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planetsstarsandmoons · 2 days ago

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Synastry observations (partly) based on personal experience, part 6:

(18+!!)

(Back after a year! Lol🌜🌛)

Moon conjunct mars: can be one sided asfuhck. I’ve seen it play out. Fully accepting that deeply personal intimacy of having someone’s sex aspecting your deepest emotions and/or the other way around is a sort of intimacy that some people just.. don’t…. want with that other person. This comes as a shocker because to most people, having a synastry aspect automatically means you have to like that with the other person, but Some people are just not into the other person like that! Or have trouble with intimacy. And even though the very primal emotional bridge between (possible) intensity of emotions and (possible) intensity of sexuality really ‘clicks’ and hits like no other, it doesn’t mean that the emotions or sexuality of both of the people will be intense within themselves… or that they will be seen in the same way. Many times I’ve seen this aspect play out in two people who worked really well together, were natural kissers and such, had almost iconically amazing fullfilling sex together, but one person wanted to marry and move into the other person and the other person simply did not want that, got the ick maybe, or simply closed themselves off from that meaning to the connection that one party attached to it but they themselves could not get in touch with, and either abused that power dynamic as much as they could or they ran away. Meanwhile thatother person, and I’ve seen both the moon and the mars person in that situation, is left completely addicted and insecure and an unstable mess because of this, because this aspects didn’t cause them so much to be in love, it caused them to have an addiction to this perfectly fullfilling passion and intimacy that they fundamentally lack in their life. They wanted to marry this person because of that. A friend (the mars person) of mine once puked when they saw their recent mars-conjunct-moon-synastey ex (it was a 1,5 month relationship) walk into a room. He later discovered that for some reason, that extremely intense feeling heartbreak didn’t really have anything to do with her, but more about the affection he lacked from an absent parent in his childhood, and the (obvious to everyone else) fact that he was bordering on a complete burn-out. He desperately needed that dopamine and those endorphins. Meanwhile the moon person was nowhere near in the headspace to have that kind of emotional intimacy so fast in her 1st relationship, so she started finding him less and less attractive, and then it was over. I once had an international student (moon) I think fall in love with me (and later stalk me) after 2 dates. He was a lonely international student in this Nordic country and his mother was sick in Egypt. We could not hold an interesting conversation on our own if we tried, but we were -very good kissers-and the almost-sex was extremely good. I didn’t want to cross that line, because for lack of better words I felt like it would go on to mean too much, be too emotional and too intimate and the thought crossing that border with him gave me the ick/ a fight or flight response, like I would just let this man be wayy too intimate with me if it happened, so I cut it off 🤷‍♀️ All the hormones of interpreting yourself to be totally ‘in love’ are there in the synastry, but it’s not *really* that, and most people in the sorry position even secretely know that, even though it’s confusing because they forever remain adamant that there here was something bomb in their connection.. because there was. But imagine: the moon feels emotionally hit in their core by mars’s… sexuality/attractiveness. Mars sees the deepest inner emotions of the moon and feels… turned on. You see where I’m going with this? The intensity and intimacy is great, but for a real love connection you need synastry on things that lead to mental, spiritual and emotional connectivity too. Can you even have a good conversation with this person for longer than 25 minutes? Do you even.. care about them? and vice versa? Would you love them if they were a worm? I have even more stories but they’re for another time 💆‍♀️

Moon trine mars: so. This one is kind of different. What do I mean? Well I believe that in synastry aspects, planetary influence comes to exist in the context of the aspect. Mars conjunct a planet will get all of mars. Mars square a planet will get the worst/most challenging side of mars (brought out by both). Mars opposite will get the antihero kind of mars -the conjunct mars on a possible (and needed) character delevopment journey if you will- and mars trine and sextile will get the harmonious benific, kind of ‘angelic’ sides of mars. He becomes the Aiden from Sex And The City, the soft woodchipper. This mars is in relation to the moon person a 10th house oriented, responsibility taking man who makes you laugh in the form of making you smile. The moon person becomes enamored with the mars person’s standing for something, his way of solving problems, overcoming obstacles, his professionality and his energetic form of taking action. The mars here becomes the kind of mars that is serious about protecting and heartily keeping what he feels is hitting his mars, instead of fighting with it or having sex with it necessarily. The moon’s emotional being becomes like his healthy objective, that he will protect and will fight/work himself up for in a way that he can control. A trine is harmonious which is kind of how you’ll see the mars person get into that civilised and gentlemanly role (to the emotions of the!!👌) moon partner. Where mars squaring the moon is like a mean alcoholic to the moon, the mars trining the moon will be a driven, shaved man in a suit or a spencer, kissing his wife goodbye before going to work. The moon in this aspect is different too: like water, the moons energy decides to flow depending on the factors and tides of the environment: If the moon has no reason to feel stabbed all the time, the moon won’t act overly sensitive or insecure or reactive to every little thing. Being shown the harmonious and safe/secure part of such a powerful planet like mars, the moon person will let their guard down big time. Typically, in this aspect, the moon person opens up, becomes very emotionally comfortable and shows their real and raw private selves to the mars person in a way that even surprises the mars person. There will be lots of oohs and aahs from the mars person who is *absolutely thrilled* to discover that the moon person is actually way softer than they come across in their personality, or more insecure than they wear on their sleeve, or are actually way weirder than anyone would expect. This is like an emotional theme in the relationship for mars. Granted to mars, it actually is a kind of odd way of special, because Real selves are often only shown to others in despair, crisis, moments of survival, very few deep talks, or during sex, but here the moon person is comfortable being their quirky and complete and utter selves with the mars person just during ‘daylight’ so to speak, as if they were alone in their room doing a talk show monologue in the mirror. It’s because mars made themselves this safe haven but is also a good reason to get excited and happy. So this aspect isn’t so much about physical/primary (so sexual attraction) passionate intimacy as you see, it becomes a personality thing of more mental and earthy(?) substance imo. In couples this aspect creates a forever-kind of ‘fondness’ of each other. In this relationship it’s the sex that becomes the highest feat of romantic bonding, not commitment to each other or affirming affection like with the conjunct or the square, which needs those components to make or strengthen the connection as a romantic one.

Mars conjunct mercury: best friends aspect! Being able to talk for hours, do any activity together, spend an entire day doing stuff together or going to a daylong event with just the two of you without it ever being awkward. Being able to do groceries together for a pregame with each other before going to do an activity that you’ll also be doing together. Energy, jokes, and things to talk about never run out. Mars’s energy lets mercury’s thoughts and mind race through multiple subjects and important comments at once, and mercury’s thoughts excite slash fire up mars’s energy. Their response becomes fuel for mercury again and so fort. I know two best friends who have this in double whammy almost exact and they are *always* together. Like in the same day, they would hang out, go to do something else/hang out with someone else, then go hang out with each other again, then in the evening one would visit the other at work. I have this aspect with one good friend that I can talk for hours with. Catching up is never awkward and we constantly learn from each other, plus we’re interested in the same things, because his mind/daily thoughts/the things he pays attention to and tells me (his mercury), fires me up and consistently happens to catch my fixation (mars). And what I *do* in my life, the things that were motivation by nature of taking action, triggers his insight! Isn’t that the perfect combination? This aspect makes you very good and close friends, but this alone doesn’t grant an emotional bond. Those two best friends I talked about lacked in moon connections, so they kept surprisingly much of their feelings and what went on in their life/emotional world private from one another, including crushes they had on mutual friends 💀 like how was that possible?

Moon square moon: a link is a link, an attachment is an attachment, so moon square moon is that too. You will ‘see’ each other for who that person emotionally is from the inside. You will acknowledge it, you can even understand it, but trying to emotionally ‘relate’ or connect to the other’s emotional world causes a short-circuit. This sounds like a finished deal, and marriage it often is. This aspect imo means kind of sacrifing a part of crucial understanding of the other partner. But there is another important part: some people do not have moon to moon aspects in their partnerships. Some people can connect with a moon through their sun mercury venus and mars for example, but not be able to deeply feel the other person next to them with their own moon, like what’s possible in a moon to moon aspect. With moon square moon, the two people deeply *see* each other. It’s hard not to because the friction of the square makes them very neon noticable to each other. One moon person might not be able to touch or soothe the other moon person from and with their own emotional angle, because through the square it will inherently cause a (n immediate often) frictive disconnect, but their presence will be enough. They will learn from each other and with enough respect for the other, (seriously) they will be able to teach themselves how to manually get their moons to relate, by in their empathy intuitively touching and patting to learn what the other person feels, and sleutelingen on their own emotional patterns. With the man I had this with. I completely saw and understood how he was. We, to each other’s emotional automatic ways of thinking, understood each other, but could never relate, so in our most intimate conversations we saw each other raw, but were also like.. damn,, you live like this? you do you! 😂

Male Venus conjunct woman’s moon, but the man has venus square moon natal: so this is really too specific, I know, it’s from my personal life, but the observation is such an almost lawful rule that it needs to be said. So the man has a problem with women in a romantic or otherwise emotionally intimate sense. He either sees them as charmless but safe, emotional, and boring ‘kin’, who fullfills his emotional needs but in a way that cannot fullfill his romantic wants, because they fundamentally clash, or he sees them as these charming, pretty, sexy sensual creative people or muses that fullfill his wants and desires, but cannot fullfill his emotional needs because they fundamentally do not mesh/are able to ‘melt’ with each other. So men with this aspect are doomed to have a lonely romantic life where they deeply hurt a lot of women but in the long run also themselves. This is ofc unless the man is capable of self reflection and is willing to do the work and *respect* the challenge that squares require, but since misogyny is a thing that challenge and perceived radically different worldview of the woman practically never gets respected, found interesting/compelling enough for the man to study, or romanticised like the way in which women will handle a natal moon square mars for example. BUT! If a woman’s moon conjuncts that squared venus, they kind of crack the code in a weird sense!? And become sort of “the only woman that can tame this man blabla that he actually respects”. Because the woman becomes like a domineering mother to him. In his moon square/battle/tension her moon, so where his emotional ‘needs’ are challenged by another person’s needs, his moon yields to the woman’s moon because his venus is enamored by the woman’s moon emotional world. You will get two people who are weirdly intimate friends, because both square moons emotionally ‘acknowlegde’ each other’s emotional life and wavelength, in a kind of bizarre to witness way that will have the woman wear the pants and the often so misogynistic and macho guy follow her and her needs around like a (doggo)💀, acting like each other’s bf/gf, but sitting too close to each other?? Kissing? The thought of having s**?? Will make them revolt. From an astrological standpoint, this may be the most significant planetary relationship with a woman that this man will ever have in his life.

A woman’s venus conjunct that sort of man’s moon I have never seen, only conjunct other planets, but I imagine it would be the same but the other way around at the same time. I think she would be only possible romantically intimate partner for the man, the only girlfriend to exist, only girl that he can wholeheartedly register as ‘girlfriend’, who will hold that *romantic* muse place forever, the only one to forever fullfill his emotional needs like a romantic partner does and can, but he doesn’t like her as a person, he couldn’t be friends with her, can’t talk with her, was never even his type, wants to cheat on her, can’t admire her really. This female venus is the sensual and sexual but disrespected girlfriend to the female moon’s sexless but elevated wife. If that man ruled the world and had all the money and the woman who marries him would win the universe, these were both equally bad but extremley solid places you would want to be in, because you’d be one of the only two women that he will ever seriously consider in his life.

Venus square jupiter: I have this with almost every man I get involved with, because their venus is in that way also conjuncting my scorpio sun and mercury. I’ve found with these people that they are confused if they should be charmed by the grand/optimistic/philosophical side of me, or cringe. Either way they are overwhelmed. Venus in crush-mode will be especially interested in jupiters views and opinions and outlook on situations and jupiter is enthusiastic about the romantic muse that they see in venus and become a kind of a philosophical rant-y person near them, in a good way, because they see venus as an equally inspiring and interesting and beautiful (big ideas and emotions) creative peer of their outlook on life. Venus listens and is in awe. Jupiter is like a positive-energy bomber to venus and venus can be confused, overwhelmed, but gets all the butterflies and wants to be swept in. This is an aspect where the other knows or can relate to what the other is feeling the least, because jupiter is making venus live in their own world and venus is in their head thinking out loud. Astrologers say this easily dies out because of it, like an inflated balloon, but I don’t agree. Don’t let your relationship completely ride on this aspect alone and you’ll be fine and it won’t end with a big bang, but stay flickering like smoldering fire like any other venus or jupiter aspect.

Saturn conjunct moon: saturn wants to snatch moon off the market and moon is like “yeesssss”

Mars overlaying 8th house: it’s true what they say… i won’t elaborate 😶‍🌫️ just kidding I will of course. Having been the 8th house person, it’s actually very straightforward: whenever we talked about serious matters like trauma, (lost) finances, our heritage, and our secrets, fears, that’s when I became most attracted to his masculine/sexual side. Those were the moments I would find myself like ‘daym’, just like a 7th house having mars overlay there would have that during moments of romance and partnership.

Moon opposite mars: I talk about this aspect a lot because it just fascinates me. Moon opposite mars in the context of all the other mars aspects is almost funny because in the beginning, when the insane kind of unsettling attraction is noticed between two people, mars doesn’t really want to be in this situation and moon doesn’t like the fact that it exists at all. I feel like it’s a karmic aspect for mars and somewhat for the moon. Moon will feel every single jab from this aspect but because that jab fundamentally hits them in their *feelings* they will just think: “what was that, what even is that? Who is this mars person making me feel single intense emotion at once?” Even typing this synastry aspect out is making me laugh. It’s moon doing what? Opposing. Oh god. And the lucky planet it’s being opposed is… mars 😂🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️! Imagine the moon one day going like: “f*ck you! And you, and you, and you,” then pointing to mars “and ESPECIALLY you!” Mars turning around and saying: “what are you saying f*ck me for?” looks at moon, boom, falls in love. Kind of disrespectful, but it isn’t meant that way? Which can in short make the connection even more uncomfortable for the moon, or completely the opposite. The intrigue in this aspect lies in how fundamentally foreign (because they’re opposites!!) these people are to each other. This aspect is an up and down and up and down one, because to have the closeness that they both desire and even need, they have to do the work and understanding to become closer and win each other’s trust and affirmation. Mars is challenged to channel powerful frictive energy from the fixation that the opposition creates into creating an environment that caters to the moon’s emotional needs. It challenges itself to encompass all of mars’s qualities, both the ying (harmonious) and the yang (not necessarily that) in a hyperaware manner, and that’s one of the reasons he comes to have like ‘multiple personalities’ in this aspect. It doesn’t help that mars always manages to come across the wrong way to the moon person, can hurt the moon unintentionally, but can also in a burst of martian energy try to fight with the moon when aggravated (caused by their opposing natures), can come across too sexual and disrespectful by the moon person when they intensely show their attraction and preferred treatment to the moon. When Mars tries to be nice, it doesn’t come natural for them to do that imagining what the completely opposite person would want. When mars succeeds, a very real and mental bond is created that is extremely raw. In the healthy romantic version of this, the moon isn’t really easy sex for mars like I’ve seen male astrologers describe it. I’ve seen men describe it as ‘deer’, which can create reaally different outlooks depending on your respect and goodwill to the more vurnurable person. Goodwill especially can make or break this aspect. I feel like this can either be one of the most pain-in-your-stomach disrespectful cortisol aspects, or the sweetest and most genuine and wholsesome emotionally intimate aspects.

