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amidstnamjin-and-binchanlix · 11 months

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how long can you stand the heat || ot7

Warnings: Uhhh, none I think? Non-graphical smut and slight angst, but that's pretty much it for now since I'm still crafting the next part, and some curse words lmao.

I won't control you, but MDNI. This is not for you, please.

Pairings: OT7/(F) Reader, Jackson Wang/(F) Reader

Plot: The one where your soulmates don't want you in their life, so you give them what they want and stay out of their way.

Genre: not really unrequited love (but they're all idiots), mutual pining, angst, denial of feelings, poly ot7

How do you think I'm going to get along

Without you when you're gone?

You took me for everything that I had

And kicked me out on my own.

Are you happy? Are you satisfied?

How long can you stand the heat?

Out of the doorway the bullets rip

To the sound of the beat.

mixtape: all i have left to give - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - ending 1

I originally posted this on ao3 last April but I've just recently thought, "why not post this on tumblr now that i'm using it again after a few years?"

this fic is v self-serving, and was brought to you by my ✨maladaptive daydreams✨

first fic i posted here. idek what im doing but lezzgawwww

Title obviously came from AOBTD. Thank you, Sir John Deacon. You are heaven-sent for making this iconic and legendary bop.

This will be a part of a multi-fic series and i've already crafted 80/90-ish% of the next part im so sorry my mind isn't cooperating rn

✨️

God must be testing your patience.

I mean sure, you might not also be sure that there is indeed a god out there somewhere. However, you must have pissed off some deity or you had pissed on some old man of the mound. Either way, you don't care. You're pissed off now, too.

You see when they rejected you and asked (read: avoided you like the plague until Sejin spoke with you) not to speak or interact with them, you respected their wishes. It stung, but it's not really surprising.

It's not a secret that the seven of them are soulmates, polyamorous soulbonds not even a rarity in and out of the industry. However, it's also not a secret that they're very exclusive and don't let too many (if any) other people in their circle because of the things they had to endure as a group. It makes sense that they wouldn't want a new person intruding and messing with their dynamics, soulmate or not.

(deep down you want to say it doesn't make sense. you're their soulmate, why can't they accept you like that? but there's still nothing you can do, isn't there?)

And so, you delegated all your tasks related to their group to your most trusted employees completely and avoided them at all costs. And by 'at all costs', you mean everything. You even deleted all their songs on your playlists and blocked them on social media (even on Spotify). You can co-exist with them without interacting, although it makes your chest ache through the bond because of the soul rejection like a 24/7 acid relapse.

It's fine. You can ignore all that. You can handle rejection. You've been used to this since you were a kid; adult you can handle this.

Soul rejection side effects? Nothing meds and doctors can't fix. Technology has never been more advanced and all that jazz.

You're a mature person, and you pride yourself on that. You don't like confrontations that much and would rather step back as much as you can to disengage. If your soulmates don't want anything to do with you, then you'll back off.

But you sometimes wonder if they can feel it too, the soul strings fraying and slowly decaying. After shit went down, it's bouts of nausea and dizziness, and constant chest aches for you. That's not even half of it. It'll take a whole day for you to list all your symptoms.

If they do feel it, does it add to their list of reasons why they hate your existence? You mean, they had been borderline antagonistic since your first meeting, cold but civil at best.

It was a contrast to the way the tiny soul marks on each of your fingers glowed on your first meeting even until after Taehyung and Yoongi fled in what you can guess is disbelief and refusal, the others following suit. The warmth in your hands felt scorching, and you had never wanted to scrub them with water in your life then more than you ever did, your chest beating hard and painfully. You remember feeling like someone slashed your insides with a hot knife, and it has never stopped being in pain ever since.

What else were you supposed to think other than they hate you?

Not wanting to risk another embarrassing conversation with Sejin (bless his heart), you decided to book an appointment and signed up for the relatively new soul-scraping therapy. It's still in its human trial stages and is slowly being recognized as a way of severing soul ties, albeit not approved and sanctioned by the government. Anything to give and honor their wishes. They're your soulmates, and it's innate in you to give people what they want.

(or was it really just that?)

All of that and everything else, you can take. You live and abide by your life motto to stay out of drama, so you take all of it in stride and with dignity because it's all you have left at this point when it comes to them.

This is where you got pissed off, though. This day takes the cake, this sodding party.

Attending the party was certainly not your idea. You're tired from the long-ass meetings you had today—JYP's team asked for a meeting for your agreement with Day6 since Sungjin got discharged a few months ago with Younghyun following suit in a few days. A party is definitely not on your to-do list. If it's up to you, you'll be going home to your phone and fics.

(and if they're bangtan fics, nobody has to know. this, you can let yourself have—you were advised against going cold turkey from them by the doctors handling the soul-scraping therapy, after all. if you can't have them, maybe you can at least indulge in fictional them.)

You have been minding your own business since you arrived at the bar. It's laughable how socially inept you are despite handling your business and meeting the entertainment industry's biggest names and leaders regularly. When being put in parties and other gigs that force you to socialize just for the sake of socializing, you're back to being the fat loser kid that avoided making new friends because the ones you previously had in childhood (if you can really call them that) can't understand how your brain and mouth work. Frankly, you don't, too, so you just preferred to stay in one corner until it's socially acceptable to go home.

"Hey." Jackson squeezes your hand in his and smiles worriedly at you. "You doing okay?"

Jackson had been a long-time friend and is someone you trust your whole life with. Jackson had seen you through your bests and worsts, but had never once turned his back on you or betrayed you as many people did.

Yeah, you would trust him with your whole life. Your panties too, but don't tell him that.

(there's no need to because he knows; he did lots of times before, with his face between your thighs and your undies in his pocket.)

"I'm good." You don't even bother smiling, knowing it won't convince him too much. He knows your stand on parties; you're his polar opposite, after all. "I just really wanna go home."

"Can I come with?" he asks with a salacious smile.

You roll your eyes.

"Stop being horny for five minutes, please."

"You shouldn't have worn that dress, then." He rakes you with an assessing look. "On second thought, that's the best decision you did tonight so far. If you're not going home with anyone tonight, my room's open."

"You up to be my wingman?" you ask.

"Sure. I'll sit with you all night so we can look like a swinger couple scouting for a third we can take home." He waggles his eyebrows.

You snort at that with an amused chuckle, oblivious to the glare(s) directed your way by—who else?—your soulmates.

They (Taehyung) heard from Manager Sejin and Noona Ae-cha that you're not sure if you can come. They didn't know why the two were talking about you, but Taehyung tried to act immersed in his phone while eavesdropping.

Apparently, you had been stuck in the boardroom almost all day with the back-to-back meetings, and you even had to cancel your doctor's appointment. For what the appointment is for, he didn't know. It explains your absence that day, and he files the information away at the back of his head. He can't for the life of him understand why he can't stop trying to spot crumbs about you.

(he does know, but he's in denial about why—and he'll deny both.)

He then told his hyungs and Jungkook, which they just nodded at, seemingly uninterested. But if Namjoon's faraway serious look at times is anything to go by or the way Jimin picks at the skin on his lips as he's lost in thought, he's pretty sure they are also subtly trying to figure out if you're coming.

(but they'll all deny that if asked.)

They haven't seen you that much since they started actively avoiding you months ago and shut down whatever soul link you have with them, and you are damn good at trying to stay out of their way.

It surprised them, they're not gonna lie. They expected you to put up a fight, but all Manager Sejin told them was that you agreed. You never interacted with them ever since unless it was really needed, and you were always wearing your rings and not making unnecessary eye contact even once.

(and that somehow pisses them off and itches under their skin because how dare you not be interested?)

And now you've been here for the past hour or so, Jackson Wang in tow. Or rather, Jackson has his arms alternately snaked around yours or slung around your shoulders. It makes Jackson look like a frat douchebag.

(and it makes taehyung look jealous and interested in you which he is so not, no.)

Hoseok was the first one to spot you arriving, Another One Bites The Dust thumping through the dancefloor that was bathed in red lights. He nudges Namjoon from his seat in their secluded and swanky VIP room that was separated one floor above the bar proper.

"There she is", he says then, gesturing towards you as all seven pairs of eyes land on you as you enter with Jackson. "She's with Wang."

With varying levels of internal turmoil, they all watch as Jackson led you through the throngs of people, presumably to another room like theirs. They see you shake your head and point to the bar, and Jackson's face light up with a wide smile before redirecting your steps.

Yoongi asks himself why you have to wear that dress or why Jackson has to clutch at your hands like a little kid, the others having a similar train of thought. Does Jackson think he's going to be lost in this bar? Is he that plain stupid to be lost in this bar, really?

And why are you letting him?

Jimin tries not to let his eyes wander on your legs, tries not to let his mind wander back to the thought of being choked by your thick supple legs and ripping that off-shoulder dress off you and—

Oh. Woah, there.

Stop it! he thinks to himself and shakes his head.

(this is not the first time he's thought of this, darling. when he first saw those smooth and lovely-looking plump thighs, he knows he was fucked.)

Jin is no better, but he hides it better than the others. After all, it was not his idea to shut you out like that. He was opposed to it and tried to talk some sense into the others, but they didn't listen. He thought back then that Namjoon would at least be reasonable and give you a shot but nooo, the kid was stupid enough to listen to others.

Let them have what they want, then.

(he can feel the pit and longing in his chest some nights and thinks that maybe he can let the others do what they want but still do what he wants too. but he takes a look at the six men who had been there for him through thick and thin, and he can't lose them. he sends you an apology mentally, hoping you can at least feel it through the bond.)

"Calm down," Jin tells them levelly, trying to pry the glass off Namjoon's hand, lest he crushes it and injures himself. "You're crushing the poor thing, Joonie. Don't wanna end up in the ER, do you?"

Jackson's the one to end up in the ER if he doesn't unwrap his arms from your shoulders, that's who, Namjoon thinks to himself bitterly before he can stop himself.

Jin leans back on his seat and watches as you laugh with Jackson, arms slung around your shoulders as the latter listens to you talk. They all wouldn't have to seethe in barely contained anger if they just listened to him though, so who's at fault here?

Aish, these brats.

"I'm going to get more drinks," Jungkook suddenly says, disentangling himself from Taehyung fluidly.

"You can just ask them," Namjoon says, pointing towards the glass doors where their security detail is posed out of the room. "There's no need to go out."

"I'm going to get more drinks," Jungkook repeats firmly, ignoring him. Namjoon's jaw clenches. "Come help me, Jin-hyung?"

Ah, this conniving brat. Jin wants to kiss his pouty lips for this.

"Sure," Jin says easily, much to Namjoon's annoyance. He pats Namjoon's cheeks gently. "No breaking the glass, Joon-ah. We have a photoshoot tomorrow."

He pulls Jungkook out of the room before any of them can disagree further. He loops his arm around Jungkook's petite waist, nodding once to the man stationed at the door.

"You're not just getting drinks at you, aren't you?" Jin asks as they descend the steps.

"I don't know what you're talking about, hyung." Jungkook's smile is sharp. "I just don't wanna get roofied and end up on the tabloids tomorrow, is all."

"You don't have to lie to me," Jin says, kissing his hair. "I wanna see her, too."

Jungkook's smile turns sad at that.

"I just don't understand. [Name]-noona seems like a nice person. They're all being stupid."

Jin has to agree. "But you know why we have to, right? I don't like it, too, but we have no choice."

"But we do!" Jungkook insists. "We can be friends, even."

"Friends don't fuck friends." Jungkook snorts at that. "There's nothing 'friends' about wanting her with us, Jungkook."

"Friends don't fuck friends, my ass," Jungkook mumble mockingly. "That didn't stop Jackson-hyung at all."

Jin stops momentarily, pulling Jungkook to a stop. "Excuse me?"

"They were having sex last week, hyung. When Jackson-hyung came over last Wednesday."

"Was that why...?"

"Yeah." Jungkook takes his hand as they walk again. "I felt it through the strings, too."

Jungkook is suspiciously not meeting his eyes.

"Jungkook-ah."

"What?" he asks innocently. Jin's lips pull into a smirk.

"You naughty cat!"

"I—what? No!" but Jungkook is still not meeting his eyes. "I didn't watch them."

Jin gasps delightedly.

"This is so much better. I didn't even say anything yet!"

Ah, fuck.

In Jungkook's defense, he hadn't meant to listen in. But he had been on his way back to the practice room from relieving his screaming bladder when he heard it. The warmth and arousal that was definitely not his he had been ignoring since that lunchtime was not helping his curiosity.

"Ah!" And oh shit, it's someone moaning and it's you.

That explains the arousal he's been feeling. Oh, and the jealousy now (his), too.

"Yeah?" A deeper voice asked breathlessly. Another punched-out moan from you, and the arousal flares in his chest.

Yup. It's definitely his this time.

"Jackson, please," your equally breathless voice pleaded, and the sound shot to his cock. Jungkook had to stop his hand from going south inside his pants and boxers.

A delighted shriek and breathless laugh, followed by a staccato of 'ah ah ah's and hips slapping against each other punctuated the otherwise silent afternoon he was having.

And what would a self-respecting man do?

Stay and listen to you get railed six ways to Sunday, was what he did.

(jungkook didn't say he's a self-respecting man.)

Jungkook slipped his hand inside his pants and boxers and wrapped his hand around his aching cock. He almost moaned at how your moans quickly reached a whole other level of desperation. He wondered and tried to imagine how you would feel around him if he fucked you harder and deeper than Jackson possibly can.

He knows he can.

"Hands, Jackson." There was a chuckle, then your whine was heard. "Baobei, please."

Jungkook heard Jackson's sharp intake of breath, and he had to internally agree. Even speaking Mandarin, you sound so hot.

He heard you mewl with a choked giggle as the sounds of hips to hips got faster.

"You really like my hands, huh?" Jackson asked.

"Mhm. Want them wrapped around my—ah!—neck all the time."

Fuck.

Jungkook had to bite onto his hands as he came, so as not to give his position away, cock spurting on his hands,. Seconds later and he heard you cry out and Jackson grunt to completion.

