#yu's silly dancing soul makes an appearance

[distant-velleity]

Two Is Just As Good As One

Summary: Even when the Mostro Lounge is empty, people like Yu and Chrysos can experience companionship there. Word count: ~900 A/N: A short little unbeta'd thing, since I wanted a little bit of Yu from a POV that isn't his. These two were always meant to be similar, and I took it a step further bc Chrysos is always interested in people who aren't what they appear to be. Like Yu "I can and will pretend to be someone I'm not" Wei. Two people who want to be free but can't handle negative perception... wow. Let them be friends !!! (bonus note: this takes place on Day 3 of A Fair Price. Just so you know :> )

~

For a Saturday evening, the crowds have cleared out rather quickly. 

By the time Chrysos emerges from his room with a thermos of soothing tea for his strained previously-singing voice, the Lounge is empty. Everyone else who was on shift earlier must be in the kitchen washing dishes. Well, save for a certain otherworldly boy wearing a borrowed Octavinelle uniform, sleeves rolled up as he uses a rag to wipe down the tables.  

Yu hums quietly to himself, looking rather serene and satisfied for someone on solo cleaning duty. He doesn’t seem aware that Chrysos is watching him from the shadows of the hallway, as he even chaînés turns from the now-clean table to another one.

For someone so frequently swapping personas to appeal to others, his true self has some rather simple desires. Like dancing and humming to his heart’s content.

Another similarity between the two of us, it would seem.

Chrysos recognizes the tune after listening and watching Yu dance between cleaning for a bit, finding himself singing along without realizing—

“Seeking thrills makes me me, it’s an essential piece / In the darkness, I’ll enchant you, so take my hand,” he sings, soft as to not irritate his throat. “Witness this wondrous, twisted land~”

It’s almost comical, how Yu snaps out of his solitary reverie as soon as he realizes that it’s not just a figment of his imagination singing. “Chrysos?!” he yelps, almost shouting as he clutches the rag to his chest. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.” Chrysos dips his head apologetically. “I heard you humming Piece of My World and couldn’t help myself.”

“Ah…” Yu relaxes, hands falling back to his sides. He puts on a sheepish, small smile. “I guess it is kind of my fault for thinking I could just do whatever while I was cleaning. That song’s been stuck in my head lately.”

“It was the audition song for the SDC team, right?”

Yu nods. “And it’s really catchy, too. I can see why it was so popular.” He leans over to continue wiping a table. “Have you considered performing it here?”

“It was one of my first songs here, back when the trend was still dying down,” recalls Chrysos. 

“Oh, makes sense.”

Inevitably, because it’s not in either of their natures to make small talk, they both fall silent. Yu tightens the hairtie on his ponytail and continues his work.

However, it’s starting to occur to Chrysos that there’s still quite a few tables left and only one magicless human on the task. If he hadn’t walked in then he probably wouldn’t have paid it any mind, but now that he’s here, it’s a little difficult to shrug and walk away. 

“Do you…” Chrysos starts, and then stops himself out of embarrassment when Yu turns to look at him. The TA offers him an encouraging tilt of the head, though, so he continues. “Do you want any help with cleaning the tables?”

(He’s really starting to get why Santiago curses out his conscience so much. Remembering how he’d treated certain students with disdain and disregard back in early December… it makes him want to make up for that, and it’s awful.)

Yu’s eyes widen. “Oh! No, no, it’s fine. I know it looks bad because it’s just me working, but there was another guy helping me out earlier. You just performed, so you should rest.” He pauses. “Also, didn’t Azul explicitly tell you to use less magic outside of classes?”

Chrysos grimaces internally when he remembers the stern talking-to he’d gotten from his upperclassmen. It’s already been a few weeks since winter break, but he’s probably still not off the hook. “I can grab another rag and clean manually. It’d still be faster.”

Yu visibly hesitates. “If you want…”

He has that look in his eyes when he glances at Chrysos. A look where it seems as if he’s not looking at the person themselves, but through their facade and into them. People like Leona, Azul, and Jamil have been on the receiving end of it more times than Chrysos can count. 

The TA doesn’t consider himself perceptive, but at least to others, he is in some way. Consequently, that perceptiveness leads to concern for what he sees in others. Concern that is… a little more than partially warranted, but—

“It won’t be a problem,” Chrysos assures him, because he does want to offer his help. It’s easy, if mundane, work.

(And, he can think to himself with the second-hand humiliation of a child watching his older sibling fall in love, the housewarden is in the VIP office with Jayme right now, so he isn’t around to tell me no.)

There’s a moment in which Yu continues to hesitate, battling with himself on the inside, before finally opening himself up to accept help. “Okay,” he concedes. “I haven’t gotten to the tables by the bar yet.”

“Got it. I’ll take care of those.”

He makes a quick trip to the storage closet and gets to work as soon as he comes back, offering Yu the mop for the floor once the tables are nice and clean. With two people on the job, the work may not be as quiet—even with two introverts—but it’s easier.