A little story I wanted to share: an astrologer on 27th november 2023 gifted me a moon badge on tumblr and I only opened it on 21th november 2024, because I thought it the little pop-up present on my home page was a tumblr advert 🥲 I almost cried because it was such a lovely present around my birthday and as it goes I didn’t say thank you or acknowledged it for a year even though it was an awfully sweet gesture and I really appreciate her 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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hannieehaee · 1 day ago

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EUPHORIA (teaser)

18+ / mdi

summary: you've been inseparable with jungkook from the moment you landed in korea. from the initial language barrier to your group's immense success, you've remained dubbed as an iconic duo. but what will you do when a single moment changes everything between you?

content: idol!jungkook x idol!reader, f2l!jungkook, 8thfemalemember!reader, afab reader, reader is implied to be a foreign member of bts but you can assume all dialogue is supposed to be in korean, pretend this takes place during 2018/19 while they promoted fake love in the u.s, appearances from the other members, pining, miscommunication, dumb insecurities, smut, dry humping, body worship, oral (f receiving), penetrative sex, etc.

(^ no actual content warnings in the teaser)

wc: 1.6k (teaser); 12.5k (full fic)

RELEASE DATE: december 22nd

or you can check it out on my patreon today by subscribing!

a/n: this was not fully proofread cuz it took me veryyy long to finish, so pls excuse any small mistakes<3

masterlist | patreon

"That's not how you're supposed to do it."

You sighed, movements halting and your eyes closing in annoyance.

Turning to face the culprit of the comment, you reopen your eyes, ready to snark at the exact person you were expecting.

"Do you have to be the bane of my existence?"

He chucked at that, nodding at you to turn and face the mirror located behind you once more. It was foggy due to the inhuman amount of heavy breathing exchanged in the practice room, but you could still easily make yourself on it. And Jungkook too, of course.

Standing behind you, — with an offensive lack of distance between your bodies — he grabbed onto your arms from behind, helping you position yourself to perfection, even to the exact inch, of the move you were trying to perform. His eyes found yours on the mirror, giving you a short smile before beginning to guide you through the small transition you'd been struggling with.

"See? Like that," he said once finally letting go of you after walking you through it a few times. By the end, you had gotten it as perfectly as your choreographer had described to you a few hours ago.

"Thanks, Kook."

"Thought I was the bane of your existence?", he chuckled as he bent down to collect a water bottle, taking a sip before handing it to you.

You were usually more worried by boy germs than this, but Jungkook proved to be an exception through the past few years.

You swallowed your sip, "Yeah, but I still have manners."

"C'mon, we should head back to the dorms. You've been at this all day. You beat Jimin at hours logged into the practice room this week," it was meant lightheartedly, but it was true. You'd practically been living here for the past few days.

"Where are the guys?", you wondered out loud as you followed him out.

The dorms, as Kook had called them, were really just a small living space located within the building. There were talks of moving onto a larger building within the next couple of years, but for now you were content with your living arrangements. Despite all of you either owning property or having family outside of the company building, you and a few other members usually opted to stay there due to convenience. You and Jungkook were the main ones to do so.

"Well, we technically have the next few days off, so I'm pretty sure they went visit family while they can. We probably won't be back in Korea for a while after promotions start."

It was true. You were soon due to head to America to promote your newest comeback. This was the first time you'd be taking promotions out of Asia and into the west, which made all of you incredibly anxious. As the most fluent English speaker in the group, the task of being the group's representative should've fallen on you, but luckily Joon had decided he'd be taking the brunt of it for you.

Still, you were terrified to open yourselves up for a way bigger audience.

"You good?" Kook interrupted your thoughts.

"Yeah, Kook. Don't worry about it."

The two of you headed over to the elevators, pressing the button leading you to the floor where your rooms were located. It was likely no one else was in the building at this time — holy shit, was it really 3am? — meaning that you and Kook would likely get some well-deserved rest in the privacy of the dorms.

That was one of the few nice parts of belonging to what once was a very small company. You had no sibling groups as of yet, which kind of made you own the place (or at least that's how Taehyung would put it sometimes). Late at night, it was just you and your group mates with the occasional presence of staff. Though more commonly, it was just you and Kook opting to stay together into the depths of the night.

"Nervous about flying to the U.S?", he voiced when the metal doors closed in front of you, caging you in with your friend.

"Maybe. You're not?"

He shrugged, "It's just like any other performance. You should be the least nervous. You speak English. You already know what America's like."

"Me? I'm the only girl in the group. I'm gonna stand out like a sore thumb," you whined, earning a chuckle from him.

It was a rare situation, being a girl in a group full of men. Other co-ed groups existed within Kpop, but they usually held a better boy-to-girl ratio.

But this wasn't really the reason you were nervous.

Opening yourselves up to an entire new audience within a mere five years since debut was an entire new battle you'd have to face. Worst of all was that no other Kpop group had ever truly promoted in the west before now. You were given accolades as trailblazers, but at what cost?

"Hey," Jungkook called your attention again, gesturing you to follow him into the hallway that would lead you to your room, "C'mon, let's find something to take your mind off of this."

Leading you into his room rather than yours, he sat you on his couch as he went back out to peruse the kitchen of any food he could get for the two of you for an impromptu night indulging yourselves. You relaxed as you waited, appreciative of Jungkook immediately noticing your lack of ease and working towards getting you cooled down again.

He always did have a way of being in tune with your emotions that no one else did.

His room was spacious and tidier than the average for a man in his early 20's. It was common for you to spend time here rather than in your own room. You had always been one to wander in search of your bandmates, and Jungkook just so happened to be the most receptive to it of them all.

The click clank of bottles bumping into each other was your first indicator of his return, making you look up from the couch, unable to withhold a smile when you saw him balancing various bottles of soju in his arms while also attempting to carry a few packets of spicy ramen.

Getting up to help him, you aided him in setting down all his snacks on the coffee table, moving aside any remote and controller that was in the way. Your usual set up was established then, as it had countless times before. It consisted of you and Kook on his old couch (that he refused to replace from the old days in which you could barely afford any luxuries) with a variety of alcohol and snacks accompanying you through the night.

He took a seat on the floor while you remained on the couch. It was common for him. Something about being at optimal proximity to the food on the table.

"We've got two more nights left in Korea. What do you wanna do to spend the time? And no, practicing isn't allowed," he interrupted you before you could respond.

You huffed, shoulders slacking before going back to their usual posture, "Well, then I guess just this."

"Just this? My dorm and some soju?"

"Yep. We're going to be overwhelmed by people and schedules as soon as we leave Korea. Might as well enjoy the quiet alone time," you reasoned.

Jungkook hummed in pensiveness, "Does it really count as alone time if it's together?"

"I like my alone time better when I'm with you," was your response.

And you meant it too. The quiet sometimes became too quiet if Jungkook wasn't around. You'd known him since you were 15 and had been unable to imagine an existence without him since.

It was joked around by members and fans alike, that the two of you were attached to the hip. Some people would even call you a dynamic duo due to how often you were together with no distance between you. Of course, you were shipped and speculated as a couple, but that did nothing to deter your friendship.

Had you been a smarter person, you would've noticed Jungkook's bashful smile at your response. But you'd grown so used to his constant company that the idea of anything further than platonic did not compute in your brain. You weren't even sure if you were opposed to it; it was just nonexistent to you. It was as if he'd spawned as your friend one day and you never once stopped to question it.

"Well, let's enjoy it while we can," he finally responded as he handed you a now-opened bottle of soju.

Clanking bottles, you each took a small swing, settling in for a night that you'd likely not spend sleeping. You settled closer to Jungkook after that, letting yourself slide off the couch snd knocking shoulders with him as you took a seat on the softness of the rug under you.

"What do you wanna do to spend your last few nights of freedom?" you asked after some silence.

"I'll do whatever you want," his head fell to your shoulder, "We can just camp in here til they come get us for our flight on Monday."

You hummed in absentminded agreement, sipping at your drink a little more.

Jungkook turned to look at you then, slight bunny smile showing through.

"So, is tonight a blackout drunk night or do you wanna stay up and watch some movies?"

"Hmm. Maybe a mixture?", you suggested.

With a grin, he raised his bottle for yet another clink before taking a drink from it in tandem with you.

...

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eu-nicola · 2 days ago

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the ferrari couple

summary: when Charles signs with Ferrari, his life takes an unexpected turn when he falls in love with you "Princess Ferrari". Together both become the perfect couple, but behind public perfection, the pressure of your careers leads both in other ways

warnings: nothing

word counter: 4559

author's note: english is not my first language

this is a request from @pperlaaiy

The sound of engines rumbled across the Monza circuit. It was the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc, still a Sauber driver, walked around the paddock with a mix of pride and nervousness. That year had been crucial for him; rumours of his possible promotion to Ferrari felt increasingly real. However, the pressure of being at home, surrounded by tifosi who idolised the Scuderia, kept him on his toes.

As he made his way to the Ferrari hospitality area, Charles paused for a moment, awed by the spectacle before him. Surrounded by photographers, journalists and Ferrari employees, there was you. You seemed to shine with a light of your own, dressed in an impeccable white two-piece suit that bore discreet touches of Ferrari red, the colour that so represented your lineage. Perfectly coiffed hair, dark sunglasses and a confident smile that showed no trace of nervousness. In that moment, you were everything Ferrari stood for: tradition, elegance and power.

“Who is she?” Charles asked his engineer, unable to look away.

“Don’t you know? She’s related to Enzo Ferrari. Her mother, Sofia Ferrari, is practically the queen of the car group. She’s like the princess of the house.”

Charles nodded slowly, impressed, but also intimidated. He had heard about you before, how you were an iconic figure in and out of the world of motorsport. You were known not only for your surname, but for your involvement in Ferrari’s most exclusive events, your innate elegance, and the way you upheld your family’s legacy. The fact that you were unreachable only added to your aura.

However, what happened next took Charles completely by surprise. While he tried to hide his interest and continue on his way, you turned around and your eyes met his. Taking off your sunglasses, you smiled with that mix of kindness and confidence that baffled everyone.

“Charles Leclerc, right?” You asked, stepping closer gracefully.

He blinked, surprised that you knew who he was. "Uh, yeah, I'm Charles," he replied, trying to sound relaxed, though he felt the heat rising to his face.

“I have to say, you’ve impressed many at Ferrari this year,” you said, shaking his hand. Your tone was gentle, but your words carried a weight he couldn’t ignore. “My uncle won’t stop talking about you. I think you’re destined for great things.”

Charles scratched the back of his neck, a nervous gesture contrasting with your poise. “I hope so. Being part of Ferrari would be… a dream.”

“A dream, but also a responsibility,” you replied, your gaze becoming more intense. “Ferrari isn’t just a team, Charles. It’s a family, a history. The tifosi don’t see you as just a driver; they see you as a symbol. And that’s not something just anyone can carry.”

He nodded slowly, feeling the weight of your words. He’d heard similar speeches before, but coming from you, they held a different meaning. “I know. And I’m willing to give my all to live up to it.”

You stared at him for a moment, assessing him. Finally, you smiled again, this time with a hint of genuine warmth. “I hope so, Charles. I’d love to see you succeed at Ferrari. But for now, enjoy Monza. It’s a magical place, don’t you think?”

“It is,” he replied, relaxing a little. “Even more so now.”

Your laugh was soft, but enough for the few people around to notice the chemistry that seemed to be brewing between the two of you. Before you could respond, a team member called out to you from a distance. With a slight nod to Charles, you walked away, leaving behind a sweet scent and an impression he wouldn’t soon forget.

Charles stood still for a few seconds, taking in what had just happened. He had met the “princess of Ferrari,” but beyond your name and lineage, what had struck him most was your presence. There was something about you that challenged him, that made him want to prove he was worthy of being in your world.

That night, during the official Ferrari dinner, they met again. You were surrounded by important figures in motorsport, but when Charles entered the room, your eyes instinctively sought him out. This time, you didn't need to approach him; he took the initiative.

"Can I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the chair next to yours.

You smiled, amused. "Of course. I hope you're ready, Charles."

"If I can survive Monza, I think I can handle this," he replied, feeling more confident.

And so, over glasses of wine and conversations filled with jokes and witty observations, something began that neither of you could have foreseen. You weren't just Ferrari's princess; you were a challenge, a mystery. And for Charles, the young driver who dreamed of conquering the world, you became the most fascinating target of all.

After that first meeting at Monza, Charles couldn't get you out of his mind. Despite being immersed in the demands of his season with Sauber, he found moments between races and training to remember the conversations he'd had with you. For your part, there was something about him that intrigued you. Maybe it was his humility, his ambition, or the way he seemed to shine even under the pressure of the spotlight.

The next few times you met were at Ferrari-related events, always in formal settings where professional distance was the norm. However, that barrier slowly began to break down.

It was a cool evening in Maranello. Ferrari had organised a private dinner to celebrate the season's achievements and start looking ahead. Although the evening was for the official drivers, Charles was invited as a gesture of goodwill, as the announcement of his joining Ferrari for the 2019 season was imminent.

You met him in the event's illuminated gardens, while escaping a boring conversation with a group of executives. Charles was alone, a glass of wine in his hand, admiring the statue of Enzo Ferrari that presided over the place. You approached him with a light smile.

"Thinking about how to fill those shoes?" you asked, stopping beside him.

Charles turned his head, surprised but genuinely happy to see you. "More like wondering if I'll ever make it."

“It’s a start,” you said, shrugging. “He always said that the true spirit of Ferrari isn’t in perfection, but in passion. If you have that, you’re already halfway there.”

He looked at you, with a mix of admiration and curiosity. “Do you feel that passion too? For Ferrari, I mean.”

You nodded, crossing your arms to protect yourself from the cold. “Of course. I grew up surrounded by this world, but it’s not just the family name. It’s everything it represents: the history, the tifosi, the constant struggle to be the best. It’s not easy to live with it, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Charles was silent for a moment, processing your words. Then he smiled, a soft but sincere gesture. “It’s funny. All that you describe is what scares me and excites me at the same time. Being at Ferrari means so much more than being a fast driver. It’s… something bigger.”