So, no. He definitely didn't watch.

"You nasty, nasty boy!" Jin cackles at him and he wants to pout. "You listened in to them having sex?!"

"Hyung!" Jungkook hisses. "Not too loud."

Jin snickers at him, mouth pulled in a tempting smirk he wants to kiss. "Was it good?"

"Hyung," he whines. At Jin's unfaltering smirk, he sighs. "It was. She sounds so good, hyung. I can't take it off my mind."

"Maybe later, we can do something about that." Jin says with a low hum.

He peers at Jin's eyes and almost shudders at the dark and hungry look in them. Jin squeezes his waist, and it takes Jungkook's breath away.

In his silence, Jin nods with a hum.

"Hm, definitely later."

He won't say no to that. If they can't have you, Jungkook's gonna take what he can get, even if it means settling on replaying your moans in his head.

When they reach the bar, you are still sitting at the other end with Jackson. They are careful not to be seen by you or you'll probably leave like you always do when they get within your 10-foot vicinity.

Then Jackson puts his hand on your slightly exposed leg. He feels the others' jealousy through the bond first before he feels his own, and he sees you stiffen in your seat.

Hyungs!

Jungkook quickly looks away, but not before Jackson catches his gaze. He completely misses the way Jackson's mouth pulls into a quick smirk as their drinks are thankfully served at that exact moment.

"Wanna head back to your place?"

You're unexpectedly suddenly close, and it's like Jackson wants him and Jin to hear to rile them up. It works, and he can barely tamp down the urge to pour the drinks over Jackson's big head, being older be damned.

"Sure. I'll just swing by the restroom." You say as you walk away. Jin and Jungkook take that as their cue to go back to their ritzy room.

"That was short," Jin says tightly as they go back. "Was it you?"

Jungkook shakes his head.

Jin's lips quirk into an amused smile.

"Ah, jealous bastards."

"Weren't you too, though?" Jungkook asks with a slightly amused smile of his own. "That was... that was intense."

"That serves them," Jin says as they near the room. "If they weren't just pigheaded, it's my shoulders her legs are gonna be hanging from later."

"Jin-hyung!" Jungkoo huffs, but then deflates. "Yeah."

"Don't worry, we still have later," Jin says with a lascivious smirk.

And he can't complain about that, can he?

"Where's Tae-hyung?" he asks when they enter the room, Taehyung nowhere in sight.

"Went out. Didn't say where." Hoseok says as he accepts their drinks and puts the tray on the table. It takes a few seconds for him to piece it all together, and he mentally facepalms.

"Whatever happened to 'not giving a fuck' about [Name]?" he mumbles.

"Jungkook," Namjoon warns.

It sets him off.

"What? Are you all really going to keep on pretending? You do realize I felt that back there too, right?" he shoots back.

"So the drinks were just a ruse?" Namjoon's face is stormy.

Jungkook holds his gaze steady. "And what if it was? You all know what I felt about this since day one."

"Kook-ah." It's Jimin this time. "Not now, please."

"And when, hyung? When we go back to just pretending an eighth of our soul doesn't exist out there?"

"Jungkook."

He glares at Yoongi. "No, hyung. If you all want to be stupid, I don't! [Name]-noona is going through therapy because of this, don't you know?"

Yoongi scoffs. "She's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"Not soul-scraping therapy, she won't."

They all stop at that. Even Jungkook stops and internally curses.

Fuck, he wasn't supposed to say that.

"What did you say?" Namjoon's voice takes on a dangerous tone.

He huffs but stays silent, not really wanting to dig a deeper hole for himself.

"Jungkook."

"I talked to Jiho-hyung, okay? I bumped into him five months ago when he visited her."

Silence.

"Im Jiho?" At Jungkook's nod, Namjoon's frown deepened. "I didn't know he practices soul-scraping."

"He's co-authoring the soul-scraping study with Doctor Seong."

At the mention of one of their previous soul health doctors, Yoongi raises his eyebrows.

"Our Doctor Seong?"

Jungkook nods with a sigh, plopping down beside Hoseok. "Apparently, it's why he stopped private practice—to focus on the studies. They're also lobbying for fully legalizing soul-scraping in the Assembly. I ran into him, and he mentioned that he was there for noona's side effects from the therapy."

Side effects?

Shit.

"W-wait. Five months, you said?" Jin says with a tremble in his voice. "Is that why I can barely feel her anymore?"

Jungkook's sigh is pained, forlorn. "Apparently, yeah."

They all lapse in complete silence after that, the thumping of the beat on the dancefloor faint through the walls.

"Fuck."

Indeed.

It is then that Taehyung comes back. He takes one look at their varying degrees of solemn and stunned expressions and tilts his head.

"What? What happened?" he asks.

"[Name]..."

Taehyung's eyes widen before his expression smooths into indifference.

"I told you, I'm no—"

"That's not it," Jimin says softly. "She's in soul-scraping therapy, Taehyung-ah."

...

"What?"

(oh, lord. you don't know the turmoil you caused all these pining idiots, darling.)

---

And what about you?

As we said in the beginning, god must be testing your patience.

"Hey," Jackson says softly. He lifts your chin with a gentle smile long after Taehyung fucked off to god knows where. "You good, baobei?"

You didn't even know they were here. You were vaguely aware that yeah, they might be, but it totally slipped your mind. Meetings really did drain your brain.

When you stood up and went to the restroom while Jackson called for the driver, you didn't know that Taehyung was watching you from their room and completely high-tailed it from there just to intercept you when he saw you stand up from the corner of the bar. You didn't know why, but his stupid drunken ass just decided it wanted and it was a good idea to rile you up.

To piss you off is why, you think.

When you exited the ladies' room, Taehyung was standing there by the wall looking lethal. The ache in your chest flared up for two different reasons, but you ignored it. You ignored him and started walking away, pretending you didn't see him.

"So you're really here."

Seriously?

You continued ignoring him and walked on, but he didn't let you get far.

He grabs your wrist. "I said, you're really here."

The spot where he held you burned and you hissed, cursing the therapy's side effects. You were warned that coming in contact skin-to-skin with your soulmates while undergoing the therapy would feel painful (literally), but you didn't heed it then. You had no reason to touch them after all when they didn't even want to see you.

But it is painful, and it burns.

You yanked your wrist away, hiding your wrist behind your back. There's no need for that, though. Taehyung was looking at your face intently.

"Yes, and I was just leaving. See you around, T—"

"With Jackson?"

What's it with this guy?

You looked back at him and squared your shoulders up. "That's really none of your business, Taehyung."

He laughed with a sneer, shaking his head.

"What would people say if they knew you're off gallivanting with men who aren't your soulmate?"

Wow.

The nerve of this asshole.

You can't let him see it affect you though, so you tilt your head with an innocent smile.

"I'm just a nobody. Why would they talk about me? " You smirked in amusement. "I don't think it'll be me they will talk about since I wasn't the one who rejected my soulmate, was I?"

And oh, shit. Where did that come from, [Name]? Feisty.

"And I'm not doing anything illegal. Why should I be scared?" You slightly lean back and tilt your chin up. "I'm not the one between us with a reputation to uphold, a name I should protect."

You paused, a serene smile on your face.

"I'm not a coward. I'm not you, Taehyung"

The smirk on his lips was replaced with a sharp look of disdain, almost like he wants to slap the smile off your face.

(he wants to, darling. trust me. just not in the way you think.)

You knew you hit a nerve and it feels petty and mean, but it's nothing compared to the loneliness and pain they gave you these past few months. It felt satisfying, even if for just a bit.

"You really think you're all that, don't you?" He smiled almost mockingly. "Tell me, how does it feel to be rejected?"

That really stung and angered you, but you've spent all your life hiding your emotions when needed to. Your expression didn't falter.

"It feels good—"

"—because she dodged a bullet."

You internally sighed in relief as Jackson's voice float behind you. You'll forever be thankful for this man's existence, gods or not.

You melt in his arms when he wrapped them around your waist. You chanced a look at Jackson, not seeing the twitch on Taehyung's brows at your body language.

"You really think you're all that, don't you?" Jackson mocked back at him. "Imagine thinking it's the end of the world for your soulmate just because you shut down their bond." Jackson chuckled ruthlessly.

"You're pathetic, Taehyung-ssi."

The two were locked in a glowering match before Taehyung straightened up and spun on his heel without a word.

Jackson let you get your bearings by the wall of the hallway to the ladies' room in silence. But he didn't let you stew in your thoughts for long.

So now here you are, looking at his gentle eyes.

"You good, baobei?"

You don't know how to answer that really, so you pull him by the collar into a searing kiss.

He puts his hand on your waist, the other on the wall by your face, and you tighten your hold on his collar.

You pull away to gasp for air.

"Take me home," you exhale heavily as you lean your head on his shoulder. "Take me home and fuck me 'til I forget, or I might do something stupid."

Jackson's sharp intake of air is your answer before he pulls you away to your awaiting car outside the club.

---

feedback (constructive, please don't be too rude bc i'll cry) and kudos very much appreciated!

#bts soulmate au #polyamorous bts #soul bonds #kim taehyung u lil shit #soulmate rejection #idek what i'm doing okay i'm so sorry #they're idiots your honor #bts x reader #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook

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saintsenara · 3 months

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Would you ever consider writing Ron/Hermione? Like, as the main ship of the fic?

thank you very much for the ask, anon - and you've definitely brought up something i have been thinking about myself...

obviously, i'm on the record as a paid-up romione defender, and i certainly think that the two of them deserve a far greater fandom presence as a couple than they currently have. i've never vibed with any of the usual non-ron partnerships hermione tends to end up in [although i am much more amenable to ron in other ships - i love a bit of ronarry and i love a bit of dron] and i do share romione fans' exasperation with the way romione-as-a-couple are treated in a lot of fandom discourse, whether because of the impact of the films or because they get in the way of other popular pairings.

and i've definitely thought about some vague plot outlines for romione-centric fics. i'd like to see a version of half-blood prince from hermione's perspective, because her scheming how to get at ron [the mclaggen plan makes me howl every time] is iconic, and i'm obsessed with the potential from so many of the romione missing moments we get hints of in canon, especially the evenings ron and hermione spend alone in gryffindor tower while harry's off on his schemes [and especially the bit in deathly hallows when they fall asleep in grimmauld place holding hands]. i think there's great potential for a big post-war romione epic too - not least because i think ron would be excellent at guiding hermione through the relationship she'd have to rebuild with her parents once she restored their memories.

my issue is that, to be quite honest, i have to be in a certain mood to want to write hermione - and i find it quite difficult to write dialogue etc. for her which doesn't just sound insufferable. while ron has always been my ride-or-die, she's a character i've never vibed with [i have a very low tolerance in real life for all of her most... striking traits] from the very first time i read the books. she's fine as a background character in one year in every ten [the wip I'm writing in which she currently appears] because she's perfect for the genre: it's a murder mystery and she's a lawyer, so her turning up to be pedantic about things is exactly what i want. but i'm not sure i've got the writing chops yet to produce something which centred her which would do her justice as a fully-rounded character - with her good qualities [which i do recognise there are many of! especially her unbelievable loyalty!] given just as much space as her more negative ones - and i don't think it would be enjoyable or fair for anyone for me to write some dogshit in which hermione's just a shrew.

but, you know, never say never... i enjoy reading romione, i enjoy writing female characters as real people, i enjoy anything in which ron features... who knows what the future holds.

[i can promise you won't catch me writing dramione though.]

#asks answered #asenora fics #romione #ron weasley #hermione granger

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willow-lark · 1 year

Text

one thing about me is that i will always and forever be a stoncy girly. i occasionally rb posts about them but i'm mainyl involved in the byler fandom atm so i don't talk ab them as much as i want to. anyways

stoncy is really interesting to think about particularly considering where things are in canon for the three of them right now. so, firstly, my thoughts on that:

i am 100% rooting for jancy endgame in-show. i'm not a fan of love triangles (hence why i started shipping stoncy in the first place, they all have chemistry n i think they should all kiss each other at the exact same time) but up until s4 there was no reason to think that jancy wouldn't be endgame, and honestly i'm upset that the writers brought stancy back in, considering that steve's s3 arc was all about him learning he doesn't need romantic love to fulfill his life, and what he and nancy each want in life simply are not compatible. jancy r iconic. jancy r goals. jancy had a whole speech in s4 talking about all the things they love about the other. although they've hit a slight rough patch due to jonathan's conflicting desires in supporting her goals while also being there for his family which has historically needed a lot of his support, they just need to get on the same page about this. they WILL prevail i KNOW this i TRUST

okay, lark, you say. if ur so obsessed with jancy endgame then why stoncy at all? AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY.

it all comes down to stonathan. also shoutout to @messrsbyler for championing the stonathan agenda lately. we should all attempt to live up to your example. SO TRUE.

so. post-s1 era in-show. or, honestly, u can rework this and make it fit at any point in the timeline. but anyways: nancy's with steve, they r trying and somewhat struggling to make it work (though they did last an entire YEAR so kudos for that ig). nancy VERY obviously has feelings for jonathan, who hangs out with her sometimes but is generally avoiding both of them. and honestly? steve thinks jonathan's pretty cool too. and, like, he spent a while treating jonathan like shit so he should probably try and make it up to him. right??? AND THEN THEY KISS.

no, but actually: steve's the type not to even realize that he's actually in love with jonathan. he's like, well, nancy loves him, and i love nancy, so... (that's the transitive property, right? i don't remember anything from 5th grade math class.) he doesn't even realize it's gay of him to feel that way. (NOTE: stoncy r bi4bi4bi and you WILL NOT be changing my mind.) if u extend the timeline to post-s3, robin might be able to help him w this LOL, i've read a really good fic or two where that's the case

on the other side, i feel like jonathan would have an easier time accepting his feeling, especially now that steve is making an effort to make friends with him. not to digress about the byers brothers but i'm gonna. when it comes to accepting his bisexuality jonathan doesn't have nearly as much internalized homophobia to deal with as will does regarding being gay. will has really internalized all of the things lonnie/the bullies have said about him, whereas jonathan is openly defiant of them. but in true byers fashion, he's not gonna make a move about it.

honestly i'm inclined to say that nancy, the girlboss that she is, (perhaps along with robin, again, if the timeline goes later) is the one to witness stonathan making goo-goo eyes at each other and she's like. you know what. this Might Actually solve 90% of my problems. so SHE'S the one who prompts them into it. but to be completely honest all three of them are so completely dramatic about everything so i could even see it all coming down to robin and maybe argyle to force them to get their shit together 😆

this is honestly just one way that it could go down, i've read a lot of different iterations and i love them all.

#stranger things #stoncy #jancy #stonathan #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #posts of lark #meta #is this meta? ig

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enchanted-keys · 3 months

Note

You've probably answered this lots before, but: do you have a fairly clear hierarchy of favourites among the Royal Ballet principals? And your favourite role or two for each? :-) Also: of the recent retirees, who would you most like to see guesting?

Also a) thank you so much for obtaining the info that it'll be Nela and Ball for that "Winter's Tale" stream! Partner and I have got our tickets booked to see it at the Cineworld in Aberdeen. <3 It's the ballet that got me properly back into ballet, when I watched it during lockdown, and just: yay. :-)

And b) your blog has just been so lovely and helpful in growing my ballet knowledge! And your gifs are superb, and your Matthew Ball love is validating. :D

Also also: do you have any favourites among the Scottish Ballet dancers? I was lucky enough to see "Cinders" on tour, and I was so impressed with both Bruno Micchiardi (as Cinders) and Jessica Fyfe (as Princess Louise), but I am no expert.

I think someone asked me for a ranking of all the principals some time ago, but I can't even find the post anymore; I don't mind one bit answering this again! <3

If I have to talk strictly about my faves, it goes like this:

Nunez (eheh!): if have to narrow down her most iconic roles I have to give you at least three (please bear with me, I'm doing my best), which are O/O, Kitri and Aurora.

Takada: Titania and O/O. I'm just so very sorry that she's been more injured than not lately. I miss her.

Hayward: Juliet and any Ashton role I can think of (rhapsody, enigma variations, those bits of Titania we got, etc.). I also think she makes one of the best Claras out there.

Kaneko: O/O (saw her live in the BS pdd and the White Adagio with Vadim and it was life changing, bye). Also her Gypsy girl in the two pigeons is iconic. Special mention for her Aurora.

Lamb: Manon. Signature role. Was born to play it. I also really love her Mary Vetsera and her Aurora.

I'm a bit uncertain if I should include Anna Rose or not...sometimes I really love her, but overall I'd like her to be more consistent. But I'll say she was born to play Juliet.

Muntagirov: he's more versatile than people give him credit for, and really has the whole package, but I'd say his best roles are Siegfried and De Grieux.

Ball: he's such an outstanding actor that it's hard to choose, but I'm going with Romeo and Albrecht.

Bracewell: another wonderful Romeo right here, and I was blown away by his Hamlet in the Ashton insights.

Mcrae: Oberon and Rudolph for sure.

Sambè: sorry to repeat myself but we have another great Romeo right here. From what I've seen he makes also a great Colas.

As for retirees, the one that I really wish was still performing is Roberta Marquez, though maybe she isn't exactly a recent one. Out of the most recent ones I only miss Federico Bonelli because he always brought something special to his performances, although I have to say that the struggles and limitations that come with age were very visible in the last couple of years (his Siegfried variation in the SL cinema relay with Takada comes to mind).

As for the winter's tale I'm really happy to see someone who appreciates it as much as I do! I think it's a truly lovely ballet, one of the few modern classics that really stuck with me. You're very welcome for the info and I hope you'll have a great time at the theatre...unfortunately I found out that it won't be streamed in my country, so I'm going to miss out on it 😤

Thanks for all your lovely compliments they're more appreciated than I can say! 😭🩵🙏

Scottish Ballet is one of those companies that I wish had more footage available, because bits I do get to see are really impressive. I'm kind of familiar with Constance Devernay, Bethany kingsley-garner and Andrew Peasgood because I've seen them in the recordings of The Fairy's Kiss and The Snow Queen, and I seriously enjoyed those performances!

I wish there was a full recording of Cinders because both the trailer and the rehearsal look amazing! Jessica Fyfe is a really delicate and expressive dancer from the clips I've seen of her, and both her and Micchiardi impressed me in the rehearsal poste on YT, cause the intentions and mannerisms in their dancing were so clear: I immediately caught up on the reversal of Cinders gender and that she was the princess even though I hadn't read about the novelty introduced by this production beforehand, but everything was immediately clear thanks to their attention to detail.

The little I've seen from this company makes me wish for more!

#asks #ballet

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carissimipaixao · 1 year

Note

uhh lupin w/ bliss #16 of that prompt list? if requests are still open that is!!

─ i. WHAT A THING TO ADMIT

published on: january 20, 2023 requested by: anon pairing: arsène lupin iii & reader prompt: “i don't think i've ever loved someone this much.” word count: 5.6k+ note: part one of this request! part two will be released shortly after. ask to be tagged if you want to be notified as soon as it is released, or follow! reblogs are highly appreciated!

The first time you meet Lupin III, you nearly cut his nose off.

You have found yourself hypnotized by the beauty of an exotic gem — your target — when a voice suddenly speaks from behind you. Out of pure instinct, dagger in hand, you turn, swinging your blade as fast as you can towards the face of an unknown man. He reacts just as quickly, with a shriek and eyes that nearly boggle off its sockets.

‘Careful where you swing that thing!’ He cries out, taking a long step back with a hand on his face. ‘What would I say to the ladies, if they saw me without my beautiful nose?’

You grit your teeth, firstly cursing yourself for lowering your guard and secondly cursing him for appearing in the first place. You are in a defensive stance, standing in front of the opened vault as the tip of your dagger points directly towards his sternum. Any move he decides to make will be his last, you think and you grip the dagger tighter. ‘I don’t know. They aren’t exactly missing out on anything, really.’

The man clenches his chest with a fake gasp, and, while he dramatizes how you must’ve hurt his feelings, you observe — as you always do. You’re searching through your brain and your memories, because there is something oddly familiar about his face. Have you met him before? Has he ever been a target?

‘Best you back off, monkey,’ you threaten. ‘Hate to inform you, but this is mine.’

‘Well, I hate to inform you,’ he begins as he straightens his back, ‘but I’ve already decided that I would have it.’ His hands are inside his pockets, and his smirk widens. The overconfidence only makes you more resentful — and, on edge. Your eyes narrow at his stance and you try to spot any sort of weapon that could be possibly attached to his body. He is yet to draw it, of course. Does he think, however, that he’s some kind of overpowered deity? Does he think he has any chance against her? Oh, hell no. ‘I’ve already sent a calling card, you see.’

A calling card? You blink, a clear realization echoing through your mind. But, before you can say anything—

You barely catch the subtle click before you dive back below the counter, just a curtain of bullets begins raining above your head. The thief shrieks — ever the freaking clown that he is — as he dodges the bullets, searching for cover. You make eye contact, and he shrugs with a sheepish smile. You only roll your eyes.

The shooting stops, though only for a moment. ‘Lupin!’ A rough, old voice rings through the deadly silent room. ‘Such a pleasure to have your delightful company.’

‘The pleasure is all mine,’ Lupin smirks, pulling out his iconic weapon. ‘Same as your little treasure.’

‘Ah! As if,’ your target scoffs, although you can already imagine how his face has darkened. ‘I’m sorry to inform you that you won’t be getting out of here with my treasure. Let alone alive! The same goes to the little mouse you’ve brought along with you!’

‘Huh?’

‘Excuse me—,’ you begin, feeling perhaps the most offended you’ve ever been in your life. You? With this man? Never.

‘You can’t fool me!’ He shouts. ‘It’s time I finally get rid of you, Lupin! Now, die!’

In an instance, the rain of bullets falls upon you once again. You press yourself harder against the counter, gritting your teeth in annoyance. You turn to spare a glance at Lupin, narrowing your eyes into the nastiest glare you can muster once you meet his eyes. He grins sheepishly, switching off the safety of the gun.

You shake your head, and, instead, turn your head in the other direction.

The ruby in the vault glints tauntingly at you. It’s still there, waiting to be stolen, waiting to be taken away from the greedy and wealthy. You wet your lips, your blood rushing through your veins. You can already imagine how much money you could make with that gem. It is bigger than a diamond, and more beautiful than all jewels combined.

You adjust your position, having already begun to plan your strategy. You are beginning to know how many seconds it takes for all men to fire, for all men to reload and fire again. The voices of Lupin and the ganglord are muffled as you take deep breaths.

Unfortunate as it may be for Lupin, you had already set your eyes on this gem for a little over a week. The saying goes “finders, keepers”, after all — and, in your opinion, you were already meant to be its new owner.

You wait a beat.

And, another.

And—

You throw a smoke bomb into the ground, hearing the hiss of the smoke as it begins to involve the room. The guards are shouting in a second, and you run towards the open vault. Lupin yells something from behind you, but you pay no mind to it. You have nothing to do with this man. When your fingertips brush against the sharp edges of the gem, you feel your face stretch, a grin forming on your lips.

You use your free hand to raise a piece of fabric around your neck, thus covering your mouth and nose. ‘Sorry, Lupin,’ you begin, finding his eyes through the smoke that is starting to surround him. ‘This is where we part ways.’

You don’t wait for a response as you jump through the broken window, a victorious laughter echoing through the night.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The chandelier glints in the ceiling. It is to be expected, when it is made out of diamonds. The owner of the estate clearly loves to show off his property and wealth, despite the unwanted attention the diamond chandelier and other goods receive and will receive. It attracts thieves like you, after all. From the distant, thoughtful and greedy eyes that are also sparing long glances at it, you suspect they are part of the Underground, just as you are.

You sip the champagne with a subtle curl of your lips. You’re not aiming to steal it, but if it were to be stolen… How much money would you make out of it? What if someone tries to steal it, and you steal a diamond from them, instead? So many possibilites and thoughts, but you’re trying to lay low for now, trying to restrain yourself from theft, after nearly being caught for stealing (and being robbed) that exotic gem from last month.

‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’

A sudden voice from behind you makes you jump. You barely save your glass from spilled liquor and curse under your breath, before turning to look over your shoulder. For a moment, you brush the person off — until you do a double take and turn fully to look at them.

‘It’s said to have been a gift to Marie Anne de Bourbon,’ he continues, using his index finger to push the glasses in, while the other hand remains behind his back. ‘From her father, le Roi Soleil himself.’

‘Daddy’s little girl, then,’ you conclude with narrowed eyes before turning back to the chandelier. Though, to the outside world, it merely looked as if you were watching the crowd, glass in hand as you twirl it in deep thought.

‘Aw, don’t you look happy to see me?’ Lupin teases you, leaning towards you. You take a step to the side, turning your head to glare at him. His smile only widens. ‘I wonder if fate is bringing us together.’

‘Aren’t you a comedian,’ the sarcasm, as you fake a chuckle, drips through your voice like honey, but so does the venom that hides underneath.

The thief puts a hand on his chest, giving you a pout. ‘I see your heart remains cold, but that’s alright! I’ll just have to warm you up to me.’ He winks.

‘Is that your pick-up line?’

‘No. Did it work?’ He sounds hopeful for a moment, and he leans over again, invading your personal space. You use your arm to push against his chest, with an exasperated sigh, and the thief steps away with a giggle. Then, he turns to the chandelier, as he stands next to you. ‘Are you planning to steal that?’

‘I’m laying low. Not that it’s any of your business,’ you reply curtly. But, you are curious as a cat; and so, after a beat, you look at him from the corner of your eye, twirling the glass in your hand. ‘Are you?’

‘Why, of course!’ He puffs out his chest in all of his contemptuousness, not unlike a peacock. ‘I never back away from the promises I make.’

‘What are you talking about?’ At your question, he reaches inside his jacket and hands you a little paper. You hesitate, and you glare into his face. For all you know, there could be something inside. You’ve taken your time since the previous encounter to further research him; after all, you knew little of him when you first met him, for the exception that he was considered “a master thief” by some and constantly alerted his targets of his intentions. You’ve discovered he can be quite crafty and unpredictable.

Yet, in that face, you find nothing but pure contentment and composure. He appears relaxed and unhostile. Would he really harm you like this? In public and in the middle of a crowd? You don’t think he would be foolish to take the risk, but… what if…?

When you grab the paper that is held between his fingers, he puts his hands back inside his pockets. You glance at him again, wearily, and then, you open the paper. The first thing you notice is the little sketch on the bottom right corner of the paper, almost like a caricature. Even in his infamous calling cards, he acts like a clown. Then, you look at the contents of the letter. But, alas, you don’t understand it. You frown as you attempt to recognize any of those words or to find a possible translation, based on the spelling.

‘Ce soir, à neuf heures, je volerai le grand lustre de Madame Marie Anne de Bourbon,’ he reads the letter to you in a mischievous voice. ‘“Tonight, at nine o’clock, I will steal the great chandelier of Madame Marie Anne de Bourbon”.’ You sigh and hand the paper back to you, which he refuses to accept. ‘Keep it, as a memento of our delightful meeting.’ He gives you a wink.

‘What’s the point of all this, really?’

‘It gives me a challenge, you see,’ Lupin explains, observing the treasure up and down. His eyes narrow in calculating thought. You look quickly at your watch; it’s five to nine. ‘You say, “what’s the point of warning your target”, but I say, “what’s the point of a challenge if there’s no risk involved”. If there is no challenge, thieving just isn’t as exciting. If it weren’t for these—,’ he points at the calling card in your hand, ‘—I wouldn’t have to deal with obstacles or thrilling chases and enemies, such as that one.’

