When a physicist falls in love :)
Richard Feynman's love letter to his deceased wife, 1946.
Chambered Nautilus - Nautilus pompilius
supermodelgif-deactivated201409
An Oxford student flipping through a book on sale. England, 1950
studio ghibli romances be like mmm what if we didn’t kiss, but instead both spiritually matured as people because we met each other
Anonymous asked:
in the emperors girlfriend you mention cinder wearing Kai’s highschool bomber jacket (which is honestly the most adorable thing ever) however I’m almost positive that those are only given to guys who play sports and idk about you but I cannot see Kai playing a sport in school. He doesn’t seem like the sporty type plus he probably wouldn’t have time with all the prince/emperor training he was doing.
I know in America they only have the school jocks with jackets of their name and team number, but in my country everyone gets a jacket on their last year of school with a nickname on it and the year. So I didn't intend it as a sport thing. They look like this:
I don't think Kai would be majorly into sports, but I don't think he'd hate it either. He focused on English and social based subjects in school as he was busy with prince life (as you mentioned). As an adult though, he enjoys casually playing sports with his friends even if he isn't an exemplary player.
I can imagine he and the boys playing soccer on the Benoit farm, and they would have tennis courts and sporting fields at New Beijing Palace which everyone would try.
He and Cinder enjoy versing each other in tennis (usually table tennis) or cricket because they're both competitive. They both get really into the Olympics because they visit every time as emperor and empress. And he plays a lot more sports when he has kids.
Yet overall I agree with you that he's not a sporty guy, just occasionally for fun.
@impossiblesuitcase I know we’re both in Australia but I was still horrified at seeing my leaver’s jacket in the lunar chronicles tag
do you guys ever just suddenly have flashbacks to when cinder kissed kai at the ball in front of everyone as an attempt to prevent him from proposing and he just stands there and does nothing and says “wha-”?
cause i do.
No, it never happened
,,,, it's creeping upon us,,, the poster to go with our opening! Done by Bry!
oh my god
Mutually Moronic Marriage - interlude.
‘The doors slid open and dozens of palace guards in red and gold uniforms stood before them.
“And not an android among them,” Cinder muttered. “Kai and I are going to have a long talk about palace security.”’ – Cress, Chapter Fifty-Three
The Rampion’s galley was quiet, broken up only by the clatter of utensils scraping along ceramic bowls.
It was the third week that Kai had been on board since they’d kidnapped him. Although Cinder had developed a mutual (and romantic) understanding with him, it was still weird to have him interact with her newfound friends. She secretly worried that they would say or do something that would embarrass her.
But Kai seemed to have accepted the crew in earnest. He of course liked sweet, quirky Cress, and dealt amazingly with Iko’s exuberance. Wolf he was still wary of, naturally, and witnessing just a portion of his genetically-modified abilities whilst sparring with Cinder sent Kai’s stomach turning. Cinder secretly adored that he trusted her enough to confide this in her.
There was a lot of confiding going on these days. Except for Cinder’s biggest secret other than being cyborg or Lunar or royalty. You know, that secret.
Now Kai was coming to terms with the oddballs Cinder had recruited for her mission to save the universe. He was even comfortable enough to have a meal with Wolf and Thorne, so long as Cinder could act as a buffer between them all.
The only person she still worried about was Thorne. He and Kai hadn’t exactly gotten on chummy terms yet.
you did it again, queen ☝️
Thinking of post Winter/Stars Above Adri with her riches that Cinder graciously granted her through allowing her to keep Garan's patent and how she'd undoubtedly make a lot of money off of it but it would ultimately do her and Pearl absolutely no good because Emperor Kaito is a petty bitch who hated Adri for Cinder without even knowing what she had done just cuz Cinder disliked her so the minute he finds out what Adri has actually done, he's beside himself with the desire to murder her with his own hands or throw her in prison.
Except Kai can't really do that being the diplomat he has to be and all so instead he Very Pointedly does not invite her to the Annual Peace Ball (despite Linh Garan's invention being... yknow... the reason they have peace). Naturally people have questions because there is a song specifically announced to be played in honor of a Linh Peony and Kai mentions Linh Garan by speech but Linh Adri and the living daughter Linh Pearl are noticeably absent.
Someone asks Kai and all he does is pleasantly respond, "We will not be sharing their company." It's a very abrupt sentence. No "unfortunately", no "pleasure of their company", not even a "tonight" to imply this is a one time deal. So naturally people have even more questions when this continues to happen. At every single ball Emperor Kaito ever throws.
