loveauthority | [r8] talking head: du ruo

[ wish anna was the least bit gay outside of asa ]

Du Ruo-san! Welcome to the start of your new love life! Are you excited? You've gotta be, right?!

[ why wouldn't she be!!!!!!! ]

[you did this to yourself]

Why, hello. [Du Ruo makes her greeting at the entrance before crossing to the hammocks. Before she sits, she extends a small package wrapped in a decorative gift cloth, head and shoulders bowed.]

This is for you. Please accept it as a token of my thanks for allowing me the chance to study your methods. [She smiles mysteriously I HOPE YOU HATE BEING STRAIGHT, ANNA.] I'm looking forward to seeing how the motivation of a "wish" inspires the players.

[ du ruo just became her favorite contestant the others need to step up their game. anna's taking the package with a surprised smile, already tugging it open.

wait. pause. ]

Study my methods? You're not here to find love?

[ girl when has anyone actually ever done that besides you ]

[Inside is a delicately crafted and hand-patterned, Eastia-style tea set with enough settings for Anna and her offscreen beloved.

Thoughtfully, Du Ruo brings her pinky finger to her lower lip.]

It's the ability of humans to forge miracles out of love that interests me the most... If I'm to study it myself, I'll just have to witness it myself.

[ oh... this is so pretty. she's gonna hold onto this carefully. will is definitely gonna like it. they can have cute, fancy tea parties together... when she's not dealing with contestants. ]

Huh. I guess there's really a reason for everyone.

[ better than some in her opinion. seems like curiosity. she's fine with it. ]

Well, I still have to ask you the same questions I do everyone else, so just answer as best you can! Okay?

Of course. [Her very placid and calm face is made to put people at ease; maybe she'd be well suited for the interviewer's seat, too.]

I will participate in the show to the best of my ability, as I agreed to the terms of the exchange. Ask away.

This has mostly been a miss question, but I don't care. [ as most of her season went. ] "What do you think of TNT's engagement?"

[Unfortunately, the misses are only going to perpetuate themselves from here on out.

Oh, dear, is this the material she's supposed to have been studying...?]

I'm sorry, I'm unfamiliar with that acronym. Maybe it's not very popular where I'm from.

[ no............. another..... ]

It's probably a different world thing, don't worry about it. What's your take on love? Just a miraculous thing?

Is this a famous story or a matter of celebrity?

[Both are probably "other world" things indeed. They wouldn't share the same traditions, and famous public figures have shifted a great deal in the past century in Eastia and other lands alike—what remains of those lands.]

Is love a miracle? [...] No. I don't believe it is. It's the temporary meeting of two souls, like stars crossing in the sky.

Celebrity.

[ and... that's a good answer, anna swinging gently in her hammock at it. ]

Yeah, I can agree with that. After all... the love of my life was waiting for me worlds away, rather than right at home, which is kinda sad when you think about it. He thinks it's romantic though.

[ that they were brought together too, not seamlessly but-- still, romantic. that love exists across time and space. ]

[She's doing her very best in this hammock, though she's sitting with the refined pose of someone who's trying to maintain pose while keeping very still so to avoid losing the position.]

Congratulations on finding exactly what you were looking for.

[And, as far as stories go, this is a rather romantic one. Anna won't catch her trying to debate it in the slightest.]

But from my research before traveling here, [of course, she read up on everything before her arrival,] your true love was not chosen for you by the matchmakers.

He wasn't! But I was so, so sure he was, even after it was obvious that we weren't matched at all.

[ her swings slow to a stop, and one has to wonder who the host really is. ]

Honestly, I almost threw the whole show just because I wanted us to walk up together one time, but thankfully for everyone that didn't come to pass. [ no, they got their chance in a different way. a less harmful way. ] Mark-kun's one of my very best friends though -- he was my match, and... there's enough similarities that I can see why. We balance each other, too.

[ but it didn't happen that way, she dug her grave in day one and tumbled farther than she meant. ]

The matchmakers can do their best, or their funniest, but things usually fall their own way. It'll be pretty funny to watch on the other side of things this time.

[Surely it's not a bad sign for Du Ruo's prospects if she's sitting here taking over the interview like she's the one in charge of hosting the show, right? It's just that she's indulging her intellectual curiosity...of course.]

You sound a little sadistic. I can't say I wouldn't feel the same way in your position.

[She chuckles, a soft and mysterious noise.]

Since I'm on the other side of it, I do admit to finding it vexing. How is it that you tout the outcome of this show, when some could point out that the results seem like pure coincidence?

The moment that changes someone's feelings can't be predict. That's all!

[ that's just it. the matchmakers can try all they want to guess, but it's the moments that make the difference. the same moments that turn them out "right" could be missed and turn out "wrong". ]

Oh, but there were people who were both matches and head over heels for each other in my round, at least. So the success rate isn't too bad! Like... three out of our five couples were? I would say six, but one of them doesn't count in this case.

[ sorry minami she loves u tho ]

[Fortunately for poor Minami, Du Ruo will be accounting for him and his match in her calculations, if only because it allows her to ask the following question:]

Tossing a coin a few times could yield the same results. Knowing the outcome of that flip, would it change your feelings and actions and contrive those "moments"?

[She hums. Her voice never stops being melodic and calm.] I look forward to seeing them as they occur.

[ hey queen, ]

Are you okay? Like, blink twice if you need help. We can totally lend a hand if that guy's too much.

[Extremely funny to say this to someone who has 80% closed-eye sprites.]

You don't have to worry about me. He's not convincing anyone. In fact, the only one who has any chance of believing his falsehoods...might just be Napoleon himself.

[His speech had almost gotten her...almost. But for a second, Du Ruo had seen that spark of light.]

[ the 20% are the important ones!!! ]

Well... okay. If you're really sure.

[ ahem!!! ]

Was the black out helpful for you?

I can't be callous enough to say that it was. The information we gained will be useful, and I witnessed firsthand the betrayal of our expectations...but not everyone openly wears their disappointment.

[They'll rebound from the setback, but Du Ruo thinks this will be more demoralizing than many people will let on.]

Well... I can tell you so far they've been pretty neutral on it from my talks with them, sorta like they didn't expect any different, so I guess that's as good as it gets.

[ but she also comes from a round of high emotions so this is so calm to her. ]

You'll definitely get it this week, though! There's only so many ways to mess up, and there's no way lightning strikes twice!

[ mostly because if it does Anna Will Crash Out. ]

Disasters are just as improbable as miracles, in some ways. I'd have predicted at least one of the many pairs we selected had a decent chance; I'm surprised to see us so far off the mark.

[It's hard for Du Ruo, who specifically hails from a region where disasters are more commonplace and often caused by the rippling effects of things that happen hundreds or even thousands of miles away, to so easily be reassured by the thought that this couldn't happen twice. These things can and do happen twice all the time, to a certain set of unfortunate people.

Her eyes open, her expression very intense.]

It'd be really unfortunate if the game was set up a certain way to fulfill a particular narrative, wouldn't it?

Duh. I mean, I'm just here to help you all find love.

[ bro she's clueless too. what narrative. ]

[Yeah, she doubts that Anna would have a single malicious intent when it comes to this group...but Du Ruo still has her suspicions about showrunners who wouldn't have any issues with exploiting a young woman.]

I believe you. So I'll ask you this: Do you really think none of those pairs stood a fighting chance?

[ correct! it's me, i'm the one exploiting a young woman. ]

Every pair has a fighting chance! [ which might sound like a cop-out, but she means it. ] But to be honest, it's kinda hard to tell in the first week when people are sort of just feeling each other out -- we only got one other light ourselves in my round then, and we didn't know who'd tripped it until way later.

[ hmmmm. ]

Both lights were because they "clicked", but so were all the dark ones. It's not like everyone got to say who they were planning on picking either, so... Maybe one of them could've been right. Date-san's or Katy-san's.

Hm, now there's an idea. Maybe this coming week, we can ask both of them.

[She thinks she knows who at least one of them would have chosen, but it'll be nice to hear them confirm it out loud.]

Send them along to the booth, too, so they can experience the disappointment.

[She sounds sarcastic, but isn't she the person here with the most faith in them altogether...?]

[ isn't she though.....? ]

You're so dishonest, Du Ruo-san. [ but it's just a tease. ] I'll bring you guys extra ice cream to celebrate your success!

Am I? What have I said that struck you as particularly dishonest?

[That's just a tease, too. She's been supporting them the entire time, even if she doesn't think the designation of a perfect match holds any merit.]

If ice cream's on the line, watch out. We might just solve this puzzle before the time limit's up.

[ dm her she's relaxing in her hammock. "relaxing". ]

I felt really good about this one, but we didn't get as many lights as I hoped.

[Anna looks more dejected than most of the contestants. It's okay, Du Ruo is here, censer emitting comforting green smoke, to potentially take over the role of interviewer for Anna onced more.]

It really seems like an unfair outcome, doesn't it?

[She hasn't dropped her suspicion that this entire game is set up like a humiliation ritual—as the "unluckiest" in love, who would even bat an eye if their luck continued to suffer?

Everyone loves an underdog. Everyone loves a fall from grace.]

[ she's trying so hard to be a good host interview person but it is so hard. she just wants to chitchat. ]

Seriously! I mean... at least there was one, but... still. It's like one hit after another. Date-san was really put off, too.

He put in a lot of effort. Feeling it's all for nothing is something anyone would find hard to swallow. And... I'm sure he's wondering if his feelings were misplaced.

[With only one match out of six on target, who wouldn't feel their bravery was being punished? She pauses, folding her hands over in her lap.]

Since you were so surprised yourself, where do you think we went wrong?

I don't think you went wrong, though. Like, you guys definitely did the right thing -- thinking it out like that, and making sense of your own wants or needs or whatever.

[ that was pretty on par for what they did, too. hmmm. rocking again. ]

Maybe you just... whiffed it this time? Like you're right there, but stepped to the left. My match and the guy I liked had a lot of similarities, so it kinda reminds me of that.

[ but it's so!!! frustrating!!!! not know if... she's even answering right, that she's putting them on the right path or a bad one or... ugh. ]

So there is a right way to play this game, and even that wasn't enough to uplift us.

[The urge to protect the other players from this perceived trap is just growing stronger the more she thinks about it. She wonders if anyone's drawn the same conclusion and is looking for the same clues as she is.]

So we just need to find one more contestant who has some, but not all, things in common with the ones we chose this week. Easy peasy. Well...except one pair of us. Which one do you think that is?

[ ........................

she's looking at... some of the crew in the shadows. ]

I don't think I'm allowed to talk to you anymore. That's just how my season was, okay? I don't know if it's the standard.

Oh, dear, did I say something?

[Du Ruo's eyes open as she looks up at the crew back there in the shadows. They are glittering and jade and not particularly kind.]

Sorry for getting you into trouble.

[ their discomfort is Visible. ]

Oh, no, you're okay! It's just boiling down the show so much sorta throws off the message that love's found in the most unexpected of places and whatever. There is a method for finding your matches, but going through it so clinically... isn't very kind to the people who really are here to find that second chance, Du Ruo-san.

[r8] talking head: du ruo

arrival!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

week one!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

week two!

no subject

I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING YESTERDAY OUUUAAUUGGH

me catsitting

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject