#i'm also just impressed that people notice my tags so that's nice :D :D

[heatherfield]

Hi! Just wanted to tell you that you tagged the DW post with 10 and Donna with "ouat s4a" too 😅 which isn't really the same fandom

Bahaha you're so right, I totally did. 😂 Thank you for letting me know!! I tag so many things back-to-back and sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own. At least I can see my brain was connecting that it was "season 4" lol.

Thanks again! I fixed it.

[morskisir]

Answer to this ask I had to post seperately because I reached the character limit or something.

OHHHH Anon you are not ready. I think about this bastard so much and too deeply.

Before I get into it:

I love how you worded this question- gives a nice atmosphere.

Just to be clear this is all about RED Sniper. I apologise to any BLU Sniper enjoyers for I don't have thoughts about that guy.

I'm not the biggest fan of the comics for many reasons so don't mind me retconning a lot of that.

In the end these are all MY opinions and views of him- if you don't like them that's no problem. It's free real estate.

And FINALLY; my thoughts, under read more:

OKAY, let's start with what even got me to interpret him the way that I do; hell yeah baby, it's Meet the Sniper time.

I've seen MANY people often assume that Sniper is one of the most normal/chill people of the 2fort nine- but the impression I got is that he wants you to think he's normal so desperately despite everything else pointing to how fucking weird he actually is. Simply noticing the stuff he's saying makes it a lot more clear. The very beginning where he goes "Boom, headshot," making light of taking another person's life so swiftly. "Cause at the end of the day; as long as there's two people left on the planet- someone is gonna want someone dead," really positive light you see the world in, Sniper.

Of course you can take this as him being "realistic", and I do agree he's more of a realist than a pessimist or optimist, but "...have a plan to kill everyone you meet," is SO fucked up. Why is his first thought when meeting someone to know how to kill them? This to me is him not being able to properly connect to other people/understand them or actually SEE them as people. Not to mention his smile after delivering that shot in the timelapse of him sniping (AND after stabbing Spy). This cunt enjoys killing. He's not the type to slowly kill someone or torture them- but he is the type to feel satisfaction after planting a bullet in someone; give himself a pat on the back for it- or perhaps find humour in the kill.

The conclusion this brought me to is that he is an unreliable narrator in "Meet the Sniper". (Also the "..be polite," line. Yeah, sure, dude. Your voice lines are very polite.)

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIS FUCKING TEETH? The way his teeth look and how much they're shown to the viewer by exaggerating his mouth movements feels like a "this guy is NOT normal" sign. No one in the game has teeth similar to him and his canines are HUGE. Like holy shit, he's an apex predator.

A comment @cheebuss (I know you wanna get tagged) saw once has been a running joke between us- it was basically "He indicates so he's normal," which is fucking hilarious, but I can genuinely refute that point. First of all we see him fucking speeding in the beginning of the video- to be fair we don't know what the speed limit on this road is, BUT:

Cunt drives around with a broken side mirror. That's really unsafe, obviously. A good chunk of that mirror has gone to shit and he does not care to replace it (which feeds into my headcanon of him being stingy/not wanting to spend money because he lived on a farm and they did everything themselves). Speaking of his van; it gave me the impression he likes having everything he needs near him- he doesn't need a grand, expensive space to feel comfortable. (I headcanon that he's actually scared/unnerved by vast, empty spaces/buildings) ALSO I think he's messy and prefers the claustrophobia of his van. I like to believe his childhood room was much the same (to the detriment of his mother)- that's his safe space damn it!!!

And here I can transition into talking about his parents!!! : D Of course, not much was shown to us of Mr. & Mrs. Mundy, but we can still glean some stuff from the video- and partially- the comics.

His father very obviously disapproves of his job, calling him "a crazed gunman", and showing his morals do not align with Sniper's. Sniper calls for his mum during the phone call shown at the very end of the video- looking annoyed and somewhat distressed. It's clear to me that they've had this argument many times and Mrs. Mundy is the mediator in them. I think she disapproves of the job as much as her husband does, but is sick of hearing them argue to that extent. Regardless of this conflict, Sniper loves and cares for his parents- they are his world. He doesn't care for anyone else, most of the shit he does is for their sake and continuing to provide support so they can live a stable life at their farm as they get older. It's one of the nicest things about Sniper.

Although, I do think he struggled to get them to understand him properly. He is a quiet man who doesn't express a lot of his emotions. That will complicate things, especially if he doesn't talk about it- and he doesn't!!! : D

Despite this, I think they were the people he was closest to. Sniper, to me, is a guy who's never had friends and has been lonely as well as isolated his entire life. "Too weird to live, much too rare to die." And this is a VERY long time we're talking about; DECADES. Decades of minimum to no human connection. (Just to note; he is almost 50 to me. The comic writers fucked the timeline up and made him a 20 something year old. The Sin. Do not speak of it to me. It makes him less interesting/compelling I'm not kidding.) He is anxious in social settings, barely speaks up, and prefers to simply back away when he doesn't know how to deal with something. (SUPER DUPER AUTISM + SOCIAL ANXIETY!!!) Does he try to interact with his co-workers? Veeeeery little. He yearns for connection he convinces himself he doesn't need. He trusts no one. He's a mystery to them.

But hey!!! Less distractions from his job!!! (Bad transition) This man is genuinely incredible at what he does- I keep replaying the part where he reloads his rifle. He was not kidding about being efficient (he also kills the entire BLU team in that video??). The lad's got incredible patience, aim, control, and overall understanding of what he's doing. There's something fucked up about him observing the people he's targetting like prey, but let's leave that for when I mention his previous job as a tracker (if I do). I imagine the only thing he excelled at in school (he did go there!! He can write!!!) is maths, as that is very much needed when you're a sniper.

BTW I think he barely passed school; he hated being there, had no interest in school work and his teachers kept pestering him about his social life. Leave him alone, he doesn't need that (he does).

Most of his focus went to his parents' farm where I think he mostly took care of the animals....or went out to hunt them; which is how he learned to shoot out of a rifle in the first place. (His dad taught him.) He's not exactly an animal guy but he's also not not an animal guy.

It's complicated.

ANYWAYS, I've talked enough about one single video. Let's mention his in game voice lines a bit!

There's a LOT of material there but here's the stuff I want to mention:

He talks to himself a lot. He isn't out there with the others- his job is to be perched up somewhere high and shoot from a distance so he doesn't get spotted. He makes so many jokes that only HE's going to find funny, except "You've got a forehead on ya like a coffee table," which is genuinely the funniest thing he's ever said. Boy voices his thoughts and tries to entertain himself when he's alone- I don't judge him for that. He has to sit there for hours in complete focus (he helps himself via a lot of coffee). I DO judge the things he says, however.

He's violent. (WHAT!?) There's plenty of examples but I would like to mention one adressed to his teammates. One of the "Jeers" commands is "Should've saved a bullet for some of you blokes!" which, hey, what the fuck? That's scary. He got so frustrated he threatened his own team with murder. (It's kinda funny) To me this shows he's bad at controlling his outbursts or that he never learned how to deal with them. (Autism moment!!!)

He literally growls.

There's this line addressed to Spy: "What goes around comes around, you snotty little nance." If you're not aware- "nance" is derogatory Australian slang for a prissy, effeminate gay man. I headcanon Sniper as a homosexual man so it tickles me that he's so insecure about this fact. It's sad, absolutely, but I find humour in this horrible man being a homophobic homosexual. Project your insecurities onto a guy who can read people extremely well, why don't you. He won't do anything about it, I promise :) (Lie)

I was doing my best to not mention SniperSpy but CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIS LINES AIMED AT SPY AND HOW THEY'RE DIRECT RESPONSES TO THINGS SPY SAYS? (plus the highest number of revenge lines he has directed at someone is Spy)

-> = response to:

"Aww, did I get blood on your suit!?" -> "You got blood on my suit."

"I was never on your side either! Wanker!" -> "I never really was on your side."

"Ah, my God, you've been shot. Did you get a look at the handsome rogue who did it?" -> "I'll see you in hell, you handsome rogue."

BY THE WAY, THAT LAST LINE? SPY ONLY SAYS THAT TO HIS COUNTERPART. WHAT, WERE YOU LOOKING AT HIM? WERE YOU WATCHING HIM ALL DAY? WHY DO YOU REMEMBER SO MANY THINGS HE'S SAID? WHY ARE YOU SO FOCUSED ON HIM? ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH HIM? ARE YOU OBSESSED? WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH A LITTLE NANCY BOY? HM?

There is so much more I could mention. I think whatever thing he has going on with Spy is super important to him, but I will hold back for your sake as I can talk about this for hours. You have no clue how many parallels there are, etc.

Anyways, he's in Expiration Date! A little bit! He doesn't say anything. <3 I'm proud of him!!! <3

He literally just stands around ominously in the shadows (and finds RED Spy being made fun of very amusing).

"Hehe."

(I just noticed he took his watch off and put it on his vest. This is an autism moment because I, too, hate having something on me that I don't usually have so I need to balance it out by removing something else; if I have it on me. Either way it's sensory suffering.) (Him being super attached to his hat and glasses is also an autism moment. He is no one without them.)

And then he has that one part in The Bread Fight(tm) where he gets confused by Pauling and Scout pushing the bomb.

"Tails gets trolled" looking ass.

I like watching him fall over.

After he falls here, he takes his kukri out which was... attached? situated? It was behind the strap of his arrow carrier. I think that's cool. I also think he wouldn't be doing that during matches because Spy is very much capable of stealing it/putting it away without Sniper noticing, even if it was literally on his back.

Also, I am a firm believer in "Sniper can only do one thing extremely well and has little to no interest in creative stuff," so I disagree with the idea of him being able to play a saxophone. You could say he was made to do that in school, but this guy is a smoker. I do not believe he can do that. You cannot convince me.

I think that's enough! This doesn't even go past the hypothetical tip of the iceberg, but it's a lot of words. This is the very basic stuff you have to know about how I see this cunt.

Thank you for letting me share some of my insanity.

[millieindeed]

Hah, haven't done this in a while. Tagged by @notabuddhist

Ages ago admittedly, but then I lost the tab in my pile of tabs.

1. are you named after anyone?

Yep! A few people actually. Millicent comes from my great auntie Millicent. A ferocious and seriously impressive lady. I only met her a few times due to being several continents apart, but she always amazed me. I'm somewhat also named after Millicent from Ozy and Millie, the excellent comic by Dana Simpson.

My middle name Alice also comes from my Grandma. It's actually her first name though she typically goes by her middle name. Plus I like the association to a good friend and to she of Alice in Wonderland.

2. when was the last time you cried?

I think about a week ago? I've been rereading the exceptional Old Addictions Die Hard by @logjammer9000 and there are quite a few parts that made me sob. Indeed a big part of why I started my third reread is the most recent chapter included a character death that had me absolutely sobbing. She knows exactly how to destroy me it seems.

3. do you have kids?

No, but I'd love to. It's gotten harder (being trans is a complicating factor), and I often worry that I won't get a chance, but I really would love to be a Mum. On the plus side my sister is interested in having kids and I would be pretty happy to be a cool aunt to them.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Hm. I don't think so. I think I did when I was younger, as I seem to remember having that as a reputation? but can't recall specifically.

