#but hans certainly isn't entertained

[max1461]

In reference to this.

Ok, here's the breakdown. Languages will be color coded as follows: English, Spanish, Japanese, Sanskrit, Latin. The rule is: every phrase must be formed by a structurally valid syntactic rule in some language. So, for instance, English transitive VPs have the shape V NP. This means I can pick an English V and a valid NP from any language and mix them together, and that will be valid (in this game). I could say "I eat el burrito", because "el burrito" is a valid Spanish NP, and "eat" is an English verb. Etc. Mix and match languages, but always keep the tree coherent!

Anyway:

boku wa es posible hablar en nihongo to supeingo no kongou. konna kongou de los idiomas sukoshi difícil da kedo omoshiroi ne

"For me it's possible to speak in a mixture of Spanish and Japanese. This mixture of languages is a little bit difficult, but it's entertaining isn't it?"

probablemente riyuu wa (boku ni totte) japones y supeingo no fonología es muy similar, soshite kongou suru no ga natural...

"Probably the reason is that (to me) Japanese and Spanish phonology is very similar, so mixing them is natural..."

saṃskṛtam mo iretai kedo mi capacidad saṃskṛtasya tarinai ndarou

"I would like to add Sanskrit too, but my ability in Sanskrit isn't sufficient I don't think"

Estne Nīlus in Iaponia? Nīlus in Iaponia ja nai. Nīlus afurika ni aru.

"Is the Nile in Japan? The Nile is not in Japan. The Nile is in Africa."

(This is a reference to Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg, and also probably the most complicated thing I can actually say in Latin)

@hacvek says: marius et ludovicus in iaponia sunt desu

"Mario and Luigi are are [sic] in Japan."

I say:

sore nōn tadashii! kono gēmu no rūru wa, todos los phrases must be produced aru gengo no valid syntactic rule wo tsukatte! "marius et ludovicus in iaponia sunt" VP (o TP?) est! nihongo ni wa [CP -> VP desu] grammatical ja nai yo! es shinpuru!

"marius et ludovicus iaponia ni iru" toka no hou ga bueno.

"That's not right! The rule of this game is that all the phrases must be produced using a valid syntactic rule from some language. 'Marius et ludovicus in iaponia sunt' is a VP (or TP?). In Japanese, [CP -> VP desu] is not grammatical! It's simple!

'Marius et ludovicus iaponia ni iru' or something would be better."

morphology de 'sobur omoshiravir darou... maryaśca lvigyō nihoni...

"It would be interesting play [sic] with morphology too... Mario and Luigi are in Japan..."

Here I'm trying, (and maybe succeeding?) to apply Sanskrit nominal morphology and sandhi rules to Japanese. Like, "omoshiroi" is an adjective, so it gets a Sanskrit case ending (in this case the nominative -ḥ). But then sandhi applies, and that -ḥ becomes -r due to the following voiced consonant, plus the sequence /oi/ becomes [avi]. Mutatis mutandis for the rest of these.

@fieldsplitting says: mundus super marii mittsu no bubun ni omnia divisimasu: marius to ludovicusque bufo

"The world of Mario divides a whole [sic] in three parts: Mario and Luigi and Toad."

I say: mahat sugaviḥ

"Greatly amazing"

(attempted Sanskritification of "meccha sugoi")

Second-to-last one ni mondai ga aru; "morphology de 'sobutum omoshiravir darou" sería correcto ndarou.

"There is a problem in the second-to-last one; 'morphology de 'sobutum omoshiravir darou' would be correct I think."

(I messed up the Sanskrit part the first time)

Anyway, there are almost certainly errors in this that I didn't catch. First because I'm not very good and Sanskrit and really not very good at Latin, and second because this is just kind of hard to do in general. But like I said, it is fun! Anyway, feel free to point out any errors if you see them.

[weclassybouquetfun]

I'm seeing all of these headlines from critics about how ridiculous FAST X as if they are just learning what the Fast and Furious films are. They are ridiculous. And? So? Your point being? Are you going to write that Looney Toons cartoons are silly?

22 years, 10 films, countless implausible moments.

You're going to say the franchise is stupid because you have people driving through skyscrapers or parachuting with cars or even surfing on a car but you say nothing about how we're supposed to believe Paul Walker as an LAPD cop when no LAPD cop in the history of the force has ever looked like that?!

This is the real stretch of imagination.

FAST X. The X stands for X-TREME SPOILERS

THE GOOD -I like a bit of fan service and the franchise keeps doling out heaping helpings of it. We got Letty back, Han back, Owen Shaw, Deckard Shaw, Elena back (briefly), whoever the hell Lucas Black and Bow Wow played in TOKYO DRIFT, Hobbs back and now the gal - Gisele.

Their babies are no longer babies.

At this pace I can't even feel bad that John Cena's Jakob died because we didn't see his body. For all we know he could have jumped out the car when it exploded! We see Han's body and he still returned from the dead so...I'm just saying don't count your dead characters before they hatch.

-I loved that they tied this story into Fast Five because that film was my entry into the Fast and Furious films so I remember that one distinctly enough that I could appreciate how they re-did scenes to add the idea that Dante was in their orbit then.

-Following THE SUICIDE SQUAD's lead and relegating Scott Eastwood to bit player. This feels like they were just trying to help him retain his SAG-AFTRA health insurance.

-The twist with Alan Ritchson's character. They intro him giving a wall of exposition about how the "cult with cars" win everyone over and then we see him won over and I think, "Exactly. As it should be." But no! Mans was luring Dom into a false sense of security. Dom was probably too blinded by that tan Ritchson was sporting for some reason.

-Paul Walker's daughter Meadow having a small role. Wouldn't be la familia without her.

-Jason Momoa was having so much fun and he certainly made for an entertaining villain. I'm all in for a villain who wears nail polish and space buns. And I liked how they actually used his photos from his BAYWATCH: HAWAII and STARGATE ATLANTIS years instead of photoshopping it.

