#artist problems I guess mixed in with life problems

[moviecritc]

Hello! Can I please request a smau with Charles Leclerc and Alexandra with the reader. Like her getting hate online because people think she coming in between them but then they found out that she and Alex were already dating before even they met Charles and he's the one who came into their relationship also could you please make it fluff at the end, thank you <3

✦ ˚ : · YOU WONDER WHY I'M BITTER ⋆ ALEXANDRA SAINT MLEUX, CHARLES LECLERC 🦢

pairing ☆ charles leclerc x singer! reader x alexandra saint mleux

summary ☆ you and alex broke up because she suggested charles to join your relationship, and you're really mad about it

warnings ☆ hate comments (mostly for alex, but it's just for the plot), mixed smau, arguments

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

masterlist | letterboxd

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yourusername MY NEW SONG IS HEREE !!!!!!!1!!!!!1!!!!! Stream Good Luck, Babe! so i can pay my hairdresser and make up artist THANK YOUU 🐽💥🌈💍

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user1 she's turning into my comfort artist guys

user2 y/n l/n for president 2024

user3 alex in the likes is LOUD

user4 and she's even early wtf girl user5 i'm new someone explain the lore user6 @/alexandrasaintmleux was y/n's gf for like four years, they were high school sweethearts and y/n wrote many songs about her. but four months ago they broke up and alexandra is now dating some formula 1 driver. literally four months later. some people say that she cheated, others that it was friendly, but idk user7 i mean after this song...

user8 ALEXANDRA WHEN I FOUND YOU

user9 'and you're NOTHING MORE THAN HIS WIFE' alexandra you're cooked

user10 FRRR she at least was something when she dated y/n. now she's just another f1 wag

user11 HOW I LOVE MESSY SONGS

user12 WE'RE SO BACK

user13 alexandra should be ashamed of walking in public after this

user14 sis casually making a diss track

f1gossip just posted!

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f1gossip Charles Leclerc and Alexandra Saint Mleux out for dinner in Monaco

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user14 girl wtf

user15 they did her so dirty i love it

user16 the difference when she was out with y/n is LOUD

user17 yk i'm starting to think that charles is the problem user18 righ? alex was so comfortable with flashes around y/n and now this? wtf is this man doing user19 i think it was just a bad moment user20 maybe she didn't want to be seen after y/n's song user21 i hate men

user22 NOT Y/N LIKING THIS

user23 she KNOWS it's alex loss

user24 charles your gf is cleary uncomfortable why tf you're smiling

user25 he's probably happy about all the drama bc he's life is boring

user26 this is a pr relationship at a 100%

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[caption: 10K streams just in the first week OMGGG, thank you thank you thank you. I love you so much guys, thank you for feeding my delusional ass 💥💥]

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user27 pop people princess

user28 WE LOVE YOU Y/NNN

user29 please PLEASE come to spain

user30 drop the tour dates nowww

alexandrasaintmleux Can we talk, please? In person, I know that you are in Paris this weekend

Y/N had left Alexandra on read. She hadn't wanted to know anything about her since the proposal to become a throuple with that guy Leclerc, but even though she thought she hated the idea, she found herself looking at the photos Charles posted on his Instagram. He was objectively handsome, she wouldn't lie. Although the fact that he had taken her girlfriend did make him seem like the most horrible person she had ever met. But he was handsome.

Most of his photos were related to his job as a Ferrari driver. She had heard Alex talk about that sport hundreds of times; she should have guessed that she felt somewhat attracted to the most handsome driver on the grid. But there was one photo that really caught her attention; him, in his apartment, shirtless on his stationary bike. She couldn't stop looking at it, she even went into the comments to see what people thought, to make sure it wasn't weird to find him extremely attractive. Then, unintentionally, she liked it. She saw the red heart float on the screen and knew that was her end, she removed the like immediately, praying that no gossip page decided to be watching that post at the same time as her.

But it was already screwed, he was going to see her notification, he was going to tell Alex, and now they would have more reasons to meet. Everything was screwed.

A few minutes later, she received a message from Charles, which left her totally bewildered, but she opened it immediately anyway.

user34 not the censurated name-

user35 makes a lot of sense to me actually

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yourusername Monaco you were LOUUUD !!!! The best city to open the leg of the tour and we had a blast together. Omw to Paris 💋🎸💐

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user31 she's so normal after exposing everything and everyone just in the first date

laufey princess of the princesses liked by author

user32 she's crazy for what she said

user33 now i want a public apology from alexandra and charles

user34 FR i can't believe they made her fell so bad

user35 yk break ups happen, it's not something bad. instead of spreading hate you should just move on girl, it's embarrasing

user36 oh shut up, she's a singer, she does drag. she's going to be dramatic user37 and we're here for it

user38 it has to be marketing bc last night was wild

user39 pretty sure it wasn't

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f1gossip Charles Leclerc and his girlfriend recently in Bali

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user40 they went the further they could bc of y/n's concert

user41 you can't convince me they're not pr

user42 0 chemistry

user43 i always see alex with her phone with charles

user44 she must be bored of him

user45 i don't think they even talk to each other

user46 i hate them so much

user47 these y/n's fans are taking f1 and i'm here for it

yourusername just posted on her story!

[caption: favs ✨]

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user48 aren't those alex's favourites?

alexandrasaintmleux beautiful pic 💞

[TRANSCRIPTION OF THE CALL BETWEEN ALEXANDRA AND Y/N]

Alex: Hiii. Y/N, listen to me. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I fucked up in every possible way

Y/N: Yeah, you did

Alex: But I love you. You have no idea how much love I have for you, mon chéri. So much that I thought I had to share it with someone else. But I was wrong, so wrong

Y/N: Alex, you're so drunk. You're not thinking clearly

Alex: Listen to me. For once in your life, listen. I fucked up pretty much everything, and you have no idea how much I regret it. I- What are you d-?

[background noises, you hear Alex complain]

Charles: Y/N?

Y/N: Charles? Give the phone back to Alex, for the love of god.

Charles: Y/N, hear me out. Leave my girlfriend the fuck alone. You know I found you really hot at the beginning but you have to stop this shit. I have a fucking reputation out here.

Y/N: Give her phone back, dickhead.

Charles: Move on, bitch. She doesn't want you anymore, and me neither.

part 2

[thebearme]

Here's my Parappa hcs and reimagine ideas for Matt & Paula

Sunny

Sunny is a cosmo flower like her mother.

Because of her mother's recent death, her dad Potter became UBER PROTECTIVE. The classic "ur the last thing of her, I have to protect you" you know.

Unrelated thing but idk when I'll ever talk about this guy but Potter HAS to be half object head, the only plant thing apart of him is his hair. idk maybe yall can figure it out... also i think he gave birth to sunny and no i will not elaborate.

Sunny is asexual and intersex but what do you expect, she's a plant.

She got all her arm strength from her dad. All those home military drills really helped.

She's superb at skateboarding but tends to not do so beings she doesn't want to get her dress ruin. But give her time to change, and she'll start shreddin.

Sunny has Bipolar disorder type 1.

Sunny grew up a lil sheltered. She lives in the middle of the woods and only goes into town for groceries! She started going out more and more when she started school for the first time, especially after she got some friends.

I'm taking this headcanon from the fic life in parappa town and expanding it but Sunny is in this plant belief system where you stay loyal to Mothernature and when you die you'll become a part of her. She doesn't eat meat, she gives back to nature and be kind to all Mothernature's creatures.

Sunny take cares and own her mother's "small" farm. She used to give her produce to the community for free, but because of the government finding out about that, she had to put it on pause. She either sells it for big money, or the government will take her land and profit from it them self.

Parappa

Parappa is his rap name. His name is Pa and his nickname is Pappy.

He's a bagel and hound mix, but has more bagel dog tendencies.

He's hat was bought by his mom before she left.

Parappa's mom divorce her husband after one too many financial crises, just when Parappa was just graduated high school. (explaining the past tense in PtR2) Leaving Pappy with Papa Rappa while she takes care of Pinto herself.

His Mama always encouraged Parappa to reach his dreams as long it wasn't expensive. So after everything, Parappa was more determined than ever to believe in himself and never give up.

Parappa would do anything for Sunny, he would kill Joe Chin even!

After a while working at the videogame shop, Parappa will later work for Master Onion cuz at least he pays him.

Parappa has the n card cuz he's cool like that. im tired of hearing 'who gave him the n card?' well maybe he just born with it. stop judging my dog bro

Parappa's rapping career just recently started. He began rapping his poems by the end of high school, luckily for him his best friend has connections to get him up there.

He grew up with classic 80s-90s rap. Pappy is an oldhead.

Pappy is anti-drug, anti-gun rights and a BIG ACAB. He is a huge believer that 'only community can fix the issues and not some cops that with guns trying to make the problem worst' but if you listen to parappa's album you've probly already saw this coming.

He still an up-and-coming artist, eventho he's known around the town and performed with Club fun's mc twice... he just started selling his first album.

Pappy is pretty smart and could have got into a science major like his dad but choose music instead. His father wept.

Parappa guessed that Katy is lesbian years before she started dating Lammy because the god awful dates she would go on.

Parappa loves frogs, they're his favorite animal.

He has a concentration issue, dude can't stay on track for the life of him. And no he doesn't know he has ADHD.

His ass has maladaptive daydreamer.

Boxy boy was made for Parappa by his dad because of tendency to daydream everywhere and anywhere, he gives him sense.

Pappy has a stuttering and lisp problem, but it adds an interesting element to his raps.

Pappy can NOT keep a secret. He WILL tell Sunny!

He got orange hair

Pj

Pj or further known as King Berri is still the same as always, maybe a lil more tired.

He uses king as a stage name so he can have a bit of his fantasy come true.

Eats weed brownie everyday.

Pj now wears a hooding for pure comforter, it like wearing sleepingbag at all times.

Pj seems very comfortable with his life but he really just compliant.

Pj is estranged from his family. They have not talked in years and he doesn't plan on changing that.

Just like everyone, Pj doesn't hate being a dj but just hate working. All the fun he had for his craft was gone a long time ago. But if he still gets paid by his boss MC Mushi and gets his 'stuff' then his fine.

Pj is brutally honest to Parappa like always, someone got to be the straight man in the friendship.

He's the most likely in the friendship to get the other in trouble.

Pj lives in the college housing, particularly in the basement. He just likes it down there. But funny enough, it turns out the house doesn't stay as empty as what the staff said it would be.

He's roommate is Matt. He's not that bad when you get to know him, He's just a bit snobby, know-it-all and WAY to competitive... but chill? Ok he's a Chin but hey, atleast he's better then Joe.

Him and Matt met one rainy day when the power went out and Matt got jumpedscared but the bear in the basement.

Katy

Chatty Katty was her nickname back in high school and even in the college campus right now. She gets this nickname not because she talks bad of anyone, honestly the opposite. She talks up everyone she knows! Right after talking up herself.

Katy was a church goer growing up, so no duh she'll know everyone in the community.

Her and Pappy were in the church choir growing up, that's how they met. Later she got introduced Pj in school, the three of them started hanging out after that.

Parappa gives the biggest little brother vibe to Katy.

Katy has the vocabulary of a old lady and it's because of the older lady she works with at the diner.

Katy is that friend that went on so many bad dates, tells you about and it makes you think HOW the hell are you still dating men??

She met Lammy after running into each other from the college lecture hall. And she immediately invited her to the milkcan band practice.

Lammy and Katy were a will-they-won't-they thing then they met. Lammy likes Katy but doesn't think she would like her, Katy likes Lammy but doesn't think she's likes women so she continues going for men.

Katy has been going to church less as she goes into college, jobs, dates, band practice and battling the gay thoughts. oooo scary

Katy and Sunny met in middle school, Katy never liked the idea of girls tearing each other down. And Katy was right, Sunny was sweet as she thought.

Katy introduced Sunny to the boys and everyone went nicely, they shared lunch together.

Paula

Paula is base off a kit fox, she just put makeup over her facial mark.

She's got abit of rewrite; She's from a new money household but unlike her parents that fell into complete greed, She's still her old self.

Paula is a tomboy at heart and her true love is basketball and women.

She's a business major oooo. AND the captain of the basketball team.

She still beefing with Katy but you know- it's a friendly rivalry. Or at least it becomes one.

Paula has a little crush on Sunny after meeting her but she's very respectful about it and very real told anyone about it... besides Katy... who told Pj... who told Matt... who told Parappa... who told Sunny. But otherwise Paula got turned down rather nicely and took it well.

Matt

Matt and Joe are doodles, partially a cockapoo.

He is the younger brother of Joe Chin and makes it his LIFE GOAL to be Parappa's rival.

He bascally bradley for the extremely goofy movie.

Matt has a big gay crush on Pappy but he refuse to admit!

Joe Chin got to inherit the family business without even doing anything and Matt is really mad about that. So he's in school for a business degree and in the frat club for extra bonus points. All to impress his parents and get the family business instead.

Ok not related to Matt hcs but just one thing- I think Joe Chin is a womanizer manipulative creep! That's why Matt is a funny villain while Joe is a flatout villain villain.

There more hcs in the bottom but I didn't feel comfortable putting up with more of the light hearted stuff so...

darker things below, read with caution.

[aevyk-ing]

Watching the making of Wish

-Patting their backs for reusing animation as an homage. Like yeah, it’s nice, there’s work behind that, but it’s the way they say it, like: “We’ve worked hard! Trust us!” We know animation is hard and the problem with Wish was never the animation.

-I didn’t know Sabino was based on Roger from The Aristocats. I love Roger, he’s delightful. Poor Sabino just looks bland in comparison.

-They say Asha has her good and bad traits (which isn’t true) and is so brave to go against what she has believed her whole life. I've seen that done way better and with actually compelling characters.

-“She has to balance being a good friend and family member to speaking the truth and I think we can all relate to that” Well… nope. All those things can be different things. And both your friends and family should help you or at least listen to you.

-Saying that the “I want” song explains how the character is, like… duh.

-Well, yes, Ariana DeBose did great with what she was given.

-So Asha has freckles because some people of North Africa and Southern Spain have freckles… what? Any skin color can have freckles. And I can’t talk about North African people but Andalusian aren’t quite freckled (yes, that’s the name of Southern Spain). Also, I never saw her as mixed. She totally follows more of her mother’s culture. That’s why I don’t like her calling her father’s father saba. Her mother’s father would be her saba and her father’s father her abuelo.

