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j4m3s-b4k3r · 2 months

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CREEPY Steve

2024 is the 50th anniversary of Stephen King’s first published novel, CARRIE. The story of a bullied telekinetic teen, who gets blood-soaked payback at her prom. Since then, he's written 65 novels, 200 short stories, and 5 nonfiction books. A freakish feat, almost worthy of one of his supernatural characters.

King’s first published story was when he was 19 years old. He continued selling short stories after graduating from the University of Maine, and while teaching English at a public high school, all later collected in NIGHT SHIFT. He's averaged more than a book a year since 1974. Many of his novels were initially released under a pseudonym, lest their sheer number dilute his ‘brand’. I became aware of King via the early movie adaptations of his books. CARRIE, THE SHINING, and THE DEAD ZONE. A great introduction, as those early films were all good, whereas most adaptations of his work are terrible, sadly.

During one of the Halloweens in the covid era, Julia & I got into a CREEPY STEVE frame of mind. Watching the better film adaptations, and listening to audiobooks. Those narrated by Will Patton were faves, as he really brings the characters to life. The Bill Hodges trilogy - Mr MERCEDES, FINDERS KEEPERS and END OF WATCH - were all marvellous, and introduced the wonderful character Holly Gibney. Who then appeared in further stories of her own.

There are 10 Stephen King short story collections, and all that I’ve read contain several gems. JUST AFTER SUNSET has the terrifying (yet somehow hilarious) tale of a man trapped and left for dead in a capsized porta-potty. DIFFERENT SEASONS contains the stories that inspired THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and STAND BY ME. Donald Sutherland starred in a great film entitled Mr HARRIGAN’S PHONE, taken from IF IT BLEEDS. Which also contains another great Holly Gibney story.

ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT, is an engaging book, narrated by the author himself. Part memoir and part how-to instructional. Reminding me of William Goldman’s ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE, in that it can’t truly deliver the secrets to making the magic that it promises, but serves up entertaining & revealing autobiographical anecdotes instead.

We are now used to seeing vampires in contemporary settings, so some of the 1970s impact of SALEM’S LOT has been lost. But both the book and its movie adaptation have many indelible images. Such as a vampire child hovering at the window.. (an inspiration for John Ajvide Lindqvist perhaps?)

After listening to book after book of King’s, and loving their brilliantly observed characters, and wonderful dialog, DARK TOWER was conspicuous for not having the elements that are normally intriguing in his books. Maybe I’ll give this series another shot someday, as friends swear it gets better.

We read THE SHINING and its sequel, DOCTOR SLEEP, watching & enjoying both movie adaptations. King apparently despises Kubrick’s version of THE SHINING - "The book is hot, and the movie is cold; the book ends in fire, and the movie in ice. In the book, there's an actual arc where you see this guy, Jack Torrance, trying to be good, and little by little he moves over to this place where he's crazy. And as far as I was concerned, when I saw the movie, Jack was crazy from the first scene.”

After reading the book, I understand King’s critiques, and agree with his second point. Jack Nicholson seems already about detonate on his drive to the hotel. Whereas King’s Jack was driven to madness by the malignant spirits within it. However, Kubrick’s film is so indelibly stamped into my mind, that I cannot unsee it. Nor unlike it neither (sorry, Stephen).

“Plot is, I think, the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice. The story which results from it is apt to feel artificial and labored.” - Stephen King.

I work in storytelling too, but in my biz it’s the dullard’s choice all the way - everything plotted & discussed, ad infinitum. King apparently starts with the merest idea, then writes straight ahead, surprising himself as he goes. A magician pulling a string of goodies out of his own head. At his best, this approach produces stories that feel naturalistic, with surprising twists and turns.

At his worst, it can be rambling, meandering and self indulgent. Especially when he struggled with addiction. Apparently, King was so out of control in the late 1980s, that he was confronted by an intervention after finishing the TOMMYKNOCKERS manuscript. A pity then that the editor wasn’t given more latitude in tidying up that waffling mess before it went to print..

Stephen himself agrees - “I mean, The Tommyknockers is an awful book. That was the last one I wrote before I cleaned up my act. And I’ve thought about it a lot lately and said to myself, “There’s really a good book in here, underneath all the sort of spurious energy that cocaine provides, and I ought to go back.” The book is about 700 pages long, and I’m thinking, “There’s probably a good 350-page novel in there.”

We enjoyed the screen adaptations of IT, CHRISTINE, 1922, THE MIST, and 11.22.63. After soaking in worlds King has created, on page & screen, it became clear that the recent NETFLIX hit, STRANGER THINGS, is merely glorified Stephen King fan fiction. By the end of the pandemic, we’d chewed through many stories, yet only a mere fraction of The King Catalog.

King is thought of as a master of the paranormal, but his real genius is for the everyday. Some of my favourites King stories are his straight crime fiction, or stories about real life. Even his famous horror stories are grounded by settings in relatable blue collar situations.. The writer Peter Straub even compared King to Dickens: “Both are novelists of vast popularity and enormous bibliographies, both are beloved writers with a pronounced taste for the morbid and grotesque, both display a deep interest in the underclass."

How does a man who’s been a millionaire for decades, with a very recognisable face, keep an ear for dialog patterns of common folk? Does he wear a disguise, and lurk in truck stops, diners, dive bars, and greyhound bus stations, taking notes?

“He's one of the first people to talk about real Americans and how they live, to capture real American dialogue in all its, like, foulmouthed grandeur... He has a deadly ear for the way people speak... …Surface-wise, King's work is a bit televisual, but there's really a lot going on." - David Foster Wallace

Lately, we’ve embarked on yet another quest to chip away at the KING oeuvre. Having already fallen in love with Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney, it was fun to watch the Mr MERCEDES TV series. Even though the filmmakers took liberties with the characterisations. Rather than the shy, smoking, middle aged, OCD woman of the novels, the TV Holly is a perky & cute 30 something. An autistic variation on the manic pixie dream girl trope. (sigh..)

Taken from a short story collection entitled EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL, the gripping movie 1408, starring John Cusack & Samuel L. Jackson, is the creepy story of a skeptical paranormal investigator, whose cynicism is challenged by spending a harrowing night in an actual haunted hotel room.

In THINNER a selfish fat lawyer is cursed into anorexia by a gypsy. Entertaining, in 'the guy deserves everything he gets' manner of a parable from the Twighlight Zone. It seems to have inspired Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL.

GERALD’S GAME seemed like a story written on a bet, or an author’s exercise - “write a novel where the protagonist never leaves their bed for most of the story.” To me it felt like it might have worked better as a short story. When King fails (for me, anyway) it's when there hasn't been enough editing.

King has apparently said that PET SEMATARY was his book that scared him the most, and it is extremely creepy, but for me, MISERY was even more terrifying. I'd already seen the film, and Kathy Bates’ Oscar winning performance, but the book is even scarier somehow. There’s nothing paranormal about this story. There is utter horror, but it is the worst kind that there is - the twists & turns of the human mind.

Despite, or perhaps because of, King’s great popularity, literary critics long damned him with faint praise. In 2003, when he received the National Book Foundation’s ‘Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters’, some became openly hostile:

"The decision to give the National Book Foundation's annual award for "distinguished contribution" to Stephen King is extraordinary, another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life… ..What he is is an immensely inadequate writer on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, book-by-book basis." - Harold Bloom

Bloom is dead, so King gets the last word - “A lot of today's reviewers grew up reading my fiction. Most of the old critics who panned anything I wrote are either dead or retired".

In 1999, Stephen King was flattened by a vehicle while walking along a highway - "After the accident, I was totally incapable of writing. At first it was as if I'd never done this in my life. ...It was like starting over again from square one." As someone who was been flattened too (but in a very different way) one of the many inspiring things about King is how he recovered from that terrible accident, to do some of his very best work.

CREEPY STEVE is a one-man multimedia idea engine, keeping the publishing & Hollywood machines running. We are still enjoying poring through the King library (listening to THE INSTITUTE now) so if any of you have further recommendations, please let me know in the comments!

#essay #stephen king #illustration #The Shining #pet sematary #salems lot #supernatural horror #horror movies #horror fiction #holly gibney

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ms-ship · 7 months

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"Love is many things. None of them logical."

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Well spoken, Mr. Goldman

Shout out to @bixiebeet @spengnitzed @the-musical-cc @janegon-forever @kawaiisakura143 @trixie21 @remerg @ariel-seagull-wings @janeb984

#janegon #janine melnitz #egon spengler #the real ghostbusters #extreme ghostbusters #ghostbusters #i ship them #ghostbusters egon #i love them #the rgb crowd was really going strong for the ship god bless them

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theghostbunnie · 1 year

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Just to preference alot of this is my interpretations/HCs/OC and very little of it is cannonical character analysis:

So her name is Penelope Esther Goldman but she just goes by her middle name Esther, as a funny little nod to know SK and Neil are both named Neil, she shares a name with Mrs Priss and I think I had them go to the same collage or something, might have to do the math on their ages again to see if that lines up

(I HC Carl's last name is Pasternak and Neil's is both, hyphenated.)

She's a incredibly intelligent scientist with extensive knowledge in biology, robotics, chemistry, ect ect. Esther doesn't really emote or exspress her emotions in her voice or face much at all, or well.

Carl when they first met was smitten, he was a groovy goofy goober and still is. He'd do that walrus thing with breadsticks in public at restaurants. He'd skate around with a fanny pack dancing to bee gees. Convince her to go to parties and she'd just be pleasantly content to stand there as he's like "that's fine I can dance enough for the both of us/pos" She had to pass a first aid course and he guided her arms and taught her you can keep the proper rhythm by singing Stayin Alive. He was just really persistent and really sweet and he grew on her okay 😭

Esther didn't really have a respect for philosophy because she didn't really grasp it's value or importance. As she grew to respect him more that sortaa changed.

They eventually got married and really kick-started both of their careers along the way.

(cw miscarriage implications for this next part) Neil's a rainbow baby that happened after several pregnancy losses. It may have been one of the things to strain their marriage but what really ended up doing it in was just the simple fact of life people change and grow apart and can fall out of love so now they can't really interact with each other for long. Their differences and flaws now clash and they butt heads instead of being complimentary.

I'm a firm believer the episode where each camper takes care of an egg they were reflecting their own parents. Carl is embarrassing but he's almost the exact opposite of a smotherer that Neil was showcased to be. His overall parenting style is like he's way more concerned about being Neil's friend than anything.

Esther is the one he's mirroring, here. She treats him like he's fragile almost. She gives him specific everything, down to his bedsheet thread count, knows how to cater to his living needs inside and out. Esther struggles to connect with anyone emotionally, though so her affection in the verbal department isn't as maintained. This never really bothers Neil, it doesn't register as "smothering" to him how much she shelters or caters to him. Because this isn't a kid interested in joining sports he could get hurt in and likes everything in a specific way anyways.

She's more aware socially than Carl is and knows how to not embarrass him in general.

Esther is Neil's biggest role model he wants to be just like her and is mad when he isn't, when he fails to be. He's upset even physically the only thing they share are the eyes. ((Regularly you can't even see Esther's I couldn't help myself in the art above from making them visible/forgot on the cc one but it's supposed to be a bit on "eyes are a window to the soul" thing and she's just that closed off and unreadable. Really only has a soft spot for Neil))

His mother is incredibly intelligent, and just seems so collected to him all the time.. and importantly not over emotional like he can be (his temper specifically.) and ESPECIALLY how emotional his dad can be.

I just love!! Character parallels!!!! How Carl is this emotional goofy person who joked around and danced and played music everywhere and Esther got regarded as "cold" and stiff and Neil is just both of them bc he's so smart but he's also silly. Like he plays video games and gets passionate over little things and allthat and it embarrasses him secretly sometimes, he wishes he could chill out and be like his mother. But the parts of him that reflect his father have always been the parts Esther always loved the most and found endearing. He doesn't know that though.

Neil to an extent even secretly believes if he didn't have his big brain and academic achievements him and his mother wouldn't have this close relationship because this is their shared quality. This is what makes her proud. He's so scared to lose that or disappoint her.

At the same time it doesn't stop him from pinning his parents against each other a bit from time to time. As he knows Esther's go-to move is to spoil him to win.

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thedummysdummy · 1 year

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I'll Always Find You

Part 1 can be found here: One Small Decision

All the responses had been the same. “Nope, haven’t seen or heard from her.” Victor slammed a fist on his desk in desperation-fueled frustration. He could go to the police, he supposed, but doubted they’d take him seriously. It had been less than 24 hours and she was an adult. They’d had a fight. He’d just be eye-rolled out of their office…

So he went back to the stack of evolvers. Every minute ticking by was a drip of water torture serving to drive him insane. He called her after each page and despite the calls going straight to voicemail each time, Victor found himself holding his breath through that single ring. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

Everything paused as he flipped the page and found himself face-to-page with Ernest Elm, evol: tracking. It was almost too perfect to be true. Victor picked up his phone and dialed the number, hand holding the phone shaking and the other tapping the desk while his knee bounced. Two, three, four times it rang before a voice came on the line. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Ernest Elm? This is Victor Li. I need your evol’s assistance.”

~~~

An hour later, the redheaded and freckled Ernest stood in Victor’s office at LFG. He couldn’t have been older than twenty, with nervous eyes and twitchy hands. “Sit, sit,” Victor invited, gesturing to the chair where the girl usually parked herself. The young man did so, and Victor skipped the small talk. “Thank you for coming. Tell me about your evol. What do you need for it to work?”

“I, uh. Just need something that belongs to the person, and then I can see a thread that leads back to the owner. I usually just use it to return lost items, sir. I don’t know that it’s super helpful…”

Victor rifled around in his desk and emerged with a small, well-loved shiba inu plushie. “If you don’t think it’s very helpful, Mr. Elm, then you have not spent enough time thinking of applications. You would be the most efficient search and rescue officer Loveland has ever seen. You could track down criminals, trafficked women and children, or missing persons. I would say that is a most noble evol.” He lifted his dark eyes and connected them to Ernest’s. “What are the limitations?”

The young man seemed slightly taken aback by Victor’s statements. Could he really be that important? A smile settled onto his face and Ernest visibly relaxed. “I haven’t really found a distance limit, but the person does have to be alive. Sir, before we do this…would this person want to be found? I mean, I’m not helping you be a creepy stalker or anything, right?”

“She would want to be found, yes. It’s possible that she might be in danger, so shall we get started?” Victor’s voice had regained its sharp edge and Ernest straightened in his seat. He accepted the doll with some amount of apprehension while Victor looked on with concentration.

“Do you have a map? It would be easiest for me to tell you where she is if I have a map to draw you a path.”

Victor pulled a map of Loveland out of his desk drawer and scooted it over along with a pen. He folded his hands over his knee and swallowed the feelings of concern at the phrase ‘does have to be alive.’ But his dark eyes remained focused on Ernest’s face as the man held the toy and scrunched up his face.

There was a long pause as tension hung heavy in the air before Ernest reached for the pen. He seemed to be following roads with one eye closed and the tip of the pen hovering over the map until it lingered over the industrial side of Loveland. The pen lowered until it kissed the map, leaving a small dot. “That’s the spot, sir.”

Victor scooped up the map and examined the place where the marking lay. “Thank you. I must be going now. Goldman will give you your pay and escort you out.” Without further discourse, Victor disappeared down the hallway with his phone in one hand and map in the other.

Speed limits were for people who didn’t have anywhere important to be. At least, that seemed to be Victor’s attitude as he flew down the side streets which led to the sketchier parts of Loveland. It was all but confirmed in his mind that she had been kidnapped at this point; there was no reason why she would have willingly ended up in the dilapidated industrial sector.

The further out he went, the fewer cars he passed until he turned onto the final road and found himself completely alone. Whoever these people were, they had obviously gotten all of their training from bad films and crime novels. Victor pulled into the marked parking lot and stopped the car at the far end, not wanting to alert anyone inside to his presence earlier than was necessary.

Victor slipped through the first strains of darkness to flatten himself against the wall of the building. So far he hadn’t seen or heard anyone, but that didn’t mean there weren’t eyes on him. Practically a wraith, he slipped around the outside until he found a door whose lock had been smashed. It opened easily and Victor entered without a sound.

Unfortunately, the building was quite large and there was no telling where the girl was being kept. Victor listened carefully for any sound, but was only struck by the vast silence of the building’s hollow carapace. His keen eyes swirled as they scanned the floor for any sign of passage; however, it appeared he would not be so lucky. So he pushed forward into the depths of the building, the dim light providing only little guidance as he walked the halls.

Door after door Victor paused outside and listened, pushing open those he could when he heard nothing behind them. Honestly, he’d expected to find guards by now, but obviously this was a small or inexperienced bunch. How they’d managed to catch someone as capable as his dummy made no sense if they were that inept, but the ‘how’ could wait.

When faced with the realization that he’d scoured the entire first floor, Victor paused at the stairwell. It went both up into higher floors and down beneath ground, and there still was no real sign which way he should check. He chose downstairs for multiple reasons; firstly, it was easier to drag an unwilling captive down than up. Secondly, underground would allow them to use lights without drawing attention to their abandoned abode.

It seemed his reasoning was sound. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, a slight glow called from the far end of the hallway. Victor felt his heart rate increase as he knew he was on the correct path. Every cell in his body screamed for him to throw caution to the wind and race to the girl’s side, but thankfully the ones in charge of action still managed to maintain some semblance of order.

At least enough order for him to only run to the end of the hallway as silently as he could manage and stop outside the door to listen. Two male voices conversed in hushed tones, low enough that Victor couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. He pressed his ear against the door in an attempt to hear better, only to wish he hadn’t.

“We should just finish the job. We’ve had our fun and at this point, she’s a liability. She’s seen our faces and we can’t let that go.”

“I suppose you’re right. But I want to have a little more fun, first. Where’d that knife go?”

A soft rustling accompanied a muffled groan and squeak of fear. The sound of skin slapping skin and a pained squeal brought the fury which had been building in Victor’s stomach into his extremities. He burst through the door, taking in the scene in one swoop. It wasn’t a large room; in fact, it barely held three chairs and a small table. The girl was tied to the chair in the center of the room, her head resting on her chest and blood splattered here and there on the floor. She looked up at the sudden noise and revealed a bloody gag tied around her mouth, the crimson stain originating just above her right eyebrow and flowing its way down to the dirty cloth.

Her eyes were dull and cloudy as her mind seemed to struggle to understand what she was seeing. However, it really only took a few moments for it to register that Victor had arrived, savior of the day. Tears welled up in those eyes and she seemed to be reaching for him with as much vigor as she could manage while being actually unable to move.

Victor didn’t have time to release her, however, before her pair of captors were upon him. One held a knife while the other leveled a revolver at Victor’s head. Victor wasted no time in flinging a round-house kick at the gunman’s hand, sending the gun flying. The disarmed man was stunned by the sudden movement and froze, making it easy to strike him directly in the face. He crumpled like wet tissue paper and Victor turned to the other man, a larger specimen with a decidedly more frightening demeanor.

“Where the hell did you come from?!” the kidnapper growled, circling Victor. “And who are you? How did you find this place?”

“So many questions,” Victor retorted, his lip curled up slightly. “Who I am is none of your business. Neither is how I found you. But I will always find her, no matter where she is. She is mine and you would do well to put down your weapon before I have to take it away.”

The man chuckled and lunged, knife aimed for Victor’s stomach. Victor nimbly stepped out of the way and elbowed the man in the back as he went by, causing him to stumble. However, the kidnapper recovered quickly and lunged again, this time grazing Victor’s hand as Victor grabbed for the man’s wrist.

Victor didn’t so much as flinch at his wound. He simply wrapped his long fingers around the captor’s arm and flung him to the ground, smashing the man’s face into the concrete floor. There was a sickening crunch as the man’s nose broke on impact and a pool of blood began to immediately form beneath him. Victor was just about to turn back to the girl and untie her when she let out a muffled scream, which caused him to spin around and kick the first man again just as he began to reach for the gun. The man howled in agony as Victor’s sharp shoe connected solidly with his ribs and knocked the wind out of him.

It seemed for a moment that both of his opponents were down, at least long enough for Victor to grab the abandoned knife and cut the girl free. He removed the gag first, followed quickly by her hands and then her feet. Tears streamed down her face despite her best efforts to keep them contained and she collapsed into Victor’s arms. “Can you walk?” he asked, holding her tightly against his chest.

“I…I think so,” she whispered, voice hoarse from screaming.

“Then I want you to run outside. The authorities shouldn’t be too far behind me, if Goldman did as he was instructed. Which he always has. I’ll keep these two busy while you make your escape.”

The girl opened her mouth to argue, but Victor instead covered it with his own. By the time he pulled away from the kiss, the girl was feeling even dizzier than her wounds had caused. “Go. I will be perfectly fine. These two idiots are obviously no more than I can handle.” He pushed her toward the door and despite her intense desire to stay by his side, she gave Victor one last look and darted out of the room as fast as she could.

Each time one of the captors would attempt to get up from the floor, Victor would mercilessly return them to their position. Every ounce of fear and anger was channeled directly into ensuring that neither of the men escaped before the police arrived to take them away. His hand still bled freely but he paid it no mind, seemingly not even realizing he’d been injured.

Probably fifteen minutes passed before the thunder of police boots could be heard on the stairs. Victor exited the room and waved them down, pointing into the room. “The kidnappers are in here. I managed to subdue them for the time being, but there’s a loose gun.”

The police pushed right past Victor and handcuffed the kidnappers, hauling them away before also cuffing Victor. He didn’t protest; it was just standard procedure, after all. They had no way to know what the truth of the situation was until they had time to interview all parties.

Full darkness had fallen by the time Victor emerged with the police. The girl was being attended to by ambulance staff, but no amount of shouting could convince her to stay put when she saw Victor’s face. She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. “I can’t believe you found me,” she sobbed, her tears staining the collar of his shirt red. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have run off like that! I thought for sure I was going to die alone and that you’d blame yourself for me making one bad decision!”

Victor chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. “I will always find you, dummy. Even if I have to do it ten thousand times, I will always find you.”

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thelaughtercafe · 7 months

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Mr. Love Ler Headcanons

Tea Type: Brown Sugar Boba

Potential Triggers:

Pairing: Kiro/F! Reader, Lucien/F! Reader, Victor/F! Reader, Gavin/F! Reader, Shaw/F! Reader

Length: 1.4l+

Summary: N/A

Kiro:

Omg Kiro as a ler is super playful and energetic.

Likes to use his hands the most! Feels it’s the most intimate.

Does NOT shut up.

Has known he was a Ler since childhood actually, unlike the others so he’s the most experienced with terms, tools and wrecking you.

He sees it as a super fun way to break the touch barrier and also help lift moods or break a silence so he will just lunge at you out of nowhere while you’re chilling with him and just go to town.

“Aw c’mon cutie you can take a little more cantcha? Look at that beaming smile!

King of teasing holy fuck he will make you red.

Partial to coochie coos and tickle tickles to fill any moments of his own silence.

Lives to see you afterwards, pink, discombobulated and pouting which leads to a quick scribble at your ribs to make you giggle again.

“You know you love me~”

Cheeky little shit.

Lucien:

OMG HE’S SO MEAN DON’T LET HIM FIND OUT YOUR TICKLISH PLEASE GOD-

He’s a man of science and you know what that means.

Tickle experiments. All the time.

And if he knows you like it? He won’t stop.

And believe me…he’ll know.

You won’t need to say a word.

He’ll notice the way you arch into his touch, or the way you look away and blush when he makes an analogy about having a tickle in his throat and that’s all he needs to get curious enough to generate a hypothesis.

Once he tests it and just out of the blue while asking rapidfire questions under the guise of a game blurts it out in the same monotone voice as always.

“So I take it you like being tickled hm?”

“Yeah of course I-”

He wished he had a camera to record the way your face had froze as you realized what had just come out of your mouth before you rushed to backpedal.

“I-I mean-no I just-I th-thought you asked something el-”

Too late for that.

He had already cornered you against the nearest wall and begun skating his fingernails under your shirt over your bare sides with a calm smile.

“There’s no need to tell fibs now. I can see from how red you are that you like this whether you attempt to deceive me or not.”

He merely laughed as you groaned in embarrassment and hid your burning face in his lab coat.

From then on, lots of experiments. He is a neurologist after all. What better way to test how laughter affects brain chemistry?

Victor:

Opposite to Kiro; he’s cold and doesn’t open his mouth much besides to offer the occasional playfully degrading comment.

“Ah, so this is your real laugh hm? Quite loud. I should be the only one to hear it.”

He’s much more focused on your laughter and flustered reaction as well as what makes you give him the best reactions.

Always evolving his tickling style. Kind of experimental like Lucien but more spur of the moment and doing it to mess with you.

Quick, nimble, long fingers.

How else do you think he writes and types so fast as a CEO?

Uses his big hands to wrap around you and can tickle both your ribs and back at the same time.

Finds a sadistic satisfaction in the way you jerk and let out a strangled sound of gaped laughter when he does it for the first time, eyes comically wide before you attempt to beg.

Punishes you when you make him worry and when you go MIA in particular.

Does it out of nowhere too, to catch you off guard.

…Absolutely once called you to his office just to wreck you until you were in tears.

Goldman got some ideas after that day the poor secretary-

Gavin:

High school friend already knew you were ticklish, despite never having done it to you himself until now.

He’s too shy for that now, c’mon.

The sweet ler who’ll hesitate even when he’s got you pinned, his hands hovering over your skin after a playfight.

“J-Just call my name if you need me to stop okay?”

His softness is the last thing on your mind as he then roughly digs his fingers into your hipbones.

When you burst into giggles, the smallest of smiles twitches onto his lips as he relishes in the sound of your laughter.

Teases tentatively since he’s worried about pushing you too far.

More innocent comments and him blurting out his thoughts that have the added bonus of flustering you to Hell and back.

“Heh…your laugh hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Man, look how red you’ve gotten.”

Will turn red himself when he goes to pull away, worried you’re not getting enough oxygen and you pull his hand back towards your body with a pout.

Lets out the purest laugh when it clicks and turns a bit more teasy in reaction.

“Oh? You don’t want me to stop do you?”

*SPOILER CHARACTERS BELOW THE CUT*

Helios:

Hi.

Remember how I said Kiro was a master ler?

Take that; multiply it by 500 and you’ve got Helios.

Fuck playful tickling.

This man?

Gonna torture you.

Kiro was very careful to never use his Evol on you, even if you said you didn’t mind or even wanted him to.

Helios has no such qualms and relishes in the lack of control he can force on you.

It’s a reminder to him both that he’s powerful and you’re safe not that he’ll ever admit as much.

Degrades just a tad when he lers.

Makes fun of you for liking it

🥺

“Oh? What a naughty little tickle slut I’ve come across. Look at you barely struggling against me.”

Leans forward to hiss into your ear and you feel his teeth drag there.

“Now if you don’t want me to stop…”

“Beg for it.”

Shaw:

The type to pretend he’d rather be literally anywhere else. Like he’s not the one torturing you and it’s this huge inconvenience as you lose it in his arms.

“Damn your laugh is so squeaky. Ha! Did you just snort?”

Try to quiet yourself and he’ll either pout or threaten as his

“Did I say to stop?”

Omg absolutely the type to let you get away just to drag you back to him!!

Doesn’t show it outwardly but freaking loves the chase and struggle under that tsundere ass façade.

Possessive of his Lee.

He wants to be the only one to tickle them.

Especially in front of a certain brother

Generally enjoys tickling you in front of others despite his possessive nature since he views it as a declaration.

Any of his band members from Loud House try joining in he will 1000% put you down to wreck them till they cry.

“Oh you wanted to join in? Why didn’t you just say so?”

Oh shit wait that’s not playfulness that’s aggression in his tone run little drummer boy run!!

Absolutely no mercy. Follows through on making them cry and taunts them mercilessly about it. Never lets them live it down and threatens them with it again if he gets jealous.

…no-one’s stupid enough to try again after that.

Ares:

Once Lucien drops the mask?

Much like Helios he’s worse.

The only difference? His was done for manipulation against you rather than to protect you and he’s got even less qualms about using it to mess with you.

He already did it as Lucien of course but as Ares?

He’s so much crueler, and he’s not afraid to manhandle you either.

Even if he wants to safeguard you, it doesn’t mean he can’t have some fun with you too.

And maybe he misses your smile and laughter around him.

Not that he’d ever tell you as much.

He never got to show his annoyance as Lucien and as Ares he still mostly doesn’t.

Until he does.

You make one too many passive aggressive comments, roll your eyes one too many times and suddenly he’s got you pinned by your neck against the wall, grin more feral than you’d ever seen it with a glint in his eyes that makes your blood turn to ice.

He clicks his tongue at you.

“Tsk tsk tsk…not a very smart girl now are we?”

His voice is little more than a hiss.

“This has been a long time coming. I hope you’re ready to be punished. Thoroughly.”

He leans forward to purr all too sweetly into your ear.

“And I have just the method. Be a good girl and behave for me won’t you? I’d hate to have to gag you.”

His tone was so full of relish you know if you so much as try it he’ll follow through.

#tlc: brown sugar boba #tlc: tickle headcanons #mr. love tickle headcanons #mr love tickle headcanons #mr love tickles #lucien x reader #kiro x reader #gavin x reader #victor x reader #helios x reader #ares x reader #shaw x reader #female reader #mr love: queen's choice

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luverofralts · 7 months

Text

Arkhelios Adventures

"Sorry I had to pull you away from your afternoon off. I've never received a royal summons before. You're the only one I could think of calling."

Roman eyed the imposing castle and tried to imagine any reason Claudia would have for summoning him. She'd texted him and shown up unannounced over the years without serving him a royal summons before. What could possibly be so important?

"No problem at all," Adrian assured his ex-husband. "It's what I spent my whole life studying. Who needs an afternoon to themself anyway?"

"Well, we can reschedule. I feel bad for always taking so much of your time. You were the only person I could think of aside from...never mind."

Ulyssa's name died on his lips before he could finish his thought. He was well practiced at catching himself before he spoke about her. Most days it wasn't hard. On a day like today, when he needed her political insight, Roman found himself missing their friendship.

"This is weird, right? I'm not just worrying for nothing? She's never done this before. Did Theo do something at school? I haven't been to Pleasantview outside of the kids' schools in ages."

"Given your past, it does seem a bit weird," Adrian agreed. "Maybe she wants to talk about franchising our business. That's all I can think of. Aside from...Princess Georgiana."

Adrian lowered his eyes, unwilling to see the stab of pain on Roman's face whenever his daughter was mentioned. Ever since Roman had met his daughter, the pain had lessened, but it would always be there. Along with the shame he felt for having an affair and nearly destroying his marriage.

"I don't think that Maura would let Claudia know about Georgiana," Roman said quietly. "That would mean admitting that it happened."

"There's very little the queen of Pleasantview doesn't know, Roman. My parents always said to treat that monarch like they knew your darkest secrets, because odds were that they already did. There are levels of secrecy and orders of deviant devotees under the Pleasantview throne. Don't underestimate Claudia because of your past. She is the most powerful person in the world, no contest."

"She's a nice person with the world's most sickeningly in love parents," Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's not in her character. Maybe her ancestors were dangerous, but I know Claudia. She's not like that."

"That remains to be seen," Adrian murmured to himself. Roman was already halfway up the stairs when he spoke. There would be no way to convince him to be on his guard.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

Both Roman and Adrian bowed deeply in front of the queen. Her throne room was impressive, filled with imposing statues and gold trim. This room alone must have cost a small fortune. None of it reflected the woman Roman thought he knew.

"Duke Siew, Mr. Bellamy. We've been expecting you." Claudia's voice was cold and distant, something that Roman hadn't been expecting. Those intense gold eyes of hers drilled into his mind layer by layer until he felt nothing but exposed. Whoever this woman was on the throne, Roman had never met her before.

"Though I only recall summoning Mr. Bellamy," the queen continued. "I suppose he is entitled to counsel. History has proven that he does not make good choices while on his own."

Roman balked at Claudia's words while Adrian kept a straight face. Roman clearly thought that he knew Claudia Goldman, but they weren't speaking to Claudia Goldman. This was the queen of Pleasantview before them, and like every noble raised in Twikkii Island, Adrian was on the defensive, desperate not to imperil his country and family by getting in the monarch of Pleasantview's way.

"Thank you for allowing me here," Adrian said quickly, before Roman could open his mouth. "It is an honour to meet with you."

Roman looked like he was about to object, but caught the glare Adrian was giving him and thought better of it.

"It is. I'm glad to extend that honour to you, Duke Siew. You may need to remind your companion of that fact. He seems to not know his place here."

"My place?"

The words slipped out before Roman could stop himself, earning a withering glare from the queen.

"I'm sorry, was there any confusion about who is in charge here? You are a guest here, Mr. Bellamy because I will it so. There is a matter that I need to discuss with you."

Adrian nodded solemnly and beside him, Roman did the same.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We'd be honoured to discuss whatever you wish," Adrian replied. Roman nodded.

"Now, the matter at hand is somewhat...personal," Claudia continued. Her confident stare wavered for a brief moment as she chose her next words. "It involves Mr. Bellamy and my's prior relationship...or rather our brief experiment."

For the first time, Claudia faltered. Her eyes fell, unable to look at Roman while she tried to downplay their previous connection. Adrian made sure to note this stumble so he had an advantage if he needed to make a quick retreat from the castle. The queen did look like she had an attachment to Roman when her guard was down, which would come in handy if he and Adrian had to make a quick retreat back home.

"I always thought that we would be having this conversation years from now," the queen continued. "When more time had passed at least. When the crown princess was older and possessed a more mature overlook. But no matter, we're here now."

Another pause lingered in the room. Beside the queen, her fiancée cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it's better just to rip the bandaid off," Miruna suggested. "It would save us all time. We do have that appointment in an hour that cannot be missed."

Miruna's words were a lie meant to leave their visitors feeling small and unimportant. It was just one strategy that had been proposed to crush any ideas Roman might have about approaching Victoriana in the future. The queen's secretive demonic councilors had several suggestions to break Roman's spirit enough to drive him away from Pleasantview, though most of them were also intrigued by the thought of pushing him too far. A low level demon hybrid launching an attack on the queen out of rage was not only entertaining, it would also gauge Claudia's ability to defend her throne. The ruler of Pleasantview could never lower their guard after all.

Claudia looked at Roman's anxious face and was immediately pulled back into their short lived romance, if they could even call it that. They'd held each other on the Twikkii Island beach and dreamed together about the future what seemed like an eternity ago. He'd sobbed against her shoulder about being cheated on and left with an infant to raise; she poured out her many concerns and fears about ascending to the throne.

It really wasn't the romance Claudia had implied to her daughter. Nothing she'd felt for Roman matched any of the feelings she felt for Miruna. They had simply been there for each other during a stressful period of their lives, giving each other physical comfort. The lie was important to maintain for her daughter. No child wanted to hear that her parents had conceived her while her mother listened endlessly to her father's sobs over Abe Helios while trying to cram thousands of years of Pleasantview history into her brain. Had she dialed Roman's number once the pregnancy test was positive? Of course. She'd never completed the call though. She never would. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. None of the joy and passion and warmth her parents had for each other seemed possible with Roman. His heart would always belong to Abe and hers she had sworn to Pleasantview.

"My father always said that you had the right to know all these years, and maybe it was a good thing that he never ruled Pleasantview," Claudia said quietly, her strong facade fading for the briefest of moments. "My mother adored her grandmother, the former queen of Strangetown, and inherited her keen political instincts. There was too much uncertainty, too much death in Arkhelios. The reapers there told horror stories about...."

The queen trailed off before catching herself. Beside her, Miruna nodded her head slightly in a show of solidarity. This was going off course quickly. Too much of Claudia was seeping out and not enough of Pleasantview's monarch. Just say the words and this uncomfortable situation can end.

"Roman Bellamy, the crown princess is your genetic offspring. Your genetic donation will shape the future of Pleasantview, and our nation thanks you for it. The princess has been informed of this and politely requests that your contact be limited in the future. Your demonic heritage will help her rule our people fairly."

"Thank you for arriving on time and have a pleasant trip back to Arkhelios," Miruna said cheerfully, looking proudly at her fiancée. "Our office is always available for inquiries, just speak with reception. You are dismissed."

A silence fell over the room as the two men processed the revealed information. Roman looked like he was about to throw up, while Adrian's brain struggled to sort this news into anything recognizable.

"The crown princess is Roman's daughter?" he said finally, looking for any sign that this was just a cruel prank.

"He's her genetic donor," Claudia replied. "She is my daughter and the future of this nation. Mr. Bellamy does not have a role in her life. He is merely a citizen of a foreign land with no legal rights in my nation."

Roman remained eerily silent beside his ex-husband. Adrian had never seen him this quiet before in all their time together. For his own part, Adrian had been blindsided by this revelation; he could only imagine what Roman must be feeling.

"Roman? Are you okay?" Adrian whispered, stroking Roman's back worriedly. "Say something. Say anything."

Roman's eyes raised slightly, daring to look at the mother of his child for mere seconds before turning away. He still remained silent.

"Mr. Bellamy, Duke Siew, thank you for coming today," Claudia announced, gesturing for her guards to be at the ready to remove her guests. "I look forward to our next meeting. Have a safe journey home."

The two men rose to their feet and Adrian was fairly certain that he'd bowed and followed the protocol that had been drilled into him from birth. It certainly wasn't anything he could perform consciously at this moment.

He grabbed Roman's hand and escorted him out of the throne room; he remembered that much at least. Roman had shuffled beside him wordlessly. Adrian's head was swimming with questions and reeling from shock, but he couldn't voice any of that while Roman was in this state. Needless to say, his conversation with Evren was going to be interesting tonight.

Roman made it down the last steps into the hallway before collapsing on the floor, still wordlessly staring at empty space. His shoulders shook as he wept, but still no sound emerged.

"Roman? Roman do you need help? Are you feeling okay? Talk to me, let me help."

Adrian's words did nothing to comfort Roman or inspire him to move. He still sat there on the floor, silently weeping outside the entrance to the throne room.

"Hey, hey. It'll be okay, we'll get through this," Adrian said, holding his ex-husband in his arms as he sobbed.

Adrian had suspected that something big was going to be revealed with this summons, but never anything like this. It was unprecedented in Pleasantview history as far as Adrian remembered. Maybe during the civil war where Princess Georgiana's paternity changed the succession of the Pleasantview throne, but even then, both of her parents knew the truth. One of them never tried to hide her paternity from the other. King Mordred hid the paternity of his youngest daughter after his husband's affair, but she had been so far down the line of succession, her paternity had only been revealed a century later by a routine maintenance of the genetic library of Crystal Cove. For a monarch to hide her heir's paternity from both her subjects and the heir's father, well, Adrian couldn't think of a historical example.

"At least she told us. We could have spent our whole lives not knowing," Adrian continued, which only made Roman sob harder. "We can try to work with this. Maybe she wants to meet with you and you could have a relationship with her. It's certainly possible."

"If that were true, Claudia wouldn't have told us like this. She wasn't even there. If she wanted to see me, she would have been there. Adrian, it's happening again. The Crown is taking away my daughter, just like with Georgiana. I'll never have a relationship with either of them."

"This isn't the same as Georgiana," Adrian said soothingly, despite doubting his own words. "This wasn't an affair, you both were single at the time. Hell, it was before you even met me. You were both young and on different paths. It sounds like her parents told her to do this, seconded by whatever sinister shadows whisper to the throne. She didn't do this to hurt you; she's not Maura."

"H-how many more kids do I have that I have no knowledge of? How many more lies have I been told?"

"Well, how many other people have you slept with? Especially rich or royal people?" Adrian asked. His words only made the tears flow harder.

"You're really going to slut shame me now?" Roman sobbed. "I was young, I don't know. Abe cheated on me and dumped me, and I was angry. No other royals- aside from you anyway. I had a kid to take care of, my college experience was rather unconventional."

"Hey, I was in college too, I get it. You weren't my first either, and there were a few others that I 'dated'. I only wanted to be sure that this was the last surprise to pop up in your life. We've made progress with Georgiana, we can make progress with Victoriana. This isn't the end. Plus, you have a beautiful, intelligent daughter that you would otherwise know nothing about. This is a hard thing to hear now, but it won't always be. Who knows how the future will go?"

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Roman groaned, leaning further into Adrian's arms for comfort. "We were friends. She could have told me. Her parents couldn't stop her from telling me, she's the queen of the largest country in the damn world!"

"She slipped up, remember?"

"No, nothing I've heard today makes sense. Everything has been a lie."

"She mentioned the reaper team in Arkhelios scaring her parents about something in Arkhelios," Adrian said softly. "What was happening in your life when you were with Claudia? I'd bet anything that they were talking about Theo almost dying after he was born and-"

"And my mother. Of course, is there any part of my life that she hasn't ruined?" Roman groaned, pulling away from Adrian to massage his now throbbing temples. "If Theo was pregnant with the child of a half demon who was using their shared bloodline to gain power, I'd hide him too."

"I would do the same," Adrian replied gently. "Any parent would. It sounds like the Goldmans were scared of losing their daughter and granddaughter, just like you almost lost me and the girls to your mother. We can work with this, this is good news. They didn't hide Victoriana because they hated you, they wanted to protect her. Now that your mother's gone, we can appeal to them. From what I hear, her parents are incredibly family oriented, just like Claudia is. We can use that. We won't win any custody battles, but maybe we can get some visitation rights. Maybe we could set up a call schedule or email correspondence to start out. This isn't Maura we're fighting. We'll figure this out."

"Do you think my mother could sense her in the end?" Roman asked, an all too familiar horror enveloping his thoughts. "She wanted Theo, but she still damaged Luci and Saturnia somehow. Neither of them have any supernatural abilities because of her. If I had been able to kill her, they might be as powerful as Theo or Rien. She took from them something precious. Did she hurt Victoriana too? Am I to blame for putting her in danger without even knowing it?"

"Hey, hey, don't even think about it," Adrian said. "Your mom's not coming back, and Victoriana looks healthy. We don't have to worry about her. Maybe she just didn't inherit as much from your family as Theo or Rien did. If we just let things settle down for a while, I know we can negotiate with Claudia. Things will work out."

"Adrian?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call Abe? I...I want him here, but I don't... I don't want to tell him what happened. I...I can't. W-what if he's triggered by this into reliving the affair? I don't think he sees his therapist anymore like I do, but...what if...."

Roman trailed off, unable to even complete his thought. In an instant, Adrian's arms were wrapped around him, holding him tightly.

"Of course I can get him and of course he'll understand. You don't need to feel guilty about this, Roman. It happened when you were single, a long time ago. Abe loves you, he'll understand."

In an instant, Adrian disappeared, leaving Roman alone outside the palace doors. There was no way that Roman wanted to go home to the place he and Abe had fought over his infidelity. Not with news like this. No matter what Adrian said, Roman couldn't shake the deep feeling of self-loathing he felt for himself. He had been too wild as a teen. He'd been too careless about birth control. His family had scared away any chance of a connection to his daughter. He would have gotten Claudia killed just as easily as he had Adrian. There was something wrong, something unlovable about him that his parents had seen. They hadn't loved him because he didn't deserve it. Victoriana was probably better off without him in her life.

"Roman! I'm here! Adrian told me everything. I'm right here for you."

"Abe? You're not mad?"

Abe shook his head incredulously and took Roman into his arms.

"Of course I'm not mad," he said. "Why would I be mad? You were just as blindsided by this as I was. I love you, Roman. We'll get through this together. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Who's watching the kids?"

Answering Abe's question was the last thing Roman wanted to do. How did he feel? He didn't. There was a gaping hole in his chest that was burning him from the inside out and he could hardly breathe. Crafting that feeling into words didn't seem possible.

"Adrian's with them. He teleported me here and then went back. When you're ready to teleport us back, he'll be waiting, probably with Evren. We'll all sort this out at whatever pace you want."

"Abe, I was never serious about Claudia, I promise. I was just trying to get back at you and you don't have to worry about me running back to her or anything, I never want to be with anyone else and-"

Abe silenced his husband with a gentle kiss.

"Ro, I know you're not about to run off with the queen of Pleasantview. We've rebuilt a lot of trust these past few years and I know you. You're having a meltdown and hating yourself, not trying to hide a love affair with a woman you see maybe once every few years in passing. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Then let's go home and make you some tea. I'm sure Evren has one of his concoctions that will help calm you down. Having a warlock in the family certainly helps sometimes. Theo may have him beat for pure power, but damn does that man know how to brew a potion."

Roman smiled slightly, until he thought about Abe's words.

"What are we going to tell Theo?" he groaned, his despair catching up to him once more. "He's going to hate me. How do I tell any of the kids? Theo might run into Victoriana at a school event. What if they hate each other? What if-"

"Magic tea now, worrying about the kids after," Abe insisted. "I'm sure Evren or Adrian will have an idea. Hell, even Lucy might have an idea or two. In the very unlikely event that Theo or the girls are angry, Aunt Lucy can set them straight. She knows a thing or two about hiding parentage from her kids and she doesn't worry about it."

"Your sister is a sociopath," Roman replied, the hint of a smile starting. Abe smiled back at him.

"A sociopath who cares about you. Give her an afternoon, she'll have Claudia's monarchy in ruins."

"Thanks, Abe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And you'll never have to know. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go home."

#Arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #roman bellamy #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #claudia goldman #miruna maricourt

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balanchine-ballet-master · 10 months

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Suzanne Farrell Teaching

Above: students at Florida State University rehearse Balanchine's Serenade, staged by Suzanne Farrell. Photo by Meagan Helman for the Florida State Univ. News

Suzanne Farrell is Krafft Professor of Dance at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She gave an interview to the FSU News that was published on November 16, 2023.

Legendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell reflects on career, 20 years as Krafft Professor at FSU

BY: ANNA PRENTISS, JAMIE RAGER, JASMINE HUR

Florida State University’s School of Dance Krafft Professor Suzanne Farrell, an internationally recognized New York City Ballet principal dancer, a 2005 Kennedy Center Honoree and the founder of Suzanne Farrell Ballet, has long been regarded as one of the most extraordinary and influential ballerinas of the late-20th century.

Farrell, who performed with the New York City Ballet for 28 years, is considered the last muse and protégé of choreographer George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet.

This year, Farrell set an excerpt of “Divertimento No. 15,” a choreographic piece by Balanchine. This classical ballet was featured in the school’s annual “An Evening of Dance,” which highlighted a diverse lineup of seven live works restaged by retired and current faculty.

“One of my dreams as a dancer was to perform the choreography of George Balanchine,” said Associate Professor Ilana Goldman, who served as the rehearsal director for this work. “When I finally did, it felt sublime, as if I was the physical embodiment of the music. I am so thrilled that our students had the opportunity to not only perform Balanchine’s choreography but to have been coached by his muse, Suzanne Farrell — it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Farrell has been a member of the School of Dance faculty for more than 20 years and continues to work with and mentor students, hosting master classes and workshops at FSU each semester.

“The opportunity to work with a legendary performer like Suzanne Farrell is an amazing experience for our students,” said Anjali Austin, professor and chair of the School of Dance. “Her dedication to our program throughout the past 20 years has made an indelible mark on many.”

In an interview, Farrell re-lived her history with the New York City Ballet, working with Balanchine and how she came to Florida State University to teach.

“Initially, I was not going to teach at a college level,” Farrell said. “I had just been giving young dancer auditions in Miami but came to FSU on my sister’s request and met many nice dancers that made me rethink. It’s a beautiful atmosphere, and I love working here. I give everything when I teach.”

Even early in her career, Farrell thought teaching was not a path she intended to take.

“When I was a young dancer, I thought I had forever,” she said. “Mr. Balanchine once said, ‘One day, you will all teach.’ I thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to teach. All I want to do is dance.’”

That moment of retirement came sooner than Farrell thought, so she began staging and teaching Balanchine’s ballets around the world.

“In a nice way, it extended my dance life,” she said. “I’m not dancing, but I’m still doing what I love to do.”

Farrell noted that the transient nature of a dance career instills a sense of immediacy in a dancer.

“Dance is a young profession; we retire at a young age because the body has to stop,” she said. “Therefore, you have to positively profit from everything you do and every moment you do it. You can’t say, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ because before you know it, it’s time to retire.”

Farrell explained, “In ballet, we are our own technology. It’s not like sending someone a text and it’s done — it’s a constant evolution of getting the choreography to where it should be.”

“I like bringing my stories into my teaching because it’s not just the technological aspect, it’s also passing on stories from one person to the next,” she said.

Farrell learned to use visual aspects to provide dancers with a mental image when correcting inaccuracies.

“I’d say ‘move your arms like the leaves when the wind comes, the leaves turn over, they don’t resist.’ Moving with nature is what ballet is all about.”

When asked about the evolution of ballet since she first began her professional career, Farrell highlighted the inheritable legacy left by previous generations.

“We are the beneficiaries of every dancer that came before us. Nobody can do it by themselves,” Farrell said. “There are stories you inherit from someone who maybe danced it first or before you were alive. There’s so much legacy and it’s not just in the past. Just because someone isn’t alive anymore doesn’t mean they are not influential and inspiring in spirit.”

This academic year, the School of Dance is celebrating 90 years of dance, 60 years of dance degrees and 20 years of the Maggie Allesee Center for Choreography at FSU. Recently ranked as one of the top five dance programs in the nation by Backstage Magazine, the School of Dance is dedicated to providing the highest caliber of training to its students.

Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine, 1963. Photo: Fred Fehl for the Associated Press via the NY Times

#Suzanne Farrell #Balanchine #Serenade #FSU #Florida State Univ.#New York City Ballet #NYCB

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perhaps-in-anotherdream · 2 years

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These calls accompany Victor’s S2 CH 34 - 37 Karma, and feature S2 Victor and MC, but don’t contain any spoilers from the S2 storyline~

⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for contents that are yet to be released on the global server! ⌚

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

✧ [FIRST CALL] ✧

Victor: How are the plans for this new show coming along?

MC: My colleagues and I just had dinner with the person in charge of the TV Station last night. How come you didn’t tell me that the two of you had met before?

Victor: We only collaborated once, that’s all. So it can only be said to be an acquaintance.

MC: So that’s why! His description of you was very “Victor.”

Victor: Such as?

MC: He said how you didn’t use to talk much, that you rarely smiled, and you didn’t even pick up your chopsticks much while eating.

Victor: When you’re sitting at the same table with seven or eight people you aren’t that familiar with, it’s only natural that your appetite won’t be the same as usual.

MC: He also said that you reviewed red wine with him and recommended some wineries to him.

Victor: ...sounds like you two had a pleasant conversation last night?

MC: I can have a pleasant conversation with just about anyone if it’s topics related to you.

MC: However, I found that CEO Victor’s image on the outside hasn’t really changed much.

MC: In other people’s eyes, you are still the Iceberg CEO. Habitually silent and unsmiling.

Victor: What else should it be?

MC: The expert in everything from the auditorium to the kitchen. A person who can decisively and rigorously negotiate proposals with the shareholders, can ride horses, do fencing, and make custard tarts!

Victor: Ask yourself honestly. Who is the one to have a biased cognition of me?

MC: Perhaps it’s because CEO Victor’s image behind closed doors is too vastly different from outside, so it makes me a little surprised~

Victor: Your tone sounds very immeasurably complacent.

MC: Just a little bit of complacency, not very much.

MC: After all, CEO Victor has not yet personally stated how special I am to him...

Victor: An “Iceberg CEO” like me never does business at a loss.

Victor: To make it fair, if you want me to clarify that, you can start by trading your answers first.

MC: Let’s see–– notes dedicated exclusively to you, special ringtone, your phone number pinned to the top.

MC: Oh yes, I can also cite many of the CEO’s quotes on the LFG employee handbook~ Is CEO Victor satisfied with this answer?

Victor: Try reciting a quote from the CEO, then.

MC: ...

Victor: Goldman might even be able to recite them all proficiently. It seems that the degree of how special I am to you is pretty finite.

MC: How can you compare me with... humph, I definitely know more than Goldman when it comes to your little daily habits!

Victor: Your fighting spirit comes through in some strange aspects.

Victor: There’s no need to compare you with others. When you’ve fulfilled all the declarations you’ve just boasted, I will make you “very” immeasurably complacent.

Victor: How’s that for a done deal?

–

✧ [SECOND CALL] ✧

Timestamp – 1:56

–

Victor: I saw the photos of the delicacies you sent me. It seems like you are having quite a nourishing business trip this time.

Victor: But if memory serves me right, the local time should be past twelve now.

Victor: Awake at this hour. Are you planning on staying up late again?

MC: I’ve been to so many places today, and I’m a little too excited to get to sleep. So, I just wanted to share it with you.

MC: Aside from the pictures of the delicious feast I sent you, do you remember the Sacré-Cœur Basilica we visited?

MC: This time, I took Kiki and the girls there too. In a manner of speaking, I can also be considered to be a qualified escort and docent.

Victor: So this time, you didn’t mistake Molière for Maupassant and confuse the works of Alexandre Dumas père and Alexandre Dumas?

MC: …why are you still unmasking my dark history? This time I remembered everything correctly!

MC: And not only that, but I also told them all the backstories about the church that you told me at that time––

MC: And then I received brimming gazes of admiration from the crowd~

Victor: I presume a certain someone must have been very proud of herself at the time?

MC: Hehe, thanks to the knowledgeable CEO Victor~

MC: Every time I travel with you, I find that it greatly enriches my first-hand knowledge and insight! I need to go out with you more often in the future~

Victor: It seems to me that the final sentence is your purpose.

Victor: I don’t know as much as you might think I do.

Victor: It’s simply that before each trip, I always briefly skim through some information about the destination.

MC: So that’s how it is~ It seems to me that CEO Victor takes it very seriously each time we go on a trip.

Victor: After all, I have a certain dummy by my side who is passionate about making travel plans and sprawls out over several pages every time.

Victor: It’s difficult not to be affected when one is surrounded by such an atmosphere.

MC: Pfftt, I didn’t expect that I’d manage to “turn you into an increasingly fierce competitor” one day!

MC: So that being the case, I wonder if CEO Victor can follow my example in pursuing the peak in eating, drinking, and being merry?

MC: For instance, the photo I sent you of the “Beef Bourguignon,” our mind was blown when we tasted it in the afternoon!

MC: I wonder if the Souvenir’s chef can let me revisit its delicious taste after I return home?

Victor: …I knew your purpose of sending the photos in the middle of the night was not pure.

Victor: It’s not a difficult dish to prepare. As long as I can get all the ingredients, I can give it a try.

MC: I knew it! You’re so amazing, you can definitely do it!

Victor: Save your flattery for the moment.

Victor: Isn’t your flight supposed to be at 2 pm tomorrow? It’s getting late, you should get some rest.

MC: But I still have a bellyful of things to tell you. I want to tell you all about the places we’ve been today…

Victor: This opportunity can be reserved for later.

Victor: The feast at Souvenir is not free.

Victor: It comes in exchange for the all the interesting stories you’ve experienced on this trip.

–

[Anika’s Notes]: NAAAUUURRR PG!!! WHAT IS THIS!!! They went to Paris together in S2 too!! What do you want me to do with this info!! GIB US A DATE!!! 🥺😭

–

#LMAO MC having to see the day of needing to fight Goldman as rival akshsfj Vic that was evil 🤪 Jealous MC is always a treat 🤣🤣#SCREAMING CRYING THROWING I CAN’T WITH THEM THEY ARE JUST TOO MUCH #❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥#mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #mr love victor #mlqc #mr love queen's choice #恋与制作人 #李泽言 #love and producer #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc translations

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midnightcowboy1969 · 1 year

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My bookshelf

Hey, @beanifred <3 So, here's a big peak at my bookshelf (way too many books as I said)

Beginning with my treasures:

The "Real" Bob Steele and a man called "Brad" by Bob Nareau

The Photostory of "Battling Bob" Bob Steele by Mario DeMarco

2. The Columbo Collection

Just One More thing by Peter Falk

The Grassy Knoll by William Harrington (my enemy)

Murder by the Book by Steven Bochco

And now there's chaos:

Psycho 1 & 2 and Night-World by Robert Bolch (Norwegian edition)

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

The Body Snatcher by Jack Finney

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Trash by Dorothy Allison (lesbian but at what cost)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Buddah of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (I also have American Gods but I cannot find it)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

The Complete Short Stories: Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie

Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

The Hunter by Richard Stark

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The System by John Burke (novelization)

Alien Nation by Alan Dean Foster (novelization)

Edge of the City by Fredrick Pohl (novelization)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Collector by John Fowels

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (Norwegian edition)

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (novelization)

Ninteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Wanderer by Sterling Hayden (the actor)

The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy & Anthony Shaffer (Novelization (?))

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Terror by Dan Simmons

Papillon 1 & 2 by Henri Charrière (Norwegian editions)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (book of all time)

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Midnight Cowboy by John L. Herlihy

Shooting Midnight Cowboy by Glenn Frankel

Cape Fear by John D. McDonald (watch the movies)

The Bretheren by John Grisham (Norwegian edition)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorgood

Glitz by Elmore Leonard (Norwegian edition)

The Big Sleep and Other Novels by Raymond Chandler (the other novels are Farwell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye)

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Client by John Grisham (Norwegian edition)

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Legion (Exorcist 2) by William Peter Blatty

La Peste by Albert Camu (Norwegian edition)

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffery Cranor (not read)

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg

The Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle

Local Hero by David Benedictus (novelization)

The Glass Cage by Colin Wilson

American Psycho by Brett E. Ellis

Fools Die by Mario Puzo (Norwegian edition)

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The Sicilian by Mario Puzo (Norwegian edition)

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin (Norwegian edition) + Four different Game of Thrones books in Norwegian

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

The Betsy by Harold Robbins (Norwegian edition)

Aliens by Alan Dean Foster (novelization)

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Dune, The Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

Hitchiker's Guide to the Galxy by Douglas Adams

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman (short story collection that made me dislike short stories)

Mr. Monk in Trouble by Lee Goldberg (my enemy)

Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop by Lee Goldberg (I hate him)

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolf

Oranges are not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Maurice by E. M. Forster

The Case of the Gilded Lily by Erle Stanley Gardner (Norwegian edition)

The Case of the Glamorous Ghost by Erle Stanley Gardner (Norwegian edition)

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

Marathon Man by William Goldman

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (Norwegian edition)

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurt

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Norwegian edition)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three by John Godey (bad)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Killing Time by Della Van Hise (Star Trek Spinoff Spirk book)

Star Trek: Department of Temportal Investigations: Forgotten History by Christopher L. Bennet

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Missing by Una McCormack

Star Trek Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic by Christopher L. Bennett

7. Stephen King Collection

Outsider

If it Bleeds

On Writing

Blaze

Carrie

The Stand

Hearts in Atlantis (Norwegian edition)

The Tommyknockers

Cujo

Thinner (Norwegian edition)

The Shining

Night Shift

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Norwegian edition)

Dreamcatcher

Doctor Sleep

Rose Madder

Pet Sematary

Christine

Salem's Lot

Dolores Claiborne (Norwegian edition)

The Bachman Books

The Institute

Insomnia

Misery

Finders Keepers

End of Watch

Firestarter

The Body

Needful Things (Norwegian edition)

Bag of Bones

8. Not pictured

A collection of Sherlock Holmes books

Many Hardy Boys books

Chilly Scenes of Winter by Ann Beattie

Some comic books

I believe this is approximately everything lol.

My dream is to have a small cozy rooms dedicated to the books I own. It won't happen any time soon.

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rayless-reblogs · 2 months

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20 Book Challenge

I saw this challenge on a post by @theresebelivett. The idea is you pick 20 of your books to take with you to a desert island, but you can only pick one book per author and series. Here are two further guidelines I set myself: They have to be books I actually own, as if I really am gathering them up under my arms and heading to the island; and I'm defining "book" as a single volume -- so if I just so happen to have 100 novellas squashed between two covers, it still counts as one book.

We'll go alphabetically by author.

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre. An old standby, a classic, I can jump into it at any point.

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca. Have only read it once, but loved it and I suspect I'll get more from it each time.

Clare B Dunkle: The Hollow Kingdom. If I can only take one book from this excellent and unusual goblin series that captivated me in the mid-2000s, it'd better be the first one.

William Goldman: The Princess Bride. This book had an outsize influence on my own writing. I can quote a lot of it, but I wouldn't want to be without it.

Shannon Hale: Book of a Thousand Days. I love the warmth and humility of its heroine Dashti. Plus, Shannon Hale very kindly wrote a personal response to a fan letter I sent her years and years ago, so her work always has a special place in my heart.

Georgette Heyer: Cotillion. I don't actually own my favorite Georgette novel, but the funny, awkward, and ultimately romantic Cotillion is definitely not a pitiful second-stringer.

Eva Ibbotson: A Countess Below Stairs. Countess was my introduction to Eva's adult romances, and she is the past master of warm, hardworking heroines who should really be annoying because they're way too good to be true, but somehow you just end up falling in love with them.

Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth. I first read this when I was like eight, and even for an adult, its quirky humor and zingy wordplay hold up, no problem.

Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera. Can't leave without Erik, nope, the French potboiler has got to come. Perhaps I will spend my time on the island writing the inevitable crossover fanfic, The Phantom of the Tollbooth.

CS Lewis: Till We Have Faces. Faces is my current answer for what my favorite book is, so I'm taking that, though it feels criminal to leave The Silver Chair behind.

LM Montgomery: The Blue Castle. As much as I love Anne and Emily, it came down to Blue Castle and A Tangled Web, and I'm a sucker for Valancy's romantic journey.

E Nesbit: Five Children and It. Probably the most classic Edwardian children's fantasy, though still a hard choice to make. Nesbit is another author who had a huge influence on me as a writer.

Robert C O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. A childhood book I'm really sentimental about. I should re-read it.

Meredith Ann Pierce: The Darkangel. The first in the archaic lunar vampire trilogy. This will always be frustrating, only having the first in the series, but if I can only read the first, maybe I'll forget about how angry the third novel left me.

Sherwood Smith: Crown Duel. At one time, this swords-and-manners fantasy duet was one of my absolute favorite fandoms, and clever me has both books in one volume, so I don't have to choose.

Anne Elisabeth Stengl: Starflower. My favorite of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. We'll have to test whether I can actually get sick of Eanrin.

JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. I've never actually read it through as an adult and, look at that, I have a three-in-one volume. Cheating!

Vivian Vande Velde: Spellbound. I've read much of VVV's YA fantasy and liked a lot of it, but none more so than The Conjurer Princess and its fast-paced tale of revenge. The Spellbound edition includes the prequel and a bonus short story, so I'm good to go.

PG Wodehouse: The World of Mr Mulliner. There are some hilarious novels I'm leaving behind here, including all the Bertie Wooster stuff. But there are some absurdly fun Mulliner stories and this edition is like three hundred pages. That'll keep me happy for a long while on my island.

Jack Zipes (editor): Spells of Enchantment. This is an enormous compilation of western fairy tales. I've owned it since 2004 or so, and I've still never finished it. Now, on my island, I'll no longer have the excuse.

Tagging anyone else who feels like doing this!

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judgementdaysunshine · 3 months

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Welcome to our prompt list! @romanthereigns 🫶🏻

⚠️ Give us credits if you use any prompts! ⚠️

✧ “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”- Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption

✧ "You'll have bad times, but that'll wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to" - Sean Maguire, Good Will Hunting

✧ “I’ve just had the best summer of my life and now I have to go away, it isn’t fair” – Sandy, Grease

✧ "They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up" - Edward Bloom, Big Fish

✧ “So it’s not gonna be easy, it’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me everyday” - Noah, The Notebook

✧ "We accept the love we think we deserve" - Mr Anderson, Perks of being a wallflower

✧ “And sometimes you love a person just because they feel like home” - Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones’ Diary

✧ "Something better than you? there isn't anything better than you" - Forney Hull, Where the heart is

✧ “I vow to love you, and no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other”-Leo, The Vow

✧ "I love you, I've always loved you" - Jenna Rink, 13 going on 30

✧ “But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all”- Kat Stratford, 10 Things I Hate About You

✧ "You were born into a family that doesn't always appreciate you, but one day things are gonna be very different" - Miss Honey, Matilda

✧ “I want to wake up with you beside me in the mornings, I want to spend my evenings looking at you across the dinner table, I want to share every mundane detail of my day with you and hear every detail of yours, I want to laugh with you and fall asleep with you in my arms”- Dawson Cole, The Best Of Me

✧ "I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone" - Arwen, Lord of the rings

✧ “You know the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance-and when you least expect it-since we’re on a course that you could have never planned, into a future you never imagined”- Logan Thibault, The Lucky One

✧ "We get to choose who we let into our weird little worlds" - Sean Maguire, Good Will Hunting

✧ “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been 5 kisses that were rated the most passionate-the most pure. This one left them all behind”- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

✧ "You deserve a guy who says I can't imagine a world without you in it" - Drew Baylor, Elizabethtown

✧ “You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down”- George Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life

✧ "You is kind, you is smart, you is important" - Aibileen Clark, The Help

#writing prompts #movie prompts #writing drabble #movie quotes #writing prompt #prompts #writing drabbles #prompt

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tied-ash · 1 year

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Monster Prom OCs

I was today years old when I learned that Monster Prom actually had teachers. But I have no idea what they look like, so I made my own.

From left to right:

Dr. Dian Gram - Biology [She/They] Mx. Everword - ELA [Any Pronouns] Mr. John Goldman - Geography [He/Him] Ms. Lisa Mona - Art [She/Her]

I love them all dearly

#monster prom #monster prom oc #original character #oc art #my ocs #digital art #art

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timelessduet · 2 years

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For Victor: 4th Entry

Happy birthday to our grand miracle in life, Victor Li.

Sweet Serenity

How does one get rest? Most people get it by sleeping… some by doing what they are passionate about… and others by just being in the presence of their beloved.

What about Victor? How does LFG’s successful CEO find time to rest despite being known as probably the most workaholic person in Loveland City?

MC: Knock, knock. How is Mr. Victor doing?

Hearing the girl’s voice, Victor turned off the monitor with interview questions before turning his attention to her.

Victor: A certain dummy seems to be slacking off today. I believe she told me she’d do her best to be more productive as a New Year’s resolution.

MC: I am being more productive, my dear CEO. I’ve been out and about these past few days and… is it wrong to miss you?

She was teasing in her tone but Victor didn’t mind indulging her every once in a while.

Victor: Mmm so you do admit that you’ve become a workaholic instead of working at a healthy pace. Who was the one who told me to get some rest more and not work like a horse?

MC: That’s… hmpp maybe this was a bad idea. Goldman told me you didn’t have anything on your schedule this afternoon so I decided to visit but… I’ll probably leave then.

Why does it seem like Goldman is becoming more of her secretary than mine? Victor silently thought before letting out a soft sigh.

Victor: And here I had already planned a bountiful dinner later this evening at Souvenir. Maybe I should just cancel that and have Goldman reschedule my meetings for today then.

He knew everything there is to know about this one girl and there is no question that she will always have a soft spot for food… specifically his cooking. MC stopped in her tracks and gave him a hopeful look.

MC: On second thought, I am an understanding girlfriend aside from being an amazing producer. I don’t mind the least waiting for you no matter how long it takes.

MC: How I missed the great chef of Souvenir’s cooking! And of course, pudding.

Victor: The gluten is full again. I’m glad.

Rest… Peace… Tranquility… Maybe it was when she eats everything he cooks happily despite claiming she needs to go on a strict diet.

MC: I am not a gluten. The food is just too delicious. We should never deny blessings as the elder say, right? But Victor…

There was a long pause before it was continued.

MC: Did you know a friend got in touch with me today? She’s from Loveland Business Magazine.

Victor quietly listened to MC as she spoke already having an idea where the conversation was headed.

MC: She asked me if you don’t mind answering the question they gave you for an interview? If the question was a bit intrusive, they said you didn’t have to answer it. I wanted to know what the question was but my friend told me it was up to you if you’d share it with me.

Victor: That friend of yours must be smart to not let you know. A dummy shouldn’t be too nosy.

She was just too kind and oblivious sometimes. Victor knew people would try whatever they can to get close to him whatever means necessary even if it meant going through the people he loved her. But then, even if he worried, there was no doubt in his mind MC could handle herself. The trust they had for one another was built in this lifetime.

Victor: About the sample question… it has something to do with how one rests.

MC: That question does suit a workaholic capitalistic tyrant such as yourself, CEO Victor. I’m sure the citizens of Loveland are also indeed curious about how you rest while handling a business empire.

MC can’t help but let out a small giggle. Even though she is coquettish at times, she spreads happiness and light into his days life.

Victor: Not going to ask me what my answer is?

MC: After knowing you for so long, I’m sure you’ll let me know if you want to. It’s fine I suppose. I’ll just have to buy the magazine to know. My friend and their magazine will have a boost in sales thanks to a certain greedy cat.

Victor: A dummy through and through. If there’s anyone who knows the answer to how I rest, that would be you.

Hearing this, the girl’s face reddened before thoughtlessly shifting the conversation to another topic.

MC: CEO Victor is his own person. What I think may be different from yours. It’s always been that way but of course, not all the time. Anyway, he should really also stop asking me too much. After all, I still have a lot to learn from the most successful person in Loveland.

Victor: I believe I need to learn more from you on the aspect of birthday surprises that are not as subtle as to speak. Indeed there is still a lot of you to learn including the element of keeping surprises a secret.

Victor was the one who had an upcoming birthday surprise but it seemed as though MC was the one left in shock. There really was nothing that the girl can hide from Victor.

Gazing tenderly to MC’s flabbergasted form, Victor always knew the response to that question.

Rest could be obtained through various forms. Sleep, relaxation, hobbies, work, passion, travel, love… Every single person has their own kind of rest.

Looking back, there was a time where his rest still involved working himself to the bone. Maybe throwing in some hobbies from cooking, equestrian, and fencing.

But for Victor now? Rest is a person.

Rest is her. Her scent, her voice, her feelings, and her love.

The serenity in his life.

[Author’s Note]: It’s been a long while since I’ve written stories for him. Although a day late, I wish my favorite mlqc guy a happy birthday. May our little Vic, MC, as well as all of you guys stay happy today and every day.

#mlqc #mlqc victor #mr love queen's choice #mr love victor #victor li #love and producer #evol x love #mr love mobile #mr love fanfic #mr love game #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc fanfic #mr love li zeyan #mlqc headcanon #mr love headcanon #li ze yan #mlqc cn

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thedummysdummy · 1 year

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Given the Opportunity...

A request of a request. You know who you are ;)