The thief points towards the opposite side of the ballroom. You follow its direction, until your eyes land on a man that is clearly not dressed for the occasion. In a long, brown coat and with a brown hat on top of his head, the man frowns with his hands in his pockets, as he inspects the room, looking for a specific face in the crowd. Then, he moves his left wrist close to his face and says something that you obviously can’t hear from this distance.

‘The police are here,’ you say and swallow for a moment. You quickly turn to glare at the man, who puts his hands up for a moment, as if afraid you’ll jump and attack him. ‘I’m laying low, and you bring the police.’

‘Had I known, I would’ve been more considerate,’ he smiles. ‘Don’t worry, if anyone catches you, I’ll rescue you, chérie.’

‘What did you just—’

At that same moment, the lights go off. You gasp and take a step back, taken by surprise. The entire room screams in shock, and you swear you hear the voice of the police inspector in the background, as the staff run blindly through the room, yelling for someone to turn on the generator. As you do, a hand gently grabs your own and you feel the slow touch of lips on the back.

‘Until we meet again.’

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

As you had suspected from the start, the chaos that followed the heist on Madame de Bourbon’s treasure, surveillance had tightened and the law enforcement, most particularly Interpol who was only there to catch your newest rival, looked through the crowd of guests to find any more collaborators. No one seemed to have been found, but they did find you.

The shackles around your wrists are too tight for your own liking, and your glare is heated as you mumble under your breath. You have been pushed into the back of a police van, and you can see the Inspector from Interpol talking to the owners of the estate. The old woman attempts to gain sympathy from the man, weeping openly into his arms. The man grows awkward, and coughs into his fist, politely pushing the woman away under the scandalous and jealous stare of the husband.

The policemen are wrapping up for the night, and you see two approaching the van you’re sitting in. You immediately tense up and grit your teeth. If only I hadn’t brought this dress—-no, if only that ugly monkey hadn’t shown up…! Your escape would have been almost guaranteed.

However, another police officer shows up from around the van.

‘Excusez-moi, messieurs, mais je dois escorter la criminelle dans son pays,’ he begins. Some of the words you are fortunate enough to understand, and you can’t help but notice the slight accent. The men look between themselves in confusion. ‘N’est pas de nationalité française, et on nous a ordonné de l’emmener dans un commissariat de son pays, où la criminelle pourrait être jugée pour ses crimes conformément à la loi nationale.’ He moves to stand in front of the van, as he moves his hand around, the other inside his pocket. Perhaps, he is indeed a fellow Frenchman. You snort internally.

After a moment, one policeman shrugs and waves off the conversation, turning on his heel as he does. ‘Si tu dis… Alors, emmenez-la.’ The other one appears a bit reluctant, looking back and forth, before he inevitably gives up. The third one huffs, and turns to stare at you quietly. You narrow your eyes at him.

‘Take a picture, pal. It’ll last longer,’ you say.

The man scoffs. ‘You’re not worth the picture.’ He replies fluently to you, the slight accent still present. He climbs into the van, closing the door promptly. He knocks against the wall that separates the back of the van from the driver, and the van starts up. You lean back, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. Not now, you think. Once I’m out of this van, then I’ll know what to do. You need to know more about your current situation.

‘So, where are you taking me?’ You ask. ‘Back to my country?’

The officer stretches his leg to be able to pull, from the pocket, a box of cigarettes. He holds it between his lips as he searches for a lighter. ‘No.’

That makes you pause. Then, it makes you tense. Elsewhere—

An annoyed grumble comes from the man as he finishes lighting his cigarette. ‘The things that idiot makes me do—listen, lady, I’m only doing this as a favor to my partner. If, by any chance, you do want to go to jail, I’ll have this van turn back.’

‘A favor to your partner?’ You take a close look at his face. You cannot see much of it, anyway, as the hat has been pulled as down as possible, concealing his features. Yet, seeing the slacked-off posture, the cigarette and the neat and well trimmed beard pulls at your memory. This type of loyalty — you have seen it somewhere before.

‘Lupin sent you?’

The officer — Jigen, you remember — groans as he exhales a cloud of smoke, as if you suddenly reminded him of this unfortunate task. ‘Yes, but I’m yet to see why. As far as I can tell, you’re just another woman that is trying to get to him.’ He tilts his back upwards, burning his eyes into yours. ‘Well? What are you plotting, exactly?’

‘Plotting?’ You are at edge. You remember his skills, the long list of enemies and targets that he has taken down. You certainly wouldn’t dream of joining that list.

‘What is it that you want from Lupin?’

You narrow your eyes, not wishing to appear intimidated or cornered, ‘I don’t want anything from him. What I do want is for him to leave me alone. He has stolen my trophy before, he has endangered me because of his methods, and he just got me arrested.’ You haven’t forgotten how he pulled that stunt, taking the exotic gem you had stolen. I never break a promise, he’d said with a wink as he fled.

‘He has asked me to come to rescue you from the police,’ he interrupts you. ‘Clearly, there’s a reason for your rescue.’

A voice interjects from the driver’s seat. ‘As long as it is a beautiful woman,’ the man starts, ‘there shall always be a reason to safeguard her.’ He speaks in an earnest way, contemplative.

‘Sure, and what about just keeping it in his—’

‘Either way,’ you speak over the gunman, ‘I have nothing going on with Lupin. He is only competition. I did not ask to be saved, he did all of it on his own. It’s not my fault that he made that decision by himself, neither is it my fault that you two were dragged into it.’ You sigh. ‘Just drop me off somewhere, and I’ll be on my way.’

‘The police may be heading this way to come after you,’ the driver says. ‘They might have already confirmed that you are not being detained by the authorities.’

Jigen groans. ‘Goemon…’

‘I shall keep my word to Lupin. He has asked us to take her to the safehouse.’

‘And she might report it, or she might attack us—’

‘Jigen,’ the hitman is stopped mid-rant, ‘despite what destiny might befall us, we will know what to do. Lupin will know what to do. However, Lupin needs us now.’ Jigen heaves a sigh. ‘Ma’am, you are in safe hands. No danger shall fall upon you.’

The eloquence behind his words is weirdly calming. You nod, before you voice your thoughts, knowing he may not see you, ‘Thank you… Goemon.’ You spare the upset man in front of you a glance. ‘You too, Jigen.’

He scoffs.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

A little over a month has passed since the incident in France. Even if the gentleman thief rescued you, having kept in mind your “situation”, it still feels embarrassing — especially for your ego — to have needed the help from someone you hardly know, from someone you consider to be a rival or competition within the thieving business.

From someone like Lupin.

You try to understand the reasons that may possibly be there for him to save you, but there is nothing in sight. You are a thief just like the many others out there; although you pride yourself on your stealth skills and charisma (when you need to be in the public scene), you truly believe you aren’t that special. You don’t have any unique talent that stands out, like Arsène Lupin III’s genius,—

Don’t ever tell him that I said that…!

—Jigen Daisuke’s masterful skills in gun handling and weaponry, or Ishikawa Goemon XIII’s mythical sword that can cut through anything and anyone.

Either way, you want to keep your distance from him. So far, he has done nothing but give you unnecessary trouble. You had left France before the police could confirm your supposed arrest at the hands of your country’s authorities; instead, you chose Olinda, Brazil, as your hideout. It acts as a resting place, as if you are on vacation like any other citizen, as you think of your next target and as you come up with a plan.

The beaches are beautiful, however, and that cannot be denied. If you were, indeed, like any other citizen, clear from the life of theft, you would’ve chosen to stay there forever. But, work is work, and it is how you earn a living. You wouldn’t be able to afford these places or travel as much as you need (even if it is to escape the police), if it weren’t for the jewelry, the museum pieces and the money you have stolen over the years.

It is nearly time for lunch, and you get up from the deckchair. You have gotten a little bit of tan from the sunbathing, which feels like a new breath of air — as if you are already someone else. You’re not a thief, or “the Thief” — a Ladra — as you hear the Brazilian news call you. You put your sundress back on, and fix the hat on your head. Yet, it is when you begin walking back to your hotel that you feel your peace shatter.

All good things must come to end, you tell yourself, displeased.

A man stands in front of the entrance, leaning against one of the pillars. He, too, sports a pair of sunglasses, and he wears shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He looks like a tourist, but, even from this distance, you recognize that insufferable smile.

As you approach, he raises his arm to wave at you. You clench the bag on your shoulder tight, trying to contain your temper. I’ll strangle him. Just let him say anything else, that is how you try to be composed in public, as you sadly get closer to the French thief. However, you do not regard him. In fact, you pretend like he is not there, as you walk right past him.

‘Bom dia. A senhora vai subir?’ The receptionist greets you, smiling.

‘Sim,’ you reply, unable to keep the frown off your face as you hear the sandals behind you, hitting against the floor. ‘Me traga uma garrafa de vinho para cima, por favor.’

You have apparently amazed Lupin, for he whispers charmingly, ‘Is that for us two—wait!’ You manage to press the button to close the elevator doors, before he can enter. He stares after you with a stupefied expression, as you wave your fingers, saying goodbye.

When the door closes, you heave a deep sigh. ‘Goddamnit.’ I just can’t have a break, can I?

You put your sunglasses on top of your hat and hear the elevator chime upon arriving at your floor. When you step out, Lupin appears from your right, having climbed the stairs. He puts his hands on his knees to catch his breath, holding out his hand. ‘W-wait!’

You huff and keep walking to your hotel room, doing your best to ignore the monkey-faced man. I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him! Yet, despite your annoyance, you know you wouldn’t do it. There may be a lot of things to say about your character, but “killer” isn’t one of them. Perhaps, same as him, even though you are aware that he has spilled more blood than you did.

Lupin runs up to you, as you turn the key, ‘I have something for—’

‘Do yourself a favor, and leave me alone, will you?’

You start to close the door, but he puts his foot and hand in front of the door to keep it open, even if for a little. Yet, instead of insisting to speak with you, as he has been doing, something pokes through the gap. You pause to look at it and widen your eyes. At your silence, the man says, ‘I said I had something for you.’

You hesitate.

‘Can I come in, chérie?’

You bite your lower lip, clenching the doorknob tighter in your grip as you think it over. You have only really interacted with him twice — well, it has actually been the double of that, considering the moment he stole the gem from you, and when he tried to invite you inside his safehouse in France, despite the disapproval from his right-hand man. So far, one thing is certain; everything is a game for him.

Clearly, there’s a reason for your rescue, you remember the conversation with Jigen. Perhaps, indeed, there is a reason why he persists following after you. What is it that you have that he needs?

As long as it is a beautiful woman, those had been Goemon’s words. You hardly gave it a second thought back then, but now—

You shake your head forcefully — as if to push those thoughts away — and tear the door open, the man nearly falling onto the floor with a shriek, before he catches his balance. ‘Make it quick.’ You turn your back to him and walk to the couch that is near the window.

Closing the door behind him, Lupin chuckles to himself. ‘Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard a lady telling me that. It’s usually the oppo—’

‘Are you going to tell me what you want, or not, Lupin?’ You interrupt him, ignoring the sudden heat that you feel on your face. You sit down with an angry huff.

The Frenchman raises his hands, as if in surrender. ‘Alright, alright.’ He rubs the back of his head, sheepishly. He looks out of his element when he is not wearing a suit, you realize. ‘Are you still mad at me?’

‘Whatever made you think that?’

The doorbell rings. Lupin sighs. ‘Je suis désolé, chérie. You know I have no intention of putting you behind bars.’ He opens the door and warmly takes the bottle of wine from the hands of the hotel employee, thanking her with a flirtatious purr. You hear her gasp and reply flusteredly, before the door closes.

‘No, I don’t. In fact, I don’t know you, Lupin,’ you reply. ‘You might as well stop acting like you know me, though. Now, before I lose my patience, will you just tell me what it is that you want?’

He fetches two glasses from the kitchen, filling them up with the wine. ‘There will be an auction for the Premier Rose Diamond, the diamond that I have shown you. I believe the future former owner is selling it to pay off his debt.’

‘Debt?’ You reluctantly accept the glass that he brings to you. You eye him carefully, and he responds by giving you a smile.

‘Gambling. As you know, that’s a richman’s best friend. Until it isn’t.’

‘Why the Premier Rose Diamond? Why not just a piece from the Cullian Diamond?’ You take a sip from your glass, and then fix him with a smirk. ‘I thought you liked challenges.’

The man shakes his head, smiling. ‘Not yet. The most expensive fruit isn’t always the best.’ You snort.

‘Suit yourself,’ you shrug. ‘But, why are you telling me this? Is it being held here?’ Even if it is his target, you wouldn’t resist the urge to chase after the same diamond. Maybe, this time, you would be able to catch him off guard and take the diamond for yourself. If you remember correctly, the diamond must be worth around fifteen million dollars, as the price rates have increased. It’s tempting, for sure. It would cover more than your expenses while you are laying low from the police, and it would allow you to rest for a long time before taking another heist.

‘It’s close, yes,’ he answers, with a glint in his eye. ‘It’ll be in an auction in Nova Lima.’

‘That’s, what, two thousand kilometers away?’

‘Precisely.’

You nod and twirl the glass in your hand. You look into the red liquid, deep in thought. Nova Lima is one of the many regions and cities where the Brazilian wealthy classes can be found. Not that poverty does not exist there, regardless, but the upper middle and high social classes do their best to pretend as if those people do not exist, or they spare them with little regard or kindness. Discontentment has been more than common in the country because of the uneven and unequal distribution of wealth.

Of course, not everything is perfect, and, behind every wealthy man and woman, behind every “self-made” millionaire, there is a story that is untold, a story that has been constructed and completely and falsely fabricated. Everyone has their own demons, after all. Could the owner of the Primer Rose Diamond be selling it just to clear off his gambling debts, or is there something else to the story?

‘I believe his name is Davi Souza. He’s CEO of perhaps the number one mining company in Brazil.’ Lupin takes a sip of the wine, crossing his leg on top of his knee. ‘Money is like an accessory for him, right now. Well, it used to be, before he took the huge debt that has him now owing money to the banks. Gambling is a poison that strips you off your money, and, when you have nothing more to offer, your soul.’