-I love Bill Schwab’s designs, he’s a great artist. But he was only told Asha’s age, race and height. Which yeah, it’s important, but for designing a character you should think about their personality too, because that also translates into their features, hairstyle, clothes and mannerisms. We still don’t know anything about Asha. Is she shy? Likes comfy clothes? No, wait, she’s adorkable.

-They talk about Disney Princess gowns using elements from the current period where they were made (something quite interesting) but they just put the Modern twist in Asha’s hairstyle. Like, what were you afraid of?

-Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but Schwab’s just did his job with a model sheet and that was the ONLY reference they had for animating Asha for a while. Then one of them used his daughter as inspiration and then Ariana came with lots of ideas. They didn’t know how Asha moved for the longest time! Their lead character!

-They say Asha is pure energy, which is… somehow correct? Like she’s just awkward and making those weird moves and trying to be cute and funny. The movie is done and nobody knows yet who the heck is Asha as a character.

-Apparently, Asha has details of pumpkin seeds all over her clothes and she’s wearing periwinkle because of the idea of making her THE Fairy Godmother. I still think she looks better in orange.

-Seeing the voice acting outtakes was good. But now I wish the Bland Dwarfs looked more like the actors. All of them have interesting features that could have been implemented in the designs instead of making them clones of the Encanto family and the mother from Strange World.

-The first deleted scene is after Sabino retrieves his wish and he sings a song. I would have put it in the end as a farewell song with everyone joining it.

-"The Wish equation" is to have a true wish, be responsible of it and… finding support? Fight for it? Exclude fear? Accept change? What are we even talking about? A dream career?

-They say the FG gave Cinderella the dress but couldn’t make the Prince fall in love with her, so she was supporting her! Like… Cinderella just wanted to go to the ball. BAM, there you go, a new dress, WISH GRANTED. Cinderella’s wish wasn’t to make the Prince fall in love with her, she didn’t even know him yet!

-“Music happens when you’re too overwhelmed with emotion.” This clip plays AFTER a snippet of "Welcome to Rosas". I guess Asha was too overwhelmed with being late. That shouldn’t have been a song, she should have told us about Rosas in the book opening.

-They wanted it to be like a fairytale and then hired a pop composer. Like the director says she grew up with the Disney Renaissance Era. Which used Broadway music!

-They talked about this earlier but “This wish” was the song that helped them write the movie, just like "Let it go" made them rewrite Frozen. So you can tell they didn’t have much to work on, maybe an idea: “Hey, just do a fairytale about wishes for our anniversary.”

-The songwriter was so overwhelmed with the commission she had to reach a friend to help her.  Maybe because nobody actually knew what the movie was about? But hey, she’s the youngest to ever write a Disney OST.

-You know? The more I hear “This wish” the more I’m sure it’s the best song of the entire soundtrack.

-Hey, I know that guy in the archive! I’ve seen this clip before!

-I’m just hearing they didn’t know what the heck to do and dived into the archive for inspiration. I like the idea that they studied the greatest artists for some scenes, but sadly, all that is lost in the movie. They scenes are too short to appreciate the animation, but A+ for effort.

-They thought doing a fairytale illustration style was difficult to do… in 3D. Just don’t do it in 3D! Also, I don’t think it’s that difficult, Blue Eyed Samurai did something great.

-The composition is interesting and the backgrounds too, but the characters look quite bad.

-The illustration style led to the backgrounds (and everything) being in focus, which I think it also makes the movie look weird. Look at any old painting: the background is less detailed than the main focus (less brush strokes). They could have gone that direction. The backgrounds of Wish are too detailed a lot of the times and always in focus, so it’s distracting.

-BTW, most of this is: “We did this like in this movie, that like in that movie…” but, what’s original? What makes Wish its own movie?

-They talk about lines like lineart in animation, which we’ve seen it masterfully in Spiderman. But here is so subdued it doesn’t add anything.

-“Wouldn’t it be great to have a warmer climate than the one we’re used in fairytales?” Yeah, because there’s snow in Encanto and Hercules. Also, nothing tells us that’s a warmer climate. Google “Andalusia”, please. There’s flowers in bright colors everywhere, white houses, narrow streets and people, just a lot of loud and happy people. That’s Southern Spain for you all.

-At least with Frozen we CAN TELL it’s Norway. Here, there’s nothing that says SPAIN. Give us people eating serrano ham or tortillas, maybe put a bull around there, have them drink wine from botijos and play guitars!

-Again with the “this was based on this”. Rosas was inspired by The Sleeping Beauty: Germany and France. That’s a whole different architectural design! There’s no verticality as main focus in Mozarab architecture, is all about curves.

-“So it’s your fault.” Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun. I have the feeling you’re not telling a lot of things.

-You know, another Fantasia would have been great. Maybe one with all the Disney characters.

-This is now about the story of Disney, so yeah, padding. Also, way to use “At all costs” in the background. We don’t want to remember what you’ve done in the past, we just want you to tell a good story again.

-This should have been the beginning, the “wish upon a star” that put Wish in motion.

-It was going to be about the origin of the wishing star?

-“Return of Disney villain” Hahahahahahah…

-They didn’t know how bad Magnífico could be and made him do mean stuff like smashing Sabino’s guitar (they called it a guitar here).

-Also, apparently he was going to be shirtless in a scene. Like, you know, a Disney villain.

-We don’t watch him BECOME a villain, we watch a magic book CONTROL him!

-“With "This is the thanks I get" I was like, oh, yeah, we have a narcissist.”, so they didn’t know anything about Magnífico until the song was written! That’s why he doesn’t act like a narcissist much until that song and why the mirror ending felt rushed.

-“When Chris Pine came in I was like: that’s it, that’s the character.” Because they didn’t even had designed it? Like, that’s literally him!

-He did give it all to that song.

-Magnífico was an alchemist?

-“We didn’t want people to know he was evil right away.” Every poster and article: “Disney’s new villain, everybody!”.

-“Makes him more dangerous the quieter he is.” Magnífico in the end battle: eyes fully open, screaming, laughing.

-Oh, Star, here we go. He was going to be pure energy as well… just like Asha! Yeah, we were robbed. BTW, he’s not like Genie or Maui. Maui and Genie aren’t even the same!

-He could have been a fantastic creature as well. And all those designs look crazily fun. But also that’s the kind of exploration you do at the beginning of the production, not in the middle. Unless someone meddles…

-Someone went out to design different sparkles for Star but I could only see it being adorkable. Focused on the face so the sparkles weren’t even noticeable.

-“…they put their personality on it (Star)” Yeah, because none of these characters had any personality… nor have it now that the movie is done.

-People being made of stardust is one of the most beautiful scientific facts. “You are a star” is the worst song in the movie. No wonder it took so long to write.

-Nope, Doc was a leader. Dalia is just there… talking. Of course she’s a way to get the medal of  “we put a disabled character” but at least she has more personality than Asha.

-BTW, just saw the Story Artist wearing a pin with a Pride flag in the shape of a Mickey.

-“She’s just a young woman, going with her life.” “And succeeding.” Yeah, representation is good, but it’s better if you’re not talking about how good you are for doing it.

-Also, we have mixed-race representation, older people with dreams representation, etc. but hey, that girl has a crutch, we’re cool.

-“Animals in Disney have to be smarter than people.” Why? Just why? And also, Valentino is no way smarter than any of the other characters. So why say that?

-“(Alan Tudyk) He pretty much made the whole character.” Yeah, because it looks like nobody had any idea of how these characters were.

-“Inspiration can came from anywhere.” You just COPY-PASTED the ideas of others.

-“Everybody has seen me crying in the studio.” For a good or bad reason?

-Ending with a Walt quote proclaiming they always do their best job… huh…

-“It served the story better to have Amaya as a good person.” Yeah, nope. It made no sense for her to switch sides so easily.

-Sabino dying would have been such a strong way to start the story. Him stealing Asha’s diary… yep, not good.

-Reinforcing my theory that Disney wanted to move away from shapeshifters after the Nimona fiasco.

-Looks like they gave the chaotic energy Star was going to have to Valentino.

-Making any other animal talking surely was a mistake. What’s with the sassiness?

-Dalia wasn’t called like that?! BTW, the writers were so proud of her clutch not being mentioned but, in the deleted scene, it’s the first thing they do. Twice.

-“When you’re underestimated, they don’t see your power coming until it changes the world.” Whoa, just whoa. Disney writers, everybody.

-LOL, the deleted scene with the animals is so bad. But Magnífico was going to transform into a Beast, so… kinda interesting?

Here's the link, BTW.

And congratulations if you read this all. If you're interested, here are my own Wish rewrites: 1, 2.

[rosemariad]

SUPERNATURAL SEASON 15 - final season - bitter end part 2

See p1 here | https://www.tumblr.com/rosemariad/761290454081929216/supernatural-season-15-final-season-part-1-i

OH MY LORD – FINALLY – a FUCKING APOLOGY, from Dean. Winchester.

And it happened in purgaytory 😉 lol. Moment of silence for dead Benny :/

I wish we could've gotten a shot of Cas listening to him. We've always seen Dean pray to Cas but we never see Cas hear them on his end, like when Jack was hearing Sam's prayer. I think that would've been dope as fuck to see Castiel's reaction. When Cas & Dean finally do catch up to one another, Cas seems so...reserved. I feel like He knew DAMN well (like 90%) what Dean might say (or maybe he's so in denial about the possibility that Dean could return his affections in that way)

How are we almost halfway to the end and this is the first time we’ve seen Jack at all during this FINAL season? You introduce him in episode 12.23, you kill him (twice) and we don’t even get to see how he’s doing? We know he’s in the empty from 14x20’s closing montage.

15x10 was a pretty decent episode since we got to see Garth again ☺️ & he's settled into the domestic life with his wife Bessie - they had twins and a older daughter & neither child is named after Dean (🤣 Serves him right these days, since he's being such a douche!) wonder why Garth chose to name his baby after Cas though…did they ever interact? I don't recall…Watching Sam meet baby Sam is precious

(also how wild is it that the Garth & Benny actors are a married couple now? SPN man, they should've had a dating show given how many relationships came outta 1 production that lasted 15 yrs!)

Watching Sam sniff and cough & sneeze post-COVID is wild!

Taking on that giant monster was Hilarious - this was what SPN was missing - definitely peak content! Look at those hunter guys get reduced to regular chumps 🤣 fantastic!

Was Dean scared of the dentist? Had he ever BEEN to a dentist? Wow John, you couldn't take your son to a damn dentist - with all the junk food that boy eats? Even so, you want him running around without teeth?

Watching Sam writhe around with some cure all Bessie learned from her dad (he's dead I guess?) was equally hilarious!

WTF was with Dean's hallucination? These writers are trippin - out of all the things you could've done, you make Dean & Garth tap dance? What was the point? And some oldies shit? Sure Dean would've been exposed to reruns of the good ol' days but that’s never really been his interest before? And the lamp at the end? TF? I've read some posts about what others thinking it all means but I say the artistic direction is wack. But all aside the dentist Garth bit is awesome!

Garth couldn't have said it better - being the hero/protagonist is a drag - more so for comic book heroes cuz of the tragic backstory but in the Winchesters' case - it suuuuuuuuuucks.

I'm all for some Winchester humble pie. SPN should be normal people problems show mixed with cooky supernatural shenanigans. It would never get old 😂

Dean why did you think you could gobble down 7 grilled cheese sandwiches - all that dairy - oh man. So I guess that's normal for him…bad, real bad. Normal Dean would be dead in a week 🤣🤣

Anyway Garth swooping in to save the day for a change, is a welcome change ☺️ [is this the last time we'll see him in the show though? 😥]

Interesting how they seem to keep switching back & forth between how hopeless the odds are in going against the big G.O.D. to no we're gonna find a way cuz we're the Winchesters & that’s what we do. Yeah okay 🤣

Jack's been hunting & eating Grigori hearts - damn. Not looking forward to why…

Meanwhile we get more backstory on all the other gods in human history through Fortuna, goddess of luck/fortune? Interesting, it seems like God allowed others to be worshipped so they could suffer the bad PR when things when wrong for people & they would get the blame (pretty sure plenty people still blame God for bad stuff all the time — like Dean 😅).

Good for Sam fighting for those people stuck under Fortuna's thumb. Small victories though…

Kaia survived, but I know we'll never see her again now. No reunion w/ Claire, or the others…wah 😔 meanwhile Alt!Kaia is definitely dead, we saw her face her end - way to take out that plot device writers 🙄

Dean seems pretty gung-ho on taking out God & Amara - buddy I know you feel helpless but there is no cosmic entity that is gonna be on your side all the time. The control freak inside him is going rabid y'all he's convinced that it’s the only way out but neglects to answer the question - if God (and Amara - cold by the way - is he punishing her for Mary? Amara was the one who brought her back in the first place) is taken out, what happens to the universe?

Jack is still giving me those intern vibes - Cas WTF were you thinking? I know you didn't forget about that deal…but damn if he ain't a team player, always willing to risk it all to help his precious Dean bean & the baby bro Sam.

I love how the brothers took Jo/Anael at her word - like really? There was no other way to investigate the veracity of her story than by simply going to hell? Really? Also they couldn't squeeze in Rowena for 1 final appearance? Boo!

And what was Anael's last line about? What friends could she possibly be talking about? Did God have her set this up? Lead the guys on a wild goose chase to waste time? Who fucking knows anymore, but I guess it doesn't matter as this is technically Anael (& Ruby's) final scene in the show.

Ruby you're screwed - there's no way she got out and no way to know - anyway onto the plot!

Look at this family shot - precious!

So between this episode & 12x07 Sam's superpower is handling doors - keeps them open when he needs to & closed when he has to. Sam, keeper of the doors!

The Empty & Death Billie teamed up? Oh shit, that's gonna backfire fast!

Classic Dean Winchester move to call your beloved an idiot when you almost lost him….again. I can't keep track of the various close calls this angel had over the years.

Best gem of 15x13 - the Alternate Sam & Dean - affluent dudes who were raised by a successful business savvy John Winchester who raised his sons with a modicum of respect & some fashion sense it seems all the while building a supernatural hunting empire spanning the entire globe (damn). And at the end they went to Brazil? So canonically there's 2 sets of Sams & Deans running around - too bad nothing else will come out of that…they should've stolen the Impala - that shit would've been hilarious.

After all these years we finally got to see THE Garden of Eden. It would've been cool to see it sooner in the show but oh well. The trip seems to have given Jack the ability to feel again, get his soul back. And he is wracked with guilt over Mary as if we didn’t have enough of that to deal with…

The words you're looking for guys is I FORGIVE YOU! Like he's a kid, it was an accident & he's clearly fucking sorry for it, the guilt is tearing him apart, you're not blind you can see it but God forbid either Winchester just says the magic words.

Now Mrs. Butters - I'm not cool with that shit at all. I peeped immediately based on the 1st scene that she wasn't there willingly. Why would she? She's a fucking wood nymph and while there's a bunch of trees outside, the bunker sure as shit ain't no forest. Someone forced her to work in that bunker & the fact that imagery of Cuthbert Sinclair keeps coming up confirms it.

She was probably their slave - that's so fucked. And Sinclair tortured her into obedience. That poor creature…she deserved so much better. shame on Sam & Dean for using that poor woman - you can't find the time to cook & clean up after yourselves? - I know Dean is good at it. But no, SPN had to set women back decades and force Mrs. Butters into waiting on them hand and foot. Shame, damn shame. Thankfully they eventually let her go, but only cuz Jack's life was in jeopardy and god forbid the Winchesters lose their handy ace in the hole when their maid/slave gets murderous. Really Dean, ‘just start over’?!, she threatened your kid you dumbass, do you really want someone to take care of you that fucking bad? WTF?!?!

All those feasts & Cas never showed up once -- bullshit!!!! Bullshit I say!

Apparently when Cas does eventually return to the screen & wraps up some trouble w/ Jack (aww he wanted to wear matching ties! And he has a teddy bear? Did Cas give him one? He gave one to Claire a couple of seasons ago) jack spills that he's meant to die & sacrifice himself to take out God & Amara. I know you're not on board Cas but speak up. Why is everyone so afraid to stand up to Dean Jesus Christ. He's just a man, sure he'll punch you but that just means you hit back or you know, don't let him punch you!

We get 1 final glimpse into Sam & Dean's childhood. Pro tip Dean: if you want your baby bro to stick around, don't ridicule his goals or call him stupid. Just a thought (I know he's a kid himself but that's what I would've said to the kid) but hey ultimately none of it matters right, jeez 😒

The lady lied to the brothers to get them to show up, did you ever think to incentivize them with money? It wouldn't take much, they probably wouldn't even take it or you know just tell them the truth, they're hunters it's what they do.

It's the baba yaga? It almost got to Dean but thankfully Sam was conveniently there to break the spell or whatever was gonna try to make Dean kill himself. The vic, Travis, apparently had the entity's ring all this time so it's back for revenge? And to eat ofc it's hungry. Too bad she failed cuz she's dead as one of the final MOTW ever on SPN. And just when we thought Dean made progress he ruins it by being supremely committed to Billie's plan -- cuz God forbid Sam bring up ethical questions into plotting someone's murder Dean, even if it is about cosmic entities and you know, your kid, Jack. Will the real Dean Winchester stand up cuz I think he wouldn't do this under any other circumstances. If I were Sam I would've jumped out of that car in pure disgust. Sam seemed inclined to do that.

Anyway the Jack suicide bomb plan ultimately didn't matter either cuz Amara ends up siding w/ Chuck after he makes her see that Dean was actually planning on killing her along w/ her brother.

Side bar - I love how she just had a whole season's long vacation just enjoying what the planet had to offer before her end. Can't say she didn't try to work things out - with the Winchesters or God. But hey, I know what's up - it's all about the men in this show 🙄

Saying Jack's not family - how fucking dare you! but also another example of inconsistent behavior from Dean - 1 minute he's concerned, the next he's dismissive & neglectful, then the next he cares (emotional whiplash), then he sees Jack as nothing more than a loose-end for fuck's sake Dean pick a lane & make up your damn mind, fuck!

Anyways, Sam should've smacked the shit outta Dean. He deserves it. But I get it Dean, you can't live w/o Sam or Cas but watching Jack die is no big since he took your mommy away, whatever asshole. Then he feels bad, but I feel it's only cuz he can't sit pretty on his high horse knowing the kid heard how little Dean cares for him right now.

Why did Sam & Cas let Jack run off w/ Dean? I sure wouldn't have 😡.

So because Billie's plan went tits up (big surprise there & really Billie you were expecting them not to fuck up, really?) God escaped & in the next, infamous episode of 15x18 people start getting Thanos'd. Endgamed. Disappeared.

Alt!Charlie & her girlfriend Stevie - gone. Eileen, Sam's current GF, gone. Alt!Bobby, gone. The other folks from Apocalypse World - gone.

But Donna gets got too - because Sam & Dean intervened all the way back in her premiere episode (was that season 8? I forget). Did everyone just get disappeared - like everyone Sam, Dean & John saved (that's my headcanon anyhow)? But it doesn’t even stop there…

Hold up - wait a minute - I’m gonna talk about the Destiel moment in 15x18 but I’m gonna save it for a separate post cuz I got to get all that stuff off my chest…https://www.tumblr.com/rosemariad/761296693532803072/the-bitter-end-spn-15x18-despair-about-that

Anywho:

Everyone gets disappeared. I see they were inspired by that Avengers movie 😅 I wonder if they went through the same experience the Marvel folk did canonically…(its that no one remembers what happened to them if they got blipped right?)

15x19 felt so rushed to me did anyone else feel that way?

Jack asks what happened to Cas (RIP you beautiful angel 😭) but Dean just offers a simple explanation. After countless days of misery and drinking, Jack prompts the brothers to drive around and Dean finds a dog only to have it disappear like everyone else - there's no way Chuck missed the dog, he just wanted Dean to bond with her so he could feel her loss too. Damn. So vengeful.

The Winchesters say they surrender but at this point I wouldn't believe them and apparently it was all part of their master plan. They ran into Michael (who's lost Adam at this point RIP Adam, again) and Dean calls Michael out as a daddy's boy but you would know wouldn't you Dean 🤣 game recognize game

When Dean got that phone call & ran up those steps, oh Dean you poor miserable bastard.

The devil, conveniently back from the void from whence he came, scrounges up a reaper - why are there reapers at this point (isn’t everyone gone anyways?) was she brought from the Empty? Kill her so she can be Death # 3 and open up the mysterious book that describes God's imminent demise but the devil killed her one more time before she could finish cuz he's God's favorite now (so he says Chuck says 🙄) pissing off Michael but as the brothers explained later this would all work in their favor but RIP Jessica - last female figure to be killed off on SPN? She basically died for nothing as Sam & dean came up w/ a new plan.

While the archangels squab, Michael gets the upper hand and finally kills Lucifer (so how was this fight going to devastate the planet cuz the bunker didn't even get messed up or nothing - very underwhelming since this is technically the last we’ll see of the devil in the show) & later Michael snitches to God when everyone drives out to summon Chuck to try killing him off once and for all. Then Michael dies cuz God is tired of him I guess (sure he said it’s cuz Michael dique betrayed him but I mean do you even care about that?) sucks for Mike I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️

All the celestial fighting was apparently powering up Jack after he juiced himself up for that bomb & couldn't kill off God sooner. by the end of the episode Jack siphons the remaining energy out of Chuck and instead of squashing him like a bug they all just decide to walk away, leaving Chuck Shurley a mortal, ordinary man to die off on his own (omg the way he squealed as he ditched him, geez 🤦🏾‍♀️).

This is why you should've just destroyed them Chuck! You'd think he'd know better than to savor their doom. Tsk tsk.

I would've shot him, burned him and had Jack disintegrate the ashes to nothing. But fuck being thorough I guess 🤣

Jack brings everyone back & leaves the brothers (I would've done the same, fuck those Winchesters, Sam's alright but Dean is just ugh at this point) & Aside from Rowena I can't think of anyone else who ends up with a win like Jack. He was born the Nephilim of Lucifer but ended up becoming a noble God.

I also gotta vent about that last episode - https://www.tumblr.com/rosemariad/761299089485889536/supernatural-season-15-the-bitter-end-series

[why-the-heck-not]

Top 5 technologies that, unfortunately, have fallen out of use

okay this was interesting, had to rly think. Also idk if my definition of "technology" is right, but anything resembling will go. ALSO damn I rambled a lot, sorry abt that, apparently I like thinking about old tech

CDs. I miss owning albums, it was so nice to like actually have the physical copy of something u love. I think that's what missing now and is why I sometimes get actually annoyed abt loving a band/song (rn it's The Vantages (a band) & I'm actually mad about it) bc the "listening to it is not enough, I need to inject it to my bloodstream"-mood, which in actuality is that I'd love a physical copy to make it feel like a concrete thing. It's like the next best thing to going to a concert, and I can't keep buying merch I'll never wear outside my house to compensate. Also made u like decide on what album u want to listen to & the songs are always gonna be in the same order the artist decided them to be in, no mixing songs from the same or diff artists, you had to make A Choice. (actually my dad has my fave bands CDs (old-ish band & he an og fan) and it's kinda comforting to me that if (/when?) some Spotify apocalypse eventually happens, I'll have a way to listen to them anyways). Also been thinking for years about buying either a CD- or a vinyl player, or something like that bc I want to have physical copies of my faves (but haven't decided on what yet (probs vinyl tho. for the vibes.) and also the money aspect of it is not great)

Nokias. I just talked with my sister how we've both been thinking abt just buying an old Nokia keypad non-smart phone and just using that instead of like the current phones (but alas, not rly possible, like I can't get into my gym without a smart phone and that's just one thing, u kinda need a smartphone or life becomes unnecessarily complicated). But the durability, the worm game, the ''oh no in a hurry and need the letter s, oh shit I went overboard and went right back to p''). Also Finland represent lol

tamagotchi type things. like a "gaming console" (it's not but idk what those are called) that has the one game with abt 3 pixels and no color. Also I had one like that had a monkey that collected dropping bananas and that was the whole game, the only function that thing had (I have a suspicion I got it from McDonalds??? idk why I keep thinking that) (Googled and yes it was from McDonalds, called Aiai banana catch)

those big computers that were for the whole household. We didn't have one growing up (bc my parents had computers at their work and so we didn't need one) but the thrill of going to like a friend who lived near and they used their 1h of computer time to like play some horse game; unparalleled. Or like the games at Miniclip ?? or later on CLUB PENGUIN !!!!! (still to this day the best game that has or ever will exist) (tho I think at around club penguin-era my sister got a laptop so I used that until I got my own)

Those calculators that prints on paper what u've calculated right after, idk what they're called. Never used one & obv never had one bc was a kid, and actually not fully sure if ppl still do use them (but guessing at least that they're not as popular anymore) but damn. The pure aesthetics and vibes. Like the movie scenes of a character calculating using that while looking at bills to indicate that the said character has some finance problems? phenomenal, cinematography etc.

[absolutebl]

BL Coming in March 2023 

The month of Thailand busting up established pairs, apparently. 

03/01

The Promise, (Thai WeTV) 10 eps - friends-to-lovers, follow up to a previously aired miniseries Phupha | Nanfah. Because of this and the WeTV platform I likely won’t bother.  

03/02

All the Liquors prev. Liquor (Korea Gaga & Viki) 8 eps - Liquor company rep and party boy Han Ji Yu buts heads (and other stuff? eh, it’s Korea, probably not) with hot chef Park Ki Hoon, who doesn't drink.

Heesu In Class 2 (Korea unknown prob Viki and/or Gaga) - A gay(er) version of Sex Education? Based on a webtoon. Heesu’s world revolves around Chanyoung, his best friend and secret crush. He doesn’t mind cheering Chanyoung from the sidelines or listening to all his girl problems. He doesn’t care if people only know him as “Chanyoung’s friend.” Then one day, Heesu starts hearing his name everywhere. On the bus, in the halls, during lunch… Turns out, there’s a rumor going around school (Got a love problem? Find Heesu in Class 2 and he’ll tell you what to do!) and with that, Heesu suddenly finds himself the center of attention. But how could he give anyone advice? He doesn’t even know what to do about his own crush! 

I want this one to happen SO Bad but am very nervous about all the delays and connected sandals and lack of distribution so late in the game. It started filming in December and seems more of an ensemble cast with lots of mixed in het romance. So... ??? 

03/03

A Boss and a Babe (Thai YouTube) 12 eps - ForceBook in an office boss/employee. Chay is a sunshine gamer who wants to get big in the e-sports industry. However, his plans are dramatically altered when is made to intern at a company. There his boss Gun has him do some pretty weird errands, confusing Chay about his true intentions. What do Gun’s actions mean? And will Chay return back to his gaming life?

I’m optimistic, I want ForceBook to get another chance and I like a cheesy office romance. 

03/04 (maybe March 9 international)

Love Syndrome (Thai unknown prob iQIYI or Gaga) 10 eps - trailer, based on a Y-novel, has side characters from Unforgotten Night but no crossover actors or other apparent connections. Day & It have been together for 2 years (looks like a violent off again on again thing). An accident leaves Day seriously injured and It blames himself then Day wakes up with amnesia. (Stars Frank formerly of FrankDrake.) 

03/08

Pastsenger AKA Past-senger (Thai Gaga) 12 eps- Stars Marc (My Gear & Your Gown) and Cooper (My Engineer) who were both formerly paired with others, in a time travel paranormal that smacks of HIStory 5. Sunshine 90s kid travels to 2022, goes to university, encounters grumpy nerd. 

03/09 

Our Dating Sim (Korea unknown prob Viki) - What happens when two men, friends since schoo, meet again at work to create a dating simulation game together. 

03/12 (maybe March 19 international)

Future the series (Thai YouTube & Gaga?) 5 eps - Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love - yeah I didn’t know that was based on a novel, either). About, you guessed it, an engineering student and a dentist. Maybe this will be the FOTS we were all hoping for? Fuse (the engineering student) is played by Boom from the En of Love and is kinda the same character (Field). I think we can expect this one to be soft, it’s from the 21 Day Theory people. 

03/14

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea Viki & Gaga) 7 eps - Adaptation of Dongmul's manwha this is high school set and appears to feature a teasing confident gay and a rich/poor pairing, with themes of hurt/comfort and homophobia/gossip. One boy starts a dating rumor with another, putting the later’s archery scholarship in jeopardy. Stars idols Jaehan & Yechan BOTH from Kpop group OMEGA X. 

THIS IS ONE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED BLS OF 2023!!! I still can’t quite believe it will actually happen. 

03/17

Unintentional Love Story (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps? - Ceramic artist Yoon Tae Joon has withdrawn from society, but Ji Won Young (an employee at a large company) tracks him down. Ji Won Young is intent on winning over the heart of Yoon Tae Joon as he's the company chairman's favorite artist. Stars actor Cha Seo Wo and idol Gongchan (maknae of B1A4). 

Individual Circumstances mark 2? No thank you. But if I must, I must. 

03/22 

Make a Wish (Thai Viu) - trailer, stars Fluke Natouch (OhmFluke UWMA etc...) & Judo (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) in a light-hearted medical-fantasy romance with a comedic flair. About a doctor who sees ghosts and a deity who resides in a Bodhi tree that earns merits whenever he fulfills a wish. He is shocked to find the doctor can actually see him and decides to help him find the reason for his ghostly ability. Thus begins a chaotic yet romantic journey. From a y-novel by Sammon (Manner of Death, Triage). 

I’ll watch it if I can get hold of it. We’ve seen Fluke iwth other pairing before, and I like Sammon’s stuff. 

(source)

This is not an exhaustive list. Not responsible for updates that come after date of post. Read the comments for more info and changes. 

[thesophiewhit]

PHONING FAUST -- A Sapphic Novel of Demonic Contracts, Demisexuality, and Yearning by me! A cool queer author ~

Are you LGBT+ or BIPOC or just REALLY LOVE BOOKS? Interested in being an ARC reader and reading a book and helping a fellow queer indie author out? (Pretty please? -- ARC links all the way at the bottom of this post (beneath the rainbow banner) for those who like Sapphic demon x human angst books ~)

AND LOOK AT THE CHARACTER ART OF MEMPHIS (BADASS DEMON) AND DIAN (HUMAN) BY MY ARTIST FRIEND SNAX

https://linktr.ee/artsnaxk

ABOUT ME

Demisexual?? Queer? Nonbinary? All these were magical words to me until it hit...

Oh-- that's me.

It took me a while to come out as queer, longer to come out as nonbinary, and then some more time to reconcile all this with being a mixed Indonesian kid. A dash of mental health, a sprig of figuring out asexuality and neurodivergence. But atop all that? One thing has been constant.

I've always been a writer.

That's some live footage of me summoning some forces to reign my characters in from being feral.

WHY I WROTE PHONING FAUST

Well, well, well, after years of battling imposter's syndrome, I did it. I wrote another book! It's called PHONING FAUST and it's getting published with queer indie publishing company @ninestarpress-blog because they're all cool and LGBT+ and super talented!

Why did I write PHONING FAUST?

What is... a Faust?

A Faustian bargain is what's popularly known as the devil's bargain. A usually losing situation or a trick where the devil tricks someone out of their soul in exchange for ULTIMATE POWER!

I rewrote Faust to be Sapphic as can be. It stars a mixed Indonesian lesbian named Dian Faust who battles depression tooth and nail and ends up calling a mental health crisis hotline. Bc... she's lonely.

PAUSE-- and this is a horror comedy. Comedy. COMEDY-- you might say?

WHY? HOW? Sounds sad and depressing, right?

WHAT'S FAUST?

Well... in the original retelling version of Goethe's Faust (who retold it from folklore etc etc) the main character of Dr. Faustus accidentally summons the devil or something when he too is about to consider the meaning of life and it gets sad bc he doesn't see one so he makes the devil's bargain FOR ULTIMATE POWER. Or something.

But in my version-- it's based off my experiences as a queer person. Before I had community. Before I understood and accepted myself-- I had a rough time. For a whole bunch of factors outside of that-- I didn't feel like my life was in a good place. And even worse-- I felt isolated.

THE PLOT

I didn't want to bother my friends with my problems. So-- I'd call the Trevor Project or a crisis hotline just to have somebody to talk to. In the same way-- Dian Faust is struggling with depression in the story I write. So she calls a hotline like the Trevor Project just to not be alone.

And guess who she finds?

A super hot genderfluid devil called MEMPHIS, short for Mephistopheles. A pierced and tatted punk rocker who has an interest for telling tall tales and serving Dian Faust's every wish and command! (No, not like that!)

Because Dian Faust, like me, is a mixed Indonesian kid trying to figure out what it means to be queer AND demisexual (finding attraction only after really getting to emotionally connect with someone and feeling, as I explain in the book, a lack of that before then for anyone). And she's figuring plenty out--- including how to save her immortal soul and her feelings for a certain genderfluid demon but if you want to know more-- YOU CAN BUT YOU HAVE TO SCROLL TO THE END OF THIS POST TO FIND OUT !

I wrote this book PHONING FAUST (coming out in 2025 sometime with NineStar Press btw. I have these books CATCH LILI TOO and WAKE THE DEAD also starring Sapphic demiace MCs if it's helpful while you wait!

I WROTE MORE QUEER BOOKS (if interested)! (ARC SIGN UP LINK IS STILL BELOW THIS ONE THO! > FOLLOW THE RAINBOW !!)

MY OTHER QUEER BOOKS: https://sophiawhittemore.com/books/ ) <3 <3 <3

I wrote PHONING FAUST (train of thought, sorry, that's the neurodivergence) because I wanted people to feel less alone.

I was, like Dian Faust and like a lot of people, a queer person who felt like I was on an island unto myself. I didn't know who to turn to-- so I turned to no one. By reaching out to hotlines (no hot devils unfortunately), I managed to get the help I needed to avoid making rash decisions-- to get the help I needed to get better. To take that first step.

PHONING FAUST is a novel that raises the importance of mental health and finding community, and most importantly, not giving up. As Dian Faust says in my upcoming book...

There are stars out there-- I had only to see it.

***

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

🌈🌈🌈🌈ARC LINK SIGN UPS HERE 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

ARC LINK SIGN UPS IN LINKTREE <3

Want to be an ARC reader for this queer book starring a demisexual Sapphic couple and BIPOC cast?

Sign up here! : https://tr.ee/mWPM8I9Zev

***

Hmmm, demon contracts...now where might young 2010 emo me have heard that before... ? ?

[lukerycyja]

Lone Feather in the Sea of Petals

@zhongrin i have finally did the promised alhaitham fic.

This might be a part one to something i guess?

Paring: Eventual Alhaitham x God!Reader

Tried to do it inclusive to all races, female reader Words:2.9k Warnings: sexual slavery and sexual abuse are discussed, human trafficing, mentions of blood, lmk if there is anymore else I hope i got Alhaitham’s character right

Flowers finally started blooming. Their small, colorful petals started showing their delicate tips, yellow anthers still too deeply hidden to become visible. Green leaves sprinkled across the branches of various trees, still shining with their youth. Soft breeze carried gentle, rich smell, mixed with aroma of the great blue. Storms stopped being so frequent three weeks ago, now only occasionally running through the islands, mostly just bringing rain and stronger wind rather than full on storm. The life finally started. White and golden birds, that resembled cranes, and yet were too different to be one, with various colored tails, flowing gently on the wind, sung their song, sounds pleasurable to the ear and artistic, like a bard singing and playing some not yet invented instrument. Their wings flapping with no sound, swift flight looking weightless and fluid. From time to time some of the feathers in their tails fell, dancing their way to the ground, while pinkish hue slowly replaced gold. There was rush in the streets, everyone running around in frenzy doing their task, yet way too busy for it to be just some morning rush. Various smells filled the air, from sweet pastries to wood wax and burned paper. There was noise, street buzzing with life, from time to time an excited shriek of a child or falling wooden frames cut through it, echoing across the land. Streets were being decorated, performers trained in struggle to achieve perfection. Bakeries and restaurants worked overtime to deliver all of the promised delicacies, while in Cherry Harbor ships docked and departed whole day and night. The trees blooming was enough of a reason on restarting businesses or start going on, but while busy all year long, islands were never this busy. Only time when this happened, was in the spring when storms ceased and the aroma of freshness dominated the air around The Pleasure Archipelago. Blooming Love Festival was almost in full swing.

***

He knew exactly why he was sent there. He made a mistake. But what was this mistake was a mystery. The problem was, that sages in the Akademiya were very hormonal, and what was once an asset, it could turn quickly into unwanted, digging mole, that had to be exterminated. He was unfortunately a mole now, thrown into small cage, bound and gagged, awaiting extermination. He wouldn’t get killed or deemed insane and thrown into merciless desert thankfully, but he didn’t know if the fate awaiting him wasn’t even worse. He could escape from the desert, but islands were way harder. Also, very limited knowledge was available for planning anything. As far as he knew, living “gifts” could be made into sex slaves, prostitutes, priests or even be sacrificed for the god of love and fertility. There was a lot of possibilities and almost none were certain. And that didn’t help at all. Door to his cell slowly opened, and Yen walked in, carrying a straw and a bottle. She was a young girl found in the desert that somehow ended up being one of the maintenance workers for the Akademiya. It was a miracle she even got this far – desert folk had no place anywhere near Sumeru city according to many of its citizens. “Are you holding up today?” she asked, waiting for his nod. Due to the gag he couldn’t respond of course, he only had his gag taken for meals, when Yen would take it out before leaving. She was understanding, simply because she disliked Akademiya. But what is one desert girl against powerful and controlling form of government. “Ah, that’s good, that’s good. I heard from one sage that was here earlier today that you will be escorted out of the city in the night. They said something about Port Ormos  and shipment across the sea, but I don’t know the details, sorry.” her soft tone was all that he needed to know. His fate was sealed then. “Well, they also mentioned, that you had to be “groomed properly” before departure, but I have no idea what that means. But guessing from the tone, they will make you suffer” she winced. Yen put a straw between his gag and mouth, allowing some water to get into his mouth. He drank as much as he could. He knew that if this was any other person, they would laugh and humiliate him first. She did things fast and gave him very much needed information. He started to like her. Too bad it won’t get anywhere. “They wont miss you” that was the last thing the girl said before leaving. And he was alone again. What was surprising to him, was that there was no physical abuse, they didn’t even spit on him once. Now, getting information that he was supposed to be “groomed”, it confirmed that he had to be in impeccable state. So probably a sacrifice or sex slave. After all, what else? It was a festival of love, not only sweet, but physical one as well. And while sages didn’t respect Lesser Lord Kusanali, and her probable will to attend didn’t matter to them, all of Teyvat knew that the god of love was one of the most feared ones, and no matter Archon or not, every ten years representatives or gods themselves attended the festival to ask for good luck in love or to not have a famine caused by infertile animals and soil. It was said that during the Archon War said god desolated the land and destroyed gods by making them fight for unachievable love. No one dared to fight her later on, instead pleading for her mercy, offering her the position across the Seven. And yet, she refused, preferring to pull on heartstrings of others and bending unbendable to her will. Legends said that Celestia acknowledged her power and gave her a throne in secret. But these were just some tales. What was true was that this god wasn’t known to be merciful and lived with her people in one of the biggest brothels known to man. Next few days were painful and humiliating to a degree. Turns out, “grooming” was exactly it. He was waxed, washed and scrubbed so hard that he felt like he had his skin rubbed off of him, oiled and massaged, which was very painful, and had to do a lot of stretching and dancing. Thankfully, it wasn’t sexual at all, mostly uncomfortable. Stretching was the worst, because despite being athletic and rather agile in his opinion due to sword fight training, he never knew his limbs and spine could bend that much. After a week, his body was sore and his skin had so much oil rubbed in it, that he constantly looked shiny. The smell of it was nice at the beginning, but right now he wanted to swim in mud and roll around in very dirty stables, just to get this intense smell off of him. He felt like his muscles were drenched in it, flowery stench seeping into his bones and making him human air refresher. However today, he was fed breakfast and thrown into a room, bound and gagged. This time however, his hands and legs were bound with silk ribbons and his gag was made out of a bamboo segment, with ribbon tied around his head. He heard sailors talk about arriving tomorrow, if weather will allow them and he knew that next meal will be at the destination. His only hope was to not suddenly develop sea sickness. As he prepared for amazingly passionate wall watching session, someone entered his room. It was a female dressed in Akademiya clothes with Akasha terminal glowing in the barely lit room. She looked at him in disgust, and yet she restrained her face expressions, leaving only eyes betrying her real feelings about being in the same room as him. “You committed crimes against Akademiya and whole nation of Sumeru. However, you did a lot for us. That’s why your punishment isn’t being sent to the desert. We both know that you would escape anyways. I’m giving you a warning. You are a gift, so act like one. Be pretty and obey to whatever commands will be ordered. Otherwise, many will suffer.” She spoke quietly and then left, leaving him in silence again. Well, it’s not like he had a choice to be a brat anyways. His journey was interrupted soon, or at least what felt like soon. It was hard to tell, and his window was out of the reach of his eyes. Its not like he could get up and not lose his teeth after all. Three women and two men entered his tiny room, filling it with various fabrics and cosmetic products. Great. More smelly perfume. They started brushing his hair, while two of them was throwing fabrics in his face and almost instantly taking it back. He didn’t know if he preferred being tortured right now, because they didn’t care if pulling his hair caused him pain or if he wanted to have some privacy, as they took off his clothes and complained about his muscles being an inch too wide to fit in their chosen dress. They treated him like a piece of meat, meant to be sold. Finally they decided on skin tight sleeveless shirt with delicate dendro pattern on it, with knee length simple skirt and decorative obi style belt, along with long, flowy fabric attached to his neck in arms. His forelocks stayed the same, but the rest of his hair was tied, at least as much as it could, with decorative piece behind his ear. He also had heavy earrings, that painfully dragged his irritated ears, after not very pleasant puncture that was done to him without a warning. He was also forced into high tights with holes for his fingers. He thanked whatever was watching him for that knee long skirt. His makeup was also applied in unpleasant way, since one of the men grabbed his face and held it in place, as a lot of dust tickled his nose. He didn’t know why they used colored dust instead of using more wet methods. Did they wanted to torture him as well? Whole experience was very dehumanizing. He didn’t even had his muzzle taken off, for whatever reason. He looked like a doll and his face was tingling with pain. He was sure that he got bruises from the strong grip that man had on his face, but they probably did cover it up in makeup. He lost the track of time during this whole ordeal, and apparently, they were close now.

All of his old life would soon be definitely finished and it was a question if he will die or live without freedom, as a property. He didn’t know what was worse at this point. Finally, the moment has arrived. He was dragged out by two guards outside. Sudden light of sunset blinded him for a second, but his sense of smelling was finally freed from heavy, nauseating perfumes. The air smelled of crisp sea, mouthwatering food and fresh, exotic flowers. It was truly refreshing. The moment his vision returned, he could only wonder at what he was seeing. Harbor was filled to a brim, every inch taken by ships and sailors. Workers dragged various chests out of the ships, each one carefully taken, as if whatever was in there, could shatter easily. But the best sight was the gate. Big statues of man and woman held stone ribbon with flowers coming out of it with doves on it. Stone birds were probably the size of small boat. Real birds meanwhile looked like tiny specks of dust. It was also either a miracle or hard work, that the statues were spotless and decorated with various flowers, while petals floated with the wind. He couldn’t look too long, before he got put in a cage covered in silk and his view was covered. His cage moved and it felt like someone started dragging his caricature of a carriage. Whole experience was still surreal to him, but what could he do. Nothing. His short ride stopped and he was left waiting again. His earrings really started getting on his nerves now, ears hurt under the weight of crystals. He was bound with ribbons now, stuck kneeling, and his knees were now hurting as well. At least on the ship he could sit. This eternal waiting finally ended when he heard bells and then silence. He heard people talking before, and someone giving a speech, but he couldn’t hear exactly what was said. Then, he was dragged out of the cage and forced to stand, finally taking in his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a small, round plaza, in front of a stage. Around him were various riches, from minerals and fruits, to flowers and books. Behind him, were the Archons, kneeling, along with the highest representatives from each country. He was dragged out by some guard, that the clothes were of unknown origin to him. And someone was sitting on a throne in front of him. Her golden and light pink robes were covering most of the throne. She wore a dress with no sleeves that was showing her bare shoulders. Her (s/c) skin gleamed under the sunset light, with golden shine around it. Her (h/c) hair was carefully tied up and partially covered with cloth tied in it by detailed and delicate hairpins. Cloth also covered most of her face, except for lips covered in glittering, pink dye and impeccable, clean skin. She also had an abundance of golden jewelry covering what clothes could not. The throne was made out of pink crystal, glimmering in the sun. It was trapped in vines, that blood red roses came out of, with glittering water covering freshly opened buds. It’s thorns deep pink color, frighteningly sharp would scare any brave hand from picking flowers. If it wasn’t intimidating enough, weird, black colored birds sat around the stage and a few of them on top of the throne. Birds reminded him of cranes, but with shorter necks and a lot of missing feathers. Their beaks were shorter and curled, similar to an eagle. But their eyes… God, their eyes. Red orbs, filled with hatred and thirst for blood, all looking straight at him, piercing his mortal body and clawing at his soul. Their intense stare was already parting his limbs and sinking into his organs with greedy claws and beaks fighting for scraps of muscle saturated with blood. His blood. He was almost sure, that the only thing keeping them from tearing his flesh between themselves was the goddess on the throne. He noticed that there was another person standing right next to the throne, almost unnoticeable among the birds. His slender and malnourished form with grey skin and dark hair caused him to disappear among the birds, his scarlet eyes filled with the same emotion as them. That… man looked him up and down and snarled with disgust. “And what is this supposed to be” It was more of a statement than a question. Which was honestly surprising, because he didn’t sound disgusted with him but rather aimed at whoever was representing Sumeru, standing in the audience. “It is an offering, your highness. A healthy man that just entered his prime. I’m sure that you will find him useful” one of the sages said. Man sneered and turned his ugly head to the figure on the throne. “Are you accepting this “offering”, my liege?” by the way he spoke the word offering, he wanted to throw Sumeru representatives to the mercy of those awful birds, which meant no mercy at all. Woman seemed to be pondering for some time, and then moved her hand slightly, indicating for them all to move on. Man just mumbled something under his nose and nodded at the guard still holding him. “Take that… thing to the palace and make sure it’s prepared for further use” And with that, guard had unceremoniously thrown him over the shoulder and started walking behind the scene, bowing his head at the god sitting at the throne. Behind it were maids, or what he assumed were maids, all wearing gold and pink silk sarees, their faces covered with a cloth hanging from a silver headband. All were standing behind the throne and he didn’t know if all or any of them were women. But who he was to judge, as he himself was wrapped and covered in so much fabric and makeup, that he didn’t know what he looked like, only that it was supposed to make him look submissive and breedable, like some livestock. Behind the tent that made the back of the stage, was an entrance to a palace. It didn’t have high towers, but it was rather flat, similar to some desert buildings. There was no desert, but there were storms and open sea, so that’s probably why it wasn’t tall. It’s thick, decorative columns alone seemed like guards, watchfully observing all that was before them. The door opened a little, tall and thick, darkness form the inside keeping the contents of the palace safely behind a veil. As the door closed and the last of sunlight was blocked off, the guard dropped him on the ground and then clapped his hands twice. Immediately two servants with covered faces appeared, both dressed in very expensive clothing and jewelry, yet kept modest. The cloth that was covering had a weird symbol on it. It looked like a heart that was melting, with thorns around it. “Prepare him. He is of use.” And with that, the guard was gone.

[cixl-writes]

dump — artist

PAIRING — `` | stuco pres!ahn yujin x stuco vice pres!fem reader

SYPNOSIS — `` | ahn yujin is stressed with everything in her life— from her student council activities to balancing her part time works, she's stressed. and stumbling upon a certain troublemaker–turned–stuco vice prez named kim y/n seemed to worsened her problems even more. or does it?

LINK(S) — `` | dump – ahn yujin

ahn yujin thinks that kim y/n is just another troublemaker.

sure, most would say the opposite but that doesn't change yujin's opinion on her. whether she was deemed as the kindest, or the most talented, or the prettiest, or the smartest, or the most humble human on earth— yujin thinks that she is just another troublemaker.

so, imagine her surprise when she stumbled upon her, out of all people, settled in front of a canvas with a brush on her hand.

yujin was just out to find the vice president who just so happen to ditch the council's very first meeting, agitated at her audacity to do such a thing. she asked around, the students she questioned ending up saying the same thing.

“oh, y/n? she's probably in the art room.”

the ahn was a bit confused at the things her ears had caught, she had never heard a rumor about the kim being an artist. guess she have to find out herself!

the sight of the girl's side profile being highlighted by the warmth of the fading sunlight was quite surreal. yujin almost thought that she was pretty.

but of course, yujin being yujin— she threw that thought somewhere far away in her brain.

"do you know how long we waited for you?" she calmly questioned, and yet; the fire in her eyes said otherwise. y/n has never once flinched at the appearance of a new voice in the silent room nor looked to acknowledge the presence of the president.

instead, ahn yujin could see the slight curl in the corner of kim y/n's rosy lips before she responded.

"as you can see, prez— i'm quite busy over here, so if you would be so kind to overlook my absence in today's meeting, that would be very much appreciated."

her tone was anything but apologetic, hands busily mixing in some new color to add on her masterpiece.

yujin thinks that everything about y/n is insufferable.

the council president heaved an everlasting exasperated sigh. "ms. kang is finding you, you idiot." the council vice president only hums in mild amusement, gently gliding her brush on the canvas with focused gaze. "oh, then i'm fine. ms. kang knows that i spend my day here at this time anyway."

(as much as yujin didn't want to admit, she could clearly remember ms. kang being hit by realization moments after asking where could this troublemaker in front of her be before proceeding on the lecture about their duties as if nothing ever happened.)

the ahn could only groan in annoyance, fed up with her nonchalance. "atleast, try and show the younger members that the vice president isn't useless at all." the kim never replied, instead snorting and snickering at her words.

yujin dislikes how insufferable y/n could be.

but she'll have to put up with it, anyway. as the older (y/n is younger by a month) and more mature one, she'll have to be the bigger person.

so, even with every fiber of her being stopping her from doing this, she sat down on a nearby table and quietly huffed in mild annoyance. "finish that quickly."

that took the kim aback.

"huh?" she wasn't expecting this girl to stay at all, and it's clearly showing when she faced the other with agape lips. yujin rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her, "i promised ms. kang that i'll take you there, so finish... whatever that is."

for once, the ahn could see the kim truly speechless.

most of the time, she had snarky comments for every single sentence the president makes and it was very much annoying.

so, to see her so speechless for once, ahn yujin couldn't help but to feel like she had won an award.

'someone who had made that annoying troublemaker speechless'

it suits her well.

she had taken longer than yujin likes.

so, here she was now; bottom lip sticking out as she stood right beside ahn yujin, arms crossed in front of her chest and head looking at the side.

"i'm surprised you managed to pull kim y/n out of her art seat, president. but i guess this just proves that you're well-suited for the role."

how can that even prove that yujin is fit for the role?

y/n wanted to voice that out loud but decided against it when she saw yujin taking the compliment like it was a blessing of a god; if she was a puppy, her tail must be wagging so vigorously right now.

is the ever so bossy, condescending, and demanding student council president ahn yujin weak for compliments?

oh, how fun.

the kim hid the grin that appeared on her lips, snickering to herself silently. this was going to be so hilarious, she just knows it. yujin noticed her pretty annoying grin in an instant, and glared lightly.

what was she snickering about? why is she staring at her like that? why does she look so amused while staring at her like that? (why is she looking away? and why is she staring at wonyoung...?)

yujin shook her head from from such thoughts, and focused back on the meeting.

she swears kim y/n is so insufferable.

[crmsnmth]

A Letter to Someone I'll Never Talk To Again: Part One

Dear "Muppet"

Most people start off a letter by asking how you are, but I don't want to waste words on something that doesn't affect my life. I hope you're doing well, but it's really none of my bsiness in the end. I wish like hell that that wasn't true, but wishes are for wishful thinking. You know me, always the life of the party.

I haven't changed all that much since our time. Okay, that's a lie. I've changed a lot. See after you left, and everyone watched me go down, I vowed to change. That I would someday change back into the person I was at my happiest. I thougth that's what mattered, being happy.

The problem with this fool proof plan was that I was a fool with guesses. I was at my happiest with you, so that means I'll never be that person again. That person is officially dead and buried and his rotting corpse is why my breath stinks to badly in the morning. It leaves a foul taste too.

I knew you were with him during the last month of our relationship. I always wonder if you ever figured out that I figured it out, playing Sherlock Holmes but with a far less interesting story that you already know. I knew he was there while I was at work. And I bit my tongue because I loved you so much. I loved the person I had fallen in love with.

That person I fell in love so deeply with, was different than the one you were at the end. And I guess that's kind of a given fact since you were fucking someone else while we were in our relationship. I've had some bad relationships, the one after you especially difficult, but one thing i can say is that I've never once cheated on any partner I've had. Even if I wanted to, I never did it. Not even has payback. I didn't really give all thought about it.

Why would I? It never mattered what you did. From the very first time you stepped into that bar to the very last time you walked away from me, I knew I was yours. I was yours and I would do anything for you. So I even forgive you for all of this stuff too.

That doesn't mean I wasn't a problem too. I was caught in a delusional world I had built in my head, and I wouldn't get out of it until you left me. I think that was the shock that snapped everything into place. The catalyst, you could say. I was a liar and a con artist with the charisma of Charles Manson. I could get anyone on my side before you. I used those skills. I did it constantly. Tell a lie, something so far off and unreal that was obviously lie, and I'd wait for sometone to take the bait. Once they took the bair, the game was on and I ould try to convince someone that I was right, even when they knew I wasn't. It worked more often than not, and looking back, that frightens me so much. I was so good at it. Either that or everybody was somehow in on the joke. I did it too twice that I can think, but that number should be higher.

I really lost it after you left. And you saw it. The last phone call I ever got from you was the morning after a very awful evening. I don't remember the evening. I was mixing cocaine and being black out drunk. Somehow, I managed to piss everybody off and was taken outside to get the shit kicked out of me. You called the next morning, after hearing abot the beating and my awful behavior. Yout told me your roommate was super pissed at me. I tried to apologize on Facebook and maybe find out what happened, but he read my message and proceeded to block me/ That was it then. That one less than a minute long phone call.

They'll be letters soon, but for now I'm tired and my eyes itch behind my glasses. Time to start the ritual you loved so much in the beginning but by the end hated. And that's how it goes. People change, and there is absolutely nothing one could do. Our time together meant and still means almost everything to me, and at the way it's going, I'll be seeing you when my eyes close for all of eternity. Even without well-respected no contact clause. I almost broke when I came across your picture in a box of random papers. But I didn't. And the number I refuse to delete from my sim card may not even be your number anymore. I've probably gone through 100 different numbers since yo split.

I have to stop now, or I never will.

Love You Until the Sun Explodes, "Peanut"

[seizethedre]

(In the Land of Gods and Monsters)

Chapter Five: I Don't Really Wanna Know What's Good For Me

Alastor's an asshole. But maybe this time he also happens to be right about something. And since when did taste-testing desserts become such a compromising task?

Or, Lucifer has a bit of an overthinking problem and having a certain Radio Demon can be oddly therapeutic.

Something that should be understood, first and foremost, about a guy like Lucifer is that he’s old. Like, really old. You wouldn’t be able to guess as much from the looks of it, but he’s been alive a long, long, long, long time. A certain perk of eternal life is being able to experience the luxuries of mortal inventions throughout the ages.

First there was sex, which clearly had been skipped over in Heaven 101. But Lucifer had always been fond of learning new things and the department of carnal pleasures was one that he frequented often in the earlier years after he fell. Yup, he was quite the pro when it came to all things in, out, under, over, and around. Lucifer was never one to deny himself the simpler joys of existence, after all.

Then of course there were the more mental and emotional passions bred by humanity. This of course included literature, the arts, dancing, and music. Lucifer had been particularly interested when man became civilized enough to express themselves outside of simple oral communications. As a being of creation himself, the angel was intrigued by what they came up with.

 Little was ever divulged about the Plan past the series that took place in the Garden, so the unfolding of events was just as new and exciting to him as the creation had once been. And despite him only being able to see the messy dregs of the human world, it was quickly evident that even a spark of humanity was enough to inspire creation of some degree in each sinner that headed his way. He often wondered how they did it: they knew so little and had no grace to aid them in conjuring and transforming. But humans were gifted in their own right and the things they came up with, whew, it was breathtaking . 

Admittedly, Lucifer’s own fascination with and knowledge of  the arts came from his study of some of history’s greatest artistic talents. Well, those unfortunate enough to wind up in Hell at least.

It’s true that  most of those guys headed upstairs, but every few decades or so, maybe once or twice a century, some poor soul–Michelangelo, ever heard of him?-- got just a little too greedy, too proud for their own good and eventually landed themselves sitting in on a one-on-one with the Devil himself discussing the pros and cons of en plein air practice versus studiowork, or the benefits of oil paints versus temperas.

 It was all very new and thrilling, this  endeavor, one that drove him to rediscover and reconsider the itch he’d always had to create something, anything, and everything. He had always used his hands when creating things, used them to channel energy and grace, guide that power into something malleable and solid, but this provided a fresh take on that. Now he was literally using his hands as a means to bring something into being. Sure his art was neither as grand or imposing as, say, a new solar system or mountain ranges that spanned across entire continents, but their emotional significance carried a similar weight in his heart and in his being.

So humanity turned out to be a bit craftier than he had originally given them credit for, and in no subject did that become more evident than when it came to their cooking. Having created and placed a lot of the animals and herbs, Lucifer knew that the intention was for all of them to be used or consumed in some shape or form, but father was he astonished to find out just how many different ways man would learn to mix things up. 

While he himself had grown a particular affinity for the foods at the sweeter end of the culinary spectrum, Lucifer could admit that he was more than willing to try it all. And boy was there a lot to try. From regional dishes, to vegan diets, specialty dishes and fine dining, there was always something new and trendy to taste. He’d even given cannibalism a try once, albeit unknowingly at the time, and although he wasn’t keen on repeating that particular meal any time soon, he could admit, if only ever to himself, that it hadn’t been half bad.

Eating was a unique experience indeed. It was one of those practices, among many others such as sleeping and bathing, that Lucifer didn’t necessarily need to do, but he liked to do it nonetheless. By extension, cooking was another activity that Lucifer found himself dedicating countless time towards mastering. Much like art, being in the kitchen surrounded by the smells and tastes was oddly therapeutic for him. It allowed him to feel grounded and fulfilled, especially when he was able to share his cooking with other people. He found that there was little conflict or misunderstanding that couldn’t be resolved with some homemade, love-infused cooking, which is exactly why he tended to schedule cooking parties whenever things between the Sins became a little too rocky.

He’d said it before and he’d say it again: life in Hell wasn’t all bad. Especially when every new age of sinners brought with them all of the new advancements and improvements they’d gathered throughout their lives on earth.

Sure the gratification of participation was a little delayed, almost like the largest most complex game of telephone in the universe, but Lucifer got a taste of it all eventually. In some form or another,  that’s all that really mattered in the end. 

All this to say, and Lucifer really didn’t mean to toot his own horn–then again he wouldn’t be the embodiment of Pride if he didn’t every so often give it a little honk– but over his many years of living and partaking of the varied fruits of man's labors, he had come to develop what some would call a refined palate. In his own words, he would call it damn near perfect, exquisite even. You could throw an entire grocery store into a blender and feed it to him through a bendy straw and he would still be able to name every single thing in there, down to the molecules. Yeah, he was pretty good. But that also meant he was a little picky. Just a tiny bit, but rightfully so; he was the King after all. Having tried all the foods, he knew quality when he saw it, could smell it from miles away, and if he were to indulge in food not made by his own hands, then he expected to be wowed. And if this food, pastries no less, was to be served at his daughter’s event in the hotel that she owned and operated, then he’d be damned twice over if he allowed anything but the best to pass through the front entrance.

My my, this taste testing session would be fun indeed.

And, well, okay, maybe it was supposed to be fun, but the chiming of the little bell was drowned out by a casual little jazzy number that quickly reminded Lucifer that he wasn’t exactly alone on this errand anymore. In fact, he was so graciously accompanied by Alastor, and doesn’t this guy hate sweets anyways, and that could only mean that this business meeting would be neither fun nor easy nor an agreeable one. 

Lucifer felt uneasy for reasons not completely unknown to him. Although he’d done his best to shake it off, his palm still tingled with the remnants of holy power that he’d felt when he grabbed Alastor’s staff. Paranoia wasn’t exactly a word that Lucifer would often use to describe himself, I mean a lot of other words could be used, sure, but that was rarely ever one of them. And let’s get one thing clear here: there is very little both in Heaven and in Hell that could cause irreparable damage to him, so that meant that there really was no problem big enough that he couldn’t face. 

Would he consider the Radio Demon in particular to be a problem? Hardly. The guy couldn’t displace a single hair on his unholy head if he threw his entire arsenal at the angel. Now, as for his reasons for hanging around Charlie, Lucifer didn’t doubt that there was some sort of ulterior motive behind that, but ultimately there was nothing that could be done to hurt her either, even if Lucifer wasn’t around the hotel to prevent anything from happening. Say what you will about Lucifer being a deadbeat, but he never, in her entire life, stopped keeping tabs on his daughter and her well-being. He supposed in some begrudging way, he should be appreciative that Charlie had someone like Alastor to keep the big baddies at bay before Lucifer’s residency. 

So no, Lucifer did not hate the guy. At a certain point in his seemingly endless existence, much of the energy required for true, bonafide hatred had fizzled out and at best he could really only muster up intense feelings of annoyance. Now, was the demon a massive pain in the ass? Well, that’s a whole other story entirely. But even the King of Hell had to admit that it was entertaining enough to poke at the proverbial bear from time to time. Who knows, maybe he could even get him to bite.

Point being that up until that point, he’d had no real reason to be suspicious of the demon, but this entire ordeal was definitely weird, even by Alastor’s standards. Lucifer could always waltz into the cafe and demand answers, that wouldn’t exactly be hard for someone like him to do, but experience told him that the demon was a stubborn little shit who definitely wouldn’t divulge any information willingly and for nothing in return and really it was far too early for a fight. Plus, what would Charlie think if she were to catch their little tiff escalated to a million percent live on the evening news when he was meant to be out finalizing their catering spread? 

Alastor could keep his mysteries, for now at least. But Lucifer would definitely be keeping a close eye on him. Maybe he would even do some snooping of his own. That could wait until later, they had pastries to sample first.

The sinner of the hour was poised near the register, arms crossed behind his back at the wrists, staff suspiciously absent. He seemed to be engaged in conversation with the lizard-looking man behind the counter, though by the looks of it he was probably well aware of who he was speaking to, and judging by the too-pale complexion, was probably scared shitless. Lucifer sidled up just in time to catch the end of a stuttered sentence, watching as the demon’s mouth widened, baring more of his pointed smile at the worker’s clear discomfort. Lucifer had half a mind to say something about playing nice, but this was hell after all and everyone had to get their kicks one way or another. Alastor's preferred method just happened to be sadism, but who was Lucifer to judge?

He turned his attention to the display cases that lined the entire left wall as well as what remained to the left of the register. There was a lot to see, much of it consisting of pastries big and small in all kinds of fun, lively colors. Tarts and danishes lined the uppermost shelves of the display directly in front of him, all thick and golden and flaky, dotted with diced fruit and topped with something whipped and airy. It made his mouth water, and despite the unnecessary function that food plays in his day-to-day survival, he found the pits of his stomach begging him to make up for the fact that he hadn’t had breakfast that morning. 

Curious, he pushed down the hunger in favor of touring the rest of the displays. He examined each carefully, thinking about what would best suit the needs of their event. Cookies, cupcakes, macarons, eclairs–the options were endless and truthfully a bit overwhelming. They all looked so good and clearly this place took a lot of care and pride into the presentation of their products. Lucifer could respect that, definitely. But enough chit chat: let’s feast.

Right on cue, Lucifer heard a shuffle behind the display he was currently crouched in front of and straightened himself to see that the guy who’d been manning the register was now looking down at him, looking more relieved to be in front of the Devil himself than the Radio Demon. 

“H-hello sir–I mean, your Majesty, sorry! H-How can I help you?” The poor fool looked like he was one twitch of the eye away from pissing himself and yeah, Lucifer could definitely do without that today. Unlike the heartless asshole who was still leering at the poor sinner from across the room, Lucifer took pity on the guy, averting his gaze to look over the display again before speaking up.

“Hey there, we would actually like to put in an order. A big one, actually. It’s for an Open House we’re hosting to celebrate the reopening of my daughter’s hotel on the other side of town. Ever heard of it? You’re welcome to come, actually everyone’s welcome to come, you should invite your friends, too, you know, if they’re interested. We have a bunch of new amenities available for our residents and this would be a great opportunity to get to learn more about our cause. Charlie, my daughter, could go on and on about it and I–” 

Lucifer’s rambling was cut off by a heavy hand landing on his shoulder, slender red fingertips digging lightly into the material of his coat. He glanced back at Alastor, who now stood slightly behind him, perplexed at the sudden intrusion. His crimson gaze narrowed down at him before flicking back up to look at the sinner behind the display. Lucifer’s eyes followed their lead, only now taking in the wide-eyed confusion and the redness of the guy’s face, hands frozen mid air as he clutched a pen and notepad, clearly overwhelmed by the onslaught of information Lucifer had hurled at him. 

Oopsies? 

“Please, do excuse our esteemed monarch,” the demon interjected. “This event we are hosting is rather important to our cause, as I’m sure you can understand. What our Majesty means to say is that we would like to enlist your fine establishment in catering this Open House of ours. Should your goods and services measure up to our standards and expectations, of course.” He smiled widely, which on anyone else wouldn’t seem threatening but on the demon it was downright terrifying. The lizard-demon gulped, paling again at the emotional whiplash. 

“Of c-course, Sir, your Majesty. We-we would be honored to cater this event for you. Um, what exactly were you looking for? What we have out on display tend to be customer favorites, but we do offer customizable options should you be wanting something else.” He shifted between Lucifer and Alastor, his uncertain gaze ping ponging as he waited for one of them to answer. 

“I do believe I’ll let you take the lead on this one, your Majesty. This is your area of expertise and this is your errand to run after all.” With a final squeeze of his shoulder, Alastor let go of the angel, removing himself from his immediate proximity. Lucifer looked after him as he picked his way over to one of the small tables that dotted the other side of the bakery. A green-tinged tentacle wormed its way through the shadows at his feet, pulling out a chair for him to take a seat. With a wave of his hand, the quiet plucking of piano keys seemed to start up out of nowhere in a pleasant tune. The demon closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying the quiet music. Lucifer blinked then cleared his throat, turning back to the employee.

“Um, yeah, so like he was saying, this event is scheduled for about four weeks from now. We’re expecting anywhere between one-hundred to two-hundred guests and would like a variety of pastries to cover most of their preferences. Would that be okay?” Lucifer cringed a little bit at the question he tacked on at the end, knowing full well that as King of Hell he shouldn’t be asking sinners for permission or anything of the sort, but he couldn’t help it, even after all this time. There was a little blat of feedback from somewhere behind him.

“Yes, absolutely!” The lizard demon answered animatedly, no longer looking like he was about to pass out. “It would be no problem at all, your Majesty. Did you have any particular pastries in mind?”

Lucifer looked over the displays, mulled over his options slowly, deliberately, as he weighed the mental pros and cons of each option and trapped a clawed fingertip between his teeth.

“I’m thinking cookies, for starters, maybe just a general assortment of your most popular flavors. Macarons, too. I’m not keen on serving anything too messy. Maybe some fruit tarts?” Despite knowing very well what he enjoyed out of a dessert, Lucifer wasn’t too sure what Charlie would want to serve and he really didn’t want to let her down, especially with such a simple task as this. “Actually, would you mind bringing out a few samples? Nothing too fancy, just what you think would work well in this case.” The sinner nodded, jotting down a few notes before looking back down at the King.

“Of course sir, right away. Feel free to take a seat, I’ll be right out with those samples.”

Lucifer smiled tightly, anxiety swirling in his chest as he made his way over to where Alastor still sat, neatly perched with his arms folded, eyes closed, shoulders relaxed, entirely oblivious to the turmoil going on inside the monarch. He pulled his chair out with a loud screeching sound. The sinner’s ear twitched, but that was the only acknowledgement he received. 

Lucifer tapped his claws against the tabletop, looking around the room aimlessly. It was a cute shop, no doubt about it, all clean and earthy tones with lots of sweet smells and warm lights. He tried to concentrate on his surroundings in an attempt to ease his thoughts away from how pathetic he felt for getting so in his head over fucking desserts. What did it matter what he chose? People would eat them right? This wouldn’t be the proverbial straw that would break what little relationship he was beginning to recover with his daughter. Logically, Lucifer knew all of this, but a little part of him, okay a big part of him, was still so afraid of letting her down again . Charlie, his sweet, darling daughter, in all her infinite patience and goodness deserved so much more than what he could offer even on a good day. This wasn’t fair to her by any means, but he’d find a way to pull himself together. For her. He just had to.

“You are quite the jittery little fellow, aren’t you?”

Lucifer turned to Alastor, perplexed. The sinner had leaned back in his seat and stretched out in a neat array of lengthy limbs. The music had changed to something slower, smoother, quieter than before. A man sung softly, all low and crooning drawn-out notes. The angel was unfamiliar with the tune, but liked it well enough.

“What do you mean, I’m literally just sitting here?” Lucifer wasn’t one to be self conscious, but he had started to recognize a pattern when it came to the demon calling him out on his unconscious movements. Now that , he didn’t like. Especially not when he did it like this, having opened a single red eye just to slowly drag it up and down the king’s person. Lucifer let out a huff of air, immediately stilling his hands and feet which had started to bounce up and down on their own accord while he wasn’t paying attention.

Okay, point taken.

“Sorry,” he said. He clasped his hands together and planted his feet, giving them a stern finger-wagging in his mind for their ridiculous behavior. The demon continued to watch him, side-eyeing him from his periphery.

“Apologies should only be necessary if you don’t plan on repeating said offense. I do believe that this has become quite the habit of yours, your Majesty.” Alastor waved a single hand dismissively in his direction, sliding his eye closed once more. Lucifer sulked at that, because how the hell was this guy giving him lessons on etiquette when he was, quite literally, seconds away from eating a man whole not fifteen minutes ago.

“You know,” he continued. “I do find it quite fascinating that a being of your status would feel as affronted as you are over the simple matter of narrowing down the catering menu. My, had I known sooner, I would have suggested Charlie assign you even more benign tasks from the moment you arrived.”

Lucifer sent the demon a withering look, not that he could see it, but he hoped the asshole could feel its heat.

“Not that I have to explain myself to you, Al ,” and yeah, that ear twitch was definitely done out of annoyance at the nickname. “But it’s not the catering that I have on my mind. It’s the fact that this is important to the hotel and I want to make sure we get nothing but the best.” This is important to Charlie , is what he actually meant, but he felt no desire to go barking up that tree when the Radio Demon was being so placid for the time being. But as luck would have it, the demon didn’t feel the need to maintain the peace between them.

“Ah yes, young Charlotte’s latest endeavor does seem like a most inspired idea. I’ll admit I’m rather looking forward to seeing just how many residents we glean from this Open House of hers.” Innocent enough words, and spoken sincerely enough if you didn’t know Alastor, but Lucifer could pick out the mocking tone from the other side of Pentagram City and that just wouldn’t do.

“Fuck you, Alastor.” A shrill of static interrupted the music. “You and I both know that you couldn’t give two shits about Charlie or the hotel, so what gives? Why don’t you just leave us alone?