5. what sports do you play / have you played?

Tennis and Basket Ball. I think the tennis was mostly just learning not matches, but it was outside school so I think it counts. The basketball was matches, and our team were....not amazing. But I really enjoyed it and it was crazy how much better I was at it than people who didn't play (crazy to me because I assumed I was bad) when I tried it out later.

6. what's the first thing you notice about other people?

Hrm. I'm not sure there's like, a body part or w/ever I go to consistently. It's mostly just 'do they have any distinguishing looks that make them look a bit queer', otherwise my attention often doesn't last long. Y'know, cool jacket, tattoos, pins, coloured hair, that sort of thing.

7. what's your eye colour?

Brown. I used to dislike that cause it was 'boring' and 'normal' but I think it's a fairly nice shade.

8. scary movies or happy endings?

Yup! Love scary movies, all about that. Love happy endings too, big sap for stories where things are just, nice. Doesn't even necessarily need stakes some of the time.

9. any special talents?

I'm bad at complimenting myself so I sorta just don't think I'm good at anything? I'm a bit of a jack of all trades and can pick things up pretty quickly. And generally do them reasonably well when I get a chance to figure it out. I can be really good at retaining instructions and then teaching others (was complimented on this recently so I can ignore the internal criticism).

I also think I'm pretty good with people. Listening to them and empathising when needed. I've been told I have capybara energy which I think is pretty special.

10. where were you born?

Misread this as 'were you born' and was wondering why Macbeth was fishing for information.

I was born in Arica, in Chile. I have few memories from there, mostly from when I revisited at age 5. We left after about 2 years.

11. what are your hobbies?

haaaah. Well. All of them.

I draw and paint; I crochet and knit; I like building models; I do puzzles; I game; I run & rock climb; I write; I like making things in general regardless of medium; I paint miniatures; I make games; I play TTRPGs (mostly D&D).

Not all the time, but those are hobbies I like and where I haven't done them in a while I intend to return to them when the mood takes me.

12. do you have any pets.

Yes! I have an absolutely adorable cat named Kita. She's a princess and meows a LOT and likes to sit on my chest while I work.

I also just recently got a puppy! His name is Ozy (officially Ozymandias King-of-Kings). He's a bit of a terror at the moment due to the puppy madness, but I adore him. He's the softest and cuddliest thing you've ever seen and when not mad, he's a pretty chill and snoozy guy. Also real smart, it's a danger.

13. how tall are you?

Last I measured I was 5'11. That was before the hormones though, so it's possible I'm shorter now.

14. favourite subject in school?

I loved anything that let me be creative. I got a lot out of creative writing, photography, painting etc. Sadly didn't really pursue many into the later parts of schooling as I went with the uni required English Lit which wasn't creative and was just reading and analysing which I didn't like. Some good teachers tho. I also loved Programming (the class had a few names) and was pretty decent at it. Also what I do now for a living.

15. dream job?

Ahhh, I'm currently struggling with this personally! I don't really know. The work I do is...fine. It pays well and keeps me engaged at least some of the time. I was liking it more because I got them to give me a 4 day week. But I found the income hit hard and am back on 5 days and hating it.

I think my current dream would be to run a Bookshop/Event Space. Somewhere fairly cosy with room to host like queer community events, or D&D games or that sort of thing.

That or some kind of artist/writer.

[dustofthedailylife]

I have to wait a bit, before I sit in front of my computer to reblog your work (I can't put tags on my phone for some reason T~T).

But in the mean time, does Pierro even have taste buds? To drink Fire Water (vodka) just like that... You don't do that. I would make him drink tea instead. 🤔

By the way, an interesting thing, that I as a Snezhnayan (I am Russian) have to tell you. Maybe you can use it later in your chapters!! :D

Russian people really love tea, surprisingly. Every imigrant that I've listened to on YouTube wondered how much people like tea in Russia. I am an exception, but my whole family likes tea a lot and half of our cabinet is filled with different sorts of teas. Drinking tea is more of an excuse to chat, actually. We REALLY love to talk over a cup of tea with some sweets! It's a tradition at this point. Whenever you invite someone to your home, you're also inviting them for a cup of tea so you could chat about anything and everything! Also, whenever we invite someone to our home, we feel the need to cook something or at least have food ready for our guests to eat if they ever get hungry. As soon as the guest is wondering to the kitchen, you need to offer some type food: from cupcakes to leftovers (if you haven’t cooked anything at all for the guest). Cookies are almost a must. Any sweets are fine because you need to eat them with a cup of warm tea.

Part of why we drink vodka too. If you don't drink tea with your friends, then you're drinking vodka in their company. There're two ways of bonding for us, as you can see. 😆

Aaaanyway, the story is cooking very nicely! The circumstances are playing in The Clown's favour for now. But will it be like that for the rest of the chapters? Ohohoho! >:D

Also, did Diluc even notice that the agent wanted to hand The Clown a bag of money. Did he notice??? Is that a spoiler? I really wonder what this encounter means for the story. You wouldn't put it here for no reason, would you? This situation must be brought up in the near future, right? >:0

Or I'm overthinking things.... Or am I????

Also, do you headcanon that Diluc could almost kill the number three Fatui Harbinger? She must be hella strong. How have you came up with this idea?? I want to know your thoughts!

I, personally, think that she might have some psychodelia powers or something. Usually, when asians (as in Japanese, but Mihoyo takes a huge inspiration from Japanese anime, so...) draw a wicked character with a bandage over her/his head, that definately means that this character has some mind tricking powers. She looks weak — boney arms, petite figure. And yet she can strike fear in one of the strongest people. Considering her reaction to Signora's dead, I came to conclusion that she must have some mind manupilation powers or something. She's sick on her head!

