#i think she would be cool with it (shes supportive of me and also generally cool about stuff) but i don't think she would. get it? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mariacallous · 2 months ago

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Not long after the November election, new members of Congress gather for a couple of weeks of orientation. Consistent with that tradition, Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat, made the short trip from Wilmington to D.C. to meet with her fellow first-termers. At a hotel in the capital, she learned about the lottery for office space, how to assemble a staff, and the intricacies of the legislative process. As the first transgender member of Congress in history, she also experienced an orientation in naked aggression. Within days of her arrival, Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, introduced a resolution that would restrict access to all “single-sex facilities” on Capitol Hill to those of the “corresponding biological sex.” In other words, Mace sought a bathroom bill—and made clear that she “absolutely” intended it as a reaction to McBride.

“I’m not going to stand for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women’s locker room,” Mace, who had claimed to be “pro-transgender rights” as recently as last year, said of her new proposal. She also added an odd, pseudo-feminist twist: “It’s offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he’s my equal.” Mace found support among Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, according to Politico, told colleagues that she would fight McBride were the two of them ever to meet in a women’s bathroom on the Hill.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among those who leapt to McBride’s defense, calling the bill “disgusting.” McBride, for her part, refused to take the bait, saying that she would “follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

McBride was born in Wilmington; her father was a lawyer and her mother a high-school guidance counselor. At American University, she was active in Democratic politics and worked on Beau Biden’s campaign for Delaware attorney general. In her senior year, she served as student-body president, and ended her term by publishing a moving coming-out article for the Eagle, the A.U. paper, called “The Real Me.”

McBride had been hesitant to acknowledge her trans identity, she explained, because that might prevent her from pursuing a career in politics. “I wrestled with the idea that my dream and my identity seemed mutually exclusive; I had to pick,” she wrote. In the end, she realized that she would have to embrace both: “My life was passing me by, and I was done wasting it as someone I wasn’t.”

In 2020, McBride was elected to the Delaware State Senate. And this November she was elected to the United States House. At the start of our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, she seemed determined to keep her cool, despite the insult she had just suffered. “I think in many ways I got a fuller orientation this week, where I actually got to see not just the nuts and bolts of Congress,” she said drily, “but also some of the performance of Congress, too.”

Well, let’s talk about that. Nancy Mace, one of your colleagues now, immediately came forward and decided that this would be a good time, a perfect time, to introduce a bathroom bill, all directed at you. How did you take this piece of what can only be called aggression?

I always knew that there would be some members of the Republican caucus who would seek to use my service representing the greatest state in the Union in Congress as an opportunity for them to distract from the fact that they have absolutely no real policy solutions for the issues that actually plague this country. And, in some cases, to grab headlines themselves. I was not surprised that there was an effort to politicize an issue that no one truly cares about—what bathroom I use. I did think that it might wait until January. It happened a little earlier than I anticipated. I was still getting lost in the tunnels of the Capitol when we got the news that this was coming.

What was your first reaction to it?

“Here we go.” Throughout the campaign, I really focussed my campaign on my record in the Delaware General Assembly: of passing paid leave, expanding access to health care, and the kitchen-table issues that I know keep voters across Delaware up at night that I will be working on in Congress, like lowering the cost of housing, health care, and child care. But, as I got questions about the added responsibilities that sometimes come with being a first, the first thing I would always say is that I know that the only way I can do right by any community I’m a part of is to quite simply be the best member of Congress for Delaware that I can be, to be an effective member working on all of the issues that matter.

When I was watching this play out on television, reading about it, in the past week or two, I looked up how the first Black member of Congress was received, Hiram Revels. This is in the nineteenth century. He was treated with a great deal more respect than you were. I understand your desire to be poised about this, and straightforward, and to move the issues to the issues you ran on. But I wonder what your emotional reaction was to what you could only have taken as an enormous gesture of deep disrespect.

Look, I’m human, and it never feels good to be used as an opportunity to get headlines. It never feels good to have people talk about deeply personal things. I think I knew what I was signing up for, though; I know what the Republican Party in this country, in Congress, has become.

Which is what?

A party that is more interested in performance art and being professional provocateurs than being serious legislators and a serious governing party. I think they have come to the conclusion that they are able to get enough votes if they occasionally throw red meat to folks, because that red meat might satiate what is an authentic crisis of hope that I think people across this country face right now.

I think we have to be crystal clear in calling them out on what they are doing, and pull the curtain back to really dull the effect that these manufactured culture wars have on the American voter. Some people do receive this red meat, and it resonates with them—it makes them feel better, but it doesn’t actually address the real pain in their lives. And I think we should be calling that out and obviously modelling an approach to governing that genuinely solves the real problems that people are facing that create a level of insecurity and fear that allows for culture wars to satiate at least something instantaneously.

But I truly believe that if we solve problems, if we are serious, people respond. I’ve seen that in Delaware as we have passed paid leave, raised the minimum wage. Voters here in Delaware are sort of bucking this national trend. We’ve expanded our majorities both in 2022 and 2024 in the Delaware General Assembly, I believe, as a byproduct of a record of results that voters are responding to, and a message focussed on kitchen-table issues and economic issues. And it’s allowed us to not only expand our majorities but to break through the culture wars that the Republican Party has pursued. Because we’re in Delaware, in the Philadelphia media market—we are getting those anti-trans Trump ads pumped into our state like we were in Pennsylvania. And yet, despite that, running on a message of paid leave, higher minimum wage, union protections, a trans candidate not only won here in Delaware but actually outperformed every major Democrat running for major office in Delaware statewide.

And yet the notorious ads that ended with “Kamala Harris is for they/them, President Trump is for you”—ads that were oriented around anti-trans sentiment—not only did they occur, they worked. Certainly, they worked in the interpretation of not only the Republicans but the press at large. They ran them over and over again and poured millions of dollars into them.

So, first off, I think there are two things. One, this country is still entering into a conversation about trans people. This country still is at a Trans 101 spot. And one of the things I think Democrats have to be more mindful of is that leaders should always be out in front of public opinion, but, in order to foster change in public opinion, we’ve got to be within arm’s distance of the public so that we can pull them along with us. If we get too out ahead of it, we lose our grip and we’re unable to pull the public with us.

Is that what’s responsible for your calm in talking about this? I remember very well that Barack Obama, when he was running for State Senate in Illinois, got a questionnaire, and one of the questions was “Are you for gay marriage?” He didn’t say yes. Now, everything I know about Barack Obama tells me that, at that time, a clear “no” was not his real sentiment, but that he didn’t want to get too far out ahead, for political reasons. He clearly changed later on. Is that part of your calculus in the way you talk about this? Because Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answered Nancy Mace in much more vitriolic terms.

I think there is a space for diversity of messengers and a diversity of message. I would never presume what was in Barack Obama’s heart and mind on the issue of marriage equality. Many people authentically evolved. What we do know is that, as the movement for marriage equality moved forward, the most effective messengers for marriage were not same-sex couples, were not parents of same-sex couples or kids of same-sex couples. The most effective messengers for marriage equality were those who evolved. And they were effective because they gave a permission structure to people who had not yet gotten there that it was O.K. to be uncomfortable, it was O.K. to be on the other side of the issue. You weren’t a bad person; you weren’t wrong.

My motto has always been: I’ll extend grace so long as people demonstrate growth. But that is a two-way street. And I think that we are shooting ourselves in the foot, as people who believe in progress, when we create no incentive for people to grow, because they perceive that they will be permanently guilty for having been wrong. We create no space for them to grow by extending no grace for them to actually walk there. I think one of the reasons why we see people pushed into their respective corners is because you say something that’s deemed problematic, and you are immediately hounded by one side and immediately embraced by the other side. Human nature is to—when faced with that degree of extreme binary reactions—go to the people who are validating you instantaneously. We unintentionally actually push people further and further into their own corners and into their negative opinion by responding with a degree of condemnation and vitriol that creates no incentive and space for them to grow.

But I actually want to say something on those ads, because you did say the key sentence in that ad. It wasn’t the surgery point, it wasn’t the undocumented-immigrant point, it wasn’t the trans point, it was the concept in that line that Kamala Harris, according to the ad, was for a small group of people, and Donald Trump was there for “you.” The lesson of this moment, of this last week, is that we should be flipping that script. Because that’s the authentic thing—Kamala Harris was for everyone. And Democrats are for everyone. And every single time Republicans focus in on a small vulnerable group of people, not only are they trying to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions—not only are they trying to employ the politics of misdirection, to move your attention away from the fact that in that same moment they’re trying to pick the pocket of American workers, undermine union protections, and fleece seniors by privatizing Medicare through the back door—but every bit of time and energy that is diverted to attack trans people, that diverts the attention of the federal government away toward attacking trans people, is time and energy that is not being spent on you. It’s time and attention that’s not being spent on raising your wages or improving your benefits or lowering the cost of living. These attacks have costs. Republicans are focussed on attacking a small group of people, and we are here to actually address the issues that you care about.

You’ve now had a week with your new colleagues, and I wonder what kind of support, or the opposite, you felt in your orientation sessions after Nancy Mace made the statement she did.

I have been overwhelmed and heartened by the love and the support of my Democratic colleagues. It was stunning. I got to Washington, and I’m at orientation. I’m grateful that I had a week before all of this started, because I had a week to just marvel at the fact that I was there. I had a week to marvel at the fact that I am serving in a body that Abraham Lincoln served in. One of the first nights we were there, we gathered in Statuary Hall, which is the Old Hall of the House, which is where Abraham Lincoln served. And then, after we gathered there, we walked onto the floor of the United States House of Representatives, where they moved in 1857, just before the Civil War broke out. And we sat in the chairs and I thought, This is the space where the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment were passed. This is the space where women got the right to vote. This is the space, these are the chairs. This is the job of the people who voted to pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And you feel this awesome responsibility, not just to deliver on the tangible policies for the constituents you serve in that moment, but you also feel that deep responsibility as you realize that you are one of a little more than five hundred people who have the responsibility to be stewards of a democracy—of the longest ongoing democracy in the world. That is an awe-inspiring responsibility.

I’m really grateful that I had that opportunity. But what was made that much more meaningful was that in that second week, as all of this noise happened—as I continued to be focussed on the actual work that I was there to do—the love and the support that came in from my Democratic colleagues really reinforced what I had already been hearing, which is that that caucus is a family.

And what about the Republican side? Did you get any support from there?

Yes. Look, there was a lot unsaid, but there was kindness and clear intentionality to say, “Welcome to Congress. It’s wonderful to serve with you.” That was quite a contrast to some of the other behavior we saw that week.

People actually coming up to you from the Republican side and embracing you in one way or another?

Yes. Staff and members.

The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, released a statement that said all single-sex facilities are for people of that “biological” sex. You responded to this on X, formerly Twitter (it’s interesting that you’re still on Twitter!), by calling this a distraction and saying that you’ll follow the rules as outlined by Johnson. But what do you say to people in the trans community who think you didn’t go far enough?

I understand that, at a moment where you are scared, you want to see someone fight. I understand that when you are a first, there are a lot of people who never dreamed that something like this would be possible, who are living on that journey with you. And so they feel very deeply the experience of discrimination. They feel very viscerally the experience of disrespect. I think what I would say is, This was not done to bar me from restrooms. This was done to invite me to take the bait and to fight. I am maintaining my power by turning the other cheek and doing what I promised Delawareans I would do, which is to focus on the job in front of me. Yes, when that calls for me to defend my L.G.B.T.Q. constituents, I will do that; when it calls on me to defend workers in my state, I will do that; when it calls on me to defend retirees in my state, I will do that. But I should not be the issue.

You must have anticipated, if not this, then something like it. And of course you are a first, a historical first. Do you face a lot of threats?

I think one of the problems in our politics right now is the level of toxicity has resulted in far too many people seeking to solve political disputes not at the ballot box but through violence. I am certainly not alone in Congress in having to think through that. I think it’s very early. There have been moments throughout my life where I have had to be cognizant. I’ve never had a job where I have not received death threats. Literally, I have never had a job—even when I was in my first, junior-level position.

How do you handle them?

Well, fortunately, we’ve got great law enforcement here in Delaware that I have worked with over the course of this campaign and throughout my time in the State Senate. Look, one of the things that I grappled with when I decided to run for this position is the risk that comes with being a first at this level. Even though I didn’t run to be a first, there’s obviously risk that comes with it. And there was a moment where I almost didn’t do it. Because of the fear.

Tell me about that. Was it a specific incident or just a generalized fear?

There were some rumors about what some far-right-wing groups might try to do, should I run.

When did this come up?

This was before I announced. There was a lot of speculation about me running.

So what within you allowed you to make the leap and declare yourself a candidate for Congress?

A couple of things. First off, I think that we delude ourselves into thinking that people don’t take these types of steps without fear. People aren’t fearless. Bravery only comes into play when you face those fears, when you pursue something despite the fears. I really do believe that we are at an inflection point where we need a politics of grace in this country if we are going to have any chance at not only restoring our capacity to have a national dialogue, which is fundamentally necessary in a democracy, but actually making government work better. I genuinely felt like I had something to contribute in that respect. I think I know how to get things done. I know how to legislate.

But you’re going to have to embody grace—and there’s every sign that you already do—but with a President who says, publicly, something like this: “Your kid goes to school and a few days later comes home with an operation.” That’s the President of the United States, come January 20th. How do you combat that, and all that’s behind it, and embody grace?

I think a couple of things, and I think this extends beyond Donald Trump. So I’m going to step back a little bit. I think Democrats struggle with extending one of our basic principles—which is that no one is their worst act, no one is their worst belief—to people on the other side of the political divide. I’m not talking about Donald Trump right now. I’m talking about Republicans. The question here is not how do I demonstrate grace in the face of Donald Trump; it’s how do I demonstrate grace in a world where people that I work with—where even people that I represent—hold positions and beliefs about who I am that are personally hurtful, potentially.

I think all of us need to do a better job of seeing the humanity of people on the other side of the aisle. Because I think what happens in this country right now is: The left says to the right, “What do you know about pain, white straight man? My pain is real, as an L.G.B.T.Q. person.” And the right says to the left, “What do you know about pain, college-educated, cosmopolitan élite? My pain is real, in a post-industrial community ravaged by the opioid crisis.” And I know that, when I am upset, the worst thing that someone can say to me, even if it is said with the best of intentions, is “It’s not as bad as you think.” Any therapist will tell you that the first step to healing is to have your pain seen and validated. And I think all of us have to do a better job of recognizing that people don’t have to be right in our mind for what they’re facing to be wrong. And people don’t have to be right in our minds for us to try to right that wrong. That comes down to sort of a core recognition that every single person is more than just one thing about them. And every single person is more than even beliefs that might personally hurt many other people. And the other thing I’ll say on that is to a similar point: early on in my career, I went viral for something.

Do you remember what it was?

Ironically enough, I was an advocate. It was a selfie in a bathroom in North Carolina that I was technically barred from being in.

I see.

The vitriol that came back to me as a twentysomething-year-old was so dehumanizing and so cruel and so mean. It was the closest in my life that I have ever been to suicide becoming a rational thought. I wasn’t suicidal, but it was the first moment where I just went, I want to end this miserable experience.

What was coming at you?

I mean just the level of online bullying and harassment. It was amazing to me that people—person after person—telling me to kill myself could actually hurt me. But it was an onslaught. And, again, I was twenty-five. I was new to all this, and I thought, Maybe I don’t have skin thick enough for this. I sort of went on a journey to understand the psychology of trolling and bullying. I think it was a “This American Life” podcast by a writer who talks a lot about her own weight and grapples with her own body image in a really public and vulnerable way, talking about the experience that she had writing about that hurt and getting outreach from one of her worst bullies and trolls online—someone who had created a Twitter account as her deceased father to troll her from—who opened up to her about what was motivating him. And, listening to that conversation, it really helped me internalize a truth that has allowed me to find balance and grace in the face of hatred or cruelty. And that was: Everyone deals with an insecurity. Everyone deals with something that society has told them that they should be ashamed of or that they should hide. And the thing about me is that I have taken that insecurity, that thing that society has said you should be ashamed of and you should keep quiet—and I’ve not only accepted it but I walk forward from a place of pride in it. Bullies see that. They see that individual agency and conquering my own fears and insecurities, and they’re jealous of that. That has allowed me to find compassion for folks who respond to me in sometimes the way that they do, to recognize that I hope, too, they can find the power to overcome whatever pain is plaguing them.

And so much so that when Nancy Mace made the comments that she did, and put forward the bill that she did—are you able to see it in those terms and not receive the attacks with the same despair that you did when you were in your twenties?

Yes. Yes.

That’s an enormous transformation.

I won’t say that it doesn’t hurt, but, yes, I am not distracted in the same way that I was.

“Distracted” is a small word for it. I mean, what you felt in your twenties must’ve been a lot worse than “distracted,” no?

Yeah. I am able to contextualize it and not feel the pain as much. Again, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt, but I am able to work through it.

How? That’s a very hard thing. Is it therapy? Is it maturation? Is it living in your skin ten years longer? What is it?

I think the last two: I think it’s maturation, and I think it’s just finding a confidence in myself that allows me not to internalize. I really do seek to find compassion for the people who are acting out, who say the things that they do, because that does help me. That does help me to try to see and understand where a person is coming from, even if the action itself explicitly or implicitly is not well-intentioned, even if it’s being done for cynical purposes—to try to understand that there’s still a person behind that and maybe there’s something in their life that has pushed them to engage in the way that they’re engaging.

In a certain number of weeks, you’re not only going to have to hear about Nancy Mace, you’re going to have to work with her. And you talk a lot about “working across the aisle,” which is a phrase that we hear from politicians all the time. This takes on new levels of meaning—“working across the aisle with Nancy Mace.” Can you do it?

Well, I look forward to working with colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle who are serious about the work that they’re doing. Who have disagreements with me, perhaps profound disagreements with me, but who are serious about getting things done.

For the first time in our conversation, I sense you’re reluctant to answer the question directly. With all respect.

I will work with anyone who’s willing to work with me. And I don’t know this individual member of Congress—I had barely heard of her before this. I will never say that anyone is beyond redemption.

I want to zoom out a bit now and talk about your own unique path to politics and congress. Your late husband, Andrew Cray, was an L.G.B.T.Q.+ health advocate and attorney. What kind of work did he focus on, and what of his legacy can be seen in your own political career and direction?

Andy was the kindest, smartest, and—this is very important for me in a partner—the goofiest person that I had ever met. Just a really good and decent person.

How did you meet?

We bumped into each other at a White House Pride reception during the fourth year of the Obama Administration, 2012. After that, he reached back out to me on social media, on Facebook, and he said that he thought we’d get along “swimmingly.” I thought, Who the hell in their twenties says the word “swimmingly”? But clearly someone I want to spend some time with. So we went out on a date, and I fell in love pretty quickly.

Was he already sick?

No. He was an attorney, as you mentioned, working on health policy, and he was actually working on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He was a brilliant mind, but also—and I think this goes back to our conversation about grace—he was so principled. I remember we had a debate once where he won me over—where we had a debate about whether it was appropriate to out anti-L.G.B.T.Q. politicians who were in the closet themselves. I was of the mind that their hypocrisy called on us to out them. And he was of the mind that the principle that we are fighting for—that everyone should be able to live their life fully and freely, be able to live their sexual orientation and gender identity, the way they see fit and the way they need to—if that is not an unbreakable first principle, then what is? And principles only matter when you have seemingly altruistic reasons to violate them. He was someone of just immense grace, principled grace.

He got sick about a year into our relationship. He developed a sore on his tongue and went in thinking it was just a benign growth. He had a little minor surgery to remove the benign growth, which was aborted in the middle of the procedure as they realized perhaps that it was something more. About a week later, he was diagnosed with oral cancer. It was a shock to both of us. I mean, we were both young invincibles, something that he had written about as he worked on the A.C.A., right? We never would’ve imagined that cancer would enter our lives in our mid-twenties, but we knew from the very start how lucky we were. He knew in particular, given his work, how lucky he was to have health insurance. And we were both very lucky to have flexibility with our jobs that allowed Andy to get care: a twelve-hour surgery that left him having to relearn how to talk, how to eat, how to breathe. I was lucky to be there by his side to care for him, to suction his tracheostomy tube, to tend to his wounds, to hold his hand through the absolute fear.

And then eventually, when his cancer turned out to be terminal, to be there by his side, to marry him, and to walk him to his passing, which happened a couple of days after we were fortunate enough to get married in our building. My brother, who’s a radiation oncologist, said to me, “I’ve seen a lot of people pass away from cancer. And one thing you should try to take stock of over the weeks ahead, as Andy’s health deteriorates, is that you are going to bear witness to acts of amazing grace that will fill your life.” And truly that grace and those miracles were everywhere. I think it has fundamentally shifted my perspective on the world and my ability to see that grace, to see beauty and tragedy, and to recognize that hope, as an emotion, only makes sense in the face of hardship.

In other words, you’re thinking about him all the time through this?

Yes. Yes.

And what does that do for you?

It makes me feel less alone in navigating this. It makes me feel more confident in what I’m doing and how I’m trying to go about this. There’s certainly things that I wish I could talk to him about and get his perspective on, but I try to take the lessons from our couple of years together and try to draw those lessons into action in this moment.

We began our conversation with you talking about how moved you were to be in the halls of Congress for the first time as a soon-to-be member, and seeing and sensing all that had happened in progressive terms, in liberatory terms, over time and in previous centuries. My guess is that this is not going to characterize the next two years for you in Congress. The Democratic Party, in large measure, will be fighting a rear-guard action against all kinds of initiatives by a Trump Presidency in a Republican Congress. How do you anticipate the coming next two years? What kind of role will the Democrats and you play? What will be your day-to-day life, do you think?

Well, there’s no question that we’ve got our work cut out for us. There’s no question that we’re going to have to push back on a lot of damaging and dangerous policies.

But, look, I think the biggest challenge for us is not that we understand that there’s a fight. And we will do the work. The challenge is going to be to summon the hope necessary to see that fight through. I think that one of the challenges that we have in this country right now, particularly for Democrats, is that, really since the nineteen-sixties, it has felt like if we simply work for it, if we vote for it, if we volunteer, if we share our stories, if we lift our voices, that we can then inevitably bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice. And we felt that, I think particularly, in 2008 and when we elected Barack Obama, and then A.C.A. passed, and marriage equality became a law of the land. It just felt like there was this sort of unfolding sense of great progress.

It feels different right now. It doesn’t feel like, if we simply work for it and fight for it, that change will come, that things will work out. We can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But the other thing that I thought about, as I sat in that chair on the floor of the House, was about not only the elected officials that served there but all of the advocates and activists and citizens who lived through those different chapters in our country’s history. We have to recognize that that sense of inevitability with hard work that we felt twenty years ago, thirty years ago—that’s the exception in our country’s history. Every single previous generation of Americans has been called to conquer odds much greater than the ones that we’re facing right now. And they had every reason to believe that change would not come. They could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Enslaved people in the eighteen-fifties had no reason to believe that an Emancipation Proclamation was on the horizon. Unemployed workers during the early days of the Great Depression had never heard of a New Deal. Patrons at the Stonewall Inn never knew of a country where they could live openly and authentically as themselves. And yet they persevered. They summoned their hope, they found that light, and ultimately they changed the world.

The narrative you describe is very, how do I put it—Obamian? It reminds me of Obama’s speech in Selma, the last one he gave there as President, about a kind of parade of American heroic advance. And when I talk to a lot of younger people in my office, in my life, in my family, they don’t all share the sense of determined hope that you do. There’s a good deal of depression—if not giving up, then a kind of sense that these are going to be very dark times to come. And with all the emergencies surrounding us, at home and abroad, and environmentally, it’s very hard to muster hope. As a politician, as a member of Congress, what do you tell them?

You cannot tell me that the reasons for hopelessness now are greater than the reasons for hopelessness of an enslaved person. You cannot tell me that the reasons for hopelessness now are greater than the insecurity and the fear of workers in the midst of the Great Depression, and a country that very easily could have fallen into totalitarianism and fascism, as many liberal democracies around the world were falling into that, in the early thirties.

Hope is not always an organic emotion. Sometimes we have to consciously find it and consciously summon it. And, yes, there are big challenges right now. Maybe those challenges are insurmountable. Maybe we will be, because of social media, incapable of restoring our capacity to have a national dialogue. Maybe because of the culture that we live in right now, we will no longer be able to have conversations across disagreement. Maybe because of unchecked wealth and corporate power, we won’t be able to conquer climate change. The list goes on. Maybe. But we would be the first generation of Americans to give up on this country, and we would be the first generation of Americans who were unable to find the path forward. And I just don’t believe that we are. And I certainly believe that we don’t have to be.

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theatricalmage · 9 months ago

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The brainrot took over and so here's a vat7k hadestown au!! Don't know if I'll develop it fully but I liked designing it at least!

More info under the cut:

- Varian, the Coronan royal alchemist, tasks himself with deciphering an incantation capable of bringing the world back into tune. Times are tough, and the royal family + Quirin are doing their best to cope with the meagre crop yields and desolate weather (Corona not really being the sunshine kingdom - hasn't been for a while). He wants to help and do good and I think he'd be a good Orpheus.

- Hugo, having moved about from place to place, still has his interest in alchemy and does what he can to get by. He plans on temporarily staying in Corona before looting, but he encounters a certain like-minded scientist at the Snuggly Duckling. I think him being selfish works especially well in Eurydice's role, having a more pessimistic view of the world. It also works with how he gets drawn to Donella's offer of working for her later on, leading him to his death.

- Ulla as Persephone! I was initially stuck on whether to have Rapunzel (and either Eugene/Cass) as her (and Hades) but I was drawn to the connection that Hugo has to Donella and the Donella/Ulla relationship in vat7k just works too well. In this case, Ulla won't be Varian's mother. She's still gonna be somewhat of an inspiration to him though, being the previous Coronan royal alchemist and for her intelligence. For half the year, she'll return to Corona with food, drinks, and alchemical compounds/inventions, bringing Spring and Summer to the world, if only for a bit.

- Donella would be such an interesting Hades, losing sight of her love for Ulla, heart filled with fear and hurt, leading to bitterness and cruelty. Ingvarr being Hadestown and how by being the esteemed Ingvarrian engineer, she'd be in charge of major technological advances across the kingdoms and so would wield a significant amount of power (like how Hades is literally the ruler of the underworld). Ingvarr essentially being a near death sentence for its workers while also displaying its technological prowess, all still shrouded in mystery and corruption - a place so otherworldly compared to the rest of the kingdoms.

I didn't want to modify the outfits too much nor the personalities,, if anything I imagine the general plot beats being the same as the original musical/story but with slight differences that'd you get inherently as a result of these characters. I wouldn't want it to be the case where it's just the show but the names are changed. I'd want this to still make reasonable sense in this AU, with the actions being understandable for this particular cast of characters.

For Hermes, I ended up picking Xavier, as he's most knowledgeable of old legends and stories, which would work in reference to the Hades and Persephone myth (and so Donella and Ulla)! He'd act as a mentor figure for V, someone who can guide him in uncovering the forgotten incantation. Quirin would still be the good supportive dad he is (even if he doesn't fully understand his son's project).

Last but not least, the fates!! often lurking in the background, I'm still a bit stuck on who it could be? I'm tempted to have it be Raps, Cass, and Nuru as they've had celestial connections at some point (and ya know how stars can represent fate), but I also love the freckled siblings dynamic so much. Also Team Radical... Maybe Raps and Cass can be their normal selves but their Sundrop/Moonstone counterparts are the manifested physical forms of the fates? They wouldn't be visible to the characters though, just voices in the wind.

Anyways yeah!! Those are my thoughts. Do let me know if you've got any cool ideas or questions. I'm really combining my interests at full force and there's nothing anyone, not even myself, can do about it quite frankly. 😮‍💨

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shadamyheadcanons · 1 month ago

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i love that you don’t put sonic as a jerk in your headcannons but rather supportive! this is so cool, because sonic really wants all of his friends to be happy and with amy wouldn’t be different, specially since they’ve known each other since they were children and sonic himself said that she is a special/dear person to him so i agree he would be happy if amy and shadow got together. as much as i love sonamy, i also love shadamy (sorry for the long ask it’s just that is not that common seeing sonic being portrayed like this in some ffs)

Thanks for the compliment! This one means a lot because I think I’m actually harsher toward Sonic sometimes than a lot of modern shadamy writers are. I say “modern” because new “Amy goes for Shadow because Sonic is a jerk” stories are actually few and far between. It’s easy to think they’re all over the place because there absolutely are a lot of them, but the ones I run into are usually from, like...2012. If you sort by Date Updated on AO3, it tells a different story, pun intended. I believe there are three main reasons for this:

1. Since half of shadamy fans started shipping them in SA2 two and a half decades ago, a ton of us are in our 30s now, writing more mature stories with more fine-tuned characterization. This is one of the advantages of having an ancient ship.

2. It’s a tired trope. We’ve all read a million of them. Most people don’t like how Sonic acts in them for his sake, but my biggest gripe is that they undersell what Shadow has to offer. He’s not just good for Amy because he’s Not Sonic, he’s good for her because of who he is.

3. Sonic treats Amy much better than he used to. The reason “Sonic is a jerk” fics were so common 10-20 years ago is because he was a jerk, almost exclusively to Amy.

These fics exist because no other character works better than Shadow as an arbiter of justice for something that bothered a lot of Amy fans at the time.

More on this under the cut. Lots more. I got kind of carried away.

It’s easy to forget how bad Sonic was when we have games like Frontiers and comics like IDW and Mega Drive now:

Between new fans who aren’t as familiar with older games, longtime fans who haven’t looked at their history in a while, and fans who love Sonic and just don’t want to see him in a bad light, tons of people sweep his old behavior under the rug without even realizing it.

I don’t think any of that is fair to Amy.

A brief reminder of their dynamic in the past:

1. Constant abandonment. He ran from her in Sonic Adventure...

...Sonic Heroes...

And four times in SA2 alone! More on that later.

2. Standing her up on dates. This mostly happened in Sonix X...

[Episode 42, episode 45]

...but there was also Sonic and the Black Knight, where he didn’t show up, didn’t apologize, never made it up to her, and made no attempt to reschedule.

3. Uh...literally hurting her, for some reason...?

At the end of Sonic Riders, when he didn’t feel like properly handling a hostage situation:

Oh, welcome back, episode 42! Didn’t expect to see you again:

The new version of Sonic Generations altered this cutscene, thank god, but back in 2011, players saw this:

4. And the worst part of this, to me, is that he lets her get her hopes up. It’s not just the almost-dates he skips. Knuckles teases Sonic in Heroes, saying, “Are you playing with that girl’s heart again, Sonic?” It’s intended as a joke, but then he does things like this:

Sonic X, episode 52. You know what roses are, Sonic, you know how she’ll interpret this, and you know you won’t follow through.

I know I’m picking on Sonic X a lot, but it was pretty popular at the time, even among fans who didn’t touch the games or comics. This was how they saw these characters growing up, and it made its way into countless fics.

But even after all these years, no matter which continuity you work with...he still won’t give her a solid “no.”

Not liking someone back is fine. Not being interested in a relationship is fine. But letting her believe she’ll win you over if she chases you long enough isn’t, and that’s what he’s doing to this day.

Fans throw around the same tired old “justifications” over and over for why he is/was like this to Amy, but they don’t hold water. People say he’s mean because he doesn’t know what to do with his feelings for her, but he liked Elise, too, and he was nothing but kind to her.

(Putting this here because although fans don’t like to admit it, Elise was indeed intended to be a love interest. She and Amy are presented on par here, so if you think he likes Amy, then he liked Elise, too. You get exactly the same result regardless of who you choose for this trial.)

The other frequent “justification” is that he ran and lashed out because he was afraid of her, often accompanied by awful Amy hate (“stalker,” “psycho,” etc.). This also doesn’t work because Sonic was always harsh to Amy no matter how gentle she was. Classic Amy is the sweetest, most adorable little munchkin in the world...

...and he still ran away.

^ These are from the same exact comic, by the way: IDW Sonic’s 30th anniversary. Five pages apart. How in the world could anyone not want her around?

Amy had more spunk in Adventure and Adventure 2, but she was just as sweet, and he still treated her like a pest to be swatted. The ending of her story in SA1 is this:

But...why should she have to? He treats everyone else with the same baseline of respect, at least until they give him a reason not to. Why is it just Amy? He wasn’t just mean to her, he was uniquely mean to her. She didn’t act out until Heroes in 2003, when she’d already been ignored for years. Standing on the sidelines wasn’t working, so she tried being more “proactive.” Was it the right way to do things? No...but I honestly can’t hold it against her. It makes sense in context. She was a kid, and kids act out when they’re neglected.

And this is where Sonic Adventure 2 comes in.

SA2 was pivotal for Amy. Nearly everyone tossed her aside; Sonic left her behind four separate times in this game alone. First was right after she broke him out of jail on Prison Island. He ran off the second her back was turned:

Second, he and Tails both walked away from her after Eggman blew up the moon. She easily could’ve gotten arrested here.

Third, Sonic and Tails made a plan to stop Eggman right in front of her, blatantly leaving her out of it as if she wasn’t even there:

...which, if you’ll recall, led to Eggman holding her at gunpoint:

...and when Sonic set out to rescue her, this was his recap:

This does not work as a joke given how they treat her. He pretends she doesn’t exist to her face, then says this behind her back.

And immediately after that, when it was time for them to save the world, they left her alone again.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was furious by that point.

But then...something interesting happened.

A photoset or gifset can’t do this scene justice, but I think most shadamy fans have already seen it plenty of times. For the few who haven’t, you can watch it here.

The contrast between Shadow and Sonic is impossible to ignore. By building up this moment the way they did, the writers primed us to notice it.

Sonic runs from Amy’s hugs, while Shadow would like more of them, please and thank you.

Sonic pretends she doesn’t exist, while Shadow’s moved to tears and changes the course of his life because he values what she has to say.

Anytime they’ve interacted since then, he’s been uniquely respectful and gentle with her. It’s what she deserves, and for a long time, this was all we had. He was all we had.

The other half of the equation is that it is very, very easy to picture Shadow taking Sonic and the others to task for their mistreatment of her. As a blunt person who’s not afraid to confront Sonic, Shadow is the most believable candidate to this day. The only person to fully respect her from the start also happens to clash with the person who hurts her most often? Of course those fics exist. It’s a perfect storm.

And it’s no wonder that this attitude persists somewhat even now, because Sonic is still doing this, even if he’s “nicer” about it. That prison escape from SA2? The one he never thanked her for? He still gives all the credit to Tails for that, even up through Frontiers:

Amy. Amy broke you out of prison. Tails broke in, and then she snuck through a maximum-security prison, somehow stole a card key, and saved your life. We’re in the 2020s, but he’s still disrespecting her. And don’t get me started on the TailsTube Secret Santa episode.

It feels like Sega wants us to forget all of this ever happened, and it has some very confusing results. From that same Sonic 30th anniversary comic from above, the one where he and the others abandoned her:

Like...this? This is lying. He’s just lying to her. I can’t tell if they think we all collectively have amnesia or if it’s some weird, mean-spirited joke at her expense. I genuinely don’t know what they’re trying to say.

It’s not enough to pretend it never happened and move on, not to me. Sonic should be held responsible for what he canonically did. Him supposedly being bad with feelings didn’t make it hurt her any less, and he’s older than Amy, so he should’ve been the mature one.

The longer the writers keep this up, the worse Sonic looks, and I don’t think that’s what they’re aiming for. Ignoring the problem is not a solution. Amy might forgive, but I’ll never forget.

I just want to see a canon apology so I can reason out why she put up with it for so long. I want to at least be able to buy her having a crush on him. I can do that when he’s being selfless and heroic. I can’t do that when he treats her like the plague, and pretending he never did doesn’t match the Sonic I legitimately like. I bet a lot of s0namy fans would like to see a resolution like that, too.

Sorry to turn your thoughtful compliment into a rant. I really do appreciate it, and I’m glad you enjoy the stories!

#not a headcanon #shadamy #ask #guinhosletters #long post

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blackynsupremacy · 2 months ago

Text

UNDER WRAPS

pairing: nicholas a. chavez x black!fem!reader

summary: you try to be the most loving and supportive girlfriend to nicholas and his career, but can your relationship stand a chance when his pr forces him to be in a relationship with another girl?

contains: based off this request, fluff, kissing, angst with happy ending, sadness, crying, jealousy, arguing, insecurity, anxiety, swearing, established relationship between reader and nicholas, reader is tabyana ali’s cousin and bff, mentions of fake dating with victoria abbott

a/n: if you want to be added to my taglist, please dm me so i can easily find it! i don’t want to leave anyone out!

taglist: @greengoblinswifey @thabiddie23 @hopefully-saturn @jkr820 @hoffmansgirl @austeenbootler @niteskysx @sabrinasopposite @thabiddie23 @hnch33rios @xoxoglittergossip @supaprettyg @motherismotheringggg @oscarisaackissmykitty @simply-lovley44 @elitesanjisimp @gxuxhdjdu @venic-bxtch @stargirl-mayaa

a pang of hurt increased the prominent heaviness in your heart as your thumb held down on the screen of your phone. on each of their instagram stories, you saw your boyfriend of one year, nicholas chavez, and his “girlfriend”, victoria abbott, walking hand in hand at another red carpet event. that’s right. your boyfriend has another girlfriend, but it’s not one would think to be normal. you still question to yourself—where did it all go wrong? after he got his big break from projects such as monsters and grotesquerie, nicholas had been in the spotlight everywhere by booking roles, interviews, photoshoots, and attending prestigious events for actors such as himself. this was all thanks to his immense talent and strikingly good looks, but also to his manager who’d made sure that nicholas’ name will be a name to remember in hollywood.

you couldn’t be more proud of the love of your life. you and nicholas had a great relationship. you both met through your favorite cousin who was basically your best friend, tabyana, who was his co-star on general hospital. you don’t watch the soap opera, but to support her, you went to one of those fan meet events for the show. you found nicholas to be very handsome and charismatic, but you really liked his passion for acting and his humbleness. he was exactly your type, but you didn’t think much of it. he was a whole celebrity and his chemistry with your cousin was off the charts, so you thought the chance of him ever getting with you would be little to none. the event was wrapping up, so you went to find your cousin and bid her a goodnight because you had work the next day. you gave her hug and she grabbed onto your wrist before you could take another step.

“taby—girl, where are you taking me?” you frantically question as she drags you to a table. it wasn’t just any table though. as soon as tabyana stopped, you look over to see none other than her fine ass co-star, nicholas alexander chavez. it was like love at first sight when the warmth of his deep brown eyes met with yours. as you both examine each other’s features, the temperature of your faces rise and the tempo of your heartbeats increase. you just stare at the man in awe as your cousin introduces you to each other,

“hey, nicholas! this is the one i was telling you about. this is my cousin and bff, y/n l/n.” she amicably says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder to sort of push you in closer. “y/n, this is my co-star, nicholas chavez.” a smile is instantly visible on his face as nicholas stands to meet you where you stand. you try not to swoon as his cologne intoxicates your senses, but you manage to keep it cool. you take his large awaiting hand into yours for a cordial shake.

“it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, y/n. you’re even prettier in person.”

his heart flutters when you thank him and flash a pearly smile at the compliment. then it dawned you that he said in person.

“thank you, nicholas! i’m curious, what do you mean by in person?” you had to ask just be safe, hoping that he wasn’t a creep, but the next thing he said almost sent you to heaven. nicholas chuckles in bashfulness, a hand in his pocket and the other running through his brown hair. tabyana gave him a knowing look with a smirk,

“do you want me to tell her or…?” she playfully trails off, waving her hand for nicholas to speak up. he clears his throat to meet your gaze,

“i’ll say it, i just don’t want to make a bad first impression— okay, so, taby and i were on set taking a break and she was on her phone scrolling until she just squealed out of nowhere—”

“i did not squeal. i just got hyped up.” tabyana chided, cutting him off. with a playful eye roll, you settle your cousin, so that you could hear nicholas out.

“anyways! she scared me and i asked what’s the matter. she gave me her phone and it happened to be your instagram and you just posted pictures from your vacation when you were on the beach. he paused to clear his throat before he proceeded to speak, “and uh, you looked absolutely stunning, so—i asked about you and that’s how i found out that you were taby’s cousin. she also told me that you were gonna come tonight, so that we could officially meet.” he finished, giving you a nervous, but adorable lopsided smile.

tabyana smiled in satisfaction as her plan to get you two together was working, now she had to get you alone.

“hey, i gotta make my rounds and chat with some fans, nicholas keep y/n company. i love you, cuz! byeeeee!” before you could even protest, she was already scurrying to another area in the venue, leaving you and nicholas alone at the table. not long after, he offered to buy you a beverage and stay a while longer to talk. you wanted to politely decline because you had to go home, but with the new knowledge you just received from him, it was only fair to give him a proper shot. as the time passed by, you two shared joy, laughter, and eventually, a budding romance. the romance was blissful, but still a bit private. you both wanted to make sure that this relationship was going to last before running it to social media, so you and nicholas kept it cute, sweet, and lowkey for the next few months. it was like you were in your own peaceful bubble of love and happiness, but it abruptly popped a week after celebrating your one year anniversary.

“make this make sense, nicholas! what the hell do you mean that you’re getting into another relationship? are you seriously breaking up with me right now?” you stood up from the sofa in the living room of your now shared apartment.

“babe, look. i don’t want to do this either and i’m not breaking up with you, i would never— this is just something that these agents do to ensure that i get more projects. the more i do, the better at acting i get and i could support us both. acting is my life’s dream, but what’s the use of that when you have no one to share it with? i only want you.”

nicholas had just broken the news to you that he had to be in a public relationship with another actress named victoria, which was instructed by his pr team. he stands up to gently take your hand before guiding you into a warm embrace. your head pressed against his chest to hear his steady heartbeat as you pondered. this was all so crazy. you knew that dating a celebrity had its perks and flaws, but why couldn’t you be known to the world as his girl? was it because you’re not an actress or a celebrity in general? was it because of your background? would nicholas fall out of love and leave you for her? so many questions ran a race in your brain as you felt a lump in your throat, your vision blurred by the moisture building up in your pupils which didn’t take long to rain on your face and his t-shirt. at the first whimper, nicholas gingerly pulled away from the hug and guided your chin with his fingers as you struggle to meet his sympathetic gaze. you hated crying in front of him sometimes.

“baby—baby, look at me.” he whispered, never taking his eyes from your blushed, teary face. you sniffled, the soothing pads of his thumbs to wipe the falling tears from your melanated skin calms you enough to listen to him. nicholas presses a gentle kiss to your forehead before he speaks,

“i need you to understand that i’m not just doing this to get my name out there, i’m doing this for us. i know we’ve only been together for a year, but i want to build our future together and i don’t want it to crumble before i start, okay?” nicholas gulps, holding both sides of your jaw not daring to break eye contact,

“do you love me, y/n?” he questions, you don’t hesitate to answer,

“i love you, nicholas. i love you with everything that i am. it’s just—” you pause to sigh before communicating, “i want to be able to show everyone that i’m seriously in love with you. we’ve already kept this private long enough and now you gotta be public with someone else? i don’t know how we’re gonna do this.” you confess, your eyes watering again. you know there’s going to be pictures everywhere of them on different sites and platforms. hell, maybe you might even hear it during lunch break gossip at work. you felt your entire abdomen painfully cave in at the thought, but it dissolves to that familiar warm, tingly sensation when you feel nicholas’ lips press to yours in gentle earnestness, you instinctively return the kiss and he pulls away to press his forehead to yours.

“i love you more, but do you trust me to do this? it’s only temporary.”

trust. you ponder on the short word with such an immense meaning that determines the foundation for any type of relationship. you thought back to all of the times you’ve shared with nicholas, he’s never given you any reason to doubt his loyalty towards you before, but this opportunity for him could change that and that made you worried. for your relationship and your peace of mind, you silently nodded in response.

“use your words, baby, i need you to say it.” he softly urges, intertwining your fingers with his. you peer into his eyes, it was like he wouldn’t make a move without your verbal approval, so he was serious about this after all.

“i—i trust you, nicholas.” you confirm, squeezing onto his palm as if he’ll fly away from you right this second. it was now your turn to initiate a kiss, just to reassure that even though both of you weren’t fond of this situation, you were still going to make this work.

TWO WEEKS LATER

once nicholas went public with his new “relationship” at first you were a bit supportive, but now you were starting to sulk in loneliness. with each passing day, you were starting to feel like nicholas was slipping away from you. during the day, he’d be with victoria out on the street, the beach, on set, anywhere where the faux couple’s pictures could be captured for all of the world to view. in the night, he’d come home eager to see you, wrap you in a warm embrace, and comedically dish out any details concerning all of his “dates” he went on over dinner and a movie. he admitted that some of the places they went to would be great enough for you both to check out. you smiled and pretended to agree, but the idea of taking your real girlfriend on some of the same dates as your fake one felt off to you. social media was starting to become a train wreck for you. no matter how far down you scrolled, they still managed to show up on your feed. it hurt like hell to see a video of them dancing in a nightclub, victoria lovingly gazed up at his figure as if he hung the moon. it was obvious that she developed feelings. nicholas didn’t look too interested, he just tried to be polite with a cordial smile on his face for the camera as they swayed to the beat of the music. the comments rooting for this lie of an alliance wasn’t helping either, so you just deleted all socials except for tumblr and pinterest until it all died down.

that should be you. he’s your boyfriend—if that’s even the truth anymore. you desired to tell the world about the love you had for nicholas, but this could ruin his reputation, his life’s work. this was all too much. damn his agent, damn his pr, and damn this whole thing! you weren’t sure if you could pretend that this was okay for any longer. before you made any drastic decisions out of bitterness, you had to communicate it with nicholas first. all week you’ve been trying to get nicholas alone to speak your heart, but due to his schedule, he was out later than usual which had you fed up at this point. although you were fuming, you patiently waited for him to get home. it was half past midnight when he tiredly walked through the door and jolted a bit when he saw your burning gaze.

“hey, babe! i’m so sorry. the after party ran over so late and i—” he tried to explain, but you cut him off. you wish you weren’t so angry because it sounded like he wanted to be here.

“nicholas, we need to talk.” at your words, he didn’t hesitate to stride from the door to where you sitting. he bent down on one knee to meet your eye level.

“anything, sweetheart. what’s on your mind?” he inquires, taking your hands within his to reassure that was listening. the bitterness within you wants to take them away because these are the same hands that were holding hers. thankfully, your love for him conquered all of that. you sigh out, your eyes shooting to the ceiling as they blur in tears.

“i think we need to take a break—until this whole fake relationship thing is completely over. nicholas, i love you, but i feel like that you’re not even mine. i love what we have, but keeping it a secret while you’re presented as someone else’s perfect lover is tearing me apart.” you confess, your teardrops drizzle on your connected hands as your heart continues to break. he hastily shakes his head, his brown gaze painted with worry.

“no, no—babe, y’know that i’m yours. always. remember what i said i’m doing this for us. don’t you trust me?” he asked.

“i do, nicholas, and i support you and your dreams, but do i really need to suffer for it? how would you feel if i were out some other guy? yeah, i don’t love him, but someone always ends up getting hurt or left out , so there’s gotta be a decision made. heh, i bet you don’t even know that victoria has feelings for you—i’ve seen the way she looks at you in those pictures.”

nicholas is speechless, gazing into your eyes. he gulps before mustering up the correct words,

“so—so what’re you saying? are you leaving me, y/n?”

“not completely, nick. i just—need some space away from all of this. i don’t want you to choose between your career or me, you’re probably under contract and i don’t want to ruin things for you.”

“y/n, please don’t—just give me a chance, maybe i can talk to my team to shut this goddamn thing down. i don’t ever want to lose you. i—” with each word his voice starts to crack and tears form in his eyes at the thought of losing you. it shouldn’t have to be this way. you shouldn’t have to suffer due to the tricky business of hollywood, nicholas realized that roles come and go, but having a love like yours was rare to come by.

“nicholas, i understand, but i think it’s best if don’t see each other right now, so i’m going to be staying somewhere else for a little bit. once this is all over, we can pick up from where we left off.” you confirm, getting up from your seat and walking into your shared bedroom with nicholas not traveling far behind you. he leans against the doorway and observes as you gather a small suitcase that’s already packed with essentials. before you could even walk out of the door, his large frame is blocking your way.

“nicholas—move.” you command while gripping on the handle of your luggage. your eyes begging him to not make this harder than it is for you.

“y/n, don’t do this, please. let’s just sleep it off and i’ll get it straightened out first thing in the morning. besides, where would you go?” he questioned, not moving from his spot.

“i’m not telling you that! look, i want my space, nicholas. at least let me have that until this is over. i can’t stand it anymore. we can’t keep pretending like everything’s fine when it’s not.” you rebutted, you moved around the room to located your phone, so that you could text tabyana that you needed to crash at her place for a few days and that you would explain later. that’s when you saw him take out his own phone and dial a number. you watched in confusion when he put it on speaker,

“hey.” he firmly greeted on the phone with a hardened gaze and tightened lips. you heard the voice on the other end respond with such an enthusiastic tone,

“aye, nick! how’s it goin’? i just wanna say that the people love you and victoria. i can see the headlines now!” it was his manager on the phone and his words only made want to shrink into nonexistence. this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. he glanced at you, your eyes filled with hurt and frustration, and it ignited a fire within him. this had to stop.

“actually, um—can you hold on a second?” he requested, his voice steady despite all of this drama. nicholas took a deep breath, before he went straight to the point.

“this—with victoria and i, it can’t go on. it’s over. period.”

with a baffled look, your tight grip on your suitcase started to loosen as you stepped in closer to see if this was really happening. there was a pause of silence that grew thick in the air with an awkward tension.

“you there?” nicholas question with an arched brow.

“yeah, i’m here,” his manager replied, slightly puzzled, “but kid, you gotta realize this is just business—acting. you’re basically putting on a show and the world loves to watch it.”

with the shake of his head, nicholas took another deep breath, his heart racing.

“not if it means hurting those who don’t deserve it. look, i can’t keep pretending to be with victoria when my heart belongs to someone else—and what if victoria catches feelings, huh? do you think that’s fair to her? you’re basically stringing her along and that’s messed up.” he glanced back at you, your expression softening as you realized he was fighting for you, for you both. “i want—no, i need to tell the world about my real relationship. we’ve kept things private long enough and i want to be with her openly.”

there was another moment of silence on the other end, and nicholas could almost hear his manager’s fingers pinch the bridge of his nose and a sigh of exasperation in the office. “nicholas, you know how this works. what about the fans—”

“the fans deserve the truth,” nicholas firmly interrupted. “a stable relationship is built on the truth and i’m not losing mine because you want me to live a lie for some views—so, call whoever the hell you need to while i’ll break the news to victoria because this is all over. do we understand?” he concluded, not taking his eyes away from you. you felt your heart swell as you watched him stand his ground, the weight of the world seemingly lifting from both of your shoulders. his manager sighed in defeat before responding and nicholas smirked because he knew he got his way.

“alright, alright. let me see what i can do, but you know this could shake things up, right?”

“that’s cool.” nicholas said, shrugging his shoulders, but with determination in his voice. “consider me ready.”

you heard his manager let out a chuckle,

“you got balls, kid. that girl of yours sure is lucky.”

nicholas warmly gazed at you, a simper growing on his lips.

“you’re damn right, but i’m luckier.” with that, he hung up the phone and strided to you to place his hands on your shoulders. his expression a mix of hope and vulnerability.

“baby, i am so sorry for everything. i was so selfish and blind that i couldn’t see how much i’ve hurt you. i thank you for believing and trusting in me, but it shouldn’t have to cost you your happiness—ever. i love you too much for that to happen again and trust me, it won’t happen again. i don’t care about headlines, i care about you. i care about us.”

tears brimmed in your eyes, but this time they were tears of sweet relief instead of painful sorrow.

“are you being for real, nicholas?”

“i’m dead serious. y’know how you say that you don’t play about me? well— i don’t play about you either.” he sincerely said, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you closer proximity. “i love you, and the whole world deserves to know. i don’t give a damn about who supports it or not.”

you finally show a genuine smile through the sadness, and you nodded, your heart racing at every word. this felt like a dream, but this was reality, your reality. “i love you too, nicholas. god, i was so tired of feeling like a secret.” his burly arms enclose tighter around you, your own reaching to clasp together around his neck.

“no more secrets. from now on, it’s just you and me. no one else. unless—the future is good to us and we start a family.” even though there was a glint of mischief within his eyes, you could tell that he was dead serious.

“you big softie, c’mere.” you playfully roll your eyes and stand a bit taller to press your full lips against his. as you kiss, the tension of the past few weeks instantly melt away as you both step into a new era of your relationship, ready to take on any challenges as soon as the world finds out about your no longer secret love.

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electraslight · 2 months ago

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hello! inquiring minds want to know about your thoughts on gus. in particular the mask w the third eye + the third eye you drew him with a couple times. i've always been a little disappointed with how little the show expanded on the stuff we saw in e.g. labyrinth runners and you always have interesting things to say (or make up on the spot :P) about your designs ^^

i love gus!! hes so charming and basically every episode with a gus subplot is good. the stuff about the illusionists graveyard and gus protecting it is really cool and gets me thinking about how much gus knows about magical artifacts (he should be a historian not a teacher when hes older imo) and labyrinth runners is one of my favorite episodes. i think the specific way hunter and gus connect is really well written and i wish wed seen them interact more after that (but i just generally very much enjoy their friendship). I think people often talk about gus as if it was hunter specifically that 'stole' his screentime but like, are we forgetting gus and willow were barely used in favor of episodes trying to teach a 5 year old child concepts hes too young for lol. season one was so poorly paced in comparison to s2 that yeah, i dont think it was hunter that took from gus specifically. you could say the same thing about amity

I do however think willow's very shoehorned 'arc' in s3 would have fit way better with gus, who has 1. forced himself to keep up a peppy attitude and uplift everyone else even though hes terrified for his dad and also is like. 12. 2. has been known to have intense involuntary magic outbursts that can sometimes induce flashbacks of your worst moments ever, and 3. you can still do the thing where hunter talks them down bc like. theyve done this before. like i feel like honestly willow had completed her arc in season 2 and after that most willow stuff was her trying to convince everyone else she was better now. I have a lot of issues with how huntlow kind of erased willow and gus's friendship too, which i always though was rlly cute, but again i digress

back to my gus design, the 'third eye' is facepaint like willow or amity's markings, but while hes using his powers it can appear to move around. hes not pictured with the mask here but he has a set of comedy and tradgedy masks (the blight twins have this insignia too but i havent drawn them casually yet) Gus has satyr blood (his grandparent was one of the last satyrs to interact with witches before they left to live in the forest after their lifestyle was no longer supported. God damn it belos) so his ears are bigger than other witches and hes very short.

anyway. i like gus a normal amount. thanks for asking!

#toh #the owl house #toh fanart #the owl house fanart #gus porter #augustus porter #kevins lore bore

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mirai-e-jump · 4 months ago

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Uchusen Vol.186 (Autumn 2024) Kamen Rider Gavv | Detail of Heroes ft. Main Cast Interviews (other pages and translations below)

Publication: October 1, 2024 (between episode 5-6)

Chinen Hidekazu (Shouma)

"Which shows from the Kamen Rider series have you seen?"

Chinen: From my generation, I watched "Kamen Rider W," "OOO," "Fourze," and "Wizard." I've been watching "Kamen Rider Zero-One," a masterpiece by Director Sugihara, who also directed the pilot of Gavv, and recently I watched "Kamen Rider Den-O" for the sake of studying.

"Who would your all time favorite Rider be?"

Chinen: Including OOO, I like alot of them, but lately I've been particularly fond of Den-O. It was really amazing to see each of the Imagin's personalities being performed by Satoh Takeru-san, the lead actor. The theme song is good too. I listen to the OP every episode without skipping it.

"Please tell us about the time of your audition for Gavv."

Chinen: We were put into pairs, one would play a role reminiscent of the food lover Shouma, and the other played a cool role similar to Hanto. During the first audition, I made a mistake. When I was supposed to do a performance where I entered the room from outside, I mistook the door for an outward opening one instead of an inward one, so I kept trying to pull it when I should've been pushing, and it ended up making alot of noise. I also heard the Producers laughing because I was having trouble getting in, but when I finally did, I continued the performance as if nothing had happened. Thinking about it now……I guess maybe that feeling of disconnect was also linked to Shouma's.

"We're sure you must've been quite flustered at that time"

Chinen: I was really flustered because of that (laughs). I was panicking quite abit because it wasn't an act, I really made a mistake. Still, I thought, "I've come this far, so let's do this!," so it might've been a good thing that I was able to accept it and give an earnest performance.

"How were you informed that you had been chosen?

Chinen: One day, my manager called me and said, "I need you to come to the office after work." I went to the office thinking, "Maybe they're upset at me for failing something?," but they said, "We have a report. We're disappointed to tell you that the final audition for Kamen Rider is no longer available." I was frustrated because I thought I had been rejected, but I still said, "I understand, I'll do my best next time." At that exact moment, the staff came through the door and shot off party poppers. That's when I asked my manager, "This isn't a dream, is it?" I pinched myself just to be sure (laughs). Even though it hurt, I couldn't believe it, and when I finally became aware of it, I felt like, "I'm the happiest guy in the world right now!"

"How did you inform your family?"

Chinen: I immediately called my mother about it. She said, "Hide, will you be okay with having the lead role?" Ever since I was little, I always said I wanted to one day play the main character in Kamen Rider. Both my mother and father supported this dream and saw me off to Tokyo. However, I really didn't think it would come true, and I think I was more worried about whether I'd be able to play the main character in such a big title before I was happy.

"Please tell us your impressions when you learned that Gavv was a Kamen Rider with a sweets motif."

Chinen: I received the proposal at the same time I was chosen to play the lead role, so that was the first time I learned about it. My first thoughts were, "A sweets Kamen Rider?" and "What will the gummies be like?" I didn't immediately understand the concept. It was the same kind of impact I felt when I first saw the orange and armor motif of "Kamen Rider Gaim." Still, when I read the proposal, it was very original and interesting. I could really feel the passion of the creators in wanting to create such a hero needed in the era we live in. I thought, "I want to be that kind of hero, and I also want to do my best!" I was impressed by the way the Rider's design incorporated gummies and potato chips, and I thought, "The person who thought this up is a genius."

"What's your absolute favorite form?"

Chinen: As of right now, it's Zakuzaku Chips. I'm a big fan of dual wielding swords, as I often use dual wielding characters in games. Also, I like the jagged potato chips on its eyes. From a distance, doesn't it look like Kamen Rider OOO? I like that about it too.

"Due to the complicated background of the character, we feel that Shouma, who you're playing, requires difficult performances. What kind of orders did the Director give you?"

Chinen: Director Sugihara said, "While he is a young man, I want him to retain a part of his innocence," and that, "He's friendly, but there seems to be a wall between his heart." He said, "He has a bright side and a dark side that he doesn't show others. I hope you can show us how well you can switch between those two personalities."

"Shouma's upbringing is one thing, but it's also cruel that the enemies he's fighting against are his family."

Chinen: Yeah, I personally think it's so cruel, that I pity Shouma. It's a harsh story for a show that's meant for small children to watch. I personally feel like it's mentally draining to play the role of blood related brothers fighting against each other as enemies. What's more, there's no escape from that fate. However, while the story and Shouma's circumstances are hard, the eating of sweets and poppin scenes help soften the situation. The gap between those scenes gives more depth to the hard story. I also try to be conscious of this when I act differently.

"It seems to strike a good balance between the poppin imagery and the hard content."

Chinen: Some fans predicted, "Is it going to be a show like Gaim?," when they saw the official announcement before the show aired. Kamen Rider productions that start out appealing to the "pop" part tend to have harsher developments (laughs). I myself don't want it to be too serious, so through trial and error, I'm still trying to figure out how to make the "pop" in Gavv stand out.

"The role sounds like a pretty high hurdle to clear."

Chinen: Still, I think it was the same for my seniors who performed in previous Riders. I believe that it's Kamen Riders who overcome their troubles, conflicts, and ordeals.

"How was filming for the transformation pose?"

Chinen: The pose was decided on three or four days before we started filming. We agreed on it through discussions among myself, Action Director Fujita-san, and Director Sugihara. In the first episode, there was no proper pose, as the transformation was done during a pinch, so the pose wasn't done until episode 2, but the transformation scene in the first episode was also very cool. Shouma's body slowly changes, and at the end, we get a closeup of his face and Gavv's mask, but he doesn't change all at once, leaving the eyes unchanged. It was very cool, and I was trembling by the way they showed the expression in my eyes until the very end! This is a special version that's only found in the first episode, so I hope you'll watch it again.

"We think that there'll also be action scenes before the transformation, but what about you?"

Chinen: The action is alot of fun……that being said though, I struggle with it quite abit. Action isn't just about being good at punching and kicking. I have to make the action visually appealing. Despite all that, I of course have to put my feelings into it. Fujita-san was by my side the whole time, and Gavv's Suit Actor Nawata Yuya-san was also always near the cameras, and he was very helpful and gave me advice like, "You did it this way before, but why don't you try it this way?" Also, I practice kyokushin karate, so that might be why I was praised for my kicks. So, when it came to direction, we also had an increase in kicking scenes. Over the next year, I'd like to improve my action skills more.

"How was post recording?"

Chinen: It was my first time, so it was much more difficult than filming. Director Sugihara spent alot of time with me for episodes 1 and 2 in particular, since they're the ones the viewers would see for the first time. After that, Director Sugihara gave me some advice. Shouts like "Hah!" and "Tah!" tend to become monotonous as it goes on, so he said, "I want to see some variation." He recommended the game "Street Fighter" as a good reference. I wrote down the shouts I thought were good in a memo and did them my own way. Naturally, I also referred to the shouts of my senior Riders.

"What's been your most passionate scene so far?"

Chinen: It would have to be the transformation scene in the first episode. Until then, the wind had been blowing so strongly, that it was like a cloud of dust, but it stopped right as it came time to do my performance. Thanks to this, we were able to shoot the cut where the wind makes Shouma's hair rise up and reveals his eyes. I also talked with Director Sugihara about it, saying, "It's a scene where the wind was on our side."

"How's the teamwork with your costars, Hino Yusuke-san and Miyabe Nozomi-san?"

Chinen: Both of them are usually friendly, but when they get in front of the cameras, they quickly switch into their roles. They're the type of people who can clearly switch on and off. Not just for Shouma, they're also my own reassuring friends.

"We were told that among the three of you, Chinen-san's plays the role of the funny guy, while Hino-san's the straight man."

Chinen: Sometimes I'll derail the conversation or make bombshell statements (laughs). Each time, Hino-san puts us back on the right track. Miyabe-san watches from a slightly removed position, but will sometimes react.

"By the way, Chinen-san, what's your favorite sweet?"

Chinen: It's gummies, naturally! However, since I'm from Okinawa, I'd also like to promote "chinsukou" and "sata andagi" (laughs).

"We'd also love to see those two appear as Gochizou."

Chinen: Will they appear?! It seems like they'd be limited to Okinawa. Of course, I'd be happy if they come out, but for now I'll just hope for it within my heart.

"Finally, please give a message directed to all the fans of Gavv."

Chinen: The story of Kamen Rider Gavv began with a young man coming from another world to the human world. I hope that you'll pay attention to how Shouma meets unique friends in the human world and grows. Especially the bond he has with his mother, family bonds is one of the themes, so if possible, I'd like you to watch it with your loved ones. If you watch it, you'll definitely want to show your love and respect to your parents. I'd like to make this a show that you can support throughout the year. I hope you'll pay attention to and enjoy the activities of not only our cast, but also the Gochizou. I look forward to your support throughout the next year!

Hino Yusuke (Hanto)

"Have you watched the Kamen Rider series?"

Hino: I have an older brother, so we had alot of transformation belts from "Kamen Rider Kuuga" and other early Heisei series at home. In terms of my generation though, it would've been "Kamen Rider Den-O." After that, I watched "Kamen Rider Kiva" and "Kamen Rider Decade."

"Who's your all time favorite Rider?"

Hino: I watched it with enthusiasm, so it'd have to be Den-O. When I was in elementary school, I commuted to school by train and was once stopped by a station attendant when I tried to walk through the ticket gate with the pass for the transformation belt (laughs).

"Did you play the role of Hanto during the audition?"

Hino: I also played the role of who I later found out was the main character, but in the end, I was frequently assigned the role of Hanto. Still, I thought his character had a cool position when they explained him to me, so I wasn't sure if he'd fit with my everyday self.

"How was it when you learned that you had been chosen?"

Hino: I was shocked because I wasn't expecting to be picked. The way my agency informed me also startled me abit. I was so happy and shocked, that I was in a state where I couldn't think straight for about five minutes.

"Did you contact your family right away?"

Hino: I was told it was okay to contact my parents as soon as I could. My mother cried and was delighted. Hearing my mother's tearful voice on the other end of the phone caused me to cry as well. My father never seemed very interested in my work, but when I told him that I had passed the audition, he exclaimed "seriously?!" in the loudest voice I had ever heard (laughs). It made me really happy when I heard that. My father's always worrying about me. I started this work when I was in high school, but was told, "You're a student, so your priority is your studies and to then go to college." However, my work became so busy, that it became difficult for me to attend college, and my parents were constantly worried about me. That's why I think I was finally able to reassure them by passing this audition, and it's a new starting point for me as well. In this day and age, TV dramas that run for a year are rare, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in one, and I'll do my best this year without forgetting to keep my mind fresh.

"What was your first impression when you read the script?"

Hino: When I first heard about the motif, I thought, "What would a sweets Rider be like?" I think everyone's first guess would be a poppin, cute hero. So, while yes, the designs give off a cool, cute and modern feel, the story is very dramatic. The lives of Shouma and Hanto, who I play, will gradually overlap, and many other appealing characters appear, which always makes me wonder what will happen next. I myself look forward to the next script whenever I receive one. How will Hanto become a Kamen Rider, and how will he relate to Shouma after becoming one? I hope that you'll look forward to that.

"Did the Director give you any orders regarding your performance?"

Hino: I was told, "It's good to be more flexible." There's the way he approaches people with his fake smile when he's a freelance writer, and his "I'll crush you" anger when he confronts a Granute. It didn't matter what others would think, he told me, "I'd rather you vary his strengths and weaknesses so that he looks like a different person." At first, I thought Hanto was a cool character. It certainly looks that way when compared to Shouma and Sachika, but there are surprisingly few scenes resembling that in the show, it's more like he's clumsy around people. The Director raised the mood of my first appearance scene, up to the point where it felt like a silly older brother had appeared. That part changed the impression I had when I first received the script considerably.

"We have the impression that freelance writers are prone to being disliked, as they're always snooping around and are persistent in pestering the main character."

Hino: While I can't speak for myself, Hanto himself is a character who's teased during the show, so he's the most lovable character. He acts with conviction, and I think that's what makes him so cool, but he sometimes ends up getting nowhere, so he gets teased. And yet, when he's teased, he'll get angry and say, "Don't screw with me!," but he doesn't deny it (laughs). The reason Hanto's slowly becoming more like that may be due to the fact that my own character is starting to come out. In this sense, I feel that the synchronization with the role has risen. This way, Hanto's character has a wide range, so I'm able to play him rather freely.

"After this, Hanto reaches a major turning point when he becomes a Kamen Rider, so did you switch up your performance there?"

Hino: For Hanto, it's not so much a situation where his fate has taken a turn for the worse, it's more like his connection from the past has further unfolded. That's why rather than switching between before and after he becomes a Kamen Rider, I tried to separate his role as a freelance writer from his desire for revenge against the Granutes. To tell you the truth, after I learned about Hanto's early life, I tried to avoid "seeing" his family as much as possible in order to understand his loneliness alittle better. That's why when he confronts the Granutes, I think his eyes are pretty much burning with anger. It is of big help for him that he's surrounded by cheerful characters like the Gochizou and Sachika.

"How was the first transformation scene?"

Hino: Before his first transformation, another major event happens to Hanto which leads to him becoming a Kamen Rider. With the power he's acquired for the first time, Hanto's first transformation is a scene where he shows the anger and hatred he's been holding onto for such a long time towards the Granute. Trying to convey those emotions through my performance was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I think that Valen's transformation itself was also unrefined, unlike the image of a perfect hero with overwhelming strength. Still, he's unrefined but works as hard as he can, so I'd be happy if everyone who watches the show can feel that there's a cool feel to him. In a scene where "tears" are an important point in the direction, I was so emotional, that tears genuinely ran down my face as well. I still remember this because it was a moment when my emotions and my performance matched up.

"As Hanto, did you feel like he reached the climax from the earliest stage?"

Hino: No, no! This isn't the end of his story! (laughs). I'm sure there'll be many more climaxes from now on, and I'm personally looking forward to them.

"What did you think of Kamen Rider Valen's design?"

Hino: There was more chocolate than I expected (laughs). Despite that, it's cool. I also like that Valen is a "helmet type," while Gavv is a "mask type."

"By the way, Hino-san, what's your favorite sweet?"

Hino: Chocolate of course!

"Do you have a favorite secondary Rider from previous Riders?"

Hino: It's Kamen Rider Zeronos from Den-O. I love his "I'm pretty strong!" catchphrase! In terms of actors, I like Yoshizawa Ryo-san, who played Kamen Rider Meteor in "Kamen Rider Fourze." When you're that cool at giving a performance, you can't be beat. Director Kamihoriuchi previously told me that when Yoshizawa-san was told to "do something like this," he instantly made it his own performance instead of following instructions. He also said, "His ability to adapt was exceptional." It made me want to be an actor like him. He's a respectable person.

"We'd like to see a catchphrase from Valen as well."

Hino: Yeah. He currently doesn't have any lines that he's always saying, but I'll try to bring out Hanto's human appeal while standing beside Shouma, the hero from another world.

"Do you want to film some action of yourself before transforming?"

Hino: Action is fun! I do voluntary training on a daily basis together with Valen's Suit Actor Kaji Kotaro-san, Gavv's Nawata Yuya-san, and everyone else on the Action Team. The day before an action scene is set to be filmed, they would assist me in practicing for it. With the exception of impossible scenes, I've been challenging myself to not use a stand in.

"How's the teamwork with your co stars, Chinen-san and Miyabe-san?"

Hino: We get along very well. They're both really adorable, but they're professional actors who are reliable on set. In a good way, we're rivals and friends. I hope I can build a better relationship with them from now on.

"Not long ago you said, "It might be his own fault that Hanto's become a character who's teased," but is Hino-san himself a character who's being teased?"

Hino: Basically, I play the role of responding to Chinen-kun's jokes (laughs). However, including Miyabe-san, when the three of us are together, I sometimes play the role of a fool, and will often be the one saying, "Hey, cut it out~." That's the way things usually go. Just so you're aware, I am the oldest (laughs).

"And now finally, please give a message to all fans of Gavv."

Hino: For me, Kamen Riders are the heroes I've dreamed of being since I was a child, so I'm very happy that I'm able to be involved in this historic series. Over the next year, I'll do my best to meet and exceed everyone's expectations with sincerity, and without forgetting my original intention. I look forward to your support!

Miyabe Nozomi (Sachika)

"First, please tell us about the time of your audition for Gavv."

Miyabe: I'll be honest, the audition was a disaster. The audition script contained several assignments, each being individually numbered. At that time, act 2 was a fainting performance and act 3 was a conversation between two people, and even though I thought, "I absolutely have to pass!," I was so incredibly nervous, that I ended up doing a fainting performance for act 3. The other actor spoke to me according to the script, and that's when I realized, "This is wrong!," but it was too late. The final audition didn't go well either. The Director told me, "Act like an aunt from Osaka," but I wasn't confident that I could pull it off, and that's when I became depressed and thought, "This is a lost cause." In spite of all that, I was surprised that I was chosen.

"How did you receive the report that you had been chosen?"