“And leave dear Charlie to fend for herself? What kind of partner would that make me?” The demon opened his eyes and sat up, placing a hand on his chest in mock offense at the king’s words. “No, I intend to see this little project of hers through to the very abysmal end. I am a man of my word, after all, loyal to a fault, you could say, and I stand by my promises. I’m not sure the same could be said about all of us here though. So long as the Princess continues to inquire for my assistance, I’m afraid that leaving is simply out of the question. Plus, where would be the fun in that?” A wicked grin stretched unnaturally across his face, eyes darkening as the rack above his head grew. Lucifer rolled his eyes, swatting away at the waves of static that seemingly rolled off of the demon. Did people honestly find that threatening?

“Listen asshole, I don’t care what you have to say about me, but you leave my daughter out of this. She doesn’t need you, she doesn’t realize that yet, but I can promise you that the second she says the word, you’re out of here. I was her father long before you became involved and she will continue to be my daughter long after you’re gone, got it?” 

Anger had gotten the better of his control about halfway through his little speech, eyes seeping into a demonic red while he felt his horns sprout from his forehead. His tail twitched behind him, snapping in agitation like a whip. Although he wasn’t yet at the point of breathing fire, Lucifer could feel the familiar burn in the back of his throat, tasting the smoke and itching to release it. 

If Alastor was intimidated–which he definitely should be because the angel didn’t hulk out for just anyone–he didn’t show it. Instead, he opted for resuming his relaxed position in his seat, crossing his legs at the ankles and examining his pristine claws. The picture of indifference despite the king’s outburst.

“Hm,” he responded, sparing Lucifer a bored look. “I don’t understand what you’re so upset about then.” And, oh, okay. Not the response he was expecting. Like at all. 

Worst of all, the demon was right. What was he worried about? Some sinner who could be snapped out of existence with the literal blink of an eye? Hearing his irrational fears parroted back to him from someone else did make them seem a bit trivial and unnecessary. For not the first time that day, Lucifer felt the mortifying need to apologize to Alastor, but he wouldn’t give the smug bastard the satisfaction. 

He crossed his arms instead and they sat in silence, save for the quiet music emanating from the Radio Demon, until lizard-man emerged from the back room balancing a few trays of goodies on his arms. Lucifer perked up at his arrival, eager for the distraction and now with renewed vigor to complete his task.

“Sorry for the delay, your Majesty. We made sure to make these fresh for you in the back. I’ll leave you to it, but feel free to ring the bell if you have any questions or require any assistance. Enjoy.” He scuttled away to the back, sparing only a quick look at Alastor, before disappearing behind the swinging doors.

Lizard-man had brought out exactly what Lucifer had requested and then some. Tarts of different flavors, garnished in a variety of fruits and decorative shavings. Cookies, warm and oozing, fresh from the oven and smelling divine. There was a rainbow of macarons placed neatly on a platter, embellished with gold flaking and the occasional raspberry. On a separate tray were little serving cups with what appeared to be layered mousses and cakes. Lucifer’s mouth watered at the sights and choices, unable to stop himself from reaching over and plucking a strawberry from one of the tarts. Its sweetness nearly brought him to his knees and he made a mental note to include the strawberry desserts in the order.

“Oh father, that’s good,” he groaned, plopping the rest of the fruit into his mouth. He reached over for the tart that he’d stolen it from, digging in with one of the provided spoons. “It’s been ages since I’ve had strawberries. You should try one, Al, they’re good.” He was too lost in the creamy pastry to notice the way the demon’s ear twitched in irritation at the reuse of the nickname.

“I’d prefer not to, your Majesty. I do believe this is a decision you seem more than capable of coming to on your own. And as you may recall, I’m not fond of sweets.” Oh yeah, he’d forgotten that little tidbit of information in all of the anxiety and anger and excitement of recent events.

“Your loss”

“Hm, I doubt it.”

Lucifer shrugged, dropped the conversation as he went about sampling the pastries, taking little nibbles here and there but always coming back to that first tart. He conjured up a notepad and jotted down his favorite desserts, ranking them in flavor, presentation, and ease of consumption. Time trotted along in this fashion: Lucifer would try something new, assess the flavor profile, examine the structure, and decide whether or not it was good enough to serve at the hotel. On occasion, he would offer some to Alastor–-because he was a mature adult who knew how to play nice with abrasive deer-demons–-accept the declined offer and move onto the next one. 

It wouldn’t be a lie to say that Lucifer was enjoying himself. The food was good, the ambience nice, and the music was mellow and slow. He’d complain about the company, but even Alastor was behaving, content with letting the little king repeat his thorough assessment of the desserts in silence. He had crossed his arms again and closed his eyes. If Lucifer hadn’t known better, he would have assumed the demon had fallen asleep, but the occasional twitch of his ears let him know that Alastor was well aware of his surroundings. But hey, if Al wasn’t going to pick a fight then neither would Lucifer.

The angel was just about finished with his list, taking a few more bites here and there, when the back doors swung open again and the lizard-man came out with one more platter. Huh, what’s all this, then? Lucifer watched with curiosity as the man came over to their table and sat the tray down in front of Alastor this time. He bowed slightly, audibly gulping as the demon lazily opened his eyes and fixed him with a stare.

“Apologies for the delay, sir. This isn’t a popular order and we rarely make them in-house. That being said, I hope you do enjoy them, Mr Radio Demon, sir.” He bowed again awkwardly before scurrying away lest he be the next unfortunate soul to get caught up in the demon’s claws. 

Interest thoroughly piqued, Lucifer glanced at the tray of desserts that the sweet-loathing demon had supposedly ordered. There was a pot of what looked like honey set neatly to one side as well as something that looked like jam and a shaker of something white. The angel wanted to ask, was itching to, really, but held his tongue at the scrutinizing look on the demon’s face. Damn, and Lucifer thought he was a tough critic.

“They’re called beignets,” Alastor said simply as though reading his mind. “Little squares or fried dough, very popular where I was from when I was alive.” 

The angel’s eyes followed the sinner’s hands as they spread a dollop of honey across one of the steaming desserts, following it up with a cloud of what could now be identified as powdered sugar. Fascinated, Lucifer watched as the demon plucked one from the bunch and brought it to his mouth, closing his sharp teeth around a corner. He let the morsel sit in his mouth for a moment before he started to chew, slowly and thoughtfully. He swallowed and Lucifer traced the bob of his throat as he did so, his own mouth hanging open, captivated by the pageantry of it all. 

He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until Alastor set the rest of he beignet down, his eyes searching for any indication of favor or otherwise. His eyes drifted to the demon’s mouth, the creases of which were stained with sugar and the glaze of honey. The sight alone would set Lucifer off, enough ammo to fire off some snarky comment about table manners, but the angel’s mouth was, shockingly, dry. Perhaps from it hanging open for so long? He wasn’t sure, but he closed it with a snap anyway before the sinner could turn the scathing remarks on him, probably something about catching flies, no doubt. He coughed, licking moisture back onto his lips as Alastor brought a napkin up to his face, and there goes his chance to ridicule the man. Oh well, there would surely be more. 

“Good?” Only one syllable managed to croak its way out of him, and he’s lucky he got even that much.

Alastor didn’t answer him. Not right away at least. He folded his napkin back up neatly, placing it squarely alongside the tray in front of him. Only then did he look up at the king, whose ears burned under the intensity in the crimson eye’s looking him over. Alastor licked his lips, slow and deliberate, chasing the stray remnants of sweetness from them before answering.

“If I may, your Majesty, I would like to request that we add these to our order.”

“Done.” And no he didn’t answer too quickly, come on, but Alastor’s quirked eyebrow spoke otherwise. Lucifer felt that burning in his ears creep down to his face. He cleared his throat, looking down and busying himself with stacking plates in an effort to shield the glow on his cheeks from prying red demon eyes. “I mean, yes of course. I suppose I can allow it. You did accompany me on this errand after all.”

Alastor’s eyebrow quirked up even further, his eyes narrowed.

“Just like that? You’re not going to try one first?”

“Nope, no need. I trust your judgment, Al. No need to turn everything into an argument after all, right? Ha ha,” he trailed off with an awkward laugh, unease creeping into the atmosphere. Alastor’s eye twitched, mirroring one of his ears as he stared down the king and suddenly he felt very much like a metaphorical beignet under the red microscope of the demon’s scrutiny. 

Thankfully, it didn’t last too much longer as the sinner rose from his seat with a flourish, all bright eyes and smiles as he brushed himself off.

“Very well then! I’ll give our requests to dear Milton and then we can be on our way.”

“Milton?”

“Milton. You know, the nice gentleman who’s been helping us this morning? You really should be working on that memory of yours in your advanced age, your Majesty. I do believe it’s the first to go.”

And yeah, Alastor may be an asshole, but perhaps not the only one.

A few minutes later, the pair of them were headed out the door and back down the street, order confirmation tucked into Lucifer’s vest pocket as something jazzy and spirited kept time to their pace. Neither one of them said a word, merely watched as sinners crossed the street to avoid their path, and enjoyed the rare, comfortable silence. And if Lucifer noticed that Alastor still hadn’t conjured up his cane, then he didn’t speak a word of it.

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[orange-demons-deactivated2024]

Avatar Voice 3

Buckle your seats, everyone, this post is gonna be a doozy.

So I was in the process of making a post of the VAs behind avatar's voice and I stumbled upon this one. In the Credits, they're credited as 'KIMO' with no last name, so I went to the Behind The Voice Actors to find more information about them.

Turns out their full name is Kimo Leopoldo, at least according to IMDb and behind the voice actors website. He didn't have any other works besides this game so he struck my interest.

KIMO (Kimo Leopoldo) is an American retired mixed martial artist and actor. He made his MMA debut at UFC 3 in 1994. A professional from 1994 until 2011, he also competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, and the World Fighting Alliance.

He was credited with a black belt in taekwondo in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 3.

He was most known for carrying a cross with him to the ring.

Leopoldo has worked since 1996 as an actor in independent productions. He starred in the Femme Fatales  episode "Family Business", the direct-to-video production R.I.O.T.: The Movie, and the films The Process, The Dog Problem, In the Closet, Bullet and Avengers Grimm

Although Leopoldo isn't new to acting, this was his first Voice Acting gig according to www.behindthevoiceactors.com.

Also, I think it's kinda cool that he's one of the VA that Voices Avatar in Street Fighter 6.

But here's the weird thing I found:

(Source 1) (Source 2) (Source 3)

All of them mirroring the same thing:

"The former UFC fighter Kimo Leopoldo reportedly died due to complications from a heart attack at the age of 41."

And that it may be due to "having tested positive for anabolic steroids at the end of his career, and later being charged for possession of marijuana."

He was reported to be dead on July 21, 2009. But as you all know, Street Fighter 6 was released on June 2, 2023.

(Source 1)

But doing some further digging, some websites provided an update retracting their original statements or pulling their articles off the internet.

And in during a phone Interview with Yahoo! Sports, he said "I knew I wasn't dead, So when I was reading this I wondered if I was jinxed or something was going to happen."

Leopoldo even appeared at the Orange County Sheriff's office in Santa Ana, Ca. to put an end to rumors of his death that spread rapidly across the Internet.

"It was really strange," Leopoldo said. "I was surprised at how nasty it was. I guess it wasn't a good thing. … I've always had strange things written about me but nothing this bizarre. I couldn't believe it when I searched for my name and I wrote in 'Kimo Leopoldo' and it added the word 'death.' "

Rumors of Leopoldo's demise first appeared on MMA.tv's popular forum, "The Underground." The post reported that Leopoldo died in Costa Rica "of complications from a heart attack."

The report quickly was picked up by the celebrity website TMZ.com, which "confirmed" the death. It later pulled the story without comment. 

But despite this, Leopoldo ended up returning to his life as normal.

I'm not going to go in-depth about Leopoldo's use of certain drugs like Stanozolol or methamphetamine because there's enough information about his business online. So if you want a more in-depth explanation, you're free to look yourself.

Now even though he was listed in the credits, I was still wondering if Kimo Leopoldo is the actual VA. Mostly because the last name wasn't included in the end credit. And there are no other sources that linked to Kimo even mentioning it on his platforms or in previous interviews. Nor any mention of the Street Fighter games in general.

In the game, he is supposed to be voicing a Young (Age) Normal (Tone) Avatar. And Kimo is now 56 years old.

The videos I found of him talking are Here and Here

The first video is 5 years old around the same time that Street Fighter 6 was in production. And his voice slightly resembles Avatar's, a little bit, especially when you're fighting.

Then in the second video, it's a scene when Kimo was on the show Cyborgs which was released back in 2020.

The most recent video of him I could find on YouTube was from 3 years ago in a Video interview. His voice has definitely gotten more raspier. So I think he probably would have done his lines about 4-5 years ago, but who knows.

I personally think it may be someone else, mostly because of how young the VA sounds compared to Kimo. And with new content dropping the VA has a consistent tone to their voice.

But it's possible for Takayuki Nakayama to know of Kimo.

Because Kimo was a pro wrestler who took jobs out in Japan and was undefeated. And since the Street Fighter devs are so well-versed in different styles of fighting, it wouldn't be surprising that they would've heard about Kimo when he signed a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

The Street Fighting devs know about the NJPW because the New Japan Pro Wrestling superstar Kenny Omega stared in the Street Fighter 5 Cody reveal trailer.

But, this is just my theory and speculation. And I wanted to know the VAs behind the Avatars in SF6. I didn't think I would be doing such a deep dive here because my post with the other VAs is nothing like this.

This was all just useless rambling and I'm pretty sure no one really cares but I thought this was interesting and I wanted to talk about it. I also contacted Kimo through IG DMs to ask him personally about it, so I'm still waiting for a response from him. If he does ever get back to me I'll post an update. Thank you for reading to the end.

[booksandabeer]

Okay, so... Maestro

I know it’s the cool thing right now to shit on Bradley Cooper and his increasingly desperate attempts to win that damn Oscar, and at this point it feels a bit like kicking someone when they’re already down, but oh boy, he makes it so easy. Still, let me preface what I’m about to say by assuring everyone who might be inclined to think that this is just me piling on, that I truly, sincerely wanted to like this movie. It’s about Leonard Bernstein!!! Of course I wanted to like it!  

With that out of the way…if you already thought Bradley Cooper was a bit much in A Star Is Born, wait until you’ve seen him act at you for two hours in this never-truer-to-its-name vanity project in which producer Bradley Cooper produces director Bradley Cooper who directs leading man Bradley Cooper as he recites lines written by, you guessed it, screenwriter Bradley Cooper.