~~~~~~~~

At no point in the year would more fame and fortune be found in a single room. Soft music floated from the string quartet in the northeastern corner of the room and over the guests, mostly ignored and definitely underappreciated. Smartly-dressed waiters carried trays of tiny hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in and amongst the glittering, glistening, and glamorous guests. A low level of chatter lay like a blanket over the scene, as warm and inviting as the golden lighting.

Victor really didn’t care for any of it.

The businessman sat at a table in the corner, welcoming those who approached, but making no moves to approach anyone else. He’d been invited as one of the sponsors of this year’s entertainment awards; duty got him through the door, but little more than that. If the girl had been there he might have actually managed to enjoy himself. However, she currently stood behind a camera in Bali. Without him.

“Have fun, okay? Maybe not as much fun as you had last time I told you to have fun, but I don’t want you to just sit in the corner and pout the entire party. Goldman swore to me he’d get you home safely.”

His sweetheart’s words echoed through his mind and Victor began to chuckle. She sure did know him, didn’t she? He stood and forced himself to approach the center of the room where most of the party was occurring. A waiter wandered past with a tray of scotch, which Victor happily reached out and obtained. The fiery liquid rolled down his tongue into his belly where it warmed him from the inside out.

“You’re Mr. Li of LFG, aren’t you?” an unfamiliar voice called out. Victor looked up from his drink and found the voice attached to Ms. Elnora Vaughn, one of the most highly acclaimed actresses of the year. He nodded and her face lit up. “I thought so! My, you are even more handsome in person, I must say.”

Victor lifted his cup to hide the eye roll. He recognized blatant attempts at flirtation when he saw them and had no intent to give anyone the wrong idea. “I’m in a permanent relationship. But thank you for the compliment.” He finished his drink and placed the empty cup on a passing tray, then disappeared into the crowd.

The first drink had him feeling quite pleasant and Victor soon reached for another. And another. He had a high tolerance, after all. And a few drinks definitely made a room full of high-and-mighties much easier to bear. There was no way he would over drink.

Such were the thoughts of someone more concerned with avoiding a certain Ms. Vaughn than with keeping track of how much alcohol he had consumed. Each went down easier than the last until he had to sit to avoid becoming better acquainted with the floor.

This had the unfortunate consequence of making him a sitting duck.

Within minutes, Ms. Vaughn seated herself in a chair only inches away from Victor. “Mr. Li, you are a hard man to keep track of! Glad to see you’re finally stationary for a moment. I wanted to get to know you a little better!” She scooted her chair a little closer to Victor as if testing his limits.

He scooted his chair a little farther away.

“Why don’t you tell me a little more about yourself, Mr. Li? It’s so rare that you’re available for conversation! What kinds of things do you like?”

Victor turned his head a little slowly, feeling like his brain was sloshing around in his skull. It probably was, honestly. “I like my girlfriend. She’s the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet.” His words held just the slightest fuzzy edge, but really didn’t reveal the extent of his drunkenness. “I love my girlfriend. She should be here, not in Bali. She should be here with me where she belongs.”

A slight sigh of frustration slipped from Elnora’s lips and she seemingly felt the need to try another tactic. She scooted closer to the table and hiked up her chest just enough to ensure her assets were displayed to their full size. She then leaned over toward Victor and looked up at him through her lashes; he didn’t even glance at her display. “I hear you’re quite the romantic. That girlfriend of yours better appreciate you! You’re the entire package, you know.” Elnora fluttered her lashes and smiled, though her eyebrows narrowed when this still seemed to have no effect.

A vacant smile spread across Victor’s face and he closed his eyes, picturing the girl behind his eyelids. “She deserves the entire world. And I’ll give her the entire world. She’s the only person in the world.”

“Isn’t she just some producer or something? You deserve more than that, Mr. Li. You could have any woman in the world. Why settle for some…nobody?” She reached out and placed a hand on Victor’s arm, which he whipped away with a scowl on his face.

“Don’t touch me! My girlfriend is perfect. You should meet her. She would make your life better. She does that. Even though she’s a dummy, she makes life better.” Victor leaned forward in his chair and scowled, his soggy brain processing whether he had enough sobriety to stand up without making a spectacle of himself. Even in this state, he had the sense to get out of this situation. “Good night, Ms. Whoever. I need to go find my girlfriend.” Elnora watched Victor stumble into the crowd, her eyebrows encroaching on her nose’s territory with how low they scrunched. Never before had a man so blatantly refused to give her even the time of day! Especially when they were as unsteady on the drink as Victor seemed to be. Was she losing it? That thought only made her more annoyed. She slammed the rest of Victor’s abandoned drink and wandered off into the crowd herself to make sure he was the problem in this equation.

#request #he'd never #can't even imagine him giving in #mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #love and producer li zeyan #mlqc #evol x love #love and producer victor #love and producer #mr love queen's choice #mlqc fanfic #mlqc victor fanfic #mr love mobile #mr love dream date

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