; If it’s irrelevant, don’t talk about it, I really don’t want to hear it.” He felt that it was difficult to keep others’ secrets, so he tried his best not to listen to other people’s privacy—listening is risky, and if secrets are revealed, he would be one of the suspects—he He didn't want to be a suspect, let alone prove his integrity to his friends: "That's not what I said, I didn't betray you." That would be ridiculous, he thought.

Now, he spends very little time alone. When it is extravagant, there can be three days in a row. During these times, he and the staff try not to communicate with each other as much as possible, and keep busy with each other, leaving room for him to return to his own small universe. This was a habit at first, then became a tacit understanding, and is now a fact. Occasionally encountering a little trouble at work, Xiao Zhan seems to be able to draw some energy from his body at any time to firmly control the matter. An event, a rare accident, it was time to go on stage, they were still on the way to the stage, got out of the car, Xiao Zhan rushed to the stage, the host was improvising, filling the time sentence by sentence. Walking to the stage, Xiao Zhan remembered that his heart was still beating wildly, he suppressed it first, and then sent the words out of his mouth. But no one saw any flaws—he was too well controlled, too steady—and like so many times before, the staff was sure that he really had a small universe with him.

"I'm going to run"—sometimes, he may be a little tired, or suddenly want to relieve pressure, he joked like this—it's just a joke, but his expression is serious. What did you run away for? Maybe open a florist shop, or a gallery, he said. I can run anywhere—in short, stay alone—to the factory area of ​​my childhood, the stands in Datian Bay, or the bus in Jiefangbei. You can also run back to the fifth floor where the door cannot be opened, or to the design station. If you continue to run, you will reach the mountain in your childhood. The mountain used to be so far away and so high, but as time goes by, the mountain is no longer so far away, nor is it so high. Many people know that his name is Xiao Zhan, but the mountain still has no name.

article source.

[gamebird]

The Soonercon Convention Report

I went to Soonercon this last weekend and I wanted to share what it was like in an attempt to encourage others to attend similar local events, for those who don't know what they're missing.

It’s a science fiction/fantasy convention held in Norman, Oklahoma every year. It has what I take as the standard scifi/fantasy convention events including: Dealer’s room where people sell stuff, gaming room where scheduled and pickup games are held at all hours of the convention, art show where you can buy fandom-related paintings, prints, or sculpture (or commission an artist if you have something special in mind), a costume contest, panels by authors, artists, media guests, and other folks, and various socializing events (a dance, a burlesque show, a drag show, a Star Wars parade, a philosophy discussion den, a cartoon watching event, crafting events, etc.)

The only thing Soonercon didn’t/doesn’t have that I’ve seen at other conventions is a con suite where snacks are available either at all hours or specified hours, and a designated media room playing classic shows 24/7. Plenty of other conventions also have party rooms or even a party floor of the hotel. Some will have live action role play events. Some will have a few big-name guests. Soonercon’s guests were smaller names like voice actors or the guy who played the hero of NeverEnding Story. If they had hardcore partying, it was kept well clear of the convention areas. I heard nothing of it.

There's a lot for everybody! I go to attend the panels. My son goes for the gaming room. My nephew goes for the cosplay. My spouse/partner goes to be supportive and present (also he meets up with a friend of his from that city who volunteers at the con or at least likes fandom). My daughter likes the merchandise, the gaming, and cosplay.

It’s a very relaxed vacation for us. We get a hotel room at the convention and all go our separate ways from that safe home base.

I thought I’d go over the various things I went to and some of my thoughts about them, to give a window on what a person might do:

Friday we arrived. I went through the dealer’s room in detail by myself, which was nice to do instead of speeding up or slowing down at someone else’s pace, or having them there calling my attention to whatever they wanted me to see. I bought some delicious pomegranate gummy fruit. I made preliminary arrangements with a leatherworker for some items.

I went through the art show, which I have never been to at the beginning of the show. The previous two years I showed up at the end and rushed through. I took my time again.

I also wandered the halls at liberty, with no agenda. I didn’t think much of the panels available that day, so I did other things. I did attend an author’s reading of horror fic. One of the stories was titled ‘Grindr’ by a gay man, featuring a gay character. As soon as he went over that, two of the six in his audience left. It was a good story. The other author read a bit of theirs (also good). And then we discussed. One of the things discussed was how this was Oklahoma and the very mention of gay sent two people out of the room. It was good and thoughtful conversation.

