#best kept secrets Hong Kong

[travelernight]

Hong Kong Secrets: Uncover The Top 10 Must-Visit Hidden Gems

[potteresque-ire]

A very young Stanley Kwan 關錦鵬 (right) directing Leslie Cheung 張國榮 (left) and Anita Mui 梅艷芳 (middle) for Rouge 胭脂扣 (1987). Kwan would win the Best Director title for the film at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Stanley Kwan 關錦鵬 is not only a famous director from Hong Kong, but also the first well-known openly gay figure in Hong Kong entertainment. He came out of the closet in 1996 (before Leslie Cheung, who did so in 1997), in the documentary he directed for the British Film Institute named Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema 男生女相：華語電影之性別. His works had garnered accolades for their in-depth portrayal of female characters, at the time when women in local movies often did little more than being pretty and screaming a lot.

(Under the cut: Director Kwan's own words on one of his most famous works and a gay film classic in Chinese-language cinema, Lan Yu (2001), in 2022 after BL culture has entered mainstream)

Most BL fans know Director Kwan via his gay-themed film Lan Yu 藍宇 (2001), about the eponymous Bejing university student falling in love with a wealthy, closeted businessman, Chen Handong. The film, based on a popular online novel Beijing Story 北京故事, has remained censored in mainland China for its queer content and its mentions of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. Its fate of being perennially censored was never a surprise—the film was shot in Beijing in secret, with the crew pretending to be shooting commercials around the capital. Digital filming also didn't exist then, and so the 100,000 ft + of film had to be smuggled out of China later to be developed.

Lan Yu was a project about love. Of love.

The poster of Lan Yu in Cannes Film Festival (left), Hong Kong (center), Taiwan (right), at the time of its original release.

In 2022, Lan Yu celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 4K remastered version. Among the interviews of Director Kwan made for the celebration was one by The Initium 端傳媒, during which Kwan shared some of his views on Lan Yu, in the context of how public reception of queer media has changed over the years after the film's release.

These views may deviate from what some fans, especially those in BL circles, would expect. Precisely because of that, however, I'm posting them here. After all, maybe, hopefully, Kwan will collaborate with Dd (and Gg) one day. Maybe, fans like ourselves will interact with Kwan on social media spaces one day.

I hope Kwan's views will be kept in mind, considered and respected. Due to the length of the full interview **, I'm only translating the two parts that are relevant (lazy turtle here 😊):

1.

《藍宇》 雖為華語電影同志片的經典，但過去廿年，關錦鵬卻在不少訪談中提過，電影改編自當年於大陸風行一時的網絡同志小說《北京故事》，而最初他其實並不喜歡那篇小說。

「原著基本上是用偷窺角度去看一段同志關係，特別是集中描寫男體的情色關係，有很多露骨的性愛場面。作者本身是知道這些描寫會令小說受歡迎。」關錦鵬接著說：「但在拍這部電影前，我在 1996 年已經出櫃。而我覺得作為一名同志導演，就更不應該去消費這個題材，所以當我看到原著小說將情色描寫，譬如肛交、口交的過程放大，當時我便跟製片人說，如果要原封不動將小說內容拍出來，我就不做了。」

Although Lan Yu is a classic Chinese-language gay film, in many interviews in the past 20 years, Kwan has mentioned that the film was adapted from the online gay novel Beijing Story, popular in mainland China at the time, and that he actually didn't like the novel at first. "The original novel basically looks at a gay relationship from a voyeuristic point of view, especially the erotic relationship between male bodies, and there are many explicit sex scenes. The author (of the novel) himself knows that these descriptions will make the novel popular."

Kwan continued, "But before making this movie, I had been out of the closet since 1996. And I thought, as a gay director, I shouldn't exploit this subject, so when I saw the original novel expanding, zooming in on the eroticism -- the processes of anal sex and oral sex, for example -- I told the producer at the time that if the novel's content is to be filmed without changes, I won't do it.”

2. 在《藍宇》面世的年代，電影確實意識大膽。但二十年後，當電影得以重新修復，社會氛圍其實亦有了翻天覆地的轉變。近年不但多了同志題材的作品，甚至大行其道，人人消費，成為一種時令的商業元素。譬如人氣男團會拍 BL 電視劇，而過去幾年的華語電影節，最快售罄的場次，都一定是同志電影。 此情此景，在《藍宇》剛上映的年代簡直不可思議，電影當年在香港的票房談不上亮眼，普羅大眾對同性戀故事有所抗拒，而本身就是同志的觀眾，想看卻不敢購票入場，怕被旁人標籤。二十年後世界變了樣，甚至總會看到「腐女」在 BL 電影的宣傳海報前打卡拍照。關錦鵬笑說：「是呀，前陣子的確有朋友跟我說，她其實是一名腐女。腐女族群喜歡看男同志電影，但到底喜歡看什麼呢？她某程度上都承認，想看的就是身體，是兩個好看的男人身體如何做愛。」 然而，這恰恰就是他當初對執導《藍宇》有所卻步的顧慮。當同志題材今日已走入主流，變成一種受歡迎的商業元素，關錦鵬則仍然有所警惕，跟潮流保持距離：「可能有些腐女都會喜歡《藍宇》，但我想未必完全是她們那杯茶。它真正要說的是兩個男人從色情買賣演變成一段感情關係，尤其是魏紹恩替我改編劇本之後，陳捍東這個角色，在我看來不一定是男同志，而是他在藍宇身上找到一些連自己都不知道的感覺。」 但關錦鵬也承認，從好的方向去看，在 BL 作品蔚然成風的助力之下，至少令同志以及 LGBT 性少數族群，相對容易被今日的大眾主流接受：「這是令人開心的。近幾年，特別是年輕人，確實會用比較開放的態度去對待 LGBT 族群。」稍頓，關錦鵬解釋道：「換個說法，關於 LGBT 議題的重點，現在就不再放在色情之上，而更多是感情關係，甚至是性少數族群認清自己身份之後，於生活上如何面對社會。那起碼是朝著一個正確的方向。」 In the era when Lan Yu was released, the film was indeed bold in its ideology. Twenty years later, however, at the time when the film gets its restoration, the social atmosphere has actually undergone earth-shaking changes. In recent years, not only have there been more gay-themed works, they have even become very popular and consumed by all, becoming a kind of fashionable commercial element. For example, popular boyband members are willing to make BL TV dramas, and in the past few years of Chinese-speaking film festivals, the fastest sold-out shows have all been gay movies.

[Pie note: The reporter was unlikely to be referring to Gg and Dd with their mention of "popular boyband members". Instead, they were probably thinking of Edan Lo and Anson Lo from Hong Kong's local boyband MIRROR, who starred in the BL drama Ossan's Love.]  

This phenomenon is unbelievable in the era when Lan Yu was first released. The box office of the film in Hong Kong couldn't be said to be impressive. The general public resisted gay stories [Pie note: Hong Kong hadn't decriminalised homosexual relationships until 1991, 10 years before], and the audience who were gay wanted to watch it but didn't dare to purchase tickets, for fear of being labeled by others. Twenty years later, the world has changed -- BL fans can be seen photographing themselves in front of the promotional posters of BL movies.

Kwan smiled and said, "Yes, a friend told me a while ago that she's actually a "rotten woman" (Pie note: = woman BL fan, translated from the Japanese term fujoshi). The "rotten women" group likes to watch gay movies, but what do they like to watch? She admitted, to a certain extent, that it's the body. It's the body, how two good-looking men's bodies make love."

And yet, this was precisely the concern that made Kwan hesitant to direct Lan Yu at the beginning. As gay themes enter the mainstream and become a popular commercial element, Kwan has remained vigilant, and has kept his distance from the trend: "Maybe some "rotten women" enjoy Lan Yu, but I don't think (the film) is entirely their cup of tea. What the film really wanted to express was how two men evolved from a transactional sex relationship to an emotional relationship, especially after Wei Shaoen adapted the script for me. The character of Chen Handong, in my opinion, didn't necessarily have to be a gay man; instead, he found on Lan Yu a feeling that even he himself couldn't understand.”

But Kwan also admitted that, from a better perspective, with the aid of popular BL works, it has become relatively easy for gays and LGBT sexual minorities to find acceptance in today's mainstream: "This is a happy thing to see. In recent years, especially young people have indeed treated the LGBT community with a more open attitude.” After a short pause, Kwan explained: “In other words, the focus of LGBT issues is now no longer on salacity, but more on emotional relationships, and even, on how sexual minorities face society in their daily lives after recognising their (sexual) identities. At least it's moving in the right direction.”

** None of you see this footnote, but a copy of the interview without a paywall can be found here. 😊

[ozrockbitway]

Do you have any Vanguard OCs? 👀 (Or possibly any ones you'd want to see in a deck)

KICKS DOOR DOWN HELLO YES I DO HAVE SOME

no unit??? OCs??? YET....but I want my funny Solrairon/Kheios/Mikani ship to have a kid...who let you have 3 dads??? they could be related to glitter or be one of those duel nation units

anyway SLAPS DOWN MY OC info that I still have thank god I saved this- I really should use toy house............