Its well known that Queen Selene of Luna is very tight lipped about her life before the revolution and refuses to answer questions about it which drives Kai up the wall cuz Adri takes every opportunity to capitalize on having "raised the Queen of Luna" but Cinder is too busy to actually bother with Adri anymore.
That's when Iko steps in. Cinder may be content to stay quiet and forget Adri exists but Iko most certainly will not let that vile woman get away with everything. She openly declares in great, as the personal assistant and longtime trusted friend of Queen Selene, that Adri's stories are bogus and even adds some incriminating evidence from her data bank as proof. Iko figures she'll deal with the fallout from Cinder later except Cinder really doesn't care if Adri is being slandered all across the galactic media.
But things take an even more dramatic twist when Princess Winter Hayle-Blackburn uploads a video addressing the revealed information. She's sobbing loudly at the injustice her dear cousin suffered and how horrible it is that Cousin Selene "escaped one Levana only to go and be thrust into the arms of another". The Lunars are in an uproar. Their beloved Princess is crying and their beloved Queen had been living a life of misery even on Earth! Winter denies any maliciousness on her part with an innocent smile. She was simply so overrought with emotions at learning of how cruelly her beloved cousin was treated that she had to express them to the world.
Emperor Kaito, being such a paragon of truth and champion of honesty, decides to stir the pot further by declaring his own observations of having first met Queen Selene and admits that while he never got to see her treatment first hand, he did see the toll of that treatment on the Lunar Queen. He also opens up the very much open secret at this point: as emperor he cannot in good conscience invite the perpetrator of Queen Selene's miseries to any happy occasions thrown by the crown as they directly oppose his views on how to show gratitude for the brave young woman who saved them all. Earth is an uproar too at this point having grown fond of Cinder and especially the Eastern Commonwealth who take pride in the fact that Queen Selene grew up in their country.
Adri is besides herself. Her business keeps running, grudgingly as ever customers keep buying Linh Garan's invention. But she is a social pariah and she and Pearl are never again seen as respectable in proper society for the abuse she heaped on Cinder. Meanwhile, Peony and Linh Garan (alongside Michelle Benoit and Logan Tanner) are honored for their sacrifice by the world for helping Cinder become the revolutionary to usurp Levana.
Cinder, personally, is not entirely on board with her life being so exposed but then again it already was pretty well known to begin with. She can't help but love Kai and Iko and Winter (and the Rampion crew cuz i know they'd join in yet idk how yet) for caring about her so much they refuse to let Adri have any ounce of respect despite the parting kindness Cinder offered to her. They let her keep her hands and heart clean while defending her and she'd be lying if she said she didn't kick back with a popcorn bucket now and then after some far too stressful meetings to read some netposts by angry Lunars and Earthens about how much they hate Adri.
Winter and Kai being two of the most benign members of the rampion crew but also being the most petty towards Adri. I see it. I see the vision!
I’ve always thought that even though he was disgusted by her, being bound by the rules of social convention, Kai couldn’t outright vilify Adri for how she treated a child that she was supposed to care for but at the very least he would neglect to invite her to the Annual Peace Ball and other social functions at the palace. “Idc if she owns Garan’s patent, dress the devil up however you want she’s not welcome in my home” and all that. The most petty he could be without destroying rules of diplomatic conduct, he would do it ☝️. It always made me a little sad that Kai and the rampion crew didn’t have any idea of her life after Michelle. Kai was the only one who had any inkling and even then it barely scratches the surface. This woman wanted to surrender her to the cyborg draft as a child knowing she’d be killed and the only reason she didn’t was so that she could work for her! Whenever you start to forget how bad she was you reread the part where Cinder’s bed is literally just blankets on the floor and go oh my god forget Levana, THIS is the villain. And Kai doesn’t even know about it. He doesn’t even know that the gloves he gifted Cinder were ruined by Pearl right after he left.
Even though, it may not seem like much, being a social pariah was probably the worst thing Kai could have done to her and Pearl. In every iteration of Cinderella, her step-mother is a vicious social climber. Even Pearl has hopes of marrying the prince (PSHAW). Being social outcasts was probably Adri and Pearl’s worst nightmare. All that wealth and fame but they’re practically at the bottom of the social ladder and no one wants to be seen with them.
Also, I feel like the cruelty with which Adri treated Cinder as a child, for no other reason than that she was a cyborg, kind of drives Kai as a monarch even more. After all, a large part of why she was so prejudiced was because hate and fear against cyborgs was such a social norm in the Commonwealth. Even then, she was a piece of work but still. Cinder didn’t even have the protective rights that would have taken her away from an abusive home because as a cyborg she was technically ‘owned’ by Adri under Commonwealth law. Knowing Kai, he’d see it as a failure on his part and the royal family but it would influence him to fight even harder for legislative change. After all, it was the memory of Cinder being in the quarantine labs for the cyborg draft that spurred him to think about the other cyborgs who were being taken in at that time. And thus came the end of the draft.
the way the name "Kai" means ocean/tides and the name "Selene" refers to the goddess of the moon, the moon and the ocean have been kindred spirits for millennia, two balanced halves of a whole, the pull of the moon creates the tides and influences the ocean's movement, the way Kai's life and choices were influenced by Cinder's re-appearance and he followed her even when the world condemned her SCREAMS INTO FIST
@spherical-empirical as per usual you are completely correct when it comes to all things Kaider.
the hold they have over me
the way the name "Kai" means ocean/tides and the name "Selene" refers to the goddess of the moon, the moon and the ocean have been kindred spirits for millennia, two balanced halves of a whole, the pull of the moon creates the tides and influences the ocean's movement, the way Kai's life and choices were influenced by Cinder's re-appearance and he followed her even when the world condemned her SCREAMS INTO FIST
Here's some models from the avatar art book!
Meanwhile there’s Zuko with his Kardashian sized wardrobe
Everyone jokes about Kai’s very obvious crush on Cinder showing during Scarlet, but his strength of character in this book? Unparalleled. He’s running a country that’s living through a pandemic that just took his father’s life. He’s trying to make peace with a kingdom that could conquer the world in three days on a whim that his father unsuccessfully tried to get to sign a treaty for nearly as long as Kai has been alive. He’s attending the equivalent of war councils with every major world leader, each of which is probably three times his age, as an equal. He’s been forced to declare his crush, a girl who it’s public knowledge he asked to the ball, and that now he thinks was only ever fake with him, Public Enemy No. 1, and to conduct a worldwide manhunt for her on the slimmest chance that he might avert war with Luna. He’s dealing with the responsibility of terrorist attacks by genetic mutants occurring in every major city resting on his decisions. He’s taking the responsibility for these attacks and offering himself willingly to Levana, sacrificing his happiness and even potentially his life for every man, woman, and child on Earth. He’s eighteen. He’s been Emperor for two weeks. Insane
If he’s not willing to sacrifice his safety and happiness to prevent an inter-planetary war is he even all that?
I wanna talk about this line from Cress for a second because it made me scream on the inside from the first time I read it:
“I don’t know. I never wanted to believe it, but I’ve had to wonder. And when you fell, and I saw your glamour … Cinder, do you have any idea how beautiful your glamour is?” ~ Cress (The Lunar Chronicles), Marissa Meyer
This line is so painfully beautiful to me in a way that's hard for me to articulate because its sort of complicated in my head too but I'm gonna try anyway. Kai doesn't mean this as a compliment obviously and Cinder knows as much, she even admits to that realization in the very next line. Cinder's glamour isn't exactly what either her or Kai consider a good thing. But inadvertently, this comment sort of becomes a compliment anyway... Or rather a very deep confession of feelings on Kai's part.
Because Kai finds Cinder beautiful even when she's completely unassuming and plain. When she has a grease stain on her forehead and hair in a messy ponytail and is completely awkward. Her glamour amplifies the beauty he already sees tenfold.
When he tells her that her glamour is painful, its like he's admitting the depth of his feelings for her and his fear that they aren't real cuz he WANTS them to be real so bad.
And if he already finds her so beautiful and the glamour makes her even more so, then what is the chance the entire thing wasn't a glamour from the get-go considering how fast and how strong his feelings crept on him? What if none of it was real and he has to live with the fact this beautiful girl he's already halfway to giving his heart to was just a hoax when he wants her to he everything but one because to him she's already an enigma he never expected to find.
Kaider just make me wanna scream because of the pining and angst so much.
