#but now with the era of kids being expected to put their whole lives on blast on twitter and insta and snapchat

[vandnana]

In Love With The Enemy [Prologue]

Prologue: Playing Scientist

pairing: lo’ak x female turned na’vi reader

summary: during the time when jake became toruk makto, you were quaritch’s youngest and most valued soldier, the daughter he never had. but, pandora changed you and you died during the final battle, betraying quaritch and wishing that you had been able to do more. now, you have been reborn again, as a na’vi, tasked with quaritch’s new military avatar crew to kill Jake Sully. taking advantage of this second chance at life, you help the Sullys and fall in love along the way.

genre: fluff, angst 

highlights: grace being like a mother to you and jake being like your father figure while quaritch is in his toxic dad era 

warnings: mentions of blood, war, violence, adult language

word count: 6,265

note: thank you to everyone who has been so excited for this series! i wasn’t originally going to make this prologue, but i really wanted to establish the reader’s old life before she was revived and how close the reader was to jake and grace first before diving into the rest of the series! 

[chapter 1] [chapter 2]

The forest of Pandora holds many dangers, but the most dangerous thing about her is that you may grow to love her too much. 

You were the youngest in the regiment back then, too young for war and far too young for what was in store for you in Pandora. But, Quaritch took you in when you were a child. You had no family, no home, and no promise of a real future. He had seen himself in you: cunning, willing, strong, and unafraid. You were everything he could have hoped for in a daughter, but you were real. His prodigy. And not a day went by when you didn’t live up to those expectations. You loved being with Quaritch. He had become your father and he always thought that nothing could ever change that. 

Then you met Grace.

You were only a child when you first met her, and having been around army dogs your whole life, meeting her was a breath of fresh air, air that you never knew you were missing. 

She was hesitant at first. You were Quaritch’s kid, an actual carbon-copy of the worst trigger-happy moron out there. Yet, even with all your harsh military training, you maintained an unmistakeable innocence in your eyes, an innocence that Grace couldn’t ignore when you asked her to teach you about Pandora, about the Na’vi, about the avatars. You were curious, genuinely curious and for Grace, although she would never admit it, it was refreshing too.

“You know, for a little Marine, you’re actually pretty smart.” She was watching you with her elbow resting on the lab table as you took notes of your findings, your eyes glued to your notebook

You didn’t look up at her, “I don’t know about that. I just did what you told me to.”

She put a hand on top of your notebook, halting the pen in your hand, “What I told you to do was simply look at the sample.”

You looked at her with confused eyes, and she sighed, taking the notebook out of your reach.

Holding it up, she displayed your work in front of you, eyes flitting from your notebook to you, “I did not tell you classify your observations and make a surprisingly accurate diagram of the snaketree’s cellular levels.”

You nodded, acknowledging your mistake. You had disobeyed a direct order and unsure what else to say, you apologized on instinct. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

Grace looked at you in awe, laughing suddenly, “This isn’t military training numbnuts. What you did was good work, real good work. I’m impressed.”

“Are you serious?” You were still in disbelief, but the feeling in your chest was one you’d never had before.

She smacked you lightly on the head, “Yes! You’re smarter than all the idiots in your squad, especially your father. And from now on, don’t call me ma’am, okay?”

You rubbed where she had hit you, smiling as you nodded, “Yes ma- I mean, yes Grace.”

Suddenly, you understood what you felt in your chest. It was different from the feeling you would get when you were praised by Quaritch. This feeling, it was like being recognized by a mother. Yes, you were that cunning, willing, strong, and fearless girl that Quaritch adored, but you were also smart beyond what you were told and you had an admirable moral compass that put the rest of your squad to shame.

Grace never let you forget that.

Still, you were Quaritch’s daughter, and being his daughter meant that you had to take on the role of who you always were. His perfect soldier. 

The more time you spent on Pandora, the more you began to see past the façade you let yourself believe for so long. The mission was never about finding diplomatic solutions or building alliances. It was about destruction, money, and humanity’s wretched twist on glory, a misguided glory that Quaritch was more than happy to fulfill. 

When Jake came on board, your father saw that potential, a soldier in with the wrong crowd, the thought invoking a vile taste in his mouth. Yet, with all his personal notions aside, there was an opportunity to be poached. 

Jake was the key to the glory he was chasing.

Quaritch spared no time asking you to summon Jake. He was going to offer him a deal, one that he simply couldn’t refuse. You obliged to the simple request, but your heart was heavy. Six years you had been on Pandora and relations with the indigenous were only getting worse, and with Jake, your father finally found a reliable mole to fulfill his duties. 

You made the short journey to the lab, the way so embedded into you that your legs were working on pure muscle memory. It had been a while since you had been there, too busy with AMP suit duty and perimeter watch to have any time to stop by. You commanded attention instantly walking through the door, the scientists greeting you warmly as you brushed past them. 

Jake, who looked unabashedly lost among the labcoats, immediately looked your way, and seeing you in your full camo, he almost seemed relieved, the pristine, formalin smell of the lab permeating his nose was enough to suffocate him as he sat there, bored out of his mind. 

“Jake Sully?” You approached, your demeanor intimidating at first, but betrayed by the smile on your face when you looked past him, waving. 

He looked behind him to see Grace with a disapproving look in her eyes, “Shouldn’t you be playing soldier, little girl?” 

“I am playing soldier...unfortunately. Which is why I’m here. I need to borrow yours.” You replied, turning your gaze to Jake.

Grace sighed, “Go ahead and take him. He’s pretty much useless here anyway,” Jake looked up at her, but he said nothing, merely scoffing. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll return him to you as soon as possible.” You said sarcastically, putting your hand out in front of her and extending your pinkie, “I pinky promise.” 

You laughed as she rolled her eyes at you, pushing your hand away, “I’d actually rather you keep him, but Selfridge seems to think I need another idiot with a gun.”

“Come on, play nice, Grace.” You reasoned.

She crossed her arms, lowering her eyes at such a hopeless request, “Just get the Marine out of my sight, will you? You’d be doing me such a favor, y/n.”

You glanced down at Jake, who was holding back all the snappy responses that were just at the tip of his tongue. 

“Favor granted.” You replied simply with a smile, walking away, Jake following behind you.

As you reached the doorway, you halted, turning your head back, “I saw those samples you got earlier. I’ll sneak back here after dinner, just don’t look at them without me, okay?”

Looking over her shoulder, Grace couldn’t help but concede to a grin, “Wouldn’t dream of it, but it’s Max you really have to worry about.”

You put a finger out pointedly, your tone stern, “Tell him I’ll shoot him if he touches them.” 

Grace chuckled, “Alright, alright miss Marine. I’ll pass along the message.”

With a final wave, you left, navigating through the halls with Jake beside you, “Sorry about Grace. She’s always prickly at first, but she’ll warm up to you eventually.”

“No kidding.” Jake huffed, looking up at you curiously as he kept up with your pace, “Where are you taking me anyway?”

“The Colonel wants to see you.” You replied, the heaviness in your heart suddenly obvious as you walked, the hallway widening out into one of the base’s hangars, the multiple flyers and AMP suits becoming your audience as you passed them.

Jake maintained his inspecting tone, eyes flitting from the path in front of him to you, “So, what are you? A soldier or one of the science sorties?” 

“Oo “science sortie” I haven’t heard that one before.” You replied sarcastically, but you maintained your placid grin, “I’m y/n.”

He nodded, but still he continued, his tone so arrogant that it almost felt insulting, “Okay y/n...you didn’t answer my question. Playing soldier and playing scientist are two completely different games.”

You scoffed, making eye contact as you pointed to his legs, “And what’s your game? Are you a Marine or are you a cripple?”

He was stunned, having no clever retort, resorting to a simple shrug, “May be out, but you never lose the attitude.”

Having heard all the military cliches, you chuckled, “Look, there’s no game here. Not on Pandora. These RDA goons and this greedy company think they’re on the winning side of a pointless war. To be honest with you, I’d rather be doing what you’re doing.”

“So why aren’t you?” Jake asked, stopping to face you.

You halted, meeting his gaze, your expression visibly troubled. 

“Lieutenant Quaritch.” A deep voice called from behind you, and you turned receiving the soldier’s salute. 

“Warren...what can I do for you?” You asked. 

The soldier pointed to one of the flyers just ahead, your best friend Trudy waving to you as your eyes stopped where she was, “I’ve been relieved of doorman duty. Trudy wanted me to tell you the spot is open for the taking.

Turning your attention to Jake, you asked, “How do you feel about being a doorman? Trudy flies all your “science sorties.” 

Immediately, Jake agreed, “I’m your guy.” 

Warren saluted again, acknowledging Jake with a nod before returning to the flyer.

The disgruntled expression on your face only lasted for a moment, but Jake saw it right away, his eyes softening as he looked at you. He wasn’t all that convinced of his position being covetable or about this war you had talked about, but he did understand the pressure you were under. 

Choosing to lighten the mood, Jake took an opportunity to tease you, clearing his throat before speaking, “Lieutenant Quaritch, huh? That must get you a lot of dates.”

Somehow, Jake knew that it was exactly what you needed, wanting to avoid the conversation in front of too many prying ears. You gave into your own laughter, you responded snarkily, “Probably the same amount as you, old man.”

Jake scoffed, “Old man? I’m not that much older than you.” 

Your eyes darted upward as you put a finger to your chin, your expression filled with feigned wonderment, “Really? I mean, you look like you’ve earned your senior discount with that wheelchair.” 

He chuckled to himself, amused as he retorted, “I’m sure my senior discount doesn’t do your kids meal justice.”

You threw your head back in another fit of laughter, “I’ll give you that one Sully. For now.” 

Stopping, you outstretched your arm, “The Colonel is right through there.” You pointed, seeing your father bench pressing in the makeshift workout room the soldiers created. Although its black, metal bars made it feel more like a prison.

Jake thanked you, and you nodded, putting a fist out, which he proudly bumped.

“Hey Jake,” You began, and he looked over his shoulder, waiting for what you had to say.

The seriousness in your voice was stark as you gave him a curt expression, “I meant what I said earlier about a pointless war. Whatever my dad offers you, he’ll mean it. My dad takes care of his own. Just don’t make promises you can’t keep.” 

He squinted at you inquisitively, “Wasn’t planning to.” 

You turned your heel, looking over your shoulder before leaving, “See you around, old man, unless you want to go back to your retirement home on earth.”

“Go crawl back to your crib, won’t you?” He yelled after you, and with your back turned, you flipped him off, his chuckle becoming fainter and fainter as you walked away.

You stopped by Trudy and she stopped what she was doing, getting up from her crouched position, “Hey, hey what’s wrong? You’ve got that look in your eye.”

Looking back, you watched as Jake talked to your father, “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling, Trudy.”

Trudy put a comforting hand on your back, “Why don’t we go to the caf and raid the dessert pantry? That always makes you feel better.”

“Can’t hurt.” You replied, the two of you hastily walking to the cafeteria.

You felt slightly better because of Trudy’s efforts, but that bad feeling still plagued you. When night fell, you walked to the soldiers’ quarters, making your way to the far end of it to find your father in his room.

“What did Sully say, sir?” Keeping your nonchalance, you showed no heightened emotions, standing perfectly as your father turned his attention to you.

He had a smirk on his face, which gave away his answer, “We’ll have these savages by the balls in no time.”

“What exactly are you having him do?” You pushed on, maintaining your stoic expression.

Quaritch walked over to you, “I thought about sending you instead. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind seeing as that Augustine bitch is trying to brainwash you into believe her tree-hugging bullshit.”

Still, you gave him an unreadable expression, waiting for him to continue what he was saying.

“But, you don’t have an avatar. Sully can gather intel that we need from the inside. Understand?”

“Yes, sir. I understand.” You stood with perfect posture as silence enveloped you. 

He smiled at you, putting a hand on your cheek, “Now, go on to bed baby girl. We got a long day ahead of us.” 

~

Could you blame Jake for taking the deal? He didn’t know that he was really making a deal with the devil. 

Jake was like you at first. Ignorant. He didn’t fully grasp the world he was entering into, clinging onto the comfort of what he had always known. He was a Marine who figured it was just another hellhole, another tour that would add to his long list of sins.

He would get a reversal, his old life before a big hole was blown right through the middle of it. Reporting intel was a cakewalk to Jake, and if that meant the promise of his legs back, then there was nothing to lose. 

