#99-nct

[merakiui]

i need to hear your thoughts on anything about yan! alhaitham i don’t know why he has me in such a chokehold on me but he does 😭🙏

It’s the same for me as well. T-T the chokehold is extreme. I’ve heard his rerun may be coming soon and I fear for my restraint. Is one Alhaitham worth more than Scara constellations???? ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

I may not have many coherent yan!Alhaitham thoughts to share, but there is one that’s been taking up residence in my head a lot recently. It’s a concept in which Alhaitham confines you to his house, but he can’t always stay at home to watch you and he isn’t so cruel that he’d lock you up and prevent you from getting proper exercise. He allows you the mobility, so long as you won’t leave the house. To ensure your obedience, he’s put a tracking cuff on your ankle. It’s essentially the Teyvat-equivalent of modern day house arrest. T-T he’ll know the minute you take one step out of the house or if you try to remove the cuff, and though you’ve never known Alhaitham to be violent you’re still unsure of the lengths he’d go to to keep you hidden like a secret.

Only you’re not a secret, at least not one that only Alhaitham keeps.

Kaveh never says much regarding your predicament when Alhaitham’s around (you think he’s given up trying to debate the oh-so-rational Alhaitham on why keeping you here is necessary), so instead he keeps quiet. It’s obvious he disagrees; you can tell when he looks at you with so much pity softening his eyes. When Alhaitham isn’t home, you try to convince Kaveh to help. You pull all the tricks you know: sad eyes, weeping, complaining, bemoaning your stifled future, pleading for freedom, persuading him to help you now otherwise he continues to keep this terrible, horrible, criminal secret regarding your whereabouts. Kaveh breaks by the second week, but truthfully he’s been on your side the minute you became an addition to the house.

He sits you down at the table and, very seriously, asks if you have a plan. You tell him you can’t leave or else the tracker will notify Alhaitham and it’ll just leave you under more surveillance—or worse: permanently shackled. You’re trying to avoid a punishment and Kaveh understands. You also don’t want Alhaitham to know you’ve found an ally in Kaveh, though both of you know it won’t take much for him to predict and suspect. You and Kaveh plan over tea every day Alhaitham’s busy, swapping ideas like one might trade cards. And when Kaveh can’t be home, you’re mulling over the situation, hoping to find some loophole Alhaitham has yet to close. You’re always second-guessing yourself. If you do find a loophole, what if he’s intentionally left it open? But then how far ahead could he possibly think? And does he really know how to predict your every move? Surely not, right?

Eventually you realize something. The tracker may have technology you’re not very well-versed in, but surely Kaveh knows something. And something is better than nothing. You sit down with him one day and blurt the question: “Is it possible to re-wire the device so it’ll stop sending regular location updates to Alhaitham?”

“So, in other words, you mean you want to break the signal?”

“More or less.”

Kaveh drums his fingers on the table, considering it. “It’s possible,” he says after a silent minute. “But he’ll notice.”

“I’ll be gone by then.”

“You really think you can outrun him?”

“I’d rather test what little odds I have than let this chance slip away.” You take Kaveh’s hands in yours and squeeze reassuringly. “I’ll pay you. I’ll find a way to give you enough so you can get your own place. Or we could leave together. We could be roommates instead!”

Kaveh’s chuckle comes out strained, more wheeze than actual laughter. “It sounds great in theory. In practice, it’s more complicated than simple wishful thinking.”

“Then help me with the device first.”

Kaveh slips a hand out from your hold, and at first he intends to run it through his hair. But instead he places it over yours. “We’ll need a plan…and a back-up plan. This isn’t something we can do overnight. One misstep and you’ll fail, (Name). You have to take every little detail into account. Alhaitham is meticulous. You need to be even more meticulous.”

“I know. I…” You exhale an exhausted breath. This situation is far from ideal. “I know. I can wait. I’ve been obedient and cooperative. He won’t suspect a thing.”

Kaveh’s smile is thin. Somehow he doesn’t believe that, and neither do you when, hours later at dinner, Alhaitham asks if you’ve busied yourself with a new puzzle lately. You think it’s a trick question, but then you’ve been pondering for too long because he adds, “You’ve filled the workbook, haven’t you?”

Right. The workbooks he brings you. They’re simple puzzles: crosswords and whatnot. It’s meant to keep your brain sharp, to give you something to do so you can’t complain that Alhaitham treats you like a prisoner because, in his words, “Are prisoners awarded the right to entertain themselves with brain games?” Right. Just the workbook puzzles. He wasn’t referring to anything else.

You think you’re in the clear when you give your response and dinner carries on as it usually does. But you still can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen through you…

As you’re clearing your place at the table, Alhaitham, who is never one for pointless conversations, says, “You spend a while in the kitchen during the day. Is there something particularly riveting in there?”

You look at him. The kitchen is where you meet with Kaveh to discuss strategies. Of course he’d recognize an unusual pattern. He’s always so observant. But then he wouldn’t know Kaveh keeps you company. He wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know.

He doesn’t know.

“Nothing special,” you say, shrugging, feigning nonchalance.

Alhaitham is quiet. The gears in his brain are turning, no doubt. Before he can come to a conclusion—the correct conclusion, you keep thinking—Kaveh comes to your rescue. He makes a show of tripping on his way to the sink, his plate crashing to the floor with a noisy clatter. It shatters and he curses, chiding himself for his clumsiness.

“That was my favorite plate, too!” he mourns with a groan, gathering the shards, exchanging a sharp glance with you from his place on the floor.

Alhaitham’s expression doesn’t change, but he says, “The plates look the same, Kaveh.”

“No, they don’t. Their differences are subtle, but I wouldn’t expect someone like you, who lacks an eye for aesthetics, to recognize it.”

And so their debate begins, and for the moment you’re spared. Thankfully. But Alhaitham never takes his eyes off of you, even when you’re in his peripheral, as if he intends to dissect you with a calculating stare. You have to be sneakier next time. No more kitchen discussions.

You’ll move rooms often. He can’t catch another pattern if you aren’t settling into one, right?

[99-nct]

OMG YOUR ALIVE

hahaha yes i am. despite trying to resolve not using this account i think now is a good opportunity to be clear, i’ve moved blogs. i wanted to quit writing because the lack of feedback on this account was getting to me, but my love for writing brought me back to this hellsite. i’ve been busy with college but i’m happy to announce that i will start writing again for genshin & twst ( potentially other fandoms as well ) on @chafelis and that requests will be open. i won’t be finishing the queue i have on this account simply due to certain things being stressful and tiring. but as a sneak peek this is something i’m working on

i’ve been in a strong alhaitham brainrot ever since i got him so any requests for him might be prioritized. i will also be expanding my genshin college au! and will be writing a mini series so keep an eye out for that as well.

thank you to anyone who still follows me for your support!!

[ddarker-dreams]

nexus…i have so many words i don’t even know where to begin. as always i absolutely adore your writing (๑>◡<๑) but genuinely nexus has me gripping everything as i wait for more like an addict!! had to reread several times bc oml blade….he’s neat :) and also because i am so intrigued by the concepts and politics & the amazing world building you’ve done….i could sing my praises for days and still have more to say but i am not exaggerating when i say i’m biting my nails waiting for part 5 (this isn’t meant as a please rush post immediately, i shall eagerly await the delicious five star meal you feed us with each installment knowing the wait is worth it)

on a side note i hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself, reading nexus has really inspired me to come back to tumblr and write again…thank you. also the section in part iv where you mentioned every surface that allowed for it….had me giggling glad to know we can agree blade is a freak (｀_´)ゞ

CHA !!! 🥺🥺💖

i've been doing the exact same thing GJSLGDF every scene blade is in i've reread multiple times while editing to give him the proper energy. he has to be hot or what is the point 😤

worldbuilding is an element of the writing process i've always loved, but working with a sci-fi setting in particular made it even more fun. the sky's the limit. i've actually had to stop myself from slapping in random technology doodads every ten seconds. the bigoted pebbles managed to make the cut, but that's just because i couldn't bring myself to delete a sentence that had the words 'bigotry' and 'pebbles' in it.

chapter five will be my greatest test . the scenes in it are what made me decide to write this story in the first place, so i'm really hoping i can capture it well 😭 it looks so cool and cinematic in my head ... just gotta... transfer that to words....

thank you so so so much, i'm beyond honored that nexus could stir up that interest in you again omg!!! writing's a tricky hobby since so many influences can increase/decrease your motivation to engage with it. i'm wishing you all the best and that it'll be fun for you!!!