I've only draw a semi full pic of Michi...everyone else has a picrew cuz Im lazzzyyyy...mamoeni kid does have a headshot tho

Michi

renai fankid. Kagero user. Psyqualia. A really nice kid. A bit lethargic and has his head in the clouds. He’s mostly daydreaming about vanguard and Cray. He keeps an optimistic attitude regardless of how others treat him. He can be a little sneaky and playful, using things to his own advantage (ie. using his cute charms for a headpat) but never had any ill intentions. Thanks to his best friend ‘mothering’ him he is a little spoiled and tends to expect the same from others. When he was younger, he was bullied and kept that to himself, not wanting to make his best friend or anyone else worried. He doesn’t want to feel like a burden to others. Is aware that he is a little ‘weird’ and is labelled as an ‘outcast’ so doesnt want others to fall into that same pit.

Shiro

Link Joker user. transfer from Hong Kong (chinese/japanese) and knows the Soryuu family. Was supposed to be an Aqua Force user. A very serious cardfighter. Dislikes nicknames. Has a hard time getting along with others who are the ‘fooling around’ type. Isn’t mean but does speak his mind. He is actually a very chill and kind person but loses his chill when around kousuke and michi (mostly Michi). Doesn’t laugh a lot, more on the stoic side. Can knit. Might be nominated for Student Council president??

Momoka (Momo)

Mikuru’s daughter. Pale Moon user. A vanguard nerd who keeps up to date with everything, it helps that she works at card capital. Keeps her job a secret bcuz she’s not supposed to have one but she doesnt work all the time. More like 1-2 days a week, 3 at most. Her mom wanted to be an idol and she does to so she has a stressed life. She’s not that popular, yet. Hardworking and determined but doesn’t really give herself a break. She comes off as tired but its worth seeing people smile, on or off the stage. Her stage name is the Pale Moon Witch? Uses a wig or lets her hair down as an idol, keeps it a secret.

Tatsunagi OC (I never named her cries)

Tatsunagi family (takes over after Nome). Like the others, she is simply an observer watching between Earth and Cray. Knows about the half units on Earth.

Kuro

Shadow Paladin half unit. One of the Dark Dragon’s Grade 4 kids. Meant to oppose the Ezel half unit. Emotionless and sticks to the mission. Is somewhat curious about Earth and doesn’t know how some things work. Goes to Fukuhara. Clueless about relationships and is just a pawn to the Dark Dragon.

Mamoeni fankid (never named her either RIP)

nonbinary? Angel Feather/Gear Chronicle. Good and quiet child with a heart of gold but stricken with an illness.

Sayako

Mamoru’s gf. Shadow Paladin user. Has a bad habit of smiling when nervous. Has to live up to older sister’s legacy but can’t handle it so she tries to come off as indifferent/nonchalant. Family thinks she’s heartless. Doesn’t know if she hates her sister or not because thanks! you left me with shit to deal with. Not lazy but hates being compared to her sister. Good but snarky.

Haru (not pictured here waaaaa)

Angel Feather user. sadistic/masochistic type of person. works as a bartender. an ex-delinquent. is still physically strong and can kick your ass outside a cardfight. doesn’t always think plays through, but lady luck is on his side so it turns out in his favor. doesn’t cuss at work but will 100% cuss outside of work.

[finalfrontierpublishing]

Hello! I hope your day/night is going well! I just wanted to ask if you had a list of links of all the 00Q fics you've made into a book? Specifically, the latest one with All In Green? (I looked for it on AO3 and saw it's only 15k+ words, so I wasn't sure if I was missing the rest of it or if there are other works included?) It's just I read Oh Mercy, I Implore because I saw your book version and it was seriously one of the best fics I've read so I'm super keen to see what else you have on your rec list for my hungry 00Q heart 🥹

FIC REC TIME!

Oh boy - thank you so much for your ask! It kind of made me look through my entire list of favourite 00q fics - let me start first by sharing some of the authors I love. it's obviously not an exhaustive list - but i hope it helps you some:

some great writers that i am huge fans of:

dhampir72 @dhampir72 skylights @frijae blackidyll @blackidyll winterhill magneticwave cicer @cicerfics thestalwartheart @thestalwartheart girlbookwrm @girlbookwrm dr_girlfriend @drgrlfriend by_oaks_and_roses @byoaksandroses sleeponrooftops @sleeponrooftops

will strongly recommend everything on these authors' backlists!

other than what i've publicly mentioned i've bound, here are some of my favourites which include:

this city, oh how it sings - skylights

Q allows himself the indulgence of a smile and the next taxi that idles up to them, he flags down. “Peak Road,” he tells the driver. To Bond, “Get in.” This is Hong Kong, and they’re here to kill a man.

this fic is so atmospheric to me as a member of the Asian diaspora and i love it so much.

2. Requiem for the Deathless - nagapdragon

It's MI6's best kept secret, the reason why the Double-0s never seem to die. An enchanted pot of ink that ties one person's life to another, keeping one safe so long as the other survives. One person to protect, the most trusted person in a Double-0's life, and they cannot die. James Bond doesn't know who his is, and he doesn't want to know.

this fic feels like a cool take on a soulmate AU but not quite - it's such a unique and interesting concept and the characterisation is perfect!

3. the places you leave in the dust - thestalwartheart

SPECTRE fix-it where Q deals with the professional and personal consequences of Bond leaving. Continues on to explore the impact of Bond's actions on their relationship.

this series is still ongoing but it really hits a chord in my heart. everything about this fic feels so real, and it made me think about what the true consequences of Bond leaving would be, compared to the usual handwave-y 'it's all fine' most movies adopt. I loved this so much, and I strongly recommend everything on thestalwartheart's backlist!

4. the warmth of your doorways - cicer

James stared gloomily at his papers. "I suppose you could marry me,” Q added, “if you're that desperate to do away with the forms. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have to fill them all out." His voice was rich with amusement. Clearly Q thought this was quite a joke. But James paused. He tilted his head. Then he set his pen down. Q tapped away at his keyboard for a bit, then looked up. He promptly blanched. "Oh, good lord. You're not serious, are you?" "It would be convenient." (In which James Bond is a middle-aged spy with a highly adventurous career and promiscuous lifestyle…who kind of wants to settle down, get married, and enjoy a stupidly domestic lifestyle in between missions. Now what?)

As an ace-spectrum person - I absolutely love all of their fics. Connection to me is so important and the slow build and burn of it - ack, it gets to me. This series is also on-going and i'm excitedly waiting for its completion.

Hope this list helps and happy reading!

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

Supporting Character Supplemental - Colleen Wing

Colleen Wing was the daughter of Lee Wing, a professor of Asian historical studies at New York's Columbia University. Her mother, Azumi Ozawa, was apparently killed by an unknown assailant while Colleen was still a child. Colleen grew up in the mountains of northern Honshu in Japan, where she was raised by her grandfather, Kenji Ozawa. Kenji trained his grandchild in the arts of the samurai, which his own ancestors had been in the time of the daimyo.  Colleen showed a preternatural knack for the martial arts, becoming highly skilled in the use of swords and hand-to-hand combat.

Kenji Ozawa had previously been a high ranking officer of Japan's secret service and kept tabs on some of his past investigation.  This ultimately led to his being murdered by the agents of the Hong Kong crime lord, Emil Vachon.

Colleen made her home in New York City where her father lived. Caught in the midst of a gun battle on Manhattan's West Side, she was saved by police officer Misty Knight, who soon became her best friend.  Colleen and Misty would go on to form Nightwing Investigations and they’re prowess as a formidable crime-fighting duo led to the pair being known as ‘The Daughters of The Dragon.’  

Colleen additionally embarked on numerous adventures alongside fellow hero, Iron Fist.  Eventually, Colleen was able to gain revenge for her grandfather’s death and Emil Vachon was brought down.  Colleen would later act as a member of a new iteration of the Heroes For Hire.  

Actress Jessica Henwick portrays a version of Colleen Wing in the Netflix series, Iron Fist and The Defenders.  The heroine first appeared in the pages of Marvel Premiere #19 (1974).

[buzzdixonwriter]

The Best Of The Bonds

I was a James Bond fan long before I saw any of the movies. 

As a kid I saw the posters in movie theaters, the promo trailers on TV, and of course all the cool toys inspired by the series. 

I watched knock offs like The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, Secret Agent (my personal favorite TV spy show which later morphed into The Prisoner), and The Incredible World of James Bond TV special promoting the series.

Somehow I managed to convince my parents to buy me the Signet paperback boxed set (wish I kept that) and read every article on the movies I found, including the really good Esquire article on the making of Thunderball which I cut out and saved for years.

And the music -- wow!  John Barry’s incredible jazz compositions remain favorites to this day, and starting with a Frito-Lay sponsored tie-in to The Incredible World of James Bond, I bought every LP long before I first saw the movies.

The Bond films didn’t just provide popular entertainment, they also helped shape pop culture in the 60s, heavily influencing movies that came after them.

We’d see a much different pop culture today without the Bond films.

The first actual Bond films I saw were a triple bill of Thunderball and You Only Live Twice sometime in the early 1970s, followed by a triple bill of Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball yet again. 

I missed On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in the theater but saw Diamonds Are Forever on the big screen.

By that point I was drafted and in the Army, but managed to see Goldfinger on TV.

After that I caught all the Bond films in theaters up to the Eon Production of Casino Royale.

By that time, I felt pretty much action-adventured out.  While I still enjoy older action films, I’ve lost interest in action for action’s sake.

I watched the Daniel Craig Bond’s on cable, but not in order of release.

When they cast a new Bond, I’ll watch them…eventually.

At one time I had VHS copies of all the Bond films released to cable channels, but those are long gone.  I may have converted some or all of them to DVDs, but can’t remember if I did or not.

That says something about where the characters and series have fallen in my estimation, doesn’t it?

This is not a hit piece on Bond, I deny no one their pleasure. 

In fact, I’m not even going to mention any of the negative feelings I hold on certain films in the series, just the ones I like and recommend.

In reverse Bond order…

No Time To Die (2021) is the most interesting to me because Eon Productions packed the stones to actually kill 007 off.  In my mind it really doesn’t feel like a classic Bond movie, but then it wasn’t trying to be a classic Bond movie.  The Craig Bonds’ overall story arc marked a new direction for the series (which previously offered standalone films, a few of which might refer to earlier productions but weren’t direct sequels).  Craig is the best actor to star in a Bond movie, but despite his character being called James Bond I could never really embrace him as the character.  As the star of a series of well-done spy movies, he’s well cast, and opposite number Rami Malek is outstanding as Lyutsifer Safin, the best Bond villain of the 21st century.  This isn’t the Bond movie I feel most enthusiastic about, but the best of the Craig series.

Die Another Day (2002) is my favorite non-Connery Bond.  I know a lot of fans dislike it because it’s one of the more fanciful Bond movies, the CGI effects aged poorly, and just a general antipathy to Madonna, but I favor it because it gave us a Bond adventure we never experienced before.  The invisible Aston-Martin bugged a lot of people, too, but I give the movie bonus points for cleverly using the ejector seat to flip the car upright after it turned over.  To me the best scene in the movie -- and one of the all-time truly great Bond moments -- is when Bond -- emaciated, bearded, barefoot, wearing prison pajamas -- escapes from a prison ship, swims ashore, enters the posh Hong Kong Yacht Club dripping water behind him and he’s still the coolest guy in the room!  Pierce Brosnan is my 3rd favorite Bond, the fun Bond.

Timothy Dalton is my 2nd favorite Bond, the tragic Bond.  He looks and acts more like Fleming’s version of the character than any other actor, but The Living Daylights (1987) feels more like a Roger Moore era Bond while Licence To Kill (1989) seems more like an extended Miami Vice episode.  A variety of behind-the-scenes legal woes stalled the Bond series for the better part of a decade and Dalton eventually moved on without getting a movie truly worthy of his talents.

(And a shout out to David Niven, who was briefly considered as the original big screen Bond for Dr. No but saw producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli pass him over in favor of Connery, the kneeslapper here being Niven as a bona fide WWII commando who participated in the invasion of Normandy was more qualified to play the character than anyone else.  He did play the retiree Sir James Bond in the spoof version of Casino Royale so he garners a mention here.)

For Your Eyes Only (1981) is the only Roger Moore Bond I truly enjoy and would watch again.  It brought the Moore era Bond series back to a more human scale, and while the pre-credits and closing scene leave me cold, all in all it offers a sound, exciting adventure.  Moore turns down the comedy several notches this time and for once he gets to be credibly ruthless in a couple of scenes.  Add to that an interesting twist on the requisite Bond car chase and a unique setting for the climax.  I didn’t care that much for the other Moore Bond movies but have come to recognize them as the comedy Bond series.  (And as a sidebar I’ll add Bond’s underwater escape from gunman by breathing air from the tire of a submerged car in A View To A Kill is one of the coolest Bond moments ever.)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) is the one that got away, the Bond movie that Connery should have played, only his legal conflict with Eon Productions precluded it.  While I agree Telly Savalas wasn’t the best choice for Ernst Stavo Blofeld, Diana Rigg leads me to forgive a multitude of sins and shortcomings.  If Connery couldn’t star in this one, it should have been pushed back to be George Lazenby’s third or fourth outing as Bond after he had a chance to get settled into the character (but of course Lazenby himself torpedoed his own career).  An unusually plotted film, ABC re-edited it for American TV to tell the story in flashback form, thus putting an action sequence earlier; they also included some deleted scenes.  To be honest I prefer that version over the theatrical cut.

From Russia With Love (1963) is my 2nd favorite Connery Bond, and like For Your Eyes Only one of the few Bonds that scaled itself down to a more human level.  In a very real sense, this is the movie that made the Bond series possible.  Dr. No was the first Bond movie and while they didn’t have the mix quite right yet, it proved successful enough to warrant a sequel.  At that time a typical sequel only did 30% of the box office of the original, so Eon Productions took advantage of United Artists’ money locked up in Turkey to make a smaller scale film there (a similar situation that led to Star Wars filming in Tunisia).  To everyone’s surprise and delight, From Russia With Love did far better than Dr. No and justified spending even more on Goldfinger, thus kicking off the most successful film series in history.  It’s the first Bond film with a pre-credits sequence, the first to really feel like what we know now as a Bond movie, a trio of the best Bond villains ever (Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, and Vladek Sheybal) plus the first glimpse of Blofeld (played onscreen by Anthony Dawson, voice dubbed by Eric Pohlmann), plus he best line ever uttered by James Bond:  "Red wine with fish. Well, that should have told me something."

Goldfinger (1964) is the gold standard of Bond movies, starring many folks’ (including me) all-time favorite Bond, Sean Connery.  It’s one of the rare Bond movies that fires perfectly on all eight cylinders (minor quibble for a Beatle joke that aged badly aside).  It’s breakthrough worldwide success insured the Bond series would continue on solid footing for decades to come, continuously trying to top themselves.  Great story (although Bond spends much of the movie as a prisoner), three of the best Bond females (Shirley Eaton and Tania Mallett as the doomed Masterson sisters, and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore*), great art design by Ken Adams, great music by John Barry with Shirley Bassey belting out the theme song, and of course, the best Bond baddies of all time, Gert Frobe and Harold Sakata as Goldfinger and Oddjob.  Bonus points for the best line ever in a Bond movie:  “Do you expect me to talk?”  “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE!”

We’re now in a lull period as Eon Productions weighs what to do next with the character series.**  I don’t know what Bond’s future holds, and while I’m unlikely to see them in a theater, I’m sure I’ll eventually catch up with them on TV.

  © Buzz Dixon

  *  Seriously, Ian?

** If I were king of the forest (or perhaps M), I’d make Putin, Trump, Boris Johnson, Musk, and Jeffrey Epstein the villains in the next series of films.

[gokitetour]

Top 10 Unique and Underrated Attractions in Hong Kong

Towering buildings, busy marketplaces, and a lively nightlife are the hallmarks of Hong Kong. Beyond the well-known sights like the Star Ferry and Victoria Peak, the city has a lot of interesting hidden places that are just waiting to be explored. These undiscovered treasures present a distinct viewpoint on Hong Kong, exhibiting its abundant natural beauty, history, and culture. From serene parks and traditional villages to creative art spaces and picturesque hiking trails, there's so much more to explore in this dynamic city. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler, uncovering these lesser-known attractions can make your trip to Hong Kong truly unforgettable. In this guide, we'll introduce you to some of the best-kept secrets of Hong Kong, highlighting the unique and underrated places that you shouldn't miss. Get ready to step off the beaten path and experience the city's hidden wonders.

Here are some unique and underrated attractions in Hong Kong:

1. Walled City Park in Kowloon:

Tucked away in the center of Kowloon is the historical jewel known as Kowloon Walled City Park. It was formerly a crowded, unruly area, but it has been turned into a lovely park that honours its fascinating history. The park has calm pavilions, traditional Chinese gardens, and in-depth historical exhibits about the walled city. It offers a tranquil escape from the bustle of the city as well as an enlightening look at Hong Kong's distinct past.

2. The Bird Garden on Yuen Po Street:

The serene Yuen Po Street Bird Garden is a haven in the busy metropolis. For bird lovers, this traditional Chinese-style garden is a favorite. Locals are seen interacting with one another, purchasing bird-related goods, and taking walks with their pet birds here. The lovely layout of the garden, combined with the soothing sound of chirping birds, creates a calm and charming ambiance that is ideal for a leisurely stroll.

3. The Police Married Quarters, or PMQ:

A creative hotspot, is situated in the busy Central neighbourhood. It was originally constructed as accommodation for married police officers, but now local designers, artists, and business owners use it as a workspace. There are several different stores, galleries, and restaurants at PMQ. It's a terrific spot to find unusual goods, take in modern artwork, and encourage regional ingenuity.

4. Tai O Fishing Village:

Fishing Village Tai O is often referred to as the "Venice of Hong Kong." Tai O Fishing Village provides an insight into the city's customs surrounding fishing. This little community on Lantau Island is well-known for its seafood, lively market, and stilt cottages. Tourists may see the stilt dwellings up close and potentially even spot pink dolphins by taking a boat excursion. The calmer pace and rustic beauty of Tai O provide a welcome counterpoint to the fast-paced lifestyle of the city.

5. The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas:

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, a hidden treasure in Sha Tin, provides a calm spiritual experience. It is not a functioning monastery, despite its name, but it does have an amazing collection of more than 10,000 Buddha statues. Hundreds of golden Buddha statues, each with a distinct expression and stance, line the ascent to the monastery. The hike is worthwhile because of the serene surroundings and breathtaking vistas at the summit.

6. Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery:

Traditional Chinese architecture and gardening can be perfectly observed on Diamond Hill at Chi Lin Nunnery and the nearby Nan Lian Garden. The nunnery is a sizable Buddhist temple complex with peaceful lotus ponds and wooden structures constructed in the Tang period style. Nan Lian Garden is an exquisitely designed park featuring well-kept vegetation, water elements, and classic wooden buildings. When combined, they provide a calm haven in the center of the city.

7. Village of Lai Chi Wo:

Northeastern New Territories is home to the well-preserved Hakka village of Lai Chi Wo. It's a great place for hikers and environmental enthusiasts, surrounded by mangroves and beautiful forests. The community itself has temples, ancestral halls, and typical Hakka homes. Visitors can travel back in time and enjoy a bit of Hong Kong's rural heritage by exploring Lai Chi Wo.

8. The Island of Peng Chau:

A peaceful escape from Hong Kong's bustling city is provided by the small, serene island of Peng Chau. The island is well-known for its rustic charm, beautiful walking trails, and easy-going vibe. Peng Chau Fisherman's Village, the Finger Hill hiking trail, and a number of exquisite temples are some of the main attractions. Peng Chau is a great place for a day trip because of its slower pace and small-town atmosphere.

9. Lei Pai and Chau Ap Lei:

A bridge connects the small island of Ap Lei Chau to Hong Kong Island's southern coast. It is well-known for the charming Aberdeen Harbor, the old temples, and the neighbourhood fish market. The smaller, deserted island of Ap Lei Pai is reachable from Ap Lei Chau after a short stroll. The hike is a wonderful way to take in Hong Kong's natural beauty and gives breathtaking views of the surrounding waterways.

10. The Back Trail of the Dragon:

The Dragon's Back Trail is a must-see for nature lovers. Enjoy breathtaking views of the South China Sea, mountains, and coastline from this well-liked hiking track, which is one of the greatest in all of Hong Kong. All skill levels of hikers can enjoy this very easy walk. After completing the hike, unwind at Big Wave Bay, a stunning beach ideal for surfing and swimming.

Conclusion

Exploring the unique and underrated attractions in Hong Kong offers a refreshing break from the usual tourist spots. These hidden gems allow you to experience the city's rich culture, history, and natural beauty in a more intimate and personal way. From the tranquil Tai O Fishing Village to the vibrant street art of Sham Shui Po, each destination brings its own charm and story, making your Hong Kong tour truly special. Visiting these lesser-known attractions provides a deeper understanding of Hong Kong's diverse character. You can wander through the lush landscapes of Dragon's Back, admire the serene beauty of Nan Lian Garden, or explore the fascinating exhibits at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Each place reveals a different facet of the city, ensuring your trip is full of surprising and memorable moments. In conclusion, while the iconic landmarks of Hong Kong are definitely worth visiting, taking the time to discover its unique and underrated attractions will enrich your travel experience. These spots offer a unique glimpse into the heart and soul of the city, away from the crowds and hustle. So, when planning your next Hongkong tour, be sure to include these hidden treasures in your itinerary for an unforgettable adventure.

[hadeschan]

WE’RE SORRY, THIS ITEM HAS SOLD OUT

item # K21D54

RARE Tagrut Narai Plang Roop, Nua Ngern, Roon Krop Rop Paet Sip Pee, Wat Sai Khao. A silver tagrut Narai Plang Roop, a tube amulet stuffed with sacred materials inside with 2 suspension hoops, made by Pra Archan Nong of Wat Sai Khao, Pattani province to commemorate 80th Anniversary of Wat Sai Khao in BE 2535 (CE 1992).

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BEST FOR: Tagrut Narai Plang Roop was made to ward off negative energies and attract positive vibes. It draws protection from self-doubt and empowers a sense of security in your daily life. Tagrut Narai Plang Roop brings safety, protection, happiness, wealth & prosperity and longevity. It brings protection in all directions from all upcoming danger, injury, and misfortune. Tagrut Narai Plang Roop changes your life for the better, Klawklad Plodpai (it brings safety, and pushes you away from all danger), Kongkraphan (it makes you invulnerable to all weapon attack), Maha-ut (it stops gun from shooting at you), Metta Maha Niyom (it helps bring loving, caring, and kindness, and compassion from people all around you to you), Maha Larp (it brings Lucky Wealth / wealth fetching), and Kaa Kaai Dee (it helps tempt your customers to buy whatever you are selling, and it helps attract new customers and then keep them coming back. Ponggan Poot-pee pee-saat Kunsai Mondam Sat Meepit (it helps ward off evil spirit, demon, bad ghost, bad omen, bad spell, curse, black magic, and poisonous animals). And this amulet helps protect you from manipulators, backstabbers, and toxic people.

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“The Tagrut Narai Plang Roop is a signature, a hallmark, and original work of Pra Archan Nong of Wat Sai Khao and only Pra Archan Nong could make it.”

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Tagrut Narai Plang Roop

Tagrut Narai Plang Roop ( Lord Narai in reincarnation amulet) is a roll of metal sheet engraved with cabalistic writings inside that originally made by the one and only Pra Archan Nong of Wat Sai Khao. The secret of making Tagrut Narai Plang Roop is only Pra Archan Nong knew how to make them, the process was given by a nymph who requested Pra Archan Nong to see her in the night while Pra Archan Nong was meditating in his monk house, Pra Archan Nong firstly refused to see her because it was inappropriate for monk to meet girl at the night time alone, but she kept asking Pra Archan Nong to go out of his monk house to meet her because she knew that Pra Archan Nong was having a fund raising for Construction of Temple Building of Wat Sai Khao, and she wanted to make a merit to herself to be born in the better world. She told Pra Archan Nong about the process of making Tagrut Narai Plang Roop with 2 conditions;

1.Pra Archan Nong could not write down the process in any material, and

2.Pra Archan Nong "must not" tell anyone about the process.

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*with Certificate of Authenticity issued by Thaprachan Buddha Amulet Magazine (prathaprachan-mag.com).

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DIMENSION: 2.40 cm long / 0.70 cm in diameter

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item # K21D54

Price: price upon request, pls PM and/or email us hadesamulet@outlook.com

100% GENUINE WITH 365 DAYS AUTHENTICITY GUARANTEE.

Item location: Hong Kong, SAR

Ships to: Worldwide

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[afaimsarrowverse]

250(ish) Favorite Arrowverse Episodes: Part 5: 150-126

Picked from „Arrow“, „Black Lightning“, „Supergirl“, „Legends of Tomorrow“, „The Flash“, „Barwoman“ Season 1+2 and „Superman & Lois“ Season 1+2. I did consider kicking „Superman & Lois“ of this list, but since it pretended to be part of the Arrowverse for its first two seasons I left it on here.

 150. Man of Steel (Superman & Lois 1x7)

7, Written by: Jai Jamison, Directed by: David Ramsey

 "Like I said, I'm here to save the world. You see, Kal-El, you're not the Man of Steel. I am."

 149. Welcome to Hong Kong (Arrow 8x2)

162, Written by: Jill Blankenship, Sarak Tarkoff, Directed by: Antonio Negret

 "Because if I'm wrong, then all of this is for nothing. Do you understand Tatsu? I left Felicity. I left my children, so if the Monitor can't fix this and if he's not here to help, then all these things I have sacrificed and all the things that so many people have sacrificed will have been for nothing."

 148. Daddy Darhkest (Legends of Tomororw 3x10)

43, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Matthew Maala, Directed by: Dermott Downs

 "I broke into the looney bin to perform an exorcism. And while I was at it, that demon called your name. Said you'd soon be slipping into the dark. And I figured if Emily's demon knows you on a first name basis, you might know something that can help me save you both."

 147. Fastest Man Alive (The Flash 1x2)

2, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns, Directed by: David Nutter

 "Every kid dreams of being a superhero. Having powers. Saving people. But no kid thinks about what it's like when you're a hero and you're not saving people. Truth is... not much else changes. You still hurt. You still love. You still wish and hope and fear things. And you still need people to help you with all of it. In some ways, that's the best part."

 146. Invasion! (1) (The Flash 3x8)

54, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Aaron and Todd Helbing, Directed by: Dermott Downs

 "They're aliens, and there's only four of you." "Not if we get Stein and, you know, all the others." "They're calling themselves the Legends." "Egotistical but catchy."

 145. Invasion! (3) (Legends of Tomorrow 2x7)

23, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Phil Klemmer, Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Gregory Smith

 "That's what you've all proven here. Meta-humans or not, superpowers or not... you are Earth's mightiest heroes."

 144. Broken Dolls (Arrow 2x3)

26, Written by: Marc Guggenheim, Keto Shimizu, Directed by: Glen Winter

 "After all, everybody loves a pretty doll."

 143. Star-Crossed (Supergirl 2x16)

36, Written by: Katie Rose Rogers, Jess Kardos, Directed by: John Medlen

 "Hail Mon-El, Prince of Daxam."

 142. Compromised (Legends of Tomorrow 2x5)

21, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: David Geddes

 "Oh, woman of mystery. I know that look in your eye, though. That's the look of someone that I've taken everything from." "Not everything. You haven't taken my soul, which I've already lost and I'm not eager to do again. "

 141. Painkiller (Black Lightning 4x7)

52, Written by: Salim Akil, Directed by: Bille Woodruff

 "There's no such thing as coincidence."

 140. The Nuclear Man / Fallout (The Flash 1x13/1x14)

13/14, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Katherine Walczak; Keto Shimizu, Ben Sokolowski Directed by: Glen Winter, Steve Surjik

 "He's not even Ronnie anymore... he's Martin Stein walking around in Ronnie's body..."

 "I believe in second chances. You'll get yours."

 139. A Mad Tea-Party (Batwoman 1x8)

8, Written by: Nancy Kiu, Directed by: Holly Dale

 "We all make choices, Bruce. I chose hope. And I chose to believe Beth was still alive. I chose to save my sister from the monster she's become, but by making that choice, I lost my entire family a second time, and now the only thing I'm left with is the awful truth that Alice was right. Beth is gone."

 138. A Brief Reminiscene In-Between Cataclysmic Events (Superman & Lois 1x11)

11, Written by: Brent Fletcher, Directed by: Greogry Smith

 "I kept this secret from everyone for so long, and now I know why. It's for you. So we could have this life together. There's no one I would rather share it with."

 137. League of Assassins (Arrow 2x5)

28, Written by: Jake Coburn, Drew Z. Greenberg, Directed by: Wendey Stanzler

 "There were things I that I did; things that I had to do to survive. Things that there's no forgiveness for."

"Well, that's the thing about forgiveness—you can't get it until you ask for it."

 136. O come ye all Thankful (The Flash 5x7)

99, Written by: Jonathan Butler, Gabriel Garcia, Directed by: Sarah Boyd

 "Not exactly. Look, when I ran into that storm, I was thinking that I want to save everyone, but the person I was thinking about the most... was you."

"Me?" "Yeah, I don't choose being the Flash over being with my family. I'm the Flash for my family. And I don't have to run to the future to understand why I sacrifice myself. I do it to save you. And your mom. All the people I love."

 135. Mr. and Mrs Mxyzptlk (Supergirl 2x13)

33, Written by: Jessica Queller, Sterling Gates, Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski

"Kara, sweetest, like I said, I'm your one true love, your soulmate, your one true pairing, as the kids say. My name is Mxyzptlk and I love you, Kara Zor-El."

"Uh..." "Tell me, will you marry me?"

 134. Hey, World (Legends of Tomorrow 4x16)

67, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Keto Simizu, Directed by: Kevin Mock

"I know how infuriating humans can be. They have a hard time seeing past their own noses, don't they? But they can change if you help them to look deeper. And if they see the amount of good that you lot are capable of, then maybe... maybe they'll believe in you even when you doubt yourself."

133. The Present (The Flash 3x9)

55, Written by: Aaron and Todd Helbing, Lauren Certo, Directed by: Rachel Talalay

 "You can't worry about what may or may not lie ahead. Besides, it's Christmas; a time to be with the ones you care about."

 132. The Book of War: Chapter Three: Liberartion (Black Lightning 3x16)

45, Written by: Charles D. Holland, Directed by: Salim Akil

 „ I'm 100 years old.§

„ Maybe that's why you're so negative and grouchy.“

 131. The Book Markovia: Chapter Three (Black Lightning 3x12)

41, Written by: Adam Giaudrone, Lynelle White, Directed by: Bille Woodruff

 „Careful, or someone might mistake you for having compassion.“

„No, I don't foresee that being a problem.“

 130. I’ll give you a Clue (Batwoman 2x13)

33, Written by: Caroline Dries, Natalie Abrams, Directed by: Marshall Virtue

 "Do you know why it's called beginner's luck? I'll give you a clue. It's because it's unexpected and because it doesn't last." "As far as I'm concerned, it'll last for 13 life sentences." "I love puzzles, but yours, rookie Crow, is missing a few pieces. How did you solve Cluemaster's riddle?

 129. It’s my party and I’ll die if I want to (The Flash 9x9)

180, Written by: Sam Chalsen, Emily Palizzi, Directed by: Danielle Panabaker

 "Do you think I'm... I'm doing enough... with my powers, with my time here?"

"Well, Barry, you tell me. Do you give people hope? Are you moving through your city like a... guardian angel? Do you make a difference? That bolt of lightning chose you. Don't ever forget it."

 128. Who is Harrison Wells? (The Flash 1x19)

19, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Cortney Norris, Directed by: Wendey Stanzler

 "If this is Dr. Wells, then who have we been working for this whole time?" "Dr. McGee said that after the accident, Wells became a completely different person. It's because he is a different person."

 127. Medusa (Supergirl 2x8)

28, Written by: Jessica Queller, Derek Simon, Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski

 "In the event of an invasion, Medusa could be deployed to kill alien combatants while keeping our civilians and infrastructure safe from harm."

 126. Lies that bind (Superman & Lois 2x12)

27, Written by: Rina Mimoun, Directed by: David Mahmoudieh

„Look, he's a sociopath.“

„ There's no need for name-calling.“

[mixnme]

New Menu - The Aubrey Our cocktail menu is inspired from the different prefectures of Japan which produce some of the best Shochu the world is yet to try. We have been digging into Shochu and its origin for a while now and it’s time for Japan’s best kept secret to be revealed to the world. In our new menu we present to you 8 different cocktails which highlight and capture the provenance of the prefectures. With a focus on four different regions that not only make some of the finest Shochu but have also been granted Geographical Indications. The basis of the Geographical Indication system is to define "genuine alcohol" produced in a region by clarifying the "inevitability" and the characteristics of the alcohol produced in that region. Harmony Yasuda Sweet Potato Shochu Citric Acid Solution Sauvignon Blanc Juice Nastaurtium Leaf This drink is inspired from Chu-Hai which is one of the most popular canned cocktail across Japan. (at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong 香港文華東方酒店) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClS8RZQPOOF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A different kind of education; Doctor Strange x teen reader

*Author’s note*

I would've posted it up earlier but this week we had a bad storm and my power's been out for a few days (fams okay now we kept ourselves warm as best as we could mainly staying in our beds covered up in our hoodies and winter hats).  But now that my power's back on I can finally start posting things up.

Now there's some hints of Shang-Chi and the 10 Rings in this fic (No spoilers don't worry to those that haven't watched it yet) but I wanted to kinda combine those worlds with the reader. Not really any warnings just some father figure Strange, fluff, and minor swearing.

Also this is kinda like what my dad does for me, he's always up for giving me either a movie-cation or musication by letting me listen or watch movies/music I have not seen. Anyways I'll stop rambling and allow you guys to read on :) Until next time.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@psychosupernatural​

@waddles03​

@ixchel-9275​

@queen-paladin​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@austynparksandpizza​

@bisexualdragongirl​​

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I was in the training grounds practicing my forms and combinations that Wong had asked me to do before my next test. Using my relic the Fangs of Ta Lo two 10in blades made from the actual fangs of the Guardian of Ta Lo and the handles protected in dragon skin.

Twirling and spinning the daggers skillfully in my hands before doing my kicks and leaps before finishing off with a lunge.  I counted my steps with my breathing before conjuring a shield with the daggers.  The blades glowing a bright orange and yellow light as I traced the shield and pushed it forward before tracing in the air the shape of a dragon which circled around me roaring and flapping it’s great wings.  

I ended my form by bringing my arms inward before extending them back out slowly until they came together at my stomach and I bowed (at the same time the dragon’s upper body stood tall and it’s wings unfurled and extended back out the same time as I moved my arms) before it let out one last roar and then disappeared.

“You never cease to amaze me with your forms and combinations. Even when I was still learning under the previous Sorcerer Supreme.” I grinned and looked up to see Stephen Strange standing along the corridor of the training grounds.

“Magic has been in my family for 3000 years. Even some of my family members live in the realm of Ta Lo guarding it’s sacred lands.”

“Remind me again why you couldn’t have been Sorcerer Supreme while I was away? You could’ve prevented the shared blizzard Wong so wonderfully neglected to close off from Mt. Everest.”

“Because like you and half of the other Sorcerers here, I too was blipped away. I should be 21 years old by now. Do you know how long I have been dying to drink Wong’s secret stash of sake?” Strange chuckled as he walked up to me.

“I think you’ve done enough training for the day. Why not take a break for a bit?”

“Thank you Stephen but unlike you I do not have the privilege to fool around. If I want to finally get up to be the Head Guardian of the Hong Kong Sanctum, I’ve got to continue my training. I would’ve managed it five years ago but well you know what happened.” He nodded.

I’m betting your wondering just how the Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange and I can talk to each other like we’re old friends (even with him being well over my age).  Well it all started back in 2016; when he had came to Kamar-Taj after he had experienced his accident.

He was just about to get mugged for his watch until I stepped in and saved his ass.  When I revealed my face to him he was of course surprised that a kid had to save him but I retorted back to him that it was because of a kid that his white ass got saved.  I took him to Kamar-Taj where he met the Ancient One, the previous Sorceress Supreme.

During his training he did struggle and of course it was all because of his arrogance so after a few sass riff-offs between the two of us, I gained his respect and offered to help him out (and also gain access to the books without Wong ever knowing. Yep I taught him that trick). And through our training, we also opened up to each other about our personal lives.

He told me about his partner? Ex-partner? Christine Palmer and that she was the reason he didn’t want to give up the watch. He shared with me that the real reason he had wanted to become a neurosurgeon is that he had a younger sister who had suffered a stage 3 brain tumor.  She fought for as long as she could and they had even managed to take out most of the tumor but then suddenly it came back with a vengeance and she died three days later.

In return I shared with him a story that only the Ancient One and Wong only knew of me.  In Ta Lo where I was born and raised for a brief moment of my childhood, there was a deadly disease carried by the Malarias (to normal people they would look like mosquitoes if they were 10x bigger. About the size of an English bulldog) that suddenly began to sweep throughout all of Ta Lo.  My parents desperately wanting to save me, sent me through the forests and out into the real world so that I wouldn’t get infected while they fought bravely to keep them from entering this world.

Wandering alone on the streets a lowly orphan, I was found by the Ancient One herself who knew of my birthplace and where I had come from.  Her and Wong both tutored me on the ways of the Mystic arts, both from their perspective and from my own arts that came from my land.  

When I was 10 years old I was given permission to finally return and see what had became of my homeland.  When I arrived and passed the tests in order to gain entrance, I found my grandmother and grandfather who had survived the Malarias invasion, however they told me the sad truth that my parents died defending the exit in which I had escaped.  And the last thing they ever spoke was my name and sending a prayer of protection and guidance to me.

From there my training was split between my homeland and Kamar-Taj until I felt like I was destined to remain by the Ancient Ones side.  For a great evil would soon come to Earth and I felt like I could help stop it (if I could). My grandparents accepted my fate and gave me my relic before bidding me farewell.  Fast forward 2 years later and that’s when I found Strange just shortly after my 14th birthday.

From then on Strange and I developed what you may consider a mentor-mentoree relationship that tips on the scale of being like a father-daughter type relationship.  Don’t get me wrong Strange still has his ego moments that I have to deflate (Wong gets a little wishy-washy when it comes to Strange’s recklessness behavior).  And I’ll admit sometimes I have my moments of pushing myself to the limit and Strange has to step in and sometimes force me to rest.

“Come on, as Sorcerer Supreme I command that you take the rest of the day off.”

“Just because your Sorcerer Supreme does not make you a king.” I sassed at him.  “But if it’ll get you off my back I’ll take a break.” I placed my blades in their sheaths that crossed behind my lower back.

“I was thinking about maybe doing some different kind of training with you.” He offered.

“And just what other kind of training is there?”

“Well I’ve been going through your music playlist.”

“You took my computer? How’d you get my password?” I snapped.

“Next time you create a password, don’t make it a gag to a joke.”

“Damn. And I would’ve though ‘I don’t remember’ was the perfect one.”

“Anyway, figure I help expand on your music taste.”

“I’ve got good music.”

“All you have is K-Pop and maybe one or two classic rock bands on your playlist.”

“I also got some female artists here in America. Can’t deny Pink she’s my girl.”

“Well at least you’re not into Nicki Minaj or Cardi B.”

“Oh gods no. Those girls sing only one key. Autotune.” I said.

“Well you’re on your way. Now come on, there’s lots to educate you on in the ways of music.” He extended his hand for me to take. I smirked at him and we walked side by side with his arm around my shoulders.

So out into New York City we went.  I’ll admit it’s always a bit weird to see Strange in normal civilian clothes, I’m just used to him in his Sorcerer Supreme attire (all we pretty much wear is our sorcerer robes whether in public or within the sanctums).

“You know we went shopping for a reason.” He told me gesturing to my sorcerer robes.

“I know but you also gotta admit these robes are super comfy. It’s like they’re not even there.” I told him.  He opened his mouth but closed it and lightly shrugged.

“Alright, but don’t take out your knives otherwise people will think you’re crazy.”

“It’s New York. Everyone is crazy.” At that statement he shrugged a nod again agreeing with me as we kept on walking until we reached our destination.  Marko’s Record Shop.

“A record shop? Seriously? You do know there’s a new thing called streaming.”

“Yes but there’s nothing that beats than old fashion vinyl records. Plus I found an old record player in the sanctum that I’ve been polishing it and fixing it up for weeks. Now come on.” He gently pushed me forward before following behind me as we both entered the store.

“Welcome to Marko’s how can I—Stephen? Stephen Strange?” an elderly man spoke up from behind the counter.

“Hello Marko, glad to see again.” He greeted the man.

“And good to see you too son, been a long time. I was almost beginning to think that being a hero would make you forget about all the little people you knew.”

“Please Marko forget you? Never. I brought along one of my top students, (Y/n) (L/n) figured I’d let her get out of the streaming train and see how we got our music back in the day.” Stephen said placing an arm around me.

“Well, welcome, welcome, welcome to Marko’s Record shop young lady.” He extended his hand out to me and I gratefully took it. “It’s always a pleasure to see young folks like you coming into my store these days. No one really cares for records like they used to.”

“Is it really because of the streaming services?” I asked.

“That and there was also the phase of illegal music downloading like Napster and Frostbite. Glad those sons of bitches got terminated or at least filled with so many viruses that no one downloads things from there.” Marko said.

“Indeed.” Stephen agreed.

“Well feel free to browse around for as long as you want and if you find something either of you like, it’s on me.”

“Oh no Marko we couldn’t possibly.” Stephen argued.

“Take it Stephen. You—you brought my wife back to me as well as our children from the Blip. Please.” Stephen looked at Marko with solemn eyes and he nodded before guiding me over to some of the records.

“So—how is it you know this guy? You talk as if you’re old friends.”

“he is. An old family friend of my mother’s. And he’s the reason for my supreme music-cation which I shall now bestow onto you.” He said fiddling through some records till he came to on. “Ah-ha yes! Oh Marko I still can’t believe you have this one!” he pulled out a Beatles record.

“Pure mint condition as the day I bought it. And it still sounds great too.” Marko said from his desk as he was cleaning it up.

“A Beatles record?” I asked.

“Oh not just any record, this my dear girl is the very first record The Beatles ever released.” I looked at him wide-eyed.

“And a record can stay that fresh for as long as Marko said?”

“If kept in the right hands, yes. And Marko is the Master of preserving music history.”

“If there’s nothing out here to your liking, I’ve got more in the back. Mostly stuff that I grew up on like Jazz and Swing.”

“No thanks Marko I think we’ll—”

“I’d like to see what you’ve got.” Stephen looked at me questioningly.  “What? I’ve got a guilty pleasure for old school swing and Jazz.”

“Ha-ha that’s a girl. Hang on let me just get the box from the back.” He got up from his chair and waddled his way to the back room. “Do you need any help?” I asked him.

“No, no thank you little missy. I maybe old but I still got a spring in my step.” He said giddily.

“But you also gotta be careful, Ellie warned you about throwing your hip again.” Stephen said.

“Oh poppycock!” Marko waved Stephen off as he set the box down and opened it up.  He turned to me and took out the first record which was an Elle Fitzgerald one. “Now this record here was what gave Ella Fitzgerald her true name. The moment this record dropped, her name was all over the billboards.”

“Have you got any instrumental swing music? I can only really find those one youtube and maybe a few on Amazon music.”

“Oh hang onto your toga there little miss.” It’s not really a toga but I wasn’t gonna correct him on that.  He soon pulled out over 10 records of swing music. “Now these here, these were the records that always played during and after the war. Why this record right here is very special to me.” He pulled out a Bing Crosby record and handed it to me. “This right here, especially track 4 is the song that played in the Jazz club where I first met my Ellie.”

“Aww that’s so sweet.”

“She loves herself some Bing Crosby. I think she said if I could sing like him she’d be a happy camper, unfortunately for her I just got the looks of him and not the voice.” He softly laughed.  I softly smiled.

“Guess streaming services don’t really hold the special memories and moments that a record can have.”

“Indeed not.” Marko said.  I turned to Stephen who quirked his brow at me knowingly before giving me a wink.  I nodded to him and turned back to Marko and asked him what other records he had such fond memories of.

For who knows how long we stayed in Marko’s shop talking about records and we even purchased some of our favorite ones before heading back to the sanctum.  Strange and I now sat in his room going over some scrolls while playing in the background was Charlie Feather’s ‘I can’t hardly stand it’.

“I don’t normally say this Strange but—you were right.” He looked up at me.

“I’m sorry what did you say?” I scoffed lightly at him.  “I-I really hope I just heard you right did you just say that I was right?” he said with a cocky grin.

“Alright then I take it back.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You already cashed it in, can’t take it back now.” He teased.

“You are such as cocky asshole.”

“The cocky asshole that’s also your Sorcerer Supreme but I’ll let you get a pass just this once. Because it seemed to me you were really invested in Marko’s teachings.”

“It’s not really about the music itself but the history that the songs can have in a person’s life. That’s why music is so Universal, even more powerful than magic. Because it connects us all and binds us as one. No matter the race, gender or sexuality, music is Universal. It’s not just for one group, it’s for everyone. And for some it’s a comfort, an escape from our reality into one that the songs create.”

“Must you make everything into a philosophy lecture?” he teased.  I stuck my tongue at him and said to him.

“It’s just how I am. Plus another thing you and I have in common. We’re both music nerds.”

“Not quite yet, my young padawan.” He teased in a really bad Yoda impression before walking up to the record and turning off Charlie Feathers and picked up another record and played it next.  An opening came up and he said to me. “Name that song!”

“Oh come on Strange really!?”

“Come on you know this song now tell me what it is!”

“No I don’t know what it is.” I argued.

“If you don’t tell me what this song is, I’m gonna take your card away. Now come on tell me what it is!”

“Gods I hate you so much right now. Will you just tell me what it is?”

“September by Earth, Wind and Fire!” I groaned as I fell back against his bed.

“Oh come on! I’ve only ever heard the chorus to that song how am I supposed to know there were words you could briefly understand for a bit?”

“Doesn’t matter, give me your Earth, Wind and Fire card right now.” His fingers snapped at me gesturing me to give him that card. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a make believe Earth, Wind and Fire card as he began to rip it up.  “You’ll get a new one after I educate you on all their best hits and you can name each and every one of them.”

“This is gonna take all night.” I grumbled.

“Well thankfully we don’t have to be anywhere, nor is the timestream in any danger. Now—shall we begin?”

[rabbitcruiser]

Food And Drink in Lisbon (No. 4)

Pastel de nata is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon. Outside Portugal, they are particularly popular in other parts of Western Europe, Asia and former Portuguese colonies, such as Brazil, Mozambique, Macau, Goa and East Timor. The Macanese pastel de nata was also adopted by KFC and is available in regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. In Indonesia, this pastry is especially popular in Kampung Tugu, Jakarta, a culturally Portuguese (Mardijker) enclave.

Pastéis de nata were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Hieronymites Monastery (Portuguese: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) in the civil parish of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, in Lisbon. At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes, such as friars and nuns' religious habits. It was quite common for monasteries and convents to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country.

In the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, following the dissolution of religious orders and in the face of the impending closure of many convents and monasteries, the monks started selling pastéis de nata at a nearby sugar refinery to bring in revenue. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipe sold to the sugar refinery, whose owners in 1837 opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. The descendants own the business to this day.

Since the opening of Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, the original recipe of the pastel de nata is kept in a secret room. The Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém is the most popular place to buy pastéis de nata; the shop is located just a short three-minute walk from the Jerónimos Monastery. The shop offers both take out and sit in services and sells over 20,000 pastéis de nata a day. Usually the tart is sprinkled with canela (cinnamon), and often accompanied with a bica (a strong espresso coffee).

In 2009 The Guardian listed pastéis de Belém as one of the 50 "best things to eat" in the world. In 2011, following the result of a public vote, the pastry was announced as one of Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy, further cementing it as one of the country's most popular national dishes.

Source: Wikipedia  

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

[sweetwolfcupcake]

A follow up question about their relationship (thank you for answering my q on the other ask btw !! 💖) in the first 6 months when jk was seeing aerum secretly, were both jk and the oc clear about establishing what their relationship was? Like did they both know and establish that they were long distance bf + gf? Or was it one of those unclear situations where two people are in the phase of a relationship where they are sort of seeing each other but haven’t really made it clear to be exclusive yet?

Sorry I’m just trying to understand jk cause he seems like such a mystery to me!! I wanna know the reason why he would jeopardize their (him and oc’s) budding relationship? As horrible as it sounds, he could have just ghosted the oc and kept his secret relationship with aerum going since he was clearly more into aerum? Then he wouldn’t have to fly to London omg 😂 he really frustrates me in this one!! But I guess that’s a sign that your writing is really good since I’m so compelled by the characters!! Hehe

(Also is it aerum or areum? I keep saying aerum but I don’t know if that’s right!!)

Keep going you’re awesome!!! 💖

Jungkook and (y/n) were in a long-distance relationship. It was a relationship Jungkook had entered while being in Hong Kong. He had visited London once, met (y/n), they had exchanged numbers and after a few months of talking, they became official. All the while he was still studying in Hong Kong.

Now, when he returned to Korea, it had been a couple of months into the relationship. He cheated on her with Aerum, Jungkook was not serious about the relationship, it was more of a fling to him. So while still sleeping with Aerum for months, he visited London again. And his bond with (y/n) began to strengthen and he also realised that he and the relationship meant a lot to (y/n).

So, the guilt. Within a month, he made a third visit and realised that she meant everything to him, that he was in love with her. Meanwhile, Aerum realised that she had fallen for Taehyung. And the two call their elicit affair off.

I understand your question and the confusion, but as explained in the Backstory (You will find the link in the 'Lesson Learnt Masterlist), Jungkook and Aerum had made stupid decisions. In a way, Taehyung and (Y/N) too had made stupid decisions. We all make stupid decisions.

Taehyung knew that Aerum had always been in love with jungkook, he knew that she had not moved on completely from Jungkook when he proposed to her. (Y/N), as you must have read, had a disastrous way of dealing with heartbreak, she would not have been able to cope with her grief had it not been for Marcus. Marcus is way more emotionally intelligent and in tune with his emotions, this is where (Y/N) lacks. But then again, Marcus does not know when to give up.

Jungkook, more or less, was unsure about his feelings for both the women at that time. He had left for Hong Kong with a lot of unexpressed, unsaid emotions. Aerum was Jungkook's first love and maybe that too effect when he and Aerum met up again to reconnect.

It's like finding an old favourite of yours, feeling overwhelmed with nostalgia, having a brief spark of attachment towards it, but the flame dies away pretty soon because you realise that you have grown beyond that phase and the time is gone, the feelings are gone.

When we run into a person we had lost contact with or lost touch with after years, with whom we had shared the best memories of our life, we might be overwhelmed by nostalgia, there might have been quite a few things unsaid, maybe we never had closure. But oftentimes, we realise that with time, the warmth had vanished, the relation had eroded like a sunken ship- there are memories- nothing else.

Jungkook had a similar experience with Aerum when they reconnected again. But through his six-month affair with her, did he come to realise(very late), that there might have been a reason why he had agreed to visit London when (y/n) requested him to, there had to be a reason why he never could leave her texts unanswered for longer than a day.

He was falling in love with (y/n). It was like finally being able to realise what the restlessness had been about, what the guilt had been all about. It was like realising that the home he was searching for in the faraway city once left behind, had always been close by, he had always known the place at heart.

[crystal-moon-101]

So I’ve got three AUs here with The Secret Generator 10 Trio, and I drew them all together because they are all connected based on the same idea. In these AUs, instead of receiving their powers from something, they are what their powers are. Basically, Zak is still Kur reborn, but was born a dragon who disguises himself as human, Rex is the Omega (His design is based off of my sentient Omega AU), and Ben is the Omnitrix who decide to become a living being, choosing a human body as his main form. I’ll go into a little more detail to explain each AU, and I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions about any of these AUs, don’t be shy to ask. 🧡 💙 💚 -Zur AU- In this world, Doc and Drew never had any biological kids, as Drew found she was unable to bare any. This did distraught the pair, as it had been one of their long life dreams, but they stayed strong and decided to focus on their work for a bit, deciding on future family stuff later.  Eventually, they came across the Kur Stone with the rest of the secret scientists, and as the story goes Argost snatched it, and the secret scientists rushed into Weird World to retrieve it, losing many of their teammates in the progress. But things take an interesting turn when taking the stone back to base. You see, as the scientists were discussing what to do, now understanding what the stone really was, they all suddenly heard a faint crack...then another, then a few more, and before anyone knew what was happening, the Kur stone slip, breaking open into four pieces as a tiny, baby, serpent-like dragon crawled out. That’s when they realized that the stone was not a stone, but rather an egg, and putting two and two together, the group assumed that this was Kur’s child. Of course, they freaked out, not wanting something tied to the being said to desire to kill all humans to be wandering around the lab, but their panic caused the little infant dragon to panic too, and a chase sparked, with the little dragon rushing around the labs to hide and keep away from these strange people. The young dragon was confused, as it didn’t understand what was wrong, why these people seemed so scared, though one of these people did catch his eye, the woman with white hair. He had seen her first when hatching, and developed this strange attachment to Drew. She ended up being the one to corner the baby, who came up with a...odd idea somehow. Reaching deep within himself, he found the ability to shapeshift into a human form (Albeit with dragon like features), basing features off of Drew and Doc. This caught the two off guard, especially when seeing bits and pieces of themselves in this child. At first they thought he was trying to trick them, but when they started clinging to Drew, something sparked in the two, this need to protect this young one, who had clearly bonded to them so fast (Drew was quick to scoop them up and be ready to tell the other scientist to a back off).  It was a longgggg discussion with the others, many having concerned and worries, but eventually it was agreed that they could not place Kur’s blame onto his offspring, as it was unfair, and since Drew and Doc handle cryptids for a living, it was best that they looked after him. So, they gave him the name Zak, and their little family began.   Now, Zak is very well aware of what he is and who he is, and is very grateful for his parents for taking him in, despite what he was. The main plot of the series would most likely be the same, with a few differences, like people like the Nagas and Argost eventually thinking that Zak is Kur’s son too. But then the twist eventually comes in that Zak isn’t Kur’s son, he is Kur himself, just reborn like a phoenix. This leads into Zak’s anxiety crises about who he really is and what he could do, just like in season 2.  Zak can also switch between his human form, and real dragon form, though he is able to summon parts of his dragon form, like wings or his tail, if that’s better to use at the moment. He’s quite the magpie too, often collecting ores, gems, jewelry and anything that catches his eye. His loves the outdoors quite a bit, and spends a lot of his time out in the woods or grass fields around his home, connecting with the local wildlife too. He’s also known to straight up hiss and growl, even in his human form.  -Omega Rex AU- After the failures of the Alpha project, the crew on the nanite project eventually moved onto the Omega project, which was being lead by not only Caesar, but his parents as well this time. Based on Alpha’s designs, tweaking them quite a bit, they eventually made Omega, a much more friendly and kinder version of Alpha. Omega started off as mostly robotic, being tested on and merely hanging around the labs until needed for something. But like all of Caesar’s project, things started to change, and Omega started to become something more. It was little things at first, Omega asking little questions, curious about the world and people in it. Then Omega started mimicking people, copying human mannerism and even style of speech. People caught on quick, and become a little nervous, given Alpha was kind of the same when he started to change and eventually go rouge. They kept an eye on Omega, making sure nothing went down hill, but instead they went an opposite direction, taking a more wonder filled out look on life, wanting to know a lot about life and what it meant to be living. There were mixed responses to this, some telling Omega that they were just a robot and nothing more, others wanting to see where this would go.   Omega seemed to follow three people the most, Caesar, Rylander and Van Kleiss, each peeking his interest in different ways, each one seeing and treating him differently. Caesar often regarded him as one of his great inventions, and was enjoying seeing where Omega was going, and how they were growing, and while there were moments that Caesar treated him a little more human they he would admit, he tried to keep it professional and just say Omega was a tool. Rylander was the kindness to Omega, and would be happy enough to answer their questions and let them understand life a little better, often thinking he saw a spark of a soul in Omega’s eyes from time to time. Van Kleiss was intrigued by Omega, especially when Omega seemed unphased by Van Kleiss’s off putting nature. Like Rylander, he was fine to answer him questions about the world and life, though his negative views on life due to past issues made things a little sad for Omega to hear, even trying to ‘comfort’ the man despite Van Kleiss telling him not too. Then, the nanite event happened. It all happened so fast, but that didn’t matter in the end as Omega awoke with no memories...not even their own name. Left wandering the world now being infested with EVOs, he eventually ran into the Hong Kong Gang one by one, where he started to developed a more teen like personality, and even got the name Rex from them. This made that desire to be something more, something alive, stronger, and that feeling stayed with them even after he left the group, lost his memories again, and got picked up by Six and Providence. At first, they had assumed he was an EVO, but once they realized he was something else, a living nanite it seems, they kept him around in hopes he could help, especially after seeing he could cure EVOs and talk to other nanites.  Rex is very curious, and still mimics quite a bit, you often seen him copying gestures from Six and Holiday. Not in a mocking way, but more so like a little kid taking after the adults around him. He’s still learning a lot about being ‘human’ so he does stumble quite a bit, doing things like saying a phrasing wrong, not understanding latest trends, and sometimes forgetting the body limits of a normal human. -Omni-Ben AU- While Azmuth was alone, isolating himself in his work for the Omnitrix, he eventually managed to complete it. However, while he was having it do some test runs and look overs to make sure it was ready, he came to find that the AI may have been a little more advance than he was expecting, for the next thing he new, the Omnitrix shapeshifted into the form of a 13 year old human male. Of course, being highly confused, Azmuth questioned his creation, and the Omnitrix explained that, after looking through the DNA is had, seeing all the different speices in the galaxy and seeing how they live, how they work, they wanted to be like that too, wanted to be alive and real. They had picked a human as their man form as they enjoyed the idea of how humans grow, how individualized they are as a species. Azmuth thought about it, but finally agreed to let the Omnitrix try this out. For the next two years, still living in isolation, Omnitrix and Azmuth started up a simple life living together, Omnitrix even calling him father, which Azmuth was fine with and grew accustomed to. However, Azmuth never let Omnitrix out of the lab/base, for he feared what was out there that could try and use his creation for awful things, and with the Omnitrix alive and sentient, it made that fear worse. But, of course, things couldn’t stay the same forever, as one day Vilgax came knocking and demanded the Omnitrix. Azmuth was quick to tell his creation to flee, despite the Omnitrix’s hesitation. But, unable to deny orders from his father, the Omnitrix fleed as Vilgax followed after, taking Azmuth as his prisoner just in case.   Needing somewhere to hide or run too, the Omnitrix thought back to some of Azmuth’s stories, recalling the tale about a human called Max Tennyson, who had once defeated Vilgax, and was well known by the Plumbers. Given the Omnitrix had a human form, and knowing Max’s history with the Plumbers and Vilgax, he decided to find him, making his way to earth and crashing there. He had been following Max’s Plumber signal (Which was in the rust bucket), and ended up being found by Gwen, who took him to Grandpa Max. After explaining his situation, Max agrees to help, and after some debate, Gwen could come too.  The three begin to travel across the USA, going to old Plumber bases to collected needed weapons as Vilgax was on their tale, and looking for help in the matter. Needing to blend in with humans, Gwen helped Ben get an outfit that could hide him (Not quite the one up above), and used some make up along with an eye contact to cover up anything he couldn’t remove from himself, and eventually gave him the name Ben. Ben is quite...alien, for lack of a better term. Given he was isolated with Azmuth his entire life, there’s a lot he needs to learn and understand. He is quite smart and quick to pick up on things, but does stumble up in the moment. He’s found that the world outside it quite big, bigger than he realized, and now he’s experience so much, even new emotions he thought he never had, but...he does wanna see more of the world and what it has to offer.

[mydreambatfam]

Batfam fancast part 8: the Cain family.

The lethal Cain family. David Cain, Lady Shiva (Sandra Woosan) and the Black Bat, Cassandra Cain. A world class assassin, the worlds greatest martial artist, and the best fighter in the batfamily.

These three extraordinary individuals have one of the most disheartening family dynamics. One of physical and mental abuse, absolute selfishness, and unbelievable cruelty. Within it fibers are stories that have shown the influence this family has brought to the Batman mythos. Yet while David and Shiva's story remain mostly the same Cassandra's will be expanded upon. While she was very well develop pre new-52 there are certain things that can be added.

David Cain

The father of Cassandra, former teacher of Bruce Wayne and all around mudering psychopath David Cain. This assassin is actually the first guy I casted eventually led to this blog.

Daniel Southworth is a actor,martial artist and stuntman. Not only did he make a power rangers character complex and full of depth he is also known for Vergil from Devil May Cry. His skills in stunts are second to none and kept up with the likes of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.You put him in any role and you are in for Smokin Sexy Style of a preformance.

Lady Shiva

The deadliest woman alive Sandra Woosan is the martial arts master. Training Tim drake with the bo staff, and retraining both Bruce and Cass when they both were hurt. She makes most heros look like chumps.

Michelle Yeoh and Ming Na Wen were my first choice, but I wanted someone different but still worthy. We have to remember she is around Bruce's age and had to have Cass in her late teens when David Cain met her.Especially since Cass is a year or two older than Tim and Steph.Her origin also says she is from Detroit. So a young Chinese-American actress with martial skills but still pull off a mature bloodthirsty fighter.

Here comes Canadian actress Olivia Cheng.Family is from Hong Kong, and is 41 years old. Her best roles are as Mei Lin in Netflix's Marco Polo and Ah Toy in Warrior. In both shows she plays as women who are or were concubines, who are also deadly fighters. Not only is she a wonderful actress , but in her time in both shows she has shown her skills in action.Facing off against the likes of Michelle Yeoh. Add to that the very contrasting action styles in both shows she is perfect for Lady Shiva. Pulling off the action likes its no problem and being about her more social side.

Cassandra Cain

The everlasting Cassandra Cain. The 2nd Batgirl, Black Bat and now Orphan. She is the best martial artist in the batfamily, having the respect of many of the legendary fighters in the DC Universe.

For her canon I am sticking with all the pre n52 and adding some of the Rebirth elements. A mute due to her childhood, who later learned to speak from Barbara Gordon. She is close with Stephanie Brown, a friendship that'll last forever. A certain change though is that instead of being adopted by Bruce Wayne she is instead adopted by Commisioner Gordon, lets be honest he knows the bats secret identities. Years of working with them he is more than willing to help outside the masks, at least if it involves Barbara Gordon. This plays on the mentor/teacher big sister/little sister dynamic of Babs and Cass.

Gordon as her surrogate father he would encourage her to socialize and see Gotham outside its darker life.This also gives an oppurtnity for Cass to pursue things outside crimefighting, like dancing. To be specific Cass would love ballet and activaly practice in her off time.

Along the way she would tag along with Tim and Steph as Tim explores his Asian roots and in turn her roots as they explore many of Gotham's Asian enclaves. This would be her lightbulb moment of going to Hong Kong someday.

When its comes to the conflict involving her and Robin when she became leader of the league of assassins I would completly change it. She is instead persuded by both Lady Shiva and David Cain to lead theor own version of the league and in return they are willing to become a family. The desire for her parents love is a strong one and she is easily persuaded but later regrets her decision. Seeing the change of heart David Cain commands Slade Wilson to inject the serum that will bend her to his will. This should keep in line that canon and give a Zuko redemption arc for her. The story eventually leads to her abandoning Batgirl , moving to Hong Kong and becoming Black Bat with Tim's help.

For casting choices we have a slim crowd. A actress of chinese descent who can keep up with many of the martial arts veterans I casted. Many are in their 40s and many female young martial artists tend stay within the stunts field. That was until I found Natasha Liu Bordizzo. She starred in the second Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon movie and has a large amount of supporting roles under her belt. She kept up with the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen. The Chinese Austrailian actress just might have the spunk to pull off this caped crusader.