‘Poetic.’

Lupin chuckles, before continuing, ‘He is holding up the auction in one of his estates, and the money will be given straight to the bank.’

You raise an eyebrow. ‘You plan to steal that diamond to feed him to the wolves.’

‘Men like Souza never learn, chérie,’ his eyes look straight into yours, even though they have darkened. Either it is personal, or he has heard that story before. ‘No better solution than to make him pay behind bars. I am sure there are lots of people who would love to have a word with him.’ He quickly spots a smile, leaning back as he drinks more of the expensive wine. ‘See, Pops has more people to worry about than us.’

‘You mean, than you,’ you correct him. ‘Interpol wants nothing to do with me, as far as I’m aware. You’re closer to an international celebrity than you know.’

Lupin shrugs. ‘You never know the future.’

You turn to look at the watch on the wall. ‘Well, it’s about time you go.’ You stand up, brushing off your skirt. ‘And don’t expect me to be this nice and hospitable to you ever again.’

‘Aw, you wound me, chérie,’ he puts a hand on his chest, giving you a pout. ‘But, you’re right, and I don’t want to overstay my welcome.’ He stands up and puts the empty glass back on the kitchen counter. Then, he turns on his heel, giving you a mischievous, yet childish, smile.

As he approaches, you clench your hand around the glass and narrow your eyes into a threatening glare. Yet, he continues to walk up to you, carefree of whatever you may be thinking — or, using Jigen’s words — plotting against him. You remember the harmless threats that had been running through your mind since the first time you spotted him here, and you know that your glare might actually be as harmful as a little butterfly.

Lupin reaches inside his shirt, and he pulls out a piece of paper. ‘For you.’

You reluctantly accept the paper and unfold it. There is an address written on it. From the name, it is more than two hours away from your current hotel. For what reason would he give you this address? Could it be—

He confirmed your suspicions. ‘It’s our hideout. We’ll be waiting for your response there. You can send a little postcard if you’re so inclined,’ he leaned forward, ‘or, you can bless us with your presence.’ He tries to give you a flirtatious smile, which you completely dismiss as you shove your clenched fist into his chest.

‘What makes you think I’ll help you, especially after you have taken my treasure and endangered my life due to your stupid thrills?’ He raises his arms up in surrender, just as he had when he first entered the room, but his face is nothing but fearful; he spots a confident smile, which throws you off guard.

‘We’ll split the money evenly amongst everyone,’ he replies. ‘I want to make it up for you.’

‘Bullshit, Lupin. I don’t need your help!’

Lupin turns on his heel, ignoring your frustration. ‘It’s not often that you see a diamond like this one. It will be an easy target, Souza doesn’t have much money left for security. The thrill is definitely worth the money you’d earn.’ He opens the hotel room, turning his head to throw you a wink over his shoulder. ‘Adieu, chérie.’

You huff angrily as he closes the door behind him. Such a narcissist, you clench the paper tighter around your hand. Bold of him to assume I’ll just do whatever he wants. Does he think that, by flirting with you, he will be able to get what he wants? Perhaps he is too used to having things done his way, too used to succeeding in his achievements and dreams.

I’m not the one who’s plotting, you think. Jigen’s clearly looking in the wrong direction.

You look back at the address on the paper, deep in thought. The offer is indeed tempting, and it suddenly feels invasive — as if he had been able to read your mind. You have always had a thing for jewelry, and perhaps that is what he took away from your first encounter and the way you were dressed for the party in France. What else do you know about me?

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

4M, or the deal is off. — C.

D'accord. ♡— Lupin III

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

↪ continue to part two

#lupin iii x reader #lupin x reader #arséne lupin iii x reader #arséne lupin iii #lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin the 3rd #x reader #reader #reader-insert #fanfic #fanfiction #fic: what a thing to admit

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ak319 · 17 days

Text

Unveil

(Gp actress x fem reader)

(Scene# 01)

(your name is Fairoz in the story)

Aman Dagon, the enigmatic, handsome and alluring actress that everyone drooled on. Who wouldn't? Her tall height, black soft, silky hair that one desired to touch, including her co-stars but her cold and mysterious personality intimidated them not to. She was famous for her villain roles especially the ones in which she was in a historical drama playing a distraught, arcane yet passionate lover oh, and how can we forget her iconic mafia lady role. It was her debut role that caused the wave of enchantment among women and men. People also know about her softer side for the heroines as she always acted gentlewomanly around them. This caused her female fans to fall in love with her more. She was always surrounded by paparazzi and everyone wanted to know more about her personal life. Her family owned many different businesses which she also took care of when she was not busy doing movies or dramas.

People were more than shocked when they found out that she was engaged. It all started when a fan made a TikTok about a ring on her finger that seemed different from her usual style and that she began to wear on more than one occasion. The internet went wild and even though her PR team was ecstatic to see that, they were tired of seeing and trying to control baseless and atrocious articles. It was after a month that the team was finally instructed by Aman to confirm that she was engaged. Aman didn't have any socials, which had made her fans more agitated as they had little source material to do research from. People were already jealous at her wife and few were genuinely happy for her. Even her co-stars were shocked as Aman's behavior didn't give the slightest hint about her engagement.

The real truth was that this marriage was hell, to begin with.

(2 months ago)

"Aman ma'am -- what? I mean didn't we already decided the amount to be 5 million? How come you are changing this now?" The director, Usama looked at Aman stunned.

"Mhmm , so you are saying you can't do it? Is that it?" Her deep voice , although calm , still sent chills down Usama's back. Not to forget her father was quite influential in entertainment industry.

"I am - sorry but yes , the contract had been signed prior , you remember right?."

"Do you know I can buy this company of yours and actually don't want your money . I didn't have any interest in doing this movie too but .....I did not do it for money or any of your shit." Yes , this is how she talked when she was annoyed . Her die hard fans would refuse to believe that she can be this egoistic but she was , and she was good at hiding it as well.

"But you do know if I sue you for forging a fake contract and paying me less , you will loose everything ....not to mentions my fans , they will make sure you can't do shit after this. So , all of this can be avoided if you hand me over , oops , haha. I meant , give me the hand of that girl you brought on set one day to me in marriage."

Mr. Usama nearly fainted right there. The girl she just talked about was her niece who was still in college. He couldn't believe his ears. Marriage of Fairoz to a woman like her, this is ...a nightmare.

"Earth to my favorite director" Aman snapped her slender fingers in front of his face, startling him. " I know it's hard to digest. That's why I will give you some time to decide and discuss this with your family and by that I mean ......a date for our engagement pronto.."

"She is my niece and what you are asking for is---I am sorry but --not possible."

"Not possible? Mhm. it has been forever since I have heard that word. Or you can say I am not used to hearing it ." She paused to let out a sarcastic chuckle. " Let me give you even a better one, I hate when people say it to me." Making the man gulp with her slow steps cornering him, she continued "I don't get what is impossible about a marriage? Isn't that the best thing you can get in your whole life? Me as your niece's wife. Pft. Never knew you to be so ungrateful."

Usama pondered over her words . Maybe she is right. What if she is a bit arrogant , that is a pitfall of being in the industry. 90 percent of people Usama had worked with are like her. If only focusing on the pros momentarily , the proffer doesn't sound terrible. Especially in the long term. Fairoz , if this goes well , may live a fruitful life. Just like her parents wanted and if Aman is proposing herself that must mean that she likes his niece.

Heaving a breath in , the words "I'll have a talk with my family . Sure." flowed from his lips which made the taller woman smirk.

"I am looking forward to a cordial response." Usama very well knew that she definitely won't take anything other than a cordial answer anyways.

Little did Aman know that the girl she was probing after would change her life in ways she hadn't had the slightest inkling about.

Unveil part 2

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beevean · 2 years

Text

Retranslating parts of the Curse of Darkness script

I thought to replay the game again, this time with Japanese voices to change the experience a little

I’m not sure whether the translation was JP -> ENG or ENG -> JP: it looks like the latter to me due to the lip sync. Anyway, the two versions are surprisingly faithful to each other, but I wanted to check if there were any interesting differences... and there are :P

For reference, I used this playthrough for the Japanese cutscenes, and the English script in the wiki.

First cutscene

Many interesting differences in this iconic cutscene. Isaac sounds much angrier in Japanese than he does in English, and I think he’s quite less effeminate too, although they couldn’t change his body language :P

ENG: With this, the most forbidden of arts, a wisp of conjured matter can be transformed into a hellish devil! There are but two humans who possess this magnificent power: you and I.

JP: A forbidden secret art feared by humans. Creating a devil that serves you and you only, from a bundle of magical power! There are only two people in this world who have mastered this power: you and I.

Additional details provided by the Japanese version: Devil Forging is “feared by humans”, implying their tragic pasts as outcasts of humanity, and Hector and Isaac aren’t the only ones with this power, but they’re the absolute best in their field. I also like the description of “bundle of magical power”, although both versions are equally “mystical” in this regard lol. Calling the Devil Forging “secret art” also refers to the name of the track playing in this scene, Flattery With The Secret Arts (“秘術との迎合”).

(speaking of “you and I”, Hector and Isaac use ore for themselves and kisama for each other.)

ENG: Ah, but you will, Hector. And soon! You have no choice. Without it, I could crush you in an instant... but that wouldn't be very satisfying, now would it?

JP: What's the point of a boring oath? It would be easy to destroy you here and now. You, who gave up your powers and became the lowest of the low, nothing but mere scum.

I love how in the cutscene you can see Isaac rolling his eyes at Hector’s oath so his snarky remark in Japanese is even more fitting 😂 but also geez man, I haven’t taken control of Hector yet and you’ve already killed him.

(if in English the last part sounds clunky, the original phrase is “ただのカスと成り下がった”: I really wanted to convey as much of Isaac’s contempt in English as I could)

ENG: You deserve a most gruesome fate for the humiliation you brought upon me three years ago.

JP: However, even if I destroyed such a thing, it wouldn’t make up for the humiliation I received three years ago.

The wording is vague, this is the version that makes the most sense to me. The Japanese line sounds even more bitter, as if even Isaac understands that it’s all futile and killing Hector won’t restore his old life, but he has literally nothing left other than his hatred.

(and yes, he says “such a thing”, which is a very Japanese expression but I’ve decided to keep it because, just in case it wasn’t clear enough, Isaac may be a little peeved at Hector :V)

ENG: But in the end, the glorious vengeance you seek will not be yours -- t'will be mine!

JP: That's it. I'll be waiting for you, as the former strongest Devil Forgemaster of the Dark Lord’s army.

No idea why they completely changed the line here, but Isaac’s farewell in Japanese is slightly more condescending. As a note, he actually calls Dracula “Demon King”.

Yes, all of these are Isaac’s lines. It’s not favoritism: Hector’s lines in Japanese and English are nearly identical to each other. Except for this one:

ENG: Heed my words. I will hunt you down like the beast you are. I will have my revenge!

JP: Very well! I'll do as you wish! And I will corner you, without fail!

... man, poor Hector doesn’t sound nearly as raw in Japanese :(

(well, this fits the different voices: Takahiro Yoshimizu sounds much younger and softer than Crispin Freeman. I had no idea Freeman carried most of Hector’s badassery)

Also, in the Japanese version, the name is for some reason translated as “Abolition Castle”! But the kanji correctly mean “Abandoned Castle” (“廃城”).

Creating an Innocent Devil

Minor, but Hector calls Isaac “polite” (“丁寧”) because he went through all the trouble of carving instructions on a stele, and after the previous cutscene I find it hilarious 😂

(actually, the whole mental image of Isaac taking the time to write guides for Hector is hilarious, they really used to be friends lmao)

ENG: O great powers of darkness! Release to me one of the tortured souls! Let me infuse him with my life-force and awaken him to the world of the living! Immaculate being... Appear before me now.

JP: O magical power, converge here! Play the melody of an irrational soul, under my command, a person who is not of the human world. Innocent soul, come to life here!

The Devil Forging formula was hard to translate. Yes, it uses musical terminology, しらべ (melody) and 奏でる (to play a stringed instrument). The most interesting part is how it specifies that Devil Forgemasters don’t belong to the human world, a theme quite pervasive in Hector’s and Isaac’s arcs.

(nothing interesting with the conversation with Zead. He simply calls Devil Forging “splendid”, a downgrade from “it’s enough to make your blood run cold”. He uses watashi and speaks rather politely.)

“Baljhet Mountains” is spelled as “Balget Mountains” (“Baljit Mountain Range” in Japanese), which I prefer.

Not much to report about the cutscene where we meet Julia. The most unique change is that she doesn’t outright say that she can envision the future in Japanese: she simply “has some knowledge” (“それなりの知識はあるわ”). To be fair, it’s not like we ever see her powers lol, although it ruins my headcanon about her and Isaac sharing powers :( As for her speech pattern, she uses watashi and often ends sentences in wa but she’s otherwise quite brusque. Hector calls her kimi, and most importantly forget about the Shakespearan style she and Hector use to talk to each other in English, here they speak like normal people :P

St. Germain

ENG: I won't bandy words with you. I have an urgent request. Please refrain from pursuing Isaac any further.

JP: I'm here to ask a favor of you, it's a little thing. Please stop chasing Isaac any further.

St. Germain is even more polite in Japanese, as expected. He uses watashi for himself and speaks in perfect keigo.

Hector also calls St. Germain “Isaac’s minion” (“手先”) specifically, and St. Germain says “adios” when he leaves lol. (sonic adventure 2 reference?)

Garibaldi Temple is also the Cathedral of Garibaldi.

Trevor

ENG: For one that served under Dracula, you seem much too weak. It's been said that the Devil Forgemaster's power rivals that of Death.

JP: You’re too weak to be the only surviving Devil Forgemaster, who was said to be equal to Dracula's aide Death.

It just says that Devil Forgemasters are “equal to” Death, not that they’re specifically as strong as Death - obviously that’s implied, but the use of the word “同等” also implies that Hector and Isaac were equals to Death in rank. That’s pretty high up.