[yestrday]

happy late birthday!!

and i was so late to see this HBDFHW THANK YOU

[qierxing]

xing!!!! It's been a while since i've been on tumblr and i wanted to tell you i absolutely adore your persevere my player posts omg!!! i've missed you TT

Cha my heart!!!!!! ♪(´▽｀) I'm so glad you're enjoying my series, I've missed you too!!! Dm me you new @ once you get settled :DDDD

[blxem1lk]

B:-)

brush pack used: MD Basic Brushes by michaeladianaa

[neodreamgirl]

i love mark lee. he is so cute, squishy, adorable, funny, handsome, fine as shit, and super talented for no reason

he needs to stop climbing up my bias list this is getting insane

[skybluelatte]

Happy Birthday Mark!!!💚🐯💚

[sinisxtea]

nct as random images i have saved on my phone because i said so (wayv version)

127 Version | Dream Version | Wish Version

kun

ten

winwin

hendery

xiaojun

yangyang

bonus: kun when chenle breaks into the dorms

[leehaechan]

[merakiui]

MERAAAAA!!! the recent scara fic?!?!!!! holy shit your writing is breathtaking i love it so much!!! just wanted to drop by say hi and tell you to take care of yourself 🤭

CHAAAA!!!! THANK YOUUUU!!! (≧∇≦*) I'm happy you think my writing is breathtaking omg!!! That's really high praise... T_T <3 and thank you as well for leaving nice comments on the fic!!! The "lord have mercy" comment had me giggling!!

I will make sure to take care of myself!! Please also make sure to take care of yourself, eat well, drink water, and get plenty of rest!!!! :D

[kil9]

kpop fans will be like "girl group music is the only REAL music. boy group music sounds like shit" ok then explain savage by aespa. #equality

[ddarker-dreams]

how are you lock it's been a while?! i've missed you and your writing omg TT

AAA HELLO HELLO!! i was happy to see your username pop up in my notifications again omg... life has been shoving me through a (mostly metaphorical) meat grinder lately, i hope you've been faring better 😭 i appreciate you reaching out and asking though!! i'm glad you've enjoyed my writing 💖 scaramouche has been my biggest muse lately, i don't think i've ever had so much fun writing for a character ?? he makes my brain go brrr. the ultimate babygirl.

[sanstropfremir]

so!!! ten birthday. any thoughts?

very fine and normal thanks for asking!!!

no but for real though, i've been waiting for the full version of this song since APRIL; he used it as a special leader stage for gdc! that version is much shorter obvs and way more of an 'nct' song, plus i think bada may have made a new choreography for the full song. to be honest a lot of my thoughts are most just AAAAAAAAAA, which is fine bc there isn't much of a deep overarching theme and i don't think that there needs to be one either. obvs i'd love to see ten tackle something on the level of taemin or kai conceptually but i think there's a really special and underrated skill in fully embodying a performance regardless of its thematic depth, because it's hard. i talked about this with chaeyeon's solo but if you don't have something to ground your performance in it becomes very easy to be unmoored, and you can lose the thread of what you're trying to portray very quickly. something that i think ten does better than pretty much every other kpop dancer is that he is profoundly excellent at embodying feeling. you can give him a basic concept with a key visual and he makes you believe that he is that concept. and he does seem to base a lot of his creative decisions on embodying feelings, he's done several interviews recently and one that stuck out to me was that he said he's had birthday on the docket since pmn, but because he was feeling a specific way for pmn, he kept it on the backburner until his next cb. working down to your theme from such broad emotional strokes is a very difficult way of working, but it allows a lot of loose creative freedom that i think suits him very well.

obvs i gotta talk about the styling too. there's some really beautiful design choices happening here, most notably to me is the use of negative space and detailing! the main costume (the transparent shirt with the carpet pants) both draws attention to his torso and arms, while also provided fringe and loose dangling bits to accentuate the movement. most of the styling actually has these two elements, which gives a very strong unity of silhouette even though there are some pretty different types of clothing happening. one tiny weird detail that i don't know if anyone other than me noticed, but with the carpet pants and the patchwork ones from the vogue 8pm concert, because there's so many layers of fabric built up around the waist, you can see in specific moments what the pants actually stay still while his waist moves inside them. not an effect that i think was intentional by the designers, but a great effect nonetheless.

[niaoniaos]

50 and 100? <3

50. love talk (eng) - wayv

100. prologue - jo1