#See Saw Temperament Type

[seagull-astrology]

Cory Anthony Booker, US Senator from New Jersey

Booker was born on April 27th 1969 at 1:10 AM in Washington D.C. because his parents worked for the Federal division of IBM. He attended Stanford University, where he studied political science (B.A., 1991) and sociology (M.A., 1992). He was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford like former president William Jefferson Clinton, where he received a bachelor’s degree in history…

[count-on-mi]

Mommy's little Boy Part 1 (Mina)

I lost my mother when I was young, and my father remarried Mina when I became an adult. Mina is just ten years older than me, she also had a pure appearance, a sexy body, and a noble temperament. As a virgin, I was full of fantasies about her, and would even spy on her having sex with my father while masturbating at the same time.

I found that the sultry Mina actually had a very strong sexual desire, but my father's old body could not satisfy her, and instead, he was gradually drained of her. Seeing my father being drained by Mina made me imagine how exciting it would be to be drained by Mina until I died.

At ten o'clock in the evening, I hid outside the door as usual and peeked through the crack in the door to watch Mina and her father having sex on the bed. I saw Mina lying naked on the bed, spreading her legs to reveal her pink pussy, squeezing her breasts with one hand, and playing with her clitoris with the other. Her moans came from the room intermittently, lustfully and seductively.

Soon, my father walked in with his upper body naked and only his underwear on his lower body. He climbed onto the bed, caressed Mina's plump breasts with his hands, and lowered his head to suck her nipples. Mina threw her head back and moaned, inserting one hand into her father's hair and pushing his head towards her.

"Well...Husband...come in quickly..." Mina begged.

My father stood up and took off his underwear, letting me see his short and slender dick. He put his dick against Mina's moist entrance, stretched his waist hard, and completely penetrated her.

"Ah! It feels so comfortable!" Mina screamed loudly, wrapping her legs tightly around her father's waist.

My father started thrusting hard, like an old pile driver, making a feeble thumping sound. His dick moved in and out of Mina's body quickly, bringing out a large amount of honey. Mina kept moaning, looking like she was enjoying it.

"Hmm...ha...honey, you are so good...fuck me harder..."

My mouth was so dry that I couldn't help but unbutton my pants, take out my hard and jerk it.

My father growled lowly and froze for a few seconds, then pulled out the limp dick from Mina's body. White semen slowly flowed out of Mina's pussy, soaking the sheets.

"Oh, why did it end so soon?" Mina pouted in dissatisfaction, "Hubby, are you done so soon? I still want it."

The father gasped and said with a red face: "Baby, Dad is old and can't keep up with your rhythm. Let's take a rest."

"No," Mina said coquettishly, "You've just warmed up, how about we do it again? This time you use this, I guarantee you will never fall!" After saying that, Mina took out a small bottle.

The father hesitated for a moment, then took the bottle. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's an aphrodisiac. It's imported from Japan. It's super powerful!" Mina blinked and said, "After taking it, you will immediately regain your strength, your dick will be twice as big as before, and you will be energetic enough to fuck me till dawn!" "

Hearing this, I couldn't help but shudder. Could it be that Mina is actually the legendary succubus? Will she drain my father dry until he dies? Thinking of this, my breathing became rapid, and my right hand unconsciously increased the speed of stroking.

My father hesitated for a while and finally plucked up the courage to swallow the pill. After a while, he felt hot all over his body, and his dick in his lower body slowly became filled with blood, swelled and hardened, becoming thicker and longer than before.

"Wow, that's amazing!" my father said in surprise.

"Of course, this is the latest type of special medicine." Mina smiled proudly, "Okay, it's my turn to take care of you this time."

After saying that, Mina turned over and sat on him. She took hold of her father's fully erect cock, pointed it at her pussy, and sat down. The cock directly hit her womb, Mina raised her head in pleasure and kept moaning.

"Ah... so big... so comfortable... so exciting..."

My father also let out a sigh of pleasure, squeezing Mina's elastic buttocks with both hands. Mina twisted her waist and moved up and down, letting her father's cock rub inside her. The room was soon filled with violent crashing sounds and lustful sounds of water.

The sound of "pop, pop, pop" was heard endlessly, and father's cock rapidly thrust into Mina's pussy, causing a lot of foam to come out. Mina's eyes were blurry and she uttered obscene words, asking him to fuck her hard and fuck her up.

Seeing this passionate scene, I couldn't help but speed up my right hand. Father's cock is so thick, if it were me, I would definitely not be able to satisfy Mina. I don’t know if it was due to the aphrodisiac, but he was able to fuck Mina as hard as a young man. Mina's cries became louder and louder, sounding like she was enjoying herself.

"Husband... your cock is so big... I want to be fucked to death by you... Ah... it's so deep... it reaches the entrance of the cervix..."

"Baby...you're so tight inside...it makes me feel so comfortable..."

The father grabbed Mina's slender waist and pushed upwards hard. Each stroke hit Mina's G-spot hard, making her scream again and again. Mina soon had her first orgasm, her pussy contracted violently, and waves of semen spurted out.

"I can't do it anymore...I'm going to go...Ahhhh——"

Mina's whole body trembled, her eyes rolled white, and her saliva flowed down uncontrollably. She fell off her father's body and lay on the bed twitching. Father did not let her go, but lifted one of her legs to her chest to make the angle of her vagina more vertical, and then continued to penetrate her from top to bottom.

"No more...let me take a break..." Mina begged weakly for mercy, but father ignored her and continued to thrust hard at a fast pace.

Mina soon had her second orgasm. She cried out father's name, her pussy tightly gripping the giant thing inside her. Father finally couldn't help but cummed inside her and let out a low growl. The two hugged each other and panted for a while, and then father pulled out his weakened cock. Mina's pussy couldn't be closed, and the semen mixed with her juice flowed out gurglingly.

Looking at the exhausted two people, I returned to my room with satisfaction. The beautiful scenery tonight was worth the price of admission, and I felt more excited than ever. Recalling the scene just now, I took out my penis again and started stroking it crazily. I imagined that I had replaced my father and was fucking Mina like a storm with my huge cock; I imagined how I would send her to one orgasm after another, and finally reach a double level of semen and water under my violent bombardment. break out. With a numbing sensation, I finally couldn't help but ejaculate.

At this moment, the door suddenly opened, and a naked Mina stood at the door. The blush of passion still remained on her face, and she exuded an aura of lust.

"I found you, pervert." She winked at me and slowly walked up to me.

I was so frightened that I wanted to escape but it was too late. Mina lifted up the quilt and roughly grabbed my newly ejaculated dick.

"It turns out that my perverted son has been secretly watching us having sex." She gently scratched my peehole with her fingers, and I felt a shudder. "It must be hard to be a virgin at such an old age, right? Do you want mom to help you take care of your physiological needs?"

As she spoke, she opened her mouth and took my glans in her mouth, swirling her flexible tongue around the tip. My scalp suddenly became numb and I almost surrendered on the spot. Fortunately, I held it back and didn't let her laugh at my incompetence.

Seeing that I didn't respond, Mina took a step further and swallowed my entire penis into her mouth. I felt that my cock entered a warm and moist place, and the soft oral mucosa wrapped the shaft, bringing an extremely comfortable feeling. At the same time, she kept sucking and licking by her tongue, giving me the strongest stimulation.

I quickly lost control and cummed it in her mouth. Mina swallowed it all with a gurgle, and licked my cock clean without wanting to finish.

"Well, it tastes good." She wiped the corners of her mouth, stared at me, and said, "It seems like you won't have to be so lonely in the future, right?"

I was stunned and at a loss. Mina jumped directly on me, pulled off my underwear, and then held my semi-soft cock and pointed it at her pussy.

"Come on, fuck mommy with your big cock."

As she said that, she raised her buttocks, and my cock slid into the ecstasy hole. I felt like my whole body was about to melt into this heavenly feeling. I could never have imagined that one day I would have incest with my step mother and conquer her mature and attractive body with my cock.

I started to pump my cock instinctively, while Mina moaned wildly and kept calling me husband, dear husband, good son, which made my blood surge. I pushed harder every time, hitting her sensitive spots hard every time. Not long after, she screamed and climaxed, and her juices poured on my glans.

"Damn, you're so tight… Your are good at pinching, you're going to pinch me out." I cursed, grabbed her waist and sprinted like crazy.

"Then cum all to mommy, mommy's womb is waiting for you!" Mina moaned loudly and tighten her walls again, "Hurry up, push harder, and cum all your semen to mommy!"

Amid her screams, I could no longer hold back, and with a low growl, I poured all the thick semen into her womb. I collapsed on the bed as if exhausted, while Mina leaned into my arms with a satisfied look on her face.

"It will be like this every night from now on, you know?" She blew into my ear.

Just when I was about to quit the battlefield and take a break, Mina was not going to let me go. She stretched out her slender fingers and gently brushed my sensitive nipples, and a tingling electric current spread throughout my body instantly.

"Haha, little cutie, is this going to work?" Mina bit my ear, her voice was lazy and charming, "Don't worry, the night is still very long..."

As she spoke, her hand moved to my crotch, holding my semi-soft cock and slowly stroking it. My cock quickly became hard again. Mina seemed very satisfied and moved her hand faster and faster.

"Ah...good boy...that's it..." She moaned softly while helping me masturbate, "Mom likes your big cock the most...it can make my mother die every time... ."

Hearing these obscene words, I felt my cock swell a little more. Seeing this, Mina sped up the movements in her hand, and kept rubbing my tips with her thumb. I soon felt a heat gathering in my lower abdomen, and my self control was lost again.

"Damn...I'm cumming again..." I warned her with a heavy breath, but she obviously wasn't going to let me go. She suddenly leaned down and took my cock in her mouth. The hot and wet mouth once again brought me extremely vivid stimulation.

I grabbed her long hair with both hands, pushed my waist up involuntarily, and pushed my swollen cock deep into her throat. Mina tightened her lips in cooperation and sucked my glans hard. I couldn't hold it back any longer, I groaned and ejaculated all over her mouth.

Mina did not spit out the semen in her mouth but swallowed it all. After swallowing, she extended her tongue and licked the remnants of my dick.

"It tastes good. It seems that I can look forward to a delicious breakfast every day from now on." She raised the corners of her mouth and smiled charmingly.

I lay on the bed panting, feeling regretful and a little excited. From now on, I will have my essence squeezed out by this goblin every day, and I don’t know if my body can handle it. But the thought of being able to indulge in a sensual paradise day and night seems pretty good.

While I was thinking wildly, Mina had already moved her hips and adjusted to a more comfortable position. Then, she lifted one leg and put it on my shoulder and used her fingers to guide my erect penis to her pussy dripping with semen.

"Come on, kid, feed mommy with your big cock." She narrowed her eyes and moaned lustfully.

I couldn't think anymore, so I could only obey my instinct, straighten my waist and put my dick into her. The warm and moist feeling enveloped me, and I couldn't help but start a new round of conquest. In this way, we changed countless positions, from the bed to the floor, and then from the window to the bathroom. It wasn't until the sky outside the window turned white that the heart-wrenching battle came to an end temporarily.

Mina nestled in my arms contentedly and fell asleep quickly. And although I was exhausted physically and mentally, I couldn't calm down for a long time. I couldn't help but smile when I thought about my dark sexual life in the future. Maybe this is the legendary dream come true, I hope I will never wake up from this moment.

When I woke up from my dream, the sun was already up to my butt. Mina was not around, so she probably got up and prepared breakfast. Thinking of all the crazy things we did last night, I couldn't help but blush. Suddenly, there were footsteps outside the door, and Mina opened the door and walked in.

"Good morning, son" She came over with a smile and kissed my forehead.

"Good morning...Good morning." I was a little embarrassed and didn't dare to look directly into her eyes.

"Did you enjoy last night, my dear?" She climbed onto the bed and straddled me. I felt something hot and hard pressing against my lower abdomen, and my eyes widened.

"WTF? You...why did you..."

"Hehe, don't forget who I am." Mina blinked, and her dexterous fingers had already begun to untie my belt, "I can make you ecstasy at any time if I want~"

As soon as she finished speaking, she had already taken off my underwear and opened her mouth to take my morning boner. I immediately fell into lust, raised my head, and moaned uncontrollably...

[merbear25]

Growing up with them (Kid, Law, Buggy, Caesar)

There are so many avenues for this fun ‘what if’ scenario. It’s not possible to have befriended all of them, so why not add a few extra possibilities? They were your neighbor, so there were only a few ways your relationship could go.

CW: SFW, gn!reader, headcanons/scenarios, some fluff, ‘neighbor’s kid’ vibes, slightly humorous tone, AU territory so some speculation has been applied, spoilers for Dressrosa(?)

Kid: feral child, feral child! No one can tell me that he wasn’t the wildest child when he was growing up.

He was sucked into his hobbies involving building and metal. He loved roughhousing, backyard wrestling, cookouts, and swimming pools. Summer was his favorite season growing up because it gave him every excuse to do whatever he wanted, and no one had the right to tell him he shouldn’t.

Water soakers, playing ball in the house and inevitably breaking something, sharing scary stories around the campfire, and probably sent to summer camp so his parents could have a break: these are the vibes I get when I think of his childhood.