Gah! This has become a long message! I'm so sorry! I'm waiting for the next chapters to come! You're doing great! :D

Haha, to answer your first question he probably doesn't have taste buds lol! Interestingly enough, before I started writing the fic I was under the impression that fire water was meant to be vodka (I do still believe it's a reference to it) but in the world of Teyvat it isn't a spirit like vodka is but instead it's... wine. I was quite surprised about it.

That's why I made him drink it just like that as well. Plus in a world quest a Fatui Mage drank Fire water pure as well ("Lost in a Foreign Land" - Chasm world quest), so they seem to do that in Teyvat.

Funnily enough in that world quest she did also mention tea but her milk was spoiled so that's why she drank Fire Water there 😂

It's also funny you mention you offer your guests food because that reminds me of a good friend I had back in school. She was Russian and every time I came over her mum asked me if I'm hungry or often just brought us some pancakes (not directly pancakes, she called them 'Blinis' don't exactly remember anymore though).

It's always interesting to learn about different cultures, so thanks for that 😊

Back to the fic, will the odds be in out favor for much longer? Did he notice the agent slipping money in our pocket? We shall see *rubs hands* 😈

As for Pulcinella who I hc to have been attacked during Diluc's vendetta after his father's death. He is the 5th Harbinger so I think you got him mixed up with Columbina there. Pulcinella, or the Rooster, is the major of Snezhnaya and was the little old man with the long nose in the trailer. I chose him with the thought that he is 1) not too high up the rank and 2) attempting to kill the major is probably what Diluc would to do cause significant damage for the organization imo, plus it would certainly bring in the attention of the rest of the Harbingers. 🤔

Thank you for your long ask!! 😊

[inessencedevided]

(You can find the set that this gif belongs to here 💙)

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES: When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours

I was tagged by @aheartfullofjolllly. thank you so much Pat! it was really fun to reflect about my own process 💗 You can find her post here and @lan-xichens' post that started it all here :)

Also thank you @huigusu 🥰 (who tagged me for my nie brothers set) I'll get to that one in a few days!

Now Pat gave me two sets to chose from to show my process, so obviously I chose the more complicated one :P

I only work in Photoshop CC 2018. I know that there are programs out there for easier cutting and sharpening but I have only just figured out how to do that in PS and I am too lazy to figure out any other programs right now xD

1. Idea and Planning

This set, like most of my sets with lyrics started with me reading the poem, clutching my heart and going "oh shit this fits my favourite characters!!". The idea actually started with me thinking that the first stanza of the poem would go really well with wwx during the burial mounds arc. Then I realized that the last stanza fits lwj better than him and from there came the idea to contrast the both of them next to each other. This is when I realized I wanted to do a dark-light contrast set, though I did not know that I would go with red and blue at that time. My idea in the beginning was just to do a black and white set

I was really impressed by how Pat said that she plans her sets around exact timestamps. Because I don't do that at all ^^ I just get ideas for which scenes would fit (in this case the wwx burial mounds scenes and lwj's kneeling and punishments scene) and then I watch the scenes to narrow them down.

Back when I made this set, I still used a screenrecorder (AceThinker Screen Grabber Pro to be precise. They have a test version that allows you to record up to 3 minutes) and recorded the scenes I needed from Netflix. This worked well enough but now I have the entire show saved on an external drive and it makes a world of difference when it comes to gif sharpness

Now, in this case I had to repeat this step once because when I was almost finished, I realized that I wanted a gif for the lwj corner but let's pretend I didn't do that and that's the way this gif was always going to look because otherwise this post will be way too long ^^

2. Creation

Short disclaimer: The creation process for this gifset was anything but linear. Multiple effects I used here were things I had never tried before. I just had a vague idea and tried to realize it through trial and error. So whenever I say "then I did xyz", it is implied that I ultimately went back to that step several times and changed stuff ^^

I started with the Wei Wuxian part of the gif. I usually use a frame rate of 0,06 (with some variation depending on gif length and size). I work in timeline so I converted all the layers to a smart layer. Then I resized the gif into a square, leaving big chunks of the gif empty (as can be seen below.) I flipped the gif horizontally, so he is looking inwards. This was simple because I felt it fitted the composition better. Then I imported the Lan Wangji part of the gif, again with a frame rate of 0,06. (Image 2)

After that I created a layer for masking in a separate PS document by rotating a square until it was point down (is that a rhombus?). I sized it to match my gif (540x540 pxl) and copied it over. (Image 3) a bit of masking magic and ta da! There's the basic layout (Image 4)

I put a layer of solid black behind wwx to get rid of the transparent bits (Image 5) and then started adding more white and black to both sides by adding solid whit and black layers that i put masks on and changed the opacity as i needed (Image 6)

("reading" direction: from the upper left to the lower right corner)

Then I fiddled with the colours a bit. The first thing I always do is using the curves layer to get more contrast. Then I use the colour balance tool and the selective colouring tool to get rid of that cql-typical cyan tint after that it's just trying to have it look "natural" while the colours still fit the overall scheme. This was difficult here because wei Wuxian’s side of the gif was very dark and when i turned up the saturation to see which colour dominated it was a very weird mixture of multiple colours. That's when i decided that I'd just go with red on his side, since lwj's side was already so blue and those to look great as contrasts.