Everything is their fault. Everything. All the pain I go through
fun fact: the first time scarlet and cress are in the same room is when cinder is facing off with levana at the very end of winter
I'd rather not be reminded of this. What I would have given for any one-on-one conversations/bonding between any of the girls (not including scarlet and winter i guess) in a series with 4 girls as the main characters
Once again thinking about Kai sending Cinder 6 messages in one week because she wasn't replying and he missed her, and the fact that all 6 were probably him trying to charm her and failing miserably
I need to know what they said 😂😂
ANY amount of money to Marissa Meyer to tell us what he blew up her port with, it’s so necessary
thinking about this...I've decided to revive one of my old fanfic drafts and I wrote his comms in it, but I don't know if they will truly live up to what they actually were. Like...was he casual? Or flirty in them or what???
you carry this fandom ☝️. Hmm, knowing Kai it was probably a mix of both. It probably started off trying to be super casual and sweet, like he just wanted to see how she was, saying he hoped she didn't die after he left her in Dr. Erland's office after she collapsed. Knowing Kai it probably didn't take long for him to bring up the ball and start listing the ways she'll enjoy it if she lets him take her. "I can practically see you rolling your eyes but hear me out," y'know.
ALSO, the messages themselves might have been more sweet than flirty and I know the fandom loves how dorky and smitten he could be but can we remind ourselves of what a shameless flirt he was when he actually wanted to get Cinder's attention?
I mean this guy was shamelessly putting the moves on her in Cinder. Putting charm into his smile when he first met her. "I found your pretty, new mechanic in the lobby." "It would be a shame for you to die when we've just had the pleasure of meeting." "That got your attention." "You didn't even stand up. And I was so prepared to be the gentleman and urge you to sit back down again." "He checked the screen with a heavy sigh. Maybe she's been ignoring my comms on purpose." "Take it and think of me." "So you DO want to go with me." Kissing the back of her hand??? Sir?? SIRRRR. Don't even get me started on how he was when they were actually together. It's not as heavy-handed as Thorne's approach to women but this is definitely a guy who knows that girls like him, they're both so annoying i love them.
Not regarding Cinder but a personal favorite is Torin asking Kai's father if he needed food or water and Kai offering, "An escort 5.3?" He needs to be sent away
IVE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS THAT KAI IS NOT TIMID WHEN IT COMES TO ROMANCE. HE IS SMOOTH. THANK YOU FOR EMPHASISING THAT.
I only write out two of the comms in my draft I think? but "I can practically see you rolling your eyes but hear me out," is PERFECT. I like the way you think.
He does need to be sent away. Kidnapped, even.
He does need to be sent away. Kidnapped, even.
Someone should get on that.
*enter Linh Cinder stage right*
Once again thinking about Kai sending Cinder 6 messages in one week because she wasn't replying and he missed her, and the fact that all 6 were probably him trying to charm her and failing miserably
I need to know what they said 😂😂
ANY amount of money to Marissa Meyer to tell us what he blew up her port with, it’s so necessary
thinking about this...I've decided to revive one of my old fanfic drafts and I wrote his comms in it, but I don't know if they will truly live up to what they actually were. Like...was he casual? Or flirty in them or what???
you carry this fandom ☝️. Hmm, knowing Kai it was probably a mix of both. It probably started off trying to be super casual and sweet, like he just wanted to see how she was, saying he hoped she didn't die after he left her in Dr. Erland's office after she collapsed. Knowing Kai it probably didn't take long for him to bring up the ball and start listing the ways she'll enjoy it if she lets him take her. "I can practically see you rolling your eyes but hear me out," y'know.
ALSO, the messages themselves might have been more sweet than flirty and I know the fandom loves how dorky and smitten he could be but can we remind ourselves of what a shameless flirt he was when he actually wanted to get Cinder's attention?
I mean this guy was shamelessly putting the moves on her in Cinder. Putting charm into his smile when he first met her. "I found your pretty, new mechanic in the lobby." "It would be a shame for you to die when we've just had the pleasure of meeting." "That got your attention." "You didn't even stand up. And I was so prepared to be the gentleman and urge you to sit back down again." "He checked the screen with a heavy sigh. Maybe she's been ignoring my comms on purpose." "Take it and think of me." "So you DO want to go with me." Kissing the back of her hand??? Sir?? SIRRRR. Don't even get me started on how he was when they were actually together. It's not as heavy-handed as Thorne's approach to women but this is definitely a guy who knows that girls like him, they're both so annoying i love them.
Not regarding Cinder but a personal favorite is Torin asking Kai's father if he needed food or water and Kai offering, "An escort 5.3?" He needs to be sent away
holy crap, i just realised. whEN DID CRESS FIND OUT THAT CINDER WAS PRINCESS SELENE?
ugh I can't find the tweet but Marissa answered this in the past. I'll paraphrase:
"Thorne told her sometime during the desert (off the page)."
oh my god seriously? Trying to visualise that conversation haha. That would have been such an interesting scene to write into the book, even if it doesn't do much to further the plot