You turned to him, studying him carefully. There was something about his honesty that disarmed you, a rarity in a world full of appearances. “And you think you’re ready for it?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, shrugging. “But I want to try. And I’ll do my best to prove that I’m worthy of it.”

The determination in his voice made you smile. “That’s what I like about you. You’re not afraid to admit your doubts, but you’re not afraid to face them either.”

He stared at you, as if he was trying to figure something out in you. “And you? Have you always been this sure of yourself?”

The question took you by surprise. You looked down for a moment before answering. “Not always. But when you grow up in this family, you learn to hide your insecurities.”

Before the conversation could go any deeper, one of the attendants called out to you from a distance. “Y/N, you’re needed inside.”

You sighed, but not before giving Charles one last smile. "Don't let them intimidate you in there. And remember: Ferrari is more than a car, it's a family."

The real change in your relationship came weeks later, when Ferrari made the official announcement that Charles would be a driver for the 2019 season. The news flooded the headlines and thrilled the tifosi, who saw him as the future of the team. That evening, you hosted a private dinner at your family villa in Maranello, inviting only a few people close to the team, including Charles.

"Thank you for inviting me," Charles said when he arrived, wearing a simple but elegant suit. There was something different in his gaze that night: a mix of confidence and gratitude.

"Of course," you replied as you greeted him. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate our new star."

The evening passed quietly, with laughter, anecdotes and toasts to the future. However, you both noticed that your eyes met more often than usual. When dinner ended and the other guests began to leave, Charles was one of the last to stay.

"Would you like to see something special?" You asked, taking a glass of wine and leading him towards the villa's garage.

Inside, covered by tarps, were some of Ferrari's most iconic models, from the first cars created by Enzo to the most modern ones. Charles walked among them in wonder, like a child in a candy store.

"It's amazing," he murmured. "It's like being in a private museum."

"It is," you said, leaning against one of the cars. "Every car here has a story. And now you will be a part of that story."

He stopped in front of you, his expression serious but warm. "I hope I can live up to it. Not just for Ferrari, but for you as well."

The intensity of his words took you by surprise, but you didn't back down. There was something about his sincerity that drew you hopelessly.

"Charles..." you began, but he interrupted you.

“I’m not saying this because you’re from the Errari family or because you’re in a position of power. I’m saying this because you, as a person, inspire me. And I want you to know that I will do everything I can to not let you down.”

For the first time in a long time, you were speechless. And as the silence stretched between you both, Charles took a step towards you. There was no need to say anything else; the moment said it all.

That night marked the start of something special. What had started as a casual connection became a relationship that you both knew would be intense, complicated, but also unique.

After that, the end of 2018 was a whirlwind of emotions for Charles. He had closed his season with Sauber in an exceptional way, earning the respect of the tifosi and securing his place at Ferrari for the following year. But the most unexpected thing for him had been the relationship that had formed with you. During those months, you went from being two occasional acquaintances at events to becoming confidants and something more.

Your meetings, although few due to his constant travels, were full of complicity. He had invited you to accompany him to a couple of races outside Italy, and although you kept everything under a strict low profile, the members of the paddock were beginning to notice that there was something between you. The candlelit dinners, the walks through Maranello and the deep conversations.

For Charles, you were much more than a "Ferrari". You were someone who understood him, someone who saw beyond the image of a promising driver. For you, Charles was a breath of fresh air in a world full of appearances. In him, you found someone honest, humble and passionate.

However, you both knew that things would change in 2019. With Charles officially becoming a Ferrari driver, the attention on both of you would increase, and you would have to decide how you would face what was to come together.

When the 2019 season began, everything changed. Not only was Charles Ferrari's new rising star, he also unwittingly became the centre of media attention. The relationship between the two, which until then had remained in the shadows, inevitably began to come to light.

The first time photographers caught you together was at the Monaco Grand Prix. You were in the paddock, leaning against a railing as you talked animatedly to Charles. You were wearing a red outfit that paid homage to the Scuderia, and your laughter echoed above the roar of the engines. The media was quick to dub you the “prince and princess of Ferrari.”

“Does all this attention bother you?” Charles asked you that afternoon, as you walked together through the Monte Carlo harbor.

“A little,” you admitted, adjusting your sunglasses. “But I also know it’s inevitable. I guess we’ll just have to learn to handle it together.”

Charles nodded, taking your hand gently. “We will.”

It was an intense year, full of challenges for both of you. Charles had to deal with the pressure of being a Ferrari driver, while you were constantly surrounded by the critical eyes of the press and tifosi, who analyzed your every move. Far from separating them, however, those challenges brought them closer together.

The moments they shared off the track became their refuge. There were days when Charles would arrive exhausted after a difficult race, and you would call him to give him words of encouragement. There were also nights when you, exhausted, would find comfort in his embrace.

By 2020, you were no longer just a couple at Ferrari; you were the couple. Cameras followed you everywhere, and social media couldn't stop talking about you. Photos of you at Formula 1 galas, at private Scuderia events, and even on vacation in Italy went viral instantly.

The tifosi loved how they represented the essence of Ferrari: Charles was the young driver full of talent and promise, and you, the sophisticated and passionate woman who seemed to be the embodiment of the Ferrari legacy. No matter where they were, together they projected an image of perfection that fascinated the world.

However, behind the flashes, things were not always easy. The 2020 season was a complicated year for Ferrari, with performance issues testing Charles as a driver. For him, it was frustrating to go from being a constant contender to fighting to stay in the top 10. There were times when tensions were palpable, but you always found a way to remind him of his worth.

“Charles,” you told him one night after a disappointing race at Spa, as you both sat on the balcony of his hotel room. “You are not just a Ferrari driver. You are the future of Ferrari. Enzo always said that difficult races are the ones that make true champions. And you are one of them.”

He looked at you, his eyes filled with emotion. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Luckily, you won’t have to find out,” you replied with a smile.

That mutual strength was what made you two so special. While Charles faced the challenges of the track, you struggled to keep outside pressures at bay, defending your relationship from rumors and criticism.

By the end of 2020, you were more than a couple; you were a symbol. The prince and princess of Ferrari, two figures who represented everything the brand stood for: history, passion, and the promise of a bright future.

What no one imagined was that beneath that image of perfection, the first cracks were beginning to form. Because, although the love you felt for each other was real, the demands of your worlds were not always compatible.

The end of 2020 marked a turbulent time both on and off the track. Ferrari was facing one of its worst seasons in years, and while Charles continued to show his talent, the car simply wasn’t up to par. You, for your part, had been dealing with the mounting pressures of your family name: new projects, the constant expectation that you represent Ferrari at key events, and increasing scrutiny over your relationship with Charles.

Through it all, you never let the internal tensions leak outward. To the world, you were still the couple. You were seen smiling at events, with Charles looking at you as if you were his anchor, and you showing yourself unwavering, like the pillar holding him up. But what no one saw was the distance that was beginning to form between you.

The breaking point began subtly, with small misunderstandings and differences that you had previously managed with grace.

During the final races of the season, you noticed that Charles was more distant. Although he remained affectionate with you in public, in private his attention seemed to be elsewhere. His days were consumed by endless team meetings, interviews, and hours of work trying to squeeze the maximum potential out of an unresponsive car. When he came home, he was exhausted, and conversations between the two of you were reduced to an exchange of short sentences.

“How was it today?” you asked, waiting for an answer that never came with any depth.

“Good, the usual,” he would reply, often without looking at you, lost in thought.

It wasn’t Charles’ fault, you knew. The weight he carried on his shoulders was immense, and you wanted to be understanding. But you couldn’t help but feel displaced, as if your place in his life had taken a backseat.

For your part, you were dealing with your own problems as well. Your family expected you to take a more active role in the company, and every step you took was scrutinized. The endless meetings, strategic decisions, and social expectations were draining you. There were nights when you sat alone in your Maranello apartment, wondering if this was the life you really wanted.

The night of the final race of the season, in Abu Dhabi, you decided you needed to talk. You had prepared dinner in the hotel suite, hoping to reconnect before heading back to Italy. Charles arrived late, tired but trying not to show it.

“This looks amazing,” he commented, cracking a smile as he sat across from you.

“I wanted us to close the year with something special,” you replied, trying to hide the anxiety in your voice.

For a while, the conversation flowed as before. You talked about the race, the tifosi, and even joked about how the media had called you “Ferrari royalty” in a recent article. But then, the tone changed.

“Charles, I’ve been thinking,” you began, hands shaking slightly. “Do you think… we’re okay?”

He looked up, surprised by the question. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve grown apart,” you admitted, your voice almost a whisper. “We don’t talk like we used to anymore, we don’t spend time together. I feel like all of this—” you gestured vaguely at the world around them, “—is consuming us.”

Charles sighed, setting his fork down on the table. “I know. I’ve felt the same way. But I thought… that it was temporary. That after this season, things would get better.”

“What if they don’t?” you asked, facing the fear you’d been suppressing for months.

For a moment, Charles didn’t say anything. His silence was like a confirmation of what you both feared: that the weight of your individual lives was overshadowing what you had together.

“I love you,” he finally said, with a sincerity that almost brought tears to your eyes. "But I don't know if I'm being fair to you. I don't know if I can be the person you need right now."

The decision wasn't made in one night, but that conversation marked the beginning of the end. Over the following weeks, both tried to hold on to what they had, but silences were more frequent than words, and the emotional distance became increasingly evident.

The news of their separation came in January 2021, shortly after the Christmas holidays. There were no official statements or public explanations; they simply stopped appearing together, and rumours began to circulate.

The paddock was in shock. Neither of them had given any indication of trouble, and for the tifosi, they represented perfection. But those who knew them closely knew the truth: there was no big fight, no betrayal, just the inevitable wear and tear of two people trapped in worlds that demanded too much of them.

The last time you saw him was at a Ferrari event in early 2021. He was beaming, smiling at photographers as he spoke to management. When your eyes met, he gave you a small, almost melancholic smile, which you returned with a similar gesture.

There were no words, but they didn't need to be. You both knew that what you had was unique, special, and that it would always be a part of you. But you also knew that you had made the right decision, even if it hurt.

The prince and princess of Ferrari had split up, leaving the world baffled and the tifosi heartbroken.

The months following the breakup were like a whirlwind, even though neither of you openly acknowledged it. You and Charles had decided to keep the reasons for the end of your relationship private, but that only fueled the speculation. The media kept wondering what had happened between the prince and princess of Ferrari, and the tifosi couldn't accept that something so perfect had fallen apart for no apparent reason.

Despite the noise, you both tried to move on, each in your own way. But as they tried to build new routines, the world kept watching, waiting for some sign, some word that would explain the inexplicable.

The first image of Charles with another woman appeared one day in March. It was a casual photograph, taken by a fan in Monte Carlo. Charles was in a café, smiling as he chatted with a blonde, light-eyed girl. It didn't seem like a romantic encounter, but the closeness between the two and the carefree smile on Charles' face unleashed a wave of comments.

“Who is she?”

“Has she replaced her already?”

“She’s probably her cousin or something, Charles wouldn’t do this.”

For your part, you tried to ignore it. You knew Charles had the right to move on, as did you, but you couldn’t help but feel a knot in your stomach as fans began to theorize about his love life.

It wasn’t long before you were making headlines too. A few weeks later, during a gala event in Milan, you arrived accompanied by an Italian businessman known for his charisma and fortune. He offered you his arm as you walked down the red carpet, and although you maintained a professional smile, the camera flashes captured something that the media interpreted as complicity.

The reaction was not long in coming.

“She already has a boyfriend? This can’t be real.”

“Charles and her were perfect, this doesn’t make sense.”

“The princes of Ferrari are dating commoners now, apparently.”

Social media became a battleground between fans. There were those who supported the idea of the two moving on with their lives, but there were also those who clung to the hope of a reconciliation. Every photo of Charles with his supposed new partner was analyzed in detail, and the same was true for you.

On your Instagram profile, the comments were a reflection of the tifosi's pain:

"Please tell me this isn't true."

"Why did you break up? I never understood it."

"Get back together, there's still time."

Charles faced the same thing. Even in the simplest photos — an afternoon training or a day on the simulator — the responses were full of mentions of you.

"Everything is more boring without Princess Ferrari."

"I hope you're happy, but I'll never forget what you had."

Neither you nor Charles made any comments on the matter. You both knew that any statement would only fuel further speculation, and the last thing you wanted was to turn your past relationship into a public spectacle.

At Ferrari events, it was inevitable that your paths would cross, although you always kept your distance. During a presentation of the Scuderia for the 2021 season, you sat in the front row next to the management, while Charles took his place on the stage, talking about his expectations for the year.

Your eyes met for a brief second. It was enough for the photographers to capture the moment, but not enough for either of you to show any obvious emotion. You held his gaze calmly, while he quickly turned his gaze towards the audience.

After the event, you avoided the cocktail party that followed. You knew the media would be waiting for any interaction between you, and you weren't about to fuel any more rumors. However, as you were leaving, you received a text on your phone.

"I saw you left early. I hope you're okay."

It was from Charles.

You read it a few times before pocketing your phone without responding. Although the message seemed innocent, it only made the emptiness in your chest feel heavier.

Despite appearances, moving on wasn't easy for either of you. Charles could put on a smile next to his new companion, but in moments of solitude, he found his mind drifting back to the days he shared with you. The walks through Maranello, the conversations in the early morning, even the small arguments over insignificant things: it was all still there, like an echo that refused to go away.

You weren't immune either. Although you were dating someone new, you hadn't felt that connection you once had with Charles. Every time you saw their name in the headlines, your heart beat a little faster, and images of what was and what could have been filled your mind.

Still, you both kept going, at least in the eyes of the world. The smiles at events, the carefully curated posts on social media, everything seemed to indicate that you had put the past behind you. But the others seemed unwilling to let it go.

The tifosi kept waiting. In every Ferrari post, in every interview, in every public appearance, someone always asked about you.

"Will you come back one day?"

"You were the heart of Ferrari."

"Without you, this is not the same anymore."

And although neither you nor Charles answered, that question kept hanging in the air, like a wound that time did not quite heal. Because although you had gone your separate ways, the world was not ready to forget you.

And, perhaps, deep down, neither were you.

#fanfic #oneshot #imagine #x reader #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc #f1 x you #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #f1

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glass--beach · 1 day ago

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what do you think sixth wave emo will sound like?

gonna be honest i feel like even the definition of fifth wave emo is a little flimsy. it includes a mix of artists that are just continuing emo revival (4th wave) without rly changing it as well as artists who are so far removed from emo that putting them under the umbrella is a little reductive. but emo is just such a polarizing genre that if there is 1% emo in a band's sound they immediately become for emo fans only.

just real quick for any followers who don't know the waves (this is off the top of my head so might not be perfect):

1st wave (late 80s): Washington DC emotive hardcore, not very far removed from post-hardcore at all, just more focused on emotions whereas post hardcore tended (at the time) to be more political. ie rites of spring, moss icon

2nd wave (90s - early 00s): the start of "midwest emo" - develops the sound further through the influence of post-rock among other things, tends to use less distortion & gentler singing. some bands became minor successes through the post-nirvana alternative rock gold rush but many were not appreciated til way after they were active. american football, capn jazz, sunny day real estate, the promise ring, mineral, etc etc etc

3rd wave (00s): what the average person knows emo to be. often known as mall emo. crosses over with pop punk frequently. this wave saw the greatest commercial success due to strong pop songwriting and slick production. spoke to a general malaise among teenagers post 9/11. my chemical romance, AFI, the used, brand new, also includes the whole "scenecore" wave towards the end of the 00s

4th wave (late 00s - mid 10s): the "emo revival". largely a reaction against the commercialization of the genre that occurred in the 3rd wave, and a revival of a more 2nd wave sound. bands in this wave tended to put out one album on a tiny label before fizzling out, and largely found success online. they also all REALLY hated 3rd wave. the world is a beautiful place and i am no longer afraid to die, snowing, the hotelier, algernon cadwallader, modern baseball (honestly i could list 4th wave bands forever it's the wave i'm most familiar with lol)

5th wave (late 10s - 20s): online, postmodern/post-postmodern, lots of influence from genres far removed from the first four waves of emo (jazz, hyperpop, folk, noise), bedroom production, digital sounds, synthesizers, odd instrument choices, autotune, pitch shifted vocals. two of the biggest influences here are Heccra and The Brave Little Abacus (i will go to my deathbed insisting TBLA is NOT an emo band though lmao). the thing is, there are bands lumped into this wave like Home is Where or awakebutstillinbed who generally have a much more 4th wave kinda sound & very few of the traits associated with 5th wave. or Origami Angel & Mom Jeans who remind me more of later 4th wave "weed emo" bands like Jank (fuck that band tho). AND THEN there's also bands here who sound more 3rd wave, like Jhariah. i'd say the bands most emblematic of a uniquely 5th wave sound (aside from the aforementioned TBLA and Heccra) are MEEEEEEEEEEEEE (glass beach), stomach book, lobsterfight, your arms are my cocoon, nouns, weatherday.

tbh the only real common thread with 5th wave is that all of these bands are friends lmao. there are very few bands I listed there that I do not know personally, some are very close friends, and the rest are like, one degree of separation from me. i believe Bea from Home is Where was the one to codify it but critics really latched onto the term because it's every critics dream to be the first to write about a new genre right as it emerges. 5th wave's variety is largely indicative of the breakup of monoculture that's been going on since the dawn of the internet, with this sort of postmodern genre collage aesthetic that has been facilitated by the increased ease of access to ALL styles of music for everyone in the world & micro-categorization of genre on sites like rym for example. i think it's going to take putting this all into historical context to really know what comes next. any new development in emo will inevitably fit under 5th wave's very broad umbrella, and as a result MANY bands in the genre reject the term. hell, the dividing lines between all of the existing waves are extremely arbitrary and there are countless exceptions to this generally accepted categorization going all the way back to the start of emo.

at this point it is genuinely impossible for there to be a 6th wave. i'm sure we'll see some new developments, some albums that shake things up, but it will take literally redefining the genre for there to be a Next Era of Emo.

if i can try to be a little deleuzian on main i predict we will see bands push the genre forward by using the components of the more uniquely 5th wave sound while not overtly referring to fifth wave (or ANY wave) at all. it'll probably take a different setting too, possibly less bedroomy, more live, maybe a more longform classical kind of approach rather than pop structure. small ensemble orchestra + autotuned screaming? tapping guitar over endlessly looping 190BPM 909 beats? otherwise by-the-numbers midwest emo bands with vocaloid singers? rapid oscillation between all of the waves, Naked City style? emo vocals with no instrumental accompaniment whatsoever? screamo jazz? 5th Wave: The Musical? Rites Of Spring meets The Rite Of Spring? fags in skinny jeans burning american flags while Courtesy of The Red White and Blue plays on a boombox? a band that's actually a tech startup that's actually a huge ponzi scheme? Talking Heads reunites but Jerry Harrison only plays in FACGCE now? drum stems from The Black Parade echoing through an abandoned parking garage? another 9/11? Emo bands that don't play music at all and just make out with each other on stage? who fucking knows. all i know is whatever comes next, online music nerds will be crying out "this isn't emo"

sorry for the essay LMAO

#asks

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sunkissedliterarylightofchrist · 2 days ago

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HA HA HA YES

There are definitely irks I have with the show, some major (shaking my fist at the TV) some minor (eh, I would've done it like __) and I could critique quite a bit of it (mostly the writing sadly) and would be happy to do so, but this post is just a list of everything I like about the show.

First to set the stage, we have what I personally define as the Spirit of Tolkein: selflessness in the face of Evil, how virtue will overcome evil, the will to battle temptation, an emphasis on humility, wisdom and knowledge, the simple life, and strong relationships. All depicted through the beauty and wonder of the writing and the setting. (If you have a different definition.... ah, well, that's a different conversation. This is the conclusion I've come to.) Let me run through them and show how this show nails all of these. (also this is mostly spoiler free. I think. I'll try. Being vague does not come easily to me😅)

Selflessness in the face of Evil

Being selfless in the face of Evil is really important, and can be split two ways I think. A) Being selfless can be a smack back at evil in general, even if it isn't exactly an 'evil thing' you're taking action against B) Having to choose between Good and Evil and by choosing Good, is being Selfless, because often doing the Evil, selfish thing would be a lot easier and more beneficial towards you.

This is praised in the show again and again and again. Many characters have a choice presented to them: do x, the easy and good-looking thing, for their own self-interest, or do y, the harder and scarier and sacrifical thing that might hurt them but help others. And often as a smack in the face of evil. This kid is offered a change at practically unlimited power that is from an evil source, and allured by it, starts to stray down that path, realizes the consequences of his own actions, and pulls back, confesses the wrong that he did to save others. That's just one vague example, there are a dozen.

And characters who are presented with this choice and choose to be selfish, then as a byproduct or purposefully choose evil as a result, are, or will be in future seasons, punished. The one guy that encouraged this kid to choose evil and egged him on until the kid made the right desicion? He dies later.

How Virtue will overcome Evil

Virtue! One of Tolkien's biggest talking points ever! And how by being virtuous, it directly overcomes Evil, even if it seems like a small thing. Choosing peace (or righteous war, depending on the circumstance, that can be virtuous too), truth, compassion, mercy, loyalty, kindness, love, etc etc, and often when the other person doesn't deserve it, is so highly stressed. And all of these virtues and more are wielded against characters/circumstances that represent evil, and the virtue of those choices and moments overcomes the evil.

There are twenty million examples of this in the show. Big and small. You'll see it, the utter goodness is very apparent.

The Will to Battle Temptation

Frodo and the Ring is one of the most iconic depictions of battling temptation of all time, point-blank period. The show carries this on too. The temptation for this one character to succumb to wrath and rage and having to beat it back with a stick (and mostly having other characters help pull her out of it) is a very big theme in the first season especially, and it continues in other ways as well. Season Two absolutely nails this with a character getting carried away by their hubris and want to create something great, but then at the end overcomes this temptation and wins the fight, even though they technically lose. It's so well done.

Humility

*screeches* I cannot emphasize enough how much they nail humility. Every good character has it in one way or another, and every evil character is prideful. Very clear morals and message. And one character starts out pretty prideful but then as the show continues is becoming more and more humble, and I predict by Season 3 they'll have had their full character arc and settle into their 'true self' if that makes sense.

Wisdom and Knowledge

Ah yes. The seeking and having of wisdom and knowledge is highly praised and sought after. Do not even have to explain this, it's Tolkien we're talking about here lol. One of my favorite moments is when Elrond risks his and Gil-Galad's life to prevent the Library of Celebrimbor from being destroyed. The preservation of knowledge is so cruical. Because knowledge and wisdom point back to the source of knowledge and wisdom.

The Simple Life

One of the really good things about The Hobbit and Trilogy is how the Hobbit's lifestyle (while some parts of Hobbit society are teased, or their complacency is sometimes frowned upon), is that the idea of a simple, hardworking life, is greatly loved. Doing hard physical labor by growing your own food, having close relationships with your kin, and celebrating every part of life and enjoying the gifts you have are all commented on and esteemed by other characters in other societies.

This theme isn't as central to the show's plot, but it'd definitely there. Especially with the dwarves. Even though it's a grand, Second Age show and story, with a lot of BIG stuff, they do weave some of these moments in and its very sweet.

Strong Relationships

THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE. PERFECTLY DONE IN THE SHOW. BEST WRITTEN-PARTS. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TOLKIEN DOES EVER.

We've got sibling-like best friend relationships, a found father-son relationship, strong parent-child relationships, healthy romantic (married!!!) relationships, 'normal' best friendships, relationships full of loyalty, honor, respect, hard choices, trust, love, tenderness, I could go on and on and on. This is the strongest writing of the show. The characters all have incredible chemistry with each other, and the actors play off of each other so well, I have just died with happiness so many times getting to watch all of these character interactions and relationships come to life. I need to make more posts gushing about my favorite ones.

I am so thankful that the show is doing this, because it seems to me in mainstream media today that broken relationships are the normal and its really disheartening to see such brokeness to be celebrated. But getting to see all of these strong, amazing relationships so well written and so well played out is just... the best.

And best part? All of these strong relationships point back to Christ. Which I'm sure some, or maybe all of that, is unintentional. I'm 95% sure that the actor for Elendil, Lloyd Owens is Christian/Catholic (I can explain why later), but besides that, I don't know if anyone working on the show is Christian. But that's the thing about incredible storytelling, isn't it? Good things naturally point back to the source of good, Jesus, whether its intentional or not. And every good relationship in the show points back to Him. And in a masterful way.

All depicted through the Beauty and Wonder of the Writing and the Setting

This is the absolute best part of the show, hands down. The sets, music, costumes, setting, and just overall beauty of the show are unparalled. They are even better than the OG trilogy. I mean, look at these! (ignore the bad quality on some of these please lol)

Settings (GORGEOUS)

Costumes:

And I cannot even begin to describe to you the beauty of the music. Bear McCreary has 10000% lived up to Howard Shore's legacy and every single track in the show is fire. He's used so many cool and rare instruments and is an excellent composer! Every soundtrack theme for each place and character brings them to life so much and its amazing. And the songs that do have vocals, whether choir 'ahs' or actual words, have gorgeous singing! (Fun Fact: he also composed they Percy Jackson show soundtrack!!! The theme for the Underworld, specifically the desert scene, uses the same instrument, a duduk I believe, and it sounds so similar and so cool! [I actually realized that he was the one who did it by watching the PJ show, recognizing his composing style from RoP, then frantically Googling it to then be thrilled I was right lol])

Beauty in Tolkien is so important. This guy's descriptions of places and people are some of my favorite writing ever and the style I eagerly took inspiration from as a baby writer when I first started out. And the Peter Jackson trilogy did a really good job at capturing the physical beauty of Middle Earth! Each time I watch those movies I am filled with nostalgia and a longing for it. (*cough* human heart longing for Eden *cough*)

Rings of Power has absolutely bumped it up. Having a lot more money helps lol. They've hired incredibly gifted people to work super hard on all of this. The sets, music, costumes, items, the intricate detail of every single thing is utterly beautiful and incredible to see. Almost everything in this show is practical, they've used CGI a shockingly small amount and it shows. It is utterly gorgeous. I have just been blown away with every watch and rewatch.

Beauty points back to God. And this show points back to True Beauty in every way.

Finally, here are a few extra bits that I really like about the show that don't quite fit neatly into the categories above.

Acting and Characters

The acting! Superb! Every one of these actors deserves an award. They are I N C R E D I B L E. I need to make an entire post talking about how each of these characters is acted to perfection. The face acting some of these people have??? It's amazing! The way they carry their characters differently after different events! So so so good. I am just blown away, they all need awards.

Now. I am going to say something very controversal that many people who I've told this opinon to Do Not Like. I think it is absolutely stupid that people are discrediting the show because of its 'forced ethnic representation'. Sorry.

Yeah, in Tolkien's work, there isn't much of anything said about black elves or dwarves or Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Numenoreans and Southlanders. But that doesn't mean they aren't there. And having a diverse cast doesn't automatically make the show bad. It does the total opposite I think. Every one of these actors deserves to be here and is incredibly capable. And it is true that we do need good representation in media- and we've got to do it well.

Amazon has done this incredibly tastefully. Some movie companies (*hem hem hem* DISNEY I'M GLARING AT YOU) have just black-washed characters, called it representation, and have moved on with their day having checked all the boxes. Sometimes I think changing a character's ethnicity when doing a remake can be good, if it is done well. There has been a couple cases Disney switched things up and I thought it was good. But for the most part, its forced representation and poorly done. And nobody likes that.

But that is NOT what Rings of Power is doing. The thing about how Amazon is doing it that I utterly respect is all of their diverse and incredible characters are their own original guys. And it adds a LOT of depth to the show, and it is GOOD REPRESENTATION. If they had made Galadriel, Elrond, Celebrimbor, or another canonical white character that is white because it adds to their character and is central to the plot had been made black, I've probably would've been pretty upset. Because part of what defines Galadriel is her physical appearance. If that had changed that it would've changed her character.

But they haven't. And that's my point. They are doing the diverse representation in the way that I think all adaptation people should do it! With their original characters in a way that adds to the story and with incredible actors. Not to mention that the acting from those characters is some of the best in the show. Rings of Power is quite literally what I think should be the gold standard of representation in media, specifically adaptations.

Anyway. That's what I think. I'll die on this hill. Moving on.

Practical Stuff and Cinematography

Like I've already said, almost all of their sets were actually built and actually acted in. There are very few scenes that a green screen was used on. And it shows! Everything looks so real and so fluid beacsue it IS so real and so fluid. I love it. Sets? Real. Stunts? Real. Lighting? Real. Everything is real! To my knowledge, the only things they've used much CGI on is the monsters! And even then, they have practical frames as the bulk, and the CGI is to just smooth things over.

The practical effects in this show are some of the most amazing things ever. LOOK AT THE ORCS.

THEY USED REAL PROSTHETICS AND IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!

LOOK AT THE STUNTS THAT THEY'VE DONE!!

(Sadly I can't find many good stunt RoP gifs but just trust me on this. I have gasped so many times over what hard work these guys have done for fight scenes.)

And the way that they've used cinematography and lighting and camera angles is just... masterful. I'll have to give so many specific examples later. It's some of the best filmaking I've ever seen, they've used the budget ~wonderfully~ You get sucked into the moment and it's amazing.

Appreciating the Story

Now I'm gonna be slightly blunt. I think a lot of people hate the show because they're, for lack of a better term 'purists'. Which isn't a bad thing! Having these people in every fandom is super important! Keeps its foundation solid. I'm one of these people in many cases.

But when looking at a work where the literal purpose is to deviate from some of what Tolkein wrote, and then get angry when it isn't a word-for-word recreation is silly. In Amazon's contract with the Tolkien Estate, it was a key condition that they could NOT reproduce anything from the Silmarillion except on a case-by-case basis that had to be approved by the Estate first. They bought the rights to the Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of the King, Hobbit, and Appendices. And they agreed with the Estate to make a Second Age show. This means that they have limited material to work with. They are REQUIRED to deviate from Tolkien's original story about those early tales in many cases. So a lot of people are angry that they didn't do x, but they literally are not allowed to. They have to take creative licence with many of these storylines. And the way that so many people are ripping every single little detail about the show to threads just makes me so upset. You are getting hung-up over the tiniest things! JUST ENJOY THE STORY. If you nit-pick the death out of everything of course its gonna die. You are holding RoP to an impossible standard.

This is another reason why many people didn't like the first season so much, but love the second a lot more. Because in Season 1, they had to set the chessboard and make a lot of stuff up and change quite a bit so they could actually have room to move. Then in Season 2, we have a lot more canon stuff that we see in stuff like the appendices, which they did SO WELL. With the writing of the show, you do have to hold a lot of the canon stuff loosely because you have to. But once you let go and sit back and enjoy this new story, it is utterly fantastic, and lines up with the Spirit of Tolkien at almost every turn, which I've already shared.

Huzzah. This is why I love Rings of Power. I've probably missed a thing or two but that's pretty much all of it. Please watch it. *bows*

It annoys me to no end with so many people saying that Rings of Power isn’t ‘in the spirit of Tolkien’ when they haven’t even watched it.

Seriously? There are things I do not like about the show and wish they had done differently, but almost all of it is utterly amazing. Every person who’s worked on that project has poured so much time and effort into it, and for an incredible result.

And by the way, when you say ‘spirit of Tolkien’ what do you even mean? How are you defining that? Because that show absolutely screams Tolkien by my measurement, not to mention his literal family is working on the project personally, and it 100% measures up to Peter Jackson’s work.

And you haven’t even watched it. Just watch it and try it. You watch enough bad media already just to criticize it, why not this? You’re gonna like it more than you think.

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yayll · 2 days ago

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heyyy! I just read ur rockstar!Dazai fic and it honestly reminded me of this idea I had!!! (loved the fic btw!) Are you able to write an actor!dazai x fem!actor reader and they r fake dating while secretly being rivals ?? (I’d like 2 be known as 🦎-anon!)

hiiii 🦎 anon hehe

i'm sorry this was quite the wait, i LOVED your idea and i wanted to write it properly and i kind of took some liberties so i hope you enjoy it regardless? thank you for trusting me w your fic idea actor!dazai now haunts me actually dazai in any like, imagine just fucks my shit up that man is a menace in any story i put him in and i'm so glad others agree. i love u baby mwah u get so many ivy kisses

~ a little something about you and actor!Dazai keeping up appearances ~

"You're choking meee!"

"I'm just fixing your tie, Osamu-"

"It's babe, actually."

"It's whatever I want if you want me to keep holding your hand in public, jerk."

He pouts at this. What a cute little meanie you were! Always scolding him and spewing empty threats as if you were hot shit. You were hot shit, and that was only the beginning of his problems... The biggest one right now being backstage with you while attending the hottest awards show of the year.

Just before he can respond, the curtains are drawn and it's a stagehand whisking you two away to present the next award infront of thousands of fans. You're walking side by side, your heels clicking with each step when Dazai leans in to whisper something.

"You should stand on my left, my right side is more attractive."

"We're both facing forward, does it matter?"

He raises a brow and huffs dramatically in typical Dazai fashion. You two had been 'dating' for a year now, everyone was invested in this blooming romance ever since you both started in that drama together, now it's nothing but red hearts for you two.

It wasn't planned, it just kind of happened... It also wasn't completely awful, but it was the goddamn ego on Dazai that really made you want to strangle him sometimes. He knew he was pretty and desired, and what a threat you were with such an iconic streak in all of your latest projects. No wonder you two had to be paired together, on your own you were both dynamite. An unstable formula that needed to be stabilized by combining it together. Thought could that make it worse?

You present the award holding hands the entire time, an act highly encouraged by the need to convince, and yet when it's you two doing it it never feels as forced as you'd like it to be. There is a comfortability in the role of this relationship, you've come to realize yet supress. You'll hold hands for so long you begin to get clammy, and it's certainly not because he dotes on you almost every time he speaks! Which he hates doing... It's just a script, after all. Duh.

You're both making your way out of the venue towards the car that awaits to drive you to the after party when you're ambushed by interviewers and hundreds of flashes that yell out speed questions.

"Does the beautiful couple have time to stop and answer a few things for us tonight!"

Dazai loves that shit. Of course he has the time, he doesn't care if you don't. He has to sell it, obviously, since you don't put in the effort according to him. He flashes the interviewer that sardonic little smirk you hate and speaks innocently.

"Why, us? Sure! Right, honey?"

He turns to you and the crowd loves it. You hold back how badly you want to roll your eyes and simply smile, holding yourself high with grace and a ton of media training.

"We'd love to."

The interviewer is overjoyed as she looks between you and Dazai, taking in that affection that radiates from your false words. She grins as she goes along to ask her question.

"So, I think a lot of the fans are wondering..."

You and Dazai perk up, not even realizing that you're clutching the bottom of your dress so tighty that your knuckles are white. The interviewer looks directly at you.

"The two of you have been the most stunning couple the industry has seen in a while. Any plans for the future?"

You freeze. Ugh, not this again. You shake your head, smirking to yourself at the absurdity of the concept alone.

"Thank you, but honestly we're just taking things day by day. There's no rush between us, we have all we need right here and now."

The journalist smiles again and nods, seemingly impressed by your laid back attitude. Dazai snorts and suddenly interjects, clearly having a cheeky response to give to the crowd of journalists.

"We'll have tons of kids in the future, actually~"

Your panic is so instant that you literally laugh out loud, yet recover quickly by turning your shock into a playful glance at your lover. You manage a more sweet giggle and smack him on the chest a little harder than people would guess.

"Ooh, he's joking, of course."

The journalist rejoices, finding your banter and your overall interaction as a couple cute. The ideal power couple! Dazai grins and turns to you again, leaning in to tease you, his narrowed Hazelnut eyes piercing into you like a promise.

"Not joking. One day we're going to have a massive pack of little kids running around. And it's going to be your fault for being sooo cute~"

And with that, he leans in all the way into a million dollar kiss on your confused and parted lips. You're taken so offguard you almost fall back and of course grab onto him a little tighter... and run your fingers through his disheveled hair you forgot to nag him to cut... As the cameras go off like crazy, you wonder if it's worth ruining your public image for a while just so you can slap him harder than you ever have before.

Everyone's cooing and you're fuming, so you settle for a quick thank you and goodbye as you drag Dazai off the red carpet and into the car. He's giggling the entire time, of course. As soon as the door shuts out the screaming fans watching you drive off, you turn to Dazai and whisper ardently.

"What was that all about?! We didn't discuss this prior to-"

"... You liked it."

"Huh?"

"You liked it when I kissed you."

You scoff, though it sounds like you're choking.

"I did not. I just did what I had-"

"... And you want to have my babies. That's adorable, how devoted of you!"

You smack him on the arm but he's smiling like a cat who's had too much catnip, too far gone into his delusions to care about the repercussions. Love is love, after all...

"I think we should break up, like officially. You're nuts. The press won't let that go, Osamu."

He perks up, snapping out of his stasis and crinkles his nose in disapproval. He shakes his head, his hand on his chin as if in deep thought. Dazai mutters, barely above a whisper.

"... We won't actually break up, though."

"And why not?"

"Because in about 60 seconds we're going to kiss again and you'll be clinging onto me the entire night."

You snort into a laugh, tilting your head in disbelief. The car slowly comes to a halt as you arrive at the after party where a familiar roar of the crowd awaits to greet you once more. You begin your futile argument yet again.

"I don't see why I would do that."

At such a silly reply, Dazai softens his voice, looking at you like he first did when you both met on set a year ago. A lifetime ago. You're so cute when you're playing dumb. He shrugs, carefree.

"Neither do I, which is why I want to know too. I want to know what you're thinking about, if it's me."

You hate the way he sounds so sincere, like a real boyfriend would if he were trying to convince you you're just as into him as he is into you. Mind games is what it is, or at least you hope so. You really hope so.

You sigh, suddenly over the conversation as you open the car door to begin climbing out. Dazai follows suit and the roar of the crowd makes your chest feel tight as overstimulation takes over. You want to be anywhere but here and you wonder if you're having some sort of panic attack, but it just doesn't feel describable.

You turn wildly, disoriented by the camera flashes and instant fuss of the press, only to be faced by your one and only savior: the omnipotent Osamu Dazai. You don't know what it is about him in that moment, you just glide into his arms and complete the prophecy as you hook your arm with his, taking deep breaths as you finally ground yourself. It feels like the right kind of wrong, and you don't care to question it.

You feel a squeeze and a soft velvety voice whisper to you once again, you don't even have to look at him to know he's as smug as ever. But amongst the teasing, there's affection there too...

"So, am I?"

"Are you what, Osamu?"

"On your mind."

"At this point you're practically a permanent resident."

You hear him hum, a smile still present on his lips, the world simply frozen for him to continue his private conversation with you in public.

"Hmm, remind me to have you repeat that to me later."

This causes you to squeeze his arm back and murmur in genuine curiosity, finally daring to face him. He's already looking right at you, so devilish and angelic at the same time that you can't even look away.

"Why?"

"Because your time's up. 60 seconds, remember? Now come and kiss me already, the camera's are waiting~"

The photos of you two that night were the envy of couples everywhere. If only they knew how the ride back to the hotel went, it would be a scandal! Or simply the next step in your future?

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kathlare · 1 day ago

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stages of success

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: As Lando watches Amelie make her debut on Saturday Night Live from across the Atlantic, he’s overwhelmed with pride and admiration for her. Surrounded by friends, he witnesses her command the stage with confidence and charm, reaffirming the connection and mutual support that binds them despite the physical distance.

Wordcount: 1.5 k

Warnings: fluff, smau

May 18th, 2024 - New York City, NY

The sun was barely up, casting a soft orange glow over the paddock, and Lando Norris sat in front of his hotel room’s television, a cup of coffee cradled between his hands. The faint hum of the early morning buzz of the F1 world surrounded him, but his focus was elsewhere. His eyes were locked onto the screen where, in just a few minutes, the night in New York City would unfold.

Amelie was about to make her Saturday Night Live debut.

Lando shifted uneasily in his seat, barely noticing the burn of his coffee as he sipped. His chest felt tight with nerves—not for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where he’d be racing in just a few hours, but for her. Amelie’s performance was monumental, and he hated being so far away.

The room wasn’t empty, though. Scattered around him were Alex Albon, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc, all lounging in various states of pre-race morning laziness. Charles’s girlfriend, Alexandra, sat curled up on the couch next to him, and their tiny puppy, Leo, lay sprawled on her lap, occasionally wagging his tail as if sensing the tension.

—You good, mate?— George asked from the corner of the room, his feet propped up on a table, his usual smirk softened by genuine curiosity. —You’ve been staring at that screen like you’re the one about to go on stage.—

Lando shot him a look, half-amused and half-nervous.

—She’s never done anything like this before. It’s… a big deal,— Lando mumbled, drumming his fingers against the coffee cup.

Alex chuckled from his spot, leaning against the arm of the couch.

—Amelie? Nervous? Mate, she survived The White Lotus critics and winning an Oscar at twenty. SNL will be a breeze for her.—

Charles nodded in agreement, scrolling through his phone but clearly tuned into the conversation.

—She’s got that confidence,— Charles said, his voice steady. —She’s always had it. You’ve seen it more than any of us.—

Lando’s lips twitched into a smile, the kind that spoke of memories only he and Amelie shared. She did have that confidence—most of the time. But he also knew the vulnerability she rarely let anyone see, the late-night calls where she second-guessed herself, the way her voice wavered when she admitted how much something mattered to her.

The livestream began, and the room fell quiet as the opening monologue started. The camera panned through the iconic SNL stage, and Lando’s heart raced. The others watched with casual interest, but for Lando, this was personal.

—There she is,— Alex said, nudging Lando’s shoulder as Amelie’s name appeared on the screen.

And then, she stepped into the spotlight.

—Bloody hell, she looks stunning,— George muttered, earning a teasing look from Lando.

—Eyes on the screen, Russell,— Lando quipped, unable to hide the pride in his voice.

Amelie launched into her first song, Feather. The opening notes were soft, almost ethereal, and her voice carried through the studio like a gentle wave. But as the tempo picked up, so did her energy. She owned the stage, her every movement purposeful and magnetic. The crowd was hooked, and so was Lando.

—She’s smashing it,— Charles said, his tone more serious now. Even Leo seemed mesmerized, his little ears perking up as Amelie’s voice filled the room.

Lando didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His eyes stayed glued to the screen, a soft smile playing on his lips. He knew she was talented, but watching her like this—on a stage so iconic, so far away from the world they shared—it hit differently.

When Feather ended, the audience erupted in cheers. Amelie laughed, breathless but glowing, and took a moment to thank the crowd before transitioning into her next song.

The song was upbeat, lively, and unapologetically Amelie. She moved across the stage with ease, her energy infectious. The chorus hit, and Lando found himself tapping his foot to the beat, his grin widening as he remembered how she’d written it during their long phone calls last year.

—She’s having so much fun,— Alexandra said, nudging Charles. —You can tell she loves this.—

—She’s brilliant,— Charles agreed, his eyes softening. —You should be proud, Lando.—

—Oh, I am,— Lando said, his voice quiet but steady.

As the performance ended, Amelie blew a kiss to the audience and mouthed a “thank you” before the screen cut to commercial. Lando leaned back in his seat, exhaling a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. His phone buzzed, and he glanced down to see a message from her.

Ames💛: How did I do? Be honest, Norris. I need to know if I can still brag about this later.

Lando couldn’t help but laugh softly. She always managed to mix her charm with that playful cockiness that he adored. Typing quickly, he replied:

Lan🧡: You were incredible. Like, stop-the-world-to-watch kind of incredible. Everyone here agrees. Even Leo.

The broadcast resumed, and Lando leaned forward again as Amelie returned for a short skit. She was hilarious—her timing perfect, her expressions exaggerated just enough to draw out the audience's laughter.