Three months. That was how long Jake had to negotiate the Na’vi’s relocation. 

It didn’t take long for Grace to find out that Jake was talking to the Colonel, Max rushing in to deliver the news to you all, his mannerisms frantic as he threw his hands up. Grace had her usual cigarette in her mouth, and in her burning rage, she almost bit down on it, her teeth barely sinking in as she grit her teeth. 

Taking it out of her mouth, she let a puff of smoke escape and you all felt her rage as her smoke cloud engulfed you all, “Those idiots have no business sticking their noses in my department.”

The rest of you were silent, listening as she continued her rant. Jake was untouchable, strangely chosen by the Omaticaya, and unfortunately, her only way back in with the clan. You could see her thinking as her eyes went to the ceiling, her forehead furrowing as she considered what her next move was. Seemingly, she had found the answer after her mental contemplation, immediately ordering everyone to gather everything up.  

Quickly, she walked over to her station, her eyes scanning the contents of the table. 

You followed after her, “What are you doing to do?”

She handed you her cigarette, her hands at work as she began to organize what was in front of her, “We’re getting out of Dodge. I’m not about to let your brainless father and that ass-hat Selfridge micro-manage this thing.”

She had handed you the cigarette so haphazardly that you almost grabbed the  part that had been lit, cinging it on your belt once she gave it to you, “So, where are we going?” 

She stopped, facing you with a warning look, “We? You really think daddy dearest is gonna let you out of his sight? He already gets that ugly vein in his forehead every time you do anything that involves me.” 

“Let him have his ugly vein because I’m not staying here if you’re not.” You protested, searching her eyes for approval, but she only looked at you with a pessimistic expression. 

She put a hand on your cheek, her steely tone betrayed by the concern in her eyes, “Don’t push it. “

You placed a hand over hers, “You can’t change my mind. So, just tell me. Where are you thinking of moving everything?”

Grace groaned at your stubbornness, letting go of her hold on your face as she pulled her tablet out to show you, “Site 26, up in the Hallelujah Mountains.” 

Your eyes lit up as an idea sprang into your mind, “I have to go.” You said abruptly making your way back to the hangar, your eyes avidly searching for your father.

When you caught sight of him, he was about to get into an AMP suit, but the sound you calling him made him jump back down, his head turned in your direction.

He immediately gave you a toothy grin, pleased to see you as he put an affectionate hand on your back, “Is my little girl keepin’ everyone in line?”

“I’m practically walking intimidation to these people, sir.” You joked, but he took you seriously, looking at you with such pride.

“Nothing wrong with being feared. That’s how we Quaritchs get it done.” 

“Speaking of getting things done,” He leaned in closer, attentive as he waited for you to continue, “The scientists are about to have a change in scenery. I know you got Jake in there, but let me fly with Trudy. With me around too, you’ve practically got your dream team.” 

Facing you, he put his hands on your shoulders, his smile even wider than before as the corners of his eyes crinkled in pure regard for you, “Taking initiative. I wish I had ten more like you.”

You smiled back, “So, I have your approval?”

“You’ve got my approval,” His tone changing ominously as he stared down at you, “But don’t let these limp-dick science majors fool you. There ain’t nothing worth saving here. You know the mission, y/n.” 

Hugging him, you let the smile on your face fall, the graveness in his tone sending a whirring ache in your stomach. “You know me better than that, dad. I’m your daughter.” You reassured him, your voice so convincing that even you had almost believed the lie you were feeding him. 

He leaned back, looking at you with a pleased grin, “Damn right you are.” 

~

“After all this time, we finally get to fly together. Ain’t that a bitch.” Trudy said, handing you bags as you set them into the back of her flyer.

“Better late than never.” You hummed, overjoyed to finally be away from the base.

After everything was secured, everyone’s avatars were loaded on, their impossibly large stature so lifeless that they almost seemed like statues. Flying through the mountains, you all looked around in awe, Trudy laughing at you all as your mouths gaped open, too consumed in absolute wonderment to even process her laugh. This wasn’t the first time you had seen the mountains, but that didn’t make them any less remarkable. Landing, you all wasted no time making yourselves comfortable, picking out your bunks, setting your stuff down, and inspecting the entire place. 

Over the next few weeks, Jake stayed true to what he was ordered to do, diligent and detailed with every report after his excursions using his avatar. Sometimes, he would do them alone, always making sure that no one was watching, but other times you were right beside him, cringing as he attempted to make sense of the Omaticaya.

After the first month, you could sense Jake’s weariness as he closed his video log, his finger nervously hovering over the button to send it in. 

Walking over, you placed a hand on the table, “Yeah, I’d be hesitating to send that in too. You look like crap, old man.” You snickered, hoping to subside his worries with your joke.

He met your eyes, annoyed, “Whatever, baby face. Don’t you have a kids meal to eat or something?.”

“I had to check on my favorite old guy. You know, make sure you didn’t keel over or anything.” You pouted, earning a scowl from him.

Taking a seat on top of the table, you tilted your head at him, What’s with the hesitation? You usually just send things in and walk away.” You prodded.

He pressed the button, not wanting to explain himself, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lowering your eyes at him, you scoffed, “It’s not a crime to like it here. Should I remind you how earth is practically just a ticking time bomb? The core is caving in on itself as we speak.”

“I want my legs back.” He replied, but even he wasn’t convinced by his tone.

Getting up, you let your arms fall to your sides, “You have legs.”

“Not always.” Jake snapped back. 

“You know Jake, like it or not, blue’s always been your color.” You hinted, leaving him to contemplate your words as you went back to your bunk. 

He was fighting hard denial, falling in love with the forest little by little, and everything it was giving him. Jake didn’t realize how much he missed running, hell even walking was a blessing. Things were hard at first, but with Neytiri pushing his limits, he couldn’t even complain, too grateful that he was even able to get back up from falling. 

And suddenly, Jake finally had something to lose. 

You watched as everything was backwards for Jake, the world he had thrust himself into for a simple mission becoming the reality, while his waking life had become the dream. Pandora was changing him, just like it changed you.

Learning the ways of the Omaticaya was the catalyst, but then there was also Grace, and Norm, and of course, you. While he had found unlikely friendships with Norm and Grace, you had become close friends since the day you first met. 

In truth, you reminded him of his brother, Tommy, the science guy, the smarter one. But Tommy didn’t have that callous edge that Jake’s military background imprinted on him. It was the one thing about Jake that Tommy could never relate to.

You could though, and you did. 

Every time. 

You were practically cut from the same tree, and despite your usual dizzying scientific discussions, Na’vi lingo and occasional latin-rooted vernacular, you actually understood him without really trying.

You were younger than him, younger than everyone, a constant cause for concern because aside from all your one-liners and jokes, Jake felt responsible for you. You were better than him in so many ways, and he respected you,  cared about you, more than he cared about himself. 

And the longer you were around Jake, the more you got to know him, and the easier it became to see his internal struggle. He didn’t know who he was anymore, his concept of loyalty faltering as the burden of what Quaritch had asked him had finally laid stones in his heart. 

Jake’s three months had gone by in a blink. To the disappointment of your father, his last report was more than three weeks from that deadline. Your father had called him back to base, Jake’s lag stirring his intolerance for deviancy, but you intercepted it, offering to talk to him yourself. 

You waited for Jake by his pod, looking out at the Pandora forest through the window and taking in the tranquility of the scene before you. Beyond the clearing were the endless flora and fauna and amidst the air and soft dirt, were speckles of life in the form of the local insects and animals. You peered outside in awe, wondering what it would feel like to explore the forest without the confines of your feeble humanity.

Behind you, you could hear the pod open, stirring you away from your thoughts. You turned around, Jake’s expression completely contemplative as he noticed you. 

You gave him an equally reflective expression, your mind carrying an unwieldy weight as you dreaded the conversation that daunted the both of you.

He pulled himself out of the pod, but you remained where you were. “My dad is starting to question your resolve. Will Neytiri and her people move from HomeTree?”

You knew the answer already, and Jake buried his face in his hands, “They don’t want anything. There’s nothing to trade, but what could they possibly want from us? Lite beer and blue jeans? They’re never gonna leave, and I don’t blame them.”

You hung your head low, “It’s not wrong for you to like it here, Jake. You didn’t do anything wrong. My father roped you into this mess.”

He lifted his head up from his hands, his expression so burdened and beaten down, “I can barely remember my old life y/n. I don’t even know who I am anymore.” 

You leaned forward, putting comforting hands on his shoulders, “You know who you are Jake.” 

He looked up, his eyes begging you to tell him who that was. “You’re one of The People now, and this forest is your home. You can protect it still.”

Jake never cried, but he almost did as he avoided your eyes, “You once told me not to make a promise I can’t keep.”he let out a defeated sigh, “Should have taken you seriously back then.” 

“What matters is what you do now. Saving them, that’s all that matters. I’ll tell my dad what he wants to hear, but you know what you have to do, and you’re the only one who can do it.” You kept a meek smile, patting his shoulders.

He was silent for a moment, nodding as he took in your words, “Whatever happens, I’m not bringing you down with me. Who knows what your dad will do when he finds out you’ve gone rogue.” His face was etched in concern, his worry for you embedded in the lines of his forehead.

You shrugged, your expression grave as you frowned, “A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning.” 

You paused, looking down at your clasped hands as you reminisced about the life you had back on earth, “I owe Quaritch my life, you know. My real parents didn’t want me and no one else did either. For a long time, he was all I had, and I thought that everything he did was to protect me.”

You met Jake’s eyes again, your expression fierce with determination, “But, kids grow up and they realize who their parents are and they either accept that or fight it with all they got. I choose to fight.”

Jake’s expression softened as you continued on, your emotion suddenly overwhelming as you felt your voice almost break, “You, Grace, Trudy,  Norm, you guys are my family. I got your back Jake. No matter what.”

He put a hand on your head, a genuine smile on his lips, “Don’t worry about me. You’re the baby. It’s my job to protect you.”

You shook your head, “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“What can I say?” He sighed, shrugging, “I’m a stubborn old man.”

~

The next day, the bulldozers came and not long after that came the destruction of HomeTree. There was nothing you all could do except sit and watch as Quaritch ordered the columns to be brought down, the Na’vi scattering in waves of blue as they witnessed their home engulf in flames, the cataclysmic reds and oranges muting the once green landscape and settling into the soulless smoke cloud that rose above them all, its presence like a deadly omen.

Grace, Norm, and Jake were detained immediately, and just like Jake had said, he protected you, pretending you had no involvement in anything that happened. You, Trudy, and Max did you all you could to help them escape when you got the chance, and as you approached her flyer, Jake stopped, urging you to leave so you wouldn’t get caught. 

You refused, insisting to come with them, but Grace had already made the decision for you, pulling you into a hug, she caressed your hair, “You need to stay here, baby girl.”

You could feel tears fall down your face as you wrapped your arms around her, savoring her embrace before letting go, unwillingly giving in to the urgency of the situation.

As they entered into the hangar, you ran back to the heart of the base, hiding while soldiers charged toward them, your father taking the lead. Later that night, you found out Grace was dying and you cried alone. You were beyond consolation, your grief consuming your heart, the ache tormenting you as you sat in the base, unable to do anything for her. You had seen death. Countless times. But not being with her for hers felt like you were the one you had been killed.

It was hard to feign your innocence after you found out that it was your father who shot her, and it became damn near impossible when Jake told you she had finally passed. Still, you were strong, playing the perfect soldier until the final battle came.

Fleets of ships entered into enemy territory, rows and rows of them creating an ugly, gray hoard amidst Pandora’s natural beauty. When you had entered, warriors on their ikrans swarmed, shooting left and right and bringing down the smaller flyers one by one.

You were with your father when he gave you the order to shoot Trudy down, her flyer adorned with war paint as she targeted your father’s ship, guns blazing. 

“I won’t do it.” You refused outright. 

In all your life, you had never been defiant, stunning him only for a second before he rose his voice at you, “Shoot her down, y/n!”

You got up, gritting your teeth as you spoke, your contempt silvery in your tongue, “I won’t kill my friend.” 

Seething, he turned away from you, “If you won’t, I will.” 

Before you could stop him he armed all pods, sending endless shots toward Trudy. You were frozen, unable to peel your eyes away as you watched her rotor explode, her flyer plummeting further and further down to the ground until she was engulfed in a deadly explosion. Still, you were agonized from the pain of losing Grace, but your loss became insurmountable watching your father murder your best friend. 

He paid no mind to that pain as he continued his plight, too focused to care about what he had done to you. All felt hopeless suddenly, your heart breaking as you watched more destruction unfold before you. Ikran and Na’vi were being shot in the air and below you men and women were being shot down, the fits of fleeting light coming from the gunfire of the AMP suits still visible from so high up.

Then, as if a prayer had been answered, ikran were flying in swarms from all directions, their masses attacking ships and taking down sentries. On the other side of you, you saw Jake, landing on top of one of the ships, unleashing grenades and jumping off to land on the biggest ikran you had ever seen, Toruk. 

You watched as Toruk maneuvered through the arching rock columns that surrounded the Tree of Souls and descended quickly to your father’s ship. With a loud thud, Jake was above you, unleashing grenades. Seeing him, your father steered the ship right, rupturing his balance as he fell backward. The grenade exploded, triggering the oxygen breach alarm. You grabbed an exo pack as you ran to the ship’s hatch, your father yanking you to the ground, his gun already in his hand as he stationed himself in the opening. Rushing, you took hold of the ladder, pushing past your father toward Jake, who was barely holding onto the ship, a missile already in his hand.

Jake threw the missile into the rotor as Quaritch fired a shot, the bullet meant for Jake hitting you as you blocked its path, the blood pooling in your chest instantly. In that moment, Quaritch dropped his gun, running toward you with his arms outstretched, his attempt at catching you futile as you already fell backwards.

A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning.

What Quaritch had failed to be, Jake fulfilled, scooping you into his arms as you both tumbled downward, tightly wrapping himself around your dying body to brace you from the impact. When you had finally fallen to the forest floor, you were heaving, your vision fading as he towered over you.

He was holding onto your limp body, tears streaming down his face. “No, no. You’re gonna be fine, y/n.”

You had never seen him cry before, and that made everything feel all the more heart-wrenching. There was no hope to save you.

You smiled at him like nothing was wrong, “You know me better than that Jake. I’m a scientist. I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

He let out a weak chuckle. It was the same thing that Grace had said to him when she lay dying, making his heart twist even more. He was in utter shock, his eyes suddenly drowned with tears while hugging you, as if doing so would bring back the warmth that was slowly leaving your body. 

You stared at him, piecing your final words together as you could feel the creeping darkness approach. Putting a hand on his cheek, you finally knew what you wanted to say. “You’re a good man Jake. Thanks for being my family.”

“Y/n, you’re gonna be alright.” He cooed, his heart breaking as your face paled and paled.

Taking one final breath, you smiled, “You’ll make a great dad someday.” 

“Y/n.” Jake’s voice quietly inaudible, but your eyes went blank and your hand dropped from his cheek.

Your body was cold and bloody as he held onto you, and as he tried so desperately to search for a remaining light in your eyes, he was only filled with more pain, an irrevocable pain welling inside of him, his heart blocking his mind from making sense of the fact that you were really dead. 

You reminded Jake of his brother Tommy, and just like him, you were dead too. He felt like he had failed you, the pain and rage stirring inside of him becoming a strength as he went up against your father. 

“Give it up, Quaritch. It’s all over.” Jake yelled out, his call becoming a perfectly timed distraction as Neytiri tried to free herself from the weight of a dead thanator.

“Nothing’s over while I’m breathing.” the Colonel spat, his words imbued with his pure hatred and scorn, “You killed my little girl, Sully. And for that, death is too good for you. I want to see you suffer.”

“It’s your fault she’s gone!” Jake hissed. 

“She was my daughter, and I should have never trusted her with you. You think you’re one of them?” So blinded by his own rage, the Colonel blamed Jake for your death, the fuel of his grief giving him an unholy boost in his fighting spirit.

“Time to wake up.” Walking to the pod, he broke the window, filling the oxygen isolated space with Pandora’s air. Panting, Jake could feel his link go in and out, his body convulsing in response to the breach. 

When Quaritch had turned back to Jake, he laughed maniacally, enjoying as he watched Jake struggle. Grabbing him by the hair, he pulled Jake’s knife out, “I’m gonna love cutting you up with your own knife.”

Jake even in his lightheaded state, managed to keep his resolve. Hissing aggressively as Quaritch inched and inched toward his neck, Jake could feel the imminence of blood being drawn until he stopped, Quaritch’s hands going limp, dropping Jake and the knife. As fast as the first came, so did a second, dealing the final blow. Neytiri watched as Quaritch died, satisfied as he became void of life, the misguided glory he was chasing dying with him.

~

Those who weren’t loyal to the Na’vi were sent back to earth, and in his last ditch attempt to save you, Jake had taken you before Mo’at, hoping that Great Mother still held your life in her intricate balance.

Mo’at pleaded for you underneath the Tree of Souls, the Great Mother’s roots glowing around your lifeless body, but dimming quickly.

Lifting her head up, Mo’at looked at Jake, choosing her words very carefully, “In this time of great sorrow, she cannot be saved Jake Sully, but the Great Mother still holds her in her heart. She is not gone from us forever.” 

Neytiri held him as he stared ahead blankly, so struck by his grief that he hadn’t truly grasped what Mo’at was saying. When he had shaken himself out of his state, he picked your body up, burying you where they had buried Grace’s human body, the Omaticaya chanting to Eywa as Jake, Norm, and all the other scientists gathered to say their final goodbye.

And in that final goodbye, you too had become a relic of the past, but your memory lived on as Jake continued his life, your death a painful reminder that he must always protect his family. 

You had told him something long ago, something he would never forget.

A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning. 

~

Author’s Note: 

My lovers, 

how did you all like that prologue? please let me know in the comments!! i’d love to know what you think :) writing grace and trudy’s death hurt me in my soUL, ITS NOT THIS ANGSTY FOR THE LATER PARTS I SWEAR

again, i wanna thank you all for waiting so patiently for this series!! 

part 1 is almost done as well and im beyond excited for you guys to see reader and jake reunite :) AND OFCCC READER AND LO’AK MEETING OMGGGGGG

for all those who wanted to be part of the taglist, you’re listed below

if you want to be tagged in the next parts, please comment on this post or send me a dm or an ask with your blog name! 

Love,

Nana <3

taglist: [some of the blogs didn’t allow me to tag some blogs, but i wanted to include them anyways!] @fifty-shades-of-mischeif @pretty-npeach @tonni30 @kirikuki @itsemy01 @persondoingstuff  @23victoria @soobinsrose @starjane312 @valentineoxox@imthefunniestpersonalive @justlillythinking @mae-is-crazy @scarletrosesposts @paniniii @bloodyziggy @mister-police   @mrs-sullys-blog @niiight-dreamerrrr @promiseofeywa @wilmalovegood @sssspencerrr @mochi-yu @d4rno @lovekeeho @dreama-little-dreamof-me @bammtoli @strawberryclouds22 @neteyamoa @devil-on-acid​ @a-queen-blr​ @my-name-duh  @mayabritjohn @annoyingstrawberryballoon @0-0h0-0 @glitter-in-my-heroin  @katkat1918

[jewish-vents]

My Anti-Social Personality Disorder is helping me cope with the spike in antisemitism - I've been told I'm not a person, I don't have a soul, people like me shouldn't be allowed to have kids, I should be euthanized, everything someone with ASPD does is secretly evil or manipulative and every person who sucks secretly has ASPD, etc. - but it's not helping me with the one thing I need it to. I need to protect my great-grandmother, my only living relative, the one who raised me after my parents died, who fought tooth and nail to get me out of the foster care system. I need to shield her from all this bad news and make sure she doesn't realize how violent and dire things are. She always protected me. I have to do the same for her. I have to keep her happy for however long she has left on this Earth.

I love her more than anyone or anything in the world. I would take a bullet for her if I had to, but antisemitism is more like a sea of landmines that keep detonating all around us. I try to get out in front of everything. I buy her silky summer scarves because she loves them and they cover up her Magen David. Instead of going to the summer music festival here, which I know attracts a lot of country good ol' boy white supremacists on top of the left wing antisemites, I bought us tickets to a classical violinist she's a huge fan of. She asked about my girlfriend breaking up with me and instead of telling her about how antisemitic my ex is I blurted out a truth I've been hiding for years, which is that I'm asexual but not aromantic and that's made dating hard sometimes. I've sought out, downloaded and burned DVDs of all kinds of her favorite movies from the black and white era so she'll be distracted away from her time spent normally watching the news by that. In spite of my dyslexia, I've recommitted myself to learning Hebrew because she helps me and that pulls her attention off of the news and the realities I don't want her to face.

And yet it's not enough. More and more of the news of antisemitism rising around the world filters through to her. I'm doing everything I can but it's not enough. I am not enough. I am insufficient. ASPD comes with being acutely aware of your own high intelligence but what no one ever tells you is, to quote an anime I watched recently, "You can't recover from something you can't escape." There's too much for me to shield her from all of it.

I'm used to being treated as if my personhood is conditional and can be revoked at any moment. That's my whole life. That was not her whole life. She's a survivor of the Shoah. Her whole life has been spent seeing progress made in antisemitic attitudes in many countries after witnessing the worst it could get. My brain is uniquely (mal)adapted to process and disregard people's cruelty as normal. Hers is not. She expects people to have humanity. They don't. And I can't protect her from that. I can't save her. I can't keep this from creeping into her spectrum of awareness.

Sometimes I wonder why Hashem even bothered giving me heightened intelligence if I can't manage to use it correctly to help her. What is it good for? What is it worth?

Sometimes I think this must be a skill issue. If I just tried harder, surely, with my IQ, I could keep her safe and oblivious to everything. I need to be doing more. But what?

Sometimes I just look at goyim and - and I am aware this is not something you're supposed to admit to/is bad, I just don't care - I think, "I hope someday someone treats you exactly like you've treated others. I hope you get back exactly what you've put out into the world, and you get as little sympathy and help in that moment as my great-grandmother is getting right now."

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend that you reach out to your local Jewish community. If you don't have one, or you for any reason don't feel comfortable with the local community, seek out community online.

There is only so long that you can shield your great-grandmother from the world. I understand the urge; we all have it, but no one has the power to keep their loved ones from ever being hurt.

What you can do is support her through the pain, and find other people who will help support her.

This will not be the first time your great-grandmother has experienced antisemitism. She may be better equipped to handle it than you fear.-🐞

[cherrycola27]

Star Spangled Seresin

Series Warnings: Language, alcohol consumption. Political situations. Unrequited love, one night stand, military and political inaccuracies. Smut. 18+ Minors DNI. Banner Credit: @thedroneranger

Masterlist Previous Part Next Part

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Chapter 5: New Romantics

If you had asked Jacob Seresin what the best moment of his life was, you would probably expect him to say something about his Navy career, his family, or getting elected to the White House.

What you wouldn't expect him to say would was that the best moment of his life was right now, when his wonderful girlfriend, Jaycee, surprised him with tickets to the Eras Tour.

Jake was the second biggest Swiftie in the White House. You were the first. Just as Jaycee gave him his tickets, Bradley was giving you yours. Taylor was on her second North American leg of her tour and would be playing at FedEx Field.

It was a warm May morning, and you and Bradley were in a good place in your now, very real marriage. Jake and Jaycee had successfully been hiding their relationship for over a year now, with only a few "soft launch" photos on social media. Tonight, Jaycee and Jake planned to go public, and true to her journalism roots, Jaycee already had it planned out perfectly.

You had spent all day getting ready in your Miss Americana outfit before forcing helping Bradley with his Heartbreak Prince garb.

Jaycee had matching shirts for her, and Jake made. Hers read, "Karma is my boyfriend." While Jakes simply read, "Karma." He was so excited to put it on. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.

The whole way to the stadium, the two of you talked non-stop about the set list and what you hoped the surprise songs would be. Bradley and Jaycee watched the two of you in adoration and slight horror. They were definitely not the die-hard Taylor fans like you and Jake were.

"So, Wise-woman, what are you hoping she does for a surprise song?" Jake asked you. "I would die if she did 'peace' it the only one of my favorite songs that isn't on the set list that she hasn't done. And I just know I'm going to cry when she does 'Wildest Dreams' and 'august'." You tell him. "What about you Jake?" You ask him.

"I will lose my mind if she does 'New Romantics.' It is hands down my most favorite song. I know she takes requests, and I tweeted her that we were going to be there, and I asked for it, so I mean, maybe she will?" Jake said hopefully.