Also, “The only surviving Devil Forgemaster” makes Hector’s comment “Oh, so you’re hunting Isaac as well” flow a little better: you can see how he could make the connection that Trevor only knew about Isaac. In English the “surviving” bit was moved later (“Could he have survived? It cannot be”), and Hector’s comment feels more forced. (although it’s still odd because Isaac was into hiding all those years, so why does Trevor assume that one Forgemaster survived but the other died? oh well)

(of course, Trevor also uses ore for himself and kisama for Hector)

The cutscene at the beginning of Mortvia Aqueduct is unremarkable, but the level is named “Mortavia Ruins” (“Mortavia Aqueduct” in Japanese). Why did they take out the A? It sounds better :(

Zead vs. St. Germain

ENG: That's ridiculous. You have different rules for yourself--

JP: What a funny joke. Your objective--

Not only St. Germain comes off as more sarcastically polite (Zead calls him kisama but he reciprocates with the courteous anata), the dialogue hints more strongly at Zead’s suspicious nature. He has an objective that we aren’t allowed to hear, huh?

ENG: I cannot have you interfering any longer.

JP: I won't let you get in our way anymore.

Yep, our way (“我々”). Just in case you didn’t find Zead suspicious enough.

Finally, not quite related to translation, but I find the name of the track playing here interesting: Those Who Desire the Resurrection (“復活を望む者”). I think it should be singular, for obvious reasons.

Also, please enjoy this utter mangling of “Jigramunt”:

(technically it says “Jigrumunt” in katakana, but the English spelling is just beautiful)

The siblings’ sad fate

Not much to report about the cutscenes with Isaac and Julia in Cordova Town (or “Town of Cordoba” in Japanese), except one line that hit me hard:

EN: And also... if you are the one to slay him... only then could I live with it.

JP: Only then I could accept it. Even if I lose my family...

I think we’re all sleeping on how much Julia was hurting through CoD, game itself included :( Michiru Yamane as usual gets it.

Fight with St. Germain

Eneomaos Machine Tower is the even weirder “Clock Tower of Eneomaios”.

Only one line stood out to me:

ENG: In this space, I may be partially freed of the fetters of time.

JP: If you are here, the shackles of time will be partially released.

Actually there is no subject in the first part, but I assume that St. Germain is talking about Hector because he just confirmed that he entered Zead’s “trap” normally. Again, I think it makes the conversation flow better.

Trevor vs. Isaac

Similarly to Geclmunt, the name of Aiolon Ruins gets twisted into Iororn Ruins. It’s spelled correctly in katakana.

And this line from Isaac baffled me for days.

ENG: You vanquished Lord Dracula by a fluke, a mere twist of fortune. Yet I grant, you are adept.

JP: Not for nothing you destroyed Lord Dracula, even though it was a fluke. But the game is just about to begin.

Other translations would be “no wonder you destroyed Lord Dracula...” or “as expected from the one who destroyed Lord Dracula...” (“ドラキュラ様を滅ぼしただけのことはある”).

While his voice still sounds angry, Isaac is much more impressed by Trevor in Japanese: in English he sounds like he’s tacking on the half-hearted praise by force, while in Japanese it’s the other way around, as if the “fluke” part is an afterthought. I am genuinely surprised. Isaac, hon, why are you being so flattering with the man who killed your Lord? So let me get this straight, you’re a complete ass to Hector, you called him scum, and sure I don’t blame you, but Trevor nooo, even though he ruined your life just as much as Hector did you’re standing there like “oh wow you’re awesome, now I know why Lord Dracula was defeated!”.

between this and the stabbing scene, i think i understand now why the japanese side of the fandom seems to prefer isaavor over isaactor. yeah. yeah i don’t blame y’all. and trevor ain’t kidding either, in english he says “you’re not without skill” but in japanese he says “you’re pretty good” - i’d say “just kiss already”, but isaac already got me covered so :V

ENG: On the contrary. To obtain the vengeance I seek, Isaac must be slain by my hand alone. Ergo, nothing was lost.

JP: Not really. After all, I promised that I would defeat Isaac with my own hands. I’m rather relieved.

I like how Hector puts it as a promise, the one he made to Julia, and not just his own selfish sense of revenge. He cares and was touched by Julia’s sadness. On the other hand, he’s outright relieved that he still has the chance to kill Isaac himself, now that’s the badass Hector I know and love.

(this is also where Hector and Trevor switch to omae for each other, indicating that they’ve become closer allies, even if Trevor is still being a prideful asshole :P)

Rematch against Trevor

ENG: “Oh, so that is why he fought me earlier!”

“What is it, Belmont?”

JP: “Damn it! The battle earlier...!”

“Why are you panicking?”

Trevor is more worried about the fact that Isaac stole his blood, and Hector notices it. I like how more serious this version sounds.

ENG: This is your reason! Defend yourself!

JP: No arguing! Let’s go!

I’ll just point this out because Trevor says “問答無用”, and when I searched it to double check if it had any other meaning, I discovered that yes, it does. It’s a porn genre, apparently. Just wanted to share.

But yeah, the English version is funnier this time :P

ENG: For now, hold the image of Isaac in your mind. Think only of defeating him. Hector... Hunt him down. And when you have him, show him no mercy.

JP: I want you to concentrate on defeating him now. I’m depending on you, Hector. Make sure you catch up with him.

Uh... well, the two versions say the same thing, but Trevor’s tone feels weird to me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, so I’ll just leave this here. In general, I never understood why he’s taking Isaac so personally.

The Infinite Corridor became the Corridor of the Inferno, wow! Interestingly, the first part of the Japanese name, “無間”, means “ceaseless”, but is also associated to the Buddhist Avici Hell (“無間地獄”), or Hell of Uninterrupted Suffering. Welp.

Nothing to report in the Stabbing scene, as much as I wish it was, except that listening to it in Japanese is an experience that needs to be had. this is the point where cod officially becomes an animated yaoi audio drama

Before Dracula’s Castle

I just wanted to show how much better the dialogue flows in Japanese :P

ENG: “I know not what happened to you in the past, but there is no time now for regret. We must try to cleanse the castle and dispel the vile curse...”

“If the curse from demonic power, I may be able to find the source! Indeed, I must, for this is something only I can do.”

JP: “I don't know what happened, but there’s no time to regret it. At the very least, we have to stop the curse somehow...”

“If the source of the curse is magical power, I might be able to do something about it. No, it’s something that only I can do. ”

Is this your idea of flirting, guys? :P

Rematch against Isaac

Much like the first cutscene, this one is juicier than the previous ones when it comes to dialogue changes. I don’t know why it’s Isaac in particular who changed so much in translation.

ENG: You want me to regain my powers. Now I see why. I fell right into your plot... After 3 years of peace, I'd lost my edge.

JP: You must feel good about yourself, don’t you? I fell right for your scheme. You’ve fallen so low... and so did I.

Finally it’s Hector’s turn to have a completely different, intriguing line. In English, there’s almost an undertone of... respect, for how Isaac played him like a fiddle? In Japanese, Hector sounds more biting (and tbf Isaac is even more of a little shit here lol, he’s like “Thank you so much for resurrecting the castle <3″) and much more disappointed in himself. No reference to his powers and how he was rusty: he doesn’t care about Isaac’s plot, he cares about the guilt he’s feeling. Then you remember how he was ready to die in the ending, and well...

The last line is “落ちぶれたものだ、この俺もな”. “落ちぶれる” means “to come down in the world; to fall low; to be ruined; to be reduced to poverty; to fall on hard times”, or "a person's social status and standard of living deteriorate, and they become miserable”. Very... interesting choice of word, to say the least.

ENG: And I've sharpened mine. I've been waiting quite a long time to plot my revenge. Not only did my Lord die because of you -- you stripped me of my pride, my home. Now I shall make you suffer as I suffered. You shall die a most painful, gruesome death!

JP: It's merely an entertainment to me. Three years ago, you defeated me. And then I lost my Lord Dracula... my pride, a place to return to... Everything, yes, you took everything away from me. Have a taste of the same hellish torment and die in despair!

Obviously Isaac’s response differs, but that’s not the main point.

His final words hurt. “Have a taste of the same hell” should be the anthem of every tragic villain lashing out. Both versions are good, but I feel the Japanese one really points out how much Isaac suffered because of Hector’s actions: notice especially how “I plotted my revenge for a long time” (emphasizing Isaac’s role as the villain of the story) was replaced with “I was defeated by you three years ago”, originally in passive (emphasizing Isaac being a victim).

I wish they kept his scream at the beginning of the boss fight, though. That’s just raw :(

Not much to say about the “Zead is Death” scene, although TIL that in Japanese “black curtain” is a way to say “mastermind”. A bit of a different nuance, Zead doesn’t say “Devil Forgemasters alone are suffused in my master's magic” but “Devil Forgemasters are always [constantly] with my master's magic”. Hector calls Death “close associate” (“側近”). Death doesn’t say that Hector was the favorite but Isaac will do - thank you, I think my man was humilated enough :V

Dracula

For some reason, this cutscene feels like a bit of a downgrade in Japanese. For example, Dracula doesn’t greet Hector calling him “the traitor”, shame.

ENG: Why did you unleash your hatred upon the humans? When you began slaughtering them indiscriminately, I had no choice but to disobey you.

JP: Three years ago, when you showed your hatred for humans... I just couldn't allow it.

The Japanese version is vaguer, both in describing Dracula’s genocide and Hector’s reaction.

ENG: You side against me... for the sake of humans? Humans are not worth the air they breathe. I was simply cleansing the world.

JP: Is that so. But you must have realized... Human beings don't even deserve to exist. That's the truth of the world.

“Humans aren’t worth the air they breathe” deserved to be translated faithfully :(

ENG: The powerful always judge the weak. The humans made their judgment of me, as well. Thus I sentenced them... to extinction. Sympathy is merely a form of weakness. You betrayed me, Hector... And for that, the punishment is death.

JP: The powerful have the right [to judge humans]. The humans who destroyed me with their power... Yes, as if they were brandishing justice. But now I grow tired of this nonsense. Traitor... I'll make you pay the price of what you did three years ago.

See what I mean? It doesn’t feel the same. “Sympathy is merely a form of weakness” could have been kept.

(Dracula uses watashi for himself but speaks plainly. Hector doesn’t speak with respect to Dracula, but he still calls him anata.)

Dracula’s death

To compensate for how flaccid the previous cutscene was, Hector tells Dracula “rest in peace and perish” (“安心して、滅びるがいい”), and I think that is the rawest thing he has ever said in the Japanese version.

ENG: The struggle has ended. I feel I can let go now, and die in peace.

JP: It's all over. Am I going to die like this? That wouldn’t be bad...

For some reason the Japanese version feels sadder, like Hector just accepted in that moment that it would be better to die :(

(“That wouldn’t be bad” gets echoed at the very end, when Hector accepts to live with Julia, and that is enough to mend my heart lmao)

ENG: You see through it all, don't you?

JP: I'm no match for you, am I?

Okay this is cute lol

And that’s it! The last two cutscenes are very straightforward.

This was very fun to translate :D overall, I prefer the Japanese script in its changes, although the English script is iconic in its hamminess lmao. If the Japanese version is the translation as I think, they did an excellent job, and I appreciate how they adapted Hector and especially Isaac.

#castlevania #curse of darkness #long post #finally i'm done #this post was in my draft for the same amount of time it took me to beat the game #this script was very interesting to compare #perfect balance between correctly translated and just enough differences to add some spice #i think i'll take a stab at harmony of dissonance next #i have the feeling that that game is also hiding something juicy behind the translation

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awwyeah107 · 6 months

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Forays Into Fandom

I felt it would be appropriate for one of my first posts on Tumblr to be about fandoms, and I’ve had this bouncing around in my head for a little while, so I wanted to share it. Basically, it’s my timeline of discovering fandoms and hyperfixations on media as well as some thoughts on my experiences with fandom recently. Also, heads up, it’s pretty long XD

One day, when I was 8 years old, I was at over at my best friend’s house and found a book with an orange cat on the front of it. I was intrigued, and I asked to borrow it. From the very first page, I was captivated.

Thus, I was introduced to my first real fandom: Warriors (aka Warrior cats).

And the rest is history.

Over the years since then, I’ve had the joy of discovering many more fandoms. I was in many fandoms before I knew what the term was, and I wrote fanfiction and drew fan art before I was aware that those were things other people did.

Around the time I first found Warriors, I started discovering more fandoms, most of which were book-based and of the fantasy fiction genre. This kicked off what one might call my “fantasy phase,” which I would say is still technically going. Back when it started, however, it was marked by devouring any and all (mostly) age-appropriate fantasy books. As I said, I don’t think my fantasy phase ever stopped. But that time of my life was when my love for all things magical and mythical came alive. My tweens brought more fandoms, including bigger/more well-known fandoms like Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as smaller fandoms like the Books of Beginning, the Land of Stories series, and Michael Vey.

The next major milestone in my fandom life came when I started watching the TV show Once Upon A Time. OUAT was the first fandom TV show I ever seriously watched, and it introduced me to my first OTP: Captainswan. I don’t think I have ever fangirled harder over a fictional couple nor shipped characters more intensely. I literally put their wedding anniversary (the date their wedding episode aired, that is) on my Google Calendar: May 7th, 2017. I love Once Upon A Time so much; I love how hopeful it is, I love the fantasy elements, and I love the characters and their relationships.

Then, my Tolkien hyperfixation started when I went to go see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in theater. It was my first Tolkien movie, and although people often criticize The Hobbit movies (myself among them), I will always be grateful for that film. It drew me into Middle-Earth and kept me spellbound throughout the entire movie. I had read The Hobbit when I was younger, for a book club, so I was generally familiar with the story: I knew Bilbo and the dwarves journeyed to Erebor to take back the mountain from the dragon Smaug. Despite the changes in storyline that they made for the movie, I was able to follow along enough to enjoy it. This led me to watch the other Hobbit movies and some behind-the-scenes/making of videos.