Miyabe: After the audition, my manager called me to come to Ginza. As I headed there and thought, "I wonder if they're upset about something?," they messaged me with, "Take a selfie with your phone." I didn't understand what they meant and was like, "Eh? Did I gain weight or something?" but then I got a message saying, "You passed the audition." It seems that the selfie was to document me going from freaked out to smiling. I had never been so emotionally moved as I was at that moment. This video captures a memorable moment in time, so I hope to be able to release it in some form someday (laughs).

"Have you watched the Kamen Rider series?"

Miyabe: I have a younger brother who's eight years younger than me, so we watched "Kamen Rider Drive," "Ghost," and "Ex-Aid" together. After I passed the audition, I watched "Kamen Rider Gotchard" in order to study.

"We're sure your brother was happy to know that his sister was going to play a role in Kamen Rider."

Miyabe: I still haven't told my brother yet (at the time of this interview). I was given the okay to talk to them about it, so I did contact my parents right away. I plan on surprising my brother by not telling him until the official announcement.

"What were your impressions of Gavv from reading the script?"

Miyabe: Each and every character has a story to tell, so I thought it was a production that'll keep you interested even early on. That's why I can never wait for the next script. I'm sure all the viewers feel the same way.

"Did the Director give you any orders regarding your role?"

Miyabe: Along with Shouma's Chinen-kun, Director Sugihara gave us acting lessons even before filming began. Each time, I was told, "Cheerful, cheerful." It was required at the auditions, so I always try to have the cheerfulness of an Osakan aunt and the kindness that seems to embrace everyone. Sachika is a gyaru president, but I've personally lived a life with no connection to gyarus. I also wasn't the type to stand out in class. That's why after I was chosen for this role, I learned to be more like a gyaru by listening to songs with a cheerful tempo, reading gyaru magazines, and watching official Youtube channels and TikToks.

"What does Miyabe-san think a gyarus mind is?"

Miyabe: I wonder…….No matter how difficult a situation may be, you can always think, "Well, I'll figure it out!," and in a positive sense, I think it's important not to "overthink" things. A friend of mine often says, "Keep a gyaru in your heart,” and I thought it was a very good saying. Thanks to those words, I'm now able to have a gyaru named Amane Sachika reside in my heart.

"Playing the role of Amane Sachika is also a "transformation" for Miyabe-san."

Miyabe: You're right! There's quite a gap between myself and Sachika, so I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it's a transformation for me. I've never played a role so different from my own self before, so it's fun (laughs). It's not just acting that I enjoy, but also doing alot of research for the role.

"Did you also make your hair blonde for the role of Sachika?"

Miyabe: I did. I've always had black hair, but I bleached it three times to make it blonde. At first, every time I looked in the mirror, I was like, "Who are you?" (laughs). Still, once I got used to looking at it, I started to see myself in photos as a different person from who I used to see when I had black hair. Sachika also wears heavy makeup, so you might not even notice me when I walk down the street during my private time. That's why I'm thinking of wearing colored contacts and false eyelashes in my private time so people will notice me (laughs).

"Sachika isn't a fighter, but are there any plans for action scenes?"

Miyabe: There are no particular scenes set for me, but I was once allowed to participate in an action session. I didn't do very well at the time, but I'd be happy if they could prepare some action scenes for Sachika too! Since I went through great lengths to appear in Kamen Rider, I'd like to try my hand at action.

"Would you like to transform into a Kamen Rider like Shouma and Hanto?"

Miyabe: I'd like to do that too! Recent series always have female Kamen Riders, and my dream is to be one of them. However, Sachika's a woman with a strong heart, so even if she can't transform, I'd like to use the strength of her feelings as her "weapon."

"Miyabe-san, which Rider do you like more, Gavv or Valen?"

Miyabe: That's a tough question! (laughs). Gavv's a Rider from another world, so he's incredibly strong, but when he's alone he usually ends up in a pinch. And since Valen's the one who helps him, it's like they're one and the same. So, I guess I'd go with both.

"Have you ever directly seen the Kamen Riders on set?"

Miyabe: They're so cool! Being able to see those forms up close and personal will definitely motivate me for the next year. Before I entered this set, I thought the camera work was what made the action so powerful. Naturally, there are scenes like that, but the action itself is very powerful. When I watched episodes 1 and 2, I was surprised to see that the scenes that were already powerful without CG were even more powerful with CG.

"Were there any other spectacles unique to tokusatsu heroes?"

Miyabe: The Gochizou are made by using both props and CG, so during filming of the CG scenes, Chinen-kun talks to Gochizou that aren't there. I thought that kind of performance was difficult. Still, Sachika doesn't know that the Gochizou exists. She also doesn't know about the Granutes, or that Shouma and Hanto are Kamen Riders. They're so close, yet she only knows about Kamen Riders through gossip. I can only imagine what would happen to Sachika if she knew of the Granute's existence. She might want to try to get along with them instead of fighting. Of course, she'd become angry if someone she cared about got hurt by them.

"What's been the most impressive scene up to episode 5?"

Miyabe: Sachika runs a general store, so she and Shouma do alot of jobs together. I enjoyed the scene where they were handing out flyers to advertise the ramen shop. I'm looking forward to seeing what other jobs they do in the future. I also like the scene in episode 3, where Hanto comes to Hapipare and Sachika pokes him with a toy. I thought it was a good representation of their relationship. It's not that Sachika can't read the room, as when she has to do something, she'll do it, but the mood of the place comes first (laughs).

"Hino-san himself said that Hanto's a character that everyone teases."

Miyabe: Hino-kun himself often makes the set feel more relaxed when he's teased. I also mess around with him alot (laughs). It's kind of easy to tease him, almost like there's a sense of security and that it's okay to tease him. He's the oldest out of the three of us (laughs). Chinen-kun lightens up the mood with his interesting remarks, like when he says, "That's one way of thinking about it!" Once Hino-kun gets into it, it becomes really noisy. We screw around when it's time to screw around, but we're very serious when we have to face our roles. They'll suggest things like, "Let's try this here," or "Let's practice this alittle." I'm glad that the three of us will be together on this set for a year.

"Miyabe-san, what kind of sweets do you like?"

Miyabe: I like plum types of sweets, like crunchy plums and dried plums. On days when we have filming, I'll stop by a convenience store and buy one of those before heading to the set. However, the makeup artist pointed out to me that I should be careful not to eat too much, otherwise my face might puff up (laughs).

"And now finally, please give a message to the fans of Gavv."

Miyabe: Kamen Rider Gavv is poppin and cute, and I think it's a show that'll be easy for all kinds of people to relate to. I really hope that people of all ages will watch it. Since I'm also "armed" with a gyarus mindset, I'll do my best to cheer up tons of people. I look forward to your support over the next year!

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miharuhebinata · 8 months ago

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do you mean twilight princess, in which she held a sword exactly once in a flashback and pretty much immediately dropped it in surrender? or wind waker, where she forgets how to use a sword the second she turns into princess zelda until literally the final battle 🤔? and i genuinely can't think of whatever other time you're referring to that she apparently uses a sword. spirit tracks? ok i'll give you that one, i guess, because phantom zelda is pretty badass, but other than that.........??

"ummm actually it's a good thing that zelda plays differently from link, because link has the triforce of courage so of course he fights and uses swords! meanwhile zelda has the triforce of wisdom, so obviously she's going to find more clever ways to solve her problems teehee ;)" hey did you guys know you can still be excited for the game while also acknowledging it's pretty fucking shitty of nintendo to act like zelda is incapable of picking up a sword in a mainline game.

#i'm sorry if this response seems condescending or rude but this is just a very flimsy argument.#like....you know what i meant. nintendo acts like she's incapable of fighting outside a very scant few circumstances & use the #“well she wouldn't solve her problems like that” or “but if she's the main character what would link be doing haha” as an excuse.#also before anybody tries to use it as a gotcha yes i know she does get to use the bow of light in a few games as well #(in all 3 games mentioned funnily enough). which is cool! i think the bow of light is awesome and an iconic weapon of hers #(and yes i think of it as *her* weapon. which is why i'm so fond of the idea of a bow and arrow being her main weapon of choice in the same #way a sword is link's). but those times are few and far between and it's always only to play a supporting role to link.#which obviously works from a gameplay standpoint since in those cases we're playing as link and thus would literally have nothing to do if #she DID do all the fighting. but the fact she still doesn't get to fight in a game she's literally headlining????#idk it's just not a great look to me. combat has ALWAYS been a very core part of the loz series from the very beginning & on one hand yeah #think it's cool they're trying to branch out & experiment with different gameplay styles. but idk it just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth #(especially because i can already tell the whole ~just throw shit at enemies~ thing is going to get very annoying very fast for me lmao)#...HOWEVER. i do also acknowledge that overall we actually know very little about the game so far. only what we saw in the reveal trailer.#so obviously i'll withhold final judgement until i play for myself. i'm just a little wary is all.#honestly i guess what i really take issue with is the loz fans acting like the decision to focus less on combat is somehow more #“in-character.” as if every iteration of zelda doesn't have her own distinct personality anyway? it would literally be so easy for them to #write a zelda who's eager to fight (even if only because it's to save link) while still keeping close to her core characteristic traits.#like. come on.#sigh. but anyway. sorry for the rant but it's just so upsetting that so many loz fans #(and this isn't aimed at the person in the screenshot. just in general) seem perfectly ok with the perpetual mistreatment of zelda #especially when they use the same tired arguments to justify it. i'm so over it but i'm also not going to discuss it further #as this literally took me 6 hours to write and i'm sick to death of having to think about this because honestly all of my thoughts #are far more nuanced than i care to convey in the tags of a tumblr post anyway.#...actually i'm kind of tempted to write a whole essay about this now. if nothing else it might help me sort out my thoughts a bit better.#lmk if any of you (assuming anybody's even made it this far lmfao) would be interested in seeing that ?#but yeah ok seriously i'll stop talking ...for now 😈#replies #send tweet

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littlelordfuckler0y · 1 year ago

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Felix catton x reader Instagram au

yourusername if I can’t Oppenheimer my way out of this sem, I’ll Oppenheimer my way out

yourfriend NO LMFAO not the green apple 😭

yourusername was held hostage at the lab today

yourfriend you mean had to prepare a lab report right there?

yourusername had to perform the experiment three times.

yourfriend I support the green apple

fel1xcatt0n Pub tonight. See you?

yourusername I’ll try to make it but I think lab’s gonna run late…you guys carry on tho :)

Sun casted a bright yellow hue from the grass to the glass, making the general weather warmer than usual. Walking alongside her friend y/n was somewhat surprised to see the notification of felix’s comment pop up, voluntarily inviting her to the pub, again. Quite the modern day tragedy it felt like to have to decline it because their labs ran very late. But regardless it was surprising to say at the very least, “We just had drinks with his friends once and he’s inviting us again?” She said as she showed her friend the notification.

“Woah.” Her friend said as they looked at the notification and smiled “well, inviting you but this is-this is cool?”

“You and I are a package deal so inviting me is inviting you.” Y/n said as their friend stared at the comment and the reply, they were analysing the interaction.

“Oh okay yes” they nodded “Also when did he start following you?”

“Okay so we had drinks two days ago right? I think, that night, but it was after I returned to my dorm and I don’t remember exchanging socials.” Y/n said as she went through their interaction from drinks that night.

Her friend tilted their head raising brows, “oh so he looked you up. Plus your account’s open and he still commented? Wow.” They implied in a surprised yet elated tone.

“Wait-what? What do you mean by open account? Almost everyone has open accounts?” Y/n stated confused with a shrug.

“Yeah and anyone can see his comment on YOUR page. So he wasn’t embarrassed to comment now that’s the outlook.”

“Why would he be embarrassed to comment?” Y/n said as she looked at her friend in somewhat the offended tone.

“Are you serious? You have 79 followers.” Her friend said giving her a tight smile to comfort her through their brutal honestly.

“Exactly. Even the serving lady follows me. I get along with everybody.” She stood her ground with an obvious shrug.

“Do you hear yourself? Do you want to repeat that first sentence?” Her friend asked her with a sigh as y/n contemplated that. She needed the serving lady’s follow to reach upto 79 followers as social as it may seem. “Also, don’t forget how we got drinks with him and his friends in the first place.”