After that just came a lot of fiddling with selective colour layers and brightness and contrast unti I has happy. There really wasn't much to it ^^. (Image 1)

After that I added the text. I knew I wanted the two lines to for a square of some kind. So I tried different fonds until I arrived at the one below. The two lines are in seperate layers so I could move them around and change the spacing between the letters until I was happy with the layout. I also changed the layer mode for the text to "difference" (is that what it's called in english? my PS is set to german sorry ^^), keeping their colour white. (Image 2)

I originally hadn't planned adding anything else but I felt like the gifs (plural because I switched between the gifs of this set) was still kind of empty and lacking, so I added the tear down the middle (a tutorial for that is either coming up later or already posted. I recently got an ask for this :)) (Image 3)

It still felt empty after that, so I tried different overlays. Okay no, first I wasted a lot of time on different free image sides but then I tried out different ones until I chose the one you can see in the finished gif. I liked that one because a) I felt the round shape was a nice contrast to all the straight lines already there and b) because once I applied a black and white filter to it and switched the layer setting to "difference" (again, i hope this is the correct translation) it looked a bit like a moon. (Gif at the top)

("reading" direction: from left to right)

And that's it! :)

Although in general, these gifs took so much fiddling! I went back and forth between them a lot and sometimes almost redid the entire thing because I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning and by the time I noticed an error, the only way to fix it was ti redo everything. So yeah, this set definitely is the the one that took me the longest out of all the ones I've posted so far.

3. Posting

I save all my gifs to my drafts first to see what they look like put together and to check if they look any different on mobile. Usually i do this several times and change stuff until I'm happd enough with it to hit post. Once i am happy enough, i can't hold back. Doesn't matter if it's at a time when nobody is online, i hit post 😅

And that's it!

Tagging:

@lanwuxiann for this gifset (I adore it so much. I've looked at it and read it severat times since you posted it and the poem just kills me every time!)

@suibianjie for this gifset (The combination of static images and gifs in your gifs is always absolutely perfect! This one is only my favourite of yours because the light coming from behind wwx is just so pretty!!! ^^)

@sweetlittlevampire for this piece (It was soooo hard to pick a piece of yours because I have so many favourites! But this one is just so out if this world, I want to know how you worked that magic :D)

@wei-gege for this set (sparkling shijie! 😭 that set is so incredibly beautiful! I love how you matched the colour of the overlay with her dress!)

@purplexedhuman for this set (your gifs are always incredible! I chise this one because it showcases both your colouring skills and some really intricate effects)

If any of you have already been tagged or don't have the time or energy for this, obviously no pressure to do this at all! 🥰

(btw, I originally tried to place the actual text of this under a "read more" cut but somehow it always messed with the order of the images, so this ended up as a rather long post. sorry!)

[zwiezraczek]

Lambada [Request]

Tumbr said no to show up my writing in the tags and now I’m not pleased :’) Og post link

~~~

“Love, the only Brazilian thing I know is the Lambada, I'm not ready to meet your family,” Ben whined, as you straightened his black t-shirt on his chest with both your hands, looking at him closely.

“It's already enough, we'll add some dancing moves and they'll think you're Brazilian too,” you joked, your hands on his chest and grinned.

“It's not funny, y/n,” he complained, putting his hands on yours. “I'm a mess, I'm not ready to meet them at all!”

“You're not meeting the Queen of England!”

“Would have been easier,” he sighed as you smacked his lightly and from his lips an “ay” escaped.

“See? Already having the good reflexes,” you stated, “besides, you're meeting my mom, dad and brother.”

“Oh my God, I'm meeting your brother,” he whispered looking down at his shoes.

Months of preparation. Months of telling him that he is perfect. Months of telling your mom that yes, your boyfriend existed but was too afraid to show up in your house. Months leading to right here, right now, Ben ready to chicken out as you were almost ready to go out and meet your family, the ones you loved the most.

And Ben had to meet them, there was no excuse. Now he stopped working for his movies, the hollow part of the year, or something like that, it was the right time to meet your family, right after Christmas and all the ecstatic movement around this. And as much as Ben looked confident in any situation, you knew he wasn't and this situation was the peak of the things he couldn't handle. A week before the d day, he began to tell you how sick he began to feel and that you should reschedule probably, but you insisted on taking care of him so he wouldn't end up totally sick, he also told you that probably his mom would call him and... And then you knew that the problem wasn't coming from the outside, but from the inside. As if you didn't notice. You took his hands in yours, smiling and kissing them, reassuring him that your family would love him as much as you love him. And you succeeded. Until now.

“My brother won't eat you alive Ben,” you said, a bit exhausted by all of this. “We'll be late if you don't speed up a bit, and my mom doesn't,” you had to stop mid sentence as you saw horror in his eyes. Your mom didn't like people being late, and he seemed to remember it, just right now.

“Oh bloody hell, I'm getting my car keys and we're going,” he urged you, storming out the room, “grab your purse and we're going!”

You smiled. How much you loved this man was insane.

~~~

“You think it's too late for me to run away,” he whispered into your ear after you rang the bell and your turned to look at him, with big, scary eyes, “joking. Joking. I won't run away. Don't look at me like that.”

“Don't be silly,” you whispered back, squeezing his hand quickly before you could hear anybody coming from behind the door. “They'll love you.”

“Minha filha,” you heard as the door opened, and your mother took you into her arms, hugging you really hard. “Missed you so much.”

“Missed you too, mama,” you replied, your voice muffled into her shoulder. “This is Ben, my boyfriend,” you presented him as he awkwardly smiled and reached for your mother's hand but instead she hugged him.

“Nice to meet you Ben,” she then said, pulling off and smiling. “Come on, come on! We're waiting with dinner for both of you, your brother is already cursing you for being late!”