Right around the time I started watching Once Upon a Time and saw The Battle of the Five Armies, my mom started letting me use her Pinterest account (and then shortly thereafter, she let me create my own). Pinterest was my gateway into social media, and more importantly in this case, fandom media. I knew Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook existed, but I didn’t know of Tumblr until Pinterest. I was surprised and delighted to find that people posted online about books, TV shows, and movies that I enjoyed. Tumblr posts on Pinterests were how I learned of the term “fandom” in the first place. They were how I learned of the “golden age of Tumblr,” of SuperWhoLock, of iconic Tumblr posts (e.g., none pizza with left beef), and of fandom overall.

This marked another turn: I stumbled across a piece of fanfiction. And I was enthralled. Most of my reading was Hobbit and Captainswan fanfics. However, I felt quite guilty for reading it, because my parents had told me that I shouldn’t browse any websites they hadn’t approved first. I didn’t ask them because I was scared they would say no, since they didn’t know what it was. So although I enjoyed reading fanfiction, I felt like I had to hide it from my family. Finally, after two weeks of summer camp and vacation where I didn’t have access to any electronic devices that I could read fanfiction on, the habit was broken, and I stopped reading fanfiction. However, I dreamed that perhaps one day, I could admit what I had done to my parents and I could read fanfiction again. (More on this later.)

Because I needed something to fill the gap that fanfiction left, I decided to dive into Tolkien’s stories. I read Lord of the Rings and then took on The Silmarillion. Those took me into my freshman year of high school, along with Marvel movies—I started watching those with some of my friends, and Marvel was one of my top hyperfixations for quite a while. I also discovered a few other fandoms in high school that I really enjoyed: two of the more well-known ones would be Fablehaven and The Selection (the latter was my first taste of a romance-focused series). I was still an avid Once Upon a Time fan, though my hyperfixation on it waned when season 7 aired (I didn’t watch past the first couple of episodes because the majority of the main cast was gone and the overall story was different).

In late high school, after Once Upon a Time had finally ended and my Marvel hyperfixation started dying down, I began watching Doctor Who. I had always thought the show sounded interesting, but it wasn’t until a friend of mine insisted I sit down and watch the first couple episodes with her that I decided I wanted to watch it. (I have never, ever watched a show for which I have gotten SO many spoilers. Never. Most of that was definitely my own fault, because I had seen lots of SuperWhoLock content on Pinterest and I wasn’t super careful about avoiding spoilers once I started watching the show, but occasionally I would just run into something on social media or a friend would tell me something. I still haven’t fully caught up on the show, lol.)

When I started college, I found a roommate who, among the many amazing things about her, shared a love of fandoms with me. We had a lot of big fandoms in common, but also some smaller or less-known ones too. Because of this, we have had tons of discussions about different fandoms, watched TV shows and movies together, and freaked out about new announcements concerning fandoms. To this day we still do those things; we’ve been sending each other stuff about the upcoming Percy Jackson TV series, and we watched the first two Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials together.

Another turning point came when I discovered the band Greta Van Fleet in 2021. Before this, I had enjoyed different bands, but I had never really found a favorite band, so to speak: one where I liked all the songs, where I knew all the members’ names, where I kept up to date with their tours, where I watched interviews with the band, where I knew lots of background info about the band, etc. Most times, I heard a few songs from a band and went “They’re cool, but I’m not hooked.” This time was different. I really liked their first song I heard, Talk On the Street, so I decided to check them out. I listened to their songs and thought, wow. Their songs match my taste in music SO well! I was like “YES, I’ve found a band that plays the exact kind of music I like to hear!”. Another reason I liked the band was that the songs were not all about drinking, drugs, and sex. Most of them were about other, more philosophical things, without any loss of rock ‘n roll. This, I would say, is really where music and fandom collided for me. A band fandom (“banddom”?) definitely feels different than a media/fiction-focused fandom, because these are real people, and as such, I’ve drawn different boundaries in terms of how I engage with it. My hyperfixation on Greta Van Fleet has calmed down a bit, but they still have a very special place in my heart.

My newest fandoms are Inkheart and Shadow & Bone/Six of Crows, which I discovered in 2022. Inkheart was one of the books that had been on my to-read list for forever, and I finally decided to read it. I absolutely loved it (and the sequels); the style really took me back to the start of my “fantasy phase” when I was younger. As for Shadow and Bone, one of my friends persuaded me to watch it, and one night when I didn’t have any schoolwork, I decided to watch a few episodes. After the third episode, I was invested enough that I had to finish the first season, and then I read the books before the next season came out. I hadn’t realized before what a large fandom the Six of Crows books had, but upon reading the books, I immediately understood why—the character arcs and relationships are so compelling, and the setting and plot aren’t what I would expect of the typical fantasy world in fiction. (Interestingly, Inkheart and Shadow & Bone/Six of Crows are the first two fandoms I have published fanfic for!)

Sometime during college, I started reading fanfiction again on and off. And I found myself comfortable with admitting to my parents/family that I used to read fanfiction, and that I read it now. I haven’t discussed it with them further, and still don’t really talk about it much (though sometimes I'll tell my sister about fics I’m reading). January 2023 saw me getting back into reading Tolkien fanfiction, especially Tolkien fanfiction. I found some of the old fanfics I had read during my first fanfiction era, and I felt like I was 14 again, reading the stories I had read back then. I reached out to one of the authors, and it gave me so much joy to tell this person, “Hey. I couldn’t tell you back then, but I read your stories years ago and they’re some of my favorite stories. Thank you.” I’ve kept reading Tolkien fanfiction since then, and weirdly enough, it prompted me to read The Silmarillion again (it was my third time through, and it was the easiest time I’ve had reading it by far). I’ve been in the grip of the Tolkien fandom all year, and I’m planning on sharing a “Fanfiction Wrapped” soon (well, it’s going to be a fic rec list, but now I’m thinking of doing a real Fanfiction Wrapped…lol) for my favorite Tolkien fics I’ve read this year, as well as the handful of fics for other fandoms I discovered in 2023. I’ve found so many great stories and wonderful authors this year, and I want other people to get to experience the joy of new stories and authors too. Plus I love finding fanfic rec lists, so I thought it would be fun to do a rec list of my own.

For so long, I didn’t realize how much of a community aspect there is to fandom—and I think that’s because my parents kept me safe from the internet. I understand that and I will always be grateful that they kept me protected from really nasty, dangerous things that are present on the internet. I don’t feel any resentment towards my parents for that whatsoever. But now, as an adult in my early 20s, I’ve discovered that I can make my own choices about the community side of fandom and how much I choose to participate in it. It’s still something I’m pretty tentative about, at least when it comes to posting publicly; I’m very aware that anything that is put on the internet may very well be there forever. Public Discord servers feel a bit more private, because you have to join them to see the conversations taking place there, but they’re still public. Especially at this point in time, internet safety and privacy is quite important. However, you can still have fun while being safe, so that’s what I’m hoping to do. I’ve created this blog, I’ve joined some public Discord servers for fandoms, and I’ve even posted fanfiction. I have no idea how much further I’ll go into the online world of fandoms and fandom community—or just into the world of internet interaction and posting in general—but I’m interested in seeing where the journey will take me.

And who knows, maybe there’s a kid (or teen, or young adult) out there like me, who is tentatively taking their first steps into fandom and figuring out what this is all about. If that’s you, hello! And if not, hello to you too!

At the start of the year, I discovered the song “Still Into You” by Paramore through a YouTube compilation of Hobbit TikToks. (Yes, I know, I’m literally 10 years late to the game on that song, lol.) But it made me think of all my fandoms that I’ve had hyperfixations on and that come up now and again, like the Tolkien fandom.

So, to my fandoms: after all this time, I’m still into you :)

#fandoms #my fandom journey #hyperfixations #Warrior cats #Once Upon A Time #Tolkien #Marvel #Doctor Who #Greta Van Fleet #banddoms #if that's even a word #Inkheart #Six of Crows #Shadow and Bone #Grishaverse #fanfiction #fandom community #discovering fandoms #to my fandoms: after all this time‚ I'm still into you

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vairiance · 2 years

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I really think Pokemon should go back to 2D. Not even necessarily like HD 2D or whatever like Octopath Traveler (although that'd be cool I guess), but just what they had going in Gen 4/5, but polished up to modern tech standards.

So much charm was lost in the shift to 3D (not without benefit, of course, but still), and it brought a whole host of space issues, all in the name of making Pokemon look less appealing and having awkward movements. Like, compare these images of Hippowdon:

Leftmost is Gen 5, middle is modern, and rightmost is the (leaked) sprite from S/V.

Gen 5's is awesome! Grainy, obviously, by design, but otherwise it's super cool. You see a fierce looking hippo, posed threateningly, spewing sand to demonstrate its signature mechanic. Perfect.

Modern Hippowdon makes me sad. It's still kind of grainy (beyond what the resolution change of this image did to it), and it just looks like me on a Monday morning. You'd have no idea that this thing shoots sand, and you'd only get to see it look cool for a fraction of a second when it attacks, sometimes.

Then there's S/V Hippowdon. It's just a menu sprite icon, but look how clean it looks compared to modern Hippowdon! Imagine the Gen 5 Hippowdon pose, with the SV Hippowdon style. That'd be ideal for me I think.

3D has its benefits for sure, obviously, but I think 3D should be saved for spinoffs where a smaller scale can be enforced, and thus more care can be put into what is in the game. Comparing the 3D animations of Pokemon Colosseum/XD and what we have now proves this; in the Orre games, the Pokemon really feel alive, because they move in a way natural to what you'd expect, whereas in the modern era, everyone stands there idly and twitches once in a while to attack or get hit.

Move animations suffer as well. Let's compare the animation of Earthquake, a move that's supposed to be a terrifying massive quake of the earth. Here's how it's depicted in Gen 4:

Pretty cool, right? The magnitude of the quake is shown by literally everything shaking violently, with some dramatic flashes and rock effects. Not bad. But this could really benefit from 3D, let's take a look at how a powerful explosion of the earth is shown with the cutting edge graphics of Gen 8:

It is what would be considered a god awful green screen effect if seen in a movie.

Sure, but how much better could a 3D Earthquake animation be? Well, let's turn to the love of my life, Pokemon XD, to see how it's done:

Look, maybe you disagree with my assessment of these images, and that's fine. But I strongly encourage you to go back and play, say, Emerald, or Platinum, or what have you, if you haven't recently. You'll be able to palpably feel the difference between it and the newer games, and the visuals are just the surface of this. They're just what tends to come to mind whenever I think about it.

Idk I just miss when Pokemon games were delivered as strong single player games with multiplayer capabilities meant to last a decent while and then be put down, and returned to in a few years when you're feeling wistful, as opposed to increasingly lightweight multiplayer focused games with increasingly less single player endgame content so that they can push subscriptions of the god awful online pass

#i hate modern gaming #i hate it so so much #im literally having a breakdown about it right now #games are my only outlet i have literally got nothing else to look forward to in my life #and im slowly losing them to senseless greed and dispassionate companies #i mean thats not new obviously but it is hitting me hard as i play old classics and new games concurrently #anyway this post is inspired by the leaks seeming to confirm that there is no battle tower at all in gen 9 #the only feature that actually matters to me #sorry if you count that as a spoiler but better to be disappointed now than later #i hinged my entire mental health on gen 9 and now it looks like its starting with a massive disappointment #so if the rest of the games arent absolutely perfect im no longer going to have anything to live for #sorry if that sounds dramatic and trust me i know how stupid it sounds to say this as a 28 year old about a game made for infants #thats just what my pointless empty shell of a wasted life is like now #why did i even make this post #nothing here isnt common knowledge #long post #pokemon #sorry i forgot the tags while i was whining #hippowdon

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blackrosesmatron · 5 months

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👑 + Is it weird that my brain is going "Swain"? I dunno why but I would love to see how you tackle "LeBlank, but it's a guy". Yes, I know they ain't completely the same but you get my point.

SEND ME 👑 + A CHARACTER NAME OF A CHARACTER YOU THINK I SHOULD WRITE !

WOULD I: YES / MAYBE / NO

HAVE I EVER BEFORE: YES / NO

ICON & WRITING SAMPLE (IF YES TO EITHER PREV. QUESTION):

Beatrice perched herself over Swain's shoulder as he watched the capital of the Empire from the wide windows of the Audience Chamber. He listened to Raum, who spoke through her, had many new secrets to share, and none of them pleased the Grand General.

For one, the woman he thought he had seized the life of many years ago was still alive, commanding her cabal and pulling the strings from the shadows as she had been doing prior to Darkwill's fall. This time, he found out her influence went far beyond Noxus, and it concerned him greatly on what she could pull next.

Secondly, the inventions being created in the nation right next to the Empire. Piltover found a way to forge arcane weapons despite the lack of mages within its territory. That could be useful to the legions if it weren't for the fact that his dear LeBlanc set foot there first. Not only her, but other Noxians unhappy with his new way of ruling the Empire were also reaching out to try and make an alliance with the City of Progress. They had yet to be successful, which gave him some time to plan his next move.

Evain had proven once again that the chessboard was not what it seemed, and her pawns were not in the places he first thought they were. A master of deceit, he expected nothing different from her. That brought a smile to his lips, and he realized how much her moves kept him in check and made things far more interesting.

Still, there was one thing Raum had yet to tell him fully. "For what are those seals she is risking so much to keep?" He could not find them, only knew they were somewhere within the Immortal Bastion, and those seals were the most important thing for the Pale Woman. For some reason, Raum was keeping that information from Swain, and it angered the man.

---

|| I tried FDJKGHDSJFKH I do love Swain! He is an interesting character with a very complex and complete backstory (which is kinda rare for a League champ!). He does have some similarities with LB, in special how good of a tactician they both are. Still, they ways of working and their personalities couldn't be more different.

Swain is serious, cold and objective. He is direct and won't try to lie or trick someone to do something. He is a Grand General. He doesn't like nor trust people, but trusts the ideals that made Noxus what it is today (which were Mordekaiser's and LB's ideal in a way. I could prob talk deeper into it another day.)