Jaycee sat back in her chair and smirked. Little did Jake know, Jaycee had been planning this for weeks, and she'd already planted the seed with Taylor's creative team for "New Romantics" to be a surprise song. Sometimes, working in the White House had its perks.

To say that Jaycee was overwhelmed by the concert was an understatement. She couldn't believe the sheer number of people that were there or the number of friendship bracelets she'd been given. She also never would have imagined witnessing the vice president of the United States cry while scream-singing 'Enchanted' to her or seeing her best friend and the president slow dance to their wedding songs being performed live, but yet, here she was.

You and Jake were currently dancing to 'Shake It Off," while she and Bradley sat back and admired the two of you living your best lives.

"So he has no idea that she's going to sing it?" Bradley asked Jaycee as they sat back in their seats. "No clue." Jaycee smiled back at him.

Soon, the 1989 portion of the set had finished, and the stage was dark. Jake waited with baited breath as Jaycee came to stand next to him. They listened to Taylor talk about how she occasionally takes requests for this part of the set and how she had a very important request for tonight.

Jaycee couldn't hear anything else after that because of how loud Jake was screaming when the first few bars of "New Romantics" began to play. She quickly whipped out her phone and began filming him. She couldn't help but laugh when he sang the chorus and looked directly at her during the line, "The best people in life are free."

She couldn't help but smile, and it never left her face for the rest of the night. By the time the show ended, Jaycee had tons of photos and videos on her phone. On the limo ride back, she carefully selected a few group photos, one of you are her, one of you and Bradley, and one of her and Jake with their matching shirts on full display for an Instagram post. After selecting the pictures, she captioned them, "The best people in life (really) are free. #HardLaunch #J&J"

She made sure to tag the correct accounts before queuing the post to drop at exactly four in the morning before turning off her phone. She spent the night with Jake in his room in the White House. All night, he keeps telling her that she should just move in with him, but Jaycee likes the freedom of having her own apartment. It gives her a chance to still be independent. She knows that eventually she'll move in with Jake, but she just isn't ready to yet.

The next morning, when she and Jake turn on their phones, the news of their relationship is the first thing they see. Four media outlets have already reached out to both of them for an exclusive, but Jake and Jaycee have already promised an exclusive to one of her coworkers.

You and Bradley are abuzz now that the news has finally broken. You were sure that Bradley was going to slip up with every sligh comment he posted on their soft launch photos, but thankfully, he never did. You were, however, worried about Jaycee. She was very much like you in the fact that she didn't spend much time in the spotlight. She was used to reporting the news, not being in it.

You knew that there would be a learning curve. Thankfully, Jake was there to help her. Not that she needed much help. After years of working in the industry, Jaycee knew exactly what to say and how to say it. She just got a little freaked out when people wanted to take her photo or if paparazzi would show up.

The first few weeks were fine until one day, when she was out running some errands.

Jaycee had clocked the man in the dark jacket when he started following her a few blocks back, right after she'd gotten her morning coffee. She tried to brush it off, but every turn she made, he was there. She pulled her hat down further over her face and kept her large sunglasses on. When she made another turn, she could see that the man had a camera in his hands. She figured he was trying to a photo of her doing something scandalous for the tabloids.

Normally, photographers kept their distance, but this one didn't. And Jaycee couldn't shake the eerie feeling this guy gave her. So, she discreetly took out her phone and called Jake before ducking into a CVS on the corner.

"Jake." She breathed into her phone as she tried to hide from the man. "What's wrong, darlin?" He asked her, sensing the distress in her voice. "A paparazzo is following me. They have been for several blocks. He has a weird vibe, and I can't shake it. I'm at the CVS on the corner of 4th and West. Can you please come get me?" Jaycee asked him.

"Henry and I are on our way now." Jake replied. But before Jaycee could say anything else, she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder and spin her around.

"Ms. Marchetti, how are you doing?" The man who'd been following her asked as he held his camera up to snap a photo of her. Jaycee panicked. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" She yelled. Jake was still on the phone. He heard her trying to run away while the man chased after her, asking questions and snapping pictures.

"Henry, step on it!" Jake yelled as his head of security raced through the streets. Jaycee tore down the sidewalk like a mad woman, running into people and bumping into curbs. The photographer still followed her and was shouting at her.

"I just want to ask you a few questions!" He yelled, but Jaycee didn't want to be anywhere near that creep.

She turned a few corners and ran down an alley. She thought she was safe until he spotted her. Jaycee didn't have anywhere else to go. She was at a dead end. She was just about to scream when Jake's voice rang out as he yelled for the man to get away from her. He and Henry quickly stepped in between them, using their bodies to block her from his view.

"Listen, pal, I don't know where you get off on following my girl through downtown and putting your hands on her, but I swear to God if you ever do it again, it will be the last thing you ever do." Jake sneered at him.

"I wasn't meaning any harm, Mr. Seresin. I was just trying to get some stuff for the Sun Journal. Honest." He tells Jake.

Jake isn't satisfied with his response. "That doesn't give you the right to put your hands on her or follow her." He tells the paparazzo.

Henry looks over his shoulder at Jake, who nods to him. Henry then reaches forward and grabs the man's camera. He snaps the lens off before ejecting the memory card and snapping it in and throwing everything on the ground and stepping on it.

"Well, you and I both know that the Sun Journal isn't exactly top news. I didn't think she's agree to a sit down with me. But even though she didn't answer my questions, I got some great shots of her running through the people looking crazy. And a few in the pharmacy. I'll just cook something up." He chuckles.

"What photos?" Jake says as he stares the man down.

"You can't do that!" The man screeches.

"And you can't grab people without their permission. Now, if I were you, I'd get the hell out of here before Henry causes you to meet the same fate as your equipment." Jake states.

The photographer opens his mouth to argue but runs away before he does.

Jake immediately softens and turns to Jaycee. "Darlin, are you okay?" He asks as he wraps her in his arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm glad you got here when you did, Jakey. I don't know what I would have done." A few tears slip down her face.

"I'll always be here for you, Jay." Jake reassures her. "C'mon, let's get in the car, I'm taking you back with me." Jake tells her.

Once the two of them are in the car, Jake let's out a long sigh. "Jay, I know you like having your own space, but I think it might be best if you moved in with me." He tells her.

"Jake—I don't think that is really necessary. Today was just a one-time thing. It just caught me off guard. I'll be more careful next time." Jaycee tells him.

"Jaycee, it wasn't really a suggestion. You're moving in with me." Jake says firmly.

"Jake, you can't tell me what to do. I'm an adult who is capable of making her own decisions." Jaycee shoots back.

"Jay, I understand that, but I need to make sure you're safe. I can't do that if you aren't with me. If you live in the White House, I can make sure you have round the clock security so nothing like this ever happens again. I mean, what if Henry and I hadn't gotten there when we did? Something bad could have happened to you. Jaycee, I don't want to take away your independence, I just want to make sure you're safe. I love you, and I care about you, and I would lose my mind if something happened to you." Jake explains to her.

"Jake, I hear you, and I hear your concerns, but—I just—moving in together is a big step. And the White House? If I live there, I have to give up my job at The Post. My journalistic integrity goes out the door. I mean, I'm up for a Washington Women in Journalism Award for my piece on the treatment of the modern woman in the workforce. I knew dating you would come with sacrifices, but it's still hard. She tells him.

"I know. And it's not fair. We knew that there would be struggles going public. I just didn't expect them to happen so quickly. Jaycee, you know I'd never ask you to give up your life for me. I couldn't do that to you." Jake takes her hands in his. "Maybe I jumped the gun with the whole living together thing. Maybe we could—"

"You're right." Jaycee stops him with a long. "What?" Jake looks at her confused. "What you said about safety and privacy and protecting me. You're right. As much as i hare to admit it." She explains. Jake softens. "What if we did a trial run. A few weeks, maybe. Just to see how it goes. Can we compromise at that?" Jake asks her.

"No. I want to move in with you, Jake. I love you, and I know that you really do want what's best for us—for me." Jaycee smiled at him.

"Really? Are you sure?" Jake checks with her.

"Yeah, I'm sure Jakey. Y/N has been trying to convince me for months. She wants me to be the head of White House PR anyway." Jaycee laughes

Jake joins her and laces his fingers through hers. "So this is a big step." He sighs out.

"I know. But it's a good big step." Jaycee assures him.

The next few days are spent getting her belongings collected. You're over the moon that Jaycee is going to be living in the same space as you again. The day she officially calls the White House home, you pull Jake aside and remind him that even though he is the vice president, you'll kill him if he ever hurts your best friend He knows you aren't kidding.

Later that night, the two of them lay in bed, making small talk. And in that moment, both of them realize that any reservations they had are gone. This is it for them, and right now, they are exactly where they want to be.

Taglist: @daggerspare-standingby @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @hecate-steps-on-me @roosterscock @roosterbruiser @startrekfangirl2233 @soulmates8 @xoxabs88xox @avengersfan25 @blackwidownat2814 @loveforaugust @mak-32 @cottagecori @amysteryspot @heyimmadisonn @cassiemitchell @die-cunt @shipinabluebottle @malindacath @violyn20 @imawkwardlysoc @books-for-summer @blackroseboulevard @recordblues @desert-fern @luckyladycreator2 @katieshook02 @samhapner6 @sebsxphia @roosters-girl @diorrfairy @je-suis-prest-rachel @dakotakazansky @mizzzpink @a-linabean @amklibrary @jstarr86 @actuallyazriel @krismdavis @bradshawsbaby @wkndwlff @withahappyrefrain @gigisimsonmars @dempy @djs8891 @whatislovevavy @blckgrl-sunflower @mayhemmanaged

[steppingonyourshadow]

Selected excerpts from GQ February 2024

His is a face that's constantly under a microscope. A few months ago, his studio posted a series of photos for his birthday. Sharp-eyed netizens noted immediately that his face had "become rounder". In order to play Guo Jing of Tsui Hark's Legend of Condor Heroes, Xiao Zhan put on weight before filming began. His face was no longer so narrow, and he had obviously bulked up. The photos showed him with a scattering of stubble, a little rough.

Strictly speaking, Legend of Condor Heroes is Xiao Zhan's second movie. There have already been many iconic portrayals of Guo Jing, so the pressure was obviously on.

The day of the GQ cover shoot, Xiao Zhan got up early to go for a run. He couldn't help but worry that he'd lose muscle mass from sweating so much, and hesitated over whether to continue. Finally he decided to do a full 30 minutes. After that, it occurred to him that he wouldn't start burning fat until 30 minutes in, so he did another 10.

It's all for the sake of the job. "Actually, I'd rather not be running - it decreases muscle mass. But I have to, to get rid of bloating." After the shoot, no matter how late it got, he plans to go do more weight training. The discipline of an actor is the constant process of creating their character's look, all the while strictly controlling their diet and maintaining their figure. Xiao Zhan sees both as standard and imposes this standard on himself.

I was curious how he felt having been under constant scrutiny these past few years. I wasn't expecting him to say that it was barely on his mind most of the time, and hadn't brought much disruption to his life either, that the "cruelest" thing was "not being able to eat whatever I want".

"I still sneak out for a bike ride, or a walk. I've been spotted just the once, within five minutes of walking around a Hutong. I've also snuck into cinemas to watch movies, no one cares that you're there, really. Once you're away from the internet, a lot of problems just solve themselves. Sometimes we think what's in front of us is the whole world, that's a mistake, but one that can't be avoided. Nothing to be done about it."

There are lots of things he wants to do, like ride the subway, go shopping. "I really will use the subway, maybe tomorrow, nothing extraordinary about that. I used to do it every day."

For Xiao Zhan, this is real life. He's no longer bothered by social media comments.

"If I still let it get to me after all this time, what kind of life would I live?" He laughs. "Really, it's fine."

Right now, Xiao Zhan is very satisfied with his life. "I have my work, my own life, and an audience that appreciates me. Nothing to be dissatisfied about."

To an extent, Xiao Zhan's relaxed state stems from increasing clarity about his goals. Outside voices no longer bother him, he knows what he wants and what he doesn't want. Right now, more and more he's trying to simplify. In the past two years, he hasn't done much variety, choosing to focus on acting as his most important goal.

Three shows in which Xiao Zhan played the main character aired in 2023. Each character was a challenge in different ways. During the interview, Xiao Zhan said "it was a lot of pressure" many times, in relation to each of these stages, but his tone was always light, nothing of the heaviness of someone bemoaning difficulties, and more like an analytical mindset after the event, with concrete and objective reasoning: this show was the first time he did green screen, that one was his first solo lead role, first contemporary drama...

Where Dreams Begin was a script Xiao Zhan loved. He really likes stories from that era. When he was a kid he watched Bloom of Youth and Happiness As Flowers. In his mind the 70s and 80s shine brightly, in vivid colour.

Many say that the character of Xiao Chunsheng is perfect, but Xiao Zhan saw this as his greatest flaw. He found the character very interesting and wanted to give it a go. Xiao Chunsheng is a Beijing kid. How to convey his demeanor and speak in authentic Beijing dialect was no small challenge to Xiao Zhan who grew up in Chongqing.

The Longest Promise's Shi Ying is cold and aloof. Because he didn't want to disappoint everyone who had high expectations of his guzhuang look, Xiao Zhan pushed himself above and beyond to lose weight before filming began. "The Longest Promise was a script I got in 2020. Among the ones I had to choose from, it was the one with the most well-rounded characters, and the most nuanced relationships. Plus, it had a strong sense of internal logic and coherence. So it was my best choice."

Sunshine By My Side is the one Xiao Zhan had been considering the longest. He was given the script in 2019. Sheng Yang may be in the same line of work Xiao Zhan had been doing before debuting, but he wasn't certain he could recreate the life of a designer for the screen in a natural, believable way.

Recently, Xiao Zhan found an old book at home - Danshari [book about decluttering and optimization of the home by Hideko Yamashita]. It had been recommended to him by his boss when he was a designer. What the book said about organising one's life made him rethink what he wanted, and what he ought to leave behind.

"Contemporary and slice of life dramas were a totally foreign territory for me." At the start he was to eager to finish his lines, having them memorised back to front. But no one in real life speaks like that. Later, he realised that there was a particular logic in where to pause and where to place the emphasis in a line in a contemporary drama.

For example, when he decided to be an actor, and that he didn't want to do anything else other than acting. "If you try and force me, then let's have the debate. There's no such thing as right and wrong, my people are only looking out for me, isn't it positive to have so much work? But for me, I need to simplify my life. Because there are some things I definitely don't want."

Xiao Zhan's acting career began with an "ordinary overage guy pursues his dream into the entertainment industry" story. He went into a survival show at the age of 24, learned to dance as a total novice, debuted in a boy group, acted in internet dramas, played bit parts in movies, until he hit it big in 2019 and became an attention-grabbing star.

If you choose to do something, then give it your best. That's what Xiao Zhan was taught from a young age. When he was in junior high, his parents bought him a cellphone. Initially when he sent text messages he'd use spaces in place of punctuation. But his father said to him very severely, "where's the punctuation, why isn't there a question mark at the end of your sentence?" So now Xiao Zhan always pays attention to punctuation.

Xiao Zhan has had a competitive spirit since he was a child. So long as it's something he can control, he'd rather not miss a single opportunity. He used to take the bus to school and get anxious on behalf of the people who fell asleep and missed their stops. For the things he can't control, he'd remind himself not to get too caught up and learn to accept the outcome. And before that, do everything he can the best he can.

When asked which of his projects had come about following a lot of effort on his part to land it, Xiao Zhan's response is surprising. He says, "all of them". Before he made it big, he auditioned a lot. Once he'd passed the interview stage, gotten into the final round, even did trial shots with full makeup, and was still replaced. Now of course people pass him scripts, but Xiao Zhan always tells himself, that's just an expression of interest which can be given to many people at once. If he encounters a script he really likes, he'll set up a meeting with the director and talk to them about his understanding of the character. He feels it's important to display the right attitude.

Xiao Zhan grew up just like any other 90s kid - his parents worked, his grandma did all the cooking, he went to school every day, came home, and if he did poorly in an exam he'd get a beating. They ate dinner at 6:30 every night, and then his friends would call for him to come down and play Hide and Seek, Red Light, Green Light, or Hopscotch.

His face shines when he speaks of this time. These ordinary little things all seem rare and precious now. Xiao Zhan says he's grateful for those first 23 years before his dream-like brave foray into the entertainment industry. "I really value those times, I think it was great."

He thinks that if he hadn't entered the industry, he'd probably be living like his classmates and friends, taking clients out for dinner only to come home and do more overtime to finish his design work overnight, day after day.

"Being seen" makes him happy. No matter how busy he gets, Xiao Zhan never complains. "If there's work to be done, then do it properly." While filming The Oath of Love he was also recording the variety show Our Song. Whenever he had a moment between scenes, he'd put on headphones and sing along softly. When his costars came over out of curiosity, he'd give a sheepish grin and explain that he was practicing the song he had to sing that night. "There's no time, really none." Back then, work took up pretty much his entire life.

Xiao Zhan will almost never give himself a holiday. "Unrealistic," he says firmly. When he's exhausted enough, he can fall asleep sitting upright on set.

This year, Xiao Zhan felt a sense of urgency stemming from "not enough works". "Compared to some of my seniors, when they were in their thirties they already had many credits." He clearly understands that a huge breakthrough in his acting skills from just a single piece of work is unlikely. "That probably won't happen for me."

He's considered whether he wants to be an actor with a unique individual style or a crowd-pleaser. His answer is the latter. "They might not be fans of yours, or even feel very positive toward you, but when they know you have a show on, they think, maybe I should check it out, his shows are all pretty good. That's what I want, that's my current goal. Whether I can reach the level of the actors I admire, that's a long road, I'm going to take my time."

"Make more shows, work with more good people, that's the current goal. I'm not thinking about the rest right now," Xiao Zhan says.

[I'll translate and post the Q&A segment later.]

[not-goldy]

i was the one who wrote the post about jk choosing/proritising his 97 liner friends over jimin. i guess i was harsh with my wording and i think it was caused because of the lack of jikook in a way (sounds stupid i know) we dont know how much time is left before all remaining four members enlist in the military (they would enlist this year itself, that much is clear) and there's a chance jimin would leave soon seeing most of his schedule is done (that we know of) and i was expecting a jikook live before the torturous two years we'll have to go through without them but i dont really see any chance of that happening now. jk also has music bank on jm's birthday and we know its a really tiring event and it can take a full day to get done with the whole thing, so chances of jk and jm interactions are again very slim.i think i just miss them and desperately wanted to see them. i know just because we dont see them doesn't mean they dont interact off cam but i wanted to see them on a live or tiktok or something. so seeing jungkook make tiktoks with that mingyu during both seven and 3d era just...ruffled my feathers in a way. also saw a lot of 'gyukookers' on my tl so yea that was annoying as well. i kinda assumed jm won't be in the live as it was a post-album announcement live, but still...

so yea, knowing that jungkook won't be much active on jm's b'day and not getting the oct 4th live as well kinda saddened me. does not excuse my behaviour but that's what happened.

Thanks for being real and for being honest.

I think you are human in every sense of the word so I can't be too hard on you or even hold you to it. We've all been there. I know exactly how painful and frustrating it can be. But I'm here for you okay?

I would be that person to bring you back to reality and keep you grounded when you drift, I will call you out if I have to and I will point out the errors of your ways and it would almost always be out of love- if I however sense you actually hate any of our captains I'll deep fry your titties, lace them with acid and spoon feed them to you🤧

You can dm me anytime with any grievances you have and I'll listen. Or just tag your asks with rants and I'll know how to respond without putting a target on your back.

I wish we have a jikook live too.

I wish they release the seven tiktok challenge they filmed on the boat.

I wish Jimin has a happy birthday and not feel unloved or cared for or that he matters to those that matters to him the most.

And I feel Jungkook had to keep repeating he'd be busy on the 13th so we don't make a huge deal out of it if we don't see him around that day.

Sometimes I know they feel they are in a three way relationship with us where we are the pets and children they didn't ask for but have living in their basement.

They don't just have to care for eachother they have to care not to bruise us too. It's a complex symbiotic parasocial relationship dynamic we have with them.

We care and sometimes they care that we care. But that's not fair to them.

We are the kids who keep complaining daddy forgot mommy's birthday. Daddy was seen with female in his car. Daddy came home late. Daddy forgot to take the trash out. Daddy yelled at mommy. Daddy didn't eat mommy's meal. She worked so hard to make him his dinner. Daddy doesn't love mommy. Daddy is a fuckboy. It's almost as if we want to date mommy ourselves and nothing daddy does pleases us.

If it were a horror movie we'd be the changeling they'd be running away from🥲

It is well with us. Love you okay?

[robot-rarepairs-dotcom]

You welcomed me to come back and yap — and i will do so.

I'm surprised it is a rarepair because there's just so much to megadac... Do you understand the intimacy of knowing someone from the inside, rebuilding them from scratch? The debt that you own to them for intruding their body for the better of your world?

The trust that Sumdac put in Megatron is so sweet, so gentle. He clearly wishes for the best, he wants him to walk again, to live and exist and be proud under the sun and to be whole. He comforts him, he fixes him and helps him. He wants to thank him dearly for what he has gave him to build the new era of his planet. And Megatron talks to him softly, even makes a present for his kid, how cute is that!

But then the truth comes out. The trust breaks. It was all a lie, all wrong. He never loved you. He used you. It was all your fault. Your mistake. You rebuilt him, ready for everything, and that is how your story ends? It ends with tears, manipulation, pain and hurt? What did you expect, what did you love him for? Are you in debt or are you guilty? Do you miss him, how nice he was to you and your family? Do you wish deep in your soul he was true with you, or have you lost your trust in him entirely after being betrayed so badly?

I'm sorry

This is the shit I love to talk about. Ughhhh like imagine how heartbroken he was when Megatron lied to him. You could see how distressed and how hurt he was by the lies too when it’s revealed. And not only that, Megatron kidnaps him afterwards. He feels angry that he was in a prison of his own broken body.

But fear not dear anon I have AU’s for you I have fics and ideas for you that make them live happily ever after if you please

(Also there was a megadac blog but I know the mod personally and they’ve left tumblr due to personal reason and I respect that decision after the whys they’ve told me. If they choose to return, we must take it slow and steady. For now I can be your outlet but please don’t find nor harass this person if you know them. Thank you)

[timoswerner]

poch very much underperformed with our squad especially the season we went unbeaten at the lane and i think it’s only now where we have the benefit of hindsight and the privilege of being back in a position where there are good vibes and belief in the trajectory of the club that people are able to see it. we lacked depth which was a huge factor in our title challenges BUT i don’t necessarily think the onus falls on levy completely there - poch rejected potential transfers outright as well.

i don’t know if we could have won the league the couple of times we were challenging but i do think that we could have and arguably should have won a cup or two during his tenure. that first team of lloris, vertonghen, alderweireld, rose, walker, wanyama, dembele, eriksen, dele, son, kane and many more was absolutely lightning in a bottle insane and i think it’s fair to say that while poch was a huge reason why we continued our trajectory as a club to fighting for top 4 (and even challenging for the title), he did have a young immensely talented squad (at one point half the england setup were spurs) and somewhat underperformed considering everything. thinking back on the poch era is equal parts of pride that we cemented ourselves as a mainstay in the cl and rose up from the midtable we were before redknapp etc but also pain thinking of the squad he had and the way he has nothing to show for it

i think you're 100% right. obviously levy is not blameless - he was happy with just getting top 4 and that filters down but i don't think that excuse the performances on the pitch when it came to cups. they were still there for the taking.

with us poch had this mentality of 'we're punching above our weight so it doesn't matter if we don't get to a final/win a final' and whilst that's not wrong that obviously filtered down to the players. how is that giving them the confidence to go a win something? you're basically always telling them 'you're not good enough to win something'. if there is one thing that i've learnt from going from jose/nuno/conte to ange is that the attitude of the manager is reflected on the pitch. if a manager has confidence in his players it lifts the whole mood and they play like they believe they can do something special, but if the manager doesn't have that belief then you see that on the pitch. look at villa and wolves at the moment - their success is a reflection of the manager believing in their players, where as west ham are a reflection of moyes' negativity, palace were a reflection of hodgson's negativity... look at how luton are putting up a fight for rob edwards compared to sheffield united and wilder. i also don't think it helped that poch was always having a bit of a flirt with bigger clubs because does that not also send out a message to the players that he doesn't believe they can do it?

that chelsea performance yesterday was like something he'd have done with us. knowing what his attitude to trophies was with us, and how he seems to only be able to play the underdog card you just know he wasn't telling him team 'you know what their best forwards are out, there's a bunch of kids on the bench, go out there and absolutely do them'. that's just not poch. his mindset will have 'we're 10th and they're 1st in the league so we're not expected to win. oh well' not 'lets fucking show them'. yeah some of those expensive chelsea players aren't living up to the price tag but they don't have a bad team, they're still good, that was still a strong enough that could have done better yesterday. they've been playing pretty well over the past few weeks and much like with us he's got a final and he has just bottled it. he didn't have them playing in the same way he has in the league. and again his attitude rubs off on the players and the team on the pitch is a reflection of the manager. the buck stops with poch yesterday just as it did with us in the semi finals and the champions league final with us.

and let's not forget how he didn't value our domestic cups. he didn't see them as important and again it filters down to the players. before the game chilwell said that yeah its not the champions league like the fans are used to but for where the club is now winning the league cup could be the boost they needed and he was right. it was the same with us. you get that first bit of silverware and the mentality of the players changes and they want more. but poch never saw it like that with us and i can guarantee he still thought like that yesterday. he's not learnt a single thing from his time with us.

at the end of the day im glad chelsea lost and i hope they're miserable for the end of time, but it's somewhat disheartening to see poch there doing all this and making me look back at his time with us and realising that we could have had it so much better. yes he gave us a lot of good memories and for some fans they're the only good times at the club they've know but... idk for me now i don't look back on it and have the same affection for him as i did when it was happening. he's a good manager but he's never going to be elite and he cost us trophies when they were well within out grasp. his time with us was a series of missed opportunities and whilst they weren't all his fault, a lot of them were.