“We're not even late,” you protested.

“Filha, you know for your brother's stomach it's always too late,” she laughed as she watched both of you enter the house.

“Heard it,” your brother yelled from the living room before showing up to greet you with a smile. “But you're forgiven, mama made some delicious food because you and your boyfriend would show up so, you're forgiven. Hey, I'm [brother's name], nice to meet you Ben,” he said to greet Ben and offered him his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Ben smiled, you could see how uncomfortable he felt with your brother's hand in his, anticipating any move he would make.

“I'm not going to eat you alive,” he teased Ben as you looked at him, sighing, “might just cut you in half and grill you.”

“You, shoo to the living room,” your mother urged your brother to move as he winked at Ben with a smile and disappeared behind a curtain.

“Nice to know I'll be the dinner,” Ben said, making your mother and yourself chuckle.

“Wait until you know who'll be the desert,” your mother added looking at you.

“Mooom,” you whined, looking at her as she disappeared into the living room. “So? Still scared to death,” you asked Ben, putting up your sleeves a bit.

“We'll see if they really eat me or not,” he joked which made you roll your eyes and smile.

“Come and meet my dad!”

And that was the moment when Ben lost it all. You took him by the hand and he, mechanically, followed you, a hundred and one scenarios playing in his head about your father and how he should present himself politely.

And your dad sat on the couch, in the living room, your brother helping your mother to set the table for all of you. His palm began to sweat, but you were so genuinely happy to see your dad again that you somehow ignored it. But Ben didn't. Ben felt absolutely lost, and afraid, more frightened than afraid.

“Papa,” you said, as he looked at you fondly.

“y/n,” he said, standing up and hugging you; and then he looked at Ben.

“It's Ben, my boyfriend.”

“It's a pleasure Sir,” Ben solemnly said, holding his hand towards your father with a very shy smile. “Your daughter is an absolute treasure.”

“Oh yes she is,” your dad replied, taking his hand and shaking it before grabbing it with his two hands, “and I hope you are a treasure to her too.”

“Papa,” you complained, again, “why are you all doing this to me? Trying to get me all flustered?”

“Because we love you, stupid,” your brother yelled from the kitchen, “and because thanks to you mom made delicious food. Hope Ben will like it, otherwise I'm eating all that he leaves on his plate!”

“You stomach on two legs,” you complained, “Ben will eat his plate, don't you touch it you glutton!”

“Glutton yourself,” he said back, appearing in the living room with a plate of farofa in his hands, “as if some farofa wouldn't...”

“Ben, you'll love this,” you cut your brother off, taking your boyfriend by his hands as he just looked more and more confused. “My mom makes the best farofa in the world I swear!”

“Filha, that's nothing, it's nothing great,” your mother humbly replied as she showed you the table to sit. “Let's eat before it becomes cold and our new member of the family runs away before we can actually eat him properly,” she joked and Ben felt less and less tense.

He probably found his lambada, sun and sea, his lover and a new family gathering him with love, and acceptance. And he would be lying if he said that your brother didn't make him laugh as they spoke about football, that your mother didn't make him feel like home, that your father didn't impress him by his calm attitude and acceptance, that you didn't make this day so much better than he imagined and feared. The lambada of his dreams.

[rz-jocelyn]

Hey, I just noticed from your tags that you're quite fond of Ryuji and Mario together, or am I just assuming it? If it's alright with you, please share your thoughts about them and if you have trivia or interesting facts about their real life dynamic and friendship, please grant me some. Ah, please, if it turns out that I'm wrong, kindly ignore this ask. Thank you and have a nice day! PS. I love them together but I don't know where to go to feed my fangirl heart.

Hiya! :D 

Your instincts are spot on xD I am, indeed, very fond of Sato Ryuji and Kuroba Mario’s friendship/dynamics, so thank you for the Ask! I had a ton of fun digging through the many moments that they’ve shared together, and I hope you enjoy reading about them ♥ 

Ryuji and Mario go way back, all the way to their Musical Prince of Tennis days, and so have quite the history together. Coupled with their similarities, they get along really well in real life and have quite a close friendship xD

Because this post, very predictably (LOL!) got quite long, please find the rest of my response below the cut.

SHARED PROJECTS

Musical Prince of Tennis (2013 - 2014):

Kuroba Mario as Kikumaru Eiji (Seigaku 7th Gen, Tenimyu 2nd Season)

Sato Ryuji as Zaizen Hikaru (Shitenhouji 2nd Gen, Tenimyu 2nd Season)

Musical Touken Ranbu (2015 - now):

Kuroba Mario as Mikazuki Munechika (Team Sanjou with Kashuu Kiyomitsu)

Sato Ryuji as Kashuu Kiyomitsu (Team Sanjou with Kashuu Kiyomitsu)

Please Please Please (2017) / Sea Opening (2018):

Sato Ryuji as Shinji

Kuroba Mario as Kiyoshi

FIVE (2017):

Sato Ryuji as Shimizu Toshi (MENS5)

Kuroba Mario as Tairaku Jun (MENS5)

SIMILARITIES

They are both born in Sendai, Miyagi.

They are both only children.

They were both involved in the amateur high school band circuit at around the same time (2010/2011). Ryuji was a vocalist and drummer for his band while Mario was a vocalist.

RANDOM TRIVIA

The both of them actually knew about each other before their first meeting during Tenimyu because Matsuda Makoto-san, the producer of Tenimyu, had told them about each other. Ryuji was asked to “get along with Mario because they came from the same hometown” while Mario was asked to “take care of Ryuji”.