Swain isn't a charismatic figure, different from LeBlanc. One may follow him because they either agree with him or they fear him, while LeBlanc seduces people and make them follow her because they desire to do so (either out of love or out of interest. Rarely out of fear, but that can also be a reason).

I do ship LB and Swain, and although I wished I could see more Swains around tumblr, I don't think I personally could write him properly and do him justice xD I'm honored you think I could do that though!

#there is another behind my own mask (ooc)#“Would I lie?” (Answered)#shimmerbeasts

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rockclimbinglover12107 · 1 year

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My fave Tvd characters ( or ones that I don’t actively want to murder )

Please bear in mind that this is just my opinion and you can like whoever you want. Also this list only includes characters from TVD and one from TO.

1. Katherine Pierce

I absolutely loved Katherine, to the point where I lost interest in the show soon after her death (although this was more due to decline in quality). I liked her in s2 for her power and iconic personality / quotes, as well as her complex, interesting history. As the seasons progressed, I also felt sorry for her, especially when they screwed her over at the end of her life in s5, just to bring her back and ruin her again in s8. I understand that her character had flaws but I am still mad that she went to hell but flipping Klaus Mikaelson didn’t. Another thing that made me enjoy her was the brilliant acting from Nina Dobrev, who shone in the role of a badass yet glamorous villain and brought real personality to the part, despite her lazy and inconsistent storyline. She was a funny and iconic character, who was screwed over by everyone she ever met including her own father, all of her boyfriends and her doppelgänger and suffered to much for a 17 year old girl.

2. Rebekah Mikaelson

Rebekah always intrigued me, even though I found her annoying on my first watch of TVD, mainly due to her constant misguided loyalty to her brother. However, I came to realise that she was a victim of Klaus, just like everyone else, and that he was abusive and controlling towards her. After realising this, I was able to fully appreciate her character and the way she only wanted love and roasted the MF gang on many occasions. I especially enjoyed her sisterly relationships with Freya and Hayley and wished that she had become friends with Katherine, because that pairing would have been legendary.

3. Freya Mikaelson

She was the only reason that I managed to make it through any of TO and it was refreshing to see another powerful main witch aside from Bonnie. As I mentioned above, I loved her relationship with Freya and Hayley and liked her protectiveness. However, her loyalty to her family sometimes annoyed me, as I couldn’t stand her brothers. She deserved better than the Mikaelson men and Hope, who, from what I’ve seen, is the most annoying, whiny, overpowered teenage girl in the TVDU.

4. Matt Donovan

Everybody hates on this guy and I don’t understand why. He was just a normal teen with an absent father and an irresponsible, mostly absent mother, whose sister died when he was young, along with half of his friends. In my opinion, his dedication to staying a human and sticking to his morals was admirable and his relationships with many of the girls were cute and non-toxic. People only hate him because he isn’t some angsty, rebel heartthrob and happened to dislike many of the fan favourites.

5. Vicki Donovan

The writers really looked at this girl in s1 and were like “Let’s make her life as miserable as possible”. She grew up with terrible parents, had a drug problem, dated pre-redemption arc Tyler Lockwood, became a ripper and then died at the hands of a 100 year old monster. The worst part is that people dislike her because they found her issues “annoying” but then praise characters like Stefan, Klaus and Damon who all had serious mental illness as well.

6. Lexi Branson

She was a friendly and supportive person who died too soon and should have stayed on the show longer. Her attitude towards Katherine/Elena could have been interesting and her hatred of Damon was hilarious.

7. Elena Gilbert

Although I could hardly stand her in s4&6 and especially s5, I thought that she was an interesting character in the early seasons with a somewhat nice personality and a sense of nobility that many characters lacked. She doesn’t deserve all of the hate that she gets but I definitely understand why people don’t like her. I also think she should have been more sympathetic of Katherine and Rebekah, but I think that her feelings and opinions were always heavily manipulated by the Salvatore brothers.

8. Kai Parker

He brought some much needed excitement and comic relief to the very dreary s6 and he treated Katherien with the respect that she deserved. However, he suffered from the fact that he was a newcomer in the time when the show’s spirit started to die.

9. Jenna Sommers

This poor woman was left to look after two traumatised teenagers, after her only sister died, and put up with the constant drama of Mystic Falls. She was one of the few innocent people on this entire show and she deserved a happy ending, instead of being killed by a man she had never done anything to.

10. Hayley Marshall

She was interesting and funny, although she was sometimes annoying, and she put Caroline in her place when she was being particularly annoying. Every time she defied Klaus or Elijah I was like GO GET IT GIRL! However she, like Katherine, had a terrible taste in men, seeing as she went after the Mikaelson brothers.

These are all of my fave charcters on TVD. Hope you like at least one of these people.

#katherine pierce #rebekah mikaelson #freya mikaelson #matt donovan #vicki donovan #lexi branson #elena gilbert #kai parker #jenna sommers #katbekah #hayley marshall

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isfjmel-phleg · 1 year

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I recently acquired a collection of the Reign of the Superman arc, and there were some concept sketches in the back, including Kon's design, which features some interesting notes from artist/co-creator Tom Grummett.

Mike: This design is an amalgam of what I thought were the best elements of those 'napkin sketches' we talked about. Any comments or suggestions are welcome & appreciated. Personally, I think this looks great! In addition, an independent poll (mine) of 10-16 year olds I know rated this outfit as 'cool.' --Tom

I love that Grummett ran the design past young people to verify if it was indeed sufficiently cool. This ensemble is 100% certified 90s youth-approved.

Some of the ideas for the earring include 1) a small 'hoop' ring 2) a 'stud' type earring 3) a 'Superman' symbol (although we'll only see it in extreme close-ups)

Note that at this stage there is no mention of the earring's being a replacement for a tag, which would first appear at the end of Kon's arc before his solo. The hoop was a suitable option, I think. Generic enough for him to acquired for himself easily but with more interest than a stud. I can't see Cadmus equipping him with a special S earring.

Superboy will 'layer over' his basic uniform with 'accessories' like the jacket, sunglasses[,] ripped jeans, et al. For two reasons 1) to satisfy his own sense of 'style.' 2) to hide out from Cadmus search teams. These outer layers will tend to get shredded or busted away in heavy combat.

The jacket and sunglasses became part of the iconic look, but ripped jeans were never a thing, not even when he's in civilian clothes. Hiding from Cadmus never happened either; in the final version, they track him down the first day but chose not to take him back quite yet. Everything was still in development at this point, and it's interesting to get a glimpse of what other directions the creators could have gone.

Note to Karl/Mike: If we assume Superboy generates the same aura that his adult counterpart did, his Cadmus-made Superboy outfit will be indestructible. However this property would not extend to his leather jacket, which, like Superman's cape, will tend to show some wear and tear. I visualize a scene where Superboy survives a massive explosion in an attack. And savagely retaliates to avenge his jacket! ("You goons ruined my jacket! I'm gonna kill ya!") Since Ma Kent isn't likely to be sewing leather jackets in any quantity (if at all) they'll be harder to come by than Supes' capes ever were. --Tom

Grummett's visualized scene got incorporated into the final story! And became a running gag. Kon ends up getting a seemingly endless supply of replacement jackets from the news station that's using him, at first. But it's rough having no mother with sewing skills to keep one supplied with clothing!

Some thoughts about 'Project Superboy'... If we run into a timeline problem with a Superboy running around within a week or two of Supes['] funeral (and having Pa Kent's life hanging by a thread for too long a period of time), we may have a way to get around it.

Suppose we say that 'Project Superboy' was begun when Supes was apprehended by the Hounds and brought to Cadmus for study[.] (This was in one of Jurgens' issues, I'm not sure which number) An analysis was done on Supes that formed the basis for the 'Superboy' experiment, which was, by the time of Supes['] death, already underway, with a Superboy in progress. When Cadmus later took Supes['] body after the funeral, a further, more detailed analysis was done. The results of which were used to enhance the Superboy subject, and further accelerated his development.

This suggestion was not used. In the final timeline, Kon was developed to adolescence in under a week after twelve previous attempts failed. However, it's clear that Grummett has given this a lot of thought, and his suggestion for justifying the seemingly too rapid timeline fits plausibly into established information. This is a collaborative process, with writer and artist jointly building character and story.

#comicsposting again #KE: all I got is who I am #it's fascinating to see this from the angle of why creators made the choices they did #on a similar note: I also have a collection of early Tim stuff that includes a vast range of considered uniform designs -#no notes but interesting concepts - which I can show you another time if anyone's interested

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twistedtummies2 · 2 years

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Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary - NUMBER ONE

Welcome to the last entry of Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary! Over the course of May, I have been counting down My Top 31 Favorite Performances by my favorite actor, the late, great Sir Christopher Lee, in honor of his 100th Birthday. Although this fine actor left us a few years ago, his legacy endures, and this countdown is a tribute to said legacy!

We’ve come to the finale of this special event. I’ve discussed Christopher Lee’s two favorite pictures, “Jinnah” and “The Wicker Man,” and I’ve discussed some of his most well-known characters, such as Saruman and Count Dooku. But today, we discuss my personal favorite Christopher Lee Performance…or rather, my favorite Christopher Lee Character: Count Dracula.

Who else could it be?

The Creature – Frankenstein’s Monster – was the role that officially put Christopher Lee on the map. It got the attention of Hammer studios, and made audiences curious…but if that had been Lee’s one standout role, I doubt he’d be as revered as he is today. A bit like how it took “Empire Strikes Back” to TRULY cement Darth Vader’s place in the annals of villainy, I think it is fair to say that it took “Horror of Dracula” to cement Christopher Lee as an actor. However, Lee really only got the part because of Frankenstein, and on closer inspection, this is clear: for most of the film, Dracula is not onscreen, and after the opening sequence with Jonathan Harker, he never speaks again for the remainder of the movie. Ironically, however, these same qualities were part of what made the character so fascinating: the mystery and the power Lee carried, doing so much with so little, made his Dracula instantly memorable, and from that moment on, his reputation was set in stone.

This was as much a blessing as a curse. Lee would, in the end, play Dracula a total of TEN TIMES in theatrical films: seven times for Hammer, once in the Jess Franco picture “Count Dracula,” once in a (bad) comedy/parody film called “Dracula and Son,” and once in a cameo appearance in the film “One More Time,” directed by Jerry Lewis and starring Sammy Davis Jr. (Not the place you’d usually expect Dracula to show up, but whatever.) On top of that, he would end up playing the real-life inspiration for the Count, Vlad Dracula, in a documentary entitled “In Search of Dracula.” And even THAT is not the end, as Lee would narrate an (abridged) audiobook of the Bram Stoker novel in 2009. Put it all together, and you can make a case for Lee tackling the Count a whole dozen times. Even if you only count the initial ten, that’s more than any actor has EVER played Dracula, at least in movies: that’s more than Bela Lugosi, Adam Sandler, and John Carradine COMBINED.

If you will pardon the expression…HOT. DAMN.

Carving out a name for himself as the King of the Vampires was something that Lee would always have something of a love/hate relationship with. On the one hand, Dracula was the role that brought him fame and recognition beyond any other, and to this day he is one of the most iconic and lauded interpreters of the character, especially through the Hammer Horror franchise. On the other hand…if we’re being completely honest, out of all ten of his film appearances as the Count, there are really only a couple that I would solidly and honestly consider to be good movies, with few major flaws to speak of. The rest all range from “okay” to “OH GOD WHAT IS THIS TRAVESTY MAKE IT STOP.” Lee, himself, was well-aware of the flaws in the material for most of his pictures, and as a fan of the Bram Stoker novel, he hated how the writers – especially with the Hammer features – never seemed to use the character to what he felt was their full potential.

Perhaps more important and tragic than the lackluster material, however, was what it did to Lee’s career, and it was this, above all else, that proved to be Lee’s ultimate bitter point with the role and the movies he was in for it: no matter what else he did, for decades upon decades, Lee – like the aforementioned Lugosi – was seen as Dracula. This lasted well into the modern day: while younger viewers of today will probably recognize him better for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or his Tim Burton film appearances, the directors of those same movies never failed to remind Lee with jokes about his role as the Count…something which seemed to mildly frustrate the great man, even then. In fact, any time a director DIDN’T make a joke about Dracula, or only did it once, Lee would point this out as being something that endeared them to him. All the way to the end, the vampire lord dogged this man, and Lee’s commentary on his tenure was, for the most part, quite sour.

Having related all this, the ultimate question one must ask about Christopher Lee and Count Dracula is…why? Why, when the actor so clearly had resentment against so many of the films, and repeatedly stressed his desire to put that character aside and move on, did he keep coming back to it, again and again and again? With Hammer, Lee has gone on record saying he was basically blackmailed into doing most of those movies…but this doesn’t explain his appearances in the non-Hammer properties. And for all the bitterness he had, when Lee was actually asked about the CHARACTER, and his approach to the role as an actor, he always spoke of it fondly, with enthusiasm and analytical intensity.

I think the ultimate answer is that, for all the ups and downs Dracula provided Lee, it was, nevertheless, a role he legitimately cared about. He may not have liked the movies, but he liked the Count, and he was protective of the part. Even in the worst of his Dracula outings, he is always A+ in his delivery of whatever material he’s given. He took steps to try and inject something special into the character, when even the writers often clearly hadn’t the foggiest idea of what they were doing. And in every story you hear about the movies, in every clip from behind-the-scenes you see, he’s having fun. Whatever curse Dracula brought to Christopher Lee…perhaps the pains, in the end, were worth it. Lee may or may not have been proud to see Dracula take the top spot on this list…but it’s the spot his Dracula deserves.

Thank you all for joining me on this adventure through the wild and wonderful career of Sir Christopher Lee. What countdown shall I do next? Only time will tell. ;)

Once again, Happy Birthday, Sir Christopher. I hope that yourself, Peter Cushing, and Vincent Price are having fun up there in that big mystery movie in the sky.

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