[13ghostlytitties]

The Heart of a Hero is returning once more!

Today marks the 5-year anniversary of the premiere of HoaH, and is fairly close to the 3.5 year anniversary of its last official upload. Well, the wait is over. It’s time for me to resurrect this series and eventually bring it to its end (not that it left off anywhere close to ending 😉).

Since it’s been a while, I’ve put together a recap of the story so far that I’ll post at some point here. It’s not complete, I had to cut out some of the newer chapters since it just became a play-by-play synopsis that doubled the total word count, but hey, having to reread 5-10 chapters is better than rereading 150.

The tentative return date will be this time next month as I work on creating a backlog of chapters. If I need to push it back, I’ll let you know. As for other questions I’m sure some of you have, check below the cut. For those who don’t care, see you in a month, hopefully.

So, some questions I’m sure some of you are asking:

1: where have you been? And why did you stop?

I’m not gonna go into details since I’m not that kinda person, but overall, just been living life, dude. I originally began my unexpected hiatus when college was kicking my ass and expected to get right back to things, but some stuff happened, and by the time I had dealt with it, it was Spring of 2020. You can guess what stopped me up then lol. But yeah, things just got away from me and eventually, I didn’t have the time or energy to dedicate to diving headfirst back into this outside of unconnected one-off stuff like those Bang fics. There’s other facets too, of course, the biggest one being a general disinterest in the source material. I stopped reading MHA around the villains arc (though I’ve kept up a bit in terms of big stuff like the traitor reveal), so I lacked that interest to pull me back into this world. Where I left off in the story, in the middle of a complicated arc full of OCs and big fights and stuff, was also a hurdle to getting back into things. But I’m here now, I’m working on my backlog, and I’m gonna commit. If you guys are excited about my return, spread the word and lemme hear it so I can keep this motivation 🤟

2: Is A New Era coming back too?

And now for the other shoe to drop. It is not. Im very sorry, especially to those whose OCs I included, but it’s just not feasible. Every time I considered it or tried it, the whole return to the main story was stopped up with it. Anyone who’s interested in continuing it themselves in some way shape or form, you have my permission in terms of the general idea, the OC kids I came up with, the places that canon characters are in it, etc. As for other people’s OCs, I’d check with their creators. One again, very sorry, but it’s just not doable.

3: What will this return look like? How often are chapters gonna drop?

Still working out the specifics, but my idea for now is to drop 2 chapters a week. If I need to go on hiatus, I’ll announce as much and plan the placement of it much better so that I don’t stop in the middle of an arc. That way, the hiatus will only be a month instead of years lol. The schedule may change over time, but I’ll keep everyone informed as I move ahead with it

4: a lot has happened in the manga and anime and movies since you stopped. Will these things be worked into the series?

Nope. I stopped reading and probably won’t start again until it’s over and done with. More than that, I’ve been sitting on these plans for a couple years now and don’t feel like changing them much. Besides, this story has had a long, rich history of shitting in the soup of the canon story, so I’ll just continue doing my own thing

5: are you still as epic and cool and funny as in the past?

Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to. I never was 😎

[apupp3tw0-strings]

Exclusive Interview with Spamton G. Spamton

Date: October 12th, 2131

Today Papa and Dadaton have mostly been sorting out logistics stuff, figuring out how the whole Spamton situation is gonna work, some ground rules and expectations, some schedule stuff to make sure some one's around to watch him and figuring out days for regular check-ins/therapy talks... it all seemed really boring to me and I didn't get half of it so I decided to go do something else.

Specifically, I decided to have a little interview with Spamton. There were a lot of questions I felt I needed answers to, however I knew it'd be rude to just jump straight into sensitive topics. Additionally, I felt since its gonna be living with us now for the time being, I may as well try to get to know my puppet pal a little better.

So here's how that went.

Q: Good morning Spamton. How are you doing today?

A: HEY H3Y IF IT ISBT ThE [City in a Garden]]!! WHUT CAN [Yours truly] DO YA 4 KID?

Q: I just had a few questions for you, if you don't mind. Sorta like an interview.

A: AN [Exclusive interview with] ME?!? AHAJEHAHAHA!! OF CORSE [[Little City]]! [Send your questions below]!

Q: Awesome! Then let's just start with the first question I got down here. Your full name is Spamton G. Spamton, correct?

A: U BET UR [[Low rank currency]]!SPAMTON G. SPAMTON! EVERY 'S FAVORIT [Number1RatedSalesman] [[circa1997]]!

Q: Putting aside the fact your first and last names are the same for now, what does the "G" stand for?

A: TEH [[G]]? AHAHEHAJAHA! I HAVE N0 CLUE. [@gmail.com]? [The Greatest th1ng you've seen on ]? Y? WUTS THE [g] IN [Chicago, IL] G BLU K STAND 4?

Q: Oh, what's MY middle name? Uh, Ghost. Well, that or Garamond. My dads couldn't really decide when I was born so it sorta stands for both.

A: THEN SHUDN:T IT B CHICAG0 [[GG]] BLO0K?

Q: Gyeh heh! Maybe. Anyways, next question. So you've mentioned a few times that you used to be a "Big Shot", or some big and famous, kinda like my Dadaton is out here in the Light World. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

A: AHEAHAHAJA! OH B0Y CAN I EVR!! BACK IN TGE [Good ol days] I USED 2 BE ON TOP OF THE [[World Wide Web]] KID! BIG [Deals] BIG [Cars] BIG [All included stay at] QUEEN'S MAN SION! I WAZ FINALLY A [Big Shot], I HAD IT [[All u c0uld want & more!]] AND I DID IT @LL W/0UT TEH [Help Wanted] OF THOSE [[Backstabbing]] GELUS [All we do is ] 2!

Q: Riiiiiight. The Addisons. I heard you were like them though, before your rise to fame at least. What was your relationship like with them before everything went down?

A: K1D UR GONNA NEED 2 BE A LOT MOAR [Item specifications]. THEREZ AL0T OF [[Your Ad Here!]]

Q: Fine. Specifically the ones you worked with. Click? Flash? ... (I didn't get the names of the other two...)

A: ... [Clear Cache] & [[Ad Banner]]. I D0N;t WABT 2 [Talk 2 a licensed prof3ssional] A BOUT TH0sE [[Traitors]].

Q: Okay, fair, fair. Touchy subject. Should've probably expected that. Especially after what I heard about your guys fall out and how they sorta... um, abandoned you. I, my bad. L-let's just move on to another question.

A: AHAHAHEHA! Y3S! LET'S.

Q: Um, okay, here we go! You seem to like cars alot. You've especially mentioned them in great lengths when talking about your "Big Shot Era". Do you have a favorite model?

A: Y MY FAVRITE IS N0NE OTHER THAN TGE [[Brand New!!!]] [Ride around town in our] SPECIL [[1997 Cungadero]]! THIS [Sweet Ride] WILL MAKe ALL UR [Hopes and Dreams] COME TRYE WHILE [Ride] LEIK A [[Sweat Dream]] 2! FOR ONLY [10 easy payment of] [[666]] KROMER TGIS [Dalmatian puppies] CAN BEE YOURS 2DAY!!

Q: Ah. I've uh, never heard of that car but, um, cool! So then, hopping back to before your Big Shot days real quick, what did you used to do before selling cars and stuff?

A: THAT'S [Lemon Squ33zy]! I USED TO BE NOTHING BUT THE E_MAIL GUY, NOW I'M THE [[It Burns! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Burns!]] GUY!

Q: . . . Ooookay then. I think that moves us to another question I've been curious about. What... what's with the burning?

A: WHAT [[Oh God! Help! Please stop! Help! It Burns!]]ING?

Q: That! I... Spamton. Yesterday you stared directly at the sun for several minutes. That HURTS. I know from experience that staring directly at the sun will like, burn your eyes.

A: AHEAHAHAHA! [[Amazed at thi5 amazing transformation? You too can]] HAVE A [[Communion]] WITH [[Unintelligble Laughter]]!

Q: I... (Now I'm even more confused...) okay let's just move on. Okay um... no, no, deeeefinitely not... I... what was your with last night?

A: L4ST [Alone on a Friday Night?]

Q: Yeah. Do you remember what happened last night? When you woke me up?

A: AHEAHAHAEHAHA! KID I HAVE NO [Inn0vative new ideas] WHA uR [Chat w/ our esteamed representative!]

Q: The- the ringing? You mentioned ringing. You said it would stop and told me not to pick up, you don't remember that??

A: . . .

Q: S-spamton?

A: ... Don't pick up the phone.

After that, Papa came into the room and asked if he could borrow Spamton so they could discuss stuff, to which Spamton immediately switched demeanor and rushed off with him.

... I think I'm left with even more questions than when I decided to start the interview.

[funtimecheetah]

Sneak Peak Into A New VF Fanfic!! 🎉

The draft is not finished yet, but is so far 4,000 words! I would like people's honest opinion about it so far!

⚠️Future Warning!! ⚠️ This fanfic will include many major character deaths, suicided themes, lots of angry and more. But the sneak peak does not include any of that.

Word count: 604

Rewriting The Past

Keith pov: Arus is gone. A planet, like many others, destroyed completely by the Drule Empire Great War. Killing numerous people that it cannot possibly be fathomed by any mind. Ruling that dreadful Drule Empire is King Lotor, a fierce leader who spares no one, not even allies or soldiers who have failed him. The only soul who barely escaped being killed by his majesty’s hand is the right man, Maahoxs. One, and only reason he lands himself into safety, is that he is the only one able to create what Lotor wishes for battle. His deep knowledge and understanding of Haggarium is the key to their so far success. Transforming normal soldiers to deadly beasts from that vile violet bright liquid. The deadliest among those infected is Lotor’s right most ‘trusted’ soldier…Chaos. A brilliant soldier that knows Voltron’s weakness, our normal strategies, and is too chaotic to figure out what they would do next. Flash to a small planet, far off Drule’s map, where the resistance hides and plans. The main power force in the resistance, letting the innocent have a chance to live, is the Voltron Force. The leader of the team and the resistance as a whole is Keith. He sighs to himself, as he leans back in the chair, deep in thought. Mind going through every that has happened because of this great war. ‘This was supposed to be a time of peace, a new era. One with a new black lion pilot…Daniel.’ A sad smile across his face before tears rolls down his face, ‘It was torture for all of us to see Lotor take Daniel’s bloody broken body. He came out of nowhere, but we all should have known that he would never stay dead. Daniel fought so hard to fight back against…and the Haggarium infection. But not even Daniel was strong enough to survive that long fight with the infection taking over his mind and body.’ The painful memories cause Keith to dig into his arm, almost making it bleed. More tears fall out of his eyes. ‘If only I did things differently, then maybe Daniel would have trusted us…me about his Haggarium infection. This would have never happened in the first place. Larmina and Vince apparently knew the whole time. They explained that Daniel thought he would kick off the force if we found out. We never really treated the cadets as members of this team, I know that now. We never allowed them to attend meetings or anything planning, leaving them in the dark without a clue of what they will be thrown into. Being forced to act like adults in a war but treated like children by everyone around. I thought since they were kids we shouldn’t put them through every part of that war, let them enjoy life. How foolish I was, we expected them to act like adults when most of the time we treated them like children. I was blind. I wish I could go back and change that.’ A loud alarm sounds, red flashing lights flickers. This pulls Keith out of his thoughts. He jumps out of his seat. Running to the black lion. The final stand to turn the tide of the war is upon them. Five lions fly into the air with surrounding ships of many kinds following them to battle. Quickly, they all fly to Earth. Finding Earth in its middle of its destruction. The Drule Army is destroying everything in sight…just as the resistance thought would happen. Luckily, they have a plan. If it fails there is no more hope for victory. This can not fail.

[offlivne]

─────  👽 ! 𝗨𝗚𝗛 ★ the vibes (pt.1)

Each off/live release and their aesthetic

─────  👽 ! 𝗨𝗚𝗛 ★ WE LIKE IT !

Really set the vibe for their debut and future releases. Deffinaly set high expectations for those who actually heard it and liked it. It layed down the foundation for their style of music and their whole ‘were free’ concept. The concept for this album had a slight blend of pop culture and technology optimism, but still held that vibe of trying to break the mold and escapism. 

For this album the styling for the mv was very minimized, the boys were shown wearing and performing in quite minimalist places, either wide white frames, or slightly decorated sets, such as laundromat or washrooms. People assume it was cut to fit their budget, but it left a satisfying feeling for most. Despite the minimized sets, the mv, as described by some, gave off an almost apocalypse atmosphere. The deep green and black light that was casted on almost every frame left quite the impression on most. 

On stage the minimalist styling continued but you could tell the stylist had stepped up their accessories, adding more eye-catching necklaces, earrings, hats, basically anything that would make them stand out more in a crowd. Throughout this era you could tell the stylist was trying to stick with little to no color, staying close to green and different tones of grey colors. And sometimes blue jeans and purple. 

─────  👽 ! 𝗨𝗚𝗛 ★ Who slayed this era ? voted by fans

NINE had the most votes in the end, his total being 6383 votes.

─────  👽 ! 𝗨𝗚𝗛 ★ NANANA !

NANANA wasn't very memorable according to netizens. But it was definitely different. In this era the boys announced that they would be focusing less on the escapism of their concept and more on the ruff and playful side of childhood and more questionable side of their concept. In this album the boys expressed this ripped up and frustrating look of the concept. As explained by Jeonghan on a live, he expressed that their concept spoke a lot to suffocating pressures put on kids, NANANA was a version of someone who had managed to rebel and was now living on the fine-line of this society expectation. 

The styling for this album as far as packaging for the physical album and mv it was by far their most impressive and interesting looking album yet. The physical album actually came in pieces. A ripped up photo of the members littered the inside of the package, used as quoted by Prince, “confetti” or stuffing so the side goods wouldn't be damaged in travel. Fans soon noticed that this ripped up photo could actually be reassembled, and many glue sticks later an outlaw posted on instagram the completed the photo. Ando n the back a special present for whoever cracked the code and paid special attention to the litters of paper. On the back a full tracklist of their current songs and possible future songs were written in orange and blue marker. This was described by fans as one of their highlights of the album. 

For the MV, this time it wasn't as minimalistic, there were a lot of fancy graphics and cool transitions. The sets, if studied closely, were lacking but the boys seemed to fill them up with their new style, so it wasn't much of a complaint. 

For stages the boys went on with very baggy and street fashion looking clothing. Their styling for both WE LIKE IT and NANANA were similar but this time you could tell that, even by a little tiny bit, that their clothing were of higher quality. 

─────  👽 ! 𝗨𝗚𝗛 ★ Who slayed this era ? voted by fans

SHIN had the most votes in the end, his total being 5602 votes but SKYLAR came a close second.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

I'm gonna expand on what I wrote here, months ago.

A) The "sources" reporting on live-action remakes of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, TANGLED, FROZEN... And TARZAN, apparently... Are rumor-mills... Take the news with a grain of salt.

B) These movies are inevitable. Disney's mining the whole catalogue, well... Most of it. There are some they probably won't do for various reasons... But I expect at least 95% of their animated feature library to get this garish live-action/photorealistic CGI treatment.

Recent movies aren't out of the equation, they're as "fair game" as the pre-Lasseter/Catmull era animated movies. Up until the announcement of a MOANA remake, the latest movie to be up for that was LILO & STITCH, a 2002 movie.

Like I said before, I used to grouse about these. I just don't care for them anymore, really. They're not for me, more importantly. These things are literally just for little kids who want to see a "real-life" take on characters they love in these movies... To see some actors float around blah, rushed CGI scapes for 2 hours...

And I guess, they're for people my age who stopped watching Disney movies at age 10 because of peer pressure, and they are now "nostalgic" or whatever. Couldn't be me, I watch at least 2-3 Disney animated features in full every calendar year in addition to assorted classic short films. They're on my brain 24/7/365. I have a collection of their many VHS releases, for chrissakes...

Anyways, they're not for me. And yeah, I still get annoyed when the filmmakers/actors promoting these remakes take potshots at the animated films, but really, do their obtuse comments really do anything to the classic movies? I'm pretty sure those who "get it" will still keep a film like SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS - which was recently restored and re-released on physical media, at that - up on the "classic" pedestal, no matter what this 2024 remake tries to "correct" about it. (Outside of outdated portrayals of dwarves, most "criticism" I hear of the 1937 Walt Disney film appears to be written by people who apparently didn't watch the movie or have a serious lack of media literacy.)

So yeah... It's inevitable. Disney will eventually remake TANGLED and FROZEN, given how popular they are. When MOANA was announced, I knew... Yeah, these would probably be next. TARZAN was a big hit in 1999 - which seems weird to think now given how weirdly nonexistent some of those post-LION KING movies were for a while. (I think Lasseter and Catmull didn't really care for a lot of those movies, and swept them under the rug. Kinda acted as if they were mistakes, and they came in and corrected everything after Michael Eisner's ouster. Lasseter infamously hated LILO & STITCH, for starters.) HERCULES is coming, MULAN hit three years ago, HUNCHBACK was apparently in some form of development, so TARZAN's inevitable. PRINCESS AND THE FROG may have underperformed in 2009/10, but it's a beloved film now, no doubt helped by Tiana's presence in the "Disney Princess" line. Now some decade later, a ride is being re-themed for her movie and she's got a show coming, too.

I know a lot of passionate animation fans are distraught every time they announce these things. I on the other hand am just weary of it all, and I understand that it's just the capitalist machine at play here. Instead of Walt's philosophy of putting revenue into making new movies and not retreading old ground, it's "how many different coats of paint can we put on the car?"

It's just the reality of the whole movie industry, really. This isn't Walt remaking the studio's UGLY DUCKLING short circa 1939 because he thought the original version could've been better, this is Disney reheating old favorites over and over because... Franchises. Content.

This is a beast of Bob Iger's making, for sure, this is SO not the small wave of live-action remakes that came out in the '90s. This is the era of everything old is new again. We had a LORD OF THE RINGS show recently. TOY STORY 5 is coming. We had decade-later sequels to INDIANA JONES and MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING and such. You see how David Zaslav over at Warner Bros. wants to make more Harry Potter stuff even though the recent FANTASTIC BEASTS movie didn't do all that hot? Like, sometimes... Let stories end? Whatever. People see this mass live-actionization of animation as this evil "animation is just a stepping stone to superior live-action" scheme. It kind of is, I guess? But I think that's related more to how the industry screws the people who make animation a reality. More than anything, it's just "how many times can we reheat this same dish?"

Right now, a big concern from many is how the filmed arts are being reduced to CONTENT.

For example, Martin Scorsese keeps warning about this, but many people just seem to be hyperfixated on some harmless comments he made about Marvel movies. The very movies that exacerbate this problem with these franchise-happy Hollywood studios.

Like, a successful and beloved animated film is basically now a cash cow. It's not as simple as "Hollywood hates animation, they see it as a stepping stone to superior live-action", it's more "they see a goldmine". Sure, some of the crews behind the remakes disparage the animated features, but what else are they gonna say? "The original's great, so we did it again"? "The cartoon is for babies and is outdated" is what sells.

In the 1990s, Disney would make TV shows and direct-to-video sequels to milk their animated movies, but now? A new Disney animated hit means... A remake, something on Disney+, a reboot of the remake, etc. It's just more content, really. And advertising for the "originals" that got people to love those characters in the first place.

The live-action/tech demo end of Disney barely does anything new anyways (and if they do, the movies go straight to Disney+... Then disappear... Then reappear somewhere else), so they just spend their time and efforts on all these remakes.

In an alternate history, this end of Disney would look different. Maybe JOHN CARTER OF MARS would've been a blockbuster in 2012 and we would've gotten a trilogy out of that, maybe TOMORROWLAND would have spawned at least one sequel if it had done well, maybe TRON: ASCENSION - a TRON threequel that actually follows up on the previous movie and isn't some unrelated Jared Leto vanity project - would exist... But alas, all their riskier movies flopped and their smaller scale pictures didn't really move the needle, so they're largely just making remakes and films based heavily on the animated classics (like CRUELLA)... And occasionally, a theme park-inspired movie, like JUNGLE CRUISE and HAUNTED MANSION.

So really, Disney's just doing what the industry as a whole is doing. Viewing what they have as content, and how to reproduce it, how to make a ton of variations out of it. And in turn, move merch for and raise awareness for the original. Like, most of the merch for LION KING 2019 was actually for the 1994 classic. Ditto that same year's ALADDIN and DUMBO remakes.

Look at Universal, they have that HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON live-action coming, too. Don't be surprised when they start mining DreamWorks Animation's library for more films to remake. Also helps that a good chunk of DWA's movies are based on books or pre-existing source material. Netflix has that AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER live-action show coming. ONE PIECE live-action is a big hit.

And yet, it'll always be the animated versions that'll continue to hit different.

When PRINCESS, TANGLED, and FROZEN "live-action" are made... And are big hits... It'll always be because the animated movies they are based on... Made that much of an impression.

[mckennaapplepie]

The world is spinning too fast for you and me So, tell me, whatever happened to the American Dream?

Name: Mckenna Benson  Nickname(s): Ben Cherry Gender: Male he/him Age: 23 Birthday: February 23rd, Pisces Occupation: Actor

FAMILY

At first glance, the Bensons hardly seem any different from your average nuclear family but looks can be deceiving and any tabloid could easily tell you that there’s nothing average about the Bensons at all. From TV stardom to gracing the runways, the Bensons seem to only produce star-studded children. Lead by Jocelyn Benson, family matriarch, Mckenna and his sister have been groomed to be the biggest and brightest stars that they could be and they have all the therapy bills to prove for it.

Living on the labor of their own children, the Benson household hadn’t always flourished with excess. Before Mckenna’s story reached national stardom, the Bensons didn’t have more than a white picket fence to their name. With Dom being a charitable pastor and Jocelyn studying for her realty license, fame was Jocelyn’s last resort for survival. Mckenna’s success came with a whole new era of plastic smiles and locked lips when the Bensons went from modest to Kardashian overnight.

All press was good press according to Jocelyn, who took full advantage of her kids as Dom spectated silently at a distance.

Jocelyn Benson

Jocelyn is the matriarch of the family. She controls everything from their meals to their schedules to how they lived their lives so it’s not a wonder why Mckenna is so attached to her. She’s a cunning fox of a woman who sometimes lets her ambitions get the better of her, case and point her negligence when it came to her children in favor of manipulating the press to their favor– good or bad. It isn’t to say that she doesn’t love her kids but rather demands them to meet impossible expectations in order to obtain her affection at full value.

Sienna Benson

For as long as he could remember, there had always been just him and Sienna, together in this weird journey they were on where everything came in letter grades and applause. Sienna grew up to be far more out-spoken and fiery than he was which left her fighting most of his battles for him despite their on-going (one-sided) competition for mom’s love. Mckenna managed to come out of their childhood unscathed under the shield of blissful ignorance when it came to Sienna’s barbs and has always loved her a lot, even if he had a hard time understanding her anger.