THE BAD -Momoa IMO didn't find a good balance between unhinged lunacy and camp. I wish he was able to blend the menacing aspects of the character into his character when he was being more flamboyant. I think an actor who pulled that balance off perfectly was Chris Pine in SMOKIN' ACES.

-I can turn my brain off, I want to be entertained. If I wanted to logic police these films I'd just tweet Neil DeGrasse Tyson and ask his opinion. That said, bad writing is bad writing and this film had some awful writing. The script was written by Justin Lin, Dan Mazeau (Wrath of Titans) and Zach Dean (The Tomorrow War). I like to think Justin Lin knew some parts of the script was absolute dog piss and quit because he didn't want to have to massage a performance out of his actors using those words.

Justin Lin when handing in the final draft to Universal.

-The CGI was so bad! Regressively so. It was like they were using 2001 technology in some of the big scenes.

THE REST A cliffhanger? Editors exist for a reason. You're telling me I am going to have to sit through another 2 hours watching Letty, Cipher and Gisele on their sub adventure through Antarctica, Deckard saving his mum, Dante acting like he's on RuPaul's Drag Race, Roman with the weak jokes (Tyrese isn't as funny as he thinks he is), then a race to hurriedly find a way to give Brie Larson something substantive to do and because everyone comes back, we will see the return of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and then shoehorn back in Rita Moreno to close out the film with another speech about family?

[almondespresso]

*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Han Jisung x GN!reader

𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: fluff, just fluff

𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 1k

𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: one of your meetings with Jisung, for which you forced the time out of his very busy schedule.

𝘵𝘸: none

𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥: MAMAMOO- Starry Night

♡for: my @alyszaen , one and only jisung's gf ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The night was warm, which certainly made your waiting more pleasant. You were sitting on a high hill (getting here is always a challenge) with your legs tucked under your chin, deep in the park, from which the view was amazing. You were above the brightly lit buildings in the city, with a perfect view of the dark sky… well, it would be almost completely dark if not for the mass of stars that illuminated it. It was really beautiful, the silence around it only perfectly complemented it all. Only one was missing…

"So-rry for be-ing laaaa-aaate!"

You heard familiar voice behind you, glancing slowly at the newcomer over your shoulder. Your gentle smile caused by the beauty of the landscape has now widened considerably.

"Right in time. I was about to go and delete your number."

"RUDE!"

Han Jisung, out of breath from the journey to the top, sat next to you, tossing his small sports backpack somewhere beside him. He ran all the way to the park and to the top to make his lateness as short as possible. He brushed back his sweat-damp hair and pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to regulate his breathing through nose, all the while looking at the buildings of the city. Only after resting for a while he did turn his gaze to you, sending you his characteristic, wide smile, which, however, quickly faded.

"Sorry, I stayed in the studio for too long. It wasn't until I looked out the window that I remembered the meeting... I'm really sorry."

"It’s okay, there is nothing to talk about." You said softly.

Of course there's nothing to talk about. You knew how busy Jisung was, the fact that his work was his passion also didn't help in organizing meetings together. It didn't bother you at all though. You didn't feel angry when he canceled meetings, you didn't feel sad when he didn't answer messages for a long time. You were happy that you were seeing each other at all and that you were getting any answers at all. You felt good being remembered by him anyway.

"As an apology, let me tell you something." Jisung moved closer to you and cleared his throat. "See those stars, the ones next to each other?" He traced a few lines in the air with his finger, pointing to the stars he meant, glancing at you for a second. "It's a little bear, obviously. And here's a giraffe and... a dragon? And Great Leader Bang Chan!"

You tried, but you really couldn't hold your laugh. You hit him very lightly on the arm.

"Stop making things up!"

"You're right, I made it up." He laughed along with you, taking a quiet breath at the end. “But you laughed, so it was worth it. Do you remember how we met?"

Of course you remember. It was during your first week as an intern at JYP Entertainment. You wanted to show your best side so that you could count on eventual employment later, so you often stayed late at work. While working on one of the projects, you went on a break in the middle of one such nights. You stepped outside the building to breathe the fresh night air. The sky was as starry as tonight.. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Jisung asked then, he was just returning to the building with three cups of coffee bought on the way. You looked at him as he continued to laugh. Then he told you about the Great Leader Bang Chan constellation, which made you laugh as much as tonight. Since then, a bond has developed between you two and once in a while you sneak out together to look at these beautiful stars. When you both worked hard, the stars were always there, calm and quiet, which gave you incredible comfort. From the moment you met him, you knew you would work even harder - you were willing to do anything to get a job there. And you did it.

“It feels like yesterday… But it was already six months ago.” You looked at Jisung fondly.

Is it love? You didn't want to use such big words. But did he make you feel safe, comfortable, heard and understood like never before? Of course. Jisung still thinks that this hill you found together is your greatest comfort place - but he didn't know that actually he was such place.

"Let me tell you something now." You leaned in close enough to him that your arms were touching. You pointed your finger at first one star and then the other. "Do you see them? It is the eastern and western star. An old legend says that these two stars are two lovers enchanted in them. Their families did not want them to be together, so they voluntarily chose to live together eternally in the sky. The same legend also says that the lovers died hundreds of years ago, but it will be several hundred light years before we see them disappear. So you may ask, how did they die if it was supposed to be eternal life? Well, this eternity turned out to be their great love that they left behind. So it’s almost like they’re still there…" You finished with a gentle smile, finally glancing at Jisung.

Han was sitting and staring at you like at the picture, his eyes wide with interest, reflecting the entire night sky. He looked so… gentle, almost fragile. You could feel your heartbeat speeding up and your cheeks getting warmer. Was he always so… beautiful?

"That was beautiful... How do you know this story?"