—She’s a natural,— Alexandra said, clapping softly as the skit ended.

—Told you she’d smash it,— Alex added, nudging Lando.

Lando nodded, his chest swelling with pride. This was Amelie in her element, showing the world what he’d always known: that she was extraordinary. As the show wound down, he grabbed his phone again, hesitating for just a moment before hitting the FaceTime button.

It rang twice before Amelie’s face appeared on the screen. She looked radiant, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling with excitement.

—Hey, rockstar,— Lando said, his voice warm.

—Hey, race boy,— Amelie shot back, her grin wide. —So, did I pass?—

—Pass? Ames, you fucking aced it,— Lando said, and the room erupted in cheers behind him. He turned the phone slightly so she could see everyone.

—Amelie! You were amazing!— Alexandra called out, waving.

—Absolutely brilliant,— Charles added, holding up Leo in a mock applause. —Even Leo thinks so.—

—When’s the tour?— George teased, leaning into view.

Amelie laughed, running a hand through her hair. —Thanks, guys. And George, don’t tempt me. I might actually make you come as my roadie.—

Lando watched her with a mix of awe and affection. She was glowing, her confidence radiating through the screen. It was moments like these that made him fall even harder for her, though he’d never admit that out loud—not yet.

—You know,— Lando said, his tone shifting to something softer, —I wish I could’ve been there. Watching it live, in person. I’m so proud of you.—

Amelie’s expression softened, her teasing fading for a moment. —Thanks, Lando. That… means a lot. And I wish you could’ve been here too. But I’ll settle for knowing you were watching.—

—Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,— Lando said. He hesitated, then added with a smirk, —Even if it meant dealing with these clowns all morning.—

—Oi!— Alex protested, but the room dissolved into laughter.

Amelie smiled, her gaze lingering on Lando through the screen. —Well, you’ve got a big day ahead, so don’t let me keep you. Go kick some ass on the track for me, alright?—

—Only if you promise to go to bed and actually rest, rockstar,— Lando replied.

—Deal,— she said, blowing him a kiss through the screen.

—You’re amazing, Ames,— Lando said softly, the others fading into the background as he focused solely on her.

—So are you, Norris. Now go be great. Talk soon?—

—Always,— he replied, and with a final smile, the call ended.

Lando set his phone down, his heart lighter despite the weight of race day looming ahead. For now, though, he let himself bask in the glow of Amelie’s success, knowing that no matter how far apart they were, they’d always find their way back to each other.

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

liked by taylorswift, georgerussell63, and others

ameliedayman: my first time on SNL!!! @nbcsnl and the season finale!!! Thank you Lorne 🤍 thank you Brian, the genius cast, writers and crew for being so welcoming. thank you to my whole crew for your endless talent!!!

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landonorris: FIRST

landonorris: You killed it, babe. No surprise there. 😏🔥 → ameliedayman: @landonorris Gotta make sure I make you proud. 😉💋

fan1: I can’t even handle how effortlessly amazing she is. This is her moment. 🔥 → fan2: @fan1 Honestly, she just dropped an iconic moment and I’m living for it. 😩

michaelronda: SNL nunca estuvo tan cool. Te lo digo. 🔥 → ameliedayman: @michaelronda ¡Gracias! Ojalá hubiera visto mi cara al entrar. 😆

francisca.cgomez: That energy is unmatched. So proud of you. ❤️ → ameliedayman: @franciscacgomez You’re making me cry. Love you, chica. 🥺

stelladayman: They better have given you a standing ovation, sis. 👏 → ameliedayman: @stelladayman They did, I was lowkey crying backstage. 🥲

aaliyahmendes: First SNL and crushing it? You’re an icon. 💫 → ameliedayman: @aaliyahmendes Thank you, babe. I’ve been waiting for this moment. 😏

fan5: I wish I could be that confident on stage, but then again, who can be? She’s unreal.

fan9: This is her era. I can’t even. 🙌

emiliamernes: Esta actuación en SNL es historia, ¿sabías? ¡Te amo! 😍 → ameliedayman: @emiliamernes ¡Te amo también! Te espero pronto. 😘

taylorswift: First SNL, and you already owned it. So proud of you, girl. 💖 → ameliedayman: @taylorswift If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have taken the stage in the first place. 💘

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asktheritochampion · 13 hours ago

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Fit check?

Well I can't blame you for being curious. I am rather a fashion icon after all. Not to brag, but my closet contains a whole two outfits - one more than most people.

For my typical day to day wear I go with a classic. Perfect for suprise attacks and presenting oneself accordingly as an undefeated warrior, but also containing removable elements for comfort during down time.

Then for more formal affairs I break out my snazzier garb. A true Champion should never be shown up at a party. Unfortunatly I simply cannot wear this 'fit' in Rito Village because it's so risqué that I become just too gorgeous and irrisistable to other Rito and the poor fools start tripping over their own talons trying to get me to look their way. However, it is perfect for showing up the other Champions at galas and formal dinners in Hyrule Castle.

#revali #age of calamity #breath of the wild #legends of zelda #tears of the kingdom #rito #rito village

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sporesgalaxy · 1 day ago

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You already know who Sherlock Holmes is. He's one of the most famous characters in all of western canon. He was in dozens and dozens and dozens of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1891 to 1927. He's a pop culturally important icon and a foundational figure in the Crime and Mystery genres of fiction that have continued all the way to the present day. The character has been adapted and reimagined and referenced more than any other fictional character, except of course for Jesus Christ (I'M SO EDGY). The character is so instantly recognizable that if you strap a hat and coat and pipe onto a teddy bear and put it in the window of your shop, people will come in asking how many thousands of pounds they can give you for the Sherlock bear.

(Three. Three thousands of pounds.)

memorizing tbe first half of big bill hell

#adddna #fursona friday #fursona

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urlocaldesertdweller · 18 hours ago

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Hi hi !!!

Hope you’re doing well. Being loving your writing lately. 💞 keep up the amazing work !!

If you’re taking any requests. Could I please ask for a part 2 for Sentinel x Racer reader. I really liked the idea. Especially how you wrote it from an almost canon perspective of how it started from him just being irked that we were as popular as him lol 😂 It’d be cool to see how you continue the idea with maybe even Orion and D-16 in there.

Of course there’s no rush or pressure. Take care and I hope you keep doing what you love.

-anon

Tf1! Sentinel Prime x Cybertronain racer! Reader

THANK YOUUU!!<333333 for the compliments and ideas of my older stuff!!

(sentinel being possessive, daresay yandere, manipulation i think?)

As we know and knew, Sentinel loves to think of himself much higher than most other bots in comparison. He is a Prime after all!

However you became an exception.

An exception that would be way more special to Sentinel than he’d like to admit.

Although we know he likes to do subtle touches in public. He prefers to keep the relationship outside of business, he claims it just makes things messy for both of you. Considering you are both still highly beloved icons.

Another part of him is to protect you, when an enemy of sorts would use someone close to him to get him in a weak spot but he’ll rather die than admit he is afraid butttttt.

The media in public is so entertaining to the two of you when they talk about this “odd friendship” between The Sentinel Prime and Iacon’s best racer. A good chuckle can be shared when they describe it as nearly a mentor and trainee thing going on.

Going back to the difference of him in public and in more private quarters.

Of course the high and mighty Prime ego never falters. Its mainly the affection from touches and words coming from his lips.

The transition can be overall sudden at the very least. From being the very casual friendly Prime façade he uses for nearly everyone below him, to him sweet talking you. At times it almost feels like Sentinel is trying to drag you away from post race interviews just so he can lay his servos on you.

He almost seems pent up at times. Desperate is a word he hates but it makes things so much more interesting! Although he feels rather dominant in this odd relationship, you know some of his own weaknesses.

Whenever he leaves to “fight and fend off the quintessons, and retrieve the Matrix of Leadership” you found a very consistent pattern of him being nearly weak in the knees for you when he returns.

Tried of keeping this act up for all of Iacon. All he wants to do is rest in your arms, seeing you, hearing you, feeling you. And there you’ll sit awaiting for him, for him to rest his helm on your lap. (Totally thinking about the Jayce and Mel pose from Arcane season 2, episode 1)

Needless to say you have a very special and deep connection, where Sentinel can get to a level of weakness to you and only you. You cant help but find some power within that.

At times you can toy with him, denying your sweet love and affection. When he’s tired hell whine and beg, which is very rare. When he’s not? He’ll only tolerate so much before he’ll take you in his servos himself. Reminding you who has the power in this relationship.

When he is present in Iacon he’ll try to attend everything that you are involved in, races, trainings, interviews, meetings, speeches. Though he’ll be very supportive of your racing career, he doesn’t want the public to see a pattern.

But his support can go a little too far..

At times he still intentionally rigged a race or two just to see his lover win yet another race. From adding sudden obstacles that trigger just for the other competitors, to allowing short cuts just for you<3

If you eventually catch him he’ll try very hard to appear that he never did such a thing! From the innocent optics and gentle calm voice. He loves watching you get feisty at times. It’s what made you so interesting to him.

Speaking of your racing career, of course you have tons of fans. Dare to say you have nearly an equal amount of fans compared to Sentinel! It was one of the other reasons Sentinel wanted you.

Of course some of these fans were none other than Orion Pax and D-16. A pair of miners that get excited just like that rest when you are available to have one on one times with your fans!

Somehow through Orion’s tricky trouble making and dragging D-16 through it all. They seemingly managed to see you last minute out of breath and nearly caught by other bots, Darkwing.

You couldn’t help it! They were so charming that you stopped Darkwing from getting rid of them. To which he stomps off grumbling “miners.” under hist breath.

Orion was extremely thankful that you were even kinder in person! And D-16 was in shock from the whole entire thing alone. With each a firm and warm handshake, they both admired the action of being touched by the best Iacon racer ever.

Their compliments and praise seemed to be never ending. Even after to tried to make room for causal conversation. You couldn’t help but feel a bit of flirt from Orion? Honestly it didn’t get to you though, you are nearly always flirted by your fans. Which for along time you knew how to not let it easily get to you.

Orion and D were an adorable pair, their wonderful personalities made you smile and laugh. In fact the whole deal made you stay overtime, but it was worth it to the very end.

By the time you return to your shared private quarters with Sentinel he looks less than amused.

Turns out Darkwing snitched on you, told Sentinel that some “cog-less miners” were keeping you on overtime with your schedule one on one times with the common bots of Iacon.

Sentinel looked of a mix of emotions to say less.

But you knew right then and there it was less about the cog-less miners and more about the flirting. Since Sentinel was already pretty possessive alone with the relationship between you and your fans.

You’d try to make light of it, saying it was only just some quick praise with two fans. Then Sentinel would take your wrist in his servos tightly and pull you close.

Sentinel would scold you, as he wraps his other servo around your frame enclosing you within a cage of him.

He says this is only for him to “protect” you. Though you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself. And no more one on one times unless he is there to watch you closely.

His once tight servos lets go to cradle your fave plate lovingly. He stand to guide you to your shared resting quarters. His servos forever attached somewhere on to you, like a leash you never knew you wore.

#yandere transformers #transformers one x reader #transformers x reader #tranformers #tfo sentinel prime x reader #tfone sentinel #tfo sentinel prime #sentinel x reader #sentinel prime x reader #why am i attracted to robots #robot x reader #hot robots #tf one x reader

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bloomeng · 2 days ago

Note

dick wasn't really flirty when he was white

I agree that Devin Grayson’s time writing him amped him up several notches but it didn’t come from nowhere either.

One thing I want to acknowledge is that Dick didn’t just suddenly become a non-white character after Grayson introduced that, for many writers at the time this was another piece of canon that went ignored. For instance in the 2008 Titans run (not written by Grayson but is post 1996 run that she did write for) I don’t remember them ever mentioning his heritage but he’s treated as a white character as far as I can tell and yet he’s still flirty… not that I personally like this version of him.

But to not split hairs I’m going to look at the 80’s version of him.

So starting off Nightwing has always been drawn as a sexy character who women want. Most super suits tend to be skin tight but the “discowing” look from 1984 that he was first introduced in also has that iconic V-neckline. Even when it’s changed later I always got the impression they were trying to aim for someone who felt trendy. I mean his girlfriend is literally a model and a princess. He’s supposed to be this cool attractive dude.

Then there’s the fact that DC has been fighting the Dick Grayson gay allegations for years because while he was Robin parents were concerned that his relationship to Batman was too…. well. Anyway if I’m not mistaken that’s why they ended up making Robin younger and Batman’s ward so as to combat that. But they still to this day try to constantly pair him off with women and it’s a huge focus of his character. See while Jason and Tim have also had multiple female love interests the writers often have a hard time selling that they really care about the romantic relationships in their lives. With the exception of Tim and Steph their stories don’t revolve around their romantic interests as much. Versus Dick who is constantly shown to be interacting with women. His relationships— romantic or platonic— just tend to be richer. He appears to be a very tactile person which isn’t necessarily flirtation but it definitely lends itself to that. (Dw I’m not implying that he’s flirting with Donna here)

It’s intentional that they make him have these conversations with Kory while naked in bed. They really need you to know that Dick fucks. Nothing they’re saying here is inherently flirty but the way things are staged lends an impression. And even when he doesn’t have agency the writers are still inventing ways for him to kiss women.

The point is he’s a bit of a sex symbol. But that’s just the context.

Flirting doesn’t have to be over the top or hypersexual. Dick isn’t out here using pick up lines or anything, but we got to see a lot of his relationship with Kory and they are sickeningly sweet. They profess their love to each other frequently. They use pet names. They’re shown generally being in love. And just because that flirting is happening in the context of a committed relationship doesn’t make it not flirting.

Anyway 🤷‍♀️ hope this made some sense. I don’t thinks he’s a casanova type character but the flirting is present.

#dc #asks #txt

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lairofsentinel · 1 day ago

Text

Info compilation of Lucanis Dellamorte (part 1)

Warning: I’m using the incorrect lore that this game has since it is the one that they built the game upon. Inconsistent things such as “The Lighthouse is in the Fade” or “Mind imprisonment” nonsense are not dismissed during this compilation even though they are strongly questionable.

Unfortunately, Lucanis character has a lot of issues in his writing; sometimes conversations feel like they were written by three different persons and the game ends up with a frankenstein dialogue which can be barely followed, and one needs to fill in the gaps to keep it somehow cohesive and coherent. Besides, there are several times where he suffers narrative inconsistency: he says something that gets contradicted mid-game without being part of his “development”, if he has any.

Also, I apologise in advance for my bitterness that sometimes spills into the text like the Blight when it comes to the murder of the Lore that Veilguard has done to the DA world.

The current post has the following sections [bold ones]:

Approvals and disapprovals

Body Language

Eyes

Why the pantry?

High focus, cool head, and professionalism

Food and cooking

Mage-killer specialisation and previous jobs

Death and Life

Crows and Family

Spite and Possession

Sleep and Coffee

Flirt and Romance

Lucanis’ Logbook

Others

Info compilation: Part 1 || Part 2

[this post will be likely updated briefly after I do a playthrough without saving Treviso in case additional information is shown, but probably won't be much]

Approvals and disapprovals

He mostly approves the “determined” and “focused” options [punch/armoured icon] which align with his personality: no giving up, focus on the goal ahead, and enduring the rough consequences. He tends to favour a resolute, blunt approach to problems instead of a diplomatic one. He also approves hard criticism with cold facts, instead of “therapist talks”. However, when it comes to family and loss, a sympathetic approach is approved, showing he is not 100% cold and facts. There is room for kindness, especially among the people he considers “family”.

In some of the approval situations, we find that approaching Lucanis with the stern/aggressive option to his failure in killing Ghilan'nain earns us approval, showing us, potentially, a glance into the treatment Lucanis endured under Caterina.

He disapproves in few instances [like all companions in this game], one of them includes humiliation in front of the Crows [Biding Farewell] that can be understood as a break in the trust he put on Rook to ask them to come with him in order to keep Spite in check in case he gets out of control. Taking a diplomatic approach when the situation requires immediate action is also another way to earn his disapproval [Option of convincing the First Warden].

Body Language

His body language is always tense and awkward. When he starts to talk to Rook, there is a soft swing of his shoulders, as if he were not sure what to do with his arms or hands, then he stays standing in a very rigid way, hands most of the time closed in fists.

When he is outside the pantry, we can see he remains in this tense position and only sometimes we caught him rotating his shoulders and head, showing how much tension he is always carrying [this also can be reinforced, despite being a joke, with the dialogue that Lucanis and Davrin share about his sudden possession being a tension in his shoulders].

Another position in which we often find him is with his arms crossed when drinking coffee, which tends to be understood in body-language design as a self-defence/protective position/wary position. Again, a position that shows his constant alert state.

The only position we see him do with some confidence without much tension leaking into it is the one leaning against the wall, usually done when he is thinking about something. However, even in that position, we see he is trying to release tension from his neck.

In summary, his body language is a reflection of what we learnt in the story The Wigmaker job: Caterina’s training was focused on punishing him with her cane every time he let his guard down [or made a mistake in his footwork]. Now he has been conditioned to the point of being unable to relax.

Eyes

Most of the time, he speaks with a soft frown, and intense eyes locked into the interlocutor. When he is not in a conversation, his eyes tend to be deadpan, emotionless, and there is an intention in their design to try to convey discomfort due to their intensity. This is an attempt to recreate his gaze as described in Tevinter Nights: “As they [Illario and Lucanis] walked through the crowd, he [Illario] basked in the appreciative glances he received, while Lucanis stared ahead, focused and intense. He was the kind of man you couldn’t look away from—until he looked at you.”

When talking about work and plans, his eyes get locked in this intense, menacing look. Only when the conversation shifts to personal matters, to things that may hint some level of vulnerability [family or loss] or shame [possession], he lowers his sight or looks aside from time to time.

This pattern is broken once there is some comfort with the person he speaks to and his eyes stay fixed on the interlocutor, or let him see them with his most soft, relaxed looks [Harding’s coffee scene, and Rook’s scenes].

Why the pantry?

He is evasive when explaining why he picked the pantry as his room. Rook-Lucanis banter makes it imply that it is a good place to choke everyone who wants to attack him. Taash-Lucanis banter suggests that Taash perceived the real reason: he “hides” in the pantry to avoid the excess of “Fade” from the rest of the Lighthouse. In Harding’s banter he says “it’s easy to trap Spite, and there are snacks. And no view of the Fade.” So this seems to confirm Taash’s suspicion. We get the idea that the common, main reason why he prefers this place is because it “keeps the Fade away” a bit, and probably makes the symptoms in his eyes less prominent. If we find him outside, close to the stairs, he will claim that the back of his eyes are itchy.

Another interpretation is related to his imprisoned mind [Inner Demon]. Another potential way to understand his insistence in remaining in the pantry belongs to the coping mechanism he chose to use to process his traumatic experience of capture and possession: he remains in a cell-like environment because it brings him the comfort that he would be more contained and would not hurt unnecessarily the people he cares about [Rook, the team]. However, his situation in the pantry does not change once Rook helps him in processing this trauma, so I’m inclined to think it’s more a Fade-related cause than a coping mechanism of his recovery from the horrors of the Ossuary.

It’s also important to highlight that in his Logbooks we learn he has some mixed feelings with the sense of time that the Lighthouse gives, and seems to compare it with the timeless sense of the Ossuary. It’s clear that not having a cycle of day-night in this place makes him as uncomfortable as he was in his prison, and that may be another reason why he is in the pantry, which has no windows [so he can’t see that the day-night cycle doesn’t exist].

High focus, cool head, and professionalism

Lucanis is presented as a character who over-analyzes situations to have the perfect outcome. This is part of his professionalism. It is also what helps him focus even when he is dealing with personal issues as his new condition as an abomination. His personality seems to be more than adequate for feeding a Determination spirit, which twisted becomes into Spite. Spite mostly in the sense of “doing things/keep on doing things out of spite”. His whole arc is based on this concept of Spite: resisting, enduring, and keep working despite all the obstacles, in a “harmful” way [which is granted automatically by his profession as an assassin].

He endured Caterina’s training, and the Ossuary, because he wanted to live. There is a stubbornness in him for living, no matter the cost, and hence why he struck a deal with Spite in the Ossuary so he could not be used by him as a cocoon.

In terms of lore, if we assume this game kept any [very bold of me to think so], it would imply that Spite is comfortable in this host because Lucanis keeps feeding him the emotion that is his nature. And not only that: Lucanis’ determination also could potentially feed the “original” emotion that Spite was. It’s hard to know if this was originally a hint for a future transformation of the demon back to his spirit form [as we saw with Cole in Asunder, or with Solas’ friend in his personal quest in DAI]. So, determination and high focus with a high threshold to endure adversity are traits quite clear for his character.

His cool head is also shown when he discovers that Caterina was killed. His first reaction is “I need to work, I need a target”. This shows not only his high-focus personality, but also the state in which he has been during all that year in the Ossuary: he survived because he shut down his mind and emotions, and focused on a goal: escape” [Davrin-Lucanis banter]. Now he is doing the same, but with work, so he can avenge Caterina’s death.

He doesn’t dwell on his mistakes, but analyses them [Harding-Lucanis banter]. The high focus and cool-head trait is also present in the way he approves several options related to not wasting time on trivial things and focus on the target ahead. Questioning flawed logical sentences also earn his approval [Coffee with the Crows], reinforcing his taste for analysis and logical thinking. He does not accept being called paranoid for being logical. [Coffee with the Crows].

Another instance where we see his exhaustive focus is during Caterina’s funeral [Bidding Farewell] where Lucanis asks Illario in an intense way more than 10 questions, extremely focused on how Caterina was killed. This shows some level of emotion in him, but also this control-obsession personality of his: he is already working to find the target, to avenge Caterina. As his logic continues he claims that since the First Talon was the sharpest of all the Crows, it was impossible to catch her unaware, the reason why her death makes even less sense [Bidding Farewell]. This attitude also reinforces the idea said above about how relentless he becomes when he has a target and a clear goal [he goes on out of spite]. I think part of the writing in this aspect, so “obsessive” may have been reused from his original design: he was meant to struggle with a spirit of Passion turned into a demon of Obsession, but it did not make it into the game [Game file description of Spite]. This is also, potentially, one of the sources of so many narrative inconsistencies, I assume.

Professionalism is a constant in his character and may have been the main wall to break in order to approach him had he been written as a real Bioware character. It’s not only the cool-headed and high-focus personality, it’s also his insistence in seeing things devoid of emotions as much as possible, translating all into contracts, finances, or fair exchanges. Things must be done with logic in it and a lot of professionalism. He claims that he owes Rook for rescuing him, so the reasons to accept this contract with Rook is not just the last contract ever given by Caterina to him [sentimental reason], it’s also a personal debt he feels he has to pay out of professionalism [logical reason, it’s a mere exchange: he has to do his expertise of killing mages to justify the ordeal of having been rescued].

He encourages to delegate tasks that are not of his expertise to other professionals. This may be a reason why he has a contract negotiator who keeps track of the ratings of his work and other aspects [Bellara and Neve banter]. He always agrees and approves of Rook letting experts do their job [perfectly following Taash’s explanations in how to hunt dragons], showing how much he values professionalism and specialised expertise not only for himself.

We see more of this aspect of self-control in Bloodbath, where he faces Zara. Spite is taking control of his body as he wants revenge, but Lucanis stops the process when Zara offers to give the name of the traitor Crow. The control lasts until Illario appears and kills his target, making Spite impossible to control. However, even in that state of rage, an aspect of Lucanis can surface to ask Rook for help and prevent him from killing Illario. That is a testament of his strong will, his focus, and his sentimentalism as well: he fears deeply to release a demon that can kill the people he cares about.

Food and cooking

He [and Bellara] are the main cooks of the group. They dismiss Harding’s [lack of] cooking skills. [Lucanis-Bellara banter]

Lucanis loved Cioccolata calda as a child, and “grilled treviso with citrus bagna cauda” as he was growing up. [Personal quest and Lucanis-Bellara banter]

He learnt to cook when he was a boy, helping the kitchen staff of the Villa. It kept him entertained between Caterina’s training, but his main goal was to learn how to make churros [Emmrich-Lucanis banter].

His care for the people he loves is partially shown through his food and in how thoughtful he is with what everyone eats/drinks. [Whole game]

Lucanis has a strong rejection of tea [Coffee with the Crows quest] and claims that he doesn’t require the comfort that tea offers. He requires the “jolt of wakefulness from a brew as bitter as a year in bondage beneath the waves” [Harding-Lucanis banter, before Inner Demon]

Food is one of his care languages, as well as his apologising one. The more he cares for someone, the more he focuses on their preferences and tastes. He also keeps track of every detail of the group: in his quest to do shopping, he picks a potted plant that prevents bad dreams for Harding, seafood special for Bellara who wants to try Dalish dishes, a bone for Assan to chew on, fine glassware for Emmrich, and fresh fruit for Neve. He only does not give anything special to Davrin nor Rook [lol, narrative inconsistencies]

Mage-killer specialisation and previous jobs

He was called Demon of Vyrantium before the possession. This reputation made him famous among the Shadow Dragons due to his expertise in killing Venatori. His services as Demon of Vyrantium are very expensive [Neve-Lucanis Banter]. He suspects that it was Viago who started the title in the Tevinter news sheets and it simply stuck [Emmerich-Lucanis banter with Crow Rook].

He has a high focus on being professional. He wants to get the job done, clean, and complete without caring about the “manners” [Davrin-Lucanis banter]. He claims that Caterina taught him to work in this way, since he makes a difference between completing a job and doing a job well, something that Illario never understood. This is reinforced in some codices when Lucanis killings have a clear professional touch, while Illario’s are a bit more “extra” or “show-off” [Imperium Secret: A Fortunate Heir ].

He ended up specialising in killing mages due to Caterina’s decision of targeting new markets. In the South, mages have no power, so there are no contracts for them, but in the North, they have status and therefore, enemies. He claims that the mages in Nevarra are especially dangerous because “Fireballs are not a threat like coin in political pull” [Emmrich-Lucanis banter]

He repeats that there is a difference between murder and assassination. Murderers, in his perspective, are hobbyists and they are not paid.

There is no secret technique to kill mages: “be fast, strike hard, and stay out of sight”, and if it doesn’t work, “piss them off” so the demon will eat them [Harding-Lucanis banter]. Lucanis claims that his technique to go after most targets, specially mages, is similar to Taash’s technique of hunting dragons: create a distraction, hinder their escape, hurt them to break their concentration, and finish them off. He adds that it’s like a dance, or a seduction [although he is not sure about the latter] [Taash-Lucanis banter]

He can put himself in his target’s shoes more out of practicality [to better track them down] than sympathy. [Emmrich-Lucanis banter]

Lucanis doesn’t like necromancy, partially because of his experiences with the Venatori, but also because it complicates his work [Emmrich-Lucanis banter]. There were contracts that needed to be rearranged when the target was killed and later reanimated [Neve-Lucanis banter].

He has taken other contracts that do not involve mages. He claims that he never killed an innocent, by his count [Emmrich-Lucanis banter] but he is aware that his count may differ from others’.

Lucanis has a particular vision of his profession that mitigates moral conflict: he claims that “death comes to everyone, in time. He is just paid to deliver it quickly”. [Emmrich-Lucanis banter] This argument was exactly the same one used by Zevran in DAO.

Lucanis is evasive when asked how he decides when a target deserves to die. He claims that the target has to have “merit”, usually decided by the Talon of the house. He thinks that killing meritorious targets is “providing a service”. If the target doesn’t deserve to die, he still insists on seeing his job as a way to speed up the natural process of death [Davrin-Lucanis banter], returning to the previous argument in the item above.

Despite claiming to never fail a contract in many of his scenes, Lucanis narrates two episodes where he decided not to kill the target and, by extension, break the contract [narrative inconsistency]: “Once, a target killed an important politician and went on the run. The family wanted retribution” but he let her live. “She was a servant, and the politician had been beating her. So the servant returned the favour”. The other case was a teenager of 14 y/o who robbed and poisoned a man. Lucanis claims he “doesn’t kill that young since there is still time for them to change”. [Davrin-Lucanis banter]. The first episode brings the Lucanis we saw in The Wigmaker Job to our mind: he supports revenge from victims of any kind of abuse, and maybe this interpretation allows to give room to the concept of Spite and how comfortable he may be in this host that supports this kind of emotion. In the end, these inconsistencies make us feel the character was written by several people and never truly synthesised.

Lucanis knows quite a lot about Grey Wardens because he had contracts with them, specially with Wardens that, fearing the Calling, hired him to kill them. [Davrin-Lucanis banter]

He has a contract negotiator that he keeps offering to Bellara and Neve [Bellara/Neve-Lucanis banter]

Another aspect of his love/care language is by promising to kill all those that endanger the people he cares about without the need of a contract involved since “it is on the house” [several banters].

Death and Life

He sees death as a place of rest and oblivion: “Everything dies. People, cities, empires. Fashions. Your favourite song. Things fade and are forgotten. Why would you want to outlast what you love? It sounds like a terrible fate” [Emmrich-Lucanis banter].

He has normalised the concept of death that he is not affected by it, or at least not in the same way that normal people do. After narrating how he lost most of his family during a Crow war for the First Talon title, Bellara apologises for asking about Lucanis’ family. However, Lucanis answers with a cold response: apologies and sympathy are not needed, “if anyone knows that people die, it is an assassin” [Bellara-Lucanis banter].

We can also see that these small pieces of information about death gives us an idea why in his romance [despite being poorly written] he claims that “all what he knows is death”, and there is an implicit meaning in it: he knows that all what he can hold dear will die eventually, and all his life is made of loss and death. His family’s business is Death as well. Hence the fear of losing Rook, because there is a certainty in it. Eventually it will happen. However, this attitude is fought against with his trait of relentlessness, of not giving up: he will spread death to others in order to prevent Rook’s death [I know the scene doesn’t convey this truly, but it is what I think it tried to imply, specially if put in contrast with the others in which Lucanis speaks about killing the enemies of Rook to keep them safe].

Despite being so involved with death, Lucanis still reaches for life: it is his desire for life, for survival, what kept him alive in the Ossuary and willingly to make a deal with Spite. No matter the cost, he wants to live. He appreciates the simple moments which he considers worth fighting for. He believes that “one has to live fully to live truly”, but he acknowledges the irony of that sentence when it comes to his life: always determined by Caterina and the expectations of the Crow. However, after asking him if maybe the Ossuary shifted his perspective to look for change, he claims that what matters the most for him is the people he is with [Coffee with the Crows]. This shows that despite having a desire to “live fully and truly”, Lucanis always chooses to stay with the people he considers “family” because at the end of the day it is what matters for him. Unfortunately, this is what the game tells us. In The Wigmaker Job, I think we can suspect hints of need for change in his character, but these were never developed in the game.

Crows and Family

Lucanis’ mother died when he was young, during the war of succession among the Crows. All his family died with the exception of Caterina, Illario, and him [Inner Demon quest]. He was raised by Caterina alongside with Illario [Taash-Lucanis banter].All his family memebers were Crow and he claims that “Death is the Dellamorte family business” [Bellara-Lucanis banter]. However, he claims that the responsible ones for his family's death have been “ash and dust” for years, so his family must have been avenged, I assume by Caterina. [Bellara-Lucanis banter]

He describes Caterina as intense, hard to live up to her expectations. He knows she is proud of him but also knows she will not show it [Taash-Lucanis banter]. He says it was hard to be close to Caterina, even for him who is her favourite, due to his pleasing-behaviour most likely. Teia confesses that Caterina claimed that Lucanis “could do no wrong” [Bidding Farewell] which Lucanis dismisses, claiming that it’s easy to look good compared to his cousin.

When Rook gives a wyvern-tooth dagger to Lucanis, he claims that Caterina did not allow him to have one [why? It was a dagger after all, and Caterina was teaching him to be an assassin. More narrative inconsistencies]

Lucanis assures us that his grandmother lived an exciting life: she killed a man with a thimble. [Harding-Lucanis banter]

He calls Illario his cousin but he sees him more like a brother and his only friend until Rook appears in his life [Personal quest]. He and Illario were taken in when they lost their parents, and were submitted to Caterina’s training, which is described as “torture”, but despite resenting her when Lucanis was younger, he does not do it anymore [Personal quest]. I suspect this is because Caterina gave him the tools to survive the unforgivable, rough life of a Crow. Because her family was weak and not prepared, they were wiped out by the Velardo House. She must have decided to save the little that remained of her family through punishing, tortuous training, teaching Lucanis in particular to never let their guard down. We know via The Wigmaker Job that she hit Lucanis’ back with her cane every time he messed his footwork or let his guard down, keeping in him a conditioned reaction of a tingling sensation on his back and a personality that prevents him from relaxing. The abuse of Caterina was undeniable, but it was a “Crow” care language, twisted as crow life is: they had to become resilient survivors if they did not want to end up dead as well.

He claims he knew he was going to be a Crow when he was young. And he wanted to be one “most of the time” [Neve-Lucanis banter].

His training as a Crow involves “acrobatic work from the time they are children. It’s brutal and punishing”. [Taash-Lucanis banter]

Lucanis cares about Ilario despite knowing he “is impulsive and has his head in the clouds”. Lucanis had to keep him out of trouble more often than not, but “he always stood by Lucanis through his own”. [Pantry banter].

He narrates briefly 2 anecdotes with Illario: 1) He spent 4 hours in the market with Illario once looking for silk gloves to impress a woman that Illario was interested in [Shopping quest]. 2) In the quest “The price of the past”, there is a blighted wreckage ship in the sea, which triggers a short narration where he claims that, putting aside the blight, such a sight is how he ended up after a sailing day with Illario.

He confirms that regular Antivan afternoons are about “danger, intrigue and family drama” [Bellara-Lucanis banter]. Talking things in his family is about waiting for a public event, for example, Caterina’s birthday, and making a scandal that ends up with Viago and Teia soothing the situation by force or poison [Harding-Lucanis banter].

When it comes to family, he has a pleasing-focused behaviour [“he wants to make happy everyone around him”], trying to agree with his family members, hence why he follows all the expectations that Caterina put on him, and has low conflict with Illario [until his personal quest goes on], Teia, and Viago. He is a mirror of the pleasing-focused behaviour that Harding has [Harding-Lucanis banter and scene of coffee with Harding]. This is a potential explanation of his low conflict behaviour in the team [but we all agree it’s mostly the general sanitised, bad writing of the game].

Lucanis claims that from the dozen Crow houses, he would only recommend five [Emmrich-Lucanis banter].

Most house leaders are family by blood or adoption. The rest of the houses “recruit” people from armies or trades. And sometimes, promising Crows are poached by other houses. “Stay with a house long enough and you will get the family name”. [Bellara-Lucanis banter] [we all know the lore of the Crows is a lot darker than this, but this is Disney DAV]

He teaches Taash how to “kill with flair”, showing that the line “the Crows send their regards” is intimidating enough to let others think that their target’s death meant nothing. The line has to have manners too so the contrast accentuates the effect. The goal of the clever line is to unnerve the enemy, so they don’t swarm the Crow when they are still vulnerable after the strike. [Taash-Lucanis]

He asks if Divine Victoria is dangerous, explaining that the Crows have a lot of contracts for her [Harding-Lucanis banter] which shows how he is always low-key gathering information for future jobs.

#lucanis dellamorte #I mean... whatever... I dont even know how i managed to write so much with so little and so badly written #it is what it is #dragon age spoilers

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vigilskeep · 2 days ago

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Well to be fair I think that just under Antiva Enjoyer you’re Dwarf Fan Forever. and then just under that is Dragon Age Awakening Lover. so all of your pfps and usernames fit well

im very critical of whether my urls & icons are Honest Advertising. this is something i care a lot about for absolutely no reason and a standard i hold literally no-one else to. i actually switched out of zevsurana because i was doing alisurana posting for a bit and i could not bear the evidence of my disloyalty. my original original url before even zevsurana was shaperate and i gave that up because i didnt dwarfpost at all early on. you can’t be shaperate and not dwarfpost!

i just don’t know if i’m enough of an awakening lover to keep going by vigilskeep. of course, i love awakening, i have taste. but i’ve literally only played it the whole way through once. and, oh my god, i just realised i’ve never actually completed a dragon age game playing a dwarf. what is wrong with me. talisa fix me. but my point is that my heart HAS proven its loyalty is ultimately with zevran/surana in a way it rarely is truly dedicated to something

vigilskeep is a better url in itself i think. on the other hand zevsurana is my True & Classic Self and i sense many of my beloved mutuals do want the zevsurana era back jgsjsjskks

arguably a veilguard url is the most honest advertising right now considering the state of this blog but thats FAR too much change AGAIN and also im not hunting one of those down when all the good ones will have been snapped up. no way i’m getting a good crow one in this economy

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thegardenview · 3 days ago

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TWISTED ROSEMARY WHEN?

*hypnotizes you with my big ol eyes*

oooh you want to show us twisted rosemaryyyyyy.....

twisted rosemary!

ive been hypnotized... u can have him... tehe look at him DO NOT LOOK AT HIM look at him goooo

he's an ass to deal mechanically + balance wise <3 BAHA honestly would NOT function specially on roblox AT ALL but i like to jus have fun :) i need to finish this badly too...

what i imagined mechanically for how he works below the cut!

The Fatal Beauty introduces himself by appearing infront of the Elevator, welcoming the Toons and then covering most of the Floor's walls, floorings and ceilings with thorned vines and roses; while also making the Floor become darker. The vines will stay in motion and occasionally block paths, items or Machines. He will then wander around the map dancing, with a spotlight on him.

Every 2 minutes, he will use Cupid's Arrow: he will start targeting Toons with his bow, signaled by a white target icon flashing above everyone's head and briefly turning into a red target on the Toon he will actually target. This Toon has 4 seconds to get out of the arrows way, by either breaking Line of Sight (as if running from a Twisted on that particular room) or getting behind another Toon (which will then be targeted), or else they will get the "Heart Taken" Effect and immediately start walking in his direction. Other Toons have 9s to take their ally out of this state by doing a 6s quick-time-event on them, or else they will join the Beauty's dance permanently, effectively killing the Toon until Panic Mode. If the Taken Toon ever walks into his spotlight (as in, reaching him just by walking) while their allies try to help them, they will also immediately join the dance. If all Toons on the Floor get taken into the dance, they lose the run.

Looking at him or walking into the spotlight for more than 4s, walking into the vines, trying to get a blocked item or trying to do a blocked Machine will immediately make a Toon his target. The Toons that joined his dance will actually dance by his side, until Panic Time comes around; when all Machines are completed, he will let a raging shriek and essentially force a Blackout where all previously taken Toons are then released. He will be static in the same place, and the Toons will have 7s to run until he starts a chase; he knows where every Toon is, and will chase them until they get into the Elevator. A hit from him will give an instant death. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN.

#oc rosemary #dandy's world #dandys world #dandys world roblox #roblox dandys world #dandy's world roblox #roblox dandy's world #dandys world oc #dandys world oc art #dandy's world oc #dandy's world oc art #thegarden art

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stormbreaker101 · 3 days ago

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W101's Advanced Combat 102: School Identity and The Roshambo

Over the past few years, Wizard101 has been trying to add more variety to gameplay by introducing Advanced Combat, which focuses less on raw damage and more on hanging effects, the additional ‘things’ that can be present in battle.

In a previous post, I went over each hanging effect and their symbol, as an intro to reading spells. This post will dive further into the inner workings of Advanced Combat's logic. It's somewhat of a tangent from the topic of learning how to read the spells, but I believe it's a necessary one. Simply reading spells is one thing; understanding why they work the way they do is another, and far more important in my opinion.

School Identity

In Advanced Combat, each school is represented by a hanging effect, except for Balance, because Balance is All Things. As such, when we talk about schools interacting with other schools (via synergy or countering), what's really happening is that the spells are interacting with the hanging effects associated with other schools.

This graphic is provided in-game by the prequest, and it is a higher-res and less comprehensive version of the post I made earlier.

Each school's representative hanging effect is based partly on its previous identities, the ways each school worked before.

Fire's hanging effect is Damage over Times, as it's always been since the game first came out with its iconic DoT spells like Fire Elf, Heck Hound, Fire Dragon, and Rain of Fire.

Ice's hanging effect is Positive Wards, derived from Ice always being characterized as the tank school and getting more defensive utility than any other school (Tower Shield, Legion Shield, Frozen Armor).

Storm's hanging effect is Positive Charms, easily remembered by the most infamous wizard101 player archetype Wolf Stormblade.

Life's hanging effect is Heal over Times, because Life has always been the healer school. Think back to the 1-pip Sprite spell.

Myth's hanging effect is Negative Wards, and it's certainly the most changed from how it used to play, partly because Myth has had So many different gimmicks over the years that aren't hanging effects.

Death's hanging effect is Negative Charms, since its old-school primary mechanic of draining HP isn't a hanging effect. An easy way to remember Death as the Weakness school is to remember its utility spells of Plague, Virulent Plague, Infection, and Bad Juju.

Roshambo

Rather than having pairs of schools that are both super-effective against each other (Fire/Ice, Storm/Myth, Life/Death), each of the two Triads (i.e., Element and Spirit) has a rock-paper-scissors dynamic going on now. This system was first introduced in Beastmoon, and introduces an updated version of the School Wheel:

However, while this graphic is good enough for Beastmoon, I believe it can't be used to explain Advanced Combat's system unless you're already familiar with Roshambo. So I will be making my own graphics to introduce and break down the Advanced Combat Roshambos.

First, we have the Elemental Triad of Fire, Ice, and Storm.

Storm douses Fire, and Storm's immediate and hard-hitting attacks overpower Fire's slower overtime method.

Fire melts Ice, and one turn of a DoT activating can remove the shields Ice puts up and leave the Ice user vulnerable to the remainder of the DoT's damage.

Ice freezes Storm, and a Shield can block most of the damage from an otherwise buffed-up Storm hit.

Then we have the Spirit triad.

Death ends Life, and Death's many Negative Charms can hinder Life's ability to heal or attack.

Life surpasses Myth, and Life is able to heal back the extra damage that Myth would do with its traps.

Myth conquers Death, and Myth's traps can make up the lost damage that Death's weaknesses give.

And when we put the two triads together, we see relationships between Element and Spirit schools form:

Death withers Storm, and Death's Negative Charms overpower Storm's Positive Charms.

Storm washes away Life, and Storm's immediate damage can knock out a target before they can try to heal it back.

Life survives Fire, and Life is able to heal back the gradual damage that Fire gives.

Fire burns Myth (think the Library of Alexandria), and Fire's overtimes can whittle away at Myth's traps the same way they plow through Ice's shields.

Myth shatters Ice, and Myth's infamous double-hits of old and trap spam of new can overpower Ice's defenses. (Think also of the old spell Shatter, which can remove multiple shields from a person)

Ice survives Death (think of prehistoric animals being preserved in glaciers), and Ice's defenses can keep Death from draining enough health to keep themselves alive.

Each school is able to counter two other schools, but can also be countered by two other schools. Except of course for Balance, which sits in the center of the wheel and has no arrows pointing to it. It doesn't directly counter any one school, but can't be fully countered by any one school.

A Note About Astrals

Auras (both positive and negative) aren't as immediately representative of any of the main seven schools. However, they are closer to some schools than others.

Star is situated inside the triad of Storm, Life, and Death. Following this, the developers have begun to add Auras as supplementary parts of Life and Death's identities, with Life getting Positive and Death getting Negative.

We can see this new association with Spellweaving. If you weave into Life or Death, your exclusive weaving buff is an Aura that increases the damage of your main school and Life/Death damage.

#leah speaks :3 #wizard101 #w101 #wizblr #wizzy101 #advice corner #i was going to go into some more card reading but this post was getting long enough #i'll make the final part of this masterclass tomorrow #it's getting late and these posts take a while to write

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