First of all, the movie looks gorgeous. It sounds wonderful. Everybody in the so-called “below the line” departments brought their absolute A-game to this. It’s a Vogue coffee table book come to life. And that is precisely where the problem lies: This is supposed to be a movie, but what it actually is is the epitome of style over substance. It is completely devoid of any meaningful insights into the man or the time or the culture it depicts. It’s not a movie about Leonard Bernstein, the artist. Which isn’t a problem per se—different approaches to biopics are perfectly valid. The real problem is that it’s not a movie about Leonard Bernstein, the man, either. It’s Bradley Cooper spending almost 100 million dollars cosplaying as The Great Artist—beloved by intellectuals and the common folk alike—that he so desperately wishes to be himself.

Cooper's performance is A LOT. From the many affectations to the sweaty mania that is constantly turned up to 11 to the extremely nasal intonation (that seems to come and go) to, yes, the stupid and entirely unnecessary prosthetic nose—he does The Most in every single scene. Now, you might say I’m biased by my recent love for Fellow Travelers, but still, what Matt Bomer—in a small part as Bernstein’s lover and collaborator David Oppenheim—does in one scene that shows him smiling through the pain of being casually cast aside by his lover, moved me more than (almost) anything Cooper does in the entire movie. They also share a moment later that is almost unbearable to watch because of the pain seeping out of these two men who are, due to a mix of self-denial and societal oppression, not allowed to (or allowing themselves to) live life as their true selves. Finally! Some real human emotion! That is the movie I want to see. And it is so telling that this moment of actual tangible humanity happens when Cooper finally calms down for five fucking seconds.

All that isn’t to say that there aren’t any scenes here that have true charm and flair; at times the movie even comes close to moments of true beauty and grace that could be poignant, even devastating in the best of ways—were they not ruined by some “eccentric” directorial choice, baffling camera placements, shots that either linger on forever or are abruptly cut short. I was practically waiting for him to turn to the camera and ask “see what I did there?” Yes, we see it. We see it in the fantastical dance sequences, the 40s noir inspired shots, the shift from black and white to color halfway through the movie, the classic 4:3 aspect ratio, and the many many many allusions that do not serve this story and these characters at all but make it very clear to the audience that Cooper has seen a lot of movies. He’s a student of Cinemah, didn't you know? Anyway, all of these things aren’t bad ideas in and of themselves, but he does not know how to edit himself (or his movie) and so it’s just all too much, all the time, and it goes on for way too long.  

Let’s talk briefly about the Felicia of it all. Briefly, because for all the noise that Cooper has made about this being a movie that is just as much about Bernstein’s wife and their love story as it is about the man himself, I could not tell you who this woman was any more than I could before I sat down to watch two hours of Carey Mulligan reacting to Bernstein’s genius. Mulligan tries her best but she’s really only allowed to play two modes: swooning with adoration or vibrating with repressed anger. That’s it. I have no idea who Felicia Montealegre was beyond her husband’s wife. What did she want her life and her career to be? Was she truly passionate about acting or was it just a fun hobby to pass the time? And what did she hope to get out of this marriage, which—the movie makes it very clear—she entered into with the full awareness that there were parts of her husband’s life and heart that would remain forever inaccessible to her? Who knows. I certainly don’t.

Despite all claims to the contrary, this movie, and therefore I must assume the man who made it, is deeply uninterested in actually exploring this woman’s inner life. There’s no small amount of sad irony to be found in the parallel of Felicia serving as a shield of respectability for Bernstein (not only as that, because I do not doubt that they loved each other, but it was certainly one of the reasons for why he married her) and Cooper using his supposed interest in her (and to a lesser extent his lead actress) all these years later as a kind of preemptive measure to ward off criticism that he’s only interested in the Male Genius.  

Finally. What’s actually worse than all of the above is that somehow Bradley Cooper managed to do the impossible: He made a movie about Leonard Bernstein that is both utterly exhausting and—the true cardinal sin—terribly boring.  

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

Hey Ella. I thought I'd come to you with this because you always give off a kind and sympathetic nature so at the very least I won't be treated like a shitty person for what I want to say.

I'm really struggling with Harry atm and it's actually kinda devastating because I never saw this happening. There is so much around Harry that I vehemently dislike, from the people around him to aspects of his public image and narrative. I was so good at separating all that from Harry himself but lately I've been feeling my bitterness bleeding onto Harry. I've seen this happen so much. People who were originally fans getting annoyed at small things and that growing bigger into bitterness and hate. I don't want to be one of these people.

What is making this worse is that I as a person do not place a high value on things like career and ambition. Not in my own life and not in others. So it's getting hard for me to relate and support Harry in his ambition as to me there are infinitely more important things in life. This wasn't a major factor before because his fame and success wasn't at the level it is now.

I honestly don't know what I'm trying to do with this message. I guess I would just appreciate some perspective if you're willing because I genuinely do not want to start resenting Harry. Honestly just typing this is making me tear up.

hi kind anon, i think you're dealing with a pretty common problem in the fandom these days. it's tough to feel like you don't relate to someone you really always felt comfort with. maybe a first step is to take a breather from the fandom as well as gp/main media talk about harry. no twitter (and i'm not saying this bc i have a weird biased thing against twitter. it's a place where opinions are thrown around like it's something ppl have been begging for, like it's fact, and it's really hard to keep reading opinions and debates without getting influenced), no harry content on instagram, no tiktok. i am not interested in anything others have to say about him, and i actively shield myself from it. i don't watch videos others have made with commentary, i don't read articles, i don't even read discourse on here usually. i think the habit of picking everything apart, of making sure you focus on the negative to properly enjoy the positive, is unhealthy, or at least for me. i know myself enough to not fall into blindness or naivety when it comes to what's wrong with enormous success and the industry. i just don't feel the need to get into it every time harry achieves something.

when it comes to harry's ambition and success, i just know (from what he's shown over the years, but the full extent we never will) how much it means to him. i think it's also a mix of actually wanting to be big for him and getting as high as he can to prove that he can to everyone who told him he couldn't. i don't relate to it either, and i don't think it's cool to have all those riches, but i still cry with harry when he cries of joy at his madison sq garden banner. i'm okay living with that nuance without always debating it. i love his music, i love his artistic vision, i love his lyrics, i love the way he carries himself. i also know i don't know him, that i never will, and that there are things he does and says i don't agree with. i have the exact same thing with some of my lifelong best friends, as they have with me. i'm okay with that. happy, even, of how unique and imperfect we all are

what i do, and what keeps me so in love with harry beyond the noise of the gp and the fandom, is focus on what makes me love him. remember that this is an interest, something that makes you happy, and not your object of study, or your career in politics. enjoy it all for you, enjoy it offline as well. and then, i guess, if that doesn't do the trick, a few steps away from harry and all that surrounds him might be necessary to let go of the bitterness. bc you can also just stop liking something, and that's also okay

[thebreakfastgenie]

iirc glee had a billy joel episode, or at least did several covers of his songs. do you have an opinion on that?

I've seen the episode, which is called Movin' Out, at least four times. I've also seen all the covers in other episodes. This took forever to answer because I decided to go back and watch some of these to refresh to my memory.

I appreciate that they did it. It was nice to see him get the recognition. Mr. Schue using him for the lesson was a fun idea, I wish the writers knew a bit more about him though because there were missed opportunities! I could have done it better. My overall opinion is that's underwhelming. I want it to be better than it is.

The covers themselves are......... mostly not good. The first time they did Piano Man, when Mr. Schue sang it with Neil Patrick Harris, it was diegetic, the two of them singing it together in a bar, so they were able to do the cut by just having them not finish the song, which was really good. I thought that one worked pretty well!

Puck's Only the Good Die Young is... fine. It's not great but it's fine. It's fit in the episode is a little tenuous but whatever. I enjoy the line about only doing songs by Jewish artists that precedes the cover. There are worse covers in that episode.

The Warblers doing Uptown Girl was good! It would have been even better if Glee could resist the urge to Glee it up so much and it sounded more like a boys' a cappella group would in real life but it was really close to that and it was fun.

New York State of Mind is a mixed bag. They did really well in some parts and not as well in others. Marley held her own but Rachel definitely did better. I wonder if Rachel's at least was an homage to Barbra Streissand's cover, but it's not too on-the-nose obvious if it is. Rachel singing New York State of Mind as a new student at NYADA is hilarious on a Watsonian level, like it would be such a cliche, but I think on a Doylist level it's an excellent choice. You know, it's a jukebox musical, she's excited to be in New York where she's been desperately working to get for the whole show up to this point. It's a good choice. I'm not convinced Lea Michelle and Melissa Benoist couldn't have hit some of the notes that get sidestepped, I think it was just the arrangement, but what do I know.

The Longest Time was okay. I think it would have been better if, again, it didn't Glee it up so much, but it's a much bigger problem here than with Uptown Girl. It's an "unplugged" song during a power outage and I wish they let it sound more like that! Let it be more acoustic and rougher sounding! It's supposed to be like that anyway. Good use of that song but just a failure to execute. I also can't stand the Glee style of dancing, especially by that point in the show, and I feel like it doesn't fit which makes me like it even less, but I'm trying to judge this more on the use of the songs and not inherent Glee problems.

My biggest complaint about the covers in Movin' Out is the cuts are just so bad. I know they had to cut them for time but they could have done it better! It's really jarring! The actual singing is also pretty meh. I like some more than others but I don't love any of them.

I have a certain fondness for Ryder's An Innocent Man. It's musically just okay but I enjoy how it's used. I don't think he really gets those notes though. 75-year-old Billy Joel is like "pray for me to hit the high note" and then kills it every time. That kid could do better.

I hate the use of Honesty, it's so weird, and I also don't like the cover. Sorry Artie.

I don't love the cover of Just the Way You Are but also it's Just the Way You Are. What can I say. Not the worst use of it in the plot though.

I hate the cover of Movin' Out. I don't really enjoy the montage thing either but it's fine I guess. It's weird because I would think Darren Criss would be able to do Billy Joel but I don't like any of his parts in this episode.

Jake singing My Life while also asking Marley for a second chance is kind of funny. I also remember that one being meh to fine.

It's hilarious that Blaine says "sing along if you know it" about Piano Man to a crowd in a piano restaurant in New York City. That place probably needs a "no Piano Man" sign like the sign in the guitar store in Wayne's World. Also as a side note if they could have gotten a Billy Joel cameo that would be the scene to do it; he should have been like "no not this song again" and stormed out. OR they could have had him correct Blaine because the sheet music is wrong (in real life that was with Just the Way You Are but creative license is allowed).

Ending on You May Be Right was a solid choice but I hate their version of it. It's terrible.

The choice of songs is... fine? I could probably make a better track list for a Billy Joel episode if you gave me some time, but they picked a decent mix of hits I guess, especially considering which ones they'd already used (of course they repeated Piano Man. of course.) I would like to see Blaine try Summer, Highland Falls, I think. Ultimately I think the biggest problem with Movin' Out is that Glee had declined so much by season 5. A Billy Joel episode in season 2 or 3 would probably have been better. There was just more care put into the music back then.

By the way, Billy Joel gave permission for Glee to use his songs but said he'd never seen the show because he only watches the History Channel.

[a-bombyx-mori]

poking around on spotify earlier and saw that ghost hit 1 mil monthly listeners,,, holy shit!! and their work has been a constant in my life for about 7 years now holy fuck.

gets me thinking about their impact and stuff. still have mixed emotions about everything because they sure did get good and bad attention while they were online. it's gotta be satisfying to see so many people enjoy your art and music and for them to even pay for it. then there's all the problems that come with any fanbase or online presence in general. and I've been here a while so here's just a few things that stand out to me about. everything? things I've thought about a bit?

(this became a long reflection ramble thing whoops.)

I've never really had other songs or writing at all describe the weird mental shit I've been through. yep, it's probably dumb, but ghost and pals songs helped me identity my problems. they became a source of catharsis when I was in fucking middle school and still are to this day. hell, evolve was the first thing that got me thinking I had been in a horrible relationship (along with twisted love ofc). aoapp was a reflection of my anxious attachment for a long time. I wouldn't have been able to make personal progress the past few years without analyzing songs too much.

and don't get me started on their drawings,, their artstyle has always been so charming in its own way. for a long time I tried to emulate their techniques so I could be an artist too. AND THEIR PV EDITING?? mgnghfh full course meal. I still set stills as backgrounds every so often. the fucking colorbars picture was my email background for years until google decided to stop loading it sometime last year.

I still admire them so much.

but there's also things they did that feel off. like I'll never get over how the new chattering was supposed to be a joke. you can't go and make a polished banger showing off your improvement and then say "yeah lol I only did this cause my friend joked about doing it so I said bet." or smth along those lines. (ghost said they remade it cause creep-p joked about it. in a tweet I think? gotta find it.) at that point, it also becomes a slight against your fans. you can't act like everything you make is (essentially) worthless without unintentionally shaming those who enjoy it. it's like that one mirror reflection picture thing.

the whole deletion of specific songs/most of their old discography is also it's own complex beast. ideally, an artist should be in control of when their art is displayed, but you give up that agency when using the internet. hell, there's mirrors of my old Instagram pages, and I'm nowhere near ghost's notoriety. thats the nature of the internet. shit is saved and copied and reuploaded all the time. the only way you can prevent that is by not uploading it at all or going through copyright law/terms of use/etc.

when I first started listening to ghost, they had their old work in an unlisted playlist. cool. then another channel I believe? then later on there was no official way of getting them so ofc people reuploaded them. was that the best thing to do? nope. but people enjoy their old songs and wanted access to them. and not everyone has a local back-up of music cause they're afraid it'll become inaccessible lost media.

them deleting most of their music vids is similar. this happened around like 2018ish? people started reuploading their current songs because. guess what. they weren't officially avaliable. people were thanking translators and such who had the pvs on their channel because they had access to it again. I believe something like this happened a second time but I don't remember for sure.

THIS DOESN'T EXCUSE ANY OF THE PATREON LEAKS BTW. those were paywalled benefits so that's a fundamental breach of privacy (and site rules, I'm p sure).

also less serious thing but they set up a premiere at the end of 2019 for a new song or whatever and it turned out to be a fucking joke too. just like a dr phil picture or smth. only upset at that cause back then I'd get the biggest fucking adrenaline rush whenever they were about to release something. then again I was also depressed as hell so that's an old me problem imo.

there's probably other drama or whatever I'm completely forgetting about, but probably for the better. in the end it's all about the art we're here for in the first place, and the artist behind it. I hope they're doing well after detaching from social media.

uh. long essay thing over now. I think