Later that evening, I attended a comedy panel that was ‘Am I The Asshole?’ with various heroes or villains of popular fan movies discussing if they were the asshole for their role in the plot of their respective media product. It was funny and a light end to the first day.

Saturday, we got up in time for ‘Cartoons with Cereal’ panel where we ate a couple weird over-sugared cereals while watching an 80s cartoon that featured transforming vehicles and masked/helmeted action figure type characters. After that, we went to a better breakfast, complimentary at the hotel plaza.

My first regular panel of the day was ‘Essential Sci-Fi Television’ where I was hoping to see if there were important shows I haven’t seen. Maybe? Maybe not? They talked a lot about the different flavors of Star Trek and the different ways people get into fandom. I didn't add anything new to my list, but I did get more emphasis that I really ought to watch The Expanse.

At 11, I went to a panel titled ‘How do I put THAT on my resume?’ about how to translate fan interests and skills into marketable descriptive terms that can get you hired. I attended not so much for myself, as I hope to never work again after my current job, but for my son and daughter and my attempts to give them advice on how to present themselves in the business world. I’d encouraged my son to go to this panel, but he went to the gaming room. It wasn’t a great panel – I think he made the right choice. But you don’t know these things until you attend them.

I had lunch and then attended a panel titled ‘I ship it!’ thinking it would talk about the range of shipping in fandom circles. And maybe it did, but mostly it was the panelists talking about rare pairs in anime fandoms – both fandom and characters unfamiliar to me. They were excited to talk about it. I managed to steer them into sharing their thoughts about why antagonists are often more interesting to pair with a hero than the designated side kick or another hero, and then a little about what fueled ship wars/fandom drama. It was good to hear, as always, that totally different fandoms have the same problems.

After that was ‘Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, and Book Challenges’ about what books were banned, why, how, and what efforts were going on or the attendees could undertake to oppose book bans. Afterward, I approached one of the panelists for her advice on finding a good Ursula LeGuin book since I hadn’t liked Always Coming Home, but did like Left Hand of Darkness. Turns out she was a core convention organizer. I sent her an email so she could send me a rec later and separately, I filled out a form to volunteer at the next con.

At 3 I went to early dinner with my spouse/partner and his local friend, who was the one who told me the panelist I’d talked to was high up in the convention hierarchy. At 4, I roamed the dealer's room again, finalized things with the leatherworker, and bought a bunch more delicious candy.

At 5 I had a panel titled ‘LGBT+YOU, Discuss the Plus’. Given the conversation the day before with the gay horror author, I was particularly interested. Also, the panel was focusing mainly on the queer identities other than LGBT – asexuals, aromantics, pansexuals, polyamorous, etc. I found it something of a relief to see them stumble and fail to define an aromantic relationship in a way that differentiated it from non-aromantic ones. The panelists varied from early-30s to mid-60s, some partnered, some not. It was lovely to hear people’s experiences with living queer in Oklahoma.

At 6 I attended ‘Fandom Life vs Long-Term Illnesses’ but found it not super helpful. It was mostly about arthritis and diabetes, neither of which are issues I have. But I listened and learned a bit. I enjoy these authentic little windows into other people’s lives.

I attended the costume contest for the rest of the night, which was a big event with a stage show and a music act. My fave costume won! Even cooler, someone I knew was announced as winner of the Fashion Show which was an informal or less formal contest they’d had earlier in the day. I was thrilled for them.

That night at 1:11 am, someone set off the fire alarm, but it was quickly squelched. Still, everyone woke up. Later sleuthing turned up that it was a person attempting to smoke inside their hotel room.

Sunday! We had a nice breakfast again. My first panel of the day was ‘Hollow Humanism?’ talking about utopia, dystopia, and the philosophy of humanism – what were the things that prevented us from making a better world? I had hoped for stuff I could incorporate into my headcanons for Preservation or the Corporation Rim. Not so much.