And if Chrysos accidentally makes eye contact with Yu only for them to share a little companionable smile, that’s something that doesn’t need to be discussed.

[tsunflowers]

I always make a list of the contestants who stood out to me so I can remember their names and why I liked them so here's my chuang2024 list

chacha loud and dramatic theater girl. goofy type performer. Thai lissa striking features. REALLY goofy. always wears green. Thai j jazzsper is already tiktok famous. rapper. Thai jasmine also famous online, goofy puns. Thai wang yibing a little silly, punched the air. high schooler. Chinese akina kinda hot, great stage presence. Japanese-American mingming capybara. she ranked up from f to a?! Thai mamcù is very talented and everyone loves her already. she was the runner up on the voice. she likes eating potatoes. Chinese (Tibetan) krista shim has a lovely soulful voice for her age and appearance. Thai-American elyn is a really cute kid who wrote a sweet song about bangkok. she’s been an influencer since age 12?! Malaysian qiao yi yu has a kinda butch look in the confessional. she was in the masc group. Chinese pream is a great dancer with great energy. Thai yean has a powerful voice and did a gospel style solo. Thai tegan can also sing in Chinese. she has a good low voice. Hawaiian wang ke is really pretty… she’s been acting in Korea for the past five years? not afraid to fucking go for it when dancing. Chinese zoi rules actually. her solo was so good. Indian ma liya wore an apsara styled outfit and did traditional dance. I’m in love with her now. Chinese pimmie is the oldest contestant? Thai yuan ke has a really lovely voice. Chinese wanyan jiayi has no experience and no reason to be here so we must stan her. Chinese natty was in the masc group. Thai liliana li was in the masc group. she can really sing! American áhn sáng was in the masc group. Vietnamese ruan got center for the first theme song performance so she’s one to watch. Japanese

these are the two that I pointed out as being hot but I feel like these promo pics don't capture the energy of their performances

[valtharr]

There’s a couple of reasons why I hate people who criticize King of The Monsters for being too action-heavy or not deep enough because it doesn’t “respect the character’s legacy” or whatever. Like, if you only like the dark and serious Godzilla movies, that’s fine, but don’t shit all over the more action-oriented movies like KOTM and act like they’re automatically bad because they don’t frame the Kaiju as some sort of allegory.

Like, even if you ignore all the media outside of the Japanese Godzilla movies - the American movies, Toho’s other Kaiju films, the video games, serialized media, comics, etc. - you’re still left with 30 fucking movies in the series, and the vast majority of them have Godzilla beat up some other monster. And a good chunk of those show Goji as the one you’re supposed to root for. Even when he’s not explicitly the “hero”, he’s usually a sort of anti-hero, at worst he’s a lesser evil than the monster(s) he fights. So yeah, if you act as if Godzilla was always evil, always the antagonist, and that the movies are always supposed to be some kind of deep social commentary, you either haven’t actually seen any movie besides the original (and maybe a few others like Shin), or you’re playing the dumbest version of “No True Scotsman”, where somehow about 90% of a franchise are outliers. Hell, Godzilland taught children math, and Godzilla Island had a fucking Kaiju Vending Machine In Space! And you seriously want to argue that Godzilla is this sacred cow that can only ever be used for serious drama, and that everything else is beneath the character’s dignity?

“Oh, but the first was this super dark and super serious...“

Yeah, it was. So what? The Ninja Turtles were originally a super dark and gory Daredevil parody. The original Yu-Gi-Oh manga portrayed Yugi’s alter ego as a sadistic killer who could easily be a game-themed Batman villain. The Mask was an incredibly violent adult comic book. Captain America was war propaganda, and when he first appeared in the comics, Thor was a regular guy who gained lightning-based super powers whenever he used Mjölnir.

Characters change! Concepts change! And just because they’re not the same exact fucking thing they were before doesn’t make them bad! Are you also gonna say that Tangled is a bad movie because Eugene doesn’t knock up Rapunzel and then has his eyes gouged out?

“But it was such a dark and haunting movie, and the later ones are just action flicks, or totally goofy!“

Yeah, so? I still like them. And so do thousands, if not millions of other people. I wanna see monsters beat each other up and wreck a city. I don’t want overt social commentary in my giant monster movies. If you want that, that’s perfectly fine, and hey, I don’t deny that the original is a masterpiece or whatever, I just don’t care about it.

This is honestly one of the most aggravating ways to look at media that I know: That a piece of art - or entertainment - can only ever be worth something if it’s somehow deep, or dark, or cynical. If a movie is funny, or silly, or just wants to entertain, it’s automatically bad or dumb, or unworthy of critical praise.

Godzilla is a giant lizard who beats up other giant lizards. He is also a walking reminder of the terror of nuclear war. He is also the defender of Earth. He is also a Moby Dick allegory. He is also a someone who does silly victory dances after he wins a fight. He is also an amalgamation of the souls of those who died during World War 2, and a grim agent of retribution for the atrocities Japan committed during that war. He is also someone who did this:

He was, is, and will be a lot of things. Because like any timeless character, Godzilla is versatile.