Being friends: you had to meet his freak because he wasn’t going to slow down.

He wanted to explore, so being the adventurous type would bode nicely for your friendship.

You’d spend some days down by the lake catching frogs only to set them free shortly after. He was very much interested in building all sorts of things, so you’d help him gather materials, which often left you venturing out to strange places.

He threw the classic “What are you? Chicken?” at you when you weren’t as gung-ho as he was about anything.

As reckless as he could be, he’d do well with a friend who could be the voice of reason, helping guide him when he was too in the zone to see the reality of the situation.

He’d argue with you, get mad even. This boy’s stubbornness wasn’t going to allow you to talk him out of something if he had his heart set on it. He was either going to listen to you or he was going to have to learn the hard way.

Hope you didn’t tell him “I told you” for your own sake.

This hot-headed boy could be a handful, making it hard to avoid arguments at times. Being of the same temperament would make blow-ups a recurring issue. 

That being said, you were still children and most likely got heated over things like “which character would win in a fight” or about who rightfully won your card game.

Even if he was always on the move and doing something, I could see him enjoying something calmer like catching fireflies. You could take the jars you captured them in to your secret hideout where you’d camp out for the night.

He played rough though, so if you ever agreed to wrestling, there was a slim chance of you making it out without some sort of injury.

Uninterested in you: you were a bore to him. There was no sugar coating it.

Even from the few interactions you had, those were enough for both of you to realize that you didn’t want to bother.

Having similar hobbies helps a lot when building friendships, especially when it comes to children. However, I can’t say that this would be the main reason for him not being friends with someone. I could see it being boiled down to more of a personality issue.

You couldn’t really find common ground, not that he was really looking for any.

He never got why you liked some of the things you did, and you felt the same about him.

You viewed the other as weird and tried your best to ignore each other. That was easier said than done with someone like him, though.

An enemy/competition: he’s competitive, he’s aggressive, and the fact that you were just as good if not better than him made his blood boil.

You pushed his buttons and even when he screamed at you, you kept pushing. But, he was going to show you that he was no one to mess with.

Using the knowledge he’d gained from tinkering with various objects, he set up a few pranks. Some were a tad cruel because he wanted to humiliate you. 

Even if you saw yourselves as enemies, he had mixed feelings when one of his pranks made you cry. Depending on a lot of factors, he may send you anonymous sweets (cookies, chocolate, or candies) to make you feel a smidge better.

When you were back on your feet, you both kept your competition under more control, though there were times you were both tempted to cross that line again.

Law: a tough cookie to crack and even more so after escaping from his home country. I tried to take into account his personality before and after that incident.

He was very determined academically, part of which was to make his parents proud but the other was from his own genuine interest. Dedicating time to studying, enjoying sitting outside while reading, and could get irritated easily when his routine was disrupted: he appreciated a sense of calmness and balance but still had moments when he’d lose his temper.

There weren’t many who went out of their way to befriend him because of his unique hobbies, so that made him more of a loner. That wasn’t anything to be sad about in his opinion. He enjoyed his alone time and the few people he hung around were cherished.

Being friends: you mostly likely approached him, to which he was standoffish for quite a while.

With all his staring at you, observing your habits and quirks, you couldn’t help but feel like you were being looked at under a microscope.

It was his way of building up the confidence to hold a decent conversation with you. Once getting a good enough read on you, he’d be much more open to chatting. You’d feel a little less like a stranger even before you began talking to each other.

Being attentive would be appreciated, but he wouldn’t really care too much if his friend was clumsy or careless from time to time. As long as you were kind-hearted, he could overlook those small flaws rather easily.

Although being a nerd wouldn’t be a necessity by any means, it would be fun for him to geek out with someone over Germa 66.

Let’s say you were a big fan of them like he was.

His eyes lit up when you first mentioned it and he ran to show you his favorite merchandise. You’d play with the action figures together, probably draw them while sitting quietly, and then ooh and aah over each other’s art saying what you liked most about their drawings.

Now, let’s say you weren’t a fan of them.

He wouldn’t bring them up unless you asked about it. Maybe you made a comment on one of his figurines, for example. Despite wanting to go on and on about them, he picked up on your body language and sensed it wasn’t your thing. That was fine with him, though. It wasn’t his only hobby, after all.

Even though he was far from the type to take risks and would most likely protest against any dangerous activities (i.e. baking and/or cooking without parental supervision), he really needed someone to push him out of his comfort zone. The little nudges from someone he came to trust were more helpful than he ever realized.

Neither friend nor foe: he was cautious of you for a little while, trying to gauge what your deal was before ultimately deciding he didn’t really want to engage with you.

Perhaps you were too brash for him. He wasn’t a scaredy cat, but he was extremely cautious, meaning being friends with someone who was too reckless would stress him out and probably make him feel like a babysitter.

You may be too quiet. He could be pretty quiet himself, but trying to befriend someone who was even more soft spoken could present some challenges.

Maybe you were far too unpredictable. He enjoyed order and normalcy, which would mean being around someone who spoke and/or acted before thinking would have him practically breaking out in hives.

At best, he avoided you and let you do whatever it was you were doing.

At worst, he shot glares at you whenever you crossed the line.

All in all, he tried not to involve himself in your life too much.

An enemy: there were so few people who lit a fire under him to be viewed as competition, so you most likely took the enemy title.

The easiest way to have made an enemy out of him would be upsetting his little sister. He was a protective big brother. They fought like any other siblings, sure, but he never tolerated others treating her like that.

He’d be on you like a hawk at that point. So much as breathe in the wrong direction and he’d be there to scare you straight.

Intimidation would be his strongest weapon—vaguely threatening you with his knowledge of human anatomy and the least frequented places where you lived.

If you just came after him and disregarded his sister, it’d take a bit longer for him to deem you as a full blown enemy. He’d simply hate you for the longest time until you just pushed a sore spot that sent him over the edge—giving you nightmares at the very least.

Buggy: How patient are you? Because he’d be throwing you curveballs no matter the relationship you two had.

He was known as the loud kid and class clown. He wanted so much attention which made it hard for others to ignore him. There were a lot of mixed feelings about him, especially in the neighborhood.

Was the kid who sent out invites to his birthday to every single kid in class, in the neighborhood, and at the corner store just to have a few show up to his party. He kept his head high, even if it was getting to him.

Being friends: it wasn’t hard getting him to talk to you. Hell, it wasn’t even that difficult to get him to hang out, but he was very wishy-washy with his interactions.

He never failed to put himself out there. You couldn’t help but think that was endearing.

I can’t necessarily see him having been partial to his friend being introverted, ambivert, or extroverted. A friend was a friend, and so long as they treated him well, that type of stuff wasn’t of any importance.

However, it would be a must for you to have a sense of humor. There was no way around that. He wanted to laugh and make you laugh, so someone who was the more serious type perhaps would have made things much too difficult.

Though he put up a good front, making people think he was some tough guy, he was super soft and squishy on the inside—really just needing someone to be vulnerable around. That was something he could find in you. Though it took what felt like ages to get to that point, it was all worth it.

Sleepovers were a massive thing for him. Your parents liked him, albeit thinking he was just a tad odd, but were happy that you had made a friend nonetheless.

There were tons of games you’d play together which tended to involve forts: pillow, blanket, and cardboard mostly. When you played pirates, he insisted on being the captain. Despite his confidence in leading you and your crew of stuffed animals, you ended up having to take control on most missions.

Even when you thought you were having a good time hanging out with him, he had a tendency to leave suddenly, most of the time making up an obvious lie. When you tried talking to him about it, he was often dismissive and just wanted to forget about it.

You weren’t sure how to take that. It kinda hurt. You quickly understood not to take those moments to heart and just boiled it down to Buggy just being Buggy. Even if that were the case, you hoped he would eventually lower those walls—one day.

Weird in between: You caught him peeking over your fence and popping back down. He wanted more friends, but he wasn’t confident.

He couldn’t gauge you, couldn’t figure out who you were exactly and the way you carried yourself made him want to keep his distance.

As hard it was for others to ignore him, it was almost just as difficult for him to do the same to them. He was always aware of everyone, or at the very least, he checked them out before deciding if they were worth the trouble.

Even if you were indifferent towards him, he’d try his darndest to get on your good side. If he didn’t care for you all that much, he’d wait to throw it in your face before you ever had the chance to humiliate him.

You didn’t know what his deal was, and to be fair he didn’t know what his was either which led to him being so hot and cold with you.

He tried just ignoring you, but when he heard you laughing and having a generally good time with the other kids, he couldn’t help himself. He was curious and eavesdropped on your conversations, wondering why he wasn’t a part of the fun.

Him needing to best you: maybe you didn’t hate each other. Perhaps at the most you strongly disliked the other. Either way he wanted to prove how much better he was.

Buggy was all over the place. He’d try insulting you, challenging you, but then if you took him up on it, he’d increase the gap between you.

He was never short of excuses as to why he couldn’t keep to his own challenges against you. When you eventually went home after realizing he wasn’t showing up yet again, he twisted it into making it seem like you chickened out.

It was hard for you to see him as an enemy because of how void of seriousness he was. He had days when he thought you were mortal enemies, followed by days he thought you were cool with him, but then right back to being wary of you.

Caesar: Hope that you are just as unhinged as he is, otherwise you were in for a rough childhood. His voice would carry through the streets, alerting the entire neighborhood that he was up to something—none of it good. 

Whenever you looked out your window or passed by his house, there would be smoke, sudden loud noises (mostly bangs and explosions), or possibly a strange faint odor that made you think twice before asking about.

Generally speaking, I imagine him having been far more reckless with experiments and even when regarding the manipulative side to his personality. Not necessarily feral but just more brash.

Being friends: you’d have to keep up with him otherwise he’d just think you were dragging him down.

Being adventurous would go a long way with him. He wouldn’t have much patience for someone being overly cautious to the point they were practically a scaredy cat. 

That being said, he’d need a friend who was the voice of reason during his more reckless moments. Sure, you got an eye roll and huff for “not being fun” but you gave a sense of balance.

You’d earn bonus points if you were just as into the macabre as he was—pushing the limits could get rather…messy, after all. You could be his assistant all you liked but being a partner in crime would be the cherry on top.

He’d never admit it, but he got scared easily. However, this was reserved for when he felt in danger.

If you were brave, he would hide behind you, putting his faith in you that you’d chase off whatever he was afraid of. If you weren’t brave, self-preservation would more than likely take over, and he’d shamelessly leave you behind—desperate to distance himself from the posing threat.

He’s competitive. He’s also a narcissist. Because of these qualities, I’d argue that being interested in science could go either in or against your favor. 

In your favor: you didn’t try to upstage him, especially if you turned out to be wrong because you’d just end up getting on his nerves in that case. Being into another field of science might make it a bit easier because he could feel like he out-shined you. Plus, it could be more fun pairing your expertise with his to create ungodly creations. If you were right about and/or better at something, you didn’t rub it in—you were humble even if he wasn’t. Otherwise his ego would take a few hits, making him pout and want to get back at you.

Against your favor: You were more clever in certain ways on top of being competitive. I think he’d enjoy some competition with a friend but only to an extent because eventually it’d turn into a rivalry. 

Everyone in the neighborhood would loathe you and forbid their children from interacting with you for a multitude of reasons: potential harm, corrupting their ‘little angels’, and you two being bad eggs to name a few.

Your parents would probably try forbidding you from hanging out with him, believing he was nothing but a bad influence on you. Although they may have had a point, that didn’t stop you.

And you are…?: you were just kinda there in a sense—not interesting enough for him to have engaged with or irritating enough to have humiliated.

Maybe there were times you tried talking to him but due to your approach, he deemed you as unworthy of his presence. 

Maybe he just didn’t like you for no reason in particular: being viewed as unspecial, one that blended too much into the crowd, and overall lackluster—not even being worthy of recognition as, well, anyone.

You kept your distance once you noticed others, whom he saw as mere pawns, had horrific “accidents”.

An enemy/competition: you rubbed him in all the wrong ways.

Whether you’d intended it or not, you wormed your way into his mind and refused to let go of the hold you had.

He had the same effect on you, making rivals of each other quickly and eventually full blown enemies.

The easiest way for you to have done this was either besting him at chemistry or generally being far too clever for your own good, making him feel shown up in one way or another.

He didn’t just want to be the best, he needed to be. Meeting someone who could beat him at his own game was infuriating and fueled his desire to tear you down. There were times when he succeeded, but there were also plenty when you were triumphant.

No matter how much you may have disliked or even hated each other, you gave the other the incentive to keep pushing and bettering yourselves like no one else had.

Thanks to your childhood rivalry and constant pushing, you both had unknowingly set the other up for success in their careers. I guess you should thank each other…not that you ever would, though.

[mikavlcs]

White Flag

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x fem!reader

Summary: Tyler is infatuated with you. Wednesday puts a stop to it.

Warnings: possessive-ish/ooc!wednesday, tyler slander, kinda abrupt ending, this is Not Good

Word count: 2.8k

Notes: this was requested by @vorsdany​ (mother<3), it’s bad but i hope you enjoy it at least a little!

Masterlist

Wednesday had never been one for sharing.

She had no problems sharing general family items like poisons, explosives, or, if she was feeling generous, torture devices. But when it was her things, it was a different story.

On more than one occasion she had bitten Pugsley for trying to take her dolls that she was in the process of decapitating (the boy even tasted weak). Thing only needed to be punted once to learn not to take her throwing knives without asking.

And Lurch, well… Lurch was virtually unkillable, meaning that she was able to get more creative with her methods of discipline for his rare missteps.

Not even her parents were exempt from this behavior, though they adored her viciousness and feverishly encouraged it rather than punishing her for it.

Naturally, this only worsened when she entered what she considered to be the seventh circle of hell—public school.

In the many years (and schools) that followed, there were many, many injuries ranging from scrapes to broken bones, and she felt bad for none of them. They all served a purpose: to teach their recipients a lesson.

Words like possessive and territorial were thrown around often in regard to her temperament, and while she enjoyed the negative connotation of those words, she didn’t believe that they quite fit.

Wednesday saw her behavior as perfectly reasonable. Her things were hers, there was no reason for anyone else to try and take them from her.

And that was still as true now as it was then.

This mentality was what got her to Nevermore in the first place. When she started caring for her brother in some capacity, she wasn’t sure, but he was her brother, and no one else was allowed to torment him but her. 

And she made sure that the boys that shoved him in her locker were well informed of that fact.

The fact that she effectively neutered one of the jocks was just a bonus (and a favor for every woman that came into contact with him in the future).

Just before she left for Nevermore, she installed a lock on her bedroom door that only she could unlock, and if anyone else tried, they would be lucky to only lose a finger.

To her utter dismay, she did something at Nevermore that she had never done at any of her other schools—she grew attached to some of the students there. Mostly Enid and Eugene. 

They were people she would (hesitantly, especially in Enid’s case) consider friends. And with that elevated status came the same begrudging care she had for her brother.

Eugene was the same type as Pugsley—soft, squishy, and entirely too weak to defend himself from his tormentors. Thus, Wednesday did it for him.

Enid, on the other hand, was too nosy for her own good and incredibly annoying, but no one was allowed to tell her that but Wednesday. And anyone that tried was met with swift and just punishment.

So when you confessed your disgusting feelings for her to which she unfortunately reciprocated, and you got to the point where you could, in a sense, be considered hers, this mindset carried over to you as well.

Still not as intensely as with her physical belongings, of course—you were your own person with personal autonomy and agency that she would never try to take from you.

She didn’t care about you spending time with other people or being affectionate with your friends, no. What she cared about was other people trying to actually steal you from her. That was what she wouldn’t tolerate.

Those other people had no chance, of course. The two of you complimented each other perfectly. Like sodium and cyanide.

But that didn’t stop imbeciles from trying… and many certainly did try.

A group of furs made a bet to see who could successfully get you to go on a date with them first. They approached you periodically throughout the day—the stink of overconfidence and wet fur radiating from each of them.

All Wednesday had to do was flash a few select pieces from the vast silver arsenal she accumulated, and they were running away with their tails between their legs.

There was a vampire, far too ambitious for his own good, that attempted to court you from afar by…staring and lingering around you.

Enid said he was doing it “Twilight style” but Wednesday hadn’t the faintest idea what dusk had to do with his poor flirting, nor did she care enough to find out.

She instead woke him up with a stake pressed just above his heart and a threat. That worked spectacularly.

And the traces of garlic that ended up in his soup at lunch the next day were merely a coincidence.

There were others—a few more idiotic furs, some gorgons, a siren—all of which Wednesday eliminated one by one with ease.

(Non-fatally, unfortunately. Because even though you liked Wednesday’s quirks, you still disapproved of cold-blooded murder…she would work on that with you.)

Until, finally, they seemed to learn and accept that you were hers and nothing was changing that—especially not any teenage boys with egos too big for their bodies. No one dared to approach you with their romantic inquiries. And she liked it that way.

Even Xavier, despite how empty his skull seemed most of the time, knew better at that point.

But there remained one person that routinely exceeded her low expectations. One annoying thorn that dug itself deep in her side refused to go away.

Tyler Galpin.

The Weathervane barista was Jericho’s de facto golden boy. Devoted, handsome (allegedly), and a royal pain in Wednesday’s ass recently.

She didn’t hate him at first. In fact, her limited interactions with him were entirely uninteresting, something she would have forgotten if it weren’t for what came after. But what Tyler lacked in personality, he more than made up for in audacity.

He was hopelessly infatuated with you and made no attempt to hide it. Blatant longing stares,

And he knew that you were unavailable. You literally told him you were on a date with her once and he just…smiled and nodded.

Homicidal didn’t even begin to describe how she felt in that moment.

For a time, she tried to steer you away from the Weathervane, but you loved the quaint café, so it was impossible to keep you away from its cozy seats and overly sweet drinks for very long.

And it seemed that no matter when you guys went, he was there, grinning like an idiot behind the counter as you walked in.

His constant presence irritated her to no end. It didn’t help that he was fervid in his pursuit of you, despite Wednesday being literally sat across from you every time he made his advances.

Every visit, she had to watch him hand deliver drinks with hearts and compliments in the foam art, had to watch you try to politely deal with your discomfort.

The urge to throw the drink in his face was so potent that it took every single ounce of self-control to hold herself back from doing it.

From then on, she ached to teach him the same lesson she did everyone else, but every time she saw him, you were also present. And to subject you to such acts when she knew you wouldn’t approve would be unbecoming of her.

She would also prefer to be with you and her friends at Nevermore instead of sitting in a jail cell.

So she decided to take it easy on him. The next time she was subjected to the displeasure of sharing space with him, she would give him a simple warning and from there he had two options.

He either got the message or the sheriff would be burying his only son.

-

In recent times, Fridays had become something to look forward to for Wednesday.

Since you’d begun seeing each other, you were insistent on taking her out every Friday after classes were over to “celebrate the weekend.”

In reality, Wednesday knew it was just an excuse to spend time alone with her without calling it a “date” because she loathed the term. She accepted it, for your sake.

This tradition is how you both ended up on the school-provided shuttle into Jericho, your book in your hands as you idly watched the passing scenery, Wednesday watching you in turn.

She would have invited you to her dorm, but Thing liked to take up as much of your attention as possible when you visited, so instead she decided to take you into town.

Predictably, the moment you stepped off the shuttle, you were begging her to go to the Weathervane.

She wanted to say no. Honestly, she would rather subject herself to the depths of hell that was Pilgrim World than step foot inside that place, but you were utilizing a recent favorite tactic of yours—a brutal combination of pouting and begging incessantly.

You cradled her hand between both of yours, wide eyes drenched in overblown sorrow and, to her amusement, oncoming tears.

The act was topped off with an occasional pleading, “Please, Wends,” taking extra care to extend the word please to infuriating lengths every time.

But even with how well-fortified her mental walls were, there was only so much her sanity could take. So she let you drag her through the doors of the coffee shop, vowing to get sweet revenge on you when you least expected it.

Of course, Tyler was there, lurking behind the counter with his eyes already intently trained on you, likely already spotting you outside the window.

Not noticing her tension, you turned to her, excited as could be. “I’ll order our drinks. Can you get us a booth?” you asked before walking up to the front.

Her eyes followed as you set your hands on the marble, leaning to look at the full menu board behind Tyler, then she turned her attention to him.

He had that look again, “heart eyes” as Enid would call it. It made her want to rip them out of his skull.

Wednesday tore her eyes away from the interaction and looked for a seat as you asked her to. Knowing you liked the booths near the windows, her gaze traveled there, finding most of them vacant.

Usually, she preferred sitting in the back corner, but this time she strode toward the booth all the way up front, wanting to be both as far from the barista and close to the exit as possible, and sat with her back to the wall.

Her mind wandered as she waited for you to return. She thought of Thing, who she had given permission to prank other students in exchange for him remaining at Nevermore while she brought you to Jericho.

She hoped he hadn’t hurt anyone too badly—at least not while she wasn’t there to watch.

Soft footfalls brought her from her musings, and she looked over just as you neared the booth.

You set her drink down on the table in front of her with a smile brighter than the sun. She gave you a nod in lieu of thanks and watched as you settled back in your seat, flipping open whatever fantasy novel you were immersing yourself in now atop your crossed legs.

Wednesday never fully understood the love you harbored for this place, but she had to admit that at times like this, the café was pleasant to be in.

Like her, you were in casual clothes, freed from the striped confines of the Nevermore uniform, and your relaxed posture reflected that change. You looked at home in the cushioned booth with pages nestled between your fingers and a furrowed brow.

The late afternoon sun was beginning to set outside, painting the sky a vibrant mixture of oranges, pinks, and purples. 

Wednesday normally hated any color besides the dark crimson of freshly drawn blood, but the way this specific kaleidoscope of hues highlighted your features made it impossible for her to feel anything akin to hatred for them now.

The way the light refracted off the glass and onto your face was reminiscent of the Renaissance-era oil paintings she had been forced to analyze in art class. Easily more captivating than anything da Vinci or Michelangelo could ever dream of creating.

Even the sterilized music they played from the café speakers was less grating than usual (or she was being slowly indoctrinated… she would have to investigate that later).

You looked up, reaching for your drink, and your eyes found hers. A warm, if slightly mischievous smile appeared on your face, growing as you held up your cup.

“You wanna taste?”

She scrutinized the drink in your hand—some sugary monstrosity called “hot chocolate”—and immediately shook her head. “Absolutely not, I value my digestive system.”

You laughed, nose scrunching in that way that Wednesday found herself just a bit enamored with. Once your laughter subsided, you took a long sip, heaving an exaggeratedly satisfied sigh afterward.

“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Rolling her eyes, she pulled her own book from her bag, a spellbook her mother had given her for her birthday. She’d been studying it for weeks now, wanting to see if she could tap into the supposed magical capabilities that her distant ancestors wielded.

The booth lapsed into silence, the only sounds being the background chatter of the few other café guests and the low overhead music as you enjoyed each other’s company, taking sips every so often.

But the peace didn’t last, for Tyler just had to pollute the air with his presence again. This time, completely uninvited.

Wednesday recognized the footsteps before he even properly approached the table, but you didn’t notice until he was in your space, feet coming directly into your line of sight as you read. You glanced up at him, brows drawn in confusion, and he gave you that stupid grin.

His hand moved and to Wednesday’s shame, it was only then that she noticed the plate he was holding. Shyly, he set it down in front of you, presenting what looked to be a Danish of some kind.

“For the prettiest girl in the café.”

Wednesday made a mental note to check if her spellbook contained any particularly debilitating curses.

Your lips pulled back into more of a grimace than a smile, but he accepted it with enthusiasm, nonetheless, and walked off before you could give any sort of proper response.

Wednesday decided that was it. She downed the rest of her drink and stood, muttering a foreboding “I’ll be right back” in the process.

The weight of your gaze settled on her shoulders as she stalked over to the counter but she brushed it off, her focus set firmly on the boy operating the machines behind it. A conscious effort was made not to crush the cup in her hand. She didn’t want to alert you to her pursuit.

Silently, she placed the cup down on the marble and rang the bell.

Tyler’s face lit up at the sound, but it fell when he turned and locked eyes with Wednesday.

“Oh, Wednesday, hey. Do you need something?”

Her lips curled into a sinister smile. “Yes, actually, I do.”

Reaching over the counter, she grabbed Tyler’s apron and pulled him forward. Tyler, eyes wide, sputtered but was quickly silenced by the murderous glint in the seer’s eyes.

“I need you to get it through your thick, bulbous skull that she’s not interested. And quickly, or I promise that you will be eating through a straw for the rest of your short, miserable life,” she assured him, speaking low so only he could hear. 

She dropped her voice even lower to the barest of whispers, leaning forward as her apathetic eyes bored into his.

“Don’t think that you’ll be safe from me just because you’re the sheriff’s son. Do you understand?”

Tyler nodded hurriedly, his normally pallid complexion growing an even starker white.

Wednesday abruptly let go of his apron, sending him stumbling back on unsteady feet. She gave him another frosty glare, for good measure, before casting her gaze down to her cup.

“Oh, and I need a refill. Make it on the house,” she said, pushing the empty cup toward the unmoving boy then walking back to her table.

The curious looks you were giving her went ignored as she sat back down and opened her book to continue her studying.

“What did you say to him?” you asked, eyeing the boy’s terrified expression.

Wednesday shrugged. “I simply asked him for a refill.”

She knew you didn’t believe her, but she also knew you wouldn’t question her further, so she kept her eyes on the pages in front of her and waited for her drink to arrive.

Tyler returned minutes later, noticeably more withdrawn. His eyes never left the ground as he delivered Wednesday’s drink and immediately hurried back behind the perceived safety of the counter. 

Your wide, concerned eyes followed him as he left.

“Just a refill?” you reiterated, skepticism dripping from every syllable.

Wednesday smirked. The familiar vindictive feeling of victory set in, creating a terrifyingly satisfying afterglow for her to bask in as she took your hand in hers, and squeezed it lightly.

“I swear on my late scorpion’s life, mon cher.”