“Oh” she said nodding, “We were getting alcohol for lab work on a weekend, wow, yeah I see it now…”

“But. Come on. He commented.” Her friend said pointing her phone screen which still had her comment section open like a textbook.

“Him and his friends most definitely thinks we’re the coolest.” Y/n added regaining her optimism.

“Well…” her friend trailed off not wanting to dampen the enthusiasm “I like how you positive you are.”

“I wish we didn’t have lab today” She whined and rested her head on the lab table.

yourusername ideal study session

fel1xcatt0n can’t believe you never tried the Chinese place around the corner…

yourusername Sorry to break it to you but it is not crime

fel1xcatt0n literally is.

yourfriend ^^it is a crime

“So you ditched us to get Chinese last night?” Farleigh asked raising a sharp brow as he’d scroll through his phone and stumbled upon a certain post.

“How’d you know?” Felix asked as he turned in his chair to look at farleigh.

“Y/n has the dumbest social media presence” Farleigh stated as she scrolled through her previous posts “I mean all her posts are some ugly project model and if not that it’s some random cats?”

“Oh yeah it was a last minute plan-to get Chinese whatever…” felix trailed off with a sigh.

“What is this girl doing? She is too pretty to post stupid jokes and labs god” Farleigh complaint as he went through y/n’s posts. “2 likes on each post yeah, you’ve got to give it to her dedication to document everything.” He scoffed.

“Can you stop stalking her?” Felix urged rolling his eyes.

“Oh I’m stalking her?” Farleigh asked tilting her head. “I know you just out of curiosity asked around for the D wing lab timings and you just happened to be there by the end of her lecture yes sure” with not much reply felix just threw a pillow at farleigh which he happened to dodge.

Fel1xcatt0n local pen and paper girl in her natural habitat

yourusername LMFAO

yourusername didn’t see you click this one

Fel1xcatt0n ;)

farleigh_start you are not subtle.

Fel1xcatt0n thank you for your input

yourusername at that point in semester when breadboard starts looking like bread

farleigh_start why do stem majors follow diet culture the ugly way ew

yourusername I’m not dieting????

farleigh_start then why does your charcuterie board look so ugly

yourusername never mind…

yourfriend LITERALLY I was thinking the same thing

yourusername “what happened to your group project” well…professor…we got hungry

Fel1xcatt0n this is not funny

yourusername ouch.

Fel1xcatt0n be there in 5

Fel1xcatt0n healthiest thing she’s had in decades…

yourusername thanks MOM

Fel1xcatt0n laugh all you want but you can’t live on sugar donuts and ramen

yourusername try me

farleigh_start …

farleigh_start you have never passed me the table salt

—

I really like this and I’d like to do more parts but it feels pretty stupid idk if I’ll do more parts pls let me know what you think <3

DRINK WATER AND HIIII ILY

requests are open go nuts!!

#instagram au #felix catton #felix catton x reader #felix catton x you #felix catton x y/n #felix catton x fem! reader #felix catton fanfic #Felix catton Instagram au #jacob elordi #jacob elordi x reader #jacob elordi x you #jacob elordi x y/n #jacob elordi x reader Instagram au

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takamiwife · 3 months ago

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more hawks x elementary teacher?

maybe like.. pre-relationship where he sees the reader with the kids and it pushes him to support the class for the kids and to get closer to you?

your wish is my command 🧞‍♀️✨ this one is in more fanfic-format. i hope this lives up to what you hoped!! if you want, i can totally write more hc’s for it. i just had a fic in mind for this particular request

part two of keigo x elementary teacher y/n <3

(also, part two of first time w keigo coming soon! but i saw this in my inbox and didn’t want to forget about it <3)

keigo never believed in that “love at first sight” bullshit. really, he didn’t believe in love in general. at this point, he had accepted that he was destined to live alone, for better or for worse

on his short break, as he drank his ice cold canned coffee while perched on a rooftop, his eyes drifted to the elementary school across the street

it was a beautiful, warm spring day, the cherry blossoms that lined the streets had just bloomed and it promised a beautiful summer to follow

just as he was about to look away, his eyes landed on a young woman standing on the blacktop, the wind causing her red floral skirt to ruffle and flitter, her top half clad in a white short sleeve shirt with a black corduroy vest over it. her hair sat perfectly, and as she looked at the kids on the playground and smiled, keigo suddenly wondered if he was having a heart attack

his face was flushed and his heart started beating out of his chest he could barely hear his own thoughts over the sound of the blood pumping

shit

she was gorgeous

and just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse for him, a girl fell on the blacktop, scraping her knee. as the girl began to cry, this angel of a woman who he cursed himself for not having the pleasure of laying his eyes on sooner instantly rushed over, sitting on her knees as she scooped the girl into her arms, comforting her and patting her hair

fuck, he had to meet her

would it be creepy to just.. fly over and say hi?

yes? no? maybe?

fuck, he couldn’t think straight, this was driving him insane

luckily for keigo, an answer from the gods was provided. he noticed a little boy began to climb a particularly high tree, reaching for a flower on a branch he could barely reach

as soon as his foot slipped, keigo was already rushing into action, catching the boy mid-air before a single tear could fall

“hey there, you alright buddy?” keigo asked with a charming smile

the young boy immediately nodded, smiling

“you’re the best hawks!” he grinned ear to ear as he brought the both of them to the ground

“sota!” the angel woman called, running over, a few other kids in tow. “what have i told you about climbing that tree? it’s dangerous!” she scolded the young boy, more out of fear than anger

“no, it’s okay miss l/n! mr. hawks was here to catch me!” he pointed to the man that stood behind him, all but dumbstruck at being able to see this woman up close

“well,” she rose up, smiling kindly at keigo (something that almost sent him into cardiac arrest, might i add) “that was very nice of mr. hawks, but he’s not always going to be there to save you, you have to be more careful. did you say thank you?”

keigo was able to snap out of it, keeping his cool demeanor

“ah, there’s no need to thank me,” keigo said nonchalantly. “just doin’ my job is all.”

oh god, he was cute up close

like, really cute

you couldn’t help but fix your hair in some way, clearing your throat

“and i believe this is what he was trying to grab for you.” keigo pulled out the small pink flower he had held behind his back; something he grabbed in a split second whilst grabbing the boy

you reached out, taking the flower from his gloved hand, the both of you leaving your hands out for just a little longer than you should

“well.. thank you, this was very sweet. but sota, you have to know better,” you picked the small boy up, holding him on your hip. “and hawks.. thank you, again. it would’ve been a lot of paperwork.” you joke, squeezing sota’s cheek, still holding the flower in your other hand

keigo, never having been in this situation before, rolled on his heels for a moment. though he didn’t want to leave, he didn’t want to overstay his welcome either, but it’s not like he could just ask you out in front of all these kids-

“mr. hawks?” a girl tugged on his pants. “can you stay and play for a while?”

“yui,” you look down at the girl. “mr. hawks is a busy man, he can’t just-“

“of course i can!” he quickly replied, taking you a bit by surprise

“well.. alright, but don’t make him feel bad if he has to leave! he has lots of other kids to save from falling out of trees.” you joke, glancing at him

and believe me when i say that he played with those kids until they were absolutely tuckered out. like, walking back inside for nap time, they looked like zombies. but it’s not their fault they were going toe to toe with the fastest hero in japan. but despite his competitive nature, he let them win every single game

as your coworker filed them inside, you stood beside him, laughing softly

“thank you for playing with them, really. it meant a lot to them.”

“well, i couldn’t say no to those little faces. you’ve got some good kids. what’s your secret? most kids their age i see don’t listen to anyone.”

he looked at you as you tilted your head, thinking about it for a moment, biting your bottom lip in thought

“you have to listen to them first. they’re a lot smarter than we think, y’know? you have to give them as much care and understanding as you would an adult.”

as you explained, keigo began to wonder if this whole “love at first sight” thing really wasn’t a scam after all. well, okay, it wasn’t necessarily at “first sight” anymore, but he had known you for less than an hour, so it had to have counted

“yea, i understand,” keigo breathed out. “…the world needs more people like you.” truth be told, he wished that he had known you when you two were kids. you must have always been this kind.

“no, the world needs more people like you,” you corrected him. “not enough people are willing to just… let themselves be kids again and have fun for a while. i think there’d be a lot less problems in the world if that were true.”

before keigo could speak, he realized that his phone was buzzing in his pocket, and as he answered, he got an earful about how he didn’t answer his phone and missed someone getting robbed. he of course had to lie and say he was caught up with another problem, but he was needed back at the agency immediately. so you two bid goodbye, and you expected never to see him again

keigo, on the other hand, wouldn’t let that happen. part of him expected his feelings to be a fluke or to go away, but it was quite the opposite. they only grew stronger everyday. and so he kept coming back day after day, playing with the kids during recess, and while he did enjoy playing with them, he always looked forward to talking to you. it was his favorite part of the day, but it made him dread the weekends since he wouldn’t get to see you. as spring moved on, the two of you grew closer, just as keigo had done with your whole class

“look what mio made during art today,” you pull out a picture from your pocket, a crude crayon drawing of the two of you holding hands with a heart above your heads. “isn’t it adorable?”

you two couldn’t help but laugh, because honestly, it looked just like you guys.

“that’s so adorable.” keigo said as he took a picture on his phone. “i’ve never had fanart this flattering.”

“they ask about you everyday, to make sure you’re coming to recess,” you say as you fold the picture back up. “why do you care about them so much anyways?” as soon as the words come out of your mouth, you immediately backtrack. “shit, that came out so, so wrong,” you can’t help but laugh. “i didn’t mean it like that, just-“

“no, no, i completely get it,” keigo assures you. “truth be told, it’s just.. nice. i see things that most people wouldn’t be able to handle on the daily, and everyone’s always talking my ear off about how i should do something better or faster, so it’s just nice to get a break, see the world through a different lens,” the words caught in keigos throat, and as he debated if he should say it, they just spilled out. “and i like talking to you.”

“i like talking to you too, hawks.” you tried to keep your usual demeanor, but on the inside, you swore your brain and heart just simultaneously exploded. what, did you think this was some one sided thing? i hate to break this to you, but you had fallen for him just as hard as he did for you. admittedly you stepped up your outfit game, always making sure your hair was done in the morning now. you loved the way he was with the kids, but you loved the talks the two of you shared even more

keigo had been thinking about how he would ask you out for- well, since the day he first saw you, but he could never find the proper time or the courage to do it. yea, yea, make fun of him all you want. the man has no game with women, despite what every piece of media has you believe. but he couldn’t handle it anymore. gazing at you from across the playground, seeing you in every beautiful thing he found, thinking of you at night so he couldn’t fall asleep or thinking of you to fall asleep, it was driving him insane

at least if you rejected him now he could learn to get over it, one way or another

“could we… talk more over.. over dinner, or something? anything, anything at all.” he sputtered out. ouch, rough one buddy.

“hawks?” you asked, leaning toward him. “are you asking me on a date?” you tried to keep your smile at a normal level, but it was admittedly hard.

“yes, i am. if you’d like to, of course.”

“yes! yes, i-i would,” you let your excitement get the better of you for a moment as you tried to regain your composure. ah, nothing better than two idiots in love. “can i um- get your phone so i can-“

“phone.. phone! yes, phone, right, i have one of those,” he fished into his pocket, grabbing his phone to unlock it and hand it to you to put your number in. you handed it back to him, this time the both of you letting your hands linger longer than they should without worry. “well, i should get going. might be missing another robbery. i’ll call you- text you, i’ll text you, and we’ll um, we’ll figure something out, okay?”

“uh-huh..” you nodded, watching breathlessly as always as his wings spread and he gave them a few beats as he rose into the air. “see you soon, hawks.”

“see you soon, y/n.”

as you watched him fly away, you couldn’t help but have a good feeling about your upcoming date. it would be different than all of the others, you could feel it. but when you turned to go back into the school, you saw your entire class with their tiny faces pressed against the windows, assumingely having watched the entire exchange. even knowing that now it would be impossible to get them to nap or really do anything for the rest of the day, you couldn’t help but feel like you were on cloud nine

#bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mha #bnha keigo #keigo takami #mha hawks #mha takami keigo #bnha hawks #hawks #hawks x reader #keigo x you #keigo x reader #takamiwife #keigo takami x reader

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