You smiled even wider and touched him lightly on the nose.

"I made it up."

Jisung moaned loudly and this time he was the one who hit you on the arm. You both laughed together for a while before Han was the first to fall silent. He looked sad, so you did too.

"The day after tomorrow we're going on a world tour... I'll be in a different place every day again..." He began to stutter softly, as if for the first time in his life he was at a loss for the right words. "So I don't know if... I don't know if..."

"Can we meet?" You finished for him with a slight laugh of relief, knowing it was just that. "Don’t worry. After all, we'll always live under the same sky anyway, right?"

[prettylittlelyres]

Ladies Don't Write Music - 15th November 2023 - update

I'm on track for NaNoWriMo because I hit 25,000 words for the month today! I'm so pleased. Attempting NaNoWriMo at all this year was a huge gamble because I haven't written over 25,000 words since February 2023, and even then I only managed just over 37k... but I've written 25k in the last two weeks and a day!

I also finished writing Chapter Twelve today, and brought it in at 5,000 words exactly. That's both immensely satisfying, and a point of pride; it's the fastest I've finished a chapter on this manuscript since I started drafting it at the end of July. The full manuscript is now just over 60,000 words long, and I want to do some more writing before I go to bed.

Below the cut: a celebratory excerpt, my NaNoWriMo 25k badge, and the cover I designed at the start of November, because I'm proud of that, too.

I clapped the right tempo, and counted Fräulein Schneider in.

She began, halting here and there, but, in general, playing very well.

“I’m not sure if you need a teacher,” I said, as she came to the end of the first page, “You sight-read just fine, and your sense of rhythm is strong.”

Fräulein Schneider beamed at me. “Thank you!” she said, “But it’s… it’s the pitch that I struggle with. Did I really…” She looked down at her hands. “Did I really play that correctly? I keep thinking I was pressing the wrong keys, but I don’t like to look at my hands when I’m sight-reading, or I lose my place in the music.”

I shook my head. “There was nothing wrong with the notes you played,” I said, “Considering it was your first time with the piece, actually, it was excellent.”

Louisa raised her eyebrows, and looked from me to the sheet music, and then back again. “That’s… That’s a surprise,” she said, “I’ve always thought I was, well… quite bad at the harpsichord. I practise, but the music never makes any more sense than it does when I start learning a piece. My last two teachers gave up on me, but I keep playing anyway because Papa and Mama said it would be a good way to entertain my husband one day.”

“Doesn’t it sound good to you, at least?” I asked, “I mean, do you like the way it sounds, even if it’s a little confusing?”

She smiled. “Yes, very much… but I worry that it doesn’t sound so good to other people. Full of wrong notes… Who would enjoy hearing a piece they recognise mangled out of shape?”

I tapped the page she had just played. “You certainly didn’t mangle this,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, covering her face with her hands, “That’s a relief!” Then her eyes widened as she dropped her hands to her lap. “Goodness me, how embarrassing it would have been if I’d played it badly in front of its composer.”

“Badly, not at all,” I assured her, sitting down next to her at the bench, “A little slowly, perhaps, but…” I played the first few bars as they should have been played. “That’s what it’s meant to sound like. And what you played was close enough. Honestly, Louisa, if you practise for even half an hour every day, I think you’ll have the first page fluent in less than a week. Your hands will learn it, even if your ears don’t.”

I decided a while ago that Johann Schneider's character would be tone-deaf, and would enjoy watching music performed for the movement. He has a younger sister and I thought it would be interesting to explore her having the same difficulties. Johann isn't a musician (yet), but Louisa plays the harpsichord and has a lot of trouble feeling confident in what she's playing because she's never sure she's got the right pitch. Luckily, her proprioception is excellent (as is Johann's, which is why he can dance so well), so she can put her fingers on the right keys without needing to see them. This is what Katharina's trying to help her see here, in this ad-hoc music lesson; she doesn't need to hear what she's playing to be able to play it well.

I'm quite enjoying playing around with parallels between Johann & Louisa Schneider and Katharina & Hans Schmidt. In both pairs of siblings, you have the older, more serious one having trouble meeting people's expectations, in contrast with the younger, more humourous one having very little trouble at all. The pairs also mirror each other in their strengths and weaknesses: Katharina and Hans have audiovisual projective synaesthesia and perfect pitch, so can hear and see the music they're making; Johann and Louisa are literally tone-deaf (Johann completely, Louisa almost completely) and music for them is a much more visual thing than it is for most people. Then there's Katharina, whose coordination is so bad it causes problems, being the opposite of Johann, whose coordination makes him an excellent dancer who then has problems because he finds constant poorly-veiled requests to dance at parties very tiring.

[randomguyonline71]

My unpopular HP opinions are

I don't like Fred or George and thought they were generally more mean than funny

Ginny Weasley is a better written female character than Luna or Hermione

Ron isn't a monster or this huge asshole fandom makes him out to be

My unpopular SW opinions

PT/ Clone Wars Era is far more interesting and better conflict than OT

Clone Wars show didn't "save Anakin". They just turned him into Han Solo 2.0. I don't even really like Padme in that show either.

I don't find Obiwan attractive

Padme outfits in episode 1 were ugly. Episode 2 is top tier for her outfits

Thank you for the ask.

I have to disagree with the Fred and George part. I'm a bit of a prankster myself. And I do find their mischief quite entertaining. However, there were definitely times were they took it too far. The most obvious example being when they transformed Ron's Teddy into a spider, or when they made him take an unbreakable vow.

Ginny certainly had the potential to be a better written character than Hermione and Luna. However, she didn't get enough time to shine, so I wouldn't give her that title.