[darklinaforever]

When people try to make it seem like the Marauders and Severus relationship was a shared rivalry instead of outright harassment. They were 4 to 1 ! That's not à rivality !

Also, I'm tired of people saying things like :

"Yes, James and his friends harassed Severus, that's not good. But it says in the text that Severus had a disproportionate hatred for James, and cast spells on him too."

Yes. So what ? It's basically victim blaming. As if the fact that Severus defends himself wasn't normal ?! As if hating James who bullied him from the moment he met him, just for his simple existence wasn't normal ?!

I would like to understand what is going on in people's heads when they say sentences like that.

Severus scorning James is justified. Severus attacking James back is fucking justified, especially when the harassment is daily !

What is this ridiculous logic ? "Yes, James bullied Severus, but Severus wasn't any better because he hated him and retaliated."

WHAT ?!

People speaking like that should never have been harassed. It's like those hating Severus / finding it unforgivable that Severus called Lily a mudblood after being publicly humiliated by James.

Translation ; suspended in the air upside down, underwear revealed and soap in his mouth...

I think your mood, your temperament, and your control over yourself and your words would take a hit too !

I was the victim of harassment almost throughout my schooling. From my first year of kindergarten until my second year of high school ! Do you think I loved my harassers ? Do you think that after a while I didn't fight back ? Do you think that after being publicly humiliated / harassed I didn't insult even innocent people ? (And again, Lily smiled seeing her so-called friend go through this, so for me the insult was deserved, I have no regrets in saying that...) But wake up the fuc ! Go live in the real world !

There is no excuse for what James put Severus through and there never will be ! Damn, he was doing it for fun ! Pure and simple !

Also, I'm tired of seeing this bullshit like if Harry had been a girl, Severus would have had inappropriate attitudes towards him... That it would even have gone completely like in the film Swenney Todd ! But what ?! And again, I saw a very intelligent film-loving woman, or so I thought, spouting this bullshit ! FOR WHAT ?! Where does this shit come from ?! Ginny is described as looking a lot like Lily from what I remember and Severus never went after her ?!

I've seen people like Snape say this types of shit and argue that it apparently made him complex !

Why is a man grieving his former best friend trying to be better in honor of her memory considered an obsession ? Why do people say Snape was obsessed with Lily, rather than James who literally pursued her throughout school and even blackmailed her into trying to date her, and never taking no for an answer ?! Why ?!

And why is Severus' patronus taking the same form as Lily's seen as proof of obsession ?! Didn't Thnks do the same thing for Lupin ?! I don't remember anyone seeing this as obsession on his part !

In fact, when a patronus changes depending on the author, for the person we love, it is specifically to match them, and is proof of eternal love.

[my-on-and-off-writingstuff]

Troublemaker PT. 4 | Daemon Targaryen x reader

Summary: When I said I would not write another part of troublemaker, oops. here it is. Daemon worrying about his pregnant wife. part 1, part 2, part 3 of the troublemaker serie.

111 AC

“Y/n Targaryen what in the gods name are you doing?” she looked over her shoulder to see your husband and you feel the horse stiffen underneath you. For a split second you have the fear that it will buck and run for the hills, but it calms down enough to shake its head and relax. You softly stroke her neck and praise her for not running away in fear. Anya is a beautiful black mare, who could be clumsy at times, but she trotted and jumped as the best. She did not like men around her much and at times she could have a bit of a temperament, but she was a gentle soul and very curious. As soon as the two of you had meet. She had instantly bonded with you and you with her. She had been a gift from Daemon for your first marriage anniversary. According to him, the horse’s temperament had reminded you of him when he saw Anya for the very first time. He had been away for business and when walking through the stables with a lord he had come across Anya.

“Anya needed exercise!” You yell back at your lovely husband who looks like he had just recovered from a panic attack. He has been way to worried about you for the last few months and today his concern was shining bright as ever. “Get your lovely ass of that horse before you break something, the maester said no horse riding anymore, you need to rest.” You laugh softly but do not make any moves of climbing down instead you direct Anya with your knees closer to Daemon. “He is an old man; exercise is healthy for the three of us.”

You almost feel sorry for your husband, but the maester was old and conservative, you knew your body the best and had seen your fair side of pregnancies in your life. You know that you were not too far along yet to ride a horse and exercise is just as healthy if not more than staying in bed all day. However, your poor husband was not that convinced the exercise part and had asked a maester for advice. Since you had told him you were pregnant, he had not let you of his eye, always fussing over you and making a scene out of it wherever you went. You knew deep down that he was scarred of losing you like he had lost his mother. He would save you in a heartbeat over the child if it came to it and you both knew it. As he had said he did not need child perse, but he could not live without you. Nonetheless you were pretty sure that as soon at the little one was born, he would all but forget about you.

He slowly comes closer, and you saw the worry on his face. “I just worry, for you and the babe.” You smile at him and reach out your hand for him to take while still sitting atop of Anya. “I know but I am not made of glass or sugar for that matter.” Daemon takes your hand and brings it to his mouth placing a gentle kiss on the back of your hand. “Even if you where you would be the strongest type of glass, but it’s a husband’s job to worry.” Before you can reject that statement his arms quickly lift you up from the saddle and he settles you down next to him, tucking you into his side. “However, you are trouble whenever you go, and I rather not find my wife with a broken neck.” You huff and lightly hit his chest. “I am a better rider then you are.” He smiles down at you, and you twist yourself out of his arms. “That you are but you also currently have a condition which has not made you less clumsy.”

Your face flushes with anger and quickly turn around to focus on Anya and ignore Daemons last statement. Anya is not faring much better as she is breathing harshly through her noose and stomping her leg on the grass. Apparently, Daemon has also reached his limit with her. She shakes her head at Daemon and before you can even intervene throws him on his ass right in a puddle of mud. You stifle your laugh as you know look down on your husband who looks at the both of you with a look of shock and acceptance. “I don’t think Anya, nor I approve of you calling me being pregnant a condition.” With those words you turn around leading Anya back to the stables leaving Daemon behind in the mud.

Daemon shakes his head still in disbelief as he watches his little troublemaker walk away with her little helper. He knew he should not have said those words and the universe had found a way to punish him for it. Groaning he lifted himself up to his own two feet and followed your form to the stables like a puppy.

111 AC

Everybody you came across today was not meeting your eyes and it was getting old real fast. Because you were concerned that something was wrong with your appearance you had looked in a mirror, but both your hair and face looked perfectly fine. You had racked your brain to try and come up with an explanation for why everybody was ignoring you but the only thing that came to mind was that Daemon had found a way to get himself, and to an extension you exiled again.

You smiled at the approaching lord coming from the council room, which you remembered to be working alongside your husband. But like many before him his eyes widen and immediately turn to the ground, rushing past you like you were hideous. You feel your cheeks flush with embarrassment and anger as you walk into the council room to find your husband. As soon as you enter a silence rolls over the remaining lords halting every conversation. One of them even has the audacity to awkwardly cough while looking at Daemon.

Your husband however unashamedly stares at your chest and slowly you feel horrified as you notice the wetness at the chest of the bodice. You groan softly as your eyes find two wet sticky splotches on your bodice. Your body is leaking milk unbeknown to you. It made sense if you thought about it being at the end of pregnancy, but it does not mean you have to like what your body is doing to you. As if walking around like a duck and not being able to see your feet because of your belly wasn’t enough. Only the gods know for how you had walked around with it. Well, nobody had shamed you all had instead chosen to look away to at least grant you some decency. But you would rather have had somebody tell you, that you were walking around with two bloody milk dots. Men are all so stupid.

“Alright out with you all!” Daemon voice booms through the room as he pulls you into his chest. With flushed cheeks you press your face into his chest. “I have been walking with these for a while now, everybody saw, how stupid. I even cursed out some lords after not greeting me.” Daemon only laughs and softly kisses your forehead. “Well at least they listen to my wedding speech about not looking or even thinking about sexualizing you. You look up at survey the room but the only two people still left are Daemon and you. “Well, you did promise to cut out their guts and feed it to them if they did so it think your point was clear. “He lifts you up and gentle sets you down on the table. “Damn straight, you are mine, all mine.” His lips find the border of where your neck and jaw meet, and he possessively kisses the little spot.

“Uncle Daemon…” the soft voice of Rhaenyra carries through the room, but Daemon does not stop instead he attacks your neck with more kisses. “Oh, never mind.” You hear the secondhand embarrassment in her voice as she took in the sight in front of her, but neither Daemon nor you could care at this moment. Moreover, you have had your share of embarrassment for today and having to have a little chat with Rhaenyra after she had just seen you two was not really on things you wanted to discuss today.

113 AC

Daemon was enjoying the sight in front of him. you were laying in the hollow of his arm, your hand laying on his chest, while your head was resting on his arm near his shoulder. Sun was coming through the window as the night sky made space for the sun. your belly was slightly in the way, but he did not care much as he could feeling nothing else then being contempt. You were going to give him another heir and he could not be happier your first pregnancy had been a breeze and he had eased up on the worrying bit the second time around but still he liked it best when you were close to him and engaging in too straining activities.

The door to your shared room opened with a little creak and he looked up, trying to make out who was the intruder. His other hand automatically found the knife hidden by the nightstand. However, the sound of little feet made him halt in his actions as he recognized his first-born son. “Dada, I stay?” Daemon felt you stir in his arms as your eyes fluttered open. You looked over your shoulder and saw your little toddler standing there. Immediately a smile crossed your face. Daemon wondered how the little Baelon had been able to make his way out of his crib and find his way towards your room but let it slide as he saw his soon tiredly wiping his eyes.

You had opened the blanket for Baelon and gestured that he should nestle himself between the two of you, scooting just so slightly back his little body could fit in-between the two of you. Baelon did not need any more encouragement as he climbed his way over Daemon legs to nestle himself in-between. His head rested on your chest, and you closed your eyes again as you hand made its way to Baelon’s back, drawing small circles to sooth him. not long after Daemon heard your breathing pattern change and he knew you were back to sleep. He smiled at himself as he ignored the sun coming into the room even further and nestled back in with his little family. Business could wait he had everything he needed right here. Daemon closed his eyes but not before tightening his grip on his wife and his son. 

[zooophagous]

Tuunbaq is really cute, im excited to see what his future holds :) i never heard of kishu ken before you got him, what got you interested in the breed?

Honestly I saw one on tumblr and went down the rabbit hole reading about them lol. I've always been interested in spitz breeds and "primitive" dogs that are more cat like, as cats are my background and what I'm more used to.

But the kishu seemed to be different. A spitz type primitive but one that actually wasn't standoffish with strangers, and that enjoyed being trained, that wasn't quite so stubborn while retaining enough independence to not be directly on top of me all the time and be able to think for itself for a bit. A hunting breed but one more into large targets like deer and hogs but soft on small animals like cats. A coat that's easy to keep clean and a flexible temperament that's up for anything.

Once I got to meet a couple of them in person it was all over and I needed one lol. Tuunbaq so far has perfectly fit into the description that got me intrigued. He's eager to learn, bold enough to try new things without much convincing, moderately obedient without being fawning and up for anything as long as he gets to be with his people.

The one stand out bit of the breed standard that stuck with me is that kishu are described as being unflinchingly loyal. Which, all dogs typically are, but they amp it up by a few degrees.

And I do see it. He won't shove his entire body into mine and sit on my foot like Egon, but if I close a door he waits behind it for me to come out. He will follow me into a room and lay down at my feet patiently until I stand up and it's time to go. When he sees something new and can't decide if it's good or bad he looks back at me to decide what to do next.

He's moderate energy and fairly low drive, even less so than Egon who's much older. He loves to train but won't go bananas and destroy my house if we skip a day.

They're just great all rounders and it's truthfully baffling to me that these relatively easy, medium sized dogs with wash and wear coats aren't as popular as other Japanese breeds like akitas who will eat your neighbor's arms off if you don't hammer them with training from puppyhood and even then they won't like everyone.

[fsfghgee]

I agree, Bi-Han was very close to his mother. In fact, I believe he probably took most of her personality and appearance (thin eyebrows and sharp cheekbones). A dialogue line between Smoke and Li-Mei states that his mother was “nonsense and tough as nails”. Some people think he speaking about his bio mom but I truly believe he was speaking about his adoptive mother because whenever he takes about his bio mom there is always a somber tone.

Now I’m only making assumptions here, but I’m she was the only woman to understand him until he got with Sektor.

Yes. You're right. Sektor is the only person who truly understands Bi-Han and has supported him since his mother died. And as strange as some people may find it, men like Bi-Han — men who are truly attached and close to their mothers — are often (when not exclusively) attracted to women who are similar to their mothers. And this isn't just a male fetish thing, nor is it a conscious choice. Bi-Han certainly doesn't see Sektor as his mother. But she definitely has personality traits that he feels familiar enough to be attracted to, behavioral traits that he grew up admiring, physical traits that he feels comfortable with. Her affection for him takes him to a safe place, a place he hasn't had access to since his mother's death, he feels safe enough in her presence to expose his vulnerabilities:

I can't even imagine how comforting it must have been for him to hear Sektor's voice and see her face after spending hours being tortured to death by titan Havik. And worse, being forced to obey him, knowing how much he hates obeying and being controlled.