Ryuji’s first impression of Mario: 

“At first, he seemed like the yankee type, but he’s actually the fluffy type (“fuwa fuwa”).“

Ryuji has also been asked about the part of Mario that he thinks is cool (“kakkoii”), to which his response was: 

“Hmm, it might be his face/looks? The fact that he’s an affable person. How do it put it, he’s someone who is loved [by the people around him], and there aren’t many people who dislike Mario-kun.”

Mario’s general impression of Ryuji: 

“When he wants to get your attention… He can get quite adorable. Well, he’s someone who gets lonely easily and wants company ("sabishigariya”), after all. He’s not the type to show it, so I’m really happy that he shows me that side of himself. If I talk more about this, I’ll be scolded (LOL). Even though he’s younger than me, he doesn’t seem like someone who is younger and feels like someone who is always [leading the way] in front of me. That’s why it makes me happy when he shows that side of himself to me.“

Mario has also been asked before about the part of Ryuji that he loves/likes, to which his response was: 

"The both of us are unexpectedly similar~ We come from the same hometown, we stand together shoulder to shoulder, we’re both only children, we’ve both performed in bands before in the past, and even at our cores [we’re the same]. In other words, I love/like everything about Ryuji.”

Although there are no official company leaders (“zachou”) appointed in Toumyu, Mario and Ryuji have a unique relationship in the production, especially when they are together in Team Sanjou with Kashuu Kiyomitsu, because they’re both acknowledged to be co-leaders of the team.

Even from their early days during the Trial Performance, Mario has always felt that, because of his role as Mikazuki Munechika, he should make an effort to act more like a leader, which is why he is often the one who takes charge of leading the pre-show circle. However, it was something that was challenging for him, and he has commented that in areas where he finds himself lacking, it is Ryuji who supports him and has his back, filling in the gaps in his stead.

In the Shibuya Note special episode about the “Musical Touken Ranbu ~Atsukashiyama Ibun~ Paris”, Mario also talks a bit about their roles and dynamics as leaders in general, saying: 

“[Because] (Sato) Ryuji runs before us, leading us as the vanguard, I would like to be the one who is right at the back [supporting everyone]; that is the kind of relationship I would like us to have.”

And, when Mario was cast in the “Musical Touken Ranbu ~Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato~”, he admitted that one of the things he was most anxious about was the fact that Ryuji wouldn’t be there [to support him and watch his back] during the production.

Mario has also named Ryuji both as the person he admires and as his biggest rival. These excerpts were taken from Mario’s various fan events.

Question: The person you admire? Your rival?

Mario: Sato Ryuji! I think that there are a lot of similarities between us. I think, because we’ve been together for so long and come this far together, our paths are similar.

[MC: Is it admiration? Or rivalry?]

Mario: It’s both. I’m very curious as to/interested in how Sato Ryuji will continue from now on.

In response to the question of “Who is your biggest rival?”, Mario has also added:

“It would be Sato Ryuji. He [Ryuji] isn’t someone who is an enemy [to me]. He is more like a person whom I can grow and climb to the top with.”

Mario has compared his relationship and rivalry with Ryuji to Son Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball (with him being Goku and Ryuji being Vegeta, also because Ryuji can be a tsundere xD).

Ryuji and Mario used to stay with each other when they had projects together. It is because of this that Mario has commented before on how Ryuji can have a weird tension when he’s awake late into the night. LOL!

When they filmed “FIVE”, they had this story to tell:

Mario: Occasionally, filming will be early in the morning and he [Ryuji] looks like he is going to die though (laughs).

Ryuji: I’ve known Mario-kun for such a long time since Touken Ranbu, so he is exposing everything [about me].

Mario: Yeah, because we’ve always been together. In the morning, when we are taking the bus to go to the meeting place, Ryuji makes a face like he is returning to hell (laughs).

Source: HERE

Additionally, Mario has also commented that when they were filming “FIVE”, they were always together even in private. They would go out for meals together and chat with each other about anything and everything.

During yet another fan event, Mario played “The Family Game”, and this was his response,

Father: Saeki DaichiMother: Ohira ShunyaOlder brother: Kitazono RyoYounger brother: Sakiyama TsubasaPet: Sato Ryuji (To quote, “Don’t you want to see Ryuji as a pet? Wearing a choker?”)

Source: HERE

Ryuji and Mario have also shared a few cute interactions on Twitter. One such interaction was this little gem featuring Kitazono Ryo: HERE

They have also demonstrated that they do indeed pay attention to each others’ Tweets and play along with each other, as shown in this little exchange: HERE

And, finally, last but most certainly not least, the legendary Sashimeshi episode featuring the both of them and their “kiss” xD: HERE

PHOTOS: THEN AND NOW

[bubblesthemonsterartist]

I'm a Zenyuki shipper. Or at least I thought I am one of them. Your fics are confusing me. After reading them it feels like I was blind until now and I manage to ship only obiyuki now. So, thank you, I guess? Now I'm searching for other authors like you, do you have any recommendation? (Good fan art interests me too) Have a nice day!

hahahaha… Maybe you’re a multi-shipper, nonny. No harm in that!

In response to your request for recommendations, though… :3 :3 :3

OBIYUKI’S ASSEMBLE!! :D

I have a LIST, friend. A magnificent LIST of authors for you to choose from but is probably not all inclusive. I wrote this a couple of months ago when someone else asked me for recs and we have GROWN significantly since. Lemme give you a 4-author starter pack that’ll keep you busy reading for some time, and then there are many many more.

IF SOMEONE SEES THIS AND REALIZES I SKIPPED THEM/SOMEONE ELSE, PLEASE REBLOG/COMMENT FOR ME I HATE TO LEAVE PEOPLE OUT AND I KNOW I PROBABLY AM RIGHT NOW.

All of the following authors also have AO3 accounts:

@sabraeal, naturally. She is my writing buddy and I love her deeply. Plus, she knows EXACTLY how to murder me. (Pls start with Seven Suitors and then go harass her for more All Pain Will Turn to Medicine for me. ty ^_^ )

@infinitelystrangemachinex - Gorgeous prose, beautiful stories, breaks my heart every time (pls do it some more?)

@vivianwisteria - Just amazing writing. Wonderfully emotional and complex. She gets a visceral reaction out of me with every update.

@xaphrin - This woman. This woman destroys me ALL THE TIME with all the lovely goodness (She’s also one of my favorite readers! Because she gets SO MAD AT ME :D )

MORE AUTHORS In alphabetical order:

@akai-vampire - Has been putting out some amazing multi-shipper content since long before I joined this fandom, but of course I am partial to her obiyuki content. She’s a grab bag of sweet and “hey who’s cutting onions in here?”

@another-miracle - Has dared to put onto the screen the hurt/comfort follow up fic that we all wanted, we all craved. I have it saved in my inbox so I can have feelings about it regularly. Has written some fantastic shorts since!

@azalearhoden - Writes some amazing prose of short moments glued together into something gorgeous and beautiful that I would have never thought of!

@codango - Look. L O O K. You may think that you don’t need cowboy Obi, but trust me… you do. You so so do. (Also has an assemblance of shorts that range from OH MY HEART T_T to Oooohhh myyyyy :3 )

@claudeng80 - Has a million ideas and puts them to paper in record time! There’s too many stories for me to wrap her up into one sentence!

@glitter-and-golden - A obiyuki kids story that’ll break your heart and some fantasy fantasticness. 

@jaygirl987 - From short hot scenes to her first multi-chapter fic that is turning into something epic, I love her stuff!

@k-itsmaywriting - Freakin amazing woman who puts out the most beautiful AU’s. I love it when she can come to play and I hate to see her leave, but school is the most important, yo!

@kaedix - Writes the sweetest stories, from mama and papa Obiyuki to the Mall AU that I am still dying over almost a year later.

@krispy-kream - I don’t know how many times I have seen this one post and I have been LITERALLY TERRIFIED to click on the link because she DESTROYS ME WITH HALF A SENTENCE. (No, seriously, I still can’t get through this without tearing up)

@lalesath - Has written ONE GORGEOUS, FEELS INDUCING FIC for us, but there is more trapped away in her computer. I feelz it in my bones. Won’t you feed us? XD

@littleaverill - Puts out some amazing ficlets that have you begging for more! I wish I could write like her…

@maverae - Has written TWO fics to share with the class, BUT I KNOW SHE IS HIDING MORE FROM US. Give us your delicious prose! We are hungry!

@nebluus - Has STILL written my all time favorite Obiyuki fic, Blizzard. That story gives me all the feely feels in my little shipper heart.

@nonstopdoodle - Girl is filled with fantasy and writes the COOLEST AU’s. I love them all so much.

@obiisms - I lovelovelove her Meaning of Trust fic on AO3 you don’t even know how much. She takes hard subjects and just delivers.

@onoheiwa - Hnnnnnnggggggggg writes some of the most amazing short stories. I die over her arranged marriage fic (Did not know this was a thing of mine, BUT I GUESS IT IS A THING)

@owlsshadows - Oh man. Oooooh maaaannnnnn.. if you have not read her gender swap AU where Obi is the pharmacist and Shirayuki is the assassin, you have not lived.

@ruleofexception - I wanna say she is our FASTEST writer, throwing out some amazing fics within a day and cutting through ALL the BS!

@thelionshoarde - Oh myyyyy… how do I wrap this one up? You’ve gone some delicious canon-esque smut with feels and some fantastical AU’s to choose from. Please enjoy with my blessing :3

ARTISTS (also in alphabetical order and some of these will be repeats):

@goldenrose101 - My friend. You must. YOU MUST view their obiyuki comic. And then love it. IT IS A REQUIREMENT

@heartamplifier - Again. Some amazing. Amazing. AMAZING. edits and manips. I love her

@lalesath - F A N T A S T IC and G O R G E O U S edits! SO MANY OF THEM.

@miinah13 - Just adore their drawings BUT BE CAREFUL! SHE HAS A SERIES THAT MAKES ME CRY BIG FAT UGLY TEARS but you should totally check out anyway

@nebluus - You may notice that she is listed twice. THAT IS BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING. Search her ansh tag for Akagami no Shirayukihime art.

@nonstopdoodle - YES. SHE ALSO DOES THE ART!

@stuffaeamade - My goodness gracious, she has the MOST impressive tag for AnS art. I HIGHLY recommend.

@thelionshoarde - YES YET ANOTHER AUTHOR THAT ALSO DOES THE ART!

@vfordii - Oh my… I absolutely love everything that she does, but my top two have GOT to be Obiyuki Kiss and Bellydancer Obi. (I’m sure she will convince me that there are more delicious arts waiting in her brain to be posted, BUT I LOVE THOSE THE MOST NOW

@youseimanami - One of our newest and (hands down) most prolific artist (she just completed Inktober and did 31 DAYS OF OBI/OBIYUKI CONTENT. GO LOOK AT THE MAGNIFICENCE. GO GO!) and is a very sweet and encouraging person.

@yumelinh - I absolutely adore the way she does her edits and colors our favorite characters. They are fantastic.

Special mention to @akagami-no-rae because, while she is not obiyuki, she likes hanging out with us and graces us with Hnnnng-worthy AMV’s, edits, and artwork! (occasionally a fic, too