Dominic Benson

Once a clergyman, Dominic is everything unexpected when confronted with 200lbs of hulking muscle. He’s a big softie and a passionate, loving man which was how he wiggled his way into Jocelyn’s radar in the first place. And he might’ve realized that marrying her had to be one of his worst mistakes yet had his darling children not been there to distract him from her overbearing personality. Although he won’t be winning any father-of-the-year awards for the number of times he’d sat Mckenna down and gave him the wrong kind of talk about sexual misconduct, Dom does try his best to keep his family together and happy even if his voice is no match for his wife’s.

Dallas 

The family dog. Dallas is an old boy now, but a good boy nonetheless. He’s seen better days, but he can still be found milling about the Benson home. 

BIO CHANGES

Mckenna was a child star to begin with, peddled off to auditions and commercials as a kid in order to make some money for his family. It’s where he developed the persona of ‘Ben Cherry’ who was a mascot for candy and later on, a line of toys for kids that became very popular. It put him in the sights of many who would later become his fans.

He missed a lot of school as a kid but his future was iron-clad with Jocelyn as his mother.

Most of Mckenna’s life is manufactured for a story. His rise to popularity was relatively organic, but it wasn’t for his amazing athleticism. Mckenna could sing, act, perform. He had a natural magnetism to him that was hard to look away from, not to mention his unusual red hair.

His scholarship out of town was a well-kept secret. Jocelyn had paid off the school to offer it to him, just like how she had convinced the coach to place him at the top of the ranks in football. Jocelyn had an image she was building up like merchandise: small town golden child takes on Hollywood stardom with humbleness, smarts and dashing good looks. 

Mckenna’s disastrous injury was a result of a hard game against a kid who didn’t really want to play. He blew out his knee horribly and had ‘lost his chance at college’. Jocelyn took his injury well. Too well. She wove a story of a tragedy and the rise of a wounded bird. She turned him into a hero, and so did the rest of the town when he seemed to recover with a smile on his face.

Everything fell into place when Mckenna recovered, now without access to college, a free schedule and a fresh face, he was ready to be pushed into the limelight of Hollywood. Jocelyn and Mckenna headed off to auditions in LA where Mckenna easily caught the eye of a number of producers who recalled his stint on commercials a decade ago. Delighted by his growth, Mckenna was immediately signed onto a TV show where he plays a love-struck teenager.

Mckenna’s pill addiction got worse in Hollywood where he was exposed to more of the same. The long hours on set put more stress on his healing knee, worsening it until he was putting back Oxy like tic-tacs. It had gotten bad enough that he’d screwed up on set and forced Jocelyn to send him home to Gravewood for ‘a little vacation’ before she turned him into a pamphlet about the importance of mental health. 

HEADCANONS

Mckenna has a really hard time saying no and therefore is involved with a lot of community projects. After all, he’s not working while he’s in Gravewood so he has plenty of time to spare and very little desire to spend it with his mother barking up his tree-- even if he’d never admit that. 

Mckenna has a hard time expressing negativity of any sort. He’s like a robot, spitting out optimism like he’s getting paid for it. Which he usually is.

He is not super religious but attends church on Sunday with his parents to keep up appearances.

Somehow, Mckenna always fails upwards. Jocelyn manages to turn every mistake and move he makes into a story that makes him triumphant and a hero. It’s hard to believe otherwise when Mckenna always seems genuine and earnest.

Mckenna has a reputation for being the icon of youth and vigor. He’s fit, good looking and seemingly eternally young as TV immortalizes his golden years.  He’s 23 now and still playing a 17 year old on TV which doesn’t help to convince anyone of his manhood or independence.

The Benson house had gradually been renovated into a manor on the bright side of town. Mckenna still lives there with his family and dog.

Mckenna is half Samoan but his wiki wouldn’t say any of that. His recessive genes allowed him to pass as white and Jocelyn has been insisting that it was better for his career if he’d just accepted it.

[vanillacoolatta]

the fact that i am fully aware there is an even greater population of 12 year old (as opposed to 14+) stans on twt than tumblr is like. especially nauseating esp with what has been happening recently. obv no fandom is perfect including the tumblr ones and i dont have twt so im sure the stuff ive seen is cherrypicked but the stuff i have witness to is just so. toxic?? like im sure there are good ppl on twt too but since they have such a huge platform and are constantly in the spotlight i feel like its almost poisoning those ppl or smthn yknow

[quirkless-accident]

Thermos; more daunting horror realization that danny was the only frontliner in the face of danger with all the little/ big things he do and danny is so unphased by it cuz to him its normal and he doesnt see anything wrong with it. And he's being toyed with, hunted down and hated by people he protects! And he's like 'eh, thats another tuesday'

He doesnt see how it damages his mental/ emotional health because he always brushes himself aside for the more bigger, immediate threat.

Danny's been terrifyingly calm about the whole situation.

He's been with them for a month, now. There hasn't been a single tear shed, and there hasn't been any kind of panic attack or any other kind of trauma response that Shouta and Hizashi had been expecting. Especially from such a young teenager.

But he did have a terrible habit of throwing himself into his work.

Since he's stuck with Shouta and Hizashi, it was easy enough to have him apply for the new school year. The kid's incredibly smart, and absorbs knowledge like a sponge. His strengths are in math, science, and oddly enough, literature. English is a breeze since he already knows how to speak it, so Hizashi has created a lesson plan to teach him JSL. While he hasn't taken the entrance exam yet, with his powers and obsession to do good, there was no way he wouldn't make it.

If he wasn't going over the history he missed with Nemuri, and if he needed a break from trying to figure out how to build a massive ghost portal from scratch, he was found training. He would go on morning and evening jogs, with some kind of intense workout in between. Hizashi had insisted he take a break every now and then, but Danny had simply told them he didn't know how.

"What do you mean by that?" Shouta had asked.

"Well, I'm not used to not being busy," Danny replied with a shrug. "If I'm not in school I'm studying or going on patrol. When I'm at home my parents have me clean the lab or have me help them out. Between all of that and the unplanned trips to the Ghost Zone I hardly have enough time to myself."

"Kid, that isn't healthy," Shouta tells him. Danny just gives him another shrug, and Shouta can't help but ask, "What about the other heroes?"

"There weren't any other heroes, remember?" Danny sighs, and he looks so much older now than he has any right to be at fifteen. "I mean, my friends helped me out occasionally, but I was the only one with any kind of powers."

"That must have been so hard," Hizashi says sympathetically. Danny, though, just waves him off.

"It wasn't ever a big deal," he says. "With all the ghosts everywhere someone needed to step up. I just so happen to be the best option. But it's better, now. Here there are tons of heroes so I can actually relax and focus on what I need to get done."

The conversation had puttered off into small talk, but Shouta and Hizashi's thoughts were going a mile a minute.

They knew he was from the pre-quirk era, but it hadn't quite sunken in that he was still by himself. Sure, he had friends to help him, but they were still limited in what they could do. Some days they could only pick Danny up and bandage him up for another day.

The scars were the worst part. Shouta and Hizashi have their own, and have no problem walking around the house shirtless. But they're adults. They chose this life, to be heroes and to put their lives on the line to protect the general public. From the sounds of it, though, Danny never had that option. He died, but he was never given the option of resting. And if his bowling ball-sized scars are anything to go by, it's been going on for far too long.

It's a lazy Tuesday afternoon two weeks before the entrance exam when Shouta finally breaks down and asks him.

"What kind of things did you protect your town from?"

"Ghosts, mostly," Danny answers easily. "Most of them are harmless, like the Box Ghost and Skulker." Shouta remembers these names from past stories, already committed to memory. "But sometimes there were...There were really bad ones. Vlad Plasmius was like, my arch nemesis. Another halfa, though I'm sure he's a full ghost by now. There was my evil older self that I had to fight, too. And then there was Pariah Dark, the old ghost king. He's the one that did this." Danny lifted up his shirt to find a circular scar the size of a dinner plate. There were divots in the skin where they were pierced by whatever he was hit with.

"He got a lucky shot in with his Morningstar," Danny explains with a shrug. "Probably would have actually kicked it if I hadn't been wearing armor."

That was another thing they were still getting used to. They knew Danny was dead, but Danny's casual relationship with it was jarring. To everybody else, dying was a big deal. It was serious, and there was always a chance it could happen at the drop of a hat, but for Danny it was different. He knew where he was going when his human half died. He had no reason to not be ready for the other side.

Shouta's heart absolutely ached for the kid. Hizashi always told him he had a bleeding heart when it came to kids, but he's thought much of it until now. Because that's what Danny was. A kid. And he's already saved the world at least three times over, almost single-handedly. He's got the scars and the stories to prove it, and Shouta-

He takes a deep breath in to calm his shaking hands. Because on his bad days, when Danny is grinning at him so hard his eyes are closed, he sees Oboro. He sees another fifteen year old ready to take on the world and win, only to be crushed without a second thought. It's a miracle that Danny still smiles as easily as he does.

Still, that doesn't stop him from convincing Danny to try therapy out. He's got nightmares in spades, and there are some days where he doesn't-can't-say a word to either of them for one reason or another. More than once he's caught Danny just starring vacantly off into space. So, yeah, he didn't cry, but his body and mind were getting him to deal with it one way or another.

They don't know how long they're going to have Danny, but they're fully prepared to help him in any way he needs. And right now? He really needs it.

Even if he doesn't realize it himself.

[sweetpeathecat]

AU inspired by “Peach Tea Burns” on AO3(part2)

-Grandpa/guardian Sun Wukong

-SWK is retired

-DBK doesn’t get seal in the mountain by SWK. SWK still has his staff

-it’s the modern era. Before the show starts.

-heaven send a letter to SWK telling him that they gave a successor for him

-it’s an order

-SWK throws a huge fit over not being able to retire in peace. That heaven still want something out of him

-After a year of putting off his new responsibility(only a day in heaven) he goes to heaven to get more information about his new successor. He was expecting them to be a full grown adult. Something similar to the Indian Prince he had trained while on his pilgrimage.

-however, it was in fact a 1 year old Qi Xiaotian. He a mortal born with powers like The Third Lotus Prince.

-The kid was born into a broken home. Abusive father and a drugged out mother. After find out about this, SWK rushed out if heaven to save the child. Back in heaven with the kid, SWK demands to to know why his successor is born into a bad home and why did they remove him in the first place

-the jade emperor told him that child was his responsibility for in the day he was born. If anything bad happened to the child did anything bad, then SWK would bear the blame. SWK said that this situation was unfair to the both of them. He doesn’t know how to take care of a human child. He ask for the child to be adopted by a family more capable than him. The jade emperor said no, the child already has his powers and it would be irresponsible for someone else to do it. That as the kid grows up, his powers will show themselves. The hose does say that SWK can have someone help him take care of the child but they must be capable of handling his powers

- SWK can only think of one person/family that can help him but doesn’t know if they are willing to.

-he goes to DBK and his family

-DBK resents him for “choosing” the monk/heaven instead of his own kind. Doesn’t out right hate him though. They haven’t seen each other since Red Sons Samadhi Fire was sealed

- PIF and Red Son live with him and have a neural option of SWK

- SWK ask DBK and his family to help raise little Xiaotain. After saying that DBK is only person he trust to help him, DBK and family agreed to help.

The set up is : QXT lives with the Demon Bull family and SWK stays with them for a week, every month. SWK mostly handles QXT’s training at first. The Bull family teaches SWK how to care for a child.

-the Bull family does become fond of QXT and treats him as their nephew/ cousin

-DBK and SWK do reconnect and repair their relationship. PIF and Red Son warm up to him after SBK is good with him.

- when QXT is old enough to go to school, the Bull family moves to the city. They enroll him into a fancy private school. The whole family(SWK is considered family now) takes turns picking up and dropping off QXT. DBK and SWK use human disguises in public where PIF and Red Son don’t need to. PIF and Red Son’s true forms arc closer to humans than DBK and SWK. QXT befriends LXJ at school. LXJ gives QXT the nickname of “MK” and QXT gives hey the nickname of “ Mei/ Mei-Mei”.

-the family is glad QXT made a friend but they also noticed something odd about her. Is not that fact that she is a dragon. They all put a pin in the issue until a later date.

- years pass mostly peacefully until QXT is an adult. Gets his job and apartment like in the canon.

-SWK tell QXT the full truth about the situation of his birth. QXT is honored to be his successor officially. They continue to train.

-Demons near and far, hear word of SWK’s successor and come boy to face him.