I saw a lot of people (intentionally or not) reading this scene the wrong way. Trying to paint this scene as a sample of a toxic relationship, where Bi-Han doesn't care about her or that Sektor has no dignity for accepting this. And I was like, "WTF". The only thing he did was abruptly break free from her strong grip to punch Liu Kang. The important point of this scene has been completely ignored…

The authority and lack of fear she shows when holding him tightly and telling him not to fight was just another way they found to show us that Sektor is Bi-Han's significant other. A simple follower, just another subordinate of the ruthless Grandmaster, would not have the courage to do this. And even though she is very important to him and he loves her, he is not the type of man who obeys without a good reason. He is not a man with an easy temperament to control and truly hates being controlled. It's even unfair to compare the situation between Sektor and Bi-Han with that of Harumi and Kuai Liang as some people have been doing…

First, Kuai Liang didn't have the adrenaline of a bloodlust running through his veins like he would have had if he had gone after Cyrax to kill her, Cyrax was the one who offered her neck to Kuai's wrath.

Second, Kuai Liang, not even at that moment, had half the hatred for Cyrax that Bi-Han has for Liu Kang and Havik. It's literally confirmed by him and her, in story mode and intros, that they have a past.

Third, Harumi actually gave Kuai Liang convincing reasons to spare Cyrax. Sektor didn't give Bi-Han any, and even if she had, I doubt it would have changed his mind. After all, Bi-Han's goal was to give Liu Kang a quick pummeling to kill the man/titan/god who tortured him to death.

Even though the expansion's story isn't a masterpiece of literature, the part about making Sektor and Bi-Han's relationship romantic without diminishing the threat that Bi-Han actually poses as an antagonist in the game was successfully achieved.

Sektor is Bi-Han's only weakness (just as he is hers)...

Shang Tsung: Bi-Han will pay a steep ransom for your return. Sektor: Just how are *you* planning to abduct *me*?

Shang Tsung: This hostility is unwarranted, Bi-Han. Noob Saibot: You tried to abduct Sektor!

Noob Saibot: You wish to bargain? After what you've done?! Shang Tsung: Do you wish to rule or not, Bi-Han.

Noob Saibot: It is time you answer for Sektor. Shang Tsung: For what, exactly? She escaped me unharmed.

Noob Saibot: You tried enlisting Sektor against me?! Quan Chi: Not against you. To help you see reason.

Noob Saibot: Leave. Before this gets ugly. Quan Chi: I am here to haggle but if we must fight, so be it.

Noob Saibot: If Liu Kang seeks to punish Sektor -- Geras: It would be his right to do so.

Kenshi: So you and Sektor, eh? Hm. That tracks. Noob Saibot: If that is mockery, you are a dead man.

Liu Kang: Sektor should have trusted me to heal you. Noob Saibot: You should not have made her wait.

Liu Kang: You should have trusted me, Sektor. Sektor: Why?! You left Bi-Han to rot.

Sindel: Your 'beloved' should never have crossed me. Sektor: He doesn't fear you. And neither do I.

Kitana: I have to question your taste in men. Sektor: Please, Princess. Share your thoughts.

Geras: If you love Bi-Han, return him to Liu Kang. Sektor: It's because I do that I cannot.

Kenshi: You and Bi-Han deserve each other. Sektor: I couldn't agree more.

But she is also his greatest strength.

Rain: What will Bi-Han do without his Master Armorer? Sektor: He'll never find out, will he?

General Shao: Sub-Zero sends his woman after me? Sektor: He sends his most skilled warrior.

Sub-Zero: Together we will make the Lin Kuei immortal. Sektor: I am honored to fight by your side.

Sektor: We will stop Kuai Liang. Sub-Zero: And finish his Shirai Ryu.

Sektor: I couldn't leave you locked away in the Temple. Noob Saibot: You were right to be impatient.

Sektor: Is it best for you to remain this way? Noob Saibot: It is best for the Lin Kuei.

Sektor: If Liu Kang continues to stand -- Noob Saibot: We will neutralize him.

Cyrax: With Sektor as the Lin Kuei's grandmaster -- Smoke: I know. They could be even *more* dangerous.

Li Mei: You may be more dangerous than Bi-Han. Sektor: Ha! May be?

Sektor: I won't let you near Bi-Han. Ermac: You are one. One cannot stop Us.

Sektor: Keep your souls away from my clan. Ermac: The Lin Kuei must answer for Sindel.

Mileena: I can’t trust Lin Kuei. You were complicit in -- Sektor: Bi-Han knew nothing of Titan Shang Tsung.

Sektor: Bi-Han risked everything to free you. General Shao: Not every gamble pays, Sektor.

Geras: Your experiments with automation must end. Sektor: Interesting. I must be on to something.

Sub-Zero: The armor isn't enough. Sektor: Patience, Bi-Han. There is more to come.

Noob Saibot: How long before the prototype is ready? Sektor: It will be done when it is done.

Tanya: You've created more mechanized monstrosities? Sektor: Many. And I can't wait to unleash them.

Sektor: Once all Lin Kuei are equipped like me -- Scorpion: It will be a dark day for Earthrealm.

General Shao: Are you still Lin Kuei? Noob Saibot: I will *always* be Lin Kuei.

General Shao: Your army's battle armor masks its incompetence. Noob Saibot: If you think so, take the field against us.

General Shao: I need Sektor's services. Noob Saibot: You should have thought of that before freezing me out.

Reiko: Do you share Bi-Han's power? Or just his bed? Sektor: Careful, Reiko. Disrespect can be fatal.

Reiko: You should be a weapon in the General's arsenal. Sektor: The Lin Kuei won't partner wih him again.

Reiko: What will it take for you to equip our army? Sektor: There isn't enough gold in the realms.

Ashrah: The Lin Kuei's course can still be changed. Sektor: We are far beyond the point of no return.

Ashrah: Your ardor for Bi-Han is -- Sektor: I don't need a demon's advice.

Scorpion: You have influenced my brother -- Sektor: He is his own man, Kuai Liang.

And I honestly find it strange that there are those who think that Li Mei would remind Tomas of his biological mother when he calls Bi-Han's mother his mother too:

Smoke: If Mother were alive -- Sub-Zero: She would applaud my actions.

This intro…

Li Mei: I remind you of your mother? Smoke: No-nonsense and tough as nails, just like her.

describes a fighter, not a hunter. Which Li Mei is, just like Bi-Han's mother was:

Sindel: Both your parents were excellent fighters. Scorpion: I can only hope to live up to their example.

*Plus, Li Mei and Bi-Han's mother (in mk1) are Chinese (inspired appearance), I doubt that Smoke's biological mother was not Czech like him.

Smoke remembering his adoptive mother as a serious, firm,  straightforward, strong, extremely tough and determined woman. No-nonsense and tough as nails, like a warrior is supposed to be, makes sense to describe Bi-Han's mother in a few words. And Bi-Han being right about his mother…

Smoke: If Mother were alive -- Sub-Zero: She would applaud my actions.

This dialogue between Li Mei and Sektor kinda proves that Sek would have had her mother-in-law's blessing if she were still alive:

Li Mei: In another life, we might have been friends. Sektor: That is pointless speculation, Li Mei.

Liu Kang, his father and brother may disapprove of Sektor now, but his mother would love her (almost) as much as he does and that's all that matters to him.

[artsandculture]

The Birth of Venus (1483-1485) 🎨 Sandro Botticelli 🏛️ Uffizi Gallery 📍 Florence, Italy

The painting was commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’Medici, a cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The theme was probably suggested by the humanist Poliziano. It depicts Venus born from the sea foam, blown by the west wind, Zephyr, and the nymph, Chloris, towards one of the Horai, who prepares to dress her with a flowered mantle.

This universal icon of Western painting was probably painted around 1484 for the villa of Castello owned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de 'Medici. Giorgio Vasari saw the work there in the mid-sixteenth century – along with Botticelli’s other well-known Primavera – and described it precisely as "showing the Birth of Venus." The old idea that the two Botticelli masterpieces were created for the same occasion, in spite of their substantial technical and stylistic diversity, is no longer accepted. However, rather than a birth, what we see is the goddess landing on the shore of her homeland, the island of Cyprus, or on Kithera. The theme, which can be traced back to Homer and to Ovid’s Metamophoses, was also celebrated by the great humanist Agnolo Poliziano in the poetic verses of his Stanze. The Venus of the Uffizi is of the “Venus pudica” type, whose right breast is covered by her right hand and billowing long blond hair partially shrouds her body. The goddess stands upright on a shell as she is driven towards the shore by the breeze of Zephyrus, a wind god, who is holding the nymph, Chloris. On the right is the Hora of springtime, who waits to greet Venus ashore with a cloak covered in pink flowers.

The seascape, stunning for its metaphysical tone and almost unreal quality, is illuminated by a very soft, delicate light. Like Botticelli’s other masterpiece, Pallas and the Centaur, the Birth of Venus is painted on canvas - fairly unusual for its time - using a technique of thin tempera, based on the use of diluted egg yolk, which lends itself particularly well to give the painting that aspect of extraordinary transparency, which brings to mind the pictorial quality of a fresco. The figure recalls classical sculpture and is very similar to the famous Medici Venus found in the Uffizi, which the artist certainly knew. The real meaning of this dreamlike vision is still under scholarly debate and investigation but is undoubtedly linked with the Neo-Platonic philosophy, widely cultivated in the Medici court.

Like the Primavera, the Birth of Venus is also associated with the concept of Humanitas,or virtuous Humanity, a theory developed by Marsilio Ficino in a letter to the young Lorenzo. According to the interpretation by Ernst Gombrich, the work depicts the symbolic fusion of Spirit and Matter, the harmonious interaction of Idea and Nature. Nevertheless, the interpretations of this painting of extraordinary visual impact are numerous and diverse. The divine ethereal figure has been viewed as an allegorical representation of Humanitas upon her arrival to Florence, while the nymph holding out the cloak of flowers for the goddess may perhaps be identified as Flora, the same depicted in this masterpiece’s “twin”, the Primavera, where she may be seen instead as the personification of the city of Florence. From this work emerges clear evidence of Botticell’s strive to reach perfection of form that could rival with classical antiquity. It is for this reason that the humanist Ugolino Verino in his work Epigrammata, presented in 1485 to the King of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, likened the Florentine painter to the legendary Apelles of Ancient Greece.

[bakugosatoru]

Just gotta say that the comfort headcanons you did were SO SWEET OMG!!! I'd love to request a romantic fluff scenario with Eijiro Kirishima if you're up to it! Maybe he and y/n are having a picnic date at a park or, going off the scenario you did for Bakugo, he & y/n are going to adopt a puppy 👀

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you as well for being my first request, I love the idea of Kirishima and y/n adopting a puppy! I really hope you enjoy it! (Also worked to keep the reader gender neutral so everyone can enjoy!)

Warnings: None Genre: Romantic Fluff Fic Type: Short Fanfic (1k Words) Fandom: My Hero Academia

"Crimson?" Kirishima mumbled as you both strolled up to the entrance of the shelter.

"What was that babe?" You ask.

"Oh I was just thinking what we could name the pup." He smiled at you, that gorgeous beaming smile you adored so much, as he opened the door to the shelter for you.

"After you my dear" He bowed dramatically as you giggled, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the door after you.

You were quickly greeted by a lovely older woman who introduced herself as one of the owners of the shelter. She began to lead you both down a row of cages, holding various dogs and cats. Eijiro gripped your hand tightly as he beamed, watching you listen to the lady intently, as she explained all the info about the various dogs. Age, breed, temperament, things like that.

But Eijiro wasn't really listening, all he could do was focus on you, and just how beautiful you looked when you were excited.

You dropped your boyfriends hand momentarily (much to his disappointment) to reach out through the door of one of the enclosures and gently allow one of the dogs to sniff your hand, and petting it gently on the head before moving on to the next one.

As you continued to walk, you reached back to grab Eijiros hand once again but couldn't find it. Turning around you see your boyfriend reading one of the signs next to an enclosure intently.

"That's our oldest resident" The owner of the shelter smiles as she notices which pen Kirishima stopped in front of.

"Been in here for 3 years now" She added as you both walked back to join your boyfriend next to the enclosure. At first you thought the enclosure was empty, until you saw him, sitting, curled up on the tiny dog bed in the corner.

A frail and scared chihuahua.

You started to read the blurb on the side of the enclosure that your boyfriend was so engrossed in. It told the story of this little creature, who had been hit by a car a few years ago and surrendered to the shelter when the owners didn't care to pay the vet bills. You could feel your heart shatter in your chest as you looked at the tiny creature in front of you.

"Can we go say hi to it?" Eijiro asked the shelter employee, his voice softer than usual, as if he didn't want to stress out the poor pup anymore than it already was.

"Of course" She smiled, walking forward to open the door to the enclosure. "Not many folks are interested in our little Scarlet, most people dont come to shelters for older dogs so the poor thing gets overlooked" She spoke sadly as she allowed you both to enter the enclosure. "I'll give you a bit of time to get to know her, just come get me if you need anything" She smiled before walking back down the hall to the office.