Ron is not an asshole at all. I think he is a quite realistic and great character. Him leaving Harry and Hermione in DH and him being upset with Harry in GoF was probably the two only major negative things that he did. In a series of seven books, that is not a lot. Yes, the impact of it was quite extreme, since he was Harry's best friend. And the narrator is from Harry's POV. But he was shown to have a degree of realism that many of the other characters lacked. Ron had some severe flaws, and he made mistakes. Hermione didn't really do that to the same extent, which is probably why many feel like Ron doesn't deserve her. But people seem to forget that he tried sacrificing himself for Harry twice. One within a year of knowing him at the age of eleven. And that is just one of the many examples as to why Ron was a great friend.

TL;DR - He has flaws, but was ultiamtely a great friend and a realistic character.

As movies, OT was better. But the storyline in the Prequels are second to none. In my very biased opinion, I can't remember a trilogy in cinematic history with as great of a storyline as the PT. The worldbuilding was incredible. I know LOTR is a big contender for that title, and rightfully so, but I'm going to give the edge to PT. There are so many side-stories in the PT era, so many interesting characters. And the political game is just (chef kiss sound).

Anakin's character didn't need saving. He just needed to be shown at a time that literally wasn't in the running for the worst time in his life prior to his fall. In AOTC he is an emotional mess due to his nightmares of his mother. In ROTS he is an emotional mess due to his nightmares of his wife. In TCW he still grieved for Shmi, but the majority of the show showed him being happy, or as happy as someone could be under those circumstances. Padmé was the major factor for that. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Rex contributed to that as well. So, I wouldn't say it was a different character, like many says, I would simply call it a different time in his life.

As a 100% straight man, I have only one thing to say about Obi-Wan Kenobi: SMASH.

I'm not an expert on dresses or female fashion sense. But I do prefer her outfits in AOTC to TPM. But like the part about Anakin. It is two very different points in her life. I liked most of her casual wear in TPM. I'm not a huge fan of her formal wear. I wouldn't go as far as to call it ugly. But it wasn't pretty, in my honest opinion.

This was fun. Please send me more.

[softcrescendo]

stray kids | the things they adore about you !

"there are other things i cherish more than roses and candlelit dinners. for all you know, i'd trade a lifetime of flower bouquets just to hold your hand once."

pairing : ot8 x gn!reader

tw : none !

genre : established relationship, just overall fluff fluff fluff

a/n : do i know this is the first time i post my random ass writing here ?? yes yes i do :)

⤞ BANG CHAN adores the way you sing or hum confidently, especially when it's late at night or early in the morning.

When he wakes up in the morning, he loves to hear it first, more than anything; your voice is incredibly sweet in his ear and listening to your mellifluous melodies makes him feel at peace. It's also quite rare to see you waking up before he does, so he doesn't get to experience it often (that's why he cherishes it even more).

When he falls asleep at night, he always wants your voice to be the last thing he hears that day. He's just so used to it by now that when you two are apart (and unable to communicate due to various reasons), he finds himself having even more trouble sleeping.

Of course, your voice isn't the most amazing voice he has ever heard, but it belongs to the person he loves. So, no matter how odd it sounds or how peculiar your music taste is, when you're the one singing, everything just feels right to him.

⤞ LEE KNOW adores the way you love and appreciate your food.

Now, he knows that food is a blessing and should never be wasted, but seeing you doing your absolute best to appreciate your food makes his heart swell with love. Although he thinks it's one of the principles a decent human being should have, he knows you're so much more than that.

Throughout your relationship, he can always count on you to keep things properly around the house. That includes storing the food you have in the best way possible. Both of you often exchange tips and advices about it. It's a routine that both you and him have grown to love.

⤞ CHANGBIN adores the way you actively listen when someone else is speaking, no matter how boring the topic is.

He also thouroughly enjoys cooking for you, because then he'd get to see you devour them! To him, there's nothing in this world that can beat a warm meal shared with you.

It's one of the first things he noticed when he first got to know you. When someone else is talking to you, you'd absentmindedly give them reactions just so they know you're really listening, like "i see" or "then?"

Once, he heard your friend ramble about random new dramas (he knew you were never interested in them), but you kept on nodding and asking questions. To this day, he still thinks it's very awesome. He thinks you are very awesome.

⤞ HYUNJIN adores the way you bring extra things like hair ties and tissues, just in case someone needs them.

Conversations with him are much more nicer, of course, so you never have to feign interest with him. You still do it when you're listening to him, though, and it makes him feel so encouraged and so loved.

He still remembers the day you gave him your pink scrunchie. He had forgotten his own hair band at home, so you offered yours. The sight of you smiling at him while handing your scrunchie made his heart beat twice as fast then, and it still does now.

You don't only do it to him, though. You gave your friend the last good pencil you had just because she needed it more. You shared your candies with a kid because the kid was hungry. He realizes soon enough that you bring more on purpose, and they're not for yourself.

⤞ HAN adores the way you patiently wait for other people.

He admits that he's not the most meticulous or responsible person (that's why he keeps on forgetting and losing his things), so having you by his side makes him feel so much more complete.

You know what it feels like to be left behind. The memories are very bitter, but they serve to teach you a good lesson. That's why when someone else is lagging, or falling behind, you stop and wait for them.

You wait for him a lot, too. He really tries his best not to make you wait longer than you have to, but he often fails to do so. It can be before going home, or before movie nights, or before dates. He's super apologetic about it, but you reassure him it's alright every time (it's not like he wants to, anyway, so it's all good).

⤞ FELIX adores the way you look at animals, especially the cute ones.

These days, he finds himself doing the same thing. He waits patiently for the people he loves (including you) and frankly, he's proud of himself for growing as a person and as your love.

He loves animals too, he truly does. But when you are the one caring for them, he doesn't know which one is cuter (hint: it's you). Animals are just adorable and marvelous, they're so fascinating! He knows you don't only like the cute ones, though. Almost all animals give you serotonin boosts.

And when you say almost, you mean ALMOST. Because insects certainly doesn't spark joy within you. Heck, sometimes you just seem to be so scared of them. He finds that fact really cute. To be honest, he doesn't enjoy the presence of insects either, but he doesn't really mind as long as he's with you.

All of your family and friends know just how loud you can be. That's why most people (especially the ones who just met you) get intimidated by your thunderous voice and unpredictable actions. But that was never the case when you're with him.

After all, there is no other species (or organism) in the kingdom Animalia he'd prefer over you (his family and friends and the bois come first place with you ofc).

⤞ SEUNGMIN adores the way you can be loud without being annoying or insensitive.

The thing is, he's used to loud people (he can also be very loud himself!) and to him, you're no different. In fact, he finds your personality very uplifting. When he performs or sings, you boost his confidence with your cheers. When he is tired or frustrated, you make sure to shower him with lots of encouragement.

⤞ I.N adores the way you say "thank you" and "i'm sorry" with so much sincerity to nearly everyone.

Of course, there are days when he needs things to be more quiet than usual. No matter what, you try your best to support him! You're still learning, and that's okay because he is, too.

This is a habit that you didn't realize you have until he pointed it out. But like, even if you do, isn't it just basic manners? You think it's nothing special or remarkable. However, he thinks otherwise! He loves the fact that you're polite, even to the people who are often overlooked or looked down upon.

As someone working in the entertainment industry, he has met A LOT of people from all around the world. That means, he has seen characters and personalities of many kinds, and he knows more than a handful of people who are just straight up disrespectful. Meeting you, he once said, was refreshing. Back then, he genuinely enjoyed being your friend and when he got the chance to love you, he's so honored.

Yes, you know this habit of yours is still nothing to be bragged about, but he appreciates it nonetheless! After all, he loves you because of the same reason you're polite - just because.

[laismoura-art]

Hey Pretty people! This is part 2 of this chapter, please be sure to read Part 1!💙

The Necromancer says simply, and it annoys my brother very much.

"Steal? You dare to summon a Lin Kuei warrior for such a pathetic mission?"

It's impressive, but not as surprising that *this* is what bothers Bi-Han the most.

He's a ruthless warrior, not a simple thief.

"Sub Zero. Listen through." Sektor warns before Bi-Han had the chance to complain any further.

He still looks displeased, but he listens anyways.

"I assure you, Sub Zero, the map is extremely important and powerful."

Quan Chi assures him, using his powers to show us what the "important map" looks like.

"And in case you succeed, you will have all the power of Netherrealm at your service."

He continues with a little bow.

The last part wasn't enough to make my brother drop the uninterested look, but it was enough to make him at least raise an eyebrow.

Must've been enough for Quan Chi, because his grin widened noticeably.

"You must steal the map. From the Shaolin Temple, here in China."

His magic makes the map dissipate and in it's place is a visual of the temple we are supposed to break into.

The Shaolin Temple.

Isn't this temple...

"...Guarded by Gods??" I ask already knowing the answer, I read about this temple before, it belongs to the Thunder God himself, and this degenerate sorcerer want us to get inside there??

"The temple is guarded by Shaolin Monks only." He corrects me.

"And I trust two powerful Cryomancers such as yourselves will find no challenge to accomplish this mission."

He tries to flatter, it's not working with me, thought I can sense Bi-Han getting slightly interested, defy the gods has always been an entertainment for him.

"When the mission starts?" He prompts.

"Tonight."

Tonight?

What do they mean 'tonight'?

Bi-Han just got back, he's clearly injured and needs to rest.

I'm not letting him go on this mission.

"Grandmaster, I don't think--"

Bi-Han stops me putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing it tight.

"We will be ready." He declares. Is he even aware of the danger he's putting himself into?

"Perfect."

Sektor says waving a hand to my brother.

"You're dismissed, Sub Zero."

Bi-Han bows and with his hand still on my shoulder, he guided me to the exit. Only to be stopped by Sektor.

"I said *you* are dismissed, Sub Zero. I want to have a word with Tundra."

We both narrow our eyes, knowing this means I'm in deep trouble.

"I'll be waiting for you outside" Bi-Han says and I turn on my heels and stare back at Sektor.

"Yes, Sektor?"

"My equals can call me Sektor. You, can call me Grandmaster."

He gritted his teeth and the mere sight of it makes me very pleased.

"Grandmaster? HA! Hell will freeze before I give you the satisfaction."

"You will learn to respect your superiors."

He tries to intimidate me. But unfortunately for him, I was taught to fear no one.

"I will... When I find one."

The backhand slap that comes doesn't even surprise me; I'm quite used to it.

Although, the metallic gauntlet he acquired certainly made it all more painful, I can feel the blood inside my mouth, I have the decency to not spit on the floor, though I felt far more tempted to spit it on his face.

"Insolent boy, I'll make you bow to my knees."

I straight myself up and look deep into his eyes, I don't flinch from a second.

"You can try."

I clean the blood that came out of my mouth with the back of my hand, and stare at it with an unimpressed look.

"Was this bogus little show of power everything? My brother awaits, you know?"

He stops for a second, and for a moment, I think I won.

It was foolish of me to think so.

"Very well. As soon as you get back, we can handle your punishment."

"Punishment for what?"

"The books you stole are forbidden, Kuai Liang, and so is wander around after the curfew."

His smirk is infuriating, he looks down to me as if I were somehow inferior, lesser then he is.

"I didn't steal a thing, and no knowledge should be forbidden."

He pays me no mind and turns his attention back to Quan Chi, who watched the whole scene with vivid interest. He was obviously rooting for Sektor.

混蛋. I don't waste another minute and exit myself, slamming the door so hard it started to crack, a problem for the "Grandmaster" to deal with.

I have more important things to worry.

I have to steal a map from the gods.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

And that's concludes chapter 2, guys! I hope to have enjoyed and that this 2 part format doesn't seem to strange.