Then I went to ‘Fandom – The Next Generation’ which was not about Star Trek but instead about the intergenerational fandom experiences of the panelists. I found this not very helpful. Those weren’t my families. It wasn’t about how to interest my kids in fandom (not that I needed that – they’re into it) or how I could better relate to their interests (something I was very interested in). I asked a few questions trying to guide it toward what I wanted, but the panelists really wanted to tell the audience about their lives. So. I listened.

At noon my group packed and checked out of our rooms.

But we hung around as there was a panel at 1 pm I wanted to attend, ‘Neurodivergent Characters in Fantasy and Anime’. Alas, they did not discuss Murderbot. In fact, they didn’t discuss specific characters or genres at all. Instead, they discussed neurodivergent representation in general, mindfulness, coping strategies, dealing with negative social pressures to conform, masking, exhaustion, career intersectionality, disabled rep, and a lot of things I was equally interested to hear about. So that was neat!

At 2, there was a panel about ‘Oklahoma in Fandom Media’ that I attended half of. It was fun to hear the various filming projects and other media mentions Oklahoma featured in. I left halfway through to help our group depart.

And so we drove home. It was a delightful, low-stress vacation. Lots of viewpoints. Lots of experiences. It was lovely seeing people face-to-face and getting such different impressions. It’s a very different experience than Tumblr or discord or streaming. I would very much recommend it to all of you! Get out and meet people in person in your area. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Find out what they have to share. Share a bit of yourself in turn.

[9554ver]

As promised i full color, I don't know why the paper reacted like that but oh well. 🤷‍♀️

All of them are either the deity got a body, Clover and "Shadow Milk", or had some sort of contract to share the body with the host.

Clover - out of the "siblings" he is the only one who got a body made for him, that night it wasn't only Dark Enchantress and White Lily that were created in the ultimate dough, consequently he got the looks of White Lily, even not liking her he can live with it.

"Shadow Milk", changed his name to Blueberry Yogurt [Water Hyacinth nicknamed him "Blue" because she thinks the name is a mouthful] - the only one who managed to take the body of the one of the first users, it was a desperate attempt because it was either be sealed alongside the original Shadow Milk or continue inside of that damned sugar crystal and hope that the next users were more easy to manipulate. After taking the body he dedicated his time to partially change his appearance to avoid being recognized and then to find someplace to live without worrying about being hunted and to plan on freeing his siblings.

Bloodberry, abandoned her previous name after hosting the deity - not much of her past is known but accordingly with Copper she is one of Hollyberry's descendants, she is from a line Hollyberry wants to pretend it doesn't exist, she planned to steal the shield on the day of the princess contest but when she got in contact with the soul jam she contacted the deity inside, she agreed on being it's host as a way to escape her bloodline and as a indirect revenge against Hollyberry, since now the soul jam is just a battery with constant use and someday it will end.

Smoked Cheese, later changed his name to Gouda Cheese - his contact came when he took the soul jam from Golden Cheese, the deity was already done with her using it's powers to power up her delusions and when he took it... let's say that the deity was impressed that someone broke the hidden obedience command Golden Cheese created and thought that he was the best choice as host, when the contract was done Smoked Cheese got his body back and found out that Burnt Cheese was alive and the one in the simulation was just a placeholder. After he went to search for him, even if the "golden kingdom" leaves a bitter taste in his mouth he wants to hold on something familiar in a unfamiliar world.

Dark Choco - the invasion on the castle went differently in this universe, Affogato had other issues and planned to destroy the Dark Cacao kingdom instead of taking the throne, in this universe he didn't trust Pomegranate, and in the midst of the mess he found the sword, he was supposed to be the original host but the deity also sympathize with Dark Choco, specially with wanting to make his father proud, let's say the deity saw red when Dark Cacao said that he didn't consider Choco his son anymore, after the possession Choco left much earlier than intended, ironically he encountered Affogato who, along with his followers, bowed to him and called him their master, turns out he was having visions of the deity coming to reality, along with them there was Milk Foam, a girl from the milk tribe who also was having the same visions, and people who she converted to the new cult, all of them left to find a place where they can live their lives in peace and away from the Dark Cacao kingdom.

All of the siblings meet later, Water Hyacinth accidentally collected them all and then created villages near the reasort so each one of them would have some semblance of power, except Clover because he is living on Parfaedia with Eclair, he keeps contact with his family.