Eijiro stepped foward slowly, before crouching down to sit himself on the floor next to the tiny pup.

"Hi Scarlet" Kirishima whispered gently as he reached his hand out, allowing the skittish dog to sniff, before ever so gently beginning to pat the dog on its small head.

"I thought you told me in the car you wanted a 'big, manly dog" You teased as you crouched down next to your boyfriend and the tiny dog, joining them both on the floor.

Kirishima gently scooped Scarlet up and held her tiny body ever so gently in his arms against his muscular frame.

"I don't know, I think surviving a car accident and being all alone for 3 years, and still allowing a stranger to pet you is pretty damn manly if you ask me" He smiled down at the tiny dog, his eyes full of nothing by love and admiration.

God you love this man, no other man could be so strong, so kind and yet so gentle all at the same time, towards every living creature.

"Plus, with a name like Scarlet, I suppose its just meant to be" You smiled, snuggling up next to your boyfriend and reaching out to slowly stroke the small dog in his arms. The dog seemed visibly more calm than when you had first seen him and you felt yourself fall in love with the poor creature every second you spent with it.

"I think this is the one honey" He murmured to you, not taking his eyes off the pup.

"Yea, me too" You smile.

So just like that, you signed the paperwork and walked out of the shelter. You had expected to be leaving with a large Terrier or Retriever or maybe even German Sheppard in tow, but instead you cradled a sleeping Chihuahua in your arms as you headed home, your family having grown by one tiny creature.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus

You knocked on your boyfriends office door softly.

"Come on in love" You heard his chair wheel away from his desk as he called out to you happily.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" You asked as you walked into the office, stacked high with Crimson Riot memorabilia and workout equipment. In your arms you cradled Scarlet, you knew how much Kiri loved to see her when he was working.

"Interrupting? My favorite person in the world, bringing me my favorite animal in the world could never be interrupting" He smiled as he planted a kiss on Scarlets fluffy forehead, before pulling you into his lap and kissing you softly.

"Now what could I help you with baby?" He asked, resting his chin on your shoulder as he held tightly to your waist.

"Just wanted to show you something" You giggled as you pulled up an article you had just seen on a hero gossip magazine.

"Look at this" You clicked on an article, a large photo of Kirishima out walking Scarlet that must have been taken by paparazzi recently splashed across the screen with the headline:

'Red Riot bring home Tiny New Sidekick'

Authors note: This is my first time ever writing for a request but I had so much fun writing it and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it anon!

[seagull-astrology]

#J07 J. Donald Adams, NY Times book reviewer

died of heart failure at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Hospital. A full obituary is available is here 76966967Download

[srbachchan]

DAY 5799

Jalsa, Mumbai Jan 2/3, 2024 Tue/Wed 6:28 AM

🪔 ,

January 03 .. birthday wishes to our Ef and greetings to all ..

Ef Himanshu Srivastava .. Ef Nandkeshor Dattatreya Paatil .. Ef Omnia from Egypt 🇪🇬 .. Ef Anuradha Raheja from Madurai .. and Ef Megha VJ from USA 🇺🇲 ..

.. ✨

🌹

Babuji .. a prominent member of the Freedom Fighters for Independent India .. and how his modest home was opened for secret meetings and a place to hide, for the freedom fighters ..

In one of his conversations with me he did describe how the great freedom fighter Chandrashekhar 'Azaad' had sought refuge at his home and remained rolled up in a 'bistar band' .. बिस्तर बंद .. the 'HoldAll' of my times, a canvas type rolled packaging with straps to tie it up, inside which was laid a mattress, pillows, your shoes and other essentials for travel .. all then rolled up and tied in leather straps, which then became an essential baggage element during travel .. it would and was opened up by releasing the straps, unrolling it and viola, a ready made bed - mattress pillows and all .. open it up on the bed or floor or a train berth .. most convenient and the most important baggage material for travel .. well on train and cars and bus travels .. until the airplane arrived as the more, now common mode of travel ..

So 'Azad' remained rolled up in the 'holdall' - a most convenient and descriptive word coined for this kind of baggage essential - and secretly spent a night there at Babuji's home .. rolled up in a holdall !!

The dedication and will of the freedom fighter ! Incredible !!

Chandrashekhar 'Azad' later took on the British forces, a large contingent, in the famous Allahabad park, then known as Alfred Park, alone, hiding behind a tree, firing bullets from his pistol , until when his ammunition was exhausted and when he felt he would be caught, he ended his life behind that tree, by shooting his last bullet .. at himself .. not wanting to give himself up to the British ..

The park has now been renamed in his honour .. The Chandrashekhar Azad Park ..

I spent a large amount of time at this park, for picnics etc., and this was where the popular Allahabad Flower Show used to be held, where I went with Ma .. she won several cups for Best Garden, and Best Flower, the rose, competition !

I remember seeing that famous tree, behind which Azad took shelter and fought the British contingent ..

The park was a large expanse of green and flowers and trees right almost in the centre of the city .. a canopied structure in the middle of the park, was inhabited by a Band, every Sunday, playing old tunes of the time ..

The park also had a most well kept grass tennis court, where I saw some great International players during their tournament, organised by the Allahabad Civic authorities .. I cannot remember their names .. was too young for that .. but they were from Britain, and some European countries , I think ..

They were invited for a tea reception at Justice Mootham's residence, the then Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court ..

If my memory does not fail me .. Justice Mootham ! yes that name is correct in memory ..

7 :00 AM

a bit misleading the time , for I have been up since 4 .. loitering about in my room, nursing a muscle pulled back in spasm, unable to sleep or rest .. so a selective spray, that boasts of 'pain relief' within minutes - they all do - was generously applied and ..

And ..

Well, the discomfort remains .. ahahaha ..

🤣🤣🤣

The greetings of the New Year, the greetings for the Birthday have all been overwhelmingly large, and this has provided an enormous amount of space occupation on the mobile .. which as I try to address, is becoming a most arduous task ..

SO ..

may I just acknowledge all that have sent their wishes and greetings here and express my inadequacy in making personal responses ..

PLEASE ..

my gratitude then and my love for this ..

❤️

Laziness persists .. and that induces a temperament , which is difficult to describe ..

The absence of routine may sound odd, but routine puts and gathers the body in a way that keeps it going .. else , one never has a solution as to what can be done to occupy time .. and several essentials loose their essentiality !

Making sense ..

No ..

Well then too bad ! 🥹

Was going to suggest, you get lazy to experience and endorse my words, but that would be so ethically incorrect ..

Hence its a wish for the effervescent day ahead .. and my love 😍

Amitabh Bachchan

PS : I was right .. 👇🏽

Orby Howell Mootham

Sir Orby Howell Mootham (17 February 1901 – 19 July 1995) was a British lawyer, legal writer, and judge who was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 1955 to 1961, the third-last British judge to serve in India.

[shantechni]

The reason I think of 2012 Donnie as being the third oldest isn't entirely because of how Raph messes with him, or his strong middle child energy that repeatedly makes itself known, or how Leo and Raph are more invested in their training than him and Mikey, or how he interacts with Mikey in a way that he doesn't with the others.

It's because of how easily he's swayed and influenced by his brothers.

Donnie is often seen as the type to ruminate extensively over what would be the right thing to do and how to do something the right way, a habit that Leo is well known for exhibiting as well. This is best exampled by when he got on Mikey's case for not properly defending against seoi nage. Even though Mikey's manner of fighting and defending are effective, it's not satisfactory to Donnie because it wasn't the proper way of doing things.

And, on Leo's end, we see it best exampled by him wanting his brothers to do things 'the right way' instead of 'their way'. It's something the two occasionally have to be reminded not to do, both to others and themselves, but getting things done in a manner that's expected of them is something they take pride in. It ties in with Donnie's ceaseless desire to be accurate about things, not because he necessarily needs to, but because he likes to be accurate and it's important to him on a personal level.

This goes hand in hand with Donnie exuding a strong sense of responsibility that not even Raph displays too often unless Leo is out of commission. We see this a lot in how he usually sticks by Leo when patrolling or surveying a situation, where as Raph and Mikey tend to hang back and fool around while counting the minutes.

Beyond that though, Donnie held Splinter's words in high regard when he told him Timothy was his responsibility, and he sided with Leo about bringing the mutated squirrels to the lair, the complete opposite of Raph and Mikey who were vehemently opposed to the idea. He worked ceaselessly to create retromutagen for Kirby and Karai, and he ran himself ragged working to find a cure for the Shredder's brain worms. There was no guarantee that he would've ever figured these out, especially after many failed attempts (and he never could create a cure for the worms), but he stuck to the tasks he assigned himself because he felt a strong responsibility to aid those he cares for and wanted to keep his word.

Just like Leo.

Of course he gets quite a bit of that from Raph as well, but it's as clear as a window recently lathered with windex that Raph had a much bigger influence on Donnie's temperament. He easily gets agitated under stress, or no stress whatsoever as we saw when he blew up over something as small as Mikey spilling popcorn on him, and he complains quite a lot or is quick to snap when things aren't going his way (yet another thing Raph does).

More than the tendency to dish out sarcastic comments and insults like it's Halloween, they're also the only ones to doubt Leo's leadership and they don't hold back one bit. Raph may be the most vocal, but Donnie exhibited leader tendencies long before the S2 finale and, like Raph, isn't fond of being told what to do if it doesn't align for him. The internal conflict in Follow the Leader was heavily instigated by Raph not wanting to fight like Leo, with Donnie all too easily falling into step with him and convincing Mikey to follow suit for a brief stint. It's moments like these that puts Donnie's desire to do things the right way on the back burner and brings forth his desire to do things his right way.

The biggest thing, or person, that made Donnie go back and forth between Leo and Raph though, was Karai.

When Donnie is first introduced to her, he immediately dislikes her for her carefree nature that puts those around her in a dangerous situation, as well as her lack of regard for anyone other than herself. And then, when Leo reveals that she's in the Foot, he has all the more reason to dislike and distrust her, something that everyone agrees on to albeit varying degrees.

Funnily enough though, when Karai tries to form an alliance with the turtles to fight the Kraang, Donnie, despite him preaching about her not being trustworthy minutes prior, sides with Mikey when Leo looks to them for an answer while Raph still remains suspicious of the situation.

Then, when Karai approaches them and claims to believe Splinter is her father, Donnie sides with Leo, despite his previous misgivings about her in The Manhattan Project Part 1. Him and Raph were the most outspoken about her upbringing and current place in their lives as a villain as they grappled with the fact that she's Splinter's daughter. But this time, he wholeheartedly believed her and trusted her to some extent, and he's as shocked as Leo and Mikey when she confesses to them. Her moment of betrayal was just enough for Donnie to go back to Raph's side and question Leo's desire to find and rescue her. The two don't want to bother with her anymore, but they still follow their leader when it's clear that Leo isn't changing his mind.

Even though I just chronicled Donnie flip flopping between Leo and Raph, I did also mention him siding with Mikey on one instance, and their long story with Karai wasn't the only one. When they get pulled into an alternate dimension reminiscent of feudal Japan with an anthropomorphic rabbit as their only guide, they have to rely on Usagi while aiding him on his journey with Kintaro, but Leo gets fed up with his leadership being undermined (as well as being thrust into trouble they didn't ask for) and orders his brothers to follow him while they find a way out of this dimension. Mikey is the first to speak up about how dangerous (and idiotic really) Leo's idea sounds since they're in unfamiliar land, and Donnie immediately says Mikey's right, showing that he also wasn't keen on traversing with no clear destination in sight. They were better off trusting Usagi.

Knowing when to trust someone isn't the only way Mikey influenced Donnie, as he also directly and indirectly encourages Donnie to think outside the box whenever he's struggling to figure something out. Of course there's the obvious one of learning how to fight without thinking, but there's also Mikey's habit of using unconventional means to reach an intended result, as well as him easily pointing out the obvious without the intricacies and convoluted mess of a situation distracting him from it.

What is arguably the most interesting influence Mikey had on Donnie was learning to give someone a second chance when they've wronged you the first time.

Mikey put this on display when Slash returned during S3 in the fight against the Kraang. Though things seemed fairly neutral towards the end of Newtralized!, Leo is immediately wary of and angry with Slash appearing before them after their last two run-ins with him, something Slash expresses guilt over and apologizes for. Leo is still antagonistic and distrusting towards him when the Mutanimals make it clear they're on the good side, but Mikey comes forth and tells his brother that everyone deserves a second chance to prove themselves, and this is Slash's second chance. Leo doesn't want to ally himself with Slash, but Mikey's insistence is enough for him to put aside their differences and prioritize Earth.

And Donnie does the same for the Fugitoid. When it's revealed that the black hole generator was his creation, the Fugitoid emphasizes as much as he can that he regrets creating the device and handing it over to beings who only wanted to abuse its power, but Leo is again the main one to doubt him, with Raph seconding him. Donnie leaps in to put out the fire, preaching exactly what Mikey stated a season ago about giving someone a second chance, and April and Mikey jump in to back the Fugitoid up. Leo is unfortunately too stubborn to heed their words, though he doesn't attempt to force anyone on his side either. Donnie had absolutely no reason to try and convince Leo other than the fact that the Fugitoid has been helping them this whole time, and was honest with them about his previous mistakes.

He didn't have to tell them the truth, but he did, and that was all Donnie needed to believe they weren't being used by the Fugitoid.

There are likely other instances of the guys pulling Donnie in a direction different from the one he'd typically choose, and Donnie occasionally exhibits similar behaviors to Mikey when the youngest turtle is convinced to say or do something he otherwise wouldn't. But, for me personally, all of this supports the idea of Donnie being the third oldest and a middle child.

[agent-darkfest]

Hum.. hello! I wanted to know what was the difference between Djinn and Jinnis ? Or it’s the same thing ? I can’t understand that part

And why Moon hates Sun ? I saw that they know each other since childhood but now moon talks about revenge.. did sun do something ? What did he do?

And also how did moon and sun (and their tribe) became Djinn/Jinnis? Is this perhaps why moon is mad at sun?

I dying to know 😫😫

AAHHH! THANK YOU! I'm glad you are enjoying the AU!

Ok, so let's see how I can answer these without being too spoilery~

1- Difference between Jinn/Jinni/Djinn: So the Jinn is the name of the race that Sun and Moon belong to. They are nomadic tribes with magical abilities and the ability to manipulate the natural world around them. Due to their mobile nature, their population never exceeded that of the humans. A Jinni is a Jinn that has been captured and imprisoned in a magical artifact and forced to grant the wishes of their master. They are bound by certain ordained rules that cannot be broken. A Djinn is another type of Jinni bound by a different set of ordained rules, and they are not just given to anyone to be their masters. Jinn also need to have a certain "temperament" to be considered for the position of Djinn.

2- Moon's anger towards Sun: Sun and Moon knew each other since they were very, very young and developed a bond. However, this was around the time when their tribe started to voice their difference in philosophies (mostly on humans), which eventually led to the tribe splitting. Sun and Moon were separated for several years until they were reunited back at one of the main temples to prepare for their roles into adulthood (think of it like going to college). Although they were both very happy to see each other again, they realized that their views had drastically shifted from their youth and each other. This became a point of many arguments between the two. Sun wanted to study the ways of the humans and learn from them, while Moon wanted to stay away from humans and keep to traditions. (Now, this is where I'm going to be very vague for the sake of not spoiling the story). Eventually, the Jinn do bridge a connection with the humans (although shaky) and begin to exchange information. Most of the humans are on edge because of the incredible power the Jinn hold. So, as a sign of good faith, the Jinn give the humans a way to defend themselves against the Jinn. A bunch of tense events unfold, things happen, there is panic and pandemonium everywhere, and eventually, the Jinn get imprisoned. All this to say that one way or another Sun and Moon were in the middle of it all and Moon blames Sun.

I would love to go into more detail, but I kinda have to stop there for spoilers. I hope this answers your question. Thank you for your ask! ^_^

[noemilivv]

Hello :) I saw you were doing Hazbin Hotel matchups and honestly I would be very excited to see who you would assign to me (no pressure ofc!!!) so I hope this request is finding you at a good time ^^

ABOUT ME: Feel free to just call me Zo! I’m AFAB and I use she/her as my pronouns. While not officially diagnosed due to growing up in a household who treated it as taboo something that I couldn’t “catch” I definitely fall under the umbrella of neurodivergence. From past research I’ve found ADHD symptoms relate to most of my experiences.

SEXUALITY/ROMANTIC TYPE: To be frank, I’ve always internally struggled when it came to my sexual and romantic identity. Found myself craving some sort of connection that traversed the likes of just platonic bonds but the couple times when someone showed interest in me I’d clam up and push them away. The couple crushes I did have always happened to develop after I had built rapport with them, after we had grew close. So for the sake of labels and for this matchup I’d definitely like to say I’m demiromantic? In terms of sexuality all I got for you is that I’m not repulsed by it??? All I know for sure is if I like them, we’d have to have been friends or at least know each other. (In terms of gender I’m fine with either or! I’m just curious to see who fits the box el oh el ^^)

PERSONALITY: Oh boy. Ok so to start off with I’m an INTP 5w4😼…. My hog warts house is Slytherin. My temperament is Melancholic (my sub temperament is tied up between Melancholic sanguine and melancholic phlegmatic). I definitely fall under the umbrella of shyness, however I’ve also noticed that depending on my company I tend to emulate the majority of the vibe. A half hearted defense mechanism in order to fit in is what I assume it be. I’m told I’m a very emotionally intelligent person, and my friends prefer to talk to me about issues and problems due to the fact that while I can comfort I can also hold them accountable and give them solid advice. They also make jokes on how I should’ve been a psychologist if I wasn’t actively getting a degree in early education. I’m terrible when it comes to changing topics which just makes it me all the more unintentionally hilarious. I’m always more funny when I’m not actively trying to be, I just have this unknown charisma that activates when i don’t try hard being funny </3. I struggle when it comes to maintaining my relationships and also most of my responsibilities, maybe it’s a numbness for my own priorities but it’s so easy to help other people in their own slumps, that when I’m forced to face my own issues and problems I can’t help but make myself numb to it and push it on the back burner. Not for lack of care, but more of seemingly frozen in place, it’s all so terrifyingly overwhelming that I just don’t even acknowledge it. Scarily good at doing that while also avoiding spieling my own feelings on personal matters that my friends always believe I have my all together. So ironically enough while I’m good at helping my friends communicate I’m terrible when it comes to communicating about myself (yippee⁉️ #imworkingonitiswear ) more or less I’m laid back, However I did used to be more of a doormat, luckily I don’t bend backwards for every little thing that breathes now LMAO. I do have a bit of a competitive streak when it comes to games (cough uno cough) and I definitely have a penchant of using my mind and other mediums as a form of escapism. Which can be ok, but sometimes I overdo it.

LOOKS: Medium length dark brown hair, round hazel eyes. I have a round face, and here in the future I want to get wispy bangs to compliment my face shape :D. Pale but not too pale skin, I have the pear shape body type, in the sense that my hips are wide, and I have somewhat big thighs but other wise I’m relatively flat. I do have a bit of chub when it comes to my midsection. Oh! I’m like 5’5 (maybe a little taller????)

LIKES: My cats Basil and Mugwort (literally my sons). I prefer more morose weather like rain. I quite like fall compared to the other seasons. I used to draw a lot but now I don’t as much, still a joyful hobby nonetheless. Recently bought a couple new books and am getting back into the grove of loving reading once more. I will absolutely demolish croutons of any kind. Currently really into mlp, it’s those TikTok infection slideshows I swear (I redownloaded the game….) I like to ramble about my interests like animation and its evolution, cats (the breeds, the care, the everything), and much much more.

DISLIKES: I hate beans. The taste. The texture. If I see beans in food it’s an immediate ick. I will gag. Overstimulating events, like I can bear with it and grow accustomed to it, but that’s doesn’t mean I’ll like it every single time. I hate being/feeling like a burden. Oh and not really a dislike and more of an annoyance(?) the fact that ritz cheese and cracker packs don’t come with the little red plastic spatula to spread your cheese anymore. I assume because it could prove to be a choking hazard, but still I’m just like 😞

LOVE LANGUAGES: Had to really scroll through my gallery because I did take an online test before!! Physical Touch was my highest (ie im extremely touch starved but am too awkward to initiate </3) Something in me just yearns for some kind of comforting touch, but I always tend to swallow it back and push it away for fear of rejection. After that focus, intellect, acts, and words of affirmation were literally all tied not even 5% behind phys touch. I’m just a kind of mentally paralyzed overthinking insecure(ish) gal, my bad bro 😎 But on a real note the confirmation that I’m being seen and heard will make me melt.

Alright!!! Hopefully my yapping was coherent and not a chore to read through!! I think it’s really cool you’re doing this and I’m mainly curious to see who it is you’d pair with me! Because I have a favorite character in mind who’d jump with joy to see, but that’s just because of bias 😭😭

And if it’s not too much of a bother is it alright to ask not to pair me with angel dust? It’s mainly personal preference so hopefully it’s not too much of a bother :))🫶🫶🫶

hey zo! this was quite the adventure to read through haha, after some deciding, I decided to go with…

Alastor !!

I can see you and Alastor meshing well together due to your craving of a platonic bond (you both may or not have a QPR? idk)

Alastor takes deep appreciation for not only your charisma and wit, but also your ability to read the room and match everyone’s energy, it’s helpful in certain situations with him

He isn’t the most touchy feely person you’ll meet in Hell, but he does make an effort, you’ll both usually have your arms loops while holding hands, or he’ll let you lay your head in his lap while he reads and he’ll rub your scalp

But Alastor isn’t afraid to tell you how it is, he makes sure you know your worth, and that he sees you all too clearly

[nutty1005]

Actor of the Year, Xiao Zhan: Interpret Every Role Carefully

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/P–3yUvcmaUjWlTi3mnC8w This article is published by Blogger World 博客天下 Weixin. This is also part of the article published in Blogger World 《博客天下》 2024 1st Issue.

This year, Xiao Zhan switched roles between era dramas, fantasy dramas, and workplace dramas, delicately handling the complexity of the characters, creating a layered sense of these characters, and allowing the audience to see more of him as an actor. He never set limits on his performances, his standard for judging characters is to make him fall in love with them. He relied on emotional resonance, observation and feeling, understanding them and becoming them, which made his work real and vivid. For a long time, he had always adhered to his original intention as an actor, hoping that he could give back to the audience with more and better works, and deliver more positive energy through his own actions.

In 2023, people saw more sides to actor Xiao Zhan.

In “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, he was Xiao Chunsheng, a youth from Beijing. He was sincere and brave, firm and kind, and he pursued his dreams steadfastly despite the ups and downs of fate. The 30-year time span in the drama made many viewers realize that Xiao Zhan, who had a strong youthful temperament, was also able to interpret middle adulthood characters with ease.

In “The Longest Promise”, he was the cold and aloof Grand Priest Shi Ying, the top magic user of Yunhuang, but he also had a complicated and heavy past, he had experienced the entanglements of love and hate in the world, had experienced strong greed, anger, obsession and resentment, and eventually cultivated a heart of justice. Through Shi Ying, the audience once again felt Xiao Zhan’s interpretation of the complexity and layering of characters.

In “Sunshine By My Side”, he was Sheng Yang, a newcomer who has just entered the workplace. He was sunny and cheerful, and had a firm love for the advertising industry. Even if he was suppressed by his supervisors, he would grit his teeth and fight on. Xiao Zhan delicately integrated the idealistic enthusiasm and the roughness tempered by life, the result was three-dimensional and moving.

This year, Xiao Zhan had been constantly switching roles between period dramas, fantasy dramas, and workplace dramas, and had been active in the public eye. Watching the different lives he performed on the screen, the audience began to realize that Xiao Zhan, who had been in the industry for 8 years, had unknowingly become a mature actor capable of various types of roles.

Looking back on 2023, Xiao Zhan believed that this was a fulfilling and rewarding year. His goal had always been to let everyone see his progress and changes through each work, so that his performance could be recognized by the audience.

Following the light of his ideal, his steps never stopped moving forward.

01 Becoming Them

On the road to acting, Xiao Zhan had always been trying to find more possibilities.

When he met Xiao Chunsheng, he was at the stage where he wanted to challenge more new roles. After getting the script of “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, he was quickly attracted to this drama, which was rooted in the 1970s, and moved by the grand story with a time span of 30 years..

On the one hand, Xiao Chunsheng’s sincerity, passion, and friendship deeply attracted him; on the other hand, Xiao Zhan also grew up in the factory area when he was a child, the life and neighborly feelings Xiao Chunsheng experienced had a strong sense of familiarity to Xiao Zhan, which made him resonate to a great extent with Xiao Chunsheng’s choices in family, love, and career.

But aside to resonance, there were also practical problems facing Xiao Zhan: he grew up in Chongqing, whereas Xiao Chunsheng was an authentic Beijinger. How could he grasp the essence of Beijing dialect and capture Xiao Chunsheng’s spiritual temperament? For this reason, Xiao Zhan hired a line teacher before joining the group and spent a long time learning Beijing dialect. In his free time, he would go to Beijing’s alleys with his script teacher and watch the Beijing elders playing chess, cards, and walking birds. These vivid scenes of life allowed Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chunsheng to become more and more familiar, and he could already fully imagine the traces of Xiao Chunsheng’s life here.

The first scene to be filmed was the scene at the Shichahai Ice Rink. At that time, the crew used straw mats to circle an area of ​​more than 10,000 square meters on the Shichahai Sea, restoring the scene of the old Shichahai Ice Rink 50 years ago. At the moment Xiao Zhan stood on the ice rink, he did not have any extra thoughts, he just felt “I am him.”

In Xiao Zhan’s career as an actor, there were many moments of “becoming him”, which were not realized only through emotional resonance. Before performing a role, he would repeatedly search for the character’s supporting points. At those times, he was like a container, putting the character’s personality traits, living habits, and values ​​into his body bit by bit, and then working out the most suitable and fitting shape.

To a certain extent, Xiao Zhan was the person who understood them best, and hence he could become them.

When filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan already had a deep understanding of Shi Ying, although he had appeared in works of a similar style before, in his opinion: “The role of Shi Ying feels new to me is that he is a mortal human being, he had human emotions and desires, which are very vivid.” At the same time, “This character has a sense of contrast, he is restrained yet sharp, cold yet empathetic, his character traits are not singular, these gave me a better fulcrum to understand and interpret the character.”

For Xiao Zhan, among all the characteristics of Shi Ying, “coldness” was the most difficult to interpret. He did not attribute Shi Ying’s aloofness to his identity as a Grand Priest, but tried to find resonance points in Shi Ying that would convince him and the audience. With this idea in mind, he chatted with the director and screenwriter on the set to explore Shi Ying’s growth environment and life attitude, and finally presented Shi Ying’s complex and highly contrasting side.

Sometimes, Xiao Zhan would encounter a character he liked, but was not sure whether he could create him with flesh and blood. For example, when he came into contact with Sheng Yang in “Sunshine By My Side”, Xiao Zhan was quickly impressed by this energetic, “wise but not worldly” newcomer to the workplace. However, he hesitated at the time and did not know if he could still be that innocent and lively Sheng Yang, who was like a little sun. For this, he held three script meetings with the screenwriter, and everyone came together to sort out and adjust the character, and a clear and complete Sheng Yang started to appear in Xiao Zhan’s mind finally.

When it came to roles, Xiao Zhan had no fixed restrictions or a certain preferred type. He only had one criterion: this character must be someone he could fall in love with. Because of this love, mutual trust was established and the work became real and vivid.

02 Living Character

During those days on the set, Xiao Zhan’s background colors would fade away and be replaced by a new personality. Sometimes he was more lively and outspoken than Xiao Zhan, and sometimes he had a heavier past than Xiao Zhan.

These differences could not be filled with a few lines, and it would not film strictly with all the lines as planned while on set, Xiao Zhan frequently needed to react on the spot. For example, when filming “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, there were many group scenes, there were many scenes just counting dinner table scenes. In the “Menghai Squad”, Xiao Chunsheng was their eloquent leader, so before filming a group scene, the director would always say “Chunsheng, come and say a few words” to liven up the atmosphere on the scene.

In the days when he became Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan had adapted to such strong social needs, and he often made impromptu toasts. Even after filming completed, these characteristics will slowly fade away, but in this time and space, they had completely overlapped before.

In every drama, Xiao Zhan woud design some details of the character. When filming “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, because the character Xiao Chunsheng had to go through a time span of more than 30 years, Xiao Zhan deliberately made some explicit distinctions in each age group. For example, in his youth, Xiao Chunsheng would often have a “careless” attitude when speaking, with his head tilted to one side, which looked cocky, and his body movements were lighter. In middle adulthood, not only did his hairstyle and clothes change, but his tone also began to become calmer, and his feet would completely land on ground when walking, forming a clear distinction from the unrestrained youth in the previous stage.

Xiao Zhan would write a biography for every character he played. Before filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan discovered that there were a few years where Shi Ying’s experience leaving imperial city and entering Jiuyi Mountain was blank, he relied on his own imagination to fill in the life of Shi Ying in those few years, imagining how he grew from a prince to a minor priest, which made the character of Shi Ying’s foundation deeper.

During the filming process, Xiao Zhan would also actively communicate with the director based on the logic of the characters. Because of Shi Ying’s “upright” image, Xiao Zhan rarely sat on the set. He would always stand against the wall or a tree trunk to make himself look more upright. But at the same time, after feeling Shi Ying’s inner softness more and more strongly, Xiao Zhan would take the initiative to discuss with the director whether he could break Shi Ying’s “upright” side in some scenes and show his slightly evil inner self, slightly prideful self, to make this character more vivid.

He once mentioned in an interview a scene in “The Longest Promise” before Shi Ying’s death: “In the original script, Shi Ying comforted Zhu Yan and told her not to be sad. I don’t think this is should be the state of someone truly in love with each other, the state of a someone who truly in love with each other should be: I want you to feel sad for me, when I am dying, I will be very happy when I can see you feeling sad for me from the bottom of your heart.” It can be seen that he had a deep understanding of the character’s inner emotional logic.

When performing, Xiao Zhan would also add his own observations and feelings about life to his interpretation of the character. Song Xiaofei, the director of “Sunshine By My Side”, once expressed that Xiao Zhan made many detailed considerations for the character. For example, at first, people would think that Sheng Yang had too few clothes, but Xiao Zhan believed that a designer who had just started working, with a monthly salary of several thousand yuan, it would be unrealistic if every time he went out like he was attending a fashion exhibition, changing his clothes constantly. “We need to bring him back to the real world and make him feel like a new person in the workplace, his clothes are also designed to be relatively simple.” In and out of the drama, on and off the stage, Xiao Zhan never regarded his characters as pure artistic images, in his eyes, they were all living people. With this understanding, he could be natural when performing and make the audience feel the sincerity in the performance.

03 Unchanging Original Intentions

In 2020, “Blogger World” had a conversation with Xiao Zhan, and when asked about his future career plans, he replied: “I still hope to deepen my career and try more diverse roles and dramas with different themes.” 3 years later, Xiao Zhan’s goals had not changed, but he had higher expectations for himself: “Besides hoping to be recognized by the audience, I also hope that my works and roles can bring more power to the audience.”

Xiao Zhan himself had drawn a lot of strength from the characters he has played, for example, he said: “Xiao Chunsheng is a very lively and infectious character, I am often moved by him. He perseveres and has always stuck to his the bottom line in heart, he will not be easily affected by the people around him or the surrounding environment, and he has the drive to face difficulties head on, and frequently say that ‘a difficult road is an uphill road’.”

This character was actually more extroverted than Xiao Zhan himself. “He is very responsible, always taking care of the friends around him as much as possible, and loves to help everyone solve their problems, his pure and innocent heart also affects me imperceptibly.”

Therefore, during the filming process, Xiao Zhan always maintained a high sense of faith to deeply understand the situations Xiao Chunsheng encountered at different stages, every stage had its slight differences, including military service, retirement, employment, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, relatives and friends around him would slowly come closer or become separated. When performing, Xiao Zhan would put himself into the situation and think about “with Chunsheng’s unyielding spirit, what he would think and do when faced with these situations.”

Sometimes he felt that he was the same as Xiao Chunsheng, whatever he wants, he would strive for it through hard work. As a result, the characters and actors actually formed some kind of interaction, influencing each other, and ultimately moving the audience.

When filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan felt from Shi Ying’s life attitude that “man could conquer nature and everything depends on his actions”, and destiny was not fixed but could be shaped by oneself through hard work. “He will firmly do what he thinks is right, and in the end he will also succeded in dedicating everything he has to the righteousness and the country,” Xiao Zhan said.

When filming “Sunshine By My Side”, he felt the warmth and rich emotional world in Sheng Yang. In Sheng Yang, there were common workplace dilemmas faced by young people, there were some impulsions when handling with the relationship with his boss, but Xiao Zhan could feel that Sheng Yang must have a pair of parents who loved him very much, his family background might be ordinary, but the emotional condition must be filled.

Every character had a shining point, and as an actor, Xiao Zhan also wanted this light to illuminate more people.

In the past few years, Xiao Zhan had been busy at work and spent most of the year in the drama group. Every time after filming had completed, he would try his best to give himself a vacation and try to return to his daily life, sleeping, working out, and detaching himself from the character. But it would not take too long, “it’s enough to relax for a while, it also takes a while to welcome a new character. You need to read through and become familiar with the script, and sort out the relationships between the characters.” Xiao Zhan told “Blogger World”.

He is a person who listens to outside voices. When talking about the requirements he had for himself at work, Xiao Zhan said: “What I can do is to better fully understand and experience the character, and communicate more with directors, scriptwriters, and the collaborating senior actors, and at the same time, I will also listen to the audience’s well-intentioned and helpful suggestions on performances to improve my shortcomings.”

Xiao Zhan had never deliberately maintained a certain state or image at a certain stage. As an actor, he hoped to prevent the audience from having a fixed concept of his performance or characters. “It would be best if each work could bring a new image that brightens the audiences’ eyes, making everyone forget how Xiao Zhan was like originally,” he said.

“Be down-to-earth, interpret every role carefully, and do my job well.” Driven by this simple original intention, actor Xiao Zhan is walking steadily on his own path.

Conversation of the Year

“Blogger World”: In 2023, you have 3 dramas starring you aired, which have achieved very good results. If you sum up this year, what is your evaluation of yourself, or what do you want to say to yourself?

Xiao Zhan: Fulfilling and rewarding. I hope that I can continue to work hard and give back to the audience with more and better works in the future, and also deliver more positive energy through my own actions.

“Blogger World”: In the era emotional drama “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, you play the role of Xiao Chunsheng, a tenacious and upright young man who bravely pursues his dreams. What impact does this character’s character and story have on you? What did you gain from the process of creating this character?

Xiao Zhan: Xiao Chunsheng is a very lively and infectious character, I am often moved by him. He is tenacious and always sticks to the bottom line in his heart, and will not be easily affected by the people around him or the surrounding environment. At the same time, he has the drive to face difficulties. He often says, “A difficult road is an uphill road.”

This character is actually much more extroverted than I am. He also acts as the “leader” among his friends, he is very responsible and always tries his best to take care of the friends around him and help everyone solve problems, his pure and innocent heart also affects me imperceptibly.

“Blogger World”: As an era drama, involving decades of time changes, how do you grasp the characteristics of the characters at each stage? For you, what is the most important element in a person’s growth process, and what needs to be held on to?

Xiao Zhan: I think the first thing is to believe and allow me to put myself in Xiao Chunsheng’s shoes and experience the situations he encountered at different stages. Actually, there are subtle differences in the stages of military service, retirement, employment, entrepreneurship, etc., including the close ones and friends around him, who will also slowly get closer or become separated, so when performing, I need to think about the scenes before and after, and put them into the situation: with Chunsheng’s unyielding spirit, what he would think and do when faced with these situations.

I think for me, it means sticking to what I believe in and doing what I think is right.

“Blogger World”: This time you starred in the fantasy drama “The Longest Promise” and returned to the field of ancient dramas. Do you have any new feelings and surprises?

Xiao Zhan: The new feeling for me about the role of Shi Ying feels new to me is that he is a mortal human being, he had human emotions and desires, which are very vivid. At the same time, The surprising thing is that this character has a sense of contrast, he is restrained yet sharp, cold yet empathetic, his character traits are not singular, these gave me a better fulcrum to understand and interpret the character.

“Blogger World”: Shiying in the play is a lonely and cold person, but his destiny has experienced great twists and turns. What do you think the character’s attitude towards life is?

Xiao Zhan: Shi Ying’s attitude towards life is that man could conquer nature and everything depends on his actions. Therefore he will firmly do what he thinks is right, and in the end he will also succeded in dedicating everything he has to the righteousness and the country.

“Blogger World”: In the urban drama “Sunshine By My Side”, you play the role of designer Sheng Yang. The character has a sunny side of a young man, but at the same time he is very mature inside. Is this the image you want to maintain?

Xiao Zhan: As far as I am concerned, I do not deliberately maintain a certain state or image at a certain stage. In my understanding, Sheng Yang is a person who is wise but not worldly, he has the energy of a young man but is not childish at heart.

As an actor, I hope that everyone will not have a fixed concept of my performance or role. It is best that every work can bring a new image to the audience, making everyone forget who the original Xiao Zhan should look like. (Laughs)

“Blogger World”: Do you imagine what your life would be like now if you had not entered the entertainment industry?

Xiao Zhan: Actually, I have never thought about that, perhaps I might still be in the design industry, I would commute to and from work every day, and might have to work overtime frequently. Or open a bakery, paint when I have nothing to do, or go traveling with family and friends.

“Blogger World”: In recent years, you have participated in a variety of works and diverse characters. What method do you usually use to detach yourself from the emotions of the previous character and adapt to the next one?

Xiao Zhan: Maybe I will just give myself some time off, return to my daily life, sleep, exercise, and relax for a while, that’s about it. It also takes a while to welcome a new role, to read through and become familiar with the script, and to sort out the relationships between the characters.

“Blogger World”: Regarding the profession of actor, do you have any new insights now compared to when you first debuted? Is there any change in mentality?

Xiao Zhan: My idea was relatively simple then, I just wanted to act well and try different roles. My thoughts have not actually changed now, but I will have higher expectations on myself, besides hoping to be recognized by the audience, I also hope to bring some strength to everyone through my roles and works. I think this will be very meaningful and valuable.

“Blogger World”: What is your current ambition on the road of acting? What are the requirements for yourself reflected in your work?

Xiao Zhan: My goal has always been to hope that everyone can see my progress and changes through each work, and also hope that my performance can be affirmed and recognized by the audience.

What I can do is to better fully understand and experience the character, and communicate more with directors, scriptwriters, and the collaborating senior actors, and at the same time, I will also listen to the audience’s well-intentioned and helpful suggestions on performances to improve my shortcomings.

Be down-to-earth, interpret every role carefully, and do my job well.