Thank you so much for reading!!💛💙

[mlkm-world]

Meet Lina— high school crush, campus it girl, the girl next door, and everyone's dream girl.

She's beautiful not only outside, but also in the inside. She has an angelic voice, and dances so gracefully, that everyone who would see her would stop on their tracks and end up gazing at her every move. She's good in cooking, too, like a five-star michelin chef.

She's smart, and witty. What a perfect girl she is!

It's just that, you have to be careful with your words and actions, as sometimes she could be savage and dangerous. Like literally, she could chop your head's off. She's not your disney princess who would wait for her prince charming to save her.

Anyway, speaking of prince charming, her heart was captured by a dandy boy, Seungmin. They are high school sweethearts (or is it just what I thought).

On 2019, they got married.

But, the world of married isn't always rainbow as they underwent to several turbulence that tested their supposedly love for each other. They almost got divorced many times, yet through Dekira (divorce counseling program, tune in every monday. 10pm KST), they got back together.

Entering, Seungmin's older brother, Han.

Ya! It's not supposed to be like this, but...

"There's nothing wrong with falling in love!!" (Well... I feel Han since I, myself, couldn't help falling in love with Lina). Han, married to princess Hyunjin, and already had two lovely kids, expectedly, I mean, unexpectedly falls for Lina.

Nevertheless, Seungmin wouldn't back down from his brother. He would do everything to protect the love of his life...(and the property😅).

Meanwhile, Lina is busy cutting the watermelon to be bothered by them.

So, how does this messy family drama end up?

Everyone who knows Lina, envy Seungmin for being able to capture her elusive heart. They might bicker a lot, but they certainly love each other.

Nevertheless, the term love has so many meanings...

... and that, sometimes, we meet the right person at the wrong time, making that supposedly right person wrong, although they could be considered 'soulmates.'

So, who are we judge of their choices? What's wrong for the eyes of others might be right for these two people. It just so happens that the world might be against of their choices at this moment due to the commitments both of them already have.

Then maybe, just maybe, in the next lifetime, they could meet again at the right time.

Disclaimer:

This work is a FANFICTION, thus should be treated fictional. All characters, places, and events do not reflect nor represent the reality. This story is for ENTERTAINMENT ONLY. (In case someone reacts negatively)

**it's all cute and funny, until you realize Han's line was from the World of Married as a defense for what the actor did, and that cheating is cheating**

[threadsketchier]

I am a sucker for father son relationships and Vader & Luke fics... I want to read so bad they are the ultimate family drama but my main problem is that, we can't have a good Luke & Vader fic without Vader being OOC. I don't like toxic father figures, and Vader is, if we are being honest, he isn't above backhanding Luke if he talks back and annoys him with Rebel bullshit. He wasn't above using all the manipulation and pain Palpatine put him through on Luke.

mmmmmmmmmmmm yeah that’s the real trick isn’t it [/Han]

Vader is indeedy a Toxic Father Figure™ in the extreme.  Like, as far as fic goes, frankly @treenahasthaal ‘s material is far more realistic in terms of how Vader would treat his son if he got his gloves on him.  With that said, though, at the end of the day, fic is fic.  We write it to entertain ourselves, and it’s both free to produce and free to consume.  We can fantasize and satisfy ourselves with whatever we don’t see onscreen - if that involves everything from hurt/comfort heavy on the comfort to crack, so be it.  So “good Luke & Vader fic with an OOC Vader” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a “YMMV thing.”  Even in a softer or more humorous take, there’s definitely things Vader wouldn’t really do or say or think, and as long as it doesn’t veer way off past that territory it’s still enjoyable.

The other thing with Vader is - he’s a terrible person only insomuch as it serves his agenda, not purely for the sake of masochistic pleasure of pain and suffering like Palpatine loves.  He himself has been subjected to such an incredible amount of body horror, trauma, and dehumanization that he’s just numb to it, and thus doesn’t think much of inflicting it upon others, including his own son, to the extent that it will Get The Job Done.  I personally feel he didn’t give two shits about cutting off Luke’s hand because that’s barely a fraction of what he went through to get to where he is; the ends justify the means, and in that frame of mind limbs are expendable and the resulting pain is NBD.  But he wouldn’t feel like inflicting torment on his son just for shits and giggles, and overall he’d want to protect him in order to keep him alive for his purposes.  Kind of a “nobody gets to hurt my boy but me” mentality.  ;p  He’s not a mustache-twirling villain, if he had one.  Pain forged him into the weapon he became, so pain is necessary for molding Luke into his own image so that they can “rule the galaxy as father and son” in his demented sense of totalitarian order.  Pain is both a great and cruel teacher.

To put it another way and be controversial on main: even if Vader somehow learned Leia was his daughter in ANH, he would have still likely tortured and violated her to some extent, because the Death Star plans took priority at that moment, and at the end of the day Vader was still the Emperor’s servant.  He couldn’t exactly formulate a plan for a coup immediately.

Post-ROTJ, though...that’s an entirely different animal.  The Anakin who YEETed Palps had finally been able to admit to himself that everything he’d done and stood for as Vader was worthless; all that mattered was Luke’s survival, and only then would he begin to reflect on his life with regret.  (To potentially mind-shattering and even suicidal lengths if he hadn’t died right then.)  The fact that he managed to show some tenderness toward his son is an appropriate manifestation of the good he’d re-acknowledged within himself, and in Anakin Survives AUs it makes sense that we’d see him gradually softening.  There’s certainly room for him to go the other way and become self-destructive and aloof out of remorse and continued self-loathing, but it wouldn’t be OOC for him to finally have a healthy relationship with his son either.

[jooniens]

July Wrap-Up

Hey y'all, it's been a while hasn't it? To be honest, I planned on posing a June Wrap-up + July TBR but by the time I got around to doing it, it was halfway through June and It felt wrong. This month I plan on doing better with posting now that I have settled into the rhythm of my life.

July was a great reading month for me. By the end of June I had caught up with my reading goal, and this month I've been consistently about 1 book ahead (BTW follow me on Goodreads!)

In total, I read 5 books this month, which isn't as many as other people but I am rather proud of the progress I made as well as the quality of the books I managed to read this month. The reads this month definitely lead up to an exciting August TBR. Without further ado, let's get into it.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

I read The Summer I Turned Pretty in the later weeks of June and while it certainly wasn't the greatest work of literature, it was a fun read. After scrolling through some reviews and watching videos about those who read romance/contemporary books more than I, I heard that this was the preferred Jenny Han book series. I have to say that I agree. While this book DEFINITELY read like an older YA romance novel, it was thoroughly entertaining. I think both Josh and Peter were thoroughly boring as love interests. They were just so regular. It was still entertaining to read and I had a fun time.

Rating: 3.5/5

Where The Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens

After seeing the trailers for the movie that came out in Mid-July I thought to myself "Ah crap, now I have to read it." I remember when this book came out and my local library deemed it a book club read. I don't know about y'all's local library, but mine tends to pick not great reads for their book club. So needless to say, My expectations were kind of low but holy crap I absolutely love this book. Not only was the writing absolutely gorgeous, but I was actually rooting for Kya and the twist I did not see coming. I had theories about it and my theory could not have been farther from what actually happened. However, now I don't want to see the movie anymore because I don't think it will live up to how I feel about the book. It came full circle and I probably won't see the movie until it becomes available on Amazon prime or something.

Rating: 5/5

Hot Under His Collar By Andie J. Christopher

I saw this while scrolling through my library and internally "This looks awful, it's going in the pile." I burned through this book in about 2 days and while it entertained me it was...not good. It was fun to read, the plot was entertaining and I don't think I've seen this kind of priest/church member romance in mainstream media (not including those odd Amish romances your mom reads) besides the show Fleabag. The characters didn't feel like they had a lot of chemistry but it ended up on my "trash in a good way" shelf on Goodreads because of how entertaining it was to me.

Rating: 2/5

The Grace Year by Kim Ligget

I technically started reading this book in mid-June through the audiobook which I checked out through Libby but I returned It because I just wasn't listening to it enough. I ended up re-checking it out later in July and finally finishing it. My first comment on this book is that this isn't a great YA novel. There were very graphic descriptions of violence and gore. I am not complaining but I think that Kim Ligget would have made this an EXCELLENT adult novel. Beyond that, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Tierney was kind of annoying to listen to (or maybe that was just the audiobook narrator) yet I still managed to root for her. I wish more of the social dynamics would have been explored and maybe some better explanations of the history of this society. The twist came out of nowhere and didn't make much sense and the ending left me guessing what happened (and not in a good way). I'm sure the author did that intentionally, but it just didn't work for me.

Rating: 3.5/5

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Technically, I finished this book just as August 1st rolled into the year but I'm still counting it as a July read. I picked this up randomly and I guess that I need to do that with books more because I absolutely adored this book. I'm not usually a thriller reader and especially not a YA thriller reader. I absolutely loved Pippa and this book kept me entertained from start to finish. In other thrillers that I have read, the first 1/3 of the novel tends to provide background information and character development/info dumping. This novel added leads, new theories and it kept me intrigued in the story. I had a few theories thanks to the plethora of details the reader gets yet I couldn't have guessed the twists, yes plural. In the last 50 pages, there was this massive twist and I thought, oh that is kind of underwhelming but then another twist came right after practically slapping me in the face. Do you know that meme of Sheldon Cooper where he says "I don't need sleep, I need answers"? that was me for the last 100 pages of this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series (although I'm not sure how it is a series).

Rating: 5/5

Edit: It was so late I forgot to sign off...

I'm so glad that July was such a great reading month for me. After the reading month that was June, I am glad that I actually enjoyed (most) of the books that I read this month. August TBR coming later this week, originally planned to put it in this post but I'd like to go to bed. Thanks for sticking with me even though I didn't post for a month or so, you mean the world to me.

Much Love,

June <3

[nofearofwaves]

“This Isn't Going to Go the Way You Think”: The Last Jedi as a Deconstruction of the Star Wars Narrative

The Last Jedi is a critical darling, but fan reaction is mixed. When I saw earlier that it stands at a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I was stunned. I had left the movie theater two nights ago devastated, elated, entertained...but certainly not 'meh'. But my experience apparently is not universal.

Why?

There may be many explanations. The push back against female leads that dogged The Force Awakens, perhaps, or purity monitors basing their dislike on the clear Rey/Kylo dynamic that spans the entire film.

But I think it may not appeal to others for another reason.

Because, as I see it, The Last Jedi is plotted to specifically undo the standard Star Wars narrative.

Needless to say, SPOILERS under the cut.

The Force Awakens is well-shot, well-acted, competently-told, and very safe. Almost a beat-for-beat remake of A New Hope, it satisfies that itch to see good guys win and bad guys lose. However, it disappointed those fans that might have been looking for something better. TFA's strength was in its new characters, though even those—from Rey's desert-urchin Force-sensitive heroine, to Poe's devil-may-care pilot, to Kylo's golden-boy-fallen-from-grace villain—were fairly standard.

Finn's character was one of the few that stood out as original, at least in the world of the movies.

I don't envy filmmakers working in the Star Wars universe. Stray from tradition—and basically everything in the original trilogy is so iconic you almost can't help it—and fans go rabid. For examples of this...oh, look at the whole prequel trilogy. Stick with tradition, and your movie ends up satisfying, but nothing special, a la TFA.

On its surface, many of the story beats in The Last Jedi follow previously established standards. Padawan finds mentor, then is tempted by the Dark. Dramatic battle is won at high stakes. Undercover mission behind the First Order's shields. Conflicted villain joins hero and turns against the big bad.

But at every stage, to paraphrase from Luke, nothing goes the way you expect it to.

This happens in TLJ almost constantly. To go through each example is beyond my efforts and energy right now, so I'll pick 4 examples:

Poe's confrontation with General Holdo

Finn and Rose's mission to disable the tracker

The reveal of Rey's parentage

Kylo's murder of Snoke

Poe's confrontation with General Holdo follows a typical narrative. A trusted leader (Leia) is incapacitated. In her absence, another leader is appointed...a leader who is not “one of the people”. Poe's clear, unquestioned assumption that he would be in control of the Resistance fleet is easy for us to follow; he's a talented pilot, trusted, and Leia's protege. Of course this would be his time to take over.

Star Wars itself has taught us this: Obi-Wan steps into Qui-Gon's shoes, even down to training his padawan when he is barely out of training himself; Han and Luke become Commanders straight out of blowing up the Death Star. When the Jedi Order refuses Anakin his Master's rank—despite his seat on the council—we are on Anakin's side because he's powerful and it's not fair.

But Poe isn't ready to be in command. He's hot-headed, focused on grandiose last stands full of glory, and too willing to sacrifice others if he sees an immediate victory. His victory over the Dreadnaught is proof of this. The First Order is flush with weaponry; this machine is not unique or particularly worth destroying. Yet he sacrifices munitions, lives, and time, disobeying General Leia's explicit demands.

Despite all this, we are still on Poe's side. Holdo is “clearly” sketchy. We've been trained to think this way. And when Leia shows up, we almost expect her to take over from Holdo, perhaps order her locked away, because she's let the Resistance down.

Of course, that doesn't happen. Holdo is a capable general, she knows what she's doing, and had Poe's uprising really succeeded, the Resistance would have destroyed itself.

Finn and Rose's mission to disable the tracker is another well-worn story thread. Star Wars is all about secret missions behind enemy lines:

Obi-Wan's mission to disable the tractor beam; the gang's mission to disable the shield generator on Endor; Obi-Wan and Anakin's mission to rescue Palpatine; finally, the most egregious example of this, Rogue One's suicide mission to Scarif to get the Death Star plans.

All of these missions succeed, against odds that are so far stacked against them it's almost laughable.

But, they succeed. So when Rose and Finn set off to find a codebreaker, get him back to Snoke's ship, slide behind the shield, disable the tracking device, and get off again, we expect—if not for complete success—at least that the Resistance will get away while the brave duo remain behind in enemy hands.

This story is knocked from under us in three stages:

They're captured before disabling the tracker.

Their fair-weather ally (Benicio del Toro's codebreaker) betrays them for money and a ship.

And, he has been betraying them all along. He turns over the entire Resistance to them.

Not only is Rose and Finn's mission a failure, it actively damages the Resistance's chances of survival. People die because of their need to be heroes, to take action themselves, without consulting anyone else or trusting their leaders.

The reveal of Rey's parentage was an absolutely brilliant stroke. TFA is peppered with questions about her: “Who's the girl?” “What girl?” “Who are you?”

TLJ answers these questions with a thundering: It doesn't matter. And it doesn't.

The original and prequel trilogies are family epics. The original trilogy was about Luke discovering his heritage, facing his father, redeeming his father, being saved by his father. The prequel trilogy was about the Skywalker progenitor being born by miracle and destroying the entire order of the galaxy by falling to the Dark.

TFA sets us up to expect more of the same. Kylo is Han and Leia's son; he has destroyed the Jedi order falling to the Dark. So when we get Rey, a force-sensitive desert child, what are we supposed to assume but that she has some grand heritage of her own?

She doesn't. She doesn't have to have one; she's powerful in her own right because the Force chooses those it will. Rey has been deluding herself, making herself believe that her parents abandoned her for a reason. I think she sees herself in the crystal cave when asking for her parents because the Force is screaming at her that the truth is already inside her; she just needs to be brave enough to face it.

She's nobody, but that doesn't mean she isn't strong or important or capable of changing the world. Anyone can be strong with the Force, though it definitely runs in families. There's even a clever hammering home of this point when one of the slave children draws a broom to his hand with the Force, then stands with it as the moonlight illuminates it like a lightsaber.

The Force is not a Skywalker family exclusive.

Kylo's murder of Snoke is again, straight from the original stories. We assume that it is either love for Rey or repulsion at the idea of killing her or seeing her die that forces his hand against Snoke. The Skywalker men are nothing if not emotionally driven by love.

But other aspects of this story make us believe Kylo will turn to the light. Rey, stepping into Luke's shoes, goes to him believing she can save him by turning him. She goes, surrenders without a fight, allows herself to be disarmed, is tortured by the new Emperor character, and is saved at the eleventh hour by the one she came to save.

And then the narrative screeches to a halt.

Kylo is not redeemed by love. He cannot go back to the Light with Rey because he believes the entire system—Light, Dark, Jedi, Sith, Empire, Rebellion—needs to end. He almost echoes the codebreaker character earlier: “It's all a machine.” He wants to stop the machine, and in the aftermath of slaughtering Snoke, he sees the throne of the First Order as the most powerful place from which to make those changes.

And Rey the person he sees as most able and willing to change the universe with. They have both been failed by narratives for which they are fundamentally unsuited. Continuing the Star Wars cycle makes no sense for them. They gain more if they change the story.

These are, again, just a few cherry-picked examples of the theme Luke spells out. Nothing in The Last Jedi goes the way we, the audience, expect. Some people thrive on subversion; I'm one of them.

Others want the story to stay the same.

What do you think?

[dyncstes-a]

           (   @secondpriincess  !!   )

             ❛    i swear to god , if you come to me with those , i will — anna.    ❜

♕. SELECTIVELY ACCEPTING — ONE